7 Strategies for Home Sellers

Set an offer date - for now. Agents still believe it’s wise for homeowners to hold off receiving offers on a property for sale until a specified date. That way, more potential buyers have a chance to see it and the increased traffic may bring competition.
But some agents are nervously watching to see if offer dates go by without a single bid as the fall market gears up. When that starts happening, agents will recommend switching to a strategy of “offers welcome any time”.

If you’re planning to sell your house eventually, perhaps it’s time to stop procrastinating. In September, the average price of a home in the K-W rose by 3.9 per cent year-over-year to reach a record high of $295,845. Home prices may drop somewhat once the Bank of Canada begins to raise interest rates - likely in early 2013.

If you’re shopping for a mortgage, consider signing up for a five-year term. A number of the banks have lowered their 5-year fixed rates again in recent days, points out economist Robert Kavcic of Bank of Montreal.

Prepare to negotiate if you’re a buyer purchasing higher end property's as there are always an abundance of those listings and they take the longest to sell.  Buyers should be well-armed with sales figures about comparable listings before they make an offer.

Sellers need to set realistic asking prices for a balanced market - particularly if they are dwelling in the upper echelons, says Ms. Lindsay. If you’re not priced to attract attention, buyers will not pay attention to you. There are still buyers out there but the recent fluctuations in financial markets - along with fears of a global economic downturn - can be unnerving for consumers.

Do you sell first or buy? If listings are scarce you may have to shop around for a while, so buy first.  However, if there are lots of listings or if you are selling a property with less appeal - say it’s on a busy street or is badly in need of renovations - you need to sell first if you can’t afford to carry two properties.

Don’t overstretch when buying a house and pay down existing debt. Canadian consumers are more indebted than they have ever been, according to Statistics Canada figures released this month. In the second quarter, the ratio of household credit market debt which includes mortgages, consumer credit and loans, to disposable income rose to 149 per cent form 147 per cent in the previous quarter. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney has cautioned Canadians to rein in credit-fuelled spending. Some market watchers fear the housing market has become too frothy as a result of a willingness among buyers to take on huge mortgages.