4 Things to be aware before Listing a property

What things need to be considered when we list a property?
There are four essential items we as Sellers should take care of to ensure the best outcome and a smooth Selling experience. 
When a property is listed on MLS, nothing is of more importance than to price it right the first time. The reason is that any listing gains maximum traction during the first two weeks. Beyond this, the attraction subsides within the prospective buyers active on the market as other listings start taking precedence. 
Also, a notion comes into the minds of the buyer prospects that the property might have some issues and the reason it is getting stale on the market. 

Let us review a few reasons why a listing might get stale on the market without offers, 
1) Pricing is not right – The buyers are looking at other rightly priced homes and are finding value in looking at them, and those properties are more enticing to them and have a strong value proposition. Therefore, for a listing to not get traction, the most prominent reason is the pricing not being rational. For a listing to get the traction it deserves, the price must be evaluated fairly based on the current market. 
Your Realtor will do a Comparative Market Analysis by considering similar type, similar style properties of similar age as that of the subject. The properties are in the same community and were sold in the recent past. This objective review of similar comparables sold and adjustments with the price based on features present/missing in the comparables will give us the Fair Market Value. 
2) Marketing Material not Professional or incomplete - The buyer prospect looks at the property marketing, its description on MLS, the dimension specifications, photos/videos, and finally, the price it is pitched to the market, and eventually decides whether to visit the property with their broker. 
The marketing content needs to be better and resonate with the prospects. There are deficiencies in the listing with incomplete details, missing dimensions, photos with bad light or incorrect composition. The marketing material of the property should engage and entice the buyer prospects to ask their brokers to reserve a showing. 
3) Property lacks in Presentation – When a buyer prospect walks into the property, it should be in such a state that it looks fresh and inviting. The consumer can visualize themselves in the property. It should be neutral smelling and devoid of any harsh odours. During the active listing duration, you must ensure that you postpone any food preparations to make the property as neutral as possible for incoming visitors. 
4) Property exhibits Maintenance Issues – A buyer expects and wants to ensure that the current owners have taken good care of the property. If they see any pending maintenance issues like missing/fused lights, patchy paint job, creaking floors, water leakage stains on ceilings, dripping faucets, missing caulking, etc. All these things don't go unnoticed and buyers want stay away from such properties, especially in a balanced or buyers market. As a Seller, it is in our best interest to take care of basic property maintenance before bringing a property live to the market. 
As a Seller, when we are ready to list a property to the market, a good Real Estate Broker has two jobs. The first one is ensuring enough interest is generated, which translates to footfalls in the property. The marketing material prepared and the information present in the listing itself along with favourable listing price, gets translated into ample showings for the property. 
The second job of a good agent is to turn those showings into a reasonable offer. This will happen by virtue of a good presentation of the property. The prospects visiting the property with their brokers should get motivated enough by the excellent state & display of the property. The current state of the property, both inside and the curb appeal, should give them enough confidence to prepare an offer. 

Wish you all the very best! Reach out to our dedicated team at Elixir for any queries you have in Real Estate and we will do our best to help.


Mudit Mehta 
Broker of Record
ELIXIR REAL ESTATE INC.
Off: 416-816-6001 | info@elixirrealestate.ca