How to Sell Condo

Deciding when to sell your condo is the first big decision you’ll have to make. Consider:

• Time of year – Real estate in Toronto is seasonal, with December and January generally being the slowest months, and spring and fall the busiest.
• Current condos for sale in your building – Individual condo units are often very similar to others in the building, so it’s important to understand who you’ll be competing with. How many other units are for sale?  How does the competition compare to your condo’s size, layout, finishes, and views? Are any identical to yours?
• Similar condos listed for sale in nearby buildings – While less important than what’s going on in your building, if you have a one-bedroom condo and there are more on the market than usual, that will impact how long it takes your condo to sell (and at what price)
• State of the real estate market – Economic conditions greatly influence the real estate market. Monitor interest rates, inflation, consumer confidence, and changes in financing rules and taxation.
• Your personal goals – If you’re moving out of the city or have already bought a new property, that timing will likely override everything else.

One of the most important decisions you’ll make on the road to selling your condo is hiring a REALTOR. Hire the right one, and you’ll benefit from a fast sale and a great price. Hire the wrong one, and expect to pay in time, aggravation and money.

When selecting an agent to list your condo for sale, look for:

1. Condo experience – Selling a condo is very different from selling a house, so make sure the agent you hire understands the intricacies and unique challenges of condominiums.

2. Listing expertise – Ontario real estate agents are licensed to help both buyers and sellers, but the skills needed are very different. When interviewing agents, make sure to ask how many homes they’ve LISTED for sale. In 2023, 69% of Toronto REALTORS didn’t successfully list even a single home for sale.

3. Familiarity with your building and/or neighbourhood – While not as important as listing skills, it helps if your agent is already familiar with your condominium building and neighbourhood.

4. Services and inclusions that matter to you – Some REALTORS offer professional cleaning, staging, HDR photos, floor plans, videos, 3-D tours, and more included in their commission, while others offer more basic services.

5. Marketing acumen – There’s so much more to marketing a condo than listing it for sale on the MLS. Hire an agent who has proven they can reach potential buyers online and on social media.

6. Advanced skills in pricing, negotiation, and strategy – They don’t really teach this in real estate school, and these are the skills that will make the biggest difference in how long your condo takes to sell and the price you get.

7. Communication skills, responsiveness and availability – Selling your home is stressful; you can reduce the pain by hiring a REALTOR who prioritizes communicating how and when you want to be communicated with.

Remember: You get what you pay for. Real estate services come in all shapes and sizes: you can list your property on MLS for $150 and do everything yourself; you can list with a discount broker who provides limited services; or you can list with a full-service broker and get the staging, marketing, expertise and strategy that comes with higher commissions. Decide what you need, what you’re prepared to pay for and pick accordingly.

Determining the value of a condo is generally easier than valuing a house because there are likely identical or nearly identical comparable sales in your building. Real estate agents and appraisers determine the price per square foot of recent sales and use that as a basis to determine the value of your condo. For example, a 750 sqft condo may be worth $900 psf (per square foot) or $675,000.

It’s important to note:

• Diminishing psf returns on size – the bigger the condominium, the lower the cost per square foot (as the condo gets bigger, each square foot becomes less valuable as there are more of them)
• Height Matters – the higher the floor, the higher the cost per square foot (buyers are willing to pay more for a condo on a higher floor)
• Views are Important – the better the view, the higher the cost per square foot (views can be extremely valuable, especially if they are of Lake Ontario or the CN Tower)
• Exposure Matters – whether the unit faces south, north, east or west will impact value
• Good Layouts are Valuable – buyers will pay more for layouts with more usable space rather than lots of hallways or a big foyer
• Corner units are worth more than non-corner units

How well the condo shows will also impact the price, including how it is staged, how clean and clutter-free it is and whether it smells like the litter box or what you ate for dinner.

While comparable unit sales in your building are the most important consideration in valuing your condo, your real estate agent will also consider the units currently for sale in your building (i.e., the competition), recent sales, and competition in nearby similar buildings.

When determining a condo pricing strategy, you can price for a bidding war, price at market value or price above market value and negotiate.  Keep in mind:

1. Supply and Demand – Because there are likely identical or near-identical units in your building, buyers may not feel the desperation they often feel when buying a house—if they miss out on buying this condo, another similar one will likely come on the market soon.
2. Less Emotional Connection – With more similarities than differences, traditional condos don’t tend to create the same emotional reactions in buyers that we see with houses. That doesn’t mean people don’t fall in love with condos – they do – but because buyers know how much the same unit one floor above sold for, they aren’t apt to bid $100,000 over the price.

Other factors that will affect the price of your condo:

• Builder upgrades – while they won’t add as much value as you paid for them, they will help differentiate you from the other condos available for sale
• Renovations – don’t generally add much value to newer condos, but can add a lot of value in older condos
• Ceiling height – taller is better
• Maintenance fees – if maintenance fees are significantly higher than average, prices will generally be lower
• Parking – generally adds $25,000 $100,000 to the price of a downtown condo
• Locker or en-suite storage – definitely in high demand
• Outdoor space – balconies and terraces are in high demand
• Amenities in the building – while some buyers don’t want the amenities because of the higher maintenance fees, others want the concierge/pool/theatre room/guest parking
• Location, location, location
• The ratio of renters to owners – Buyers prefer condo buildings where the majority of the people living there are owners
• The reputation of the building – the demographics of the residents, noise proofing, quality of construction, legal problems, the effectiveness of the Board of Directors.

Getting Buyers Excited: Marketing

One of your real estate agent’s most important jobs is ensuring potential Buyers see your condo. With thousands of condos for sale in Toronto, standing out from your competition is critical. A few notes about marketing:

• Stunning photography is essential. Experienced photographers with wide-angle lenses should be able to capture even the smallest room in your condo. If your agent suggests taking the pictures themselves, run!
• Your target buyer is out there. They may be first-time buyers, the parents of first-time buyers, an international investor, a recent divorcee, a newly married couple, seniors who’ve just sold their family home or a young couple with a baby on the way. Great real estate agents go to great lengths to profile your target buyers and create marketing campaigns to reach them.
• Digital marketing is critical. Condo buyers start their home search online, but it’s not enough to be listed on the MLS and realtor.ca. If you want your condo to sell for the highest price, it needs to be promoted to your target buyer in the places where they spend their digital time. We find first-time buyers on Tiktok and Instagram, downsizing seniors on Facebook, and investors on LinkedIn.
• You don’t need a For Sale sign unless your unit is on the first couple of floors and faces a busy street. That makes capturing condo buyer attention online that much more important.
• For safety reasons, some condominium buildings don’t allow open houses. If your condo restricts open houses, your agent can arrange for interested buyers to see it by appointment.

Leave the House

Despite how tempting it is to want to “help” your sale by being home while buyers tour your condo, it’s actually really uncomfortable for the buyers if you’re home. Nobody wants to see you making dinner, smell your clothes being laundered or have to awkwardly walk around your kid who’s napping on the couch.

Fact: The National Association of Realtors reports that the #1 reason a home stays on the market for a long time is the seller being home during showings – even if the seller waits outside or stays in one room.

Serious Buyers will want to explore: they’ll open closets and cabinets, check inside the kitchen appliances and lift your area rugs to check for scratches on your hardwood floor. They’ll want to take their time and not get distracted thinking about you. The goal of every showing is to make the Buyer connect with your home and that starts with making it comfortable for them to explore. No connection = no offer.

Be Flexible with Showing Times

Most showings happen on evenings and weekends, outside of regular 9-5 work hours. Restricting showing times means restricting the number of potential buyers, which could result in a lower selling price and/or a longer time on the market. We recommend allowing showings between 10 am and 8 pm, 7 days a week, with as little notice required as possible.

Expect agents to book one-hour showing appointments, though they’ll likely only be in your condo for 15-30 minutes. The longer appointment time allows them flexibility since they likely have appointments before and after yours. Plus they’ll need time to park, find the lockbox, tour the amenities and see the parking spot and/or locker.

Make it Easy to See the Amenities

Potential buyers aren’t just buying a condo unit; they’re buying into a community. Provide a key or fob to allow potential buyers and their agents to explore the shared amenities and facilities. If your building restricts non-residents from accessing shared spaces, make sure your REALTOR gets the spaces photographed.

Before Every Showing…

While your condo is listed for sale, it’s best always to leave things in top condition at all times. Before you leave, make sure to:

• Make the beds (yes, every day!)
• Clean up the kitchen – no dishes in the sink, items on the counter
• Tidy the bathroom – put away products, hang up towels, no clothes on the floor
• Take the garbage out
• Clean the litter box
• Sweep/vacuum/wash floors
• Put away cash and any valuables
• Leave all lights ON

Special Considerations for Tenanted Condos

If you have a tenant in your condo, in most circumstances you must give them 24 hours’ notice for showings. A quick sale will be less intrusive to them, so their cooperation in de-cluttering and keeping it clean will go a long way.

Generally, when selling a condo, you can expect to see offers with two conditions:

1. Financing condition – allows the buyer to confirm their mortgage qualification with a lender
2. Status certificate condition – allows the buyer’s lawyer to review the condominium documents to ensure the condo is sound legally and financially.

Occasionally, condo buyers make offers with a home inspection condition.

Your real estate agent will negotiate any offers you receive, but you make the final decisions about what to accept—price, conditions, closing date.