Real Estate

The kitchen is one of the spaces that buyers tend to remember. They may forget the size of the third bedroom or whether or not there’s a closet in the front foyer, but the impression buyers form of your kitchen will linger on. That’s why, when you’re selling your home, staging the kitchen to look its best is so important. Here are some tips: Remove cookware, small appliances (like the...

You’ve probably heard the expression, “The early-bird gets the worm.” It refers, of course, to those who get in early and reap the rewards. For example, if you arrive early to a retail store for a big blowout sale, you’re likely to get the deals before the inventory runs out. The stragglers who come later will miss out. Well, this same wisdom can be applied to selling your home. Starting the...

If you’re thinking of selling your home, you may have walked through it and discovered that you’ve been ignoring work that needs to be done to make your home look its best. For example, you may have been living with a cracked floor tile that needs to be fixed, or a damaged closet door that requires replacement. Is it a good idea to get these maintenance issues dealt with before you list? Typically,...

Buying a new pair of shoes is relatively easy. Once you find the style you like, all you need to do is try them on and see if they fit. If they do, you go to the cash register and pay. When it comes to size, buying a new home can be trickier! Whether your intention is to upsize or downsize, figuring out the right size can be especially challenging. Say for example, you’re downsizing from a large...

As you probably know, when you’re preparing to move, you’ll need boxes and tape — and, perhaps some bubble-wrap or old newspapers to use as protective wrapping for delicate items. But that may not be all you need. Take a look at this list and see if you want to have any of these on hand while you’re packing or on your moving day: Colour markers for labelling boxes. (Tip: Colour coding boxes...

“Staging” is about setting up and decorating each room of your home so that it looks as attractive as possible to potential buyers. Studies show that a property is more likely to sell quickly and for a better price if it is effectively staged. Even if you haven’t heard of staging before, you probably already know the basics, such as eliminating clutter and making sure everything is clean and...

When you walk through the front door of your home, you have a very different experience than a buyer would. You see the familiar. You see the memories. And, you see your life. In fact, you might even wonder why anyone would hesitate to fall instantly in love with your home. Buyers, however, don’t have that same perspective. When they walk through your front door, they see a place they’ve never...

Lifestyle is a very important criterion when you’re shopping for a new home. After all, a home and its surrounding neighbourhood are the places where much of your lifestyle is going to be experienced. So when you consider a new home, think about the kind of lifestyle to which the property needs to lend itself. Ask yourself: How much entertaining do we do?Is having good schools located nearby...

When you’re shopping for a new car or anything else that impacts you personally, you probably have two little voices chatting in your head. The first is saying, “This is what I want.” The second is asking, “Can I really afford this?” Ideally, both voices are in agreement and you’re able to buy what you want at a price that’s reasonable. Of course, there are other times when you’ll need...

If you own a stock, you can probably go online and quickly look up its current value. What about your home? That, too, is an important investment and probably your most valuable one. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could “look up” its current value in just a few minutes? Well, despite all the real estate data available on the internet these days, there is no site that will calculate your home’s...