Selling your home in less than a year and selling it for the desired price is the dream of every homeowner looking to sell his or her property. How to make it happen? Here is an overview.

  • The asking price must be reasonable from the beginning. Setting it too high in the hopes of making a huge profit is the worst thing you can do. All professionals will tell you: properties that have been on the market for too long frighten the buyers away. They’ll back off.
  • A classic way to set the asking price is to look at the selling price of the similar homes nearby. But, this method is not foolproof. The houses on the street may look the same, but you don’t know their history, their overall condition inside and out or the upgrades that have been carried out over the years.
  • The municipal assessment gives an idea of how much a house should sell, but this method has its limits too.
  • Avoid setting the price according to your own judgment. What if the house is worth more than you had guessed? Otherwise, be realistic. Your house is not a mansion.
  • The real estate broker is highly qualified to determine the selling price for obvious reasons. However, by doing business with an accredited appraiser, you’ll end up with an appraisal report. It will come in handy when negotiating with the future buyer.
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  • Once you have set the asking price, establish the lowest price you would be willing to accept. Your real estate broker will help you with this step.

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Has the thought of buying a property with someone else or with a few people ever crossed your mind? It’s actually possible, but the experience requires discipline.

Buying a property collectively with a relative, either a friend or a family member, is often the ideal solution, especially since access to a property appears to be getting sparse these days. The constraints are numerous: a tightening of mortgage rules, a record high in household debts and difficulties in establishing a budget.

It’s a simple matter of mathematics. The more people are paying for a property, the lesser the amount each one has to pay for it. However, as any other joint enterprise, there are risks. Several things must be taken care of, such as contribution amounts, task distribution as well as the temperament of each and every one.

Hence, the importance of sticking to a protocol, not only to achieve the ultimate goal, which is buying a property, but also to prevent the relationships between the co-owners from going sour.

Erica Nielson, from the RBC Bank, offers advice to help you make your group purchase a success and not a source of problems.

Here is precisely her advice:[……]

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It happens to a lot of us. A death, change jobs, fall in love, financial problems coming or, on the contrary, the sudden desire to make money fast. In other words, there are a lot of reasons for finding yourself at a crossroads where you have to decide if you want to sell your house or rent it.

Renting comes with a whole new set of responsibilities: finding good tenants, making sure that the house is in order, responding to emergencies, assimilating the new tax calculations. It’s not for everyone.

Selling is much easier, but may not pay as much in the long term. Much less. And if you’re nearing retirement, you have to take the time to think about it, because people are living much longer today. You need more money if you want to maintain an enjoyable lifestyle.[……]

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