Should I sell my home in Surrey?

1.  Are you also buying a home?
   When you are listing it is important to understand if you are buying in the same market or not. If you are selling and buying in today’s Surrey market, you will likely make more on the sale but need to pay more to buy as well, leaving you in a similar financial position. If you are buying in a different  market or moving to a rental, you will need to understand the micro-market trends on both the buy and sell-side.
2. What is the home market doing?
   In Surrey, with the hot market right now the end of Fall and into Winter is an excellent time to sell. Experts are saying there’s no need to wait for Spring if you are ready to list. Looking at average prices and sales across a big city like Vancouver is too generic to extrapolate how that impacts the saleability of your home. Instead, you need to understand what has happened in Surrey and specifically in your neighbourhood. What has sold? For how much? How comparable is this home to yours?
3. How much equity do you have?
   To understand your full financial picture, it is important to evaluate how much equity you have in your home. This will tell you how much capital you can extract from a sale and how much the bank will take back.
4. What will it cost to break your mortgage?
   This is an important penalty you should be aware of ahead of listing your home. Depending on the contract these fines can be quite hefty and might make a sale a non-starter.
5. What are your costs of transaction?
   Touch-ups – This is 100% dependent on the condition of your home. You may decide to do minor repairs  – paint a wall, weatherstripping, fix dings in  walls (~$500) or major jobs (repairing a roof, resurfacing a floor, electrical, or plumbing work. It is a good idea to get a quote from a reputable pro for this work.

    

   Photography & Measurements – Professional photos are highly encouraged and measurements are needed if you want to post on MLS. All in, these will cost anywhere from $150-350+ depending on the size of your home. If you list with Bōde, we currently cover the costs of professional photos and measurements. 

   Staging – To stage or not to stage? Staging can run from $1,500+/month depending on the size of your home and how much you decide to stage. They typical home sells in 2-3 months.  

   Agents– If you decide to sell your home with an agent, they typically charge 7% on the 1st $100,000 and 2.5% on the balance of the sale price for properties in Surrey. Around half (50%) of the 7% on the 1st $100,000 and 2.5% on the balance is payable to a buyers agent who brings the seller an offer that completes at the Land Titles Office. There are other options to avoid some of these costs. If you chose to sell with a traditional agent you will typically incur the costs of the buy side agent. Of course, if you sell without an agent, or sell to a buyer without an agent there are significant savings there. 

   Lawyer – You will need a lawyer to finalize the deal as well as clear disbursements. This fee can be $1,500 +. Moving – the costs of movers is extremely variable from Kijiji (~$500) to professional movers and organizers  (~$2,500+ depending on volume).  

6. What is the current value of your home? 

Lastly, it is important for you to determine the value of your home. This analysis is now possible with online tools and a good exercise for every homeowner to go through on a regular basis. Understand your neighbourhood trends as well as look at the individual and comparable home sold prices.