It’s time for a new chapter in your life, and as such, you’re thinking about selling your home in Kingston. Maybe you’re inspired by a fresh start for a brand new year; perhaps there’s a new family member on the way, or maybe you’ve been offered an unprecedented career opportunity far too good to pass up.
Whether you’re moving up to something with more bedrooms and an extra bathroom or simplifying your life with less to clean and maintain, one thing hangs in the balance: you want to make the most of your sale now so you are in a better position to achieve your goals later.
What are the steps to selling a house in Ontario? In this post, we’ll take you all the way through the home-selling process, right from the moment you decide it’s time for a change to the day you hand over the keys.
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Table of Contents
- Why Home Buyers Are Loving Kingston
- Consider the Local Market
- Start With an Honest Assessment
- How to Prepare Your Home for Sale in Kingston
- What Repairs to Make When Selling a Home
- How to Stage Your Home for Sale
- Keeping Your Home Show-Worthy
- The Final Closing Details
Why Home Buyers Are Loving Kingston
As a perfectly-sized city in a highly desirable location, Kingston is well regarded as a fantastic place to live. Thanks to the university crowd, it has an arts and entertainment scene that is sure to keep you active and engaged. Whether you want to dance the night away at a club or shop for a unique piece of artwork that is truly one-of-a-kind, Kingston is the place to be. At the same time, it also boasts a serene and peaceful environment ideal for families.
In Kingston, you could easily get out and enjoy a fun activity any day of the week. Frequent weekend getaways are also on the table, thanks to easy access to Via rail and major highways, primarily the 401.
South Frontenac is home to a myriad of lakes including Loughborough Lake and Buck Lake, both premium spots for boating and fishing. You can get there in approximately half an hour, which means you don’t even need an overnight trip!
If you’re looking for gorgeous, sandy beaches for swimming, look no further than the shores of Dog Lake or Big Sandy Bay on Wolfe Island. You can get to either in a little under an hour.
For that matter, you don’t even need to go anywhere. You can hit the waves right at home in Lake Ontario at Gord Edgar Downie Pier or Grass Creek Park in Kingston – although, we must warn you that the water is deep and can be a bit chilly. On a hot summer’s day, a cool plunge might be just what the weather calls for!
Do you want to get an even better feel for the Kingston real estate market? Learn more in the posts below:
Consider the Local Market
Kingston sure sounds like a great place to live and visit, but what does any of this have to do with selling a house? We aren’t just getting off track because we love it here so much.
Understanding all of the perks of your location can actually put you at a selling advantage. Kingston real estate values can rise and fall like anywhere else. However, we also have two colleges, a world-class university, and a military base, which tends to have a stabilizing effect on our economy and housing market.
A fun and family-friendly environment plus an abundance of education and career opportunities puts Kingston in the sights of many prospective home buyers. As someone who wants to sell, it all adds up to a host of unique advantages.
Do you plan to buy your dream home after your existing property sells? Your next step is to explore a few of our featured listings.
Start With an Honest Assessment
One of the best, high-level tips to sell your home faster and for more money is to view your property from the perspective of a buyer. They’re looking for a place they can proudly call home, but they’re also searching for a solid financial investment. An objective evaluation is critical for two reasons.
You stand the best possible chance of a successful sale when you get buyers excited about your listing early on, while it’s brand new and all of the online algorithms give it a high priority. Accurate pricing is essential to make this happen.
Your home needs to instantly attract a buyer’s attention. This starts with online photos and videos to entice them to schedule a showing. Then, the effect must continue when they show up for an-in person visit.
An in-depth walkthrough and assessment allows you to fix any issues and highlight all of your home’s best attributes. For the most accurate results, consider scheduling a detailed home evaluation with one of our Kingston real estate agents!
How to Prepare Your Home for Sale in Kingston
An initial home evaluation gives you a starting point. Next, it’s time to determine what upgrades you’ll make (if any) before your home goes on the market and what you’ll leave for the buyer. You don’t have to remodel everything. In fact, knowing what not to fix when selling a house is one of the most nuanced points in real estate.
Your house should look beautiful and well-maintained, while still leaving much to the imagination of your buyer. If you don’t take this into account, you could go to the expense of adding upgrades only for the buyer to rip them all out afterward! Keep in mind that while all renovations have a cost involved, not all renovations will pay off, especially when they’re not to the buyer’s preference.
What Repairs to Make When Selling a Home
Remember that the goal of preparing your home isn’t to do everything; it’s to showcase everything that could be done. Think of creating a blank canvas rather than trying to achieve a masterpiece. That said, if you’re already living in a masterpiece, we’ve got a way of really highlighting those details too.
Some of your repairs will be to remove any objections before they even come up. Many are minor but necessary so as not to distract a potential buyer or make them wonder “what else” might be wrong with a home. For example, you may have become immune to a few scuffs on the wall or a loud “THUNK” that reverberates through the walls every time the washing machine finishes a cycle.
(Note: that effect is sometimes called the “water hammer,” which can happen in older homes constructed before the 2000s. For the buyer, it sounds alarming. Fortunately, it’s usually minor as long as you address it before leaks occur or a pipe bursts. A repair could simply mean securing loose pipes or installing a small water hammer arrestor.)
That’s just one example. A good guideline to follow is that if it’s a minor repair for the seller but a terrifying problem (and a potential dealbreaker) for a buyer, it’s best to take care of it before listing. Addressing these concerns head on is one of the main costs of selling a house, but usually well worth the investment.
Looking for even more tips for selling your home? Start by reading Myth Vs. Fact: What to Know Before Selling Your Home.
How to Stage Your Home for Sale
A few minor repairs and updates to bring your home up-to-date are just the beginning. To generate maximum interest from potential buyers, we almost always recommend some level of staging.
This starts with cleaning and decluttering your home as you have never cleaned or decluttered before! You want to get rid of every possible distraction. Ideally, you want a buyer to walk through and mentally place all of their family photos and favourite art in each room.
As hard as it may seem, this means removing your personal touches from the house. Instead, we are setting the stage for the story of your buyer in their new home – hence the term “staging.”
Once your home is meticulously clean and tidy, the next step is deciding on the flow and design. If you want to earn top dollar from your sale, you might even consider bringing in a professional stager who knows what is working in the market right now.
Preparing your home in this way isn’t even just about in-person visits. It’s also the foundation of all of your marketing materials. Think of how most buyers will find your listing; almost all of them will first see your home online. Effective staging attracts attention to your home in the early days when it counts the most.
If you’re still on the fence as to if home staging is worth it when selling a house, let’s put it into perspective. Nearly all of our clients take advantage of our staging services. Those that don’t are usually interior designers themselves!
How to prepare your house for sale is only part of the equation. You’ll also want to consider the Best Time to Sell a House.
Keeping Your Home Show-Worthy
It can seem as though there are endless things to do before selling your house, and you’ve worked hard to ensure your listing makes a splash in the market. However, it is not time to rest yet. You’ll also need to maintain the effect while your home is on the market.
The more showings you have, the more likely you are to find the right buyer. And the more beautiful your home appears, the more likely that buyer is to place an offer. Fortunately, maintaining your home is a little easier once the foundation is in place.
During showings, your space should be clean and organized. For now, you’ll need to be extra diligent about sweeping the floors, wiping down the countertops, and putting your dishes away every day.
The good news is your house no longer has to appear as clinical and perfect as it did for photo and video shoots. The coffee maker on the counter and a book or two on a shelf can actually feel welcoming. A warmer atmosphere is often more enticing to a buyer who wants to imagine living in your home.
Do you have questions about buying a house instead? You’ll find answers in the posts below:
- Buying Your First Home? Kingston Is Calling!
- The Hidden Costs of Buying a Home
- Buying a Home: Separating Myths from Facts
The Final Closing Details
With a signed and accepted offer in hand, you’re one step closer to your newest chapter in life. Now, you just need to get through the closing process. First and foremost, the buyer has the right to receive the property in the condition as when they placed their offer.
During this time, you’ll want to take meticulous care of your home before handing it over to the new owner. Remember that you’re still on the hook for repairs if you break a window or shatter a ceramic tile by dropping a plate on it.
Other than that, you can pass most tasks on to a real estate lawyer who will review all of the documents, close or port your mortgage, and run a title search. In the meantime, you’ve got boxes to pack, correspondence to change, and movers to book.
Your real estate agent can help you by providing checklists and reminders on all the details. On closing day, you’ll get the balance of the funds from your transaction, minus any real estate commissions, outstanding mortgage, and other closing costs – and the buyer gets the keys.
Once you’re all settled in, it’s time for your most important tasks of all, exploring your new surroundings and saying “hi” to your new neighbours!
Do you want a customized plan for getting your house ready to sell? Our Kingston real estate agents will go all out to help you get outstanding results. Reach out to us at caldwellco@royallepage.ca or call 613.449.6588 today to learn more.
Meet Your Market Guides
Caldwell & co. is your all-in-one resource for everything real estate related in Kingston, from community highlights to market-shifting trends and hands-on transaction guidance.
