Blog.ByTheOwner.com

Following in the footsteps of our blog about Buying an Investment Property, we will now look at selling an investment property. There are many factors to consider when selling an investment property such as, tax issues, tenant notification, and of course, how to sell the property and keep the most money.

Tax Issues:

Of course the best advice is to consult your accountant before you decide to sell your investment property. Tax issues such as Capital Gains and Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) will come into effect when you sell. The Canada Revenue Agency has all the information related to the tax implications regarding selling an investment property.

Tenant Notification:

The provincial tenant act will have details about the procedure for notifying tenants. The Residential Tenancies Act in Ontario mentions that the owner needs to give the tenant 60 days notice upon entering into an agreement of purchase and sale. However the tenant has the right to terminate the tenancy 10 days after the landlord gives notice.

Placing the property up for sale:

Marketing the property involves photos, signs, and showing the property. This can be difficult when there are tenants in the home. 24 hour written notice might be needed to access the property for showings. It’s best to take photos of all rooms as soon as you purchase the property so that you can use the photos when you place the home up for sale.

Making the most of your investment:

When you sell your investment property, you will need to pay capital gains, legal fees, and perhaps fees to break your mortgage. To maximize your return, you should be selling privately! Selling privately will mean that there is no real estate commissions to pay.

ByTheOwner.com

Gibson BC was recently named one of the most livable cities in the world!.

“The town of Gibsons, population about 4,000, was named the best place in the world to live, among communities with fewer than 20,000 residents, by the International Awards for Liveable Communities. The award program has the endorsement of the United Nations.”

ByTheOwner.com has a property for sale in Gibson:

If anyone wants to live in one of the best cities in the world, then feel free to call the owner.

ByTheOwner.com

Summer has come and gone and the fall real estate market is here. People are going back to work and kids are back in class. September is usually a very active month so let’s take advantage of this moment to attract as many potential buyers as possible! Get ready for a new Open House Month!

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Here is another fantastic success story from a ByTheOwner.com customer. The customer sold in 10 days and saved close to $40,000 in commission.

The customer chose our Premium Plus Package, which costs $674.95. This package includes:

+ Listed until you sell (in this case 10 days)
+ 15 HDR photos taken by our ByTheOwner.com representative
+ 1 Lawn sign and 4 Directional/Open House signs
+ 1 month exposure on the homepage
+ All the ByTheOwner.com online tools
+ An in home consultation with a Licensed Real Estate Professional
+ A complete Comparative Market Analysis of homes SOLD, FOR SALE, and EXPIRED in their neighbourhood.

The Premium Plus Package is our most successful package because our customers receive maximum exposure and maximum help with regards to pricing their home correctly.

This customer knew exactly what other homes in their neighbourhood sold for, they knew exactly what other homes were for sale, and they had great photos and exposure from ByTheOwner.com, and they sold in 10 days!

Here is the calculation of the commission they saved:

$759,000 x 5% = $37,950
GST on commission = $1897.50
Total Savings By Selling Privately = $39,847.50

And remember that is tax free money. Do you ever wonder what you would buy with an extra $40,000?

Incredible!

ByTheOwner.com

Home Staging starts with good quality real estate portfolio.

Since the Internet became readily available in North America, more and more home buyers use the Web to shop for properties and select the ones they want to visit. The latest statistics indicate that over 85% of the potential buyers for YOUR home will use your pictures to make a decision whether to visit based on what they see. So, if your pictures are out of focus, blurry or unclear, you’ll likely lose many of those potential visitors….

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I want to share a recent Home Staging transformation I was involved in.

A family with two young children decided to sell their house in order to purchase a larger home. The husband is a real estate agent and wanted to Stage the house, but his wife was resistant to the idea at first. So, he decided to get an external opinion and called me in for a consultation.

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Home Staging has become an important and, often, necessary marketing tool to sell a property successfully. What do we mean by success?

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How do you know that Staging a Home for sale will bring you tangible (meaning $$$) benefits ?

There are few statistics available on the subject and every marketplace being different, it’s hard to measure the exact impact Home Staging has on a sale. But, based on 2003 statistics provided by StagedHomes.com, a price increase of between 2% and 10% is a very realistic (and even conservative) estimate.

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When we discuss Home Staging, we usually talk about the property’s interior and what needs to be done to make it look its best. What is sometimes neglected is the outside which also needs to be decluttered, cleaned and decorated. After all, the buyer’s first impression will be of the outside and the landscaping of the property – the curb appeal !

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So, you decided to invest a few hundred dollars to prepare your house for sale. But how much should you budget ? How much home staging is enough ? And what are the top priorities ?

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