Use a Buyer’s Agent When Buying a Home!

There’s a difference in real estate representation that all Ontario home buyers need to know!

While the law allows both the buyer and seller to be represented by the same real estate agent, this is not in the buyer’s best interest. This is because the seller has different goals in mind than the buyer does!

Sellers want the highest possible sales price, and terms that serve their advantage. As the buyer, you want exactly the opposite!

Home buyers deserve individual representation when it comes to negotiating the price and terms of the home sale. You deserve to have loyalty, accountability, trustworthy advice, and full disclosure from your agent. Your motives and finances should be kept confidential from the seller. But without a Buyer’s Agent, you are not assured of any of those things!

By law, you are allowed to have a Buyer’s Agent represent you! There are several ways this works to your advantage:

• Access to all homes for sale, without bias
• Dedicated representation
• Protection of your best interests
• Disclosure of material facts than could influence your decisions
• Assistance with all phases of the home buying process
• Counseling about home prices, market conditions and strategic offers 

If you are looking to buy a home in Brantford or the surrounding area, you can trust me to provide you with reliable Buyer Agent services. I can help you find the right home for your needs, and save you money by negotiating diligently on your behalf.

Contact me today for expert home buying guidance!

Wally Dufrat
Re/Max Twin City Realty, Inc.
Phone: 519-752-5400
515 Park Road North

Brantford, Ontario N3R 7K8

The “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of Selling Your Brantford Home!

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if it’s your first time selling your home in the Brantford/Brant County Real Estate market or you’ve done it a few times. The transaction is never as easy as you think it will be. There are a number of reasons people run in to obstacles while putting their property in the market. A lot of it has to do with the housing cycle. The real estate industry goes through booms and busts, and while in Canada we’ve been faring better than most other countries we have still had our own struggles. Many sellers in the Brantford/Brant County Real Estate market have been reluctant to proceed with listing their home for fear of taking a financial hit.

While we can’t control the real estate market, what I can do, as a Brantford/Brant County Real Estate Agent, is tell you what you can do to get more buyers interested in your home. If you follow these common do’s and don’ts of selling a home, then you can have a speedier and less stressful transaction:

•    Don’t do any major renovations just before selling. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but most of the time you won’t see the return on investment during the home sale. You could end up taking a big hit financially.
•    Do make sure that your house is accessible during showings. If your home looks uninviting, buyers won’t be as inclined to walk through the door. Clear all walkways to your house, make sure your landscaping looks nice and de-clutter the inside. Buyers should have an easy experience once they walk inside.
•    Do market your home in a few different ways. Your Brantford/Brant County real estate agent should use the right combination of internet, print and word of mouth marketing when selling your home. This involves a strategy. Before hiring an agent, ask them their strategy for marketing your house.
•    Do showcase your home’s best features. The key to getting multiple offers is to highlight your home’s best assets. If you have a spacious, open floor plan, you need to emphasize that. If your home is bright, that needs to be shown off. Make minor adjustments before showings to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward.
•    Don’t take a “hard sell” approach. Many buyers are tempted to stick around during showings to “show” buyers the best parts of their home. This is a huge mistake. Most buyers feel uncomfortable when the seller is present at a showing and feel pressured. Let your agent handle the sales pitch. You focus on getting your house ready to show!

As a Brantford/Brant County Real Estate Agent, I highly recommend that my sellers employ these tactics upon listing their home. I’ve found that these approaches produce better results and create a more stress-free transaction. If you ever have any questions about the best way to sell your home in the Brantford/Brant County Real Estate market, don’t hesitate to contact me and ask. I’d be happy to help you. I hope to hear from you soon!

Wally Dufrat | Sales Representative
RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Inc. Brokerage

Over 525 Closings!
515 Park Road North | Brantford, ON N3R 7K8
Direct:  (519) 752-5400 & (877) 759-5900 | Cell: (519) 761-7400 | Fax: 519-752-3400

Before You Buy or Sell Your Next Home, Visit My Websites at:
www.BrantfordHomeInfo.com or www.FreeBrantfordHomeInfo.com for FREE Information!
 

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It Pays to Pre-Inspect Your Brantford Home!

Did you know that more than 85% of homebuyers who apply for a mortgage also request a home inspection? This can hardly be considered a surprise, as inspections can reveal pricey flaws and much-needed improvements that need to be made on the home. As a seller who plans on putting your home up for sale on the Brantford real estate market, this should make one part of your selling strategy very clear: get your home inspected BEFORE putting your home on the market.

Most sellers wait for the buyer to request a home inspection before having one. Given that a home inspection can make or break your Brantford real estate transaction, a smart strategy would be to pre-inspect your home, so that the homebuyer’s mind is at ease and you can be up-front about any and all issues with the home. As a Brantford real estate agent, part of my job is preparing home sellers for listing their home and helping them to come up with the best selling strategy. One recommendation I always make is to get your home pre-inspected. Here are a few reasons why this approach might pay off:

It reassures prospective homebuyers. When an interested buyer does the initial walkthroughs in your Brantford home, the only flaws that stand out will be the obvious ones. A home inspection helps homebuyers see the issues that they may have initially overlooked during their first few viewings of the home. Getting your home pre-inspected shows that you took the initiative to find out what was wrong with the house and that you are being honest and up-front with interested buyers. This will put the buyer’s mind at ease and make them feel more comfortable about working with you. It will also avoid the frustration that occurs when various deals fall through due to home inspection.

You can use the outcome of the inspection to buy more time or save money. If you know about your home’s red flags and areas of improvement ahead of time, then you can choose to renovate the issue immediately or adjust the sales price to reflect the outcome of your inspection. It gives you a few days to find a solution that will satisfy both your needs and those of Brantford, ON home buyers. If you choose to make repairs ahead of time, you will also have some time to shop around for the best deal from various contractors. In other words, you won’t be pressured to fix issues on your home quickly. This can save you both money and additional anxiety.

You can set your asking price based on the outcome of the inspection. There’s nothing more frustrating than finding a Brantford homebuyer who is willing to pay your asking price, only to have the final figure drop due to the results of your home inspection. Getting pre-inspected will allow you to set a fair and realistic asking price and know where you stand in the market.

Avoid repeat repairs. Getting a home pre-inspected will help you find out the source of all of the issues of your home, so that you won’t waste money on fixing seemingly obvious problems only to find that the cause was something entirely different during the inspection. In other words, getting pre-inspected will allow you to use a professional to pinpoint the problem and get the right repair, instead of doing initial improvements before listing your home and finding out post-inspection that it wasn’t the source of the problem.

Getting pre-inspected may sound like a hassle, but in the long run, it will save you both time and money during your Brantford real estate transaction. As the area’s real estate and community expert, I consider it a large part of my responsibility to help Brantford home sellers come up with the best marketing strategy for their home. Something that I highly recommend is to get your home pre-inspected. As always, if you have any questions about the Brantford real estate market, or if you want to know more about the area, don’t hesitate to contact me. I am always happy to help in any way I can. I hope to hear from you soon!

Wally Dufrat
RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Inc. Brokerage
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Ten Things You Need To Know Before Hiring Your Brantford Real Estate Agent!

When it comes to selling your Brantford home, having a real estate agent can either cost or save you thousands of dollars, depending on the quality of the person you hire. When you put your home up for sale on the Brantford real estate market, it’s important that you hire a professional that you can trust. You want to make sure that your Brantford real estate agent is devoting time to marketing your home, looking out for your best interest and using their experience to help you make the best decision possible.

When hiring a Brantford or Brant County real estate professional, it’s important to know exactly which questions to ask. You need to have the right information before you enter a binding contract with your real estate agent. This will help you avoid stressful situations or costly errors in your Brantford, ON home sale. As strange as it might feel to ask a potential real estate agent a lot of questions, you need to remember that the right professional will be able to answer them all with ease.

The first step is to know which questions you should ask your potential Brantford REALTOR. These ten questions should give you all the information that you need to know:

Why should I list my home with you? There are many Brantford real estate agents out there with similar marketing tactics and cookie cutter responses to this question. You want to keep your eye out for the REALTOR with the most creative, outside-the-box and innovative marketing strategy. If their method isn’t current, then they’re probably not the right real estate agent for you.

What is your company’s track record? It’s important to get some background on how many homes your potential agent has sold in the past few years. Chances are if they have a higher volume of sales, then they have the resources to market your listing effectively and quickly. While this shouldn’t be your deciding factor, it is definitely something you should consider when you hire an agent.

How do you plan on marketing my home? If your agent doesn’t have a unique plan for advertising your listing, chances are you‘ll be fighting for space with their other listings or other listings in their brokerage. Make sure that you know what the plan is for your listing marketing efforts ahead of time so you can ensure your home will get the attention it deserves.

What homes have you sold in the area? You want to make sure that your agent knows your community. If they haven’t sold a home in your area, then they don’t know your neighborhood well enough. This is important because you’d ideally like your agent to know what other homes in your area have sold for. Make sure your real estate professional is familiar enough with your area that they can give you a good idea of what to expect from the transaction.

Does your broker control your advertising? You want your Brantford real estate agent to have primary control over your listing’s marketing efforts. If the broker controls ads, then your home will be competing for attention with other listings in the brokerage. If your agent controls your home’s marketing, then they can make sure it gets the attention it needs.

When you sell a listing, how close is the asking price to the selling price? You want to make sure you get the best possible value for your home, so if the agent in question is consistently selling homes for well below the asking price, then most likely there is a problem. You want to make sure that the numbers are close enough together that you’ll be getting the most out of your Brantford home sale.

How many buyers are you currently working with? The more buyers your agent works with, the more likely it is that your home will sell quickly. You want your Brantford real estate agent to have access to interested buyers so that he or she can sell your home to them.

Do you have a reference list of clients I can contact? The best way to find out everything about the agent you’re interested in working with is to ask his or her past clients what they thought of their Brantford or Brant County real estate experience. It’s a way to do your research, find out the pros and cons of each agent you interview and make sure you found the professional who is the right fit for your needs.

Will I be able to get out of this, if need be? Nobody likes to bring this up, but things happen where you may not be 100% satisfied with the service you’re getting from a particular agent. When this happens, you want to make sure that you are able to get out of the contract and that your best interest will be served in that instance. This is part of knowing what you’re getting yourself into in this real estate transaction, so don’t be afraid to make sure you’ll be protected!

Asking these ten questions will help insure that you have found the right Brantford real estate agent to guide you through the ups and downs of selling your Brantford or Brant County home. If you have any questions about what to look for in an agent, don’t hesitate to contact me! Whether you choose to use my services or not, I’d love to help you start your home sale in any way I can. I hope to hear from you soon!

Wally Dufrat
RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Inc. Brokerage
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