Increase in mortgage interest rates
Mortgage interest rates are a huge factor for buyers and sellers when they are deciding to purchase a home. If interest rates are high, buyers are more likely to wait because their monthly carrying expenses will be higher. For sellers, you may have to decrease the price that your home is listed because prospective buyers are harder to come by. The market is always fluctuating so working with a Real Estate agent who knows your local market really well and can help you navigate purchasing or selling in that market.
Short sales/comparable listings
Having short sales or foreclosures in your neighbourhood will decrease your property value. The more units or homes in close proximity that are being listed, the less your property will sell for. Buyers will look at comparable listings in the area meaning that you will have to compete with more sellers, which likely means that you will have to be more competitive with your price. A Real Estate agent will do a comparative market analysis to ensure that your property is listed at the correct price and will implement a developed marketing strategy that will sell your home faster.
Curb appeal
Curb appeal is very important when you are selling your home because it is the first impression you are giving the potential buyers. You want to ensure everything is in good working order, is safe, and looks presentable. This goes for any Toronto homeowners with fences or gates out front too. Once you’ve made the minor repairs out front, give everything a really good clean to make sure it is show-worthy. You won’t believe what a difference this thorough clean can do for your home’s curb appeal. By far the easiest thing you can do to make a noticeable improvement to your Toronto home’s curb appeal is to add some fresh paint to areas like doors, porches, and even your mailbox. Refer to this article for colour schemes that maximize curb appeal.
With winter approaching, these are some of the things you can do to prepare your home for selling:
– rake leaves
– remove branches and sticks
– pull dead annuals from gardens
– add fresh mulch to garden beds
– trim hedges or low-hanging tree branches
– tidy walkways of any overgrown greenery
– clean your gutters
Interior aesthetics/repairs
The interior of a home is the main selling point for most people. Ensuring that your finishes and furniture appeal to a wide audience is important because if your property is too niche, it may be more difficult to find the right buyer. If your home is cluttered with family photos, it is hard for potential buyers to envision themselves in your house. Staging your property for selling automatically increases the property value so working with a Real Estate agent who does this for you will help immensely. Staying on top of repairs is important because even though you may not see potential issues when you go to sell your home things like mold, broken plumbing or a new HVAC system could shave off a significant portion of your asking price. Hiring a professional home inspector to complete an inspection on your home will allow you time to complete necessary repairs prior to listing your property on the market. It will elevate any potential issues buyers may have.
School Rankings
Buyers with children or newlyweds planning on having children are very adamant about being in an area with top-notch schools. Reputable schools drive up the price point of your home significantly as parents are willing to pay big bucks to make sure their child is receiving a decent education. When parents are looking into school rankings, the number sitting at a 9 or 10 is usually all they see. If you live in an area with a lower-ranked school, visiting the school to ask about extracurricular activities and after school programs could be a selling point for your home when you are listing. Refer to this article for elementary school rankings in Toronto.
RELATED: FOUR AFFORDABLE TORONTO NEIGHBOURHOODS WITH GOOD SCHOOLS
Location
Often times, when people are buying a property, they consider things that are desirable for their specific situation. This could include things like proximity to amenities, transit, and major highways. This does not always mean that selling points for you will be selling points for everyone. For example, if you are commuting to work every morning, being in close proximity to a major highway would be desirable. On the other hand, the noise generated by traffic could be a deal-breaker for some people. You should take time to research the neighbourhood for upcoming construction projects before you make the purchase to get a better idea of future developments and whether or not it will affect the property value.
The Economy
The overall health of the economy goes hand in hand with Real Estate. Economic factors that affect the value of your home could be a change of employment in that area, conformity, supply and demand, etc. If the economy begins to soften it could cause a domino effect. If the market is falling people could be forced to sell their home which would cause inventory levels to rise and would put downward pressure on pricing. Conformity is important because if you live in a neighbourhood of single-family houses and an office building is being built across the street, the price of your home will probably be negatively affected by land use that is not compatible with the area. In regard to supply and demand, if demand goes up and supply goes down or remains the same, property value increases. If demand goes down and supply increases or stays the same, property value decreases.
Ensure that you are working with a Real Estate agent that is aware of all market conditions in the neighbourhoods you are interested in so they can save you the headache and inform you of potential risks. Book a call with us today to discuss the process of buying or selling your home.
