Ajax: Is Now The Best Time To Sell Your Home For Max Returns

Ajax: Is Now The Best Time To Sell Your Home For Max Returns is a video I came up with that provides some of the #TOP Things you should consider when determining if NOW is the best time to sell your home in #Ajax for Maximum Returns.

Are you thinking of selling your home In Ajax? Well, in this video, I'm going to be covering off seven great tips that's going to allow you to sell your house fast and for the most amount of money, and we're getting into it right after this. Just before we get started into the video, I do know that the sound in the video is not going to be as good as some of my other videos. My microphone has gone kaput on me, and I'm still on a recording schedule, so I did want to put a video out there for this week. So if the sound isn't crystal clear like you're used to, I do apologize for that, but please enjoy the content that I put in there.

Hey, what's going on? My name is Brad Goetz with Right At Home Realty, and I'm a local realtor here in the greater Toronto area. If this is your first time to my channel or watching any of my videos, be sure to subscribe to the channel and click that little bell. That way you're notified each and every time I do post new videos. These video covers off what it's like to eat, sleep, play, live everything right here in the greater Toronto area, whether it be Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Toronto, and it just gives a great insight on what it's like to actually live here. On top of that, I do provide videos such as these, where it's going to be tips and tricks on selling your house In Ajax or the buying process. And subscribe to the channel. That way, you're kept up to date with everything that I'm putting out there.

I do go live from time to time as well, which gives a great opportunity just for a live question and answer. So if you have any questions and you don't feel like calling or emailing or texting, that you can just type your little question in there, and then I do answer it live to the best of my ability. I have people reaching out from all over the world that are looking to buy or sell here, and I absolutely love it. So if you are looking to do that, be sure to call text, email, send a carrier pigeon, whatever is easiest for you. I'm here to make the whole move, relocation, whatever you're doing so much easier. I hope you enjoy the video and we're getting right into it.

TIP #1 Things To Do To Get Your House Ready For Sale In Ajax

So our first tip has to do with any small maintenance issues, also known as deferred maintenance. So it's things in your house that you may have just got used to, or you overlooked, or you just figured, "I'll do it later." Well, now's the time that you do want to tackle these things. Some of these examples that I commonly see when I'm previewing homes, or viewing homes, or going to see people's homes that they're looking to sell, is things like the holes in the drywall, the caulking around the bath or the kitchen counters or the doors and windows, scuffs on the walls. That's a very big one that I see a lot of. People just get used to those little scuffs, and in my house I have two kids and they're four and two, so you can just imagine all of the scuffs that are on our walls.

What I've learned is that a magic eraser is an amazing intervention that gets pretty much everything out of walls. I don't know what they do, but it's definitely something where we have one to two boxes of on the go, because we do have an active household and when you're living somewhere, it's just normal that you're going to get these scuffs. But it's just something, when people are coming into your home, you do want to not have them so obvious so that people aren't noticing them. A lot of the times it is things that people notice, and then they just kind of feel that maybe the house wasn't maintained well, and it's just not one of those images that you want to portray to people that are coming into your home.  Carpet stains. That's something that I do notice quite a bit. If you have a carpet in a home, it's just normal that it's going to get stained with wear and tear marks or just different things that have dropped in it over the years. So now's the time to tackle that, and the easiest way to do it is just rent a shampoo, or you can get them from the grocery stores. Or if you don't want to do it yourself, you can just hire a company, it's a few hundred bucks, and they'll come and they'll get your carpets looking pretty good. If you have dogs or cats, I have a dog and I can't smell it anymore, but when people come over, they do say that there's a dog smell in the carpet. So it's just one of those things that having a shampooer does help with that.

A big one that a lot of people might not realize is light bulbs. Change the light bulbs, because if you are walking through a home and you have a three light fixture and two of the bulbs are out and there's only one light going in there, it's going to be dark. When people are coming through your home, you want it to be lit up like a Christmas tree, because the brighter the better. If you have a lot of windows, then it's not as big a deal. Except for selling your home in the winter when it gets dark at 4:30, then you want as much light as possible, because when people are coming through, there's just something about a brightness and a home that people really get attracted to. These are the main things that you just don't notice anymore, and you get used to it. It's just one of those things that I always like to point out to people, because when I go in, those are the things that I'm looking for, because I know when I've gone through different showings of properties with buyers, that these are the things that they notice.

Darkness or scuffs or the caulking. People don't know that a countertop caulking is just normal for it to separate from the wall, so they get a little worried that something is shifting or it wasn't done properly where that's not the case. It's just something that happens with homes as they settle. So you just want to make sure that everything is top shape, and these small maintenance items are definitely something that you do want to tackle to pretty much eliminate a lot of these things. Because as buyers, when they're coming through your home, they will overestimate the cost to do things. If something will legitimately cost about 100 bucks, they start adding it up into their head that it's $200-300. So if you just took care of it, then that's money that they are not even considering.

TIP #2 Decluttering To Get Your House Ready To Sell

Our second tip has to do with decluttering. So this may seem like a lot, because you are actually packing before you even list, but it does make a huge difference. It's almost impossible to over-declutter. So if you're thinking your house is looking too empty, it might not be the case. It might actually be what people are looking for when they come into a house. You want to declutter as much as possible. Some household do appear bigger when they're actually decluttered, and that's what you want. When you have a small room, if you have less stuff in it, it's going to make it look bigger, so people will be able to envision a little bit more.

A perfect example of this would be a small bedroom that has a big bed in it. People will just feel that the room might be a little too small for anything. Or kitchen counters that have a lot of stuff on them, then it makes the counter space look smaller than it actually is. People when they walk into a kitchen, they want to see lots of counter space so that when they're cooking, they have room just to have everything out there. If you have a garage or an attic or a storage space, pack up as much as you can and just leave it there. The good thing about that is once your house does sell, it's that much more, sorry, that much less that you don't have to pack after the fact. You can unbox it just a one-time in your new house, and then you can put it in its new spots that the new home will appreciate.

It just saves a lot and will actually help your house look its best condition as possible with a lot of the small knickknacks or pictures just not there. If you don't have a garage or a storage space of such that you can put these things, I do recommend renting one and just putting the items there, because it will make a huge difference. Plus, it takes a lot of stress off of packing once you do sell. I'll stress that again, it takes a lot of stress off of packing once you do sell. Because once you've sold and you're packing, it's amazing how much stuff your house has accumulated over the years that you've lived there.

TIP #3 Brightening Up Your Ajax Home To Sell

Our third tip has to do with brightening up your home. Dark can be a big deterrent for anybody who's looking to walk into a home and they want to envision living there. They walk in, turn the lights on. If it's still dark, it feels different than if it's really bright. If you have dark walls, dark curtains, dark floors, it will feel dark and dreary, and that's not what people want. When they do walk into a home, sure, if there's either a man-cave set up or there's a library with a cigar lounge, those are areas that you might get away from it because that's its purpose, is to look like that. But if it's your whole house that's like that, or bedrooms, you want to do your best to brighten those up as much as possible. Most people want bright homes and lots of light, and painting could help with that. So if you have a lot of dark walls, painting your walls a lighter color will be more inviting and it will make the house look a lot brighter.

On top of that, it's going to make the house look larger, because a lot of the times when you see model homes or homes that have been professionally staged, these are homes that it's all light walls, because it makes everything look clean and bright and larger. Just some showing tips on this, when you do have showings, you want to make sure that the blinds and curtains are all open, all the lights are on. A little tip I can give you on this is if you do have a lot of back-to-back showings, you can put some scotch tape or the packing tape that you would use when you're packing boxes, and actually go tape all the light switches to the on position so that nobody can accidentally turn the lights off, because I can't stress enough how much importance there is between having the lights on and everything looking super bright, because it will make a huge difference for the impression that people are going to get when they do come into your house.

TIP #4 Updating Your House Before Selling In Ajax

Our fourth tip has to do with asking yourself some questions in terms of when the last time these items were updated, and these items that you're going to want to consider is kitchens. When I say kitchens, it's the cupboards, the countertops, the backsplash, the floors, and a little quick tip that can make a huge difference is replacing countertops with something stone, whether it's granted or quartz. Marble I wouldn't recommend if you're selling your home In Ajax, because it's more expensive, and so you can get away with a lot cheaper. Another tip would be painting your cupboards. So you can easily go to Home Depot and get some acrylic furniture paint. It goes on amazing, and it makes a huge difference with the impression that you would get from that. So if you have older, dark looking cupboards, you can paint them a lighter color or vice versa. If you have lighter cupboards that you feel darker cupboards would look better, then you can paint them a darker color.

Bathrooms. When's the last time the countertops and the shower and everything like that have been done? An easy, quick fix for the bathrooms is either painting or just replacing the countertops, because it does make a big difference. A lot of times when people see quartz countertops in a bathroom, they ignore a lot of the other things within that bathroom because they feel like it's been renovated. Unless you have green tiles in your shower, the lime green color that hasn't been around since the sixties or seventies, that would be an exception. But for the most part, countertops makes a huge difference.

Floors. If you have carpet that's in rough shape, you can replace the carpet or you can just lay laminate flooring. Stuff like that makes a world of a difference. It makes it look nice and new, and that's what people like when they are looking at homes. If they can get something that has a lot of the work taken out for them, it makes a big difference. And hardware. So if you're looking at your door knobs or your kitchen cabinet handles, you look at those kinds of things. If they look old, it's a quick fix. You go to Home Depot or Lowe's and you just try and replace them with something that looks a little bit more modern or traditional, depending on the style of your kitchen.

An easy, inexpensive one is the outlets and face plates. So if you're walking your home and you have the almond color face plates or light switch covers, consider switching them to a white. The newer looking white face plates, they do make a big difference with making things look newer. And then the last thing would be appliances. So when's the last time the appliances have been swapped? You can go to Home Depot, Lowe's, Canadian appliance superstore The Brick, and you can just get some inexpensive but newer, nicer looking appliances, and that would make a big difference as well.

TIP #5 Increasing Curb Appeal When Listing Your House In Ajax

Our fifth tip has to do with the curb appeal. So there's an interesting psychological concept, and it's called confirmation bias. Pretty much, it's a quick snap judgment of what a house impression gives off to somebody as soon as they're pulling up. If they pull up and they see that the grass has been cut and the garage door has been painted and everything looks very attractive, then they're looking for things while they walk into that house that confirm that snap judgment. So they'll walk in and they'll ignore some of the things at first that they might otherwise care for. So they just go in looking for things that confirm that they're impressed with the house.

It works the same way on the flip side, if they walk up and the grass hasn't been cut and the driveway looks like crap, that they're going to walk through that house thinking that the house hasn't been maintained very well, and they're going to miss a lot of the nice things. And then they're going to focus on the squeaky floors or all the scuffs on the walls or the kitchen that has the grout behind the countertops coming off. So it's just one of those things that the biggest difference that can make is just by maintaining the outside of the house, whether it be pressure washing your siding, or if your deck has the paint or stain peeling on that, just get pressure washer and then Thompson WaterSeal. That will make your deck or fence look a lot better, which will help with that initial impression that people are going to get when they are walking to your house. Other little things that you can do is just make sure that the grass is cut. You can lay some mulch in your gardens just to make it look more attractive.

When they pull up, if the impression they get is cute and pretty, they're going to notice more of a welcoming feeling. On the flip side, if they pull up and it's ugly and overgrown, then they're sitting there focusing on the overgrown yard and the mildew all over. The door handles that are outdated, the smudges and scuffs, everything that is there. So some of these little things that you can do to confirm that initial feel is just making sure that the grass is cut, mulch has been laid in the gardens at the front of the house or the backyard. Mildew, if there's mildew on your siding, just pressure wash it off, and then that way the siding looks good. And then you can paint your garage door or your front door, just to give that initial impression that the house has been very well maintained.

TIP #6 Taking Down Personal Items When Selling Your Home In Ajax

Our sixth tip has to do with depersonalizing your home, and this is often very hard, because you might have put pictures up there five, 10, 15, 20 years ago that have not left where they are. Because you're showing the home to other people, when they walk up or walk through your home, they want to envision themselves living there. If they have constant reminders that the house is not theirs, they won't have that same attachment that they would have if they walk through and everything is neutral and decor items that are there don't have any significance behind it.

Some of these things that you might want to pack up and put away safely would be trophies, or kids' art that has been done. Anything personal at all, pack away very carefully, and then unpack it in your new home. I've had it in times where you're walking through a house and you notice things where it might not have been the best situation, and the fact that it gets tainted for our viewing is just something that if you can avoid it, why not? Because your goal when you list your home is to sell it, and you just want people as they're walking through to have the picture of the home being theirs and not somebody else's.

TIP #7 Start Interviewing Agents Early When Selling Your Home In Ajax

The seventh tip, and the one that I saved for last, because I do feel that it is important, is interview agents early. So it gives you an opportunity to interview more than one. You're not having to rush in listing your home, and you can actually be able to feel them out and see if you connect with them. Do you feel that their marketing plan is going to be something that will best suit your house? And you got to make sure that there is a marketing plan. Marketing plans for me always include the photography, the social media boosts that get put out there, different staging, make sure that the house is perfect and that it's being put out there to everybody, and then you also want to price it accordingly. So these are all things that you want to understand before your home is being listed.

Besides the marketing plan, you want to make sure that the communication is good, because that is the biggest complaint that I hear from people is that they are working with agents that just don't communicate with them. So they're not giving feedback on showings. They are not answering phone calls from people reaching out from REALTOR.ca or Zillow or Zoocasa. All these other websites that are out there, people are interested in homes, and they can't get a hold of the listing agent. So if they can't get hold of the listing agent, odds are buyers' realtors are not able to get a hold of the listing agent as well. When you're selling a house In Ajax, you want to make sure that the agent that's selling your house is going to be reachable, because if somebody wants to put in an offer on a place or they want to do a last-minute showing that an agent can maybe coordinate, that makes a big difference.

I've had it personally where I'm taking buyers out and I line up four or five houses, and then while I'm talking with them, they mention another house that they might be interested in. I do one of those short notice bookings that can get done, and sure enough, that's one of the homes that they end up submitting an offer and buying on it. It happens a lot, because people don't always see what's being listed or things get listed while they've been coming home from work. So being communication focused is definitely something that is very important, especially in a sales business where you're trying to help people sell their homes. You want to be reachable.

Another thing you want to make sure is that they actually have a marketing budget for your home. I hate it when I see listings where the pictures were taken by a phone, and they weren't even taken in landscape. Lights weren't on. There's just absolutely no effort at all put towards the photo that was behind it. The first initial thing that buyers or potential buyers are seeing is based on photos, so if the photos look like crap, odds are people aren't going to want to go and see the house. It's either going to look dark, or the pictures are going to be portrait mode. It's just going to be horrible when people are viewing it on the website, so you just want to make sure you find out the marketing budget behind it, just to make sure that your home is getting full exposure and that it's being marketed.

Because if it's not being marketed in a strong seller's market, it doesn't matter or as much, because there's so many buyers out there. But when you get to a balanced market or buyer's market, you want to make sure that your house is the one that's getting all the attention and not the other houses. You want to make sure that staging, is that going to be considered? Because staging is a very important part of selling your house In Ajax that you want to make sure the house looks its best. And I'm a realtor. I'm not a stager, so I don't try and be a stager. At my house, I rely on my wife's opinion, and she puts everything where it's going. When I'm listing homes, I hire stagers to do that, because I know what looks nice, but I don't know how to put it there to make it look nice. That's a big difference, and at least I can admit that I'm not very good with that.

Well, that covers off the video. I hope you enjoyed my how to get your house selled fast and for the most amount of money. If you have any questions, you can reach out. If you did like the video, please like it. That way, it allows YouTube to put the videos more in front of other people who might be looking to sell their homes or tips on selling homes, or moving to Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Toronto. It just helps me. And if you forgot at the beginning, please subscribe to the channel. If you've subscribed already before, please don't try and subscribe again. It will unsubscribe you and then I'll be stuck scratching my head, "Why am I losing subscribers?"

This channel covers off everything and what it's like to live here, eat here. It gives tips on real estate. I go live all the time. So that's what this channel is about. If you are looking to sell your home, I'd love to be one of those agents that you are at least meeting with to allow my opportunity to present my marketing plan to you. Be sure to check out the other videos on my channel. Thanks for watching, and until next time.

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