With regards to purchasing a home, there's countless things you'll need to confirm along the way.

1)Sort out your spending plan

Decide your financial plan for a down payment and amount you can spend month to month. Consider monthly expenditures such as your mortgage, maintenance or common charges and real estate taxes, utilities, parking etc.

2)Get pre-approved:

Pre-approval is a significant and vital advance in the home purchasing venture. You should look for pre-approval for a mortgage, investigate your credit report, FICO score, understand the various sorts of home loans out there, search for the best rates, and locate the correct program for your particular needs.

3)Understand your timeline

Recognize your timeline for moving and comprehend what specific constraints you have.

4)Work with the local expert

Locate a realtor who has some expertise in the Greater Vancouver and all the more explicitly, locate a nearby master who is dynamic in the local you wish to buy in.

5)Sort out precisely what you need

Decide your requirements and organize your needs: style of home, size, area, building amenities, condo, townhouse or house.

6)Consider your commute

Evaluate access to transportation and commuting time to work in selected neighborhoods.

7)Think about schools

If applicable, research schools and review school reports in selected neighborhoods.

8)Consider amenities

Evaluate building amenities and house rules in terms of your needs (e.g. washer/dryer permitted, doorman, gym, pet policy, storage facilities, etc.)

9)Let your realtor handle the negotiations

Discuss with your agent how much to offer and leave room to negotiate. Your realtor will be able to advise based on how long the property has been on the market, the condition of the home, other offers that have been presented, and how the asking price compares to recently sold comparable properties. Let your agent set up your offer and apply trained negotiating skills during the buying process. Your agent will advise you of any final negotiating factors that may benefit you in the purchase.

10)Review the building

Whenever you have picked a property, have both your agent and your lawyer assess the buildings's budget summaries.

11)Have all your documents in order

Once your offer is accepted work closely with your agent to gather materials for your mortgage application and/or board package.

12)Work with a local lawyer

Find a local real estate attorney to prepare the purchase contract before you sign and represent you at the closing.

13)Think about homeowners insurance

Before you move in, get homeowners insurance. Get quotes, compare and secure a protection policy with appropriate coverage.

1. Take care of your landscape

Some of the first things buyers are going to notice as they pull up to your house are the landscape – lawn, plants, flowerbeds, etc. Now you don’t have to be extravagant, install a fountain or even hire a professional, you just need to tidy up and make sure things look neat and preferably alive if possible. Mow the lawn, trim your bushes and buy a few bags of mulch to pour in the flower beds to tie things together. In real estate sales, first impressions count. This is one of the simple improvements that will increase home value. Make it count!

2. Remove clutter

One of the most cost effective home selling tips is to make your home clutter free! You want to maximize the perceived space in the home. The more clutter, the more uncomfortable things will feel. Go through everything and clear out all the non-essentials. Even if you don’t feel like going through all of your stuff and sorting them, you should at least put things away in places where buyers won’t be looking – so no cramming stuff into closets or the garage. Rent a storage space if you need to.

A cluttered home can make your home feel a lot smaller than it is. This is not a good thing when trying to get the most you can out of your sale. Today’s buyers like bright open spaces unfettered by an abundance of someone’s personal property. Keep in mind there is a significant percentage of the population who do not have vision. Make things easier on the buyer by giving them something they can visualize. 

3. Paint your interior if it needs it.

Dark, dreary colors can shrink the perception of space. Old, stained paint makes rooms look decrepit. By painting with contemporary colors and ideally with a little insight from a knowledgeable Real Estate agent or interior designer, you can change the whole feel of your home. There is not another home improvement that will give you more bang for your buck than a fresh coat of paint. From a selling standpoint, it is important to stick with neutral colors. Remember selling your home is not about personal preferences but appealing to the masses. Stick with off white and light creamy colors for maximum benefit.

4. Hire a great Real Estate agent

If you are noticing a trend here, that’s because there is one. Working with a professional to sell your home has a ton of benefits, and takes a lot of the heavy lifting off of your shoulders. An experienced Realtor can often sell your home faster, and for a better price, than you can on your own. This, in fact, is one of the most valuable tips for selling a home. Just make sure you hire the right agent!

Before a real estate agent even begins their work of selling a home they can be a great source of knowledge in pricing your home correctly. Without the right price, everything else you do will be meaningless! Don’t be like so many other sellers who put a pie in the sky price tag on their home. This is a sure recipe for failure.

An exceptional local real estate agent who knows the market like the back of their hand is worth having in your corner. Keep in mind that pricing a home properly is vital to your success and some agents will intentionally mislead you just to get your business.

Avoid this kind of agent at all costs! There is nothing that will prevent you from getting top dollar faster than hiring a real estate agent who overprices your home!

5. Put up a sign in the yard

With all the emphasis on online marketing – which is critical, of course – it can be easy to forget about the basics. Putting a “For Sale” sign in the yard will let everyone know what’s going on, and makes it easier for people to find the house. Some folks want to “keep their home a secret” for a multitude of reasons. This frankly is a mistake. Home sellers should never underestimate the power of real estate signage. Many homes have been sold over the years due to a sign.

6. Make sure your photos are exceptional.

The pictures you post on your listing can make or break your sale. They are the first thing anyone sees. If you are not skilled at photography, and your Real Estate agent isn’t either, then hire a professional. It is worth the expense. So many sellers hire a real estate agent but don’t bother to check on one of the most important parts of the selling process – how does the home being marketed look online? This is such a vital consideration, yet so many sellers underestimate the importance. Your homes photography is a gateway to a buyers perception of the property – good or bad!

7. Consider a video tour

The best Real Estate agents today are utilizing some form of video or slideshows, in addition to photos. Buyers like to take a tour before they decide to visit, which a video allows. Again, working with a professional here is important – either a Real Estate agent skilled in video tours or a professional who makes real estate videos. Home buyers will probably look at the photos first but once they take a look at the video, it will seal the deal, and they will be scheduling a showing.

8. Make sure you are marketing using all channels – particularly online

Old school Real Estate agents can sometimes be slow to adopt new marketing channels, which is why you should hire someone who has a demonstrated ability to utilize the web. A Realtor with a website is great, but you also want to use someone who has a complete understanding of how to make your home shine online. Real Estate agents who have command of their online presence understand the importance of making your home “stand out” from the competition. Again it all starts with your photography. Without good photos you can be all over the internet and it won’t matter because your presentation will be lousy.

9. Take advantage of good lighting

A bright, cheery home is more inviting to buyers. Let the sunlight in if you can, and add some better lighting if your home is dim. Even buying brighter light bulbs can help. One of the things I always mention to my clients is to make sure all of their curtains are drawn and lights remain on when there is a scheduled showing. Again, the presentation of your home is critical. Small things like lighting can make a big difference with no money coming out of your pocket!

10. Consider a professional cleaning

A clean home is inviting to buyers, whereas a dirty home can turn them away faster than just about anything. The easiest way to know your home is spotless and looking its best is to hire a professional cleaning company. Make sure your kitchen and baths are spotless. Buyers will pay closer attention to these areas. In addition make sure your carpets are as clean as possible. If need be consider having your carpets professionally cleaned. This is one of those things where spending a few hundred dollars can save you thousands by preventing the buyer from thinking they need to replace the carpets immediately.

11. Make sure you repair the things that your Real Estate agent advises

Many renovations are arguably a bad investment for sellers, as it is hard to get your money back in the sale. But if your real estate agent advises that you fix some things, like faulty wiring, a hole in the fence, a leaking toilet or a visible stain in the ceiling, you should do it. These are things that the buyer may balk at, or demand a lower price because they feel immediate attention is needed. Secondarily when the buyer does their home inspection more than likely they will be trying to renegotiate the sale price or worse asking to back out of the deal.

12. Address all odors

Smell is powerful, and can easily drive someone away from buying your home. However, you may not even realize the smells are there. Ask an outsider that you trust, like your Realtor, to let you know if there are any unpleasant odors – like pet or cooking odors – and address them before you show. Believe it or not pet odors can kill a home sale. This happens because some buyers fear they won’t be able to get rid of the odor once they purchase the house. Don’t take any kind of chance with home odors – remove them!

13. Make your kitchen appealing

Many buyers are very focused on kitchens, which is why you want to make sure yours is reasonably appealing. Formica counter-tops from the 70s may need to be updated, and you might want to install a new appliance or two if the existing ones are in really bad shape. Most Real Estate agents will tell you that the kitchen is the most important room in the home. It makes sense as it is typically the place where we spend most of our time. Do what you can to make you kitchen is appealing as possible.

14. Get organized

The people that are looking at your home are going to open every door, including closets and the garage. You may help your sale by making sure these areas are relatively organized. The better they look, the easier it is for buyers to imagine that they can fit all their things in the home. This again goes back to one of my previous home selling tips of DE-cluttering. Organizing your closets and garage should be done as part of the process.

15. Take your pets somewhere for showings

It is hard for pet owners to imagine sometimes, but some people really don’t like pets. As a dog or cat owner, you may not want to hang out with such people, but they might make a great offer on your home. Take the pets somewhere safe and comfortable, like a friends. Having evidence of your pet, including their odors can be a real turn off to some people.

There you have it – these are some of the best home selling tips to get you on your way to a successful home sale!