Preparing For Your Home’s Big Debut
We kick things off by preparing a plan to get your home ready for showings, because we all know—first impressions are everything!
The first step is to bring in our property styling experts for a staging consultation. They'll do a walkthrough of your home, taking measurements and photos, and then provide a detailed staging report with recommendations on what to declutter and any other enhancements, such as a fresh coat of paint.
We partner with the Re:Creative staging team because they bring everything needed to enhance your home and make it shine for showings. We've been working with Renee and her team for a while now, and they never fail to elevate our listings to a new level.
[Click here to read more about their services]
Once we have the staging report, we'll schedule a time to walk through it with you, so you'll know exactly what items to pack away and which ones to keep. If you need a storage locker for extra items, we’ll help you find one and arrange everything.
Decluttering and organizing your space makes it more appealing to potential buyers. When a home is clutter-free, it allows the buyers to focus on all of the features of the property.
Take a look at these 8 tips for decluttering and getting your property market-ready:
Chunk it out
Start clearing and packing as soon as you can. We recommend scheduling an hour each day on rooms or house projects (tasks like closets, storage spaces etc.). By working in smaller chunks, you’ll give yourself time to purge and pack only what you need/want!
Boxed in
Bring four boxes into each room you tackle and label them with – keep, purge, donate and relocate. Put everything from the room in one of the four boxes.
Be practical
If you haven’t worn something in a year, you probably won’t wear it again. Also, while it’s nice to have multiples of items, now is the time to downsize and purge.
Reduce the supply
Stop buying in bulk and stocking the pantry. Dispose of expired items and use up supplies of paper goods and cleaning supplies so that you don’t have to pack them. You can restock when you’ve settled into your new digs.
Less is more
Taking on a minimalist approach to living is important during the sales of your home. It means living with the essentials and parting with the things you don’t require on a day-to-day basis. This could mean asking a friend if you can store some boxes of non-essentials until you store them in a rented locker for a few months.
We can provide reusable moving bins for you to use. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need them!
Thanks for the memories
It’s easier to purge the towels you got from Aunt Doris than it is to part with your treasured belongings. To stay on task, leave the unused and sentimental gifts to the end of your decluttering project.
Be prepared
Pack a box of the essentials you’ll need upon arrival in your new space – toilet paper, soap, screwdrivers, hammer, and nails.
It makes cents to donate
Once you’ve hit every room in your home, you can donate or sell the items you’ve designated to help offset your moving costs. But best of all, you’ll be rid of the clutter and ready to pack and move into your new space.
Here are some places you can donate to in Toronto:
Habitat For Humanity Re-Store (tax receipt available)
If you have items you would like to sell rather than donate, we recommend listing them at least 6 weeks before moving. If you can start that process now that is even better! We recommend selling items at least 6 weeks before moving if there are things that you want to get rid of but are too valuable to give away.
Benefits to simply having less stuff
A big benefit is an easier and less stressful move
Reduces stress that comes during the sales process
Helps you get a jump on packing
Reduces clutter you’ll move into your new space with
Avoids paying hired movers to move junk (which keeps moving day as inexpensive and stress-free as possible!)
All of this work to declutter will be worth it because it allows us to be in the best position as we get ready to list.
General Costs At This Stage
Professional Packers
Based on the staging plan, once we decide what will be staying in your home and what should be moved out it may help to hire professional packers. This can be advantageous when there is a tight moving schedule. Professional packers are efficient, and the time saved can allow you to focus on other things, but on the other hand, not everyone likes strangers touching their things and the cost depends on the size of your home.
We recommend Sparkly Solutions, who will do an in-person walk-through to see what they are dealing with and then put together a quote. They bill by the hour and a team of two is $100/hr typically working a 6-hour day, plus materials.
They offer decluttering, organizing, packing, and moving coordination services which may also include unpacking and setup. They work with Bumblebee Moving & Storage as their movers but are also willing to accommodate your preference if you prefer a specific company. To learn more visit their website!
If this is something you decide to move forward with let us know and we can help you set things up!
Off-site storage
If there are a lot of items you need to move out before staging and you need a place to store them, an off-site storage locker may make sense. This can cost upwards of $200 per month depending on the size and location of the locker. If it is determined that you will need one, we will help source a locker to fit all of your needs and organize the move of your belongings.
Junk removal
If you decide you no longer want to keep some items and don’t want to sell or donate them you may have to use junk removal services. These companies generally charge by the size of the truck needed. Please let us know if this is something you are interested in and we can help to arrange it!
Movers
This can cost between $90-$120 an hour. Most moves 150km or less are considered local, but it will depend on the moving company you choose! The moving companies we recommend that our clients reach out to are listed below. Click on each of the companies listed below to view their websites and services!
Angel Movers
Showings: What to Expect
We recommend that sellers consider moving out for the first week of showings to allow buyers complete flexibility in scheduling viewings. This can help maximize exposure and create the best opportunity for a quick sale. However, we understand that this may not always be feasible, and that's perfectly okay! If you're staying in the home during showings, flexibility will be key. We’ll work together to coordinate times, and it’s important to maintain the home in its clean, staged condition for every showing. That way, the property can shine and make the best impression on potential buyers.
Due Diligence
This is going to help us address any issues that might be present within your home. If these issues could deter buyers from moving forward with an offer, we need to address them as best we can.
We like to do a few critical things as we start to move along in this process…
Freehold homes
Minor fixes
We walk through and around the home to see if there are any small/glaring fixes that need to be addressed. If so, we will recommend what to do to address these items – be it that we address them together or we bring in someone to help fix any issue.
Pre-list home inspection
We bring in a home inspector and have them provide us with their take on the home. FYI, this will be done closer to launch as we will use their report as a selling tool for all interested buyers. A good/relatively clean home inspection means nothing to worry about. If items come up in the inspection, don’t worry! We will aim to fix or at least figure out solutions for any potential buyer. Pre-list home inspections are a great way to knock down any major barriers for a potential buyer who doesn’t want to spend the money to do their own home inspection, prior to submitting an offer. We find that conducting a home inspection prior to listing brings in one or two more offers on offer night. All this means more money in your pocket.
Termites
Aetna Pest Control Ltd. (termites). One of the first things we do is call Aetna who will let us know if we might need to bring them in to walk the property and let us know about termites in the area. Most times this is a simple phone call, unless termites are close. If they are close, we should bring them in to provide us with a written note that all is fine with your home.
Note: Agents love it when Aetna has given the okay;).
Condominiums
Status Certificate
We like to order the status certificate ahead of time and make sure there isn’t anything in the documents that could deter buyers. If there are potential concerns, we will speak to the property manager so we can learn more and answer questions that might come up when a buyer lawyer reviews the documents.
All of this is to say, we like to be proactive in our planning so that we achieve our goal and that there are no surprises along the way.