When you’re selling your home, you may find buyers who want to see it later in the evening, when it’s dark outside. In that circumstance, effective home lighting becomes more important.

The best place to start is with exterior lighting. If you have soft ground lamps on the walkway, make sure those are turned on. That will make for a more pleasant and inviting trip up the walkway.

Do you have motion detection lighting? Make sure those are set to continuous lighting. It can be jarring for a buyer to be hit with an unexpected beam of bright light when walking to your door.

Also, check the brightness of exterior lights. If they are bordering on blinding, replace the bulbs with lower wattage options.

Inside the home, keep curtains and other window coverings open. Although it may be dark outside, an unobstructed window will help make the room seem more inviting and spacious.

Turn on your full lighting system in the backyard. Make that outdoor space enticing for buyers to check out.

If you have dark areas in your home, such as a basement room or walk-in closet, explore ways to light it better.

Overall, you want the lighting to help buyers see and appreciate the best qualities of your property.

What is it about your property that stands out? What will buyers like most about it? What are your home’s most enticing features?

Answering those questions will help you determine which features to emphasize when selling your home. After all, you want buyers to notice and appreciate your property’s best characteristics.

But here’s the challenge...

It can be difficult to determine which features of your home are particularly desirable to buyers. You live there! So, there might be a fantastic characteristic of your property that you’ve gotten used to. You might not even realize its value.

One way to gain perspective is to ask friends, “What is it about our property that you like most? What stands out to you?” Ask them to be candid. Often, they’ll reveal characteristics about your home that may surprise you. You’ll definitely gain insights that will help you when listing.

Another technique is to compare your property to others in the neighbourhood. Buyers often target neighbourhoods, so realizing how your home stands out can be helpful when marketing it. For example, your property might have a larger backyard than most others on the street, or it might have a lot of recent upgrades.

Imagine a kid running a lemonade stand. He’s selling his product for 25 cents a cup. He’s doing okay. Sales are good. Then someone comes up to his stand and says, “I’ll give you 50 cents for a cup. But, I don’t have the money right now. Give me the lemonade and I’ll pay you later.”

Should he take the deal?

Chances are, you’d advise against it. After all, just because the price is high — in this case, double — doesn’t mean the offer is a good one. There’s a chance the customer won’t come back with the promised 50 cents!

That’s a simple example but applicable when considering multiple offers for your home. Yes, the offer with the highest price is often the one to accept, but there are situations when that’s not the case.

For example, you should be careful when considering the highest offer if the buyers’ financial situation is uncertain. Have they attached an appropriate deposit? Have they secured a prearranged mortgage from a reputable lender? Has their current home been sold, or is it at least listed for sale?

It may turn out that the offer is fine, but these are questions that should
be considered.

Another scenario involves conditions. The highest offer might have conditions such as your property passing a home inspection or the buyers selling their current home. That would make the second-highest offer with no conditions more attractive — especially if the price isn’t far off that of the highest offer.

Keep in mind that you can ask to have conditions dropped in your
counter-offer.

As you can see, deciding which offer to accept is not as straight-forward as it may seem, especially if you anticipate getting multiple offers.

Is there a neighbourhood you drive through occasionally and think, “Wow. I’d love to live here. What a fantastic area”?

Why don’t you take that thought any further? Maybe you think getting into that neighbourhood just isn’t doable – at least, not right now.

Perhaps you’re worried about the home prices or the current lack of homes for sale in that area. Maybe there’s some other reason, such as the possibility of higher mortgage payments.

Of course, those are all valid concerns. But why not find out whether or not they would genuinely hold you back?

For example, if you’re wondering whether you can afford a home in that neighbourhood, you can find that out with a reasonable degree of certainty. You can:

• Get a current market value assessment so you know, approximately, what you’d likely get for your home.
• Find out the average selling price of homes in the target neighbourhood.
• Calculate what you’d be able to put down on a new home.
  • Find out how much mortgage you’ll need and what your payments would be.

Once you’ve taken a closer look at the actual numbers, you might discover that a nice home in your desired neighbourhood is within reach.

So, get the facts you need instead of assuming you can’t get into the neighbourhood you want.

The fact might be, you can!

Call today if you’d like to explore that possibility. I can help you get the facts you need.

If you’re thinking about selling in the spring, don’t wait until the new year to start planning. In fact, you’ll save yourself a lot of work and get ahead of the game if you start planning now.

What’s that old saying? The early bird gets the worm! In this case, by starting the process this month, you’ll be in excellent shape when you’re ready to list in the spring.

Here are just a few examples of what you can do in December to get the process started:

• Walk your property and note any maintenance issues that need attention.
• Decide which items to stow or sell to declutter your home.
• Determine what improvements you’ll need to make in order for your home to look great to buyers (i.e. painting.)
• Find out approximately how much your property will likely sell for in the spring market.
• Clarify the kind of new home you’d like to move into, including ideal neighbourhoods.
• Look into your financing options, so you’ll know the price range you’ll be shopping within.
• Connect with any professionals you may need, such as contractors, a mover, and a real estate lawyer.
• Take advantage of any December shopping deals for products you may need, such as home improvement project materials, packing supplies, etc.

As you can see, the more prepared you are this month, the more stress-free and successful the home selling process will be for you in the spring.

If you need to sell your home in the next month or two, you might be worried. After all, aren’t spring and summer the ideal seasons to list your property? If you list in November or December, you might have difficulties attracting buyers and getting the best price for your home. Right?

Not necessarily.

While it’s true that spring and summer are traditionally busy periods in the real estate market, properties do sell every month of the year.

So, if you’re thinking of selling, you’ll need to know two things:

• What comparable homes are selling for at this time of year.
• How long homes are taking to sell, on average.

There might be a local seller’s market this month. That would mean there are more buyers looking for homes like yours than there are sellers. If that’s the case, your property will likely sell fairly quickly; perhaps you’ll even get multiple offers.

But, even if there’s a buyer’s market at this moment, that doesn’t mean your property won’t sell. It just means your home will need to be staged and marketed effectively to attract the right buyers and pique their interest in making an offer.

Regardless of the market, chances are, there are buyers out there looking for a home like yours. They just need to find out about it, become interested in viewing it, and be wowed when they see it.

So, don’t be too concerned about the month. If you’re ready to sell, there’s a way to make it happen.

Call me for more details.

If you have a home that is overdue for a renovation, you might be worried that it will be difficult to sell as a "fixer-upper". In fact, you might delay listing your property for that reason.

The good news is, you don’t need to fix up everything in your home to prepare it for sale. You can be selective and choose only those projects that are most likely to help your home show well and sell quickly.  

Here are some projects to consider:

• Repairs. Few things stand out more during a viewing than something in obvious need of repair. That includes minor issues, like a dripping bathroom faucet, as well as major concerns, such as the central air conditioning unit not working. Get these repairs done.
• Painting. Painting is one of the easiest and most affordable DIY projects you can do. Yet the impact it can have on your home is stunning. Some rooms are completely transformed by a fresh coat of paint.
• Kitchens & Bathrooms. Buyers love to see great looking kitchens and bathrooms. In fact, there are even magazines devoted just to those rooms! You don't necessarily need to do a major renovation of these spaces, but a makeover can be a good idea. Consider replacing sinks, countertops, and/or cabinet hardware.
• Floors. If the floors in any of your rooms have become worn and unsightly, look at options for refreshing them. Consider replacing carpeting, refinishing hardwood, and/or getting tiles professionally cleaned and polished.
• Outdoors. Sometimes you can compensate (a little) for a less-than-ideal interior by sprucing up the outdoor space. Explore ways to improve your deck or patio, walkways, and landscaping. 

Even if your home is older, you can make it more attractive to buyers with any one of these projects.

Outdoor lighting has come a long way from the days of patio lanterns and strings of lightbulbs. These days, there's an exhaustive array of options available to illuminate your outdoor space, and make it more appealing and comfortable, particularly in the evenings.

Here are just a few ideas:

• Solar garden lights. These lights are on stakes that can be easily inserted throughout the garden. Powered by the sun, they generate enough energy to cast a soft, pleasant glow along walkways or in flower beds in the evenings.
• Deck post lights. These are easy to install because they're designed to sit on top of a standard 4x4 wood deck post. Most are solar powered.
• Street-style lamps. As the name implies, these look similar to old-fashioned street lamps. Installation is a little more complex, but still DIY-friendly. They're eye-catching and have a dramatic impact on the look of your outdoor space.
• Portable lantern lights. These are outdoor lights that are portable and often made to look like a decorative fixture for a coffee table or side table. They can be placed anywhere.
• LED walkway lights. These are small lights that fit neatly and almost invisibly under stairs and around walkways. Walkway lights not only look good but also improve safety. Most are battery powered.
• Planter lights. This is one of the most interesting options. Each one is both a flower pot and a light in one! The pot itself is translucent which allows the light inside to shine through.

Design experts say you should treat your outdoor space as you would any room in your home. Lighting it up for evening comfort and enjoyment is a good place to start.

Imagine your coffee maker switching on by itself, staying on for hours, overheating and becoming a fire hazard. That's not science fiction. As more and more appliances incorporate WIFI, the opportunities for hackers to play havoc with your home gadgets increase.

How do you prevent that from happening? Here are some safety tips:

• If your gadget uses a password to access the settings, change that password frequently. Ideally, change it once every 3 months.
• Some gadgets, such as alarm systems, come with their own connection to the internet. Learn how to turn that connection off if it becomes necessary to do so.
• Don't leave an internet-connected appliance or other gadget on constantly unless it’s necessary. For example, you don't need your home speaker system connected to your digital music providers all the time.
• Baby monitors with video are a common target for hackers. Use a password unique to that device and change it often. Never leave the monitor on when not in use.
• Never share passwords with anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. Most home WIFI systems have a "guest" feature with a separate password and limited access. Use it.

In this age of internet connectivity — from coffee makers to stereos and even washing machines — it's smart to play it safe. Know what's connected and protect yourself.