Ready to sell your home? Before you start, give yourself time to know each step of the home selling process:
Deciding to sell
Know your reasons for selling
Are you upsizing or downsizing? Do you have a tight schedule that requires you to move out by a certain date? Is it crucial that you reach a certain financial goal? Being specific with your objectives can help us create the best marketing and negotiating strategy for you and your property.
Understand the local market conditions
The real estate market is a time-sensitive industry, so it matters to have up-to-date, hyper-local knowledge of the Niagara Region’s real estate market. This includes current market trends, median home prices, financing options, and comparative sales of similar properties in the area.
By working with us, you’ll have not only our real estate knowledge and expertise but also our professional network and negotiation skills working for you. These will help you list and sell your home for the right price at the right time.
Plan your finances
Selling a property is an important financial decision, and it’s crucial that you have full control over your current financial situation and expected gains. We can help you calculate the potential proceeds from your property sale, apply for tax breaks or rebates, and formulate effective estate planning strategies.
Preparing to sell
Before listing your property on the market, it’s important to make the following preparations:
- Clean and declutter your home, particularly the kitchen, bathrooms, and living room.
- Make basic repairs and updates, such as replacing burned-out lights and repairing leaking taps or toilets.
- Improve your curb appeal by trimming your shrubs and lawn, clearing your walkway, and repainting exterior walls.
You can trust staging your home to us. We can also assist you in scheduling the necessary home inspections and composing a thorough Property Condition Disclosure Statement (PCDS), as per Canadian law.
Going through escrow
Once you’ve received an offer that you like, you and your buyer can put together an initial agreement. This, along with the buyer’s deposit, will be held in an escrow account by a third-party closing agent until all contingencies or conditions of the sale are fulfilled.
Generally, escrow takes around 30 to 45 days, but it can be longer or shorter depending on various factors. This stage of the selling process will involve:
- Mortgage loan approval. Your buyer needs to have their loan approved before the sale can push through. This is often the most time-consuming part of the process, and we advise our sellers to choose buyers with a prepared mortgage pre-approval or an approval letter.
- Title search. The closing agent will request a preliminary title search which ensures that your property’s title is clear of any existing claims, mortgages, leases, restrictions, or liens.
- Property appraisals. Your buyer’s mortgage lender will order a general inspection of your property before granting loan approval. This way, both buyer and lender can be assured of your home’s physical condition and structural integrity.
Our real estate team will handle all pressing contingencies, negotiations, and complex paperwork for you during this stage. Afterward, all that’s left is the preparation of other settlement documents and the signing of closing papers by both parties.
Closing
It’s closing day! After all the necessary documents are reviewed and signed, the funds from escrow will be released and ownership of the property will be transferred to your buyer. Congratulations, this marks the end of your successful home sale!
