Selling your home

Giving your home a fresh coat of paint in modern, universally appealing colours is one of the most effective, easiest and cheapest ways to help sell your home, but it’s important to do it properly, otherwise it could end up being a mess and putting buyers off. Here are the key tips.

What to Paint

If you decide to paint the entire interior, paint every room the same light, neutral colour to keep it simple (whites, creams, pale beiges and fashionable greys are best). Your initial reaction may be that it will make your home “sterile” or “boring,” but it will in fact enable buyers to view your home’s features and not think about having to paint the walls because the existing colour will clash with their belongings. It will also allow a seamless flow

…

During a recent visit to New York, Simon Henry chatted with a real estate broker who was trying to negotiate the sale of a Manhattan apartment to a wealthy buyer from China. The seller refused to drop below $5.2-million (U.S.) and the buyer was equally adamant that he wouldn’t go above $5-million.

The frustrated broker couldn’t understand why the buyer was being so intractable. The Chinese businessman explained that he was buying the apartment for his daughter to live in while she attended school and he insisted on strictly adhering to the budget he had set.

“Anything over $5-million, I’m afraid it will go to her head,” he said.

As the co-founder of the Shanghai-based real estate portal Juwai.com, it’s the type of anecdote that Mr. Henry hears

…

Being around public transportation wasn’t always a good choice when it came to real estate. After World War II, downtown living was frowned upon and people flocked towards the suburbs in order to find larger and greener land. As a result, real estate prices rose outside the city.

Fast forward to today and we’re seeing the opposite effect. People want to live in the downtown core and public transportation is at the forefront of political debate.

Billions of dollars are being spent on new subways and streetcars in cities like Toronto and Vancouver. Calgary and Ottawa are also beefing up its public transit service in response to a higher demand from residents.

In fact, every major city across Canada has plans to focus on public transportation. It’s a

…

Ottawa, ON, November 16, 2015 - According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales increased in October 2015 from the previous month.

Highlights:

• National home sales rose by 1.8% from September to October.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was little changed (+0.1%) compared to October 2014.
• The number of newly listed homes was up 0.9% from September to October.
• The Canadian housing market remains balanced overall.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 6.7% year-over-year in October.
• The national average sale price rose 8.3% on a year-over-year basis in October; excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, it increased by 2.5%.

The number of homes trading

…

Owning your home means more financial responsibility than merely being an occupying tenant in a rental property. There are a considerable amount of additional costs that go in to purchasing a house such as Home Owners Association fees, insurance, maintenance, and repairs. In spite of the extra expenses having a place to call your own gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment as well as provides a fantastic investment opportunity as equity is built over time. 

One of the best aspects of purchasing your own residence is the ability to put a personal touch in to the decor and style. Paint colors, flooring, lighting, or total room redesigns are all just waiting for you to choose and customize. However, a home owner not only needs to keep their finger

…

There is no controlling the time of year that a seller might be required to sell their real estate, but what about the busy period leading up to the holiday season?

Although listing a home too close to Christmas isn’t ideal in many cases, it can yield positive results if done properly.
 
One advantage of selling a property around the holidays is that there’s typically less competition. With fewer listings on the market at this time of year, you can take advantage of the more serious active buyers. It’s not uncommon that work schedules lighten up leading to the holidays, which may allow active buyers to focus on house hunting.

The amount of active buyers will be somewhat dictated by the condition of the local market – for instance, a seller's market

…

So what are the features that attract men and women in a house. A survey in 2012 in the US suggested that master bathroom was the biggest single amenity to a house from both of the sexes. See the graphic below for a full breakdown. Does it match your ideas?

© http://pro.truliablog.com

The gap between variable rate mortgage and fixed rate mortgage products has narrowed in recent years. And while fixed rate mortgages are starting to rise they offer certainty in a monthly payment. On the flip-side, variable rate mortgages remain low, but are the riskier of the two choices – so how do you choose?   Your income, lifestyle and risk tolerance will weigh heavily on your decision and will inevitably determine which product suits your circumstance.   Risk versus reward   The appeal of variable rate mortgages (also called adjustable rate mortgages) is that the interest rate is typically lower than that of fixed rate mortgage products. However, the main drawback is the risk involved. Without warning, interest rates could increase…

Sometimes concepts in the finance world can be tricky. We get so caught up in trying to understand what all the offerings are that we forget to understand the simple things. When is the last time that someone said what a mortgage really is? Or explained why I can only buy a home for $350,000.00. We all have questions in the back of our minds that we don't articulate because we are just too embarrassed. Here are the top five things you are afraid to ask.

 

1. What is a mortgage?

A simple enough question but not one that people seem ready to admit to . A mortgage is a loan secured by real property, commonly referred to as real estate. In essence it is a contract that includes rights and obligations of both parties. The term actually comes from a

…

I’ve seldom been on a Listing Appointment, where the seller is thrilled to hear the truth about where their home should be priced. There’s a reason for that, and that’s because sellers have an EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT in their homes and it pains them to hear the FACTS about today’s market!

What many sellers don’t realize is that neither Sellers or Realtor's set prices. The MARKETPLACE determines the price of homes, and that is true for just about any commodity that’s for sale. And who determines the market are the BUYERS! Perhaps the most challenging aspect of selling a home is listing it at the correct price. It’s one of several areas where the assistance of a skilled real estate agent can more than pay for itself.

Too high can be as bad as too low. If

…