Earlier in March, a three-bedroom bungalow in Toronto's Willowdale neighbourhood made headlines when it sold for $421,800 above the asking price. The modest 1960's home was listed at $759,000 but sold for near $1.2 million. Four offers were put in and each of them was over $1 million.

The home wasn't worth that much, according to Toronto real estate agent and blogger David Fleming. But the real value was in the property, Fleming said on Thursday on CTV's Canada AM. The house was located in an area that has seen considerable redevelopment in recent years.

Every home owner dreams of turning a profit such as this, but never sees it. But with these five tips Fleming believes every seller can get the best price for their home.

Timing

Every business is cyclical to some degree and real estate is no different. The condo market is pretty steady throughout the year, but you should always look to list if/when there is little to no competition. The housing market, on the other hand, is exceptionally cyclical.

We're in the middle of March -- a very slow period. March means "March Break," and that means public and private school breaks of up to one or two weeks. Families are out of town -- they're not looking at real estate.

March Break moves into Easter and Passover. That puts up a red flag for most of March and early April.

The spring market is great in late January and February, then in late April into June. Once again, families go on vacation and think about other things during the summer. For that reason, July/August is not a good time to sell your family home in a residential neighbourhood. The market explodes right after Labour Day and lasts until mid-December.

Pricing

Everybody wants to talk about "bidding wars" these days, and that silly bungalow in Willowdale that made headlines is still being talked about. That house may have sold for $422,000 over asking, but it was priced at $759,000. In reality, it was a $1,000,000 house, so the pricing was silly. But under-pricing is a time-tested technique that always brings in more money.

For example, a $550,000 house is best priced at $499,000 with a set "offer date." This brings in a sub-set of buyers with a $500,000 cap that would otherwise never see the house. If some buyers offer $499,000, $505,000, $510,000 and so on, this just means the astute, informed buyer who is looking at $550,000 will have to pay more.

People are competitive by nature -- one buyer will get caught up in the bidding war and overpay. That's all a seller needs. That buyer might come in at $560,000, but once the frenzy begins he could walk away with the house at $591,000.

Ultimately, that house would never sell for $591,000 if it were priced at $591,000. The only way to get that money is to price at $499,000.

Staging

I've never seen a house or condo that doesn't need some element of staging. Sellers always feel that their house shows well, even if they've been there for 25 years with no renovations or new furniture. But a house needs to be as generic and inoffensive as possible. This means removing any and all elements of life -- no family photos, no personal touches and a minimal number of books/DVDS on display. Otherwise, buyers will focus on the fact that the seller has all 10 seasons of "Friends" on the shelf instead of actually looking at the house.

I've had clients spend $15,000 on staging. I've also had sellers move out every single possession and have the place painted, cleaned, and staged. The money put into staging will pay off three to four times.

Marketing

People like to think that a house will sell itself, but that's not true. Today, the "For Sale" sign on the lawn is no longer the best marketing tool. A MLS listing is no longer sufficient either.

  • You need a professional photographer, not photos taken on your Blackberry.
  • You need a virtual tour with dozens of photos -- not just the nine you get on MLS. You need an open house from 1 – 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, not 2 – 4 pm on one day. The lady walking her dog on a Sunday afternoon who pops into the open house at 4:30 pm might be a buyer and she didn't even know it!
  • You need a Thursday night open house with "wine and cheese."
  • You need to send "Just Listed" cards to every house/condo in the neighbourhood and try to solicit the renters and people looking to upsize.
  • You need to call the neighbours on the street and invite them to the open house.
  • You also need to use Twitter and Facebook to your advantage.

Be proactive and address issues before they arise

I pay for a home inspection as part of my service. I also leave the home inspection on the dining room table for every buyer to thumb through.

If there are any issues identified that might affect the sale price, I might encourage the seller to fix them before the listing. The key here is to eliminate any objection a buyer could put forth. Disclose, disclose, disclose. Put everything out there in the open and level the playing field.

As a seller, you would benefit the most from an unconditional offer. The last thing you need is an attractive offer that is conditional on home inspection because the risk is far too high to accept the offer. You need to ensure that unconditional offers come and providing a free, unbiased, comprehensive home inspection to every potential buyer is the way to get that done. For condominiums, I always obtain the Status Certificate (condo corporation financials, bylaws, declaration, etc) in advance for the same reason as a home inspection.