It's a question I get asked often - should I sell my home on my own and save the commissions, or should I list with a Realtor?  I get asked this enough and have also seen enough people lose a significant amount of money selling on their own, that I figured why not write a blog about it!?  I'm sick of seeing sellers step over dollars to save pennies. So here are my tips for how to sell your home privately.

Full disclosure: you ARE on a Realtor’s Blog here, so while my opinion on the subject may be biased on why you should hire a Realtor, I also don’t want anybody out there getting taken advantage of, or worse – getting sued, so I am going to try and put together a must-know guide on how to sell your house on your own.

Another request: If you intend to sell your house on your own, please do not call a Realtor to ask them to come and walk through your property, give you a valuation and tips for preparing the home for sale.  That isn’t fair to them.  You are in effect saying you value their expertise and skill, but not enough to pay for them.  Just. Don’t. Do. It.  If you want a valuation, I highly recommend reaching out to an appraiser.  They will charge you upfront for their assessment - but then you have some comparable sales for your property and aren't leaving yourself exposed to underpricing or worse, overpricing!

So let's start there: Pricing. 

Pricing is one of the most important considerations that you need to make.  It will either attract or repel purchasers.  Overpricing can be an absolute insult to a purchaser and result in more days on market, price reductions, and ultimately selling your property for less than you should have gotten.  Underpricing can result in not achieving the numbers you should, or in giving the perception that there is something wrong with the property.  There is a very narrow window of price tolerance with buyers, and finding that number will be paramount to your success.  Look at what comparable properties in your neighbourhood are listing at.  Look at your upgrades vs. theirs.  What about square footage, basement finishes, garages, etc?  Be sure to properly adjust for those different features.

Preparing Your Home is PARAMOUNT

Now first thing is first.  When you are selling your home, you do want to prepare that canvas so that it is picture ready.  We usually send through our stager at this point, to walk-through room-by-room with you and give advice.  BUT I just checked and there are many how-to videos on YouTube advising just what types of projects you should be undertaking, or how to dress up a room for staging.  In general, the most effective staging will:

• Improve the flow as you walk through the property
• Present a blank canvas for your purchaser so that they can envision themselves living there
• Reduce buyer objections
• Result in a higher net price to your bottom line

Some key points in the staging process are often depersonalizing within the home, removing clutter, improving traffic-flow with optimal placing of furniture, and organizing.  Also, as a rough rule of thumb, no more than 3 items on any flat surface, and anything smaller than a cantaloupe should be eliminated! Sometimes you should bring pieces in – which we often do.  If you have friends or family that could loan you pieces, that is a great place to start.  Or, a lot of the inventory our stagers carry is from Home Sense – as they have beautiful options in there!

Importance of good photographs 

Next up, you need to get great pictures.  A word from me to you: your cell phone will likely not take these pictures.  Cell phone technology has gotten much better over the years, and the pictures are better than a lot of our former cameras – but you need GREAT quality pictures.  Oftentimes with a wide-angle lens so that you can see the corners of the room as well as all the detail within the room.  So that those viewing your home online can make their own assessments as to whether or not their furniture would fit, what type of windows are in the home, what type of flooring is pictured, whether or not your bedroom has an appropriately sized closet, etc. The list goes on – but the number of things that buyers are determining from your pictures prior to choosing to tour it are significant.  So, don’t lose those buyers by having poorly taken pictures.  I learned this early on in my career after attempting to take some of my own pictures for my listing – I am not a skilled photographer – and I should pay someone to highlight our listings in the best possible light.  You will NEVER regret having good pictures to use for your listing.  The majority of buyers (62%) rely predominantly on the pictures from the online listing - they won't even read your ad copy. So don't cheap out here!

Get on the Video Trends!

Pictures are done – but have you considered video yet? You may have noticed that the world is transitioning toward video.  The apps with some of the biggest growth recently are TikTok (short form content), Instagram (both short form via Reels but also longer form content), as well as YouTube (long form content).  This isn’t just a one-off.  This is truly because more and more people are choosing to consume their information via video, and to “stop the scroll” you need something that is eye-catching and animated.  Also, when it comes to advertising on these platforms, the algorithm is much more favourable to video than it is to static images. So, your marketing dollar and reach goes much further when using video.  Now, just another suggestion.  Completely ignore everything I have said if you are incapable of producing a good-quality video or if your video is simply going to be a slideshow of pictures to music.  That will not entice your buyer enough to watch your video and will likely even turn them off.  In this case, it would just be better to scrap the video altogether.  BUT, if you are willing to expend the money on a good videographer to piece together a video that effectively shows the features of the home as well as layout, then I would say the investment is well worth it!

The Ad Copy is ALL about lifestyle and important detail!

After pictures and video, the third most scrutinized thing in a listing is the actual writeup for your listing. Be SURE to have really good ad copy written up. You are going to want to keep this short and sweet.  Making it too long means the buyer will lose interest as they read.  Having it too short though means you have likely missed important details.  Put together a list of the upgrades you have done within the home in the last 10 years.  If you’ve done many, you might want to eliminate some of the more innocuous details (ie. Painted bathroom 3 years ago).  Again, the goal is to not overwhelm the buyer. This is also a good time to highlight what it actually “feels” like to live within the home – you are going to want to touch upon some points that evoke emotion within the buyer.  For example: “curl up in front of this natural gas fireplace on the coldest of winter nights”.  Highlight some of your favourite parts that you have enjoyed about the home here. Home buying is an incredibly emotional process for buyers, so giving a vision of what their life could look like if they lived here, is paramount.

Reach and Exposure - Time to Push that Ad Out!

You have your house prepped, you have it professionally photographed, you have a great video and good ad copy.  Now it is time to start rolling out your advertising!  A word to the wise – over 92% of buyers now say they originally found their home online.  The remaining 8% is a mix of print advertising, for sale signs, word-of-mouth or other/miscellaneous.  As a result, you are going to want to split up your advertising budget accordingly.  Now, the BULK of the people saying they found their listing online do say that they used the MLS (Realtor.ca) system, but you likely aren’t going to have access to that if you are truly selling your home privately.  If you are using brokerage houses though to list your property while you handle the rest, such as FairSquare Winnipeg (formerly Purple Bricks Winnipeg and prior to that, ComFree Winnipeg), then you will have access to the MLS system.  Just keep in mind that then you aren’t selling your home privately.  These are licensed brokerages and you are signing a listing contract to be entered into the MLS and paying a set fee to do so.  I will touch upon this a bit further later.  Listing in the MLS alone isn’t enough though – you are going to want to use other digital marketing as well as social media marketing to your advantage.  The reach that you can get, just from a $100 ad spend is significant if you know how to use Facebook Business Manager for targeting both your Facebook and Instagram accounts.  I would advise spending more than $100 – it is just the amount of exposure and targeting that you are able to do per $100 far surpasses any other digital marketing option (in my opinion). Also, put that listing everywhere – put it on Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, Homes.ca, etc.  Take advantage of all the free advertising too.  There are over 100 Websites that you can advertise your house for free on as well as other strategies, but I won’t get too technical here.  Feel free to call me for a list.  I would also still advise getting a professional sign outside your home, as it is a low-cost option that may result in a call – and heck, you never know!  The wider you spread that net, the more likely you are to find your buyer (or hopefully, multiple buyers)!

The Importance of the Showing Experience

Now if you can, clear out.  Get OUT of the house and out of the way for your buyers.  I know this may sound alarming, but the biggest complaint I have had from purchasers when showing them Privately Offered, or ComFree or Purple Bricks or now FairSquare listings in Winnipeg, is that the sellers are home and it makes them uncomfortable to tour the home.  I know, you think you are being helpful by telling them how the new heating system worked, or what your favourite part of the home is, but buyers oftentimes feel this is too “pushy”.  They are used to inspecting and touring at their own pace, and having the owner right there really interrupts that flow.  Truthfully, I have found some of the quickest tours with buyers to be the ones in which the seller is home – because those buyers just can’t get out of there fast enough.  If you are able to make arrangements with buyer’s agents prior to showings, or you are able to install a lockbox on the property (can be purchased at Canadian Tire or Home Depot), that is oftentimes the way to go.  Now, that being said – you also need to be sure you are only letting QUALIFIED buyers into your home.  This is where I guess things could get awkward.  If the purchaser has their own agent that is discussing the tour with you, they will have verified a pre-approval and the identity of their purchaser, so there is some confirmation there.  However, if you are dealing directly with a purchaser it may be awkward to ask for proof of a pre-approval letter prior to showing, but in all honesty, I would still request it.  You are allowing complete strangers into your home, so it is important to vet them properly.

Are Open Houses Worth It? 

Decide if you want to host an open house.  A lot of private sellers do host these, however what we have found, particularly during COVID when we went for long periods of time without open houses, is that they are pretty ineffective at finding qualified buyers.  A lot of the traffic through the open house seems to be neighbours, or people out on a Sunday drive that just happen upon the listing.  The statistic prior to COVID was that 1 in 50 homes might sell from an open house, but I think that statistic is likely far worse.  That being said, it is a good option to get additional exposure for your home should you not be great at presenting an online presence.

Offers start to come in!

You’ve had some showings.  Depending on the market, you may have set yourself up for an offer date even.  But just how long to hold off those offers, or how many showings you should have before reviewing offers is something that is neighbourhood specific, time-sensitive, and seasonal.  Look to the MLS, see what other listings are doing.  Are they holding a showing window period of 5 days?  10 days?  What seems to be working?  You won’t be able to see the prices people are getting from the public MLS, but you might be able to see what kind of traffic your neighbours are getting, just how quickly the sold sign goes up, and you could approach them just to get a feel on activity and how things went.  You also want to be careful to not hold an offer date on the same day as a competing listing.  There is strategy on whether or not you should book your offer date before or after a similar listing and it will depend on how yours shows in relation to the other.  But determining an appropriate offer date to review offers, is paramount to your success.

Options when reviewing offers

You will receive your (hopefully) stack of offers – and now you have options.  You can either: Accept, Counter, or Reject. Just a few words of caution here: be careful how you negotiate if you are countering offers.  Be sure to not extend more than one counteroffer at a time – because in Manitoba, you can essentially sell your home twice (and I don’t think you have two of the exact same homes to sell)!  It is good to be versed in what conditions are normal and the regular timelines for these conditions – so that you know if something seems out of line.  Oftentimes having a good real estate lawyer that can advise on this would be a great start. While it is not common for properties listed with a Realtor, it might be in your best interest to insert a condition that benefits you to allow for lawyer review.  The last thing you want is to sign a contract without being sure what every single line-item means.

Other Important Considerations Affecting the Market

I prefaced this email with my bias toward hiring a Realtor, and I still truly feel that is the best way. But here are some items I just want to touch upon, so that the whole “selling privately” experience isn’t a surprise for you.  In January of 2022, it became mandatory that buyers sign Buyer Service Agreements with their Realtor.  Within these service agreements is usually a pre-stated amount of commission that the buyer agrees their Realtor should be compensated with upon closing.  This is normally covered by the seller as part of the proceeds from the sale.  However, if the Seller is unwilling to cover these fees, this agreement often states that the buyer is to cover the commission themselves – and may make private sales less attractive for the buyer as it represents a larger cash outlay for them.  If I were a private seller, I would personally advertise a commission to cooperating buyer’s agents, and perhaps factor that into my listing price.  My understanding is that the brokerages that list homes on the MLS for a flat fee give similar advice and do recommend offering a cooperating commission.

I also have come to learn over the years that people are most concerned with REMAX Realtor Commission Rates – and that they may be some of the highest as we are one of the larger brokerage houses and are known for heavy marketing, etc.  I would argue that this isn’t the case, and rather that our commission structures are competitive.  I would also say that our marketing reach is likely some of the most extensive given the platforms that REMAX Winnipeg has built.

There are circumstances where people do not wish for their house to be listed so publicly – sometimes death, divorce, etc. In situations like this, we recommend Exclusive Listings.  This keeps your house off the MLS listing service, but still allows your Realtor to provide real estate services to procure the sale.  You can opt to not have a for sale sign, and to handle the whole sale a bit more discreetly under this method. If requiring more discreet, exclusive listing Winnipeg services is what you are looking for, I would STILL recommend hiring a Realtor – as their reach and exposure even just from their network will likely net you more even without being on the MLS.

As a final statistic, and keep in mind this comes from the National Association of Realtors, but on average those homes listed privately do sell for approximately 18% less “FSBO homes sold at a median of $260,000 last year, significantly lower than the median of agent-assisted homes at $318,000.”.  Source: https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/highlights-from-the-profile-of-home-buyers-and-sellers.  Oftentimes, it is for lack of exposure, improper pricing, or buyers factoring in the cost of paying commissions out of pocket regardless. 

Prior to being a Realtor, I always thought I would sell my home on my own.  However, after being a Realtor and navigating both buyers and sellers through the process thousands of times, I would say that those working with a GREAT Realtor, always seem to come out ahead. Just my two cents.  If you've read this far, thanks for taking the time. If listing with us sounds of interest to you, great!  Please feel free to reach out.  If the for sale by owner route sounds better to you, I truly wish you well on your journey!  There is no one-size-fits-all approach for anything in life, and you have to make the decision that is best for you!

Happy Selling, folks!

#AgentJen

Jennifer Queen

Phone: (204) 797-7945
Email: Jennifer@JenniferQueen.com

Your Home is Sold… Now What!?

Congratulations!  You’ve made it from listing to SOLD!  But now what?  I’m going to cover some points that I often go through with my clients once their home sale firms up. 

In my opinion, the hardest part is over.  You have triumphed through showing-after-showing, multiple open houses, some harsh feedback, along with all of the other stresses that come with the sale. Or perhaps you consider the physical packing and moving of your items to be the most stressful.  Either way, things are moving forward and it is best to be mentally prepared!

All of the paperwork that you need to sign with me is now complete.  That's right, you no longer have to see my face.  Unless of course you want to.  Then the feeling is mutual!  But I will not be needing any more signatures on anything at this point, unless you and the buyers agree to amend something in the contract, for instance a possession date.

What you will still need to sign are the land transfer and mortgage discharge documents, etc. usually done with your lawyer a few days prior to possession.  I will have already forwarded all of the paperwork on to your lawyer, so they should have everything they need for your file, apart from your signing hands (and survey certificates if you have them and keys)!  The lawyers will usually get in touch with you about a week prior to possession. So do not be alarmed if you don’t hear from them immediately after the sale.  You only need to give your lawyer one set of keys.  The remainder of the keys can be in the home for the new owners.  The purchasers just need to be able access the home on the date of possession.

The lawyer will also ask for final meter readings, particularly the water meter reading.  This should be done the day prior to possession.  The lawyer will usually give you instruction on this.  If you do not provide the water meter reading, sometimes the lawyers will do a holdback of funds (usually around $1000), until they receive confirmation from the City that your usage has been confirmed and paid. So it is important to get this reading done prior to possession.  You should also read the hydro and gas meters as well.  For any meter reading, I encourage you to take pictures of the meters, especially with something that shows a date. The purchasers are instructed to take their own meter readings upon possession as well, and then Hydro tends to take the average of your reading and their reading to arrive at a number they feel is fair for final billing.  So far, I have only encountered honest buyers and sellers, but I'm sure there are some that lack scruples and may report inaccurately (hence the picture recommendation).

Other items to keep in mind: It is time now to cancel your insurance.  BUT I would cancel it effective a few days AFTER possession.  Just to be safe.  I've heard horror stories of people showing up for possession and the house having burned down and there being some dispute over when the fire started.  So better safe than sorry.  The extra cost for a few extra days is worth the peace of mind, in my opinion.  

Make sure to change your address on everything (Credit Cards, Schools, Bank Institutions, etc). You may want to look into mail forwarding with Canada Post.  They have options for mail forwarding for several months up until a year.  I have found that there is always some mail that may slip through the cracks (Costco rebate cheques that only come once a year!).  So if you are feeling paranoid that there is something you may miss, I recommend setting yourself up for mail forwarding.  The Canada Post Website can be found here: https://www.canadapost.ca/cpc/en/personal/receiving/manage-mail/mail-forwarding.page

And my last instructions are to go celebrate.  This one was tough on you guys, but you championed through and you deserve some time to celebrate! CONGRATS!

#AgentJen

Jennifer Queen

Phone: (204) 797-7945
Email: Jennifer@JenniferQueen.com

The Real Cost of Purchasing a Property

Thinking of buying a house? Most buyers already know there are costs associated to purchasing a home (apart from the obvious purchase price) but what are those costs exactly?

In the real estate world, we refer to these costs as “closing costs”. These closing costs account for all of the extra fees, taxes and more that are required at the time of closing to ensure the property transfers ownership. On average, we tell our clients to set aside 2-2.5% of the total purchase price of the home to cover these closing costs. What this means, is that if you are purchasing a home for $350,000.00, with a 20% ($70,000.00) down payment you would need to have $8750.00 aside PLUS your down payment to close on this property. If this comes as a little bit of a shock to you, don’t worry, you aren’t the only one! Good news is, after reading this article you will be an expert in what to expect when it comes time to writing that big, scary cheque on possession day!

Just a tidbit of advice before I get started, mortgage lenders will usually want proof that you have the amount needed for closing prior to approving your mortgage financing, so having a rough idea how much you will need will help you understand how much you can afford.

THE BREAKDOWN:

Lawyer Fees:

This is the most variable cost of all of the closing costs. Lawyer fees well vary depending on which lawyer you use, the amount of labour needed, what documents are required and much, much more. The majority of real estate transactions go pretty smooth once they are with the lawyers (we have already done the majority of the back and forth!) and if this is your case, you should be budgeting for roughly $800-1200 for these costs.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are NOT using a real estate agent to write the offer, these costs will be significantly higher.

Title Insurance:

We have spoken about title insurance in the past but here is a quick summary once again. Title Insurance is required by most lawyers and lenders when closing on your property. This insurance has replaced the need for a survey of the property. It covers you for encroachments, easements and building permits that were not disclosed to you prior to you purchasing your home. Buyers MUST do their due diligence to ensure this information was not readily available to them prior to them purchasing the insurance. Title insurance will cost between $250-$400 depending on which provider you use.

Land Transfer Tax

This is the big one. This is a provincial tax that is calculated as a percentage of the purchase price of your home. The calculation is a little complicated as it depends on the price of your home. As the purchase price of the home increases, the percentage paid increases as well.  If you would like to see a more accurate calculator you can go to ratehub.ca and go to Land Transfer Calculator and input your information. In Manitoba there is also a registration fee for $70.

Property Tax

Depending on what time of year you are taking possession, and how the previous owners were paying their taxes, you will have to reimburse the sellers for the amount paid already. If they are part of the TTIP program, you will only be reimbursing them for the portion of the taxes they paid for that MONTH after the property transferred. If they paid their taxes in one lump sum in June, you will need to reimburse them for the portion of the YEAR after the property transferred to you. As you can see, this amount can be substantially different depending on how they paid and when. Therefore my advice to you is be prepared to have to pay as though they made one lump sum and there will be no surprises!

Commission

Normally, the buyer does not pay any commission to their real estate agent. The price of the commission has already been built into the purchase price and is paid by the sellers. There are situations where the sellers are not willing to pay commission, when that happens, there is a fee agreement drawn up between the buyer and agent for an amount or percentage agreed to by both parties. This is very rare but does occasionally happen.

Mortgage Default Insurance

This one is an honorable mention, this is not technically a closing cost but it is something to be aware of when purchasing a home. Mortgage default insurance is associated with any mortgage where the buyer has put down LESS than 20% (also called an insured mortgage). This mandatory insurance is tacked on to your mortgage, thus not an upfront cost.

Other costs:

We have covered the fees that will be required on the day of possession but I just want to touch on a few others that may come up during your move!

-          Moving Truck

-          Boxes

-          Internet/Cable set up

-          Renovations 

-          Locksmith

-          Cleaning companies/supplies

-          Storage Locker (depending on when possession is)

-          Painting

Like I had said at the beginning of this article, this may all seem a little overwhelming and not mention expensive. Being aware of the costs to be expected will hopefully take away some of the surprise and prepare you for the realty for what it cost to buy. 

#AgentAshton

Ashton Augert

Phone: (204) 781-1767
Email: Ashton@JenniferQueen.com

June marks my seventh year in real estate!  This is hard to believe, as it feels like just yesterday when I received my letter from the Manitoba Securities Commission!  Although in this time I have had two babies, received my MBA in Marketing from the University of Manitoba, bought and sold my own home, become an aunt two times over, and got my broker’s license.  So I guess more time has passed than I realize!  Anyways, to commemorate this anniversary, I thought I would put together a list of the seven things I have learned in my seven years in real estate:

1. Real estate is a relational business, not a transactional business

People truly don’t care what you know, until they know that you care. For the first few years of my career, I was so focused on being professional.  Rigid would be a good way to define my personality in the early days. Sorry to these clients, it must have been very boring to work with me! Realizing that you can be professional while also being personable was a game changer.  Now, sharing my life with my clients, as they share their lives with me has made my job much more enjoyable, and resulted in many long-lasting relationships!

2. There are two ways to build the tallest building in town

I know, this sounds weird, but there are two ways to look at business: 1. You can tear down all of the businesses around you to become the tallest building, or; 2: You can just build the tallest building.  This can be a tough industry as my colleagues or friends within the business are often my competition, and an industry set up such as this can lead to dissension amongst peers and sometimes downright dirty tactics to obtain clients.  But karma exists. Always choose to build the taller building.

3. Build a solid team around you

Amy started with me after my first year in the business.  It helped that she had some knowledge and experience already in real estate.  However, had she not, recruiting her still would have been an easy decision.  You see, I truly believe that anything can be taught.  However, character cannot be learned. So build your team with quality people that want to see you succeed, and the rest can be figured out as you go! As we have continued to grow the team, and form partnerships with others, this strategy has remained at the forefront and it has not steered us wrong yet!

4. Communication is Key!

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes.  A lot of the time silence is mistaken for inactivity.  Whether it be good news, bad news, or even no news, keep in touch with your clients! Sometimes it may be uncomfortable, but people will appreciate you for making the call.

5. Honesty is the best policy

For most people, a home will be the largest asset they ever own.  So be honest in your dealings with the public.  Throughout the buy and sell process there are a lot of questions and decisions that will come up, so delivering truthful information is key so that buyers and sellers can make informed decisions.  Sometimes the truth isn’t what people want to hear, and delivering it can be painful.  But your clients and fellow Realtors will thank you for it in the end.

6. Education is paramount

Goodness, the things that I didn’t know when I started are scary to me.  But the only way to learn is to latch onto every education opportunity you can find.  Whether it be following a home inspector around, to tricking other Realtors to go for lunch with me so that I could pick their brain, to enlisting in webinars from other Realtors, to reading a new book, to enrolling in courses (online and offline), or to deciding to take up an MBA in marketing mid-career, there is an abundance of things that we can all learn.  Always be willing to share your knowledge and education with others as well. 

7. Trust that life usually works intelligently

Over prepare then go with the flow. If things don’t seem to work out at first, there is usually a good reason for it. Things will inevitably go sideways.  Buyers will get declined for financing, home inspections will fail, you will have clients get outbid on a property.  But after doing this for several years, I have learned that if it is meant to be, it will be.

Looking back, it all seems like it went by so fast!  It has been quite a ride, many happy and hilarious memories have been made, and many life milestones achieved. I wouldn’t have it any other way and can’t wait to see what the next seven years will bring!