Guides

Sometimes as your agent I may overlook going over these details because I know you trust that you are in good hands, or that you may have experience. I want your experience to be the best with no stone unturned so this guide will help you when it comes to receiving an offer on your home.

• You can do 3 things with any offer:

a. Disregard it - You don’t have to accept it, or sign it back if you don’t want to (after all it is your home, so it is your decision!)

b. Accept it - If you are satisfied with the offer, then accept it

c. Sign it back - If it needs some improving/ changing then dont be shy, again, it is your home; ask for what you want when it comes to price, dates lining up (closing),

• Conditions:

Once you accept an offer you can’t accept another offer. If an offer is conditional and it gets accepted you can not accept another offer. You can receive other offers, but not accept, so I urge you to still show the property if you end up selling it conditionally. I also do everything in my power and utilize every strategy, so that you are not having to accept a conditional offer, however, in a more balanced market, selling a property conditional is the norm.

• Most offers will have 2 revisit requests in them. These revisits are a 1 hour period used for the buyer to come visit their new home. Some people use these visits to show family their new home, or they may use it to bring contractors in. Most agents are good about requesting the time, they would typically ask about 1 week in advance of when they wish to come. Typically one of the visits is saved for the week of closing. We know that its a busy time for you with your move, however, try your best to accommodate. The agent/ their buyers understand that the home is not going to show like the day that they bought the home! 

• Many offers (in a balanced market) may be conditional on a home inspection satisfactory to the buyer at their sole discretion. More often than not, a buyer would like the opportunity for a professional to assess the property and any potential structural, surface, and cosemetic damages and risks. It is common for imperfections to be found, however, greater issues that pose a threat to the use of the property may threaten the deal, or may require the purchase price to be amended accordingly or any said issues to be resolved by the time of closing.

• If you are hosting an offer evening you would not want to look at an offer that has a condition prior to then. It ties up the property and throws a wrench into the plan. In my opinion a pre-emptive (bully) offer would really need to beat your expectations for you to consider it in advance of an offer evening. 

I will update you personally as new offers get registered, but not the details of these offers as we likely will not have them until the deadline. We have asked all offers to be registered and submitted by 1pm. We will coordinate with you on the day of, if you would like to do this remotely or in person. We usually like to review them with you around 3pm When we have decided which offer we prefer to work with we will go through that offer in fine detail.

The cheque is in! How much do you get to keep? There are a number of closing costs to consider. The following is a list of expenses normally incurred by a Seller when completing the sale of a Residential property within Toronto.

• Legal Fees: The tariff rate for residential properties is between .25% and .5% of the purchase price, normally not to exceed $2,500.00. Lawyers may negotiate their fees and will provide individual quotes when requested. However, in general, the costs for Selling a home should be less than those for Buying, as the Seller’s Lawyer mostly responds to the Buyer’s requests.

• Mortgage Fees: Check with your mortgage lender to determine if any costs will occur when transferring or releasing your mortgage. There is sometimes what is referred to as a discharge fee to remove the mortgage from title that can range from $100 to $250. There may also be penalties for terminating the term early. You will likely also have the option to port. There may be a penalty and you should be aware of all costs associated by doing a Mortgage Verification. Don’t be caught off guard and get it in writing from your Mortgagee before you list. The more flexible your existing financing is, the better it will be as a sales tool.

• Disbursements: These fees cover additional legal expenses such as travel, copies, couriers, registration fees and preparing document transfers. Disbursements can range upwards of $500, but can sometimes be built into your legal fees.

• Adjustments: It’s difficult for a home seller to calculate exactly how much money is owed to which utilities on closing day. Your lawyer will ensure that any overpayments or deficiencies on rents, mortgage interest, property tax and utility charges will be corrected, and the buyer and seller will be credited or charged accordingly.

• Real estate fees: Depending on the Realtor and their service offerings, the cost usually ranges anywhere from 4% - 6% + HST. A good agent is worth their weight in gold, or the money they’re going to get you, not the money they’re going to save you! Don’t get too caught up on the rate, we know from experience its easy to do. 

• Moving Costs: Moving costs vary based on location and the amount of possessions being moved. If you’re moving yourself, you should factor gas, rental vehicles and moving supplies.

• Deposit: Our brokerage will hold your deposit and pay the commissions from it and any balance will be owed to you from our office after closing, within a few business days. The balance owed will be total deposit $ less the commissions (including HST) = balance owed to you.

Showing Expectations

Timing:
It doesn’t happen overnight so don’t worry about packing, I have a calendar of events
and a will coordinate all scheduling with you directly.

I will call to prequalify the showings to ensure:
  1. Financial viability
  2. Likelihood that your property is for them
            • I personally follow up with every showing to provide you feedback

I have detailed showing instructions provided to agents when their showing is confirmed, but we know based on experience:
1. Sometimes people just won’t show up.                     
2. Sometimes people may leave their shoes on
3. We will ask people to turn off the lights after showing, you may find that they leave them on
4. We follow up 2 x with every showing, sometimes we just won’t get feedback...
5. A backdoor might go unlocked...
6. Sometimes an agent might just show up without their client to preview your home.

Showings Checklist
Some things to think about for prepping for showings, a list of nice-to’s, not musts.

• ABOVE ALL ELSE - ALLOW ALL SHOWINGS, even if it seems irrational or is inconvenient, with short notice. Remember it only takes ONE buyer to buy your home

• Sometimes if you refuse a showing that person might not come back. It’s likely that the most amount of interest is going to come in the first few days, so more showings mean the more likely that you will see offers, and the earlier the offers come in the more likelihood of them being close to asking price. Sometimes moving out for the first week can make sense, when possible.

• Remove cars from driveway.           
• Leave the house - go for a walk! Or get your errands done.
• Leave some cookies and/ or waters on the table/ counter        .   
• Clean all counters / sinks.
• Blinds open/ weather permitting windows too       .
• Clean (includes: Vacuum/ mop/ Clean appliances/ all windows).          
• Remove ALL waste bins.
• Leave all lights on.          
• Easy listening music.       
• Detail the Landscaping.         
• Take the Pets and kids.
• Don’t spray air fresheners- Instead Bake a pie, leave out some water + cookies + candy.
• Light a fire (winter).
• Seasonal photos out on the table.   
• The right temperature - 70 F / 21 C
• Toilet seats down - toilet brush and plunger are hidden.            
• Extra property flyers.
• Put valuables, jewellery, passports, financial information, bank statements and other financial information out of sight.
•Have property tax, gas, electric and water bills available for buyers to inspect.
• Make sure your home is immaculate; a clean house will reassure buyers about the general condition and upkeep of the house.
• Be conscious of smells within your home.

Managing Showings/ Appointments

Important Dates/ Timeline

Staging Date 1: Consult  Staging Date 2: Install
Moving can be stressful, I do my best to ensure you don't have to think about it. Please be out of the home during the staging installation date.
Photos Date: Please leave all of your lights on, and curtains drawn. The photographers will not touch anything per new Covid protocols. We do not attend with the photographer and per their COVID protocols, nobody can be present at the home at the time of photos. I will send you the photos as soon as they are available, before the listing goes live.
List Date: This is the date where your listing officialy goes live on the MLS and can be marketed as for sale.
Bid/ Offer Day: In the event we decide to hold off on offers to allow an adequate amount of showings and open houses, this is the date where we allow all offers to be registered for review and decision by you, the seller. 
Sign Installation: Sometime soon, with a coming soon notice on it. *** We will install a “For Sale” sign on your property. Do you have an irrigation system? If so, prior to the installation date, please mark the area where you would like the sign to be installed with a small flag or marker to prevent any potential damage to the system.

Instructions

• Please make two copies of your house key for our use and keep your original key. We will be installing a lockbox on your property. One copy of the key will be securely stored in our office for emergency use only. The other copy of the key will be placed in the lockbox. The lockbox will be used to allow agents showing the house access. If we are attending showings, the lockbox will ONLY be used by agents and photographers. After each showing the key will then be safely returned to the lockbox. If you are not comfortable with a lockbox being placed on your property, please be aware that we will need to make additional copies of your keys. I believe a lockbox is a better alternative to having numerous copies of your key in circulation.

***If applicable: If this will likely be a Winter/ Spring listing, It’s a good idea to have photos of your yard/pool/ gardens in the summer. Let us know ASAP if you have some (Hi-res preferred) if not, we’ll arrange the outdoor pics with our professional photographer, if you’re unsure just take some to keep on hand.

• I will require your driver’s license or passport (Photo ID) for FINTRAC identification. This is a legal requirement in real estate deals. If you are signing on behalf of a company or estate, we will need supporting documentation that validates that you have the authority to sign on their behalf.

• A PPE Package (hand sanitizer, Lysol wipes, protective shoe covers, COVID sign) will be dropped off to your home to further ensure “safe” showings. Please prepare any regular bills, i.e. Taxes, and any rental contracts. A survey (only if you have one - otherwise we can obtain one from the city on your behalf) Please provide us with a list of inclusions. Typically the standards are Appliances, Curtains/ window coverings, light fixtures, pool equipment.

• Please provide us with anything you feel would need to be mentioned as exclusions (think fixed to the property) that you are not willing to part with. I.e. curtains, bathroom mirrors, bar fridges, electric fireplaces etc...Nest doorbells and thermostats, pool robots, etc

• A digital brochure will be sent to you to review and approve. It will reflect your photo selections as well as any seasonal photos you supplied. If the resolution is not high enough, they may not be used as they wouldn’t enhance your marketing.

• You will receive a few emails in the coming days with checklists/ how to’s on everything to do with your listing. I am always just a call / text / email away so feel free to reach out at any time.