Cont: “Maximize the Selling Price of your Condominium or Town Home in the Langley and Surrey Real Estate Markets”

Curb Appeal - The power of a good first impression

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. Start by standing across the street and taking a good look at your home. Try to see it as a potential buyer would. Does anything jump out at you that might need attending to?

If your paint has faded badly, is peeling significantly or is using a very dated color scheme then having the exterior of your home freshly painted can be a great investment to help your unit sell faster and for more money. But please be sure to check with your strata council first before launching into such an endeavor.

Your yard

• Low maintenance yards are usually better
• Use plants with some of color to give inexpensive but effective visual interest
• Potted plants by an entranceway can create a positive effect
• Talk to your local gardening shop to get tips for inexpensive plant choices
• Keep it clean. Even if the strata looks after your yard, you might want to take charge of your front area for a few days to help your place sell
• Grassy areas should be neatly trimmed and edged and leaves should be raked
• Make sure there are no pet droppings on the lawn. Few things start a showing off more poorly than a heel full of dog poop…
• View – A good view can increase the value of your home by 10% or more! While you cannot create a potential for a view where none exists, you can maximize your existing view by going over to your neighbors and politely asking them if they might allow you to do some selective trimming. Paying a local arborist a few hundred dollars to assist with this can net you a fantastic return on your investment
• Get rid of any items or clutter that may have accumulated around the outside of your unit

Entering your home

Windows – wash them inside and out. This makes a difference to light and the overall psychological appeal of your potential buyers.

First impressions are powerful. Your entranceway needs to be immaculate and free of clutter. While your whole condominium should make a strong selling statement, the positive effect of an attractive entrance carries over well even when later parts of the showing are not quite as impressive. Conversely, it is much harder to turn a buyer’s impression around when the beginning of the showing makes a bad first impression.

The front door

• Get a nice new mat.
• Have the steps cleaned and swept. Borrow a pressure washer to remove built up grime and stains
• Remove smudges from the door.
• Make sure that the front door lock doesn’t stick. Try a little wd40 if it does, and replace the lock if that doesn’t do the trick.
• Remove any decorative address plates that display your name

Once inside - General decorating guidelines

• Avoid making strong personal decorating statements unless you are a professional designer
• Remember that it is about what the buyer likes – not about what you like. Your condo is only worth what a buyer thinks it is worth
• Make it easy for people to see how a room can be used, don’t make them guess. Most buyers are not visualizers or innovators. If you don’t show them how the room can be used, they most likely won’t see its potential
• Remove highly personal items – a few family pictures are ok, but remember that you are trying to help potential buyers see their family in this home, not yours.
• Furniture – get rid of extra furniture pieces that are making hallways or rooms feel tight or cluttered
• Paint – arguably the best value for your dollar spent so long as the finished job looks bright and professional. Neutral colors are often a safer bet
• Paint if your colors remind people of another era (especially if that era involved disco balls and large gold medallions). Paint in a lighter color if rooms appear dark
• Unless you are employing the help of a professional designer, don’t make bold color statements. Light neutral colors will make your space look larger, feel brighter, and will help your home sell faster. 
• Look for water stains in the ceiling – things like a loose shingle may have left a small mark in the paint. And even though a minor issue like this was repaired years ago, that small mark can have a big impact on buyers – few things fill buyers with more dread than the prospect of ongoing water damage.

The ‘Big Squeeze’ - Space

Condos and town homes are frequently smaller than traditional homes, and many buyers of condominiums or town homes in Langley will either be retirement couples downsizing or younger growing families. Both groups will be experiencing the ‘space squeeze’ albeit for different reasons, and it is your job to make your condominium or town home feel as spacious as possible.

Tips for conquering clutter

• Be Ruthless!
• Box up any off season items or random stuff that you want to hang on to and either drop it off at a friend’s house for a few weeks or consider renting a storage locker
• Kitchen counters need to be cleared off – this includes including daily appliances like the toaster.
• Accept the fact that cupboards and drawers will be opened by prospective buyers. They need to be clean and tidy, showing their function without being cluttered.
• Get rid of excessive food, cleaning supplies and other items that make your kitchen storage look cluttered or maxed out
• Closets – this is a big one! Storage is a real issue with potential condominium buyers and crammed closets send a message that your place may not have enough storage – a big turn off. A lack of perceived closet space can not only decrease the potential sale price of your town home, it can also make it harder for you to sell. In order to make closet space appear ample you need to organize and simplify. Organize and neatly fold all the contents that you simply must hang on to. Consider using closet organizers to help you maximize space. All non essentials should be packed away. Give away excess clothing taking up space in your closets – if you haven’t worn it in the last year then clean it, bag it and arrange for a local charity pickup. Your closets should look functional but not crowded.
• Garages and storage areas – your storage areas are no exception! They also need to be clean and clutter free. Use similar ideas that we have already talked about to make these areas appear spacious.
• Calling the junk people and haul away clutter might only cost a few hundred dollars, but could easily net you much more with a better selling price
• Have a garage sale or donate items to your local church bazaar

Pets and Odors…

Permit me to be blunt here in an effort to help you sell your house faster and get you a better selling price:

Fact – all animals come with smells… including yours.

Yes, we all love our pets but potential buyers do not. We become acclimatized to the particular smells of our animals and tend not to notice them. But let me assure you that potential buyers will notice them immediately upon entering your home.

Smell is a very powerful emotional and psychological trigger. The smell of baking bread is good but the smells of cigarettes, damp dogs or kitty litter pans are most definitely not. There should be no sign of pets. No smells, no hair, no toys, no pets… Litter trays should be changed daily and should not be visible. Consider having pets stay with a friend on showing days.

If you have pets or are a smoker, don’t try to cover up the smell with air fresheners or other inexpensive solutions. The smell of ‘lavender and damp dog’ is not a vast improvement over damp dog odor  ‘a la carte…’ Instead, give serious consideration to purchasing an ozone spray to remove smells without leaving that ‘cover up’ smell that people associate with air fresheners. For the next few weeks while your house sells, you should probably smoke outside.

Have your furniture, drapes and carpets professionally cleaned to get rid of existing pet and smoking odors.

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