A guest blog article from one of my clients who refers to herself as Ms. Cranky Pants:

So, Barry took me to see your house in the region of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, and Edmonton, and I just wanted to mention the things that made me go Ewww.

Odors

I know you think all those little room deodorizer thingies will hide the fact that you’re a smoker, but you can’t fool me.  I wish I didn’t know that you had fried fish with onions and garlic for dinner.  And seriously people, do you ever clean that stinky litter box?  Open a window, for crying out loud!

Dirt

Disgusting grime in the tub, sticky spots on the kitchen counter, dirty dishes in the sink, mystery stains on the carpet, something brown and nasty in the corners…  Yuck!  I’d hate to have the CSI folks go through here with their ultra-violet lights.  I’m not a clean freak but no way do I want to wallow in anybody else’s crud, thank you.  Soap and water and elbow grease are cheap – get busy!

Stuff everywhere

When I view homes, I try to imagine living in the rooms with all my belongings in place.  Kind of hard to do when your junk is clogging up the space, making the place feel smaller than it really is.  Plus, it’s a real turn-off to see personal things like your toothbrush, razor and soggy towels cluttering up the bathroom, for example.  You need to get rid of at least half the stuff in your house — and I don’t mean hide it in the closets or the garage because I’m looking in there!  Here’s a tip:  Visualize a nice hotel room before you move in and unpack – sparkly clean, neat and tidy, room to move around.  That’s what your home should look like for showings.

Damp basement and water stains

Oh boy, is this one a red flag.  If I can see the results of water leakage, I just know I’d be buying a boatload of trouble to take on this baby.  Maybe you’ve got a bad foundation, but it’s more likely that water from spring runoff or summer rains is getting in because 1) your landscaping and grading isn’t sloped adequately away from the house; 2) your eavestroughing needs some work, with rain gutters cleaned out and downspouts aimed well away from the house; 3) your underground drains are clogged; or 4) your sump pump, if you have one, isn’t working properly.

Evident lack of maintenance or upgrading, or unfinished or poorly done reno projects

Yeah, I know your house isn’t brand new so you don’t have all the latest fixtures and decorative doo-dads.  I don’t mind a house that’s used.  What I object to is a house that’s used up.  If you’ve lived in your house for longer than 10 years, then it’s time to fix it up.  That could mean repairing broken windows, tightening loose hinges, or replacing cabinet handles, switches and plug-ins, faucets and shower heads.  It might also mean fresh paint inside and outside (neutral colors, please!).  Maybe what’s needed is a new roof, new furnace and hot water heater, new flooring or new appliances.  It could even mean a professional renovation of kitchen and bathrooms.  Notice I said professional renovation.  Do it yourself only if you have the skills and tools to do it right.  Oh, and don’t wait till just before it’s time to sell to do those things.  Maintain and renovate on a yearly basis so you get to enjoy your investment.

Weird decorating

I counted 5 different wallpaper patterns and 4 different types of carpet and lino just on the main level, but the real clincher was the purple living room, black bedroom and the mustard yellow dining room with its psychedelic wall mural!  This may be what you like to live with, but I want my house to be a frame for my life, not a Halloween horror show.

Lack of light

Hard to see if there are great features in this house because it’s like a cave in here.  I respect people trying to save money and energy, but up the wattage on the light bulbs so prospective buyers can actually see what you’re selling.  Open those drapes and blinds.  Trim the shrubbery from in front of the windows.  Clean those dirty, foggy windows.

Poor curb appeal and unattractive yard

I don’t know about you but I make a little effort when I show my face in public.  Same thing applies to houses.  Like it or not, first impressions count.  If your front door is askew and the paint’s peeling, if your driveway and sidewalks are cracked, plants overgrown, lawn brown and patchy, and there’s trash everywhere, this tells me you don’t care.  So why should I even bother to enter the front door if what I’ll see on the inside is more of the same?  Show a little pride, folks!

Pets on the loose

Hey, I love animals but your big snarly pooch scared the whatsits out of me.  I came to see your house, not get mauled by Cujo.

Price too high

Of course I’d like a bargain, but I’m willing to pay what’s fair for a decent house.  If your house needs a little work… well, I can forgive quite a lot if the price is right.  But there’s plenty I won’t pay for.  I don’t care that you spent $20,000 on a fancy new hot tub and deck, or that you owe too much on your mortgage to reduce the price to what’s reasonable, or that you have to have a certain amount so you can move into a bigger and more expensive house.  Price your house right based on factors such as its location, age, condition, size and what similar homes in your area have sold for, and I just might make you an offer.

Barry has some great articles in this blog on home staging and getting your house ready to sell.  Take a look at these:

Be Your Own Home Stager

Thinking of Selling Your Home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain or Parkland County? 

Home Staging Starts With De-cluttering

Barry can help you find a great house, or sell your current one.  Call or text him at 780-910-9669, email him at barry@barryt.ca, or contact him here. 

“Keep Calm and Carry On” was a motto used by the British government in 1939, intended to strengthen the morale of the British public in the face of World War II.  It could just as easily be used to punch up the spirits of home sellers, especially in the current market in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and the Edmonton area where perfectly good homes can languish on the market for months.

An article in the December 10, 2011 Edmonton Journal, entitled “Park your emotions when selling your home”, is one of those “couldn’t have said it better myself” articles that I’d like to share with my clients.

Author Marnie Bennett starts by stating that “feelings and emotions muddy home-sale waters.  I can’t stress enough to keep them as far away from your business decisions as possible.”  She goes on to outline five “rules” to help sellers detach emotionally from the sale of their home.

Number one on her list is “Choose your agent wisely”, opting for a business-like approach that will maximize profits and minimize hassle.  Setting the proper price for your home, negotiating from a position of strength, staging your home to show off its best features, and above all, keeping one’s emotions out of the deal round out Ms. Bennett’s list of rules.  We’ve heard this good solid advice many times before, but it’s the kind of advice that deserves to be repeated and heeded by anyone trying to sell a home.  Why is this such good advice?  I encourage you to read the full article!

If it’s time to sell your home, I would be happy to guide you through as stress-free a process as possible.  Please call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

No matter how short or long a time you spend in your Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton area home, there will come a time when you leave it.  If you live in it long enough, it will need to be refreshed, updated, and renovated.  The question is:   Do you renovate it just for yourself, or do you renovate with a sales target in mind?

 The best answer to this question is to think about both goals.  Renovate it for your own taste, pleasure and functional use, but don’t forget that your home will eventually go back on the market and may need to appeal to tastes broader than your own. If you’re looking to maximize the value in your home, both for your own use now and for future resale, what sorts of renovations are the best ones to undertake?

 Ergil & Jackson Appraisals Ltd. in their excellent Home Renovation Guide, 2010 edition, give this advice:

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR RENOVATIONS

According to the Appraisal Institute of Canada  and various professionals we’ve consulted, the following are a few things to keep in mind before you get started:

Invest in your kitchen!

About 10‐15% of the overall value of the home should be spent on the kitchen. If you don’t plan on selling for another 5 years, spending 15‐25% more on it today will give you about a 44% higher recapture depending on the quality of the renovations. For example, buyers need afunctionally designed, spacious, low maintenance kitchen. Scratch‐resistant, durable materials such as granite countertops and high‐quality appliances add tremendous value and have timeless appeal.

The bathroom is next!

You can expect up to a 60‐80% (and in some cases up to 100%) contribution to value on a well designed bathroom even if that requires a complete relocation of fixtures or walls. From floorto ceiling, new tiles, light fixtures and cabinetry to create one’s own personal spa is especiallyappealing. Luxury fixtures to enhance pampering may include water jets, soaker tubs and double sinks in the ensuite bathroom.

Don’t forget the floors and walls!

The buyer wants a home that’s ready to move into.  Smooth walls with quality, neutral paints will make spaces seem larger and will give you an 80‐110% recapture. Carpeting should be limited to bedrooms, if at all. Hardwood and tiles not only benefit in allergen reduction but add elegance as well.  Good flooring that flows from room to room and ties in with baseboards, cabinetry, walls and so on, can provide a 50‐75% better contribution to value than low‐cost, mediocre flooring.

Spend the money!

As the saying goes “You get what you pay for”.  Over the past year the cost of materials may not have increased dramatically but the cost of labour is certainly rising. Quality craftsmanship and insuring a job well done is key.  Nothing is more costly than having to do it twice or replace it early.  The importance of using the highest quality materials cannot be stressed enough.

Remember: High‐quality, easy maintenance, environmentally conscious products and timeless designs are all essential to ensuring value‐added appreciation with the best contribution to value possible.

Thanks to Ergil & Jackson for allowing me to quote portions of their document.  Please check out their full Home Renovation Guide for plenty of good information and advice.

Wondering what your home is worth in today’s market?  I’d be happy to do a free Home Evaluation for you.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

Is it a good idea to tackle major renovations just before you put your home on the market to make your Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton area home more attractive to buyers? 

Some time ago, I posted a blog entry on this topic (Should You Renovate Before You Sell?  Learn Which Home Renovations Give You the Best Return), giving some details about the costs of various renovations and how much, if anything, those renovations might add to the value of your home when it came time to sell.  This information came from Henderson & Butt’s excellent 2009 Home Renovation Guide.  Well, Henderson & Butt are now Ergil & Jackson Appraisals Ltd., and the 2010 edition of the Home Renovation Guide offers even more great information to help you keep or increase the value of your home.  Many thanks to Ergil and Jackson for allowing me to use information from their guide in my blog posts.

I’ve revised my original blog post to include more current information courtesy of Ergil and Jackson.  To view my revised article, please visit my new blog on Active Rain.   

Are there topics you’d like me to discuss in these blog posts?  I’d love to hear from you.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

Where do you go to get information for renovation projects?  The television set in your home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and the Edmonton area is probably not your first choice, but flipping through the channels these days reveals something surprising:  Among the many sports, movie and mainstream networks, there are a large number of worthwhile programs and even whole networks offering valuable information to homeowners.  Check out some of these offered in the Spruce Grove/Stony Plain/Edmonton area by Shaw Cable and TELUS Optik TV.  A little disclosure:  After you’ve checked them out, let me know what you think because I admit I haven’t seen most of them myself!

A & E

(Shaw 25, HD 233; Telus 170, HD 670)

$100 Makeover, Disaster Guy, Drill Team, Fix This Kitchen, Fix This Yard, Flipping Vegas, Flip This House, Hoarders, Sell This House

CBC  (Click on Find a Program)

(Shaw 4, HD 209; Telus 4, HD 618)

All for One With Debbie Travis, Steven and Chris

Discovery Channel  

(Shaw 32; Telus 200)

Canada’s Worst Handyman

DIY Network  (Click on Shows A-Z)

(Shaw 136; Telus 144)

A whole network of house-related programming, such as:  Decked Out, The Dirt on Gardening, Disaster DIY, DIY Hot List Kitchens & Baths, Dream House, Garage Mahal, Holmes on Homes, House Crashers, I Hate My Kitchen, Man Caves, Rehab Addict, Turf War, Wasted Spaces, Weekend Handyman, Yard Crashers, and many, many more.

HGTV 

(Shaw 19, HD 231; Telus 142, HD 680)

Too many shows to list them all here!  A few of the more popular:  Colin & Justin’s Home Heist, Debbie Travis’ Painted House, Gardening by the Yard, Holmes on Homes, Holmes Inspection, House Hunters, Property Virgins, Real Renos, Sarah’s House.  Many more.

OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)

(Shaw 92; Telus 202, HD 651)

Divine Design, Home Takeover with Simon & Tomas

PBS

(PBS Spokane on Shaw 22, HD 204; Telus 23, HD 607 Seattle

PBS Detroit on Shaw 81

PBS Boston on Telus 54, HD 629)

HandyMa’am with Beverly DeJulio, The Perennial Gardener with Karen Strohbeen, The Router Workshop, This Old House, The Woodwright’s Shop

Slice  (Click on Shows)

(Shaw 33; Telus 141)

Family Renovation, House Poor, Shotgun Reno, Till Debt Do Us Part

TLC The Learning Channel

(Shaw 35, HD 236; Telus 140, HD 671)

Hoarding: Buried Alive, Home Made Simple, Kitchen Boss, Spouse vs. House

W Network

(Shaw 34; Telus 146)

The Agents, All for Nothing, Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag, Building Bryks, Candice Tells All, Colour Confidential, Divine Design, Grin and Build It, Help My House is Falling Down, Home Wreckers, Inside the Box, Love It Or List It, Making House, Million Dollar Decorators, My House Your Money, Property Brothers, Take This House and Sell It

Not strictly related to houses and real estate but still very much related to home, so we have to give an Honorable Mention to:

The Food Network 

(Shaw 29; Telus 143)

Ace of Cakes, Barefoot Contessa, Chef at Home, Eat Shrink and Be Merry, Family Restaurant, French Food at Home, Iron Chef America, Jamie’s Meals in Minutes, Restaurant Makeover, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Tough Cookies, and much more!

This list isn’t intended to be comprehensive, but if I’ve missed anything that really should be on it, please let me know!

I’d love to help you find a house to turn into a home.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

How do we go about changing the “For Sale” sign on your home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or the Edmonton area into “Sold”?

Once your house is officially “on the market”, lots of things take place in my office to make sure that as many realtors and potential buyers as possible are aware of it.

First of all, I post your listing, consisting of a detailed description of your property, the pictures and measurements I took during my visit, and various other particulars such as the asking price, annual property taxes, neighborhood features and so on, to the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS®.  This powerful online service almost instantly makes your property’s information available to the thousands of realtors working in the Edmonton region.  They, in turn, can make this information available to their clients who might be looking for a property like yours.  Clients who create a customized search profile listing their desired property features can opt to receive automated “highlight sheets” showing properties available for sale that match what they are looking for.  These days, most realtors, or their offices, have websites with a direct link to MLS, making it possible for their clients to see all the pictures and other information posted on MLS.  Potential buyers can also search MLS listings directly by going to MLS.ca or Realtor.ca. 

Back at the Realty Executives Leading office, a full-color printed “window ad” showing a picture of your home and a verbal description is posted in the front window of our building so that passers-by and visitors to the office can see the properties listed for sale by the realtors from our office.  I may also create a glossy color highlight sheet featuring photos of your home’s best features for potential buyers to pick up when they are viewing your home with a realtor.

I advertise some or all of my listings every week in the local newspapers, the Grove Examiner in Spruce Grove and the Stony Plain Reporter in Stony Plain.  I also place ads in the Real Estate Weekly (circulation 60,000) published by the Realtors Association of Edmonton.  Printed copies of the Real Estate Weekly are inserted in home-delivered newspapers and sent out to newsstands selling the Edmonton Sun, as well as high traffic food stores, banks and real estate offices all around the Edmonton area.   Websites for all three of these publications have meant an even greater possible audience for this advertising.

I make as much use of technology in marketing your property as I can, featuring my listings on my website and on my Facebook Business Page, as well as posting ads on Kijiji and creating special in-house virtual tours, using software called VisualTour, that are attached to my MLS listings. 

While we still put a For Sale sign on your front lawn and maybe stage an open house, you can see that today’s real estate marketing goes well beyond traditional sales methods!

Looking to sell your home?  I can help!  Call me today at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.   

Most Canadians look forward to owning their own home, whether that’s a house, a condo, or an acreage in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, the Edmonton area or elsewhere.  In the excitement of taking possession of a new home, moving in and settling down in a new neighborhood, sometimes people forget they’ve taken on a long-term commitment to look after the property and protect the biggest investment most of us will ever make.  Owning a home is a lot of work!

With proper planning and good routines, maintaining a home need not be overwhelming.  The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC, publishes numerous guides for homeowners.  Check out “Home Maintenance Schedule” for an extended season-by-season checklist of home maintenance tasks.  If you’re like me, you’re bound to find a few things on this list you might not have thought about.  For example, one suggestion is to remove the interior window screens in the fall to allow the circulation of air to keep condensation off the windows and to allow in more free solar heat.

Maintaining your home will make it safer, more attractive and more pleasant to live in.  But there’s another very good reason not to neglect these routines.   Time and again in the real estate business, the houses that sell the fastest and for the best price are those houses that have been looked after the best.  When it comes time to sell your most valuable possession, you’ll be glad you kept up the maintenance!

Thinking of selling your home?  I’d be happy to help you get it ready to put on the market.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

Summer in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton areas of Alberta is a great time to tackle projects to refresh your home or acreage.  Painting is one of the best things you can do because it adds value to your home without costing much money and is relatively easy to do.  This is especially important if you are looking to sell your home.   A fresh coat of paint is one of the few renovations where you have a chance to recover all of your investment.

If you’re a beginner, where do you start?  With so many brands, types and colors of paint to choose from, and so many books, articles and internet sites giving all kinds of advice, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

An article that’s been sitting in my clipping file for awhile now is one of the best I’ve seen for a quick introduction to the mysteries of painting a room.  “How to paint like a pro” was published in the March 13, 2010 edition of the Edmonton Journal.  If you are a novice painter, I advise you to study every word of this article before you ever start thinking about finishes and colors!    

Then you may want to learn a little more about painting:

• One way is to check out the self-help section in a quality paint store or a large hardware store like the Home Depot.  Don’t be shy about asking the people working in these places for advice.
• A Google search on “How to paint a room” turned up a number of YouTube videos.
• Some other practical websites:

Bob Vila: How to Paint a Room

How to do IT: Painting a Room!

How to Paint a Room [from the About.com series of websites]

How to Paint a Room Like a Pro – Fine Homebuilding [series of videos]

Painting & Wallpapering – for Dummies [many articles from estimating how much paint to buy, to the proper use of a paint roller, and much more]

TLC Home “How to Paint a Room: Tips and Guidelines”

• The best way to learn to paint?  Just get in there and do it!

Comments or questions about this article, or any aspect of home buying and selling?  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

You’ve sold your house or acreage in Parkland County, Stony Plain, Spruce Grove or the Edmonton area, and you’re moving out.  What should you do for your home’s new owners?

•   “Unattached goods” or chattels:  Your purchase contract may specify some of the things that you are leaving behind such as kitchen and laundry appliances, window coverings and the like.  As a bare minimum, make sure that these items are in place, clean, and in good working order.
• Cleaning:  Your home should look much the same as it did during showings.  While you are under no legal obligation to leave your home spotless, it’s just a nice thing to do, if you can.  A good rule of thumb is to leave your home as clean as you’d like to find it!  If it’s not possible to give it the “mother-in-law white glove” test by washing windows, walls and light fixtures, steam-cleaning carpets and the like, at the very least do the following:
  • Thoroughly clean kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room (all fixtures, appliances, etc.)
  • Vacuum all carpets
  • Wash bare floors
  • Wipe out all cupboards
  • Tidy the yard, garage and shed
  • Get rid of all garbage
• Keys:  Collect and label all keys – extra house keys, garage, shed, mailbox (leave info about mailbox number), etc.  Keys should be left in a conspicuous location but not one that is visible by someone looking through a window from the outside.
• Garage door openers + codes
• Security system info + codes
• Instruction books, warranties, repair records for things like appliances, furnace, water heater, etc.
• Info about upgrades:  For example, if you installed a new roof, leave a note about when, what materials were used, who installed it, the cost, etc.
• Re-painting:  If any recent re-painting was done, leave leftover paint with info about brand, color name, etc.
• Utility info:  Leave information about providers (water, power, gas, internet, etc. with contact info), approximate monthly costs (copies of bills would be great), garbage pickup (what days, where, any special instructions, etc.)
• Utilities disconnect or transfer:  Have meters read.  Depending on the arrangement with the new owners, water and power may be turned off, furnace and hot water heater turned down, etc.  Your REALTOR® can help!
• “Welcome to your new home”:  It’s a nice touch, if you are so inclined, to leave a card or personal note for the new owners.   A recent copy of the local newspaper might  also be appreciated.
• Acreage owners:  Leave behind results of latest well water tests, well drillers’ report, upgrades to well and septic pump/system and the like
• Make sure all windows and doors are locked before you leave.

I am always willing to answer any home-related questions you might have!  Phone me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

Buying or selling your Parkland County acreage or your Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, or Edmonton area home is likely to be the biggest financial transaction of your life.  Many different professionals may be involved, and it can be confusing to you, the client, as to what the roles of all these people are and how they can be helpful to you.

A short but very useful and informative video on YouTube entitled “The People to Know in a Real Estate Transaction” explains such things as:

• the difference between a listing agent and a selling agent (and to whom they owe loyalty);
• the difference between a mortgage broker and a mortgage banker;
• what things a home inspector looks for, and how the role of a home inspector differs from that of a home appraiser;
• why it pays to use a real estate attorney to complete your sale (required in Alberta when REALTORS® are involved).

Although the video is aimed at an American audience, the information is still mostly applicable to our situation in Alberta.

Need more information?  I’ll do what I can to find the answers to any of your questions.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.