Melody Kilbank

If you’re thinking of listing your property, one thing
that might be holding you back is concern about
preparing your home for sale. You may be wondering
how much work there will be. Is it going to take a
couple of months? A couple of weeks? A few days?

That, of course, depends on the state of your property.

However, regardless of how close your home is to
“show time” ready, there is plenty you can do to reduce
how long that preparation takes. Consider these ideas:

• Sell stuff online. The less cluttered your home
seems to buyers, the better it will show. So, make
a list of items you want to sell, and then list them
on one of the many local online market websites.
Price items fairly and, chances are, you’ll get rid of
everything in a day or two.

• Have a repair day. Go through your home and
make a list of everything that needs to be fixed.
Then, schedule repair people to all come on the
same day. Voila! In one day, all needed repairs (or,
at least, most of them) are done.

• Get staging advice. Instead of guessing at what
changes you need to make around your home to
make it look its best, get expert staging advice.
You’ll find out exactly what the experts suggest you
do, and you’ll save a lot of time and money. (By the
way, I can provide you with that advice too.)

• Ask before making big improvements. Are you
planning to convert a wood burning fireplace into a
gas unit to help sell your home? Before doing any
big improvements or renovations like that, talk to
me. You don’t want to spend thousands of dollars
on an unnecessary project.

• Hire help. You don’t have to do everything on
your own. Get the help you need. For example,
hire a painter, a cleaner, and/or a junk removal
service. Those will significantly shorten the time it
takes to prepare your home for sale and save you
a lot of work. Also, the costs of those
professionals may be off-set by the increase in
the sale price of your home.

Bottom-line: Preparing your home doesn’t need to
be overwhelming and time-consuming. Contact me
for more ideas to help get your home ready for
sale, quickly.

The COVID-19 outbreak has created a new reality for all of us, at least temporarily. Chances are you’re dealing with many new challenges, both personally and professionally. Remember, we’re all in this together. If there is anything I would be able to do for you, please give me a call. You might have immediate concerns about the real estate market. You might be wondering if you should put off moving. Or, you need to move but are worried about all this uncertainty.

Here are the latest City of Edmonton (ONLY) market information. All Residential average price is down 4.6% year over year and down 4.2% month over month. There is a 6.4 month buyer position. Single Family is up 5% Y/Y and down 7.5% M/M with 5.3 months of inventory, a balanced market position. Condos are down 4.3% Y/Y and .5% M/M and has 8.3 months of inventory, a buyers position. Duplex/Rowhouses are down 3.7% Y/Y and up .3% with 6.7 months of inventory, a buyers market. It is anticipated that for the month of April numbers will decline further, as these stats could reflect the transactions of people who having sold their home, needed to purchase in order to have a place to live. Time will tell.

Good information and advice are often the antidote to stress, especially during challenging times. So, please, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at melody@melodykilbank.com or call/text 780-893-9987. Virtual appointments are available.

Take care and know that I’m thinking of you and wish you well.