Selling your home can be exciting and financially rewarding, but the potential for unexpected surprises also exists. In real estate, every transaction is different, and disruptions to the typical process can occur at any step along the way. However, through careful planning and strategic partnerships with proven real estate professionals, you can anticipate and evade common home seller nightmares like these:

Renovation and repair delays

You’ve decided to spruce up a few high-visibility areas of your home, and you’ve hired a contractor to carry out the work. The problem: the contractor is taking forever to finish the job, and you need to get your house on the market.

To avoid this situation, you need to be proactive from the start. Communicate your expectations regarding deadlines with the contractor, and make sure the contractor knows you’re working within a finite timeframe. Put everything in writing, and never pay for work until it’s complete.

Inaccurate appraisals

Many sellers base their price expectations on appraisals, which is fine—if the appraiser did a good job. Some fail to account for neighbourhood-specific factors in their price expectations, either by overvaluing homes in depreciating districts or undervaluing properties in areas where prices are rising.

Choose a specially trained and certified appraiser with endorsements from the Appraisal Institute of Canada or the Canadian National Association of Real Estate Appraisers. Also, insist on working with a local appraiser who focuses exclusively on the Toronto real estate market.

Wishy-washy buyers

Buyers have been known to pull out of transactions for surprisingly fickle reasons: maybe the living room curtains they wanted weren’t part of the deal, or maybe they decided they didn’t like the maple tree in the front yard after all.

While this one is tough to guard against, work with your realtor to create a clear list of inclusions and exclusions during the listing phase. This way, there won’t be any miscommunications over what is and what is not included in the sale.

Lender woes

There’s a key difference between being pre-qualified for a mortgage and being pre-approved for a mortgage. Some buyers make offers only to find out later that they can’t get a mortgage for the required amount.

The solution: ask your realtor to pre-approve buyers through lenders that he or she knows and trusts. If the buyer insists on using their own lender, ask for proof of pre-approval in writing before proceeding.

Little to no action on the market

You’ve listed your home, but it’s sitting on the market week in and week out and very few people are calling about it. Worse, you’ve already committed to buying a new home and the timelines aren’t lining up.

While such issues are rare in today’s Toronto real estate market, you can put these worries to rest by choosing a realtor with proven marketing savvy and expertise. When you’re interviewing potential agents and realtors, ask specifically about their marketing plans and gather precise information about what they’ve done in the past to get results.

Home inspection hassles

Everything is done. You’ve accepted a fair buyer offer, and it’s only contingent upon a final home inspection. But when that time comes, the inspector finds unexpected problems that nix the deal, and you’re back to square one.

To avoid: hire a home inspector yourself at the beginning of the process. Uncover and disclose all flaws that could turn a buyer off if he or she were to discover them on their own.

Agent and realtor headaches

Unfortunately, some real estate professionals talk a bigger game than they bring when it’s “go time.”

This one is easy to avoid: give Jethro a call, whether you’re looking to buy or sell! Jethro and his team have earned an impeccable reputation for professionalism, reliability, and results. Check out these testimonials from satisfied past clients for further insights.

Jethro Seymour, one of the Top Davisville Village Real Estate Brokers, is a midtown Toronto residential specialist with over 20 years of sales experience in real estate, marketing, construction and publishing. He has helped many families find homes in Toronto’s great neighbourhoods, and has extensive knowledge of local markets, new home construction, resale home sales, and the condo market. Living in midtown Toronto, Jethro previews many of the homes that come to market for his clients and inventory knowledge. Jethro specializes in Midtown, Davisville Village and Leaside neighbourhoods. For more information, call Jethro Seymour, Broker.