Improving the Resale Price of Your Condominium Association’s Units

Earlier this year I consulted with a condominium association that felt their units were selling at well below market value. We did a review of the grounds, the prices, and the resent selling prices and confirmed their feelings with actual numbers. Their units were selling for well less than value.

The problem comes from two main problems – realtors price units in comparison with the local area, and realtors are really lazy. Ok, maybe not intentionally lazy, but their compensation is based on selling as many units with as little time spent selling each unit. As such, realtors are motivated on encouraging the seller to accept the lowest price possible to list. Owners that balk at the suggested price have a huge uphill battle to convince the realtor to spend time on actively selling a unit at a higher price – they still will list it, but if it takes too much effort to sell then they focus on their portfolio of “easier sales.”

The property is truly unique for the area – a community that is still 15 minutes from the downtown core (non-rush hour) and includes two fully sized ponds (and ponds understates the water immensely), they have large residences for the area, and have an excessively proactive grounds and building maintenance program.

We sat down and talked about a few things with their Resale Committee. It included a variety of initiatives including an aggressive marketing campaign to owners encouraging them to seek their condo board before a realtor, the board building a sales profile for the units – effectively doing the realtor’s job for them, and coaching to owners on how to talk to their realtor and convince them that a higher price for these condos will be as easy to sell as a lower priced unit somewhere else.

One really important factor is to build a large photo and video repository of the water works – with the numerous bunnies, squirrels, and baby ducks that sit amongst the reeds (seriously, it’s a water habitat oasis in Calgary) – and build a portfolio of all the seasons.

The suggestion that the board or other residents be accessible for potential purchasers to meet was also highly encouraged. While in person is best, I noticed a residence in New Jersey has interviews with four of their owners posted positive experiences to YouTube. This is a phenomenal way to show the pride owners have and convey to new purchasers. It will also help make the case to a realtor that these properties will sell at higher costs.

In total, through the consultation, we developed several activities that should add over 8.5 million dollars to the value of all the units in the corporation (adding over 100k/unit) over the next 2 to 3 years. This will bring the units in line with their true value.