When you’re looking for the right Oakville realtor and are about to put your home on the market, you may be wondering what lies ahead. Once your home is listed, you’ll want to be ready to welcome as many potential home buyers as possible in hopes of a quick sale and a good sale price. When you work with Sue Heddle Homes, you’ll receive free home staging to ensure your home presents the best first impression, but as you start to have potential buyers step into your home, there are things you can do to ensure your home shows well.

Simply put, there are two ways potential buyers can view your home in person. They can either make an appointment with their real estate agent or attend an open house, where your home is open to anyone to come through and look.

A Showing

A showing is a professionally scheduled appointment by your local Oakville realtor that gives potential buyers the opportunity to tour your home on their own (no other buyers at the same time). Either your real estate agent or the potential buyer’s real estate agent will accompany them while they tour your home. For security reasons, you should never allow an unaccompanied buyer into your home. 

Ideally, you should not be present during showings. Buyers need to feel at ease and free to discuss their thoughts. If needed, you can put some parameters around when showings are possible, which may be required if you have young children at home, for example.

An Open House 

An open house is held to try and generate interest and to get as many buyers as possible to walk through and view your home, usually within a few hour time period on a Saturday or Sunday. Sometimes open houses can be held early on a weeknight, but weekends are most common.  Many potential buyers come without their real estate agent, and many people who come through may not even have an agent yet. Your experienced real estate agent, or someone from their team, will host the open house, sign in visitors, and answer questions.  Again, you should plan to not be present. 

How To Ace Showing Your Home

Open houses can be easier to plan for as there is an agreed date and time. Once you get into regular showings, you’ll always need to be ready so that your home shows well to prospective buyers. 

Here are some tips for making sure your home is properly prepared for a showing:

• Turn on all the lights, including outside lights.
• Turn off the TV and any computers.
• Take your pets with you or drop them off at a friend or neighbour’s house.
• Put out fresh flowers, fresh towels or a nice table cloth – something that adds to seasonal décor is ideal.
• Don’t spray strong scents as they can be very off-putting.
• Empty your kitchen compost and garbage, even if it is stored under the sink.
• Make all the beds.
• Open all draperies and curtains to let in as much natural light as possible.
• Pick up stray items – food wrappers, toys, newspapers, empty glasses, etc.
• Keep floors swept, mopped and vacuumed.
• Dust daily to make last minute showings easier.

Sue Heddle Homes – The Experienced Oakville Realtor You Need 

Selling your home is a very busy and often overwhelming time. It certainly helps to have a qualified and experienced realtor on your side to guide you through the process and help limit stress and uncertainty. Sue Heddle is an award-winning realtor with more than 10 years of experience buying and selling homes in Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga and surrounding areas. If you’re ready to sell your home and want it to be a positive experience, contact Sue Heddle Homes. We’d be happy to help!

Home sales in Oakville and throughout all of Halton and Mississauga have slowed down compared to this same period last year. With the changes in the market, homes may not sell as quickly, which means that selling your home can be a bit more challenging. So, what can you do to make sure your home sells during a market slowdown? Most importantly, make sure you’re working with an experienced realtor that consistently demonstrates success and has the tools and abilities to make sure your home and listing are expertly prepared.

Sue Heddle Homes has more than a decade of experience selling homes in Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Mississauga. With an award-winning seller’s guide, free home staging, digital marketing tools and top negotiating skills, you can count on our team to ensure your listing gets the attention it deserves. Choosing the right realtor will make a huge difference when it comes to attracting buyers in a slower market. Give us a call at (416) 906-7998, we’d be happy to speak with you and provide more information on how we can help with all of your real estate needs.

Sue Heddle Homes Knows How To Stage, List and Market A Home 

1. Pricing Your Home For The Current Market.

 When selling in a slow market, it’s critical to price your home correctly. Selling in 24 hours and receiving multiple offers is not the current market reality, and you so you need to price accordingly. Sue Heddle Homes is familiar with the Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington and Milton markets and can provide you with an up-to-date market evaluation.

2. Exposure.

We’ll make sure your home is listed on the local real estate board MLS (Multiple Listing Service), Zillow, as well as other online listing sites to ensure you listing is getting maximum exposure.

3. Professional Photographs.

Your listing with Sue Heddle Homes will include professional photographs so that your home makes the best first impression for potential buyers.

4. Home Staging. 

Home staging is proven to help your home sell faster and for a better price. When you list with Sue Heddle Homes, you’ll receive home staging for FREE! We have a warehouse full of on trend furniture and accessories ready to make your home as inviting as possible for potential buyers. 

5. Keep You Informed.

Selling your home can be a very emotional process. Our expertise will help you understand the current market, making it easier to be patient. We’ll provide timely information and updates to help reduce worry and stress, like sharing recent nearby comparable sales and new listings entering the market.

Sell Your Home With A Professional Oakville Realtor

There are so many details that go into creating a professional and appealing listing. As the real estate market continues to change and evolve, it’s more important than ever to list your home with someone who understands the market and has experience effectively selling homes. If you’re ready to list your home, contact Sue Heddle and let us take care of everything you’ll need to create a desirable listing.

Home sellers who have pets at home can have a hard time imagining the negative attitudes that potential home buyers may have against a beloved furry family member. But if you want to get the best price for your home, you should consider these factors that may influence the sale of your home when you have a dog, a cat or other types of pets at home.

Unpredictable Reactions

Even if you consider your pet to be well behaved, it is a lot to ask of them to be calm and welcoming while people they don’t know arrive unexpectedly at your house.  You really can’t predict what your pet might do, and as such, their behaviour can turn home buyers away.

Fear or Nervousness

Pets can make some people very uncomfortable. As a result, it may cause them to shorten a showing or to not really look at all the features of the home with an open mind.

What To Do With Pets When Your House Is On The Market?

While this can be hard and frustrating for pet owners to hear, removing pets from the home, if possible, while the house is on the market is the best option. At the very least, pets should be out of the home during an open house. See if a friend or family member can give them a temporary home or look into local kennels or boarding options.

Regardless of whether you move your pet out of the home when you are trying to sell or not, other tips to make your home more welcoming to all buyers include:

• Removing cat litter boxes or dog pee pads. You will also need to clean and sanitize the area to remove lingering odours.
• Hire a professional carpet cleaner to remove pet stains from carpets.
• Put away toys as well as food and water bowls.
• Pack up crates, carriers, leashes and other items used for caring for your pets.
• Clean your yard and make sure you have picked up after your pet.

When you put your house up for sale, it’s no longer about you or your pets. Before you list your home, you need to create an environment that will give potential buyers the most favorable impression of your property. It should be easy for potential buyers to visualize themselves making your house their future home.

Getting Your House Ready To Sell

One of the many ways that Sue Heddle Homes makes it easy for clients to sell their home is by offering free home staging. Staging can help eliminate signs of pets in your home and will also help your home sell quickly, meaning that your pets can be back with the family as soon as possible. For more information on how we help our clients sell their homes, take a look at our Seller’s Guide. We invite you to contact us at any time to find out more about how we can help you sell your Oakville, Mississauga or Burlington home.

Change is just about the only thing you can really count on, and the real estate market is no different. As we battle inflation and higher interest rates, the real estate market in Halton and across the GTA has started to cool off. 

Many economists have suggested we are entering a buyer’s market, which means that buyers are in a more advantageous position because the number of listings are greater than the number of buyers. Homes tend to sit on the market longer and there can be a softening of selling prices.

With over a decade of experience in the real estate market, Sue Heddle Homes has successfully supported clients in a buyer or a seller’s market. With award winning marketing tools and expert local knowledge, people wanting to sell their homes can still get good results, as long as they choose the right agent, like Sue Heddle!

Things You Can Do to Help Your Listing Attract Attention

Selling your home with a professional and experienced agent has so many benefits, just one of which is understanding home buyers and knowing what will catch their interest. When you list your home with Sue Heddle Homes, you’ll receive free home staging. Home staging is one of the most effective ways to reduce the number or days your home stays on the market and to help you get the sale price you want.

Sue Heddle Homes only uses professional photography for all listing photos and includes an interactive 3D home tour as part of every listing. It’s these high-quality details that can make all the difference when it comes to attracting buyers.

In addition to listing with the right agent, like Sue Heddle Homes, here are some other ways you can help make sure your listing gets noticed:

1. Declutter before you list your home for sale.
2. Update your home with neutral paint colours before listing.
3. Make your space inviting for viewings and open houses by appealing to the senses.

Sue Heddle Homes – The Only Oakville Real Estate Agent You Need

As the market continues to shift and change, it’s critical to have someone on your side that can help you make the most of the current climate. From providing smart advice on listing your home to helping you prepare your space to be the best it can be, Sue Heddle Homes is a trusted agent that delivers results. To find out more about what your current home is worth and to have any questions answered, contact us at 416-906-7998.

The process of selling your home starts long before you select a realtor in Oakville and the ‘for sale’ sign goes up. If you’re thinking of selling your Oakville, Burlington or Mississauga home this year, there is no time like the present to start decluttering and make it more appealing for potential buyers. Sue Heddle Homes, offers free home staging to all of our clients, but when you work to clear out unused items and clutter ahead of time, it makes it even easier to showcase all the benefits your home has to offer.

When you're selling your house, know that potential buyers want to see everything. From storage closets to your garage, no space is safe from the eyes of a serious house hunter. Reducing the clutter in your home will enable you to maximize every square inch of your space and help potential buyers really see themselves in the house. 

Where To Focus Your Decluttering 

To help you get started, we're sharing a list of important places to declutter if you’re thinking of selling your home. It can certainly feel like a lot of work, but clearing out the clutter will make it easier to stage your home and to create a listing that will get your property sold quickly. 

The top areas to focus on are:

1. Front Yard.  

Surprised to see the outside of your house on the list? Prospective buyers love to drive by listings and check out the neighbourhood before attending an open house. It’s very important to keep your front lawn well maintained and your front door area clutter free to make the best first impression, even before anyone walks through the door.

2. Storage Rooms.

Storage rooms are not the spot to stuff your clutter! Buyers are absolutely going to want to see inside your garage, utility closets, and even backyard sheds to get a real sense of how much storage they might have. Clean out those items you never use and think about investing in quality shelving to make the area look spacious and organized.

3. Family Room.

You probably spend a great deal of time in the family room, but it shouldn’t look like a catch all for your family’s interests. Family rooms should be clear of stacks of magazines, and overflowing bookshelves, and don’t forget to pare down throw pillows, blankets and table accessories too.

4. Closets.

People are certainly interested in storage spaces, but they’ll also have a great interest in the everyday spaces that can add to their day to day life. Whether it's a front closet or a master suite walk-in, closets have a big impact on prospective buyers. Pack up off-season clothes and donate items that you haven’t worn in the last 12 months. Remove extra hangers or boxes that make the space look cramped.

5. Bathrooms.

People remember to clean out their closets or kitchen cupboards, but what about those bathroom drawers and counters? Go through all your products and get rid of anything that has expired or that you don’t use. Add some storage units or shelving if you find that you don’t have enough space to properly organize and store your bathroom items.

6. Laundry Room.

A good laundry room is a well sought-after space, so it’s worth it to help yours make a good impression. Organize your products and remove all those random socks that just don’t seem to have a match. If you’ve been using your laundry room as backup storage for clothes, now is the time to box them up and move them into a better space or decide if you really need them at all. 

Ready To Sell Your Oakville Home? 

Sue Heddle Homes understands how big of a decision it is to sell your home. From helping you make smart decisions when preparing your home for sale, to providing home staging services, Sue Heddle Homes will work with you so that you get the results you need. With more than a decade of experience, you can count on us to make your experience as seamless as possible. If you are thinking of selling your Oakville, Burlington, or Mississauga home this year, contact Sue Heddle.

Ready to buy or sell a home in Oakville? While you may be tempted to try and tackle the process on your own, know that an experienced real estate agent can provide you with invaluable expertise and support. Below you’ll find five reasons why it’s essential to work with a professional real estate agent for any type of real estate transaction.

1.  A Good Realtor Will Educate You, Not Sell To You.

Obviously, a real estate agent wants to help clients buy and sell homes. However, a good agent is dedicated to much more than just selling. They will also help you understand the entire process so you know what to expect. A quality agent wants to make sure you make a smart and educated decision.

For example, if you want to list your home, an experienced Oakville realtor will help you navigate through the following areas:

• Determining if your property is ready for the market.
• Having professional home staging done.
• Deciding on a fair price.
• Providing you with helpful information on associated costs for selling a home.

If you are a buyer and are ready to find a new home, an experienced Oakville realtor will make sure you are ready by working with you to ensure the following questions have been answered.

• Have you been pre-approved by a lender? 
• Do you know what you can realistically afford? 
• Do you know what goes into a strong offer?

If you’re not prepared for your real estate transaction, then buying or selling a home can turn into a stressful and seemingly impossible situation. By working with the right agent, you’ll transform the way you think about real estate and feel less overwhelmed about the whole process.

2. Qualified Real Estate Agents Know How To Market Your Property.

When buyers walk into a poorly presented open house, it’s pretty impossible for them to imagine wanting to live there. You can also count on reduced open house traffic if the listing includes poor images and incomplete details. It really is essential to prepare a home for being sold the right way. Some of the most important aspects of a good real estate marketing plan include:

• Home Staging.
• Professional photography.
• Video footage.
• 3D house tour.
• Online marketing tools. 

Do all of those things really sound like something you can tackle on your own? You’ll certainly save time, money, and frustration by having a real estate agent help you present your property.

3. A Realtor Knows Local Market Conditions.

Real estate agents are in-tune with the conditions in your local market. As such, they will have insight into things like:

• Type of audience for your home.
• Where to advertise to buyers.
• Where most buyers are coming from to see your home.
• Average number of days it takes to sell a home.
• Average asking price versus sales price.
• Trends in real estate in your area.
• Whether or not sellers pay closing costs.
• Challenges you could face due to factors such as layout or location.

In-depth knowledge of your market and the real estate conditions in your area, means that your agent will have the ability to get you the best price for your home, even when taking into account every realistic challenge or obstacle that may impact your listing.

4. Real Estate Agents Are Skilled Negotiators.

Real estate negotiations are complex. From making counter offers to dealing with conditions and arranging an appropriate deposit – ask yourself, would you really know how to handle those situations with the right knowledge and protocols? By working with an agent you’ll be able to create a strategy, negotiate, and manage the situation as effectively as possible. 

In addition, your realtor can assist you with stressful events such as when a home inspection reveals a problem with the roof, electrical or finds mould. These discoveries can send people back to the negotiating table and your Oakville realtor will be ready to make sure you are properly represented, and with your best interest in mind.

5. An Agent Is More Than Just A One Time Resource.

Real estate agents are well connected in the community and can help you find the resources you might need once you’ve bought or sold a home. From a recommended moving company to a home renovator and even the best local restaurants – ask your realtor for their suggestions! A great realtor really does want to help you get settled into your new home and are happy to help.

And don’t forget to keep in touch! Your realtor can help you get a home evaluation a few years down the road, help keep you updated on real estate happenings in your neighbourhood, and of course, help you or any of your friends or family with any future real estate transactions.

Trust Sue Heddle Homes With Your Real Estate Needs 

Walking into the real estate process without the expertise of a qualified and experienced real estate agent will most likely not produce the outcome you want. With a top real estate agent, like Sue Heddle Homes, on your side, you can let go of common worries and relax knowing that you have an experienced professional, eager and ready to help you. By hiring a realtor, you’ll be able to look forward to the good things that are about to come and enjoy the process along the way. Ready to move forward? Contact Sue Heddle at (416) 906-7998.