Archive for October, 2010

For most Canadians, their home is their most important investment. It’s where your family spends a lot of time, so keeping it healthy, well tended and safe is important. A regular schedule of seasonal maintenance and repairs can help you protect your investment by putting a stop to the most common and costly problems before they occur. So, here are some tips for getting your home ready for Winter

1. Put away or cover your lawn furniture
2. Clean up your garden, remove annuals, trim back shrubs, etc.  Plant bulbs if you want to see tulips or daffodils in early spring.
3. Book a maintenance call on your furnace, HRV system, and humidifier.
4. Get the ducts cleaned if it hasn’t been done in recent years.
5. If you have a forced-air furnace, change the filter to make sure the air stays clean throughout the season
6. Turn off the air conditioner.  When it’s time to cover up your outdoor air-conditioning unit, turn off the power right at the electrical panel
7. Maintain your fireplace
8. Clean out eavestroughs and downspouts
9. Check doors and windows to make sure weather stripping and caulking are in good shape
10. Inspect siding and the roof – check for missing pieces that may cause leaks
11. Turn off outside taps at the source (from inside the basement) and then go back outside and drain the taps of any water left in the lines…..then turn off the tap again.
12. Replace batteries in carbon monoxide and smoke detectors and test them to make sure they are working
13. It’s a good idea to turn off all of the circuits in your electrical panel and then turn them back on again – they need a bit of exercise once in a while to keep them from “sticking”.
14. Check in the attic to make sure air vents aren’t blocked (sometimes insulation shifts) – and make sure the home’s insulation is relatively uniform.
15. Make sure you have salt handy for icy sidewalks – and know where your shovel is!!!

PUT ON YOUR WOOLLY SOCKS AND SETTLE IN FOR THE DURATION.

Kris

It isn’t necessarily how much money you put into a home that increases its value – it is often what you choose to do with the money you have to spend.

Rule #1:  Spend your money on things that are visible.  First impressions are of the utmost importance when selling a home – unless, of course, there is a major problem that must be fixed before you can put your home on the market.

Rule #2:  Don’t over-improve.  If your house stands way above and beyond others around you, it might help you to sell it more quickly, but it won’t necessarily help to increase the value beyond “the norm” of the neighbourhood.

Rule #3: Start with the exterior.  Curb appeal matters.  Buyers may not even look at the inside if the outside suggests lack of care and maintenance.

Rule #4: Bathrooms and Kitchens Rule.  These are the two areas of your home that will pay off big-time when it comes to selling.  If you can’t afford major updates, at least make sure old wallpaper is removed, walls are freshly painted, lighting is optimal and everything looks fresh and clean.

Rule #5: Make sure carpets are clean – or if there is hardwood underneath, remove the carpets altogether and have the floors refinished.

Rule #6, #7 and #8: Declutter and Depersonalize!  Buyers have to be able to see themselves and their belongings in the home

I’m here to help.  If you have any questions about getting your home ready to list on the market – or about buying, selling, improving your home in general, please don’t hesitate to give me a call.

Kris

Are you that homeowner who insisted on listing your much loved home at an inflated price, experienced low traffic in the “showings arena”, received no offers, and then felt “robbed” when your agent suggested you lower the asking price? This isn’t unusual when Sellers determine their own list price.   Unfortunately, the money “lost” in the price reduction wasn’t real to begin with.

In a case like this, a price reduction (from the perspective of the real estate agent) has to be approached with the diplomacy of a funeral director but with as much conviction as a physician shows in insisting his patient quit smoking!

If your home is listed on MLS, is well staged and clean and without any major problems, you should have lots of lookers and at least one offer within the first 30 days, or the market is definitely telling you that your home is either priced too high for the condition it is in or it is simply over-priced.  If you want to sell, you will need to reduce your price.

We have recently experienced a strong Sellers’ market in certain areas of Ottawa (not all areas are equal)….meaning a well-priced home in good condition sold quickly.  I recently had a listing sell within hours after hitting the market – in fact, two offers came in sight unseen!!

All the advertising in the world, however, won’t help you to sell a home that is over-priced.  In today’s world of computers, anyone looking for a house to buy has seen your listing within 24 hours of it appearing on MLS.  If they aren’t immediately interested, more time on the market won’t change things – a price reduction, however, will, in all likelihood, make a difference.

If your home is in showing condition, and I have done my job in marketing it, if I can’t put a “sold” sign on it within a reasonable amount of time, we must address price.  The sooner we do this, the faster your home will sell.  The truth may be hard to take – but dealing with the realities of the market and the listing itself will bring the results you are ultimately looking for.

Kris

I had a client, about a week ago, who had a conditional sale on a lovely rural property.  The young couple was very excited about the prospect of moving to a very affordable, large property and was prepared to deal with some issues associated with an older home.  The one issue that none of us anticipated however, was the issue of mold.  The Home Inspector was very concerned with the amount of mold found in this particular home.  Needless, to say, the couple walked from the deal.  Because of this,  I thought I’d do a little research to see what we could find out.

Not sure if it’s mould or mold, but for this blog, I’ll use mold since that’s what CMHC uses!  So below is some information that addresses the issue:

Although molds can be useful to people (penicillin for example), they are highly undesirable when they grow where we don’t want them, such as in homes.  Molds are everywhere around us – in the air outside – and all it takes is a little moisture in your home and this fungus will grow – and grow quickly.  If things are kept dry, molds do not grow.

Molds can do damage to materials but there may also be health concerns since molds release chemicals and spores.  Depending on the individual, the health effects can range from being insignificant to causing allergic reactions and illness.

If you have a very small area of mold (i.e. no larger than 3ft square), you can try to clean this up yourself using a detergent solution, rubber gloves and a dust mask.  Bleach is not recommended. Don’t ignore a small patch of mold – it will become large in no time at all.  Also, if mold comes back, you haven’t managed to get at the source of it.

CMHC’s website has a very good article on mold, how to recognize it, how to handle it, when to call in the professionals, and how to prevent it.  Go to:

www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca and look for “maintaining a home” and then “moisture and mold”.  The article is called “Fighting Mold – The Homeowners’ Guide”.  This is valuable reading for the homeowner – prevention should always be the first priority!

Kris