Thinking of Selling?

Steps and Tips For Selling Your Villa:

1.  Be aware of the sales trends in your development, and in the developments near you. 

Some villa sellers make the mistake of assuming their pricing should be pegged strictly upon the sales history of their specific development (and sometimes underprice the property as a result).  Especially in the case of smaller developments, this can be far too small a pool for establishing real market trends.  When I meet with you to provide a Recommended Asking Price, I will show you the trends in villa pricing, not only in your own development but also in some other developments near you.  If you are planning ahead to sell in the next couple of years, I can set up a search that will give you a multi-year sales summary of villas near you, plus send you any future new sales.  This will make you a well-informed Seller.

2.  Be Prepared With Some Relevant Information For Listing and Selling.

Real Property Report. If you live in a villa that is not a condo, or is a bare land condo, you will need to give the buyer of your property a survey called a 'Real Property Report'.  Please locate your RPR, and be careful you don't pack it away in a box where you can't find it because then you will have to hire a surveyor to create a new one.   We can talk more details about your RPR at our first appointment.  An RPR is not required for villas that are part of a 'conventional' condo development.   If you are unsure, I will help you figure out whether or not you will need an RPR.  If you need a new one, I can recommend several surveyors.

Condo Documents. Both bare land and conventional condos involve a lot of documentation to give unit-owners and potential buyers clarity about the health of the Condo Corporation.  I will help you to understand what condo documents will be required as part of the selling process.  You do not need to order these before we meet.  Paper copies are seldom used any longer.  Most documents are digital so they can easily be emailed to potential buyers, Realtors, Lawyers, or Document Reviewers.  If you would like a list of necessary documents, I can send you a blank copy of a standard Purchase Contract which outlines the necessary documents.  This applies to both conventional and bare land condos.

HOA Documents.  If your development is structured as a Homeowner Association, there may still be documents needed for the buyer.  If you provide me with contact info for an HOA Board Member, I will look into the available documents.

Tax Bill. It is very helpful to have a copy of the most recent Tax Bill.

Title. If you have your copy of Title from your time of purchase, that is helpful but not essential.  I will pull a new Title as part of my standard process.

Blueprints, Appliance Manuals, etc.  Any other documents that you have related to the property are useful to the new buyer, so please don't pack them away  :)

Contact Information for Board and/or Property Management Company.  If your current development is managed by an outside Property Management Company, all I need is the name of the company.  It would also be helpful to have the name and phone number of at least one current Board Member. 

3.  Please Contact Me To Arrange A Home Evaluation.

Once I hear from you, we will choose a time that we can meet together at your property.  I will provide a Comparative Market Analysis, establishing a Recommended Asking Price based on the sales history of similar villas near you.

4.  Invite Family Members To Call Me If You Wish

Everyone's situation is different.  Some villa owners like to involve their adult children in the listing and sale process.  If that is true for you, please let me know if advance, and then have your family members call me.  With your consent I can include them in the communication loop from start to finish.  This is not limited to Power of Attorney situations.  To be clear, if adult children are in the communication loop, the owner remains the final decision-maker.

5.  Estate Sales.

Someone viewing this website might be an Executor/Executrix for an Estate.  If so, and if we arrange a meeting to discuss the details of the property, I will of course be asking for documentation regarding your role as Trustee for the Estate.  With this in hand, I can enter into the full Home Evaluation conversation with you and proceed with listing the property.  The ideal time to actually list the property on the MLS is once Probate is granted.  We can discuss this further if you have questions.

6.  Timing Your Sale.

From a Seller's perspective, the best time of year to list your property is typically the spring.  Some snow-bird villa owners may want to wait until returning from the sunny south.  No problem.  However, the earlier in the spring that you can list, the better it is for you as a Seller.  

7.  What If You Are Selling and Buying, But Don't Want to Move Twice?

For those who wish to sell first, so that you can not possibly end up holding two properties at the same time, just let me know.  In this case, I will endeavour to stretch out the possession timeframe on the sale of your current property to give you time to find a suitable next property and only move once.  I will explain to you how I have often used a 'flex-clause' regarding possession date so you can sell first and still avoid moving twice.  

8.  What If You Want Some Overlap of Possession Dates So You Can Renovate Your Next Property?

As long as you can finance the overlap (cash, or bridge financing, or HELOC), no problem.  Even for those who are not doing a major renovation, you may like to have overlap so you can clean or paint your new place before moving in, or simply move gradually from one property to the next.