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Easy Ways to Keep your Home “Show Ready” when Selling


After your home has been cleaned from top to bottom, it’s natural to want it to stay that way. Don’t you wish you could just wave a magic wand and the place would clean itself? Unfortunately, even Harry Potter can’t manage that!


However, when you’re preparing your property for sale, you really do need to keep it clean and ready for showings. There are several ways you can make doing that a bit easier.

Try these tips:

  • The one-minute rule. If a cleaning or tidying task takes you less than a minute, consider doing it right away. For example, keeping the foyer clear of clutter.
  • One room a day. After you’ve cleaned and tidied your home, maintain it by focusing on just one room a day. That’s manageable for most people.
  • Prioritize the floors. If you can keep the floors clean, everything else will tend to fall into place. Consider a routine where you do a quick sweep or vacuum of the floors each evening.
  • Declutter as much as possible. Clutter is the enemy of cleaning! When a room is free of clutter, it’s easier to keep it clean, tidy and looking great.
  • Get extras. Buy an extra mop or broom so other household members can help with the cleaning. Also, be sure to stock up on cleaning supplies so you don’t run short just before a viewing appointment.
  • Hire a cleaning service. Having a professional cleaning service come once a week—or twice a week when you’re showing your property frequently—can take a lot off your shoulders. Think of it as an investment in selling your home.

 Keeping your home looking “guest-ready” makes your home show better and gets more buyers interested. But, the task doesn’t need to be daunting. Try these tips to make it easier!

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Pulling Together the Records you Need when Selling


Imagine you’re viewing a home for sale. You venture to the basement, check out the furnace room, and notice the water heater. Is it owned or rented? As a potential buyer, you’d want to know.


Now imagine a property you’re viewing has a brand-new gas fireplace. Nice! Is it under warranty? Is that warranty transferrable to you if you buy the home? Again, you’d want to know.


So, when you’re selling, it’s important to pull together all the necessary records you will need in order to answer these types of buyer questions. After all, if a particular warranty transfers to the new owner, that’s a selling point.


Take the time to find receipts, warranty certificates, and other documents related to:


• Renovations (such as a bathroom makeover)

• Major repairs or replacements (such as a new air conditioner)

• Service prepayments (such as a lawncare service paid annually)

• Purchases of major appliances and other items


Keep in mind that you may have purchased extended warranties or maintenance agreements at the time of purchase. Those may transfer to the new owner.


Also note that some guarantees or service agreements transfer automatically while others require the new owner to initiate that transfer. These documents could potentially add a few more benefits to buying your home. So, it’s worth the time it takes to dig them out!

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When You Can’t Paint Them All: Prioritizing Rooms


As you may know, a fresh coat of paint is an inexpensive way to make your home look great to buyers. But, what if you don’t have time to paint the entire place? Here are three areas you should prioritize—and one you can  potentially ignore.


1. Rooms with bold colours
A red bedroom and orange walk-in closet likely won’t appeal to everyone! Replacing personalized colours with a neutral colour scheme will present buyers with a “blank canvas” to which they can add their own personal touch.


2. Kitchen
When buyers view your home they linger in the kitchen, which makes it a key selling point. A new paint job will instantly make the space look cleaner and more inviting.


3. Interior doors
These become worn due to being touched multiple times a day, yet are often overlooked when painting. A new coat of paint on key doors, such as those for bedrooms and washrooms, can make a significant impact on the look of your home.


By the way, you may be able to pass on painting exterior doors. They’re often coated with a durable weather-resistant enamel and don’t usually need more than a good wash.

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Low Inventory and Strong Demand Continue in Victoria Real Estate market


A total of 942 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this June, 16.6 per cent more than the 808 properties sold in June 2020, but 10.2 per cent fewer than the previous month of May. Condominium sales were up 61.7 per cent from June 2020 with 338 units sold. 4 per cent more condominiums sold in June 2021 than in the previous month of May. Sales of single family homes were down 4.3 per cent from June 2020 with 440 sold. 18.1 per cent fewer single family homes sold in June 2021 than in the previous month of May.


“We are at a point now where we can look at yearly comparisons with a new lens,” said Victoria Real Estate Board President David Langlois. “In recent months we have been unable to glean anything by comparing year over year numbers because of the sudden and unexpected impact of the pandemic on the 2020 market. But June last year was when the market started its reacceleration. Buyers came back into the market in droves even though listings were restrained compared to long term averages.”


There were 1,375 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of June 2021, 49 per cent fewer properties than the 2,698 available at the end of June 2020 and 5.2 per cent fewer than the 1,450 active listings for sale at the end of May 2021. The Multiple Listing Service® Home Price Index benchmark value for a single family home in the Victoria Core in June 2020 was $896,700. The benchmark value for the same home in June 2021 increased by 18.6 per cent to $1,063,500, a 2.6 per cent increase from the previous month of May. The MLS® HPI benchmark value for a condominium in the Victoria Core in June 2020 was $490,400, while the benchmark value for the same condominium in June 2021 was $531,100, an 8.3 per cent increase.


“We see now even more sales activity than the return to the market we saw last year,” added Langlois. “And our inventory is much more restricted, with more than thirteen hundred fewer listings for sale than the year previous. We can see the strong impact this shrinking supply has had on year over year prices. There are many factors we need to watch while this summer’s market unfolds, including the change in borrowing rules that may impact first time buyers, declining levels of inventory and demand from outside of the province as tourism and travel reopens. Speak with your REALTOR® if you’d like fresh insight into our current market.”

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MLS® property information is provided under copyright© by the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board and Victoria Real Estate Board. The information is from sources deemed reliable, but should not be relied upon without independent verification.