A lot of home sellers have a very bad misconception that they can just put a price on their home and buyers will respond to the price, no matter how high or low it is. Unfortunately, this is not the case because buyers are much more savvy nowadays. They can search online and compare your home to others, and determine if your home is a good value or not. 

What determines the value of your home is not you, it is the home buyers in your area that determine a fair and accurate market value. They look at similar homes that have recently sold and compare the features and benefits of those homes against your own. 

This is why it is so important to price your home right from the very beginning. If your home is overpriced, buyers will just pass it and your home will sit on the market without much activity. This will cause your home to lose value, and every day that your home doesn't sell, it becomes harder to get top dollar. 

If you need any assistance when pricing your Calgary home, please don't hesitate to contact us. We would love to help you sell for top dollar!

If you're trying to sell a home that you're renting out, make sure that you're on good terms with your tenants. They need to be flexible in allowing investors or other real estate agents entry into the home for showings.

You'll also want to allow them some time to tidy up the home before showings. This can be difficult, but it's very important that it gets done. 

Another tip I have for you is to follow the Landlord and Tenant Acts, because the last thing you want is to have something pop up and surprise you.

If worst comes to worst and the tenant is so uncooperative that you cannot sell the property, I suggest that you just put the sale of the home on the back burner and deal with those issues first. 

Sometimes just sitting down and speaking with your tenants can help to make the best out of a bad situation. Bring over a pizza and allow them to tell you what is bothering them. Most often, communication is the biggest issue, because tenants rarely have the opportunity to speak with their landlords.

If you're having trouble with this issue, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be more than glad to give you a hand. 

As always, refer to me as your #1 resource for real estate in Calgary!

Lately I've received a lot of questions from home sellers. The market is starting to heat up, and they are deciding how they should go about selling their home. One thing I've been getting asked about a lot is FSBO (For Sale By Owner) homes, and how viable the option really is. Before you decide to undertake the task of selling your home, I want to provide you with some helpful information for your decision. Just like anything else, there are advantages and disadvantages, so let's take a look at them now. Today we are going to examine the disadvantages.

Although there are some advantages to selling your own home, I believe the disadvantages far outweigh them. For starters, selling a home takes a tremendous amount of time. There is a reason we do this for a living. Having a full-time job on top of a full-time job is very stressful. 

Another disadvantage is the huge number of out-of-pocket expenses that selling your own home creates. Marketing and advertising are an important part of selling a home, and if you don't spend the money to succeed in this area like we do, you won't see results. 

Finally, not having extensive knowledge of the market is very detrimental to your home sale. You can be easily taken advantage of, or be misinformed about how much you can get for your home. A lot of buyers view FSBO homes as inferior to homes listed with an agent. 

As you can see, when it comes to selling your home, doing it all alone just does not work. You need to hire an agent who knows the local market, and who can assist you in every part of the transaction. If you have any questions for us, or would like to discuss how we can help you achieve your real estate goals, give us a call or send us an email. 

Over the past few weeks, I've received a lot of questions from home sellers. The market is starting to heat up, and they are deciding how they should go about selling their home. One thing I've been getting asked about a lot is FSBO (For Sale By Owner) homes, and how viable the option really is. Before you decide to undertake the task of selling your home, I want to provide you with some helpful information for your decision. Just like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages, so let's take a look at them now. We'll start with the advantages.

When you sell your home by yourself, you get away with not paying a commission to an agent, which saves you money (as much as 10%). However, only 2% of people actually sell their FSBO home, and most end up hiring agents by the time their home actually sells.

Another advantage is being able to have complete control over the transaction from start to finish. You're able to make your own decisions and sell on your own terms, not anybody else's. 

There are many advantages when it comes to selling your own home. If you are thinking about selling, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to discuss the topic further.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our blog. Today we would like to give you some tips on what to do and what not to do when buying or selling a home. We hope these tips give you a better understanding of the buying and selling process, and can help you out next time you are looking to make a move. 

In the last few years, it's become an increasingly common trend for buyers to get approved for a loan, get a home inspection done, then go out and make large purchases, before the home closes. It might sound like a great idea at the time to pair your new home with new furniture or a new car, but trust us, it's a bad idea in the long run. Lenders do credit checks the day before closing, and if they discover you have made some large purchases, it may affect your credit standing and your mortgage may be revoked. If you decide you have to make a purchase, don't use your credit card. If you can't afford it without your credit card, you definitely shouldn't buy it just yet.

As a buyer, you need to also avoid the "free" unofficial pre-approvals online. They mean nothing and could come back to hurt you when you are out looking for a home. You want to get pre-approved by a reputable lender before you start looking for a home, so you know what you can afford before you go out and start looking. It also allows you to pull the trigger quickly when you find the perfect home.

For sellers, having an accurate home valuation is very important. You can get one almost anywhere online, but keep in mind that an instant home valuation should be used as a starting point, not a final, absolute value. Don't put too much stock into your home's valuation until you talk to a professional about it. We can help you out and help you avoid frustration entirely. 

If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you!

Today I'm going to be talking about what an expired listing is, and what you can do to avoid a situation like this. 

An expired listing is a home that has not sold for an extended amount of time, and one that has fallen out-of-contract. The most common reason I see for an expired listing is that the property was grossly overpriced from the beginning of the selling process. When buyers see an overpriced home, they won't give it a second chance if they don't see any true value in it. This will result in the home sitting on the market and going stale. 

Another reason for homes not selling is that they aren't exposed to the right kinds of audiences. It's important to have your home prepared for a sale, and to expose it to the right buyers. This doesn't simply involve putting it up on the MLS, it involves calling prospective buyers, knocking on doors, and even looking internationally for the right kinds of buyers. 

What we can do to avoid your home becoming an expired listing is to price it correctly by looking at vast amounts of data in comparable listings. We have a tremendous knowledge of the Calgary real estate market, and we know all of the nuances of pricing within it.

We specialize in expired listings, and always bring the maximum amount of exposure possible to your home. We will employ a different marketing strategy than your previous seller, and this new plan will be personalized to your needs and also to the current market conditions. 

If you have any questions in regards to the Calgary real estate market, please don't hesitate to contact me. I am always willing to assist you!

Today I am going to be addressing some issues that a lot of clients in Calgary have been asking me about. The seller's market that we had in 2014 has faded, but that's not the only thing that you should know.

My advice to buyers in Calgary is to go ahead and get yourselves Pre-qualified for a mortgage loan. This is a special designation that sellers love to see because they know you are serious about

purchasing and that if you extend an offer on a home that you will follow through with it. The verification process has become harder, but if you pass it will only make you stand out more. Your offer should rise to the top with a pre-qualification letter.

If you are a seller in Calgary I would propose that you make sure that the condition and price of your home are comparable. If your price is not right, then you will not be able to attract buyers to your property. Also, if an appraiser from a bank comes in and his price doesn't match your value, then there will be problems and the sale could fall apart.

If you would like to know more about our local market here in Calgary, then please do not hesitate to contact my team for more information. We would be happy to help you.

I have been getting a lot of questions about how the Calgary real estate market is performing, and I have some good information for you. We'll go over a few numbers in order to sort out the situation in our local Calgary market.

If you're interested in buying or selling in Calgary, be sure to contact me in order to take advantage of current market conditions. I know your situation is unique to everyone else's, so please contact me with any questions or concerns that you might have. 

 

Today I want to address an important topic I get questions about quite frequently. One of the catch-22's of real estate is that most buyers are sellers, and most sellers are buyers. A lot of times, when people find that perfect home they want to buy, they still haven't sold their old one. Sometimes families are able to move into their new home while they wait for the old one to sell, others aren't so lucky.

Certain banks offer mortgage programs that require you to sell your current home before purchasing a new one. This leaves a lot of people stuck until they are able to sell, and often times it leaves them on the outside looking in on their dream home.

We want to make sure this doesn't happen to you when you decide to change homes. This is why we want to offer some solutions for you to consider before deciding to move homes.

If you can afford to take on two mortgages and give your home time on the market to sell, that is great. You will get your home sold for a good price, although it might take some time. If you can't afford the double mortgage crutch, renting is another option. Although it is a risky investment, renting out your home brings you a solid income if you can't sell your home. 

Before you make a decision, remember, it's your hard-earned money that you are investing. Be responsible, look at all the scenarios, and make the best decisions possible for you in today's market so you can come out ahead. 

If you have any questions for us, please give us a call or send an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon. 

Last time, we spoke about pricing, presentation, and pre-qualifying buyers. Today, we'll discuss how to negotiate for your home when selling.

If a buyer comes over, likes your house, and wants to buy it - how do you negotiate a deal? Do you have the proper set of paperwork, proper disclosures, or a trust account to hold the deposit check? Is the buyer pre-qualified? What conditions do they have in their offer? You need to address all of these questions before the sale happens. 

If you have the answers to these questions, you'll be able to come from the sale to the negotiating process well-equipped - you'll know exactly what to do, what will take place, and every step on the way to closing. 

It's really important to make sure the Offer to Purchase is drawn up correctly, so the lawyers know what it is you're trying to do. Are there gray areas in the deal that might allow the buyer to get out of the contract? Is there something in the property report that might make the buyers uncomfortable and able to get out of that purchase? There are many questions that need to be addressed before the successful sale of your home.  

Because there are a lot of complications leading up to and during negotiations, it's not wise to work with someone who lacks real estate experience. If you want to have an upper hand when negotiating, you need to have an expert representing your best interests. A real estate professional will make sure you don't overprice your home, that your home is presented perfectly, that your buyer is pre-qualified, and that you get the best possible conditions during negotiations. 

If you would like our assistance, we would be pleased to assist you. Give us a call or shoot us an email for all of your Calgary real estate needs - we look forward to hearing from you!