Well, that was the plan.

Naturally, I wanted to test the little widget with a couple of recent sales. So I entered the addresses, hit the send button and — voila! The results came up. What I quickly realized was that, instead of giving me an accurate (or semi-accurate) appraisal, the resulting “guesstimate” was overpriced by $200,000, according to my own calculations. And this is not small change we’re talking about…

What am I getting at?

Technology alone is not enough, at least not yet. Just like proofreading or translating, as two other examples, technology can be incredibly handy but not always incredibly accurate. And when it comes to “correctly” pricing your home, you need more than mere numbers and figures taken from a website. You need comparables from the area. You need sold prices, and you should have someone come over for a quick inspection. It deserves to be seen in person, because the overall condition of your home will never show as well on paper as it does “live”. And that can make a (more than) SIGNIFICANT change in the way your property will be priced.

Ready to have your home appraised? Why not get a free, in-person consultation right now? For price strategies and marketing tips to get your home sold for more money, contact us now.

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

The asking price of a home should reflect the current market price, which is calculated quite differently from the municipal assessment. The city evaluates properties every three years (meaning they are often behind the going market values), and they base their assessments on the property itself and its neighbourhood.

To determine optimal asking price, a homeowner should get a comparative market analysis (CMA). This is done by

Continue reading: Asking Price: Comparative Market Analysis vs Municipal Assessments

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

Sometimes you find properties that have a municipal evaluation higher than the asking price. In most cases, it’s the other way around. So as a potential buyer, you might wonder whether or not this is an error — how can it be that the person is selling for less than the municipal evaluation

Continue reading: Asking (Selling) Price Less Than Municipal Evaluation?

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

Updated from the Home Staging archives. Originally published on Jun 18th 2007.

Staging a Home for sale will cost you money. Is it worth spending time and effort on it? After all, once the decision to sell has been made, you just want to get it over with as fast as possible, right?

First, did you determine the «right» price for your house? It should be based on certain objective criteria, such as the location of the property, sale price of comparable homes in your neighbourhood and today’s market conditions. But don’t forget the desirability factor…
While you can’t control some of the other criteria, you definitely have a say in the way your property looks, feels and is perceived by prospective buyers. Increase the visual/emotional value of your property and you will increase its desirability, therefore the price and the urgency to buy it from potential buyers. Why

Continue reading: Should your house be staged before you sell?

Posted By: Sveta Melchuk. Founder of Home Staging Montreal, a Montreal firm specializing in Home Staging and Interior Redesign. Simple and effective solutions, to help you sell your property faster and for more money. Call Sveta at: 514-482-9776 http://www.home-staging-montreal.com/

Small rooms are the bane of the home decorator. How do you achieve a pleasing look that doesn’t feel cramped and claustrophobic? Without to have to build an addition or knock down walls, you are limited to a few, but effective, decorating tricks that create the illusion of space.

Use color to your advantage

The strategic use of colour and light is the best way to achieve this. Choose light shades of paint or wallpaper for the walls. Lighter colours reflect light making for a brighter room. Use an even lighter shade of the same colour or white for ceilings and floors. A darker colour on the ceiling will make the ceiling look lower and tends to make the walls look as though they are closing in.

Avoid harshly contrasting colours. In fact, a monochromatic colour scheme that carries throughout the room into fabrics and accessories is very effective. Steer away from too many patterned items. The goal here is to blur perspective

Continue reading: How to Make a Small Room Appear Bigger

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

There are still plenty of agents working over the holidays, as most take their vacation in the summer. I skipped my summer vacation this year (well, partially), and decided to go away for the holidays instead – Don’t hate me for it. Sheila is staying to cover for me while I’m away, and several blog posts have been schedule for when I’m gone.

Back to this month’s market…

There should be activity right after Christmas Day. I find it amazing how people can be so dedicated to finding a home right after the customary family and social (and/or religious) responsibilities such as Christmas. From the 26th on, the phones shall be constantly ringing.

If you’re selling your home, that is good news. Although you will not get the same amount of prospective buyers as, say for example in February. But you can rest assure that those few people who are visiting during the holidays are seriously looking to buy a home. Otherwise, they’ll be staying in, eating the leftover turkey and drinking eggnog.

Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/

Home staging is an important marketing technique for selling homes, whether they are furnished or vacant.

Important points to remember about vacant properties are:

• People buy «Homes» and not «Houses»: it’s therefore essential to give them the feeling of a «Home» and you certainly won’t be able to achieve that with an empty space!
• A vast majority of people (over 90%) can’t imagine what a house could look like with furniture in it and they have nothing to compare their own furnishings to in an empty space. Did you know that a room actually looks smaller empty than properly furnished?
• With nothing to focus on except the bare space, the negatives will become more apparent to prospective buyers.
• A vacant house gives an impression of a desperate situation and you can expect to get lower offers than otherwise.

So, to sell your property fast and for most money, what do you need to do?

Continue reading: Staging a vacant house

Posted By: Sveta Melchuk. Founder of Home Staging Montreal, a Montreal firm specializing in Home Staging and Interior Redesign. Simple and effective solutions, to help you sell your property faster and for more money. Call Sveta at: 514-482-9776 http://www.home-staging-montreal.com/