Gordon and Anne lived in the same house for over 30 years. Now that their children are grown and it was becoming more difficult for them to manage the house, they decided to downsize. Here is what Gordon and Anne did to get the best price they could when they sold their home:
De-cluttered - Like many, they had a lot of stuff in their house. After passing on family heirlooms to their children, Gordon and Anne held a big garage sale. What didn't sell was donated to charity. There was still plenty left so the house didn't look empty when being shown to potential buyers.
Cleaned - They cleaned the house thoroughly and kept it neat and tidy while it was being shown to potential buyers. This included steam cleaning the carpets, washing the windows, pressure washing the exterior and sweeping out the garage.
Painted and repaired - As the walls had not been painted for about a decade and they loved having their grand children over, they modernized the color scheme by painting all the walls. Gordon and Anne also performed minor repairs so that everything worked properly such as squeaking doors, cracked baseboards, sticking kitchen drawers, etc.
Had it inspected - Gordon and Anne had their home professionally inspected. The report identified a few minor deficiencies which they had repaired. This was an added value for potential buyers and enhanced the sale value of their home.
Had it appraised - A professional appraisal helped Gordon and Anne decide on an asking price for their home.
Reviewed offers - Before Gordon and Anne accepted a purchase offer, they reviewed it with their real estate agent and their lawyer. Some buyers prefer to haggle back and forth before arriving at a final price.
Gathered important information - To help the new owner transition into their home, Gordon and Anne provided them with copies of past tax and utility bills. They also provided them with operating manuals for the appliances included with the house, manuals for the furnace, hot water tank and air conditioning, and copies of the invoices for larger repairs and renovations.
Before they moved out of their home, Gordon and Anne changed their mailing address with Canada Post, their banks, their insurance companies, their credit card providers and, of course, their family and friends. They also canceled their utilities on the house, and had them re-connected on their new, smaller
residence.
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