Now open in the blossoming neighborhood of Aurora in South Edmonton, is the Revv Townhome Showhome which spectacularly showcases what you and your family can soon call home.
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The Property Partners guide to selling your home during the Holidays
If you are selling your home during the Christmas holiday season, there are a few tips that can help the process along like Rudolph’s bright nose guiding Santa’s sleigh.
1 – Get out the shovel. Nothing makes a less-attractive first impression than the snow piled high on the driveway and ice-covered sidewalks. You have to view potential buyers as customers entering your business. You wouldn’t somebody falling outside your store so you should take the same responsibility outside the home you are trying to sell. Plus, a clear driveway and sidewalk give a buyer a better vision at what the house will look like during spring and summer.
2 – Decorate your house but don’t go overload. Keep things tasteful, even reserved, and go with smaller rather than larger decorations. Go with limited lights on the outside and avoid cluttering the front lawn with plastic displays. As well, keep the decorations holiday-themed rather than religious.
9 Tips for Selling Your House in Winter
With people away on trips and cold weather making house hunting less appealing, winter can be a challenging time to sell your home. On the other hand, fewer homes on the market means yours will get more attention from buyers. By upping the cozy factor, making the most of winter assets and paying attention to details, you can make your house really stand out.
Here are nine ways to prepare and stage your home for success, and create a warm and welcoming vision for buyers, even when the weather outside is frightful.
A Checklist for Living in Colder Climates
Re/Max Blog by: Payson Everett-Brown, RE/MAX Social Media Intern
Until I left California to attend school in Colorado, I had never experienced living in true winter weather. I thought I was ready for the snow: I had a light jacket, a beanie and my tennis shoes. Looking back, I could not have been less prepared. I was shocked when it started snowing around Halloween and didn’t stop until May! That first winter was so cold I thought I would never feel warm again.
Eventually, I learned that it is possible to survive a true winter without developing frostbite, you just need the right equipment (and plenty of hot tea or hot chocolate!).
So if you’re moving to a colder climate, here is a detailed list of winter necessities. You’ll probably be surprised at what you didn’t think of!
How to Plan a Renovation
If you are a homeowner (or even if you’re not), I’m sure at some point you have spent countless weekends on the couch watching DIY marathons of people buying homes and then throwing on safety goggles and karate kicking through drywall to fix them up. You may then start thinking about all the things you would love to do to your home to make it work better for you. But where do you start? There’s nothing more satisfying than having an idea, executing it, and watching it become a reality – but how? If you’ve decided to enter into the world of DIY Renovation, make sure you first follow these steps below.
Have a Plan
Have you ever walked into a grocery store with no aisles or signs? Probably not because without those items, there would be complete chaos causing the salmon fillets to be sitting on a shelf next to the peanut butter. Instead it’s important to always have a map or plan for every project you do. Just as every grocery store has a layout, you should create a layout for your renovation.
- Create a layout or plan of what you would like renovated. Take into consideration measurements and man power to get a job done.
- List the tools and materials you’ll need to complete the job. Trust me, back to back supply runs get old fast. It’s better to be prepared from the very beginning.
- If the supplies you need are large and heavy, you might opt to rent a pick up truck for easier transport.
- Research to see if you can find any tips from other DIYers who have renovated something similar. I’ve found that Pinterest can also be a huge idea box for all kinds of different projects.
Get Creative
Renovations can get pretty pricey and blow through budgets without proper planning. Make sure to work a budget into your plan to keep more green in your wallet. This will also allow you to keep to a stress-free (well maybe a semi stress-free) reno.
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- Be thrifty! Check out various home improvement reuse stores to find your materials. Habitat for Humanity has locations all over the country and proceeds are used to build homes, community, and hope locally and around the world!
- Consider your alternatives. For our home office reno we really wanted hardwood floors but opted to go with laminate floors that looked and felt like the real thing. Best thing is, they were more than half the cost!
- Work with a design that will work with your budget. If you found some hardwood floors that have you feeling love at first sight try a laminate wood floor instead. These days it’s hard to tell the difference.
Keep Your Eye on the Prize
- Timelines are good to have to make sure you stay on schedule with your reno. If you are a weekend warrior like me, set weekend goals to keep yourself on schedule.
- Renovations are hard work. Prepared to get dirty and get a few bumps and bruises along the way. It will all be worth it in the end!
- And finally, allow for some wiggle room in your budget because sometimes things come up unexpectidly. Be flexible to allow yourself to adapt to your reno. Ask for help when needed too!
How to buy an income property
Aneta Zimnicki doesn’t fit the profile of an aspiring real estate mogul. Five years ago she was working as an engineer at an auto parts manufacturer in Toronto. Today, she owns eight homes in Alberta and is on the hunt for more.
What drove her into this sector? Market volatility and economic malaise. Zimnicki felt the brunt of the economic crisis: It wreaked havoc on the auto sector, putting her job at risk, and after watching global markets tank she was wary of investing in equities. Against that backdrop, she felt Canadian real estate offered her the most financial security.
“Real estate is fantastic because it’s secured money into tangible assets,” says the Toronto-based real estate investor and now mortgage agent with Dominion Lending Centres. “It’s a hedge against inflation; it’s great for tax reasons.” It’s also proven to be largely immune to the type of short-term market volatility that we’ve seen in recent years.
That’s not to say the Canadian housing market is without risk or price swings. Still, Zimnicki says she isn’t worried about talk of a housing bubble forming in Canada. While she’s aware of the risk, she says she’ll be content as long as she continues to receive a steady steam of income, which is about $200 a month per property after taxes and expenses, and can pay down her mortgages.