THE FALL MARKET REAL ESTATE

by Darrin DeRoches September 3 -9, 2009

Summer is not over yet, hell it never really got started — but if you are considering on selling your home in the next six to eight months, you should start to prepare. The fall market is usually the busiest time in real estate. Once the kids are off to school, people start to think about making the move. If you want to be settled before the first snow or Christmas, you should start to prepare for the fall market. The first thing you should do is take pictures of the outside of your home. You spent all spring and summer planting, cutting and pruning — take a ton of outdoor shots while the grass is still green, the tomatoes are bright red and the flowers still have some life in them. These pictures can be blown up for as little as ten cents each and displayed for the prospective buyers. Some people even set up a computer with all the pictures in a simple presentation. If you have any other points of interests, a pool, patio furniture, bbq etc., these pictures will help people imagine how they would be using the outdoors in their future in your home. The next thing to consider before the fall comes a knocking is paint. If the front door could use a new coat of paint — do it now! Once the temperature drops and the front stoop looks a little weathered, a fresh coat of paint in September will make a world of difference when selling your home. Any little paint now will shine in the winter months. Caulking is also another great tip to get done before the cold hits; these things just will not dry properly in October. Power wash is the last thing to think of. Power wash the windows, the siding and even the driveway and this will make things sparkle in the coming months. The deck could even take some new stain — if needed. All this work may seem premature, but clean windows in the winter will allow more light in, and clean siding will give the final shine to your outside curb appeal. I am the first one to think, “hell we have lots of time” but once you get all the work outside done, you then can focus on the inside. So with a list and a long weekend ahead, paint, caulk, wash, prune, cut, shine and then take pictures of every inch of your property. It may seem like a lot of work now, but it will pay off in spades when people are trying to envision themselves in your home. In the middle of winter people are looking at your competition pictures of their homes with snow, slush, dirt and grime and then they look at your home with a beautiful fall pictures and summer backyard bbq’s. Which home will look more appealing? Yours! I still have the summer pictures from the listing of my current home, which I look at wondering how to get my backyard looking as good as his. I am going to try fall fertilizer this year, hope it does not turn out to be a bunch of bullsh&%! V [DARRIN DEROCHES] Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at mail@uniquerealty.ca.