When you make the decision to list your NOTL home, what factors are important when choosing a realtor?
You Want a Realtor Trusted By The Community
Kevin Stokes has been a trusted part of the Niagara On The Lake community for many years. As a long standing member of the Niagara On The Lake Rotary Club he gets involved with many local fund-raising events. This is a photo of Kevin volunteering at the Canada Day Rotary Pancake Breakfast in Simcoe Park, NOTL. 
Every Canada Day, Simcoe Park comes alive with hundreds of people who love to start their day with a pancake breakfast.
We start at 7am setting up the grills, tents and tables, getting food in place, preparing coffee, etc. By 8am people start lining up, and by 11am we almost always sell out of pancakes and sausages. By 11:30 we switch to burgers and it all starts again.
It is fun to be involved in community events like this. I’ve made a lot of good friends in the community this way. The next big event after this is the Rotary Holiday House Tour, and the Santa Claus Parade in December, both enjoyed by thousands of visitors.
For now I will enjoy the rest of the summer. It’s a wonderful time of year in Niagara On The Lake. Come and say hello. See more about the Canada Day celebration at Simcoe Park.
A Skilled Professional
Of course you want someone who will get you the best possible price in the shortest possible time but there are many other factors. Do you like the personality of the person who will be working with you? Does he/she seem confident, competent, reliable, trustworthy, enthusiastic, knowledgeable?
It is very important the agent working with you has a very good working knowledge of the market and where your home fits within that market. Where are the buyers likely to be coming from and what are the expectations of those buyers.
For example, in Niagara-on-the-Lake a very high proportion of home buyers are from out of the area with the majority coming here from the GTA. Furthermore, most of those buyers are retired or planning retirement in the near future and are generally in a strong financial position, often selling a home for more money than they intend to spend in NOTL.
This means they are usually downsizing and intend to have a change of lifestyle which might include more world travel, high end dining, a second home in Florida perhaps. A move to NOTL is not just a case of buying a nice house; it is one part of a larger life plan.
With the above in mind, marketing your home also means marketing Niagara-on-the-Lake and its many attractions. You will see that throughout this website I have put a great deal of effort to promote the area and the benefits of living here.
What I do for you
The first step is to meet with you and to have a full tour of your home, to get to know a little about you and to find out what your plans are for the future.
1) The next step is to discuss the features and benefits of your home and how it fits into the current market. Also, what might be recommended in order to make it even more saleable.
2) Home evaluation – The opinion of value of your home is obviously a very important factor and I must be clear that this is a two way discussion. It is not a case where I tell you what your home is worth and you accept or reject it. I will need to know the upgrades that have been carried out to the home and what your expectations are regarding price.
3) I will provide you with my opinion and also provide you with comparable homes that have recently sold in the area along with their features and benefits so we can determine a fair price for your home in the current market. At the time of writing this, the market is very heavily weighted in favour of sellers.
4) When marketing luxury homes, I will arrange for a professional photographer to take still photos or video of your home. More recently, drone video has also become another tool to help promote your property.
A full, detailed description of your home is essential. Buyers are interested to know who built the home, who supplied the kitchen, what make of appliances, and custom built-ins, type of hardwood or ceramics, is the yard professionally landscaped, and many other features.
5) There are occasions when I might recommend a home stager to make your home even more appealing. Buyers tend to buy based on their overall impression of a home when they visit it. The more appeal, the more they are likely to pay. Making your home as appealing as possible is very important.
6) Next comes the actual listing of the property. Over 95% of home buyers rely on the internet for their home buying research. This is even more the case if the buyer is from out of area. The following is the minimum you will receive when you list your home with me:
- Listed on MLS on Realtor.ca
- Listed on the Brokerage website BosleyRealEstate.com
- Listed on my personal website Niagara-homes.ca
- Listed on point2homes.com – This is a website that distributes your home information to over 50 different websites all over the country and beyond
- Local newspaper advertising – This is becoming less and less important but it is still helpful to promote on a local level
- Agent open house – This is where, on a Thursday morning, I invite realtors from all offices in NOTL to come and see your home so they can advise their list of potential clients who might be interested in a home like yours.
- Public open house – Not everyone wants these and it is very much up to you but I believe it is good to maximise your market exposure by allowing me to hold at least one open house.
- My personal contact list – The first thing I do when listing a home is check my own list of potential buyers to see who might want a home like yours and tell them quickly so they can make arrangements to see the home.
- Sign on the lawn – Simple but so effective!
- Social Media Campaign – This is a huge and growing area. Promoting on social media is now becoming essential with text, photos, video, agent contact details, etc.
- Showings – Once all the marketing is in place and I continue to promote your home, we will start to receive requests to view your home. Either potential buyers will contact me direct or they will contact their realtors and ask them to book a showing of your home.
This process continues until we are successful in selling your home or we decide that adjustments need to be made in the marketing or price or some other factor that crops up as a result of showings and feedback.
When your home has an accepted offer, my job does not end there. I need to work with the buyer or the buyer’s agent to ensure any conditions are removed and to ensure things run as smooth as possible so your home is sold firm and the deal is closed.
During the process, I will also be working with you to help you find your next home and to do the best deal I can for you.
I very much look forward to the opportunity to work with you in listing and selling your NOTL home. Please contact me for more information.