What to Do Now if you want to Buy or Sell in 2020
Selling
1. Improve your curb appeal
Curb appeal used to mean a great front yard that people admired as they walked by. That’s changed —now it means a captivating online profile, complete with professional photography and a video tour. COVID-19 has only made photos and videos even more important in the buying and selling process. A few curb appeal tips for any home seller are to make sure your lawn is mowed and the landscaping is well done. Your exterior walls and your driveway should also be as neat as possible.
2. Embrace Virtual Tours
Video-conferencing technology like Zoom and FaceTime have quickly become the standard method for showing homes, especially if people are still living in them. The good news is that these tools are readily available and usually free to anyone with a smartphone or computer and internet access.
3. Make Minor Repairs
Your condo, multi family home, townhouse, or single family home doesn’t have to be perfect in order to sell. However, you need to make minor repairs to different areas of the real estate property. This could be faulty wiring, a leaking toilet, a hole in the fence, or stains on the ceilings and walls.
4. Get Rid of Clutter
Clutter in your home will put off potential buyers. When selling a house, it is crucial to remove all the unnecessary items from the interior and exterior of your property. For example, one of the tips for selling your home is to remove some furniture from your rooms to make them appear more spacious.
5. Paint
Painting your home before selling can be very beneficial to the seller! The entrance of your home creates the first impression to buyers. Homes that are looking freshly painted with a beautiful front door and exterior adds curb appeal and the buyer is happy to see a well-maintained home right from the start!
A note for sellers: Before making major investments into kitchens and bathrooms, please set up a Zoom call with me so I can help you understand if you will get a return on your investment.
Buying
Get approved for financing
As with many things in life, planning ahead makes all the difference. After all, getting a mortgage pre-approval is its own form of forward planning! Take the time to get your finances in order before you apply for a mortgage pre-approval, shop around for the best rate, and keep your finances consistent. Achieve that and you should expect a seamless transition from pre-approval to your move in date.
On June 4, 2020, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced changes to the eligibility rules for mortgage insurance, in the agency’s latest response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new rules will lower the amount of debt an applicant for an insured mortgage can carry, set a higher credit score to qualify for CMHC insurance, and will require a homebuyer to use their own, and not borrowed, funds for their down payment. Read the full article here.
2. CMHC Rules
Prior to beginning your search, it is best to set up a Zoom Meeting with me to discuss what you are looking for and where. I can set up a passive search to get you updated on area market activity and make some helpful suggestions.