Competing In Today's Market

by Darrin DeRoches August 7 - 13, 2014

If you want to sell your home for top dollar, you have to understand your market. Just because you hear the media saying it is a sellers’ market and Hamilton is having a boom in real estate does not mean your house will sell fast for top dollar. You have to understand your competition and beat them!     I recently did a home evaluation in the central part of Hamilton and once we did the walk through we discussed the renovations and possible price. The house needed paint and touch ups throughout and the seller was already doing the work. We discussed how they were going to finish the bathroom which was already under renovations. The final point was the kitchen which was in need of repair. The homeowner was going to try to match more recent renovations and do the paint, update hardware and simply “put lipstick on a pig”.     We sat down and looked at the comparables and came up with a price and a game plan. Some agents would have the sellers paint the entire home and put thousands of dollars into renovations when a simple cleaning and minor update would sell the property. This particular property had several homes for sale in the neighbourhood and all were recently renovated. We had to renovate the kitchen, do less painting and spend the time and money wisely as there is a limit to what the market will pay and you do not want to over improve the property. We saw the renovations that they had already done themselves and the quality was impressive so we discussed doing a total remodel of the kitchen by going to Ikea and slapping it together in two weeks. The kitchen was small and with new cupboards and counter it would only cost around $2500 dollars but the impression on perspective buyers would be priceless.     We convinced them to leave the upper floors with the paint that is there and spend the money and time on the kitchen. The house will then be ready to compete within its market with the other homes that have been on the market and are not selling. Everyone thinks houses are selling fast and for top dollar in Hamilton and in some areas that is true.     The last part of the game plan once the house is ready to hit the market is timing, price and commissions. I recently closed a condo that had its corporation collapse and no one else in the building has sold. We found a buyer and negotiated a deal and sold it. We have other agents calling us asking how we sold it and the answer is simple. We did our homework, presented the property properly, priced it right and offered the right commission. Five other units are sitting unsold, some are going power of sale and none of them are selling. Know your market! V     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 sold@uniquerealty.ca.