Selling a home here is usually the largest sale of your life, and the outcome is shaped long before the first showing: by the price you choose, the way the home is prepared, and the marketing that launches it. This page walks the whole route in plain order: what your home is worth, what selling costs in BC, the steps from preparation to possession, and the marketing every listing with Mike receives.
Mike Dirks is a licensed realtor with REAL Broker, in practice since 2015, and he sells homes across Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond, and Burnaby.
Benchmark prices and market pace for the region, from the Greater Vancouver Realtors MLS Home Price Index.
Source: Greater Vancouver Realtors, September 2026. A benchmark price describes a typical home in each category. The ratio compares homes sold with homes listed across the region that month, and a reading at this level means buyers hold the stronger hand, so pricing and presentation decide who sells.
The value of your home is set by what buyers have actually paid for homes like it. A comparative market analysis, or CMA, builds that evidence by hand: recent sold prices on your street and in your area, the listings your home would compete with today, and adjustments for size, age, condition, updates, lot, and view.
Automated estimates cannot see any of that. They miss the renovated kitchen, the quiet end of the street, and the strata with a healthy contingency fund, and they can land far from what a buyer will pay. A personal CMA shows its work, so you can see every sale behind the number before you decide anything.
Mike prepares each CMA himself, from real recent sales, and sends it with no obligation attached. Request one through the free form on this page, or call 778 997 1890 and talk it through.
Selling costs are real but predictable, and none of them should surprise you at completion. These are the main ones, in the order most sellers meet them.
The commission is agreed in your listing agreement before your home goes to market. It is a percentage of the sale price, paid from the proceeds at completion, and GST is charged on the commission itself. Rates are negotiable and vary with the services included, so compare what is offered, not just the number.
A lawyer or notary handles the transfer, pays out your mortgage from the proceeds, and clears title. For a straightforward sale the fee and disbursements often land between $1,000 and $2,500.
Your lender charges a discharge fee to remove the mortgage from title, usually a modest amount. If your mortgage term has not ended, a prepayment penalty can apply as well, based on three months of interest or an interest rate differential calculation. Ask your lender for the exact figure before you list, because it can be large.
Movers, storage, cleaning, small repairs, and utility transfers add up. Budget for them early, and spend preparation money only where it changes what a buyer sees and feels on a first visit.
One more cost to plan for: if the home is not your principal residence, tax on the capital gain may apply when you sell. That question belongs with your accountant, and it is worth asking before you set a price, not after you accept an offer. Every figure in this section depends on your home, your mortgage, and your agreements, so Mike will put your numbers in writing before you list.
A sale in BC follows a set order. Knowing the order removes most of the stress, because each step has a job and a timeline you can plan around.
Repairs, decluttering, cleaning, and any small updates that change first impressions. Mike walks the home with you and sorts what is worth doing from what is not, before you spend.
Your asking price is set from sold evidence and current competition, and you approve it before anything goes live. The strategy behind the number is explained in the pricing section below.
Photography, the cinematic video tour, floor plans, and the MLS listing are prepared first, then your home launches everywhere at once, including social media campaigns built around it.
Buyers tour by appointment or at open houses. You receive feedback after showings, and the pace of bookings is the earliest signal of how the market reads your price.
Each offer is a Contract of Purchase and Sale setting price, deposit, dates, and subjects. Mike reviews every term with you, and you decide whether to accept, decline, or respond with changes.
The buyer works through their subjects, such as financing, inspection, and document review, and pays the deposit. When the subjects are removed, the sale is firm and both sides are committed.
On completion day your lawyer or notary transfers title and pays out your mortgage from the proceeds. Possession follows on the date in the contract, most often a day or two later, when the buyers receive the keys.
When buyers have plenty of choice, the homes that sell are the ones that arrive with a story and reach people where they actually look. Marketing is included in every listing Mike takes, and it is built by Dirks Digital Media, the media practice Mike has run since 2015 through more than 300 real estate marketing campaigns.
Every listing includes a cinematic video tour of the home, shot and edited to show how the rooms connect and how the light moves through the day. Video is the first showing most buyers ever take.
Professional photography presents each room honestly and well, and a measured floor plan lets buyers test their furniture and their life against the space before they book a visit.
Campaigns built around your home run across the social platforms, aimed at the buyers most likely to act: people moving up, moving in, or watching your area for the right door to open.
Your home is listed on the MLS system and published on REALTOR.ca, where every active buyer and every agent in the region will see it, with the full media set attached.
The launch is sequenced: media first, listing second, campaigns as it goes live, so the strongest first impression lands in the first days, when attention is highest.
With a sales to active listings ratio of 10.9 percent, buyers can wait, compare, and walk away. That makes the asking price the single strongest tool you control. A price set at the market, backed by sold evidence, invites showings, and showings are what turn into offers.
Pricing high in hope usually costs more than it gains. The home sits while fresher listings take the attention, the days on market grow into a question every buyer asks, and the eventual reduction lands below where a market price would have started. The first two weeks carry the strongest attention your listing will ever get, and they cannot be repeated.
If showings are quiet, that is information, not failure. Mike reads the feedback with you, compares your home against what has sold since you listed, and adjusts once, with purpose, rather than in small steps that chase the market down.
Spring and early fall traditionally bring the most buyers to Greater Vancouver, while high summer and the December holidays run quieter. Weather, school calendars, and moving season all play a part, and a prepared home in a quieter month can still outperform a rushed home in a busy one, because it competes with fewer listings.
The stronger rule is your own timing. Sell when the move itself is ready: the next home is planned, the preparation is done, and the household can absorb a few weeks of showings. Allow several weeks of lead time before the sign goes up, so nothing about the launch feels hurried.
If you are also buying, the order of the two moves matters as much as the season. Mike will map both sides with you before you list, so a sold home never leaves you without a plan for the next door.
Mike publishes plain spoken market updates on the Vancouver Family Living channel: what the newest numbers mean for buyers and sellers across the region, including people preparing to sell.
In this update: rents softening across Metro Vancouver, what that signals for investors and for owners thinking of selling, and how a softer rental market changes the math on holding a second property. For sellers, the same numbers help frame the choice between selling into the current market and holding while rents reset.
The honest answer comes from a comparative market analysis: a review of what similar homes near yours have actually sold for, adjusted for size, condition, updates, and location, and read against the homes yours would compete with today. Online estimates cannot see your renovations, your light, or your street. Mike builds each CMA by hand from real sales and will show you the sales behind the number. Ask for a free one through the form on this page.
The main costs are the real estate commission agreed in your listing agreement, with GST charged on that commission, legal or notary fees for the transfer and the mortgage payout, your lender discharge fee and any prepayment penalty for ending a mortgage early, and your moving costs. If the home is not your principal residence, tax on the gain may also apply. Exact figures depend on your home, your mortgage, and your agreement, so get them in writing before you list.
It depends on price, presentation, and your pocket of the market. In September 2026, Greater Vancouver recorded 1,717 sales against 16,394 active listings, a pace that favours buyers, so homes priced at the market and presented well are the ones that move first. A home priced above the market can sit while showings go to better priced neighbours. The first two weeks on the market usually draw the strongest attention.
Spring and early fall traditionally bring the most buyers, while high summer and the December holidays are quieter. The stronger rule is to sell when your own move is ready: a prepared home in a quieter month can outperform a rushed home in a busy one, because it competes with fewer listings. Give yourself several weeks to prepare before the sign goes up.
Small work pays back most reliably: repairs, decluttering, a deep clean, paint in light neutral colours, and care in the garden. Large renovations finished right before a sale rarely return their full cost, and buyers may not share your taste. Mike will walk your home with you and point to the few jobs that matter before you spend anything.
Every listing Mike takes gets a cinematic video tour, professional photography, a measured floor plan, and social media campaigns built around the home, on top of the MLS listing and REALTOR.ca exposure. Mike runs Dirks Digital Media, which has produced more than 300 real estate marketing campaigns, so the marketing is built by the same hands that sell your home rather than handed to a template.
From the evidence: recent sold prices for homes like yours, the listings buyers will compare yours against, and the pace of sales in your area right now. In a market that favours buyers, pricing at the market invites the strongest offers, while pricing high in hope usually means a later reduction and a longer wait. You approve the price before anything goes live, and Mike will show you the sales behind any number he suggests.
The buyer usually has several days to work through their subjects, such as financing, inspection, and document review, and pays a deposit. When the subjects are removed, the sale is firm. Your lawyer or notary then prepares the transfer, your mortgage is paid out from the proceeds on completion day, and the buyers take possession on the possession date in the contract, most often a day or two after completion.
Free and genuinely useful
Pick one. Mike prepares each one personally and sends it himself. No automated guesses, no pressure, no obligation.
Whether the move is this season or next year, a free CMA or a short call will show you what your home can do in this market, and what to prepare, price, and plan before you list.
Call or text 778 997 1890 or email dirksrealestate@gmail.com.
Mike works across Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond, and Burnaby, and also serves sellers in Coquitlam and Port Moody.