Getting your home sale or purchase right

Getting your home purchase or the sale of your Kamloops Property right there are a few simple steps to making it as stress free as possible.

BUYING A HOME IN KAMLOOPS

A step at a time: Before seriously house hunting, have your mortgage financing in place, says Kent Browne, broker of record with Royal LePage Team Realty in Ottawa. Make sure you also have roughly two per cent of the anticipated purchase price set aside in cash for legal fees, land transfer tax and other expenses.

Preparation: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.'s free, downloadable 72-page guide Buying a Home walks you through the entire house-hunting and -buying process. There's also a condominium guide: http://cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/buho/index.cfm.

Browne suggests scouting out communities before looking at individual homes: "Visit the school, go to the dog park, ask people if they like living there." SEE OUR Kamloops COMMUNITIES PAGE HERE

If you're going rural, remember that you'll spend less on taxes but more on commuting. Check the septic system and well in addition to the zoning - you don't want a quarry being dug next door. Adds Tom Muldoon, who specializes in rural properties at Re/Max Citywide Realty, "You may have to smell manure sometimes, too."

Picking an agent: Ask friends for referrals and interview two or three realtors, grilling them on how well they know particular neighbourhoods and the current market. Do you like and instinctively trust the agent? If not, move on. SEE DANIELLE'S TESTIMONIALS PAGE HERE

Don't feel guilty about making your agent escort you to many properties. That's his or her job.

Do your homework: Scan the Multiple Listing Service for homes of interest. You'll find detailed information on homes for sale according to price range, number of bath-rooms and other parameters.

Condos: A condominium's status certificate (your agent should provide it) details the condominium corporation's financial status, pending major repairs and the like. Read it before signing the agreement to purchase and preferably before making an offer, says real estate agent Charlie Sezlik.

He suggests also checking minutes of recent condominium board meetings to identify building or governance issues.

Inspections & warranties: When making an offer, make it conditional upon the house passing a home inspection by a member of Canadian Association of Home Inspectors. That includes condos. An inspection covering the foundation, roof, plumbing and other key components typically costs $400 to $500.

SEE OUR HOME INSPECTIONS INFORMATION PAGE HERE

An inspection does not mean you have a warranty on the home or that components will operate properly.

SELLING YOUR KAMLOOPS HOME

Preparation: Listing agreements, disclosures, open houses - selling a home can be as stress-inducing as buying.

Picking an agent: When I sold my mother's home in Montreal three years ago, I was shocked at how slapdash some agents were - one suggested listing immediately even though the dining room ceiling had peeling paint and the garden shed was packed with rusty junk.

CLICK HERE TO TRY OUR FREE ONLINE HOME VALUATION TOOL

Ask prospective agents direct questions about their specific strategies for selling your home and how many days their homes spend on the market.

Staging: Most sellers know they need to declutter and remove personal items so that prospective buyers can more easily imagine themselves in the home. But it's more complicated than just that. Buyers these days "prefer the home to be move-in ready," says Paul Vani of Sutton Group-Premier Realty. That means, on the outside, great curb appeal, including a tidy walkway and a freshly painted front door ("the heart and soul of the home," says Vani).

Inside, do the little things like replacing missing grout around the bathtub tiles and polishing the windows. "A fresh coat of paint is the best bang for the buck," says Joanne Paquette of Ottawa's Image Home Staging. Painting the foyer, dining/living room and master bedroom with a neutral will usually do the trick, she says.

Condos & pricing: "Staging is fine," says Sezlik, "but there are thousands of units for sale in Ottawa, so you have to price it competitively too, not say, 'But mine is special!' "

That advice holds for all homes. Check the Internet for prices on comparable properties and rely on your agent.

Final tip: Insist your agent get professional photographs of your home, inside and out, for web and other marketing venues.

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