Selling Your Toronto Condo

Thinking of selling your Toronto Condo? Contact me now to discuss your options and learn more about my services, or just to find out how much your condo might be worth should you decide to put it on the market. I handle both traditional resale properties and assignment sales.

Selling your condo can be a stressful experience, especially if it is your first time selling property. The dollars and cents seem to take on a whole different meaning when you are selling compared to when you are buying. Getting that extra $5000 or $10,000 when you are selling can make a huge difference while an extra $5000 or $10,000 on a mortgage doesn’t seem like much.

Here are just a few things to consider when selling your condo:

1. Hire an agent or go it alone? The vast majority of sellers in Canada use a real estate agent to sell their home. But that doesn’t mean that you must use an agent. Technically you don’t even need a lawyer to handle a real estate transaction-if you are up for the challenge of negotiating the land registry system on your own. Some sellers would rather do it without an agent and there are many options available to them if they do. Of course I would never advocate selling your property without an agent [this is what I do for a living, after all 🙂 ], but I certainly understand why many people do try to go it alone. Reality is though, that most sellers who try to sell without an agent eventually do hire an agent.

2. Price it low and hope for multiple offers or price it higher and wait for an offer? Pricing your property is never an exact science. My philosophy when it comes to pricing is: provide my clients with the absolute best information available, and allow them to make the decision. My underlying assumption is that my clients are intelligent, thoughtful people who will make great decisions when given great information. Pricing your property low and hoping for multiple offers can be a great strategy, but it can also backfire if you don’t get any offers and you are stuck at that price or you increase the price. Pricing your property too high at the start can also be shooting yourself in the foot. Before settling on a price, ask yourself, would you be happy to accept this price, and also, if you were a buyer, would you be willing to pay this price? If there is any hesitation on either front, you may have to rethink your pricing strategy.

3. Hire your friend or hire an expert? Many sellers often hire the agent that they bought their property with, or that they have some personal relationship with. While working with someone you already know and trust isn’t necessarily a bad thing, your home is often the largest single investment that you own, so make sure you handle it with expert care. If the person you have used before or your friend is not an expert in your condo building or neighbourhood, consider hiring someone who is. Many a friendship has been lost through a negative experience in a real estate transaction.

If you have any questions about selling your Toronto condo or home, feel free to contact me any time.