House by Vince DeStefano

Beauty is highly regarded. Everyone likes to hang out with pretty people, everyone likes to drive a pretty car, everyone likes to own pretty things, and everyone wants to live in a pretty home. Realtors® know that as well.

Many Realtors® bet on looks to attract more buyers and more (and higher) offers. But looks are just the icing on top of a cake. We buy cakes, not icing, and so we should buy a house and not the looks achieved by staging and furniture arrangement. We can always add that later.

Don't get me wrong; staging may sometimes be useful to highlight the property's special features, and it may be necessary if the property is otherwise empty. Put simply, stage when you are worried that the looks do not do justice to the actual value, space, and coziness of a place. But sometimes there are comparable properties in the area that are not staged and sell at a better price.

This is what you need to be looking for when buying a home. In many Toronto neighbourhoods, many homes have been built by one developer, and they have plenty of features in common. It's quite often that you can find homes with the exact same floor plan in different areas of a town or a district. Depending on your location, this might be a long shot, but sometimes fishing for specific properties can save you money.

Even if you're determined to get the one home that is overpriced, you can find a comparable home that sells for less and use it as a reference point to compete with your seller's high asking price. This may be a strong factual argument that can convince the seller to take a cut.

In any case, only engage in price negotiations when your agent is around so that you aren't swayed by unfounded assertions and false assumptions. Don't fall for the looks of an overpriced home; be smart and invest in substance.

Get in touch if you want to make sure that you don't ever overpay. We look forward to reading your comments below.