Selling a Condo Is Different Than Selling A House
Things to consider when selling a condo:
1. Your Condo Corporation
- Order a status certificate, check for the fiscal periods, updates you are not aware of if you have not been attending board meetings. You don’t want any surprises
- Is the reserve fund strong?
- Do you anticipate any special assessments or outstanding legal issues within the building?
(A buyer and their lawyers would see this as a major negative) - Are your maintenance fees going up ? Consider selling before they do
- Are there any renovations planned for your building? – lobby, roof, hallways, elevators (If one elevator is down, the showings will be affected)
2. Do You Have a Tenant?
- Get your tenants on board with selling the unit and allowing showings. Check it is presentable for showings
- Motivate the tenant by giving them a month’s free rent so they co-operate. It can be very beneficial to you selling your condo
- Want to know more about keeping your tenants happy?
3. Renovate or Not ?
- Condos are relatively easy to renovate and the changes can be very important. Some of those could be:
- New granite counters
- New stainless steel appliances
- New flooring throughout
- Paint
- Light fixtures
- Clean your bathroom and range exhaust carefully
- Clean your windows and your screens (it is up to condo owners to clean any windows they can clean from their balcony).
4. Be Sneaky
- Bribe your concierge! Keep them motivated to assist agents accessing the unit during showings and sharing information about your property
- Don’t want to bribe your concierge? Just being nice to your concierge can go a long way!
5. Staging
- Clear out your stuff and have clear line of sight in all rooms to make them look larger
- Condo living is hard, storage is minimum, so don’t show that to buyers.
- Move things out for a short period of time. The Oulahen Team offers free professional staging, and storage at times
- For more staging tips and things you can do yourself, click here
6. Build The Wall If Need Be
- If you have a 2 bed unit that was converted to a 1 bed, put that wall back up! Numbers count!
- From our experience, a 800 sq ft 2 bed condo will sell quicker and for more than a 800 sq ft 1 bed unit in the same building.
- It’s worth the $1500 to $3000 and hassle for the difference in time on the market and final sale price.
FINALLY
- Give your realtor a fob to access all the building amenities, and locker room key if you have a nice locker.
- Talk to your neighbours. Let them know you are selling and ask them to keep noise, smoke and pets to a minimum.