Selling your Ontario Cottage

You have a cottage you want to sell in Ontario? You are among a rare lot. There is currently a lack of cottage sellers in the most sought-after regions of cottage country. However, just because you have a cottage, want to sell and there are more buyers than properties, doesn’t mean that you are automatically guaranteed a lucrative offer and quick sale. You have to prepare your cottage for the market. After all, while you might have an emotional attachment to your place, no one else does. You’ll have to convince potential sellers that yours is the place for building their future memories.
 
We gathered together a few tips for getting the most from your cottage sale from some cottage realty experts. Their advice is a lot of common sense and much of what you would do if you were selling in the city.
 
1. Declutter! Get rid of your knick-knacks, the mismatched bedding and the junk yard finds. Today’s cottage buyers are looking for a more contemporary cottage experience and you have to show them the potential of what your place has to offer.
2. Fix it up! If there are any repairs that need to be done, take care of them immediately. Patch any holes, fix up the roof and caulk the windows. Make sure that the place is more-or-less move-in-ready. Although any buyer will want to put their own stamp on a resale property, the major work should be done.
3. Clean the grounds! If you have a yard, make sure that it has been raked, the flower beds are trimmed and any wood pile is neatly stored. Get rid of toys and make put out a few flower pots if necessary to up the curbside appeal.
4. Get rid of dead or diseased trees. Walk around your property and check to see whether there are any tree hazards – trees that could potentially fall during the next storm and cause damage to any part of the property. If there are questionable trees near the home, be sure to trim the offending branches or cut down the risky tree.
5. Stage it! If at all possible, consider staging your cottage to attract the right kind of buyer. Although it might not seem like a necessity, staging a property can mean the difference between getting your asking price or choosing from the next highest offer.
 
Lastly, unless you are selling in order to move to another cottage, you can always sweeten the deal by throwing in whatever seasonal gear you have, such as skiis, canoes, jet skis, etc…
 
Selling your cottage can be very lucrative in the current resale cottage market in Ontario where so many buyers are eschewing the purchase of a primary residence in the city due to prohibitive costs. Instead, cottage country where the lots are bigger and the lifestyle more relaxed has become the big draw.
 
Finally, engaging the services of a realtor specialized in cottages is probably the best thing you can do.