Even More Insider Secrets to Selling Your Home Fast

In an earlier blog post, we looked at strategies to sell your house or condo fast [Related: How to Sell Your Home Fast]. Today, I want to delve even deeper into some of our favourite strategies.

1. Offer the Buyer’s agent more commission  In Ontario, there are lots of commission models, and Sellers and their Listing Agents can offer the Buyer agent (the agent who represents the Buyer) any commission they want. In Toronto, we see everything from $1 to 4% of the sales price, though, in central Toronto, 2.5% is more typical. If you’re looking to sell your house or condo fast, you may want to consider incentivizing the very person who can bring you a Buyer: the Buyer’s agent. Why would you want to pay an agent more than what your competitors are paying? It’s simple really. If you’re going to dangle a carrot, don’t you want your carrot to be the biggest and best carrot ever? Offering more commission than expected is an excellent way to get attention and signal to other agents that you are motivated. And because they are taking notice, they may be more inclined to bring their clients to see your property, and that’s good news for you.  Of course, a good agent should never let the amount of money they stand to make influence their client’s actual decision to purchase – but it just might help get them to bring that Buyer to your home.
2. The Broker MLS remarks – Most Buyers and Sellers don’t realize that when you list your property on the MLS, there’s a special place for them to make comments that only other agents and brokers will see. These comments won’t be on realtor.ca and are generally not shared with Buyers. The Broker MLS remarks are an excellent place for your agent to communicate that you are a MOTIVATED Seller. Sure, that might bring in some lowballers looking for a deal – but a good negotiator can deal with them.
3. The Public MLS remarks There’s nothing wrong with indicating right in the public MLS copy that you’re motivated. Priced below last sale? Priced for quick sale! Sure, you might have to swallow your pride but if it encourages more Buyers to book appointments to see your home, doesn’t that still make you the winner? Again, expect some bottom-feeders to show up…but they can be quickly dealt with.
4. Your agent’s own agent network – Most people don’t realize the importance of agent relationships in making sales happen. We’ve sold plenty of our listings to agents we know, and there are two reasons for that: 1) Agents we know are more likely to see our listings (via email campaigns and social media), and 2) Agents we know want to do business with us because they know we’re ethical, and the transaction will be a smooth one.
5. Showing Notes  The truth is, most real estate transactions in Toronto happen with two agents – one who represents the Buyer and one who represent the Seller. That means that as a Seller, your agent isn’t likely to present for showings and can’t highlight all the great things about your home. Solution: Agent Showing Notes. When an agent books a showing at a property that’s listed with the BREL team, we instantly email the agent a guide to showing the property: where to park, how to find the amenities, the school district, the stuff they might not notice. While it isn’t as good as being at the actual showing, it’s a close second. We get tremendous feedback from agents who receive our showing notes. [For the record, I think we’re mostly alone in doing this – we’ve never received Showing Notes for any of the properties we’ve shown.]
6. List with an agent who has access to Buyers – Most REALTORS in Toronto work with both Buyers and Sellers, and if you need to sell your property fast, you’ll want to list with an agent who has their own Buyers to add to the mix. This is especially important if you’re targeting a niche Buyer – say, an investor, flipper or first-time Buyer.
7. Hire an agent who actually cares – If you need to sell fast, you’ll want to find an agent with that perfect combination of experience and time and one who actually cares. An agent who cares will be available on your schedule, give you frequent updates and will proactively come up with strategies to get your home sold. At the BREL team, our mantra is: ‘If a Seller has to ask for an update, we’ve failed’.
8. Choose your listing date wisely. Most Toronto properties get listed Monday-Thursday, and Buyers have been become accustomed to being suspicious of properties listed on the weekend. List on a day when Buyers are expecting good properties to get listed, and there’s time to market it before the all-important first weekend.

Need to sell you home fast? Get in touch and we’ll show you the way.