What is the correct price for your home...

Billy Buyer is looking for a new home. He has been pre-approved for a $360K purchase.  He has already expressed his desire to not even look at anything above his affordability level, so we’ve added just a bit of room to the price to allow for negotiating and will only be viewing those homes at or below a $375K limit.

Unfortunately, your house is priced at $410K, which is way above his $375K cap, and which is also about $50K above the market value.  Only you and your agent know why you priced it so high, but I do know your home would be PERFECT for Billy, and I also know it’s definitely overpriced.  Billy won’t see it, and therefore won’t buy it.

Not pricing a home properly for sale can be the biggest

Even though it is currently a seller’s market, you don’t want to leave the sale of your home to chance.  And, you want to do what you can to protect your investment.

Years ago when I placed office support staff, we would tell our applicants that they needed to have something that made them stand out like a red sweater in the crowd.

All things being equal...you live in a sought after neighborhood, you’ve recently painted your home and you’ve made all attempts to keep up with maintenance…what else can you do? How can you stand out?

How to Make Your Home Stand Out Like That Red Sweater…

1.Take another look at the front of your house.

It’s not enough to have your lawn mowed.  What does your whole picture say? Can buyers see your

On dark, dreary days, your home may not be looking its best.

Sometimes the last thing someone wants to do during the winter months is shop for a home. As real estate agents we always dread showing units on dreary, rainy days because it often doesn't show a property in its finest light (quite literally).

Now that the holidays are over, let's have a look at some tactics to make your house stand out in the crowd. Don't let the winter blues get you down, just follow this great advice and your property sale will happen sooner rather than later.

1. Don't Let Winter Win

Even when it's driving rain and super cold, there are things you can do to use this to your advantage. Focus on providing a warm, dry home to prospective buyers, make sure your

When I talk to real estate investors about the deals they’re doing, I’m surprised how often they choose to skip working with a real estate agent in favor of doing the deal themselves. From a dollars-and-cents perspective, I can understand that they are counting the cost of doing the work themselves versus paying a fee to an agent. And, it’s an unfortunate reality in the real estate industry, that there are many agents who are not “investor-savvy” and operating with the investing mindset that these types of investors need.

However, I can also tell you, as someone who invested in his first door at the age of 18 and then became a real estate agent in the 1980s, there are a group of us investing-savvy agents who are simply NOT being utilized to the degree

To inspect or not to inspect - that is the question!

The question:

I’ve been house hunting for months and finally found a great house, but I know there’s going to be a lot of interest. I know everyone says I need a home inspection, but I’m afraid I’ll lose the house if I put any conditions on the offer. Should I ditch the inspection?

The answer:

Finding the right approach to offer conditions, is hot button topic these days, especially in the Toronto market where multiple offers have become the norm. Sellers with multiple potential buyers will often look to offers with the minimum of conditions, and the home inspection clause is often one of the first to go.

My advice: Don’t succumb to temptation or pressure to ditch a home inspection. If a

Q. Our kitchen appliances are in great working condition, but they’re not the most modern or stylish. We upgraded them along with our kitchen 15 years ago. Do purchasers care if a stove or fridge isn’t stainless steel? Would investing in new units increase our property’s value?

A. “The trick isn’t that all the appliances be modern or stylish, but instead that they are suited to the kitchen they are in,” says Chris Allen, a real estate agent and the author of The Book on Toronto Real Estate.

“Few things stand out as awkwardly as seeing brand new stainless steel appliances in a kitchen with worn melamine countertops, tired old cupboards and tarnished or mismatching cabinet handles.”

He recommends this family skip investing in new units largely

Heritage house questions and answers.

Q: What is a Heritage Building?

There are no hard and fast rules, no binding legal definitions, that determine what is, and what is not, a heritage building. Of course, everyone thinks of heritage as old. "Heritage", however, is best understood when joined to another word, such as conservation. The term "heritage conservation" was coined in Canada to describe the movement that advocated an alternative to the thoughtless development and urban renewal that was destroying irreplaceable vintage buildings. In this sense, heritage is clearly understood to mean something worth keeping, preserving, and protecting.

Heritage conservation has in fact been largely concerned with "old" buildings (a very relative term), for

Your condo’s strata will likely have rules about rentals… here’s how to find out whether or not you can rent your unit.

How many times have you heard the story "‎we were told we could rent our condo, but we found out the strata has a bylaw" or "we rented when we first bought the unit, but everything changed"? The landscape of rental bylaws in condo buildings is difficult to navigate at the best of times unless you have accurate information and your strata understands how to administer rental bylaws. So can you rent your unit or not? Read on!

Bylaws that prohibit or limit rentals are permitted for residential strata corporations or residential strata lots in a mixed-use strata property. Whether it is a duplex, bare land strata, high-rise or

Outdoor Features that Help Sell Houses

Whether it’s a deck, landscaping or a pool, the features in your outdoor space make a big difference when selling a home – even in winter.

Effortless is Best

People lead busy lives, and Barbara says this is reflected in how most house hunters perceive outdoor features. A stunning outdoor space that requires a lot of effort to maintain can be a tough sell. “We all admire large, beautiful gardens, but how many people want to dedicate the time and money to maintaining them?” The same applies to outdoor features that incur high maintenance costs. “A lot of people see a swimming pool as a liability more than an asset,” Barbara explains.

On the other hand, ready to go, practical features such as a

A common problem many soon-to-be home-buyers have is that they have the will to buy, but not the means. If you’re looking to buy but don’t have enough saved up for a down payment, try these bits of advice that are sure to help grow your bank account.

Cut back on your spending: While it’s one thing to scale down on some of your everyday luxuries, it’s another thing to completely cut off your spending. Like many things in life, there is a fine balance when it comes to this. If you try to give it all up at once, it’s likely you’ll snap and go back to your old ways before you know it. Be sure to make a conscious effort to spend less, but don’t forget to enjoy yourself along the way.

Eat out less: Whether you’re the kind of person that eats out a couple