How Sellers Can Make the Most of Edmonton’s Housing Market

Edmonton’s housing market has a supply issue. Here are three ways sellers can maximize their sale potential.

By Brett Surbey | 3 minute read

Like other Alberta cities, Edmonton is short on housing supply, putting sellers in the driver’s seat. 

Edmonton has slim pickings for housing options, according to recent data from the Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA). Inventory is down over 30% year-over-year as of June, and supply is sitting at just over 1.8 months, down over 37% from last year. With Edmonton’s market still strongly in favour of sellers, prices are increasing too: Edmonton’s benchmark home price rose 6% since last year, up to $412,177.

While the market may not be ideal for buyers right now, sellers stand to make some great capital gains — if they are strategic about selling. Wahi sat down with Marc Wener, a Wahi Partner Realtor with RE/MAX Excellence in Edmonton, to get some advice.

1. Set your asking price to generate interest 

“The ball’s in their court,” says Wener, referring to sellers, “but we’re still a market where you can’t overprice things.” Wener views price setting as an important strategy to attract the most interest.  He believes that if sellers keep their mindset on generating interest with their asking amount, they’ll get more bang for their buck. “You can’t undervalue a property right now,” he says.

It’s important to keep that mindset when a real estate agent suggests a listing price, especially if it appears lower than what you would like. Wener shares an example of a home that recently sold for $500,000, but was listed at $479,000. While some sellers might want to list their home at the selling price because it’s a comparable property, Wener says that can be a mistake.

“You don’t list at $500,000, you list at $479,000 because that [price] was what drew that attention,” he says, adding that, “If that home was listed at $500,000, it [likely] wouldn’t have [sold] for that. It  would have been negotiated down because it was on the high side, drawing less interest.”

2. Be prepared to make decisions fast

“You have to act quickly,” Wener adds. Some of the motivation behind his imperative is both the speed of Edmonton’s market and the creativity of buyers. “In today’s market I tell my clients, ‘We’ve got to sell this in a week, two weeks maximum.’” 

He notes that Edmonton’s market expectation is that homes sell on average in under 30 days. If your home is listed for longer, “that risk of becoming irrelevant happens a lot quicker,” Wener says. 

And it’s not just the speed of Edmonton’s market that justifies fast decision making, it’s also the creativity of buyers with limited options. Wener has seen a number of “bully offers” that have tight timeline stipulations, in addition to  strong offers, designed to push people to sell. “If I’ve shown the house Saturday and [the buyer] knows there’s another [showing] Sunday, they might bring a strong offer… but with a time clause that it has to be dealt with that evening,” Wener explains.

3. Work for the weekend

Wener’s modus operandi is to generate as much interest in the property as possible. That means doing the work when the most people can actually come see the property: the weekend. 

“I’ll put [a client’s] home on the market on a Thursday evening, allow showings Friday, do an open house Saturday and Sunday, and then present any and all offers Sunday evening or Monday morning,” Wener explains. This means clients need to be willing to have their home ready to go and free for days at a time. That said, it doesn’t need to be complicated. “I always say the biggest thing for a home is to have it cleaned, decluttered and as presentable as possible, because people will make the big investment decision within 15 to 20 minutes,” says Wener. “You only have one shot.”