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You visit a garage sale on a sunny Saturday morning and find a bicycle that you think would be perfect for your child. You look at the price tag and it’s about twice as much as you would expect to pay. When you question the owner, he says, “That bike has a lot of sentimental value for me. I couldn’t let it go for less.”

Chances are, you’ll pass on the bike. The owner sees the bike and happily remembers teaching his daughter to ride it. What you see is just a bike! You can’t buy someone else’s memories.

This scenario sometimes plays itself out in real estate. A homeowner has fond memories of his home. He may have renovated the den himself and is proud of his work. He may delight in memories of family BBQs on the deck.

That doesn’t mean the house will sell for more than its market value.

So when you put your property on the market, make sure emotions don’t get in the way of pricing it properly.

Fortunately, memories will stay with you, even without your house. You’ll be able to happily take them along to your next home.

When you purchased your current home, chances are it was a good match for your lifestyle. It had the space you needed, the features you wanted, and a location that worked for you.

But for most people, lifestyle and needs evolve through the years. Kids get older. Jobs or careers change. People take on new hobbies and other interests.

As a result, the home that was ideal a few years ago may not fit with your current lifestyle.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to shop for a new home! However, it may mean that it’s worth taking a look at the market and seeing what’s possible.

Think about the kind of home that would support your lifestyle today. Ask questions like:

• How many bedrooms do we need?
• How easy is it to travel to work each day?
• What special features do we want in our home? (Big backyard? Rec room? Quiet area?)
• What do we want nearby? (School? Playground? Walking and biking trails? Shopping? Entertainment? Golf?)
• What else does our home need in order to support our lifestyle?

After asking yourself some of these key questions, ask other family members for their opinions too.

You may, in fact, find that the property you have now is still ideal for your lifestyle.

If, however, your home is no longer a good fit, you have options. You can stay in your current home despite it no longer being ideal, you can make some changes (a renovation, perhaps), or you can see what’s available in the housing market.

When a hotel wants to make a room look inviting, they start with the bathroom. They clean it until it sparkles. They place fresh towels everywhere. They make sure the soap bars and shampoos are new. Some hotels even fold the end of the toilet paper into a nice neat triangle!

Why all the fuss?

Hoteliers know that if a customer is impressed with the bathroom, they will likely feel the same way about the rest of the property.

Something to think about when selling your house.

When you’re shopping for a new home, it’s a good idea to create a checklist of what you want and what you need. It keeps you on track to ultimately find the property that best fits your requirements — and those of your family.

However, there’s a big difference between want and need that is important to understand when house hunting. A ‘need’ refers to a feature that is an absolute must in a new home. A ‘want’, by contrast, is a ‘nice-to-have’.

Some home buyers make the mistake of choosing a ‘want’ at the expense of a ‘need’.

For example, say you ‘need’ four bedrooms in your new home but ‘want’ a golf course located nearby. It can be tempting to fall in love with a property that has a beautiful golf course just a couple of blocks away, even if it has only three bedrooms. You may find yourself signing the offer while dreaming of Saturday morning tee-offs, only to awake to the realization months later that the lack of an extra bedroom has become a serious inconvenience to you and your family.

Of course, it is possible to get most, if not all, of what you need and want in a new home. But if it comes down to a choice, it’s usually a good idea not to sacrifice something you really need in order to get something you want.

So, when you’re making your house hunting checklist, be clear about what is a need-to-have and what is a nice-to-have.

And don’t forget that some features you want — like a wrap-around backyard deck, for example — can potentially be added to your new home later.

Does your home have a lot of personality?

There’s nothing wrong with that.

In fact, you may have pictures on the fireplace mantle showcasing happy family memories over the years… or trophies and other awards in the kids’ bedrooms that represent achievements that make you proud… or a fridge door covered with notes, a calendar and other items that make it a de facto family bulletin board!

These are all things that help make a house truly a place to call “home”.

But when it comes time to sell, all that personality can work against you. When buyers view your property, they want to visualize themselves living there, not you and your family.

Have you ever noticed how model homes are often furnished and decorated? All the rooms look beautiful and enticing. They draw you in. Why? Because, although all the rooms in the model home look great, they’re also impersonal. There’s no uncomfortable sense that you’re in a stranger’s home. You can easily see yourself living there.

That’s exactly what you should strive for when preparing your house for sale.

You can’t get rid of every personal item. That would be impractical. But there’s a lot you can do to depersonalize your home. For example, you can:

• Take down family pictures
• Clear items from the fridge door
• Store trophies in a box
• Remove personal knick knacks and similar items
• Keep only general titles on a bookshelf and store the rest.

The more easily buyers can see themselves living in your home, the more likely they are to become interested in it and make an offer.

You’ve shopped around and attended a few select viewings. Now you’ve found the home of your dreams. It’s yours – as long as you make the right offer!

So how do you make the right offer? That’s a very important question to consider.

If your offer is too low, you risk the seller turning you down. You may not get a chance to make a second offer, especially if there are already multiple offers for the property.

If your offer is too high, you’ll leave thousands of dollars on the table… money that could have been used for other important things, like renovations or a family vacation.

So before deciding how much to offer for a home you want, we need to talk.

We will discuss what goes into a good offer and other ways to strengthen your offer, such as getting a pre-approved mortgage certificate.

If you’re thinking of making a move within the next few months, there are two important things you need to know.

The first is the market value of your current property. That’s the amount your home will likely sell for in today’s market. When you know its market value, you’ll have a better idea of how much money will be available to invest in a new home.

The second is an overview of what’s available on the market. Which of the homes currently available for sale meet your criteria with respect to the type of home, its special features (such as a big kitchen or pool), the area, etc? How much are these homes selling for?

With those two pieces of information, you’ll be able to make a better decision.

How do you select the best moving company for your needs?

• Ask for recommendations.
• Beware of fly-by-night operations. They may seem like a bargain, but you get what you pay for.
• Request a written estimate and contract. (Beware of movers that just give you a price over the phone.)
• Confirm they are covered by insurance, and clarify their policy regarding lost or broken items. Make sure you receive a copy of their insurance certificate.
• Finally, always ask what circumstances would result in extra charges being applied. The number one complaint received about movers by the Better Business Bureau is unexpected extra charges.

You’ve heard the term “curb appeal”. It refers to the first impression a buyer gets when he or she first arrives at your home and looks at it from the outside.

That first impression is critical. But there is a “second” impression that is also very important. That’s the impression buyers get when they open your front door and look inside. Make sure that everything looks great from that perspective too — clean, bright, uncluttered and welcoming.

Say you’re a homeowner wanting to sell your two-level, detached home. You sit down and make a list of things that need to get done to make your property as attractive as possible to buyers.

You consider the backyard. “Hmm,” you think. “Doesn’t our deck need a new finish and our flowerbed need new edging stones?”

Then you think about the living room. “The carpeting is old. We really should replace it.”

Then you step into the kitchen and think, “Our kitchen cabinets look worn. We should get a contractor to quote on replacing them. Maybe we should install a brand new shiny sink and faucet too. That should increase the resale value of our home, shouldn’t it?”

Before you know it, you have a long list of updates, repairs and renovations that you think should be done before listing and you haven’t even reached the second floor!

It’s easy to get carried away with a list of repairs and upgrades that need to be done to prepare your home for the market. But, you don’t want to end up spending more money than you’ll ever get back from the eventual sale. So, how do you determine what improvements you should be making in order to get your property ready to be listed?

That’s easy. Talk to a good real estate professional.

A real estate professional can inspect your property and advise you of the repairs and upgrades you need to make. A real estate professional will know what buyers are looking for, and will also have a good idea of the return on investment you can expect from a particular improvement.

A real estate professional may also be able to recommend reputable tradespeople and other professionals to assist you in making those improvements.

So go ahead and make that long list. Then, let’s review it, so you can make an informed decision on how to get your property ready for sale.