What is it worth?

There I was, furiously cleaning our condo, making sure the bed was made with all the sheets tucked in with none hanging out from under the duvet, sweeping the floor for dust bunnies, vacuuming, and making our kitchen sparkle. No, my mother was not coming over (that would also involve dusting the top of every shelf) but we were having a real estate agent appraise our condo.

It is the most unnerving thing to watch someone walk around your house, and write little notes on a pad secretly judging that avocado green accent wall, furniture placement, and the little details that make your house a home. I realized while he was walking around that I forgot to do a sink full of dishes wondering if that was going to affect the condo's list price. (I know, crazy right?) We finally sat down at our dining room table, and my husband J and I were holding our breath like we were about to get some really bad news. 

Finally, the agent said that we are in a pretty high demand area and told us what he thought our condo is worth based on recent sales and the general value of the neighbourhood. Thankfully, it was more than we were anticipating which made us relieved. Given the insanity of the Toronto housing market, you can never really know until you see some comparable properties - we were pleasantly surprised. 

This was a pretty important meeting for us, as the price of the condo would help us dictate the price of a house that we could afford, and subsequently the down payment on a new home. Thankfully, we got a second opinion from another real estate agent, and it was a similar quote on list price. 

Now with the price on the table, the agent mentions the little things that are on our to do list before the condo goes on the market in the spring. It's a long one.....

1) De-clutter - go through everything and pare down to only the essentials

2) Paint the bathrooms (we painted the rest of the condo ourselves (with the help of some amazing friends!) and when it came time to the bathrooms, we decided they could wait. Well, it's been 2 years and they are still builder's white.

3) Paint touch ups - another thing that has been on our to-do list

4) Make the 2nd bedroom seem more like a bedroom and less like a storage room, this probably ties into the first point

5) Replace all personal photos with "non-threatening art" - What exactly is threatening art?

We have not signed a listing agreement quite yet as it is still early, but this gives us a chance to "shop around" for realtors until we find someone we click with. We have met with two so far, and they have both gone well and both have their pros and cons. Maybe I should start a speed dating session for realtors and homebuyers/sellers? Any takers?