Successful Staging of Your Home

Be it on Television, Online, or in a magazine, you have probably by now heard of staging. It's clear that staging your home can give you a competitive advantage when selling your home, but most people still aren't too sure exactly what that means or what it involves.

Staging is organizing and decorating your home so that potential buyers can visualize themselves living there. One doesn't need to spend a fortune to stage their home, the key is to figure out your homes best attributes, and highlight them while having few distractions.

Once spring time hits, the market will begin to get flooded with homes hitting the market, staging your home could give it the competitive advantage you need to blow away the competition, here are a few tips to help you get started.

DE-CLUTTER- buy some storage bins and start packing away all those little trinkets passed down from grandma. Store away all your jewelry and other small items. Take special care in the bathrooms and kitchen and put away as much as you can, clearing all items from the counter tops.

TAKE OUT PERSONAL ITEMS- No one cares what your kid got on their last test, nor do they want to see your Christmas cards or pics from your vacation. All of these things will only distract buyers from the great features of your home.

LIGHT AND WARMTH- Make your home welcoming and warm by having it bright. Open those curtains to let the sun flood in. If it is winter, turn up the heat. If it is summer, get that A/C working.

FURNITURE- Make sure your furiture helps show the size of yourrooms. Avoid having excessively large pieces, or too many pieces that take up too much space. Also, that old lazy boy that is formed just perfectly to you, has got to go, sorry.

NEUTRAL COLOURS- Ok so you love the Green Bay Packers, this doesn't mean that everyone is going to love your green and yellow man cave. Stick with neutral colours throughout the home.

QUICK FIXES- Little things add up in a buyers mind. Look for all the small things that could be easily fixed, and deal with the issues.

CLEAN- Should be a no brainer here but you'd be suprised how many homes I see that are not clean. I have lots of great cleaning crews that can do a fantastic job for you so that you can't cut any corners and can focus on more important things.

FINAL TOUCHES- Some flowers for the table, candles on the mantle, throw pillows for the couches and beds. All sorts of little things to splash a bit of colour will do wonders on a lasting impression. I have a great design team that can help you with that as well.

The time of year is coming, homes will be sold for top dollar and in short time periods. Give me a shout to allow me to help your homes be one of them so we can get you into your dream home that much quicker! amiller@kwottawa.ca

Insulation

Everyone knows that home insulation provides tremendous energy savings, but most homeowners have questions about it. How do you know if you need more insulation? What can you do to improve it—without tearing your home apart?

The first thing to know is that for homes built before the 1970s, insulation was not a high priority in construction. These homes may benefit from adding insulation as well as filling the window and door gaps that naturally occur as the house settles over time. The good news is it’s easy to improve your home’s energy efficiency, no matter what its age.

Start at the TopOne of the first places to insulate is the attic. You can add loose-fill or batt insulation easily and cost-effectively. Just remember that if you think you may have vermiculite insulation, don’t disturb it—it may contain asbestos, so call a professional.

Fill the Spaces in the Walls

For your walls, you can choose to blow loose insulation directly into the wall. It’s fast and you’ll only have to patch the wall afterwards, rather than replace the entire surface. On the other hand, if you’re remodeling, you may have open walls and an opportunity to choose from many insulation options including blankets, rolls, rigid insulation and others.

Go Beyond the Walls

Many homeowners see savings from insulating electrical outlets, crawlspaces and doors. A rule of thumb is: a 1/8" space between a standard exterior door and the threshold is equivalent to a two square inch hole in the wall. Realigning your doors and replacing the door sweep are easy fixes.

Consider Replacing Windows

Weather-stripping your windows can reduce energy loss. However, up to 50% of a home’s heating and cooling needs results from heat gain and loss through windows, so actually replacing your old windows may provide the most savings.

Insulation Adds Up to Big Savings

When you insulate, not only do you start saving money on your energy bills, the government also provides financial benefits to homeowners who make their home more energy efficient. Be sure to save your receipts.

Improvements like adding insulation can often add to the resale value: potential buyers will want to know all about them. And even if you’re not quite ready to move yet, you can still enjoy a cost savings and a comfortable home.

Summer coming to an end, but the market is HOT!

Well the summer may be almost over, but the housing market here in Ottawa is hotter than ever. Homes that are priced properly are selling as though it were spring time. I myself sold my last listing in only 3 days for 99% of the asking price!

If you are thinking of buying or selling now is the time to do it. My advice to friends has been to get it done before the winter hits. The mortgage rates are still at all time lows but won't last for long.

Don't waste time waiting for the best deal in town, there is just too much competition out there right now. Let me find a place that has all of your NEEDS covered, and we can work on the WANTS after that. No house is perfect for everyone, and it is important to distiguish that fact.

If you are thinking about buying, or you know of someone who is, please don't miss the boat on these low mortgage rates, contact me as soon as you can. Alternatively, if you or someone you know is looking to sell your home, with all these buyers out there, it is a no brainer that a well priced home, that is marketed properly and shows well, will sell quickly.

Sincerely,

Andrew Miller
Sales Representative
Keller Williams Ottawa Realty Ltd.
Brokerage, Independently Owned and Operated
610 Bronson Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
K1S 4E6
Office: (613) 236-5959
Direct: (613) 447-7669
Fax: (613) 235-1515
Email: amiller@kwottawa.ca

Canadian Housing Market Bouncing Back

Amid the month-to-month torrent of real estate statistics, economists pegged particular significance on new numbers because they reveal widespread strength at strong prices and showed mounting momentum over a three-month span, carried by what had been the weakest region – the West.

It's a radically stark contrast with the United States, where prices – after three long years – are still falling, down a third from their bubble peak.

In Canada, buyers are back, sales are surging, and prices are edging up. “People thought the world was coming to an end,” said Mr. Stewart, a top-selling agent at his Century 21 office near
False Creek in downtown Vancouver. “Now, the fiscal stimulus and ultralow interest rates have supercharged real estate.”

Almost 150,000 sales of existing houses and condominiums were tallied in the April-May-June period, according to Canadian Real Estate Association data published Tuesday. It was the fourth-best quarter ever since CREA began recording the sales data in 1994, the industry marketing group said.

In frigid January, by comparison, barely 16,000 houses were sold. The “Phoenix-like rise” of real estate sales is the “most astonishing economic development of 2009,” economists at
BMO Nesbitt Burns declared. And even though there are asterisks – the job market remains weak – Canada appears to have skirted “the clutches of a lengthy, painful downturn.”

Nationally, for the April-June period, sales were up 1.4 per cent from a year ago. It was the first quarter that markeda year-over-year advance since late 2007, and the period strengthened as the spring warmed. In June, sales were up 22.8 per cent nationally – and prices climbed 4 per cent. In Toronto, the sales jump was 27.4 per cent, with prices up 2 per cent.

In fact, the average price of a home in Canada has never been higher. At $318,700, the figure is slightly higher than the record set a year ago, pushed up by the flurry of sales in expensive big-city markets.

Pre-approvals

Many buyers call their lender seeking information about financing. In the process, they become pre-qualified. That gives them a good idea of what they can afford, or more accurately, what loan amount they qualify for.

You should take it one step further, however, and ask to be pre-approved. When you become pre-approved, you actually apply for a loan. The lender checks credit, verifies employment, and often verifies that you have sufficient funds to close. Then once you find your dream home, just about the only thing left is the appraisal.

The reason savvy buyers obtain loan approval before shopping for a home is that it strengthens their negotiating position when they make an offer. All sellers want to sell their home to a pre-approved buyer.

Pre-approval can also cut days, even weeks, off the closing process.Pre-approval can really help you to determine your price range, which helps you narrow your choices of homes to buy. You will already know how much you can afford before you even start looking.

Call or email me if you would like the name of a lender to pre-approve you for a loan, or if you have any questions about preapproval. I am happy to help.

Renovation Tax Credit a Hit

A new poll suggests more than one in three Canadians plan to take advantage of the federal government's home-renovation tax credit.
More than eight in 10 questioned in the Harris-Decima/Canadian Press survey said they were aware of the program, under which eligible applicants can receive a tax rebate of as much as $1,350 if they invest up to $10,000 in renovations on their home.

1. What is the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC)?
The proposed HRTC is a non-refundable tax credit for work performed or goods acquired in respect of an eligible dwelling.
2. What is meant by eligible dwelling?
An eligible dwelling is a housing unit that is eligible to be an individual's principal residence or that of one or more of their family members, at any time between January 27, 2009 and February 1, 2010.
3. What is the eligibility period?
The credit will be based on eligible expenditures for work performed or goods acquired after January 27, 2009, and before February 1, 2010. Expenditures incurred pursuant to an agreement that was entered into before January 28, 2009, will not be eligible for the credit.
4. Who will be eligible for the credit?
Eligibility for the HRTC will be family based. A family will generally be considered to consist of an individual or an individual and his or her spouse or common-law partner, including children who will be under 18 years of age, at the end of 2009. A family will be allowed a single credit that may be shared within the family.
5. How will the credit be calculated?
The credit will only be available for the 2009 tax year and applies to eligible expenditures of more than $1,000, but not more than $10,000, resulting in a maximum credit of $1,350 ($9,000 x 15%).
6. What are eligible expenditures?
To be eligible, expenditures incurred in relation to a renovation or alteration to an eligible dwelling (or the land that forms part of the eligible dwelling) must be of an enduring nature and integral to the dwelling, and includes the cost of labour and professional services, building materials, fixtures, rentals, and permits.
Eligible expenditures must be supported by acceptable documentation.
For more information please visit https://mail.kwottawa.ca/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://newsletter.coconutapp.com/t/r/l/iiuyjd/jkukeui/r