For the past three decades, Fran Snowden has been selling homes in the Stettler area, and she believes the past two years have been in her top five years of sales.
Though she’s not sure if 2015 will be another busy year in real estate, she said spring will be when the interest really begins to build.
“With the mild weather, we’ve already seen an uptick in interest,” she said.
One of her agents, Karen Cannady, is selling an average of 1.5 properties per week. Her sales rank her as the 34th best realtor in Canada – and she sells homes in Forestburg, Alliance, and the surrounding area.
The volume of sales experienced by Cannady is in part due to her hard work ethic, but also reveals just how hot the market is in Central Alberta.
While the average selling price of property went down in 2014 from the year prior, the number of sales went up.
One of the reasons why the number dipped, according to Snowden, was the value of the properties sold.
“It depends on the year and what type of houses sold,” she explained. “A lot of the older homes that didn’t move in 2013 (in favour of newer, less-work-required homes) sold last year.”
Snowden, who runs the Century 21 Candor office in Stettler, said how the property shows is probably the biggest determination on how well it attracts interest and sells, and offers up five tips for sellers.
1. First impressions are everything
If people are coming in from the front door, making the area as welcoming as possible. Remove excess clutter and make it easy to move around. People should be able to imagine living there, which means personal touches, like photos and mementos, should be kept to a minimum
2. Clean clean clean
“Cleanliness is everything,” Snowden said.
There’s a difference between “we live here clean” and “for sale clean,” she explained, comparing it to having a car detailed before selling. Beds should be made, sinks should be empty, and cupboards should be neatly organized as people are likely to poke about almost everywhere.
3. Let a realtor assist in pricing
Having a realtor assist in the pricing of a property will help the sale go faster, as they’re more likely to be in tune with the area’s market and what a property can be expected to sell for.
4. Be available for showings
“Sometimes you have people come in from out of town and they’re only there for an hour,” Snowden explained. The more open an owner is to having their home available for short-notice showings, the better chances an offer will be in coming.
5. Control your pets
If you have pets, limiting their impact on a showing is important. Not all people are animal lovers and seeing a cat lazing away or having a dog bouncing all over can be off-putting for potential buyers.
“If you can put your pets in the garage or outside for a bit, that’s best,” Snowden said.
By the numbers
In 2014, 196 pieces of property went to market, with 129 of those properties being sold for an average of $217,433.
Compared to the 2013 average selling price of $234,987 – which was roughly $8,700 above the asking prices – Stettler property owners were willing to sell for about $17,000 less in 2014.
The largest number of real estate sales were in single-family dwellings in both years, with Stettler selling five more homes in 2014 for a total of 94. Mobile home units with property sold the second-highest with eight, an improvement of one unit over 2013.
Across the board, real estate sales in the community were up, with only mobile homes and triplex units seeing a decrease in numbers, and then only by a single unit each.
Half duplex and vacant lot sales remained the same from 2013 at three each.