Gareth Morris
REALTOR®
Helping people sell
Where do I start?
Moving often starts as a feeling rather than a plan — “where I am now isn't right for me now”. Then the questions start arriving, and not in a tidy order. Not knowing which questions to answer first is what can make it hard to begin.
“Where do I start?” begins with “Where am I going?”
A good first step is working out where you're going. It's usually the part still unsettled, and most of what follows depends on it.
Whether the money works, where you'd go next, whether that place suits the life you're living now rather than the one you had when you moved in — that is the real content of the decision. A price on its own is rarely the first thing that helps, because it answers a question that comes later.
You don't need a firm answer to all of it either. A rough direction makes the next question smaller, and a rough answer to that one makes the one after it smaller again. That is what getting clear looks like from the inside — not a moment of certainty, but a set of questions that keep getting easier.
Four questions to work out
In this order, because each one narrows the next. The first two are yours alone. The last two need someone who knows the process and the market.
What does my next home need to be?
Bigger, or smaller? Closer to a school, or quieter and more mature? Room for the kids to play, or less to look after? Only you can answer this, and everything after it gets measured against the answer.
When do I want to get started on this?
Is there a date, or is it something I'm waiting on — before another winter, once someone finishes school, when a job change lands? It sets what's realistic and what's worth doing first. Nobody else can pick it, and changing it changes the two below.
How do I make this happen?
Buying and selling can look different for everyone, but there's always a process. The order those things happen in can decide how well the whole thing goes — whether you buy first or sell first, what a condition actually commits you to, how two closings line up when there are two. That part is mine. I'll tell you what's coming before it arrives, and argue your side when it needs arguing.
Can I afford to do this?
What the market says your home is worth, what the one you described costs in the same market, and what it takes to get from one to the other — commission, legal, moving, and whatever the next place needs on day one. That side I can put numbers on. What you can actually borrow is a different question, and a good mortgage broker answers it better than I can. Lining those two up early is most of what makes a move go smoothly.
Questions I'm often asked
Do I have to be ready to sell before we talk?
No. These conversations sometimes happen a year or two before your moving process starts. They can give you the information you need to make better decisions about what happens now, and what happens next.
How's the market right now?
That's harder to answer than it sounds, and the honest answer is that it depends. There isn't one Calgary market — a detached home in Brentwood and an apartment in University District are two different ones, and they don't have to move together. Tell me where you are and what kind of home it is, and I can give you a real answer instead of an average.
What's my home worth?
Not something anyone can answer from the outside. An online estimate is produced without anyone seeing the place — its condition, what's been done to it, what's actually next door. You'll get a real one once someone has walked through it, with the reasoning and not just the figure.
Should I renovate before I sell?
Sometimes yes, often no. Some work comes back when you sell and some of it just leaves you with less at the end, and which is which depends on the home rather than on a rule. Worth going through in person, standing in the room, before you spend anything.
Longer answer here, including what a kitchen actually costs: Do I bother renovating before I sell?
Is this still the right home for us?
There's usually a specific reason behind that question — the kids have moved out, the weekends all go into the house, the schools that decided the neighbourhood no longer matter. The reason is the useful part, because it shapes everything that comes next.
Longer answer here: Does this home still fit?
I've been named executor. Where do I start?
With the house, there are three things I can take off your plate: what it's worth as it stands, what's worth doing before it goes to market, and the probate timeline so you know when you can actually act.
Longer answer here: I've been asked to handle this
What can I expect when working with you?
An honest conversation first — what you're thinking about, and what you actually want out of it. Some of that is me working out whether I'm the right agent for you, and maybe you're doing the same about me. Nobody has to decide anything at the end of our chat.
After that, four things you can hold me to. The numbers come from the Calgary Real Estate Board's monthly reports and from sales that actually closed, not from a website estimate. You hear from me weekly whether or not there's news, and faster than that when something is moving. If you ask what I'd do, you get an answer — including the times I'd tell you not to move at all. And I don't act for both sides of a deal. If the home you want happens to be one of mine, I'll hand one of you to someone I trust rather than try to serve two people who want opposite things. That is the job: helping you get from where you are to where you want to be.
Tell me where you're at.
It doesn't have to be a whole plan. One question is enough to start with, and I'll answer it. These come straight to me. I answer them myself, usually the same day.
There is no obligation to list or meet by sending this.
That didn't go through. Email me at gareth@garethmorris.ca and we'll pick it up from there.
Thanks — I'll read what you sent and come back to you.
Usually the same day, on whichever way you asked me to.
This page provides general information about selling residential property in Alberta. It is not legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice, and it is not an appraisal or an opinion of value for any specific property. Real estate markets change, and the information on this page may not reflect current conditions or your particular circumstances. You should obtain advice from a qualified professional before making a decision.
Gareth Morris is a licensed real estate associate with RE/MAX First. Each office is independently owned and operated. This is not intended to solicit properties already listed for sale or buyers already under contract with another brokerage.
RE/MAX First · 8820 Blackfoot Trail SE, Calgary · Each office independently owned and operated
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Gareth Morris
REALTOR®
#115, 8820 Blackfoot Trail SE
Calgary, AB, T2J 3J1