If you’re looking to sell your home in beautiful Metro Vancouver, BC, then you’ve found the right guide to help prepare you. There are many aspects you’ll want to think about, such as how fast the process will go, what you need to prepare for before the sale, and how to make sure you end up in the right place once your Vancouver home is sold.
Here are our top actionable tips, so you can make sure you’re not pulling your hair out when you look to sell as you’re overwhelmed with the speed of the offers and how fast things will happen.
Table of Contents
- Get Ready For a Fast Process
- Set Up The Home For Success
- Price it Right
- Plan Your Next Living Situation Well in Advance
- Keep Your Real Estate Agent in the Loop
Get Ready For a Fast Process
Vancouver, British Columbia, is one of the hottest real estate markets across Canada and even the world.
With that, comes a fast process for when you’re ready to sell your house, condo or townhouse in Vancouver, BC. In 2021, the Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 43,999 in 2021, a 42.2 per cent increase from the 30,944 sales recorded in 2020. This isn’t expected to slow down in 2022, either.
In fact, home sales in 2021 was 33.4 per cent above the 10-year sales average.
A fast process comes with a lot of preparation work so you’re ahead of the game when it comes to offers, closing and ending up in your next dream home.
There are so many things to think about such as the listing price, who will help you sell the home, what documents you need to have, when you can plan showings, and making sure you accept the best offer once it’s on the table.
Gather all necessary documents
Before you look to sell your home in Vancouver, you should gather all the necessary documents that potential buyers and your real estate agent will need.
This is very important as it makes the process move much quicker once your home is listed. For instance, let’s say you have a hard time gathering some key documents like recent renovations/upgrades or other information like zoning information or
Document Types Needed:
- Property Taxes (New and Historic)
- Electrical, Water, Gas, Other Utility Bills
- Permits
- Title
- Insurance
- Oil Tank Certifications
- Floor Plans
We suggest compiling all these documents and then making a copy that can be used in the selling process, so you’re not using original documents in case something happens to those original copies during the selling process.
Ultimately, this will speed up the process when you’ve found the right real estate agent and potential buyers of your home.
Plan When Showings Can Happen
Planning when you can show your home is very important, especially if you’re a busy professional or if you have a family and dinners or other activities may need to be arranged for outside the home that is being sold.
These days, many virtual showings are taking place, so setting aside some time for your real estate agent to film the virtual showing will be crucial.
How to Prepare for a Virtual Showing:
- Clean up the home,
- Understand if staging (outlined in the next section),
- Touch up and walls with paint, if needed,
- Set a schedule for filming and hand it over to your real estate agent.
How To Prepare for In-Person Showings
- Plan a 1 hour to 30 minute cleaning schedule before proposed showings,
- Organising the staging (outlined in the next section),
- Touch up and walls with paint, if needed,
- Set a schedule for when potential buyers can show up and how long viewings can happen for,
- Take extra steps in coordination if you currently rent to a tenant.
Set Up The Home For Success
Now that you’ve thought about how to get ready for a fast process when it comes to selling your home in Vancouver, it’s time to set it up for success, diving into some of the details outlined above, with more detail.
Get a Deep Clean In
Deep cleaning your home is going to enhance the experience of potential buyers and come to an in-person showing, and will also make any virtual showings that much more flawless.
Here is a starting list to consider on your home’s deep clean when getting ready to sell:
- Wall cleaning,
- Scrub the floors spotless,
- De-scale Faucets and Showerheads ,
- Clean vent covers,
- Deep clean any carpets,
- Wash down garbage bins,
- Deep clean the stove top (make sure to remove/unplug coils and clean underneath),
- Clean the sink, fridge and counter-top appliances,
- Bathroom grout,
- Etc.,
Staging for Success
To stage your home for success, we highly recommend working with your real estate agent or a professional staging company to help you properly stage the home. It’s well worth it when selling, as according to Realtor.com, it costs about $300 to $600 for an initial design consultation, and $500 to $600 per month per staged room.
Staging can be expensive, so it’s important you get it right the first go, aimed at pleasing the potential buyers in your neighbourhood and potential price range. Here are some tips to get the most out of your staging:
De-personalize the space
One of the most important objectives of staging a home is to de-personalize the space. This helps to avoid the buyer thinking they cannot buy the home because it’s out-of-touch from the personality they’d like to have in their next home they are buying.
To do this, start by removing any personal photos from the walls, fridges and other surfaces that may have personal belongings. Clothes and other fabrics should be neatly put away and organised to be out of plain sight.
Get rid of clutter
Clutter in a home can also clutter-up the potential buyer’s mind when you’re selling a home.
It’s important that all clutter is put away or thrown out/recycled so you home can feel like a bigger space and allow that space for the buyer to dream of what they will be filling the shelves and counter space with.
Use staging in areas that will make the most impact
If you’re selling your home in Vancouver, sometimes you don’t need to stage the whole home. For instance, if you’re looking to downsize and two of the four bedrooms have nice beds and go unused most of the year, then it would be pointless to pay to have those staged.
If there are a couple rooms used a lot, like the living room and main bedroom and en-suite, then it may be worthwhile having those rooms staged to help de-personalize them and update the rooms to be relevant to the buyers in the market.
Price It Right
Pricing your house, condo, townhouse or property right is crucial to a smooth selling process and also getting the best return on your investment from your original real estate purchase.
Plan Your Next Living Situation Well in Advance
Have Some Properties Your Ready To Make Offers On
When you sell your home, you’re going to need to find a new property, fast!
Most of British Columbia’s housing market has a short supply of new listings. This combination of high-offers on the current homes listed to sell creates a very quick home selling process.
That’s why before the home is even sold, it’s important to have potential properties lined up that you’d like to buy and make offers on. Once your current home is sold, you can jump right into the new deal of buying your next home.
Need help looking for your next property? Here are some active listings pages based on each city:
Secure a Good Rental
Renting anything in Metro Vancouver can be difficult due to the small amount of vacancines and high-rent prices, it can put sellers in a bad spot when they sell quickly and haven’t nailed down their next home to buy.
According to the CMHC, the following home sizes cost the following near the downtown and surrounding areas of Vancouver:
- 1 Bedroom is approximately $1,741 per month,
- 2 Bedroom is approximately $2,616 per month,
- 3 Bedroom is approximately $3,505 per month,
If you’re looking for a rental property, here are some resources to consider:
Keep Your Real Estate Agent in the Loop
During your home selling process, things can move very quickly, especially when selling a home in Vancouver, BC. Once that for sale sign is up and the home is listed on the market, you’re going to need to keep your real estate agent in the loop of all developments.
For instance, your building or surrounding-area neighbours may come knocking to chat about buying or simply just inquire about the property. They could have offers on hand that could be well above your original asking price.
Or, you may be getting messages and emails from friends and family about offers that they want to buy directly from you.
In both these kinds of situations, or others, it’s really important to keep your real estate agent in the loop so they can be on top of any progressions and offers they may have received. This will allow you to get the best offer and terms you’re looking for.
Let’s Get Your Home Sold
If you’re looking for an experienced Realtor and Real Estate Agent in Metro Vancouver, you’ve found the right place. Metro Vancouver Life will help you prepare, stage, list and market your home to get an offer you cannot refuse.
Most importantly, Daniel will guide you through every step of the selling process and make sure you meet your goals.
