Information for Sellers

This checklist gives you a general overview of the things that you need to cover before you list your home. If you are working with a registered broker or sales agent, they will help to guide you through these processes as well.

1. Hire the right broker/sales agent! Make sure you do your research and ensure that you are hiring a broker or sales agent that is qualified and knows the local market well.

2. Understand your home’s equity. Home equity is the current market value of your house, minus what you still owe. Your broker or sales agent will help to guide you through this process, but there are some things you can do on your own to start researching. For example, you can begin to understand the value of your home by researching the value of similar homes in the area. 

3. Make the necessary repairs in your home and pass any local inspections that are required before listing. The last thing you want is to miss out on a sale, or sell for under asking because you skimped out on repairs. 

4. Decide on your listing price. There are lots of factors that contribute to the listing price of your home – but a solid understanding of your home equity will help you determine an appropriate listing price. When in doubt, it’s best to always price your home on the lower side. In competitive markets, this will open up the opportunity for bidding wars amongst buyers.

4. Prepare your home for listing. This includes cleaning and staging your home, removing personal belongings, and making cosmetic updates to the home (such as new paint). And don’t forget about curb appeal! You want your house to stand out in listings, so ensure that the exterior of your home is taken care of as well as the interior. A little bit of landscaping can go a long way.

5. List your home, and start setting up showings! In reality, when you are working with a broker or sales agent – they handle this step for you. All you have to do is keep your home show-ready, and wait for the offers to start rolling in.

First impressions matter, especially when it comes to a large transaction like a house. This is why hosting a great open house is essential for attracting prospective buyers. Here are some tips to help you prepare for an open house:

1. Clean, clean, clean – and then clean again! 

2. If you have any brightly colored or dramatically coloured walls in your house it is a good idea to paint them a more neutral colour. While you may love the red and orange accent wall in your bathroom, a prospective buyer may not and you want buyers to identify with the house.

3. Stage your home with furniture and accessories.

4. Remove all clutter and personal items. Make sure to lock up any expensive belongings or bring them with you during the open house, with so many people in the house at once your agent can’t keep an eye on everyone at once so be smart about what you leave out. 

5. Remove pets from the house if possible for the duration of the open house, especially any pets that may not be too happy about visitors poking around! 

6. Make sure that you get the word out to prospective buyers! Working with a certified broker or sales agent will ensure that your open house gets the exposure that it needs to generate interest.

In competitive markets, getting more than one offer on your listing is possible. In these competing offer situations, it is important for sellers to know that while the seller’s real estate broker or salesperson represents the interests of the seller in the transaction; how the offers are presented and which offer is accepted is entirely up to the seller. The seller’s real estate broker or salesperson is obligated to disclose the number of offers in a competing offer situation to the buyers that have submitted a written offer. However the details of the offer are confidential to the seller and will not be disclosed to buyers. 

As a seller you get to choose how you handle competing offer situations. Sellers can choose to accept an offer, negotiate with buyers, or reject all offers entirely. There are always potential risks depending on which route you choose, but your realtor or sales agent is there to support you and provide recommendations based on their experience and knowledge of the market.

Click here to access the calculator. Use this Land Transfer Tax calculator to estimate the Land Transfer Tax that you may owe on closing. 

Click here to find residential building permits and inspections for the City of Guelph here.

Click here to access the district locator. Check which school district your house is located in with Bus Planner.