Are you selling your condo in Downtown Toronto? Read on for our guide to help you understand the process so you know what to do.

It’s very rare that a person will live in the same place their entire life. Maybe you’re moving out of your parent’s house. You could be upsizing or downsizing.

Whatever the case, if it’s your first time trying to sell a condo, it’s understandable that you might have some concerns. How much is your condo worth? Do you need to make repairs?

It’s complicated to know where to even start once you decide you’re selling your condo. You need reliable condo selling help!

Read on for some condo selling tips and what to expect when you go to put it on the market.

Sprucing Up Your Condo

In some cases, you may want to make some changes to your condo before you put it on the market. It doesn’t have to be anything drastic, but most buyers are looking for condos that they can personalize easily. And you want to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible.

In many cases, this means painting the walls to be a neutral color that can be easily painted over again. Most sellers will go with white, beige, or grey to accomplish this.

You should also clean your condo well before putting it on the market. You may consider hiring a professional cleaner before putting your house on the market.

Try to remove stains from carpets and appliances. Keep the toilets and bathtubs clean as well. If you’ve already moved out of your condo, then the entire condo should be as clean as possible.

Those who haven’t moved out yet are still expected to show a clean condo. Make sure you don’t have dirty dishes laying around. Make all the beds in the house and try to keep everything else as clean as possible.

Repairs

Another thing that you may have to do is make repairs to your home. This is going to depend greatly on what condition your house is in when you decide to sell it.

In some cases, you don’t necessarily need to make sure the condo is in perfect condition to sell it. But if your home needs repairs, it’s best not to hide them from your potential buyers. Chances are, they’ll have an inspector look at your condo, so they’ll find out anyway.

But the good news is that repairs aren’t necessarily a deal-breaker. Your buyer may be willing to make those repairs themselves once they take possession of the house. And not all needed repairs are created equal.

But which repairs are urgent and which ones can you get away with not doing? Knowing what not to fix when selling a condo is just as important as knowing what to fix.

A good rule of thumb to follow is if it functions, then it’s fine. Therefore, cosmetic changes should not be at the top of your list. It’s not really important if your kitchen or bathroom is outdated when you’re about to sell your house.

Instead, focus on things that simply don’t work. Do your appliances need repairing? Does the HVAC system work?

These are the things that will really matter to your buyers.

Pricing Strategy

Do you know how much your condo is worth? How do you estimate the value of a condo? Do you list your condo for the lowest amount you’ll accept or start higher than that?

This is where a real estate expert is going to come in handy. They’ve been trained to know the different factors that build a property’s value, including condos. They’ll also be able to advise you on any repairs or changes that should be made before you put your condo on the market.

They’ll help you set up your condo so that you can get the best value for it when you sell. And they’ll also be looking at recent condo sales in your area.

All of this gives them a good idea of what your property is worth. From there, you and your realtor will come up with the best pricing strategy for your condo. That way you can be sure you’ll be getting the best possible offers on your condo once it’s put on the market.

Staging

This part is also a matter of listening to your realtor’s advice. How this works is going to depend on whether or not you’ve already moved out of your condo.

If you’ve already moved out of it and the condo is empty, then your realtor may suggest having a professional stager decorate the condo. This can help potential buyers picture what the condo could look like when it’s fully furnished. And it helps them picture what their own furniture might look like when they move into it.

On the other hand, if you haven’t moved out of your condo already, then you might have a slightly easier task ahead of you. You won’t need to have rented furniture brought in to stage your condo. And your potential buyers will get a clear picture of what sort of furniture fits in each room.

Your realtor may suggest rearranging some of the furniture for showings, however. So be prepared to move a few things around if this is the case.

And always remember that everything you do before you put your condo on the market is to help you get larger offers on it. Staging your condo the right way can help a lot.

Showings

The good news is that once you put your condo on the market, people are going to want to look at it. They’ll take a look around to see the kitchen, bathrooms, size of the rooms, and the size of the closets. Some of these people might even make offers on it when they’re done.

That means that all of your hard work has paid off and you’re finally able to sell your condo!

At the same time, these people are going to need to be let inside the condo. And potential buyers don’t usually like to be watched while they’re looking around. This can make them feel rushed, or keep them from saying what they really think about the house.

It’s best to just let them inside the house and find somewhere quiet to wait. If you’ve already moved out, then it might be easiest to use a contractor’s box to provide people access inside.

Either way, it becomes a game of patience at this stage. The potential buyers may wait a few days before they make an offer. And not everyone who looks at your condo will make an offer at all.

All you can do is relax and wait to see what offers you do get.

Offers

Now it’s time for the offers to start coming in. If you’re lucky, you may actually get a handful of offers to look at. And you don’t necessarily need to accept the first offer that you get.

Take your time to go over the offers. And be prepared to see offers that are below your asking price. This is perfectly normal, and chances are you’ll see better offers come in too.

Have a discussion with your realtor about the different offers you’ve received. If any negotiations will need to be made, this is time to become aware of that. In many cases, you will need to do at least some negotiating before you close.

Go over the contingencies that each offer has. Does the offer require a home inspection or appraisal? Do the potential buyers need to secure financing first?

Once you’ve decided which offer is the best, that’s when you have your buyers. Your agent will get in touch with the buyer’s agent to let them know that the offer has been accepted. They will also let the buyer’s agent know if any negotiations need to be made.

Status Certificates

When selling a condo, it’s very common for buyers to request the status certificate of the unit. The condominium corporation will provide this document to your buyers. It will contain any relevant information about your condo.

For example, it’s common for property managers to service condos in Toronto. This document will outline who the property manager is, so the buyers will know who to contact if they need something.

It will also include information about common expenses. This will outline what those expenses are and how much they cost. This gives them a good idea of if they can actually afford to live in your condo after all.

Most importantly, it will provide the buyers with information about the condominium corporation. It will tell them what their budget is and how often they hold meetings. It will also provide them with the minutes of the last meeting they held.

And it tells the buyers about the condominium corporation’s reserve fund. How much is in the fund right now? Are there any plans to increase it soon?

The buyers will use this information to evaluate whether or not they can afford to live in your condo as well as if they like the sound of the property management and condominium corporation.

Home Inspections

One type of contingency that buyers might have is getting a home inspection. This means that they will buy your condo only if a professional inspector finds nothing seriously wrong with it.  This isn’t super common in the Toronto condo market, but it’s always best to prepare yourself for anything.

Again, this is why you don’t want to lie about any problems your condo has.

The home inspector will make an appointment to come and take a look around the house. They’ll test the electricity and water to make sure everything works. They’ll even look for lead paint and asbestos in older buildings.

They also look for mold and water damage. They could be there for a while, so just try to be patient while they look around.

The good news is that in most cases, the home inspector doesn’t find anything that you didn’t already know about. So as long as you were honest, there shouldn’t be any surprises for your buyers.

Occasionally, an inspector will find an issue that you didn’t actually know about when you went to sell your condo. If this is the case, then your buyers may either choose to walk away from the sale or they may want to renegotiate their offer. You may be expected to fix the issue for your buyers before you can proceed to the closing table.

Negotiations

The last thing that you should expect when you go to sell a condo is negotiations. The offers you get may not be as high as you originally wanted. That’s doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the amount of money you’ll actually get when you arrive at the closing table.

This is because you are allowed a period of time to negotiate before you actually close. Once you’ve received an offer, you have the option to provide a counteroffer. Then the buyer has a chance to make another counteroffer as well.

These negotiations may continue after a home inspection or appraisal. This is because the buyer has now been given new information which may affect the value of your condo.

Most of the time, negotiations for a condo won’t take long. And fortunately, your realtor should take care of most of the back and forth for you.

Then all you have to do is schedule a closing date so that you and your buyers can both sign the necessary paperwork. Once this is done, you’ve officially sold your condo.

Then your buyers are free to move in whenever they’re ready! And you no longer need to worry about your old condo anymore.

Start Selling Your Condo Today

The housing market in Toronto can be difficult to navigate on your own. The good news is that now you know what to expect when selling your condo. There’ll be no surprises for you when you begin.

The only thing left for you to do is get started! You just need a good realtor to point you in the right direction. And Cameron Miller Real Estate is here to do just that.

Contact me to start selling your condo today.