Are you ready to sell your home but not sure how to get started? It’s important to remember that lakefront properties have features and selling points that shouldn’t be ignored. It’s a great time to sell because according to realtors, the Haliburton Highlands market is stabilised. Over the last three years, prices have gone up from 30 to even 50 percent.
The real estate experts at the Trillium Team can guide you through properly selling your lakefront property so that your home is sold as quickly as possible–and for the price you want!
Read on to learn our top tips when it comes to getting your home on the Haliburton real estate market the right way!
1. Know Your Buyer
The best way to start is to get to know who your buyer is. By this, we mean to have an idea of who would be interested in your property and determine your actions based on their expectations and needs. Your real estate agent will be able to help you with this, but generally, buyers who are interested in a lakefront property are interested in all of the benefits that waterfront living offers.
For instance, in the agent’s listing description they’ll make sure to use language that promotes the beautiful views and amenities. Likewise, the marketing material for your listing should feature quite a few photos of the lake views.
2. Hire an Appraiser
Finding the sweet spot for pricing your home is important because if the price is too high and the listing sits for too long, buyers will begin to think that there’s something wrong with the home. Of course, you don’t want to price your home too low and lose out on potentially thousands of dollars.
Lakefront properties can be harder to find comparable pricing for because there’s much less of them than regular listings. If your realtor is having difficulty, consider hiring an appraiser. The local amenities, such as clubhouses, fitness centres, private docks and boathouses will also factor into the pricing of your home.
3. Stage the Waterfront
Decluttering, cleaning, and staging the inside of your home is important in order to present it in its best light. Buyers will also have an easier time visualising the home as their own. However, lakefront homes have the extra stop of staging the waterfront in order to truly maximise the home’s marketing potential.
Make sure to have the waterfront portion of your home staged before the professional photos are taken so that those photos can be included in the MLS and social media. Include any furniture that can illustrate the lifestyle buyers want to live, such as a dining table and grill on your patio overlooking the water. You can also leave your boat on its private dock along with canoes or jet-skis.
Remember to keep outdoor lighting on and light candles if you’re having twilight photos taken of the exterior of your home!
4. Curb Appeal
Along with staging, you also want to make sure your private dock or lakefront property is easy to access. If you don’t use your dock often, it’s easy for them to get overgrown with vegetation. This can be offputting to buyers who are attending showings of the property.
Just like the front of your home, focus on sprucing up the landscaping with a focus on making it look clean and tidy. Create a path to the shoreline if you don’t have one already, and pick up litter along the shoreline before any showings and especially before photos.
5. Repair the Dock
You’ll also want to make sure that your dock is in good working order and make any needed repairs so that it’s safe to use and walk on. Remember that a full renovation of the dock isn’t necessary because you’ll never know what a buyer would prefer. What’s important is that the dock is safe.
Fresh coats of paint or fresh stains will also breathe life into old docks that need an aesthetic lift, and it won’t be as hard on your budget as a full renovation.
6. Transparency
One of the caveats of waterfront homeownership is the flooding risk and the need for flood insurance. From the beginning, you’ll want to be fully transparent about your home’s history of flooding and the flood zone you’re in. Some states have flood disclosure mandates while others don’t, but the general rule of thumb is that you want to be upfront regardless.
You’ll also want to be transparent about how much your flood insurance costs. Show buyers at least three years of your flood insurance bills so that they’re completely aware of the costs. However, it may be possible to transfer your flood insurance policy to your buyer, which can result in huge cost savings for them.
7. Pest Control
Living near the water means that you’re also near an insect’s favourite breeding ground–water. Before your showings or even before you put the house on the market, make sure you call pest control to do a thorough inspection and spraying of your property. Your potential buyers will have a far more pleasant showing experience.
Lakefront Haliburton Real Estate Properties
As you can see, putting your lakefront home on the Haliburton real estate market is a little different than regular listings. It’s all about paying more attention to the amenities and lifestyle that your waterfront property offers and doing your best to highlight these features. With some planning ahead, you’ll be able to sell your property for the right price.
Ready to get started on the right foot? Contact the Trillium team today! Our top Royal LePage agents will guide you through the entire selling process.
-AVL