A CMA report is one of your real estate professional’s most powerful tools of the trade. It includes timely data on active listings, as well as pending and closed sales in a given area. Agents use their knowledge of local neighbourhoods and buying trends to select the most comparable properties and form an expert opinion on the market value.
For owners preparing to list their homes, a CMA provides detailed information about recent sales and indicates how long homes are taking to sell. It also helps sellers size up the competition and settle on an appropriate asking price. Buyers can use the same information to negotiate a fair deal on a home they wish to purchase.
Homeowners who are considering a refinance may want to have an idea what their home is worth prior to researching their lending options and having to pay for an official appraisal. It is also important to know the value of real estate holdings when making financial decisions regarding insurance coverage, estate planning, borrowing or investing.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
5 Things to Consider Before Listing Your Home
You are about to list your home. Perhaps you are looking to accommodate a growing family, or conversely, looking to downsize. Or, it may be that you are helping a close family member with the process of moving into an assisted-living environment. Whatever your situation, there are key considerations to ensure the process of selling meets or exceeds your expectations.
Often times, home owners don’t articulate their most pressing concerns, which can lead to a gap in expectations between the seller and their agent. The most important thing you can do when selling your home is to be open and frank with your agent, and to have all of the decision-makers at the table from the start. In addition to advising their agents to ask the right questions, Royal LePage recommends these five steps to ensure your home-selling experience is a good one:
1. Ask friends and family members to refer a real estate sales professional. Word of mouth and past experience is a good place to start when looking for an agent.
2. Interview your agent and ask for a presentation. With all the decision-makers at the table, determine these three things about your agent: Can I trust you? How are you different? What are you going to do to sell my home?
3. Articulate all and any concerns you may have about selling your home. Make sure your agent knows what’s on your mind. Are you concerned about the timeliness of the sale? What concerns do you have about price? Are there certain emotional attachments to the current home? If so, what are they?
4. Count back from the day you want to be out of your home. Remember, it takes time to sell a home. Use this timeline as a general guideline, bearing in mind that many factors affect the time it takes to sell: 90 days to allow for the listing agreement and to entertain offers; then 60 days for the home inspections until the home sells firm and the buyer visits the home; then 30 days to closing.
5. Pricing. The day you price your home correctly for the market is the day you sell it.
Often times, home owners don’t articulate their most pressing concerns, which can lead to a gap in expectations between the seller and their agent. The most important thing you can do when selling your home is to be open and frank with your agent, and to have all of the decision-makers at the table from the start. In addition to advising their agents to ask the right questions, Royal LePage recommends these five steps to ensure your home-selling experience is a good one:
1. Ask friends and family members to refer a real estate sales professional. Word of mouth and past experience is a good place to start when looking for an agent.
2. Interview your agent and ask for a presentation. With all the decision-makers at the table, determine these three things about your agent: Can I trust you? How are you different? What are you going to do to sell my home?
3. Articulate all and any concerns you may have about selling your home. Make sure your agent knows what’s on your mind. Are you concerned about the timeliness of the sale? What concerns do you have about price? Are there certain emotional attachments to the current home? If so, what are they?
4. Count back from the day you want to be out of your home. Remember, it takes time to sell a home. Use this timeline as a general guideline, bearing in mind that many factors affect the time it takes to sell: 90 days to allow for the listing agreement and to entertain offers; then 60 days for the home inspections until the home sells firm and the buyer visits the home; then 30 days to closing.
5. Pricing. The day you price your home correctly for the market is the day you sell it.
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