Vernon BC Real Estate | RE/MAX Realtors | The Open Door Team - Selling Your Home

Selling Your Home: Where Do You Find A Buyer?

The Open Door Team — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:46:50 +0000

Selling your property depends on a lot more than print advertising and signage; it takes referrals, word of mouth, networking and multimedia promotion on the internet. A 2011 survey by the National Association of REALTORS® (in the US) showed that 88% of buyers found their properties on the internet and 87% used a REALTOR® to help with their search.

Information sources used by buyers in their home search:

Internet: 88%
Real estate agent: 87%
Yard sign: 55%
Open house: 45%
Newspaper ad: 30%
Home book or magazine: 19%

Source: 2011 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

Selling Your Home: Should You Buy First or Sell?

The Open Door Team — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:31:47 +0000

You have an existing home, but it's time to move. Should you buy your new home first, then sell; or should you sell your existing home first, and then buy? It’s the classic "chicken or egg" question – do you buy or sell first?

Lets take a quick look at some of the pros and cons of each strategy.

Buying A Home First:

Pros:

You can look for your new home at a leisurely pace without feeling any pressure.
You will know how much money you'll need from your existing home in order to afford the new one.
You will know when you need to finalize the sale of your current home in order to move into the new one.
You will know that you have somewhere to live when you move out of your existing house.

Selling Your Home: What Paperwork Is Required?

The Open Door Team — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:44:12 +0000

Types of Listing Contracts

In British Columbia, the two most common types of listing contracts are:

the Exclusive Listing
the Multiple Listing

Each type of listing lasts only for the time period which is specified in the agreement. Be sure to take note of what this time period is.

An Exclusive Listing gives the seller’s brokerage the sole right to sell the home. This means that even if you sell the home to a prospect of your own during the term of the listing, you must pay the agreed commission to the seller’s brokerage unless that prospect was specifically excluded on the listing agreement.

You should also be aware that even after the exclusive listing expires, you may be obligated to pay the seller’s brokerage a commission if you sell your home to a person who purchases because of the licensed REALTOR®'s actions during the time of the listing.

Selling Your Home: What Price Should You List Your Home For?

The Open Door Team — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:03:29 +0000

Sellers often say, "I don't want to give away my house." Of course, not. But you do want to sell it. To sell your home, the price must be right, and there are a number of factors that go into determining what that price should be.

Interest rates:

The lower interest rates are, the more buyers can afford to pay. Current mortgage rates are still at historic lows, but predicted to gradually rise over the next 2 years. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) forecasts 5 year mortgage rates will rise to approximately 5.6% by the end of 2012. Please Click here to read the BCREA mortgage rate forecast published in December 2011.

Selling Your Home: Preparing Your Home For Sale

The Open Door Team — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Selling or buying a home is probably the largest transaction most of us ever become involved in. Yet people sometimes take less time over it than they do when buying a car. That's because they are in unfamiliar territory and don't fully understand the process. They don't know what questions to ask, may take things for granted, rely on others when they shouldn't, and sometimes later wish they had known a whole lot more about the process involved.

It is important that you understand the procedures and documents you will encounter during the sale of your home, as well as the role of other people who may be involved in the transaction. Selling a home is a major event, and in this series of blogs entitled "Selling Your Home" we aim to help you better understand the process. We will cover the following topics: