Real Estate West Kelowna REALTOR®

Monday, August 27, 2012

SEVEN SIMPLE STAGING SECRETS - from Coldwell Banker

When it comes to staging a home for sale, sellers should create a warm, inviting yet neutral atmosphere that will appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. The good news is, sellers don’t need to do a complete design overhaul to get a great result.

Coldwell Banker offers seven simple staging tips to help boost a home’s appeal and give owners a competitive edge to help sell their home.

· Stage rooms with one purpose. Rooms that have many uses can confuse or even deter homebuyers, so staging rooms with one purpose is vital. Determine who your most likely target market will be, whether its young professionals with no kids, families, or even empty nesters. Then present your areas to fit their needs. If you’ve been using a room as a guest room/kids playroom/home office, pick the one use that best suits your buyers.

· Tackle the easy “do-it-yourself” projects. In a Coldwell Banker consumer survey of first time buyers, the vast majority said move-in conditions are very important in their search. Spruce up your home by replacing outdated kitchen and bathroom fixtures. Add a fresh coat of paint. Repaint or refinish kitchen cabinets and update with new hardware.

· Focus on the living areas. Potential buyers should envision themselves entertaining friends and family in the living areas of the home. Make sure those areas feel as spacious as possible by removing any unnecessary furniture to allow for easy traffic flow.

· Make sure the master bedroom appeals to both sexes. Remember that the master bedroom is a room that a couple will be sharing, so the décor should appeal to both sexes. It should feel like a calm and peaceful refuge, not a frilly boudoir. Remove any feature that seems too gender-specific and paint the walls a neutral colour.

· Clear away family photos and mementos. Buyers want to picture their family living in a home, not the previous owners. Put away family portraits, personal collections and knickknacks. Removing these items will also eliminate clutter and ensure that people are focusing on the home, not the photos from the last family vacation.

· Furnish the home, but don't overdo it. While an empty house may look spacious, it’s often hard for buyers to visualize their belongings in a home if they’re just looking at bare walls and floors. Leave the basic components that allow the viewer to define each room.

· Don’t forget the outside spaces. First impressions can play a key role in a consumer’s decision-making process, so don’t neglect your home’s curb appeal. Make sure the home’s exterior is inviting by trimming the bushes, mowing the lawn and painting faded window trim. Buyers will appreciate the seller’s efforts with the yard work, and will tend to assume that the same attention to detail has been devoted throughout the property.

I am the GUY that will make a difference!

I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.

Karen Guy, REALTOR®
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty

C 250.878.3605 O 250.768.8001
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Friday, August 17, 2012

How to Stage your home to sell

How to Stage your home to sell

Click on the link above to see this video.

I am the GUY that will make a difference!

I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.

Karen Guy, REALTOR®
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty

C 250.878.3605 O 250.768.8001
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Sunday, August 12, 2012

GROWING FAMILY IS NO. 1 LIFESTYLE MOTIVATOR FOR HOME BUYERS

Coldwell Banker survey finds Sellers are more willing to make changes to increase buyer appeal; Buyers prefer updated kitchens & open floor plans to trendy media rooms

A recent survey of 700 Coldwell Banker Real Estate professionals across North America revealed home buyers are motivated by lifestyle needs, with growing families ranking as top motivator on both sides of the Canadian/U.S. border. Meanwhile, sellers are becoming increasingly aware of the value of presenting a home with buyers appeal, and are becoming more willing to go the extra mile as they compete for buyers’ attention.

Sellers More Willing to De-clutter, De-personalize and Make Repairs

Of those Coldwell Banker professionals surveyed:

94 percent say their sellers are getting rid of clutter and making cosmetic updates, such as fresh paint and minor repairs. This percentage was the same for both Canadian and U.S. respondents
60 percent of Canadian respondents agree that clients are willing to “de-personalize” the home. This percentage was much higher in the challenging U.S. market, where 76 percent agree.
59 percent of North American respondents say sellers are even bringing in new home decorations or furniture to help make the home more appealing.

When marketing your home, it’s important to help buyers imagine themselves living in the property. De-cluttering and de-personalizing is crucial to this process. Sellers should recognize that while demand for homes remains strong in Canada, their home is still competing with other listings. If a home is presented with a minimum of clutter and distracting personal items, it will appeal to buyers and improve the chance of a sale.

Buyer Preferences are ‘Back to the Basics’

Sellers, take note: when it comes to selecting a home, buyers are going back to the basics. They value new or updated kitchens, bathrooms and open floor plans as the most important features for a new home.

33 percent of agents surveyed across North America say that a new or updated kitchen is the most important feature to homebuyers.
14 percent say the most important feature to homebuyers is an open floor plan, while 12 percent say it is a new or updated bathroom.
Only 1 percent of the real estate professionals surveyed say they believe that entertainment rooms or finished basements are the most important feature.

Home Buyers Moving for Babies and Careers

The survey also drilled down into which life events are motivating the most people to buy homes. According to the Coldwell Banker Real Estate professionals surveyed, growing families is currently the biggest lifestyle driver for home buyers in both Canada and the United States.

70 percent of real estate professionals surveyed say a new baby or growing family is the “most common”, or a “very common” lifestyle reason that North American buyers search for a new home. Other key motivators include:

Marriage - 59 percent.
Divorce - 48 percent.
Retirement - 37 percent.

While the majority of survey responses regarding buyer motivators were similar between Canada and United States, and although job reasons was the No. 2 reason overall across North America, there was one marked difference. Fifty-five percent of Canadian respondents cited job reasons vs. 69 percent of respondents in the United States, where the economy and job market have endured recent downturns.

For most of us, while a home is probably our largest investment, the fact remains that people move for lifestyle reasons. Regardless of market conditions, buying a home remains an investment in our lifestyles where the emotional and psychological benefits can hold equal value to the pure economic investment.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Tips for a Smooth Move

To paraphrase an old real estate saying – the three most important factors for a stress-free move are: planning, planning, and more planning. Plan your move at least one month in advance. Set up an expense log, and start lining up your suppliers – movers, storage companies, delivery of new appliances or furniture. Don’t forget painters, carpet installers and other services working on your new house prior to your move-in date.

Now is the time to minimize the number of items you have to move. Discard unwanted items, hold a garage sale, and collect boxes. Notify friends, relatives, the post office, and companies you do business with of your change of address. Don’t forget about those companies you might contact only once a year, such as life or car insurance companies.

Contact your real estate lawyer to confirm who will be handling the changeover of various utilities and services. Typically, utilities such as power, gas, water, etc. are handled by your lawyer as part of the final adjustments on the sale’s closing. Other services, particularly cable television, internet and telephone services, you’ll probably be instructed to handle on your own. Try to schedule utilities and service connections before you arrive at your new house – and book your appointments as far out in advance as possible, especially if you plan to move at month end, or you might find yourself on a waiting list.

Make a floor plan of the new house and plan where everything will go. Don’t guess - take measurements of room dimensions and major furniture items and then lay everything out. You don’t want pay movers an hourly rate to move Grandma’s piano four times because it just doesn’t fit! When you’re packing, label boxes clearly by contents and by room, and on moving day, provide movers with a copy of your floor plan so they’ll know exactly where to put the boxes for ‘Johnny’s bedroom’. Remember to provide plastic sheets to protect carpets.

Prepare a list of the items you wish to move personally such as jewelry and precious breakables. Pack your pillows, a set of sheets and blankets, along with your nightclothes, a towel and toiletries to take with you in your car. Then at the end of a long and tiring day, you can get ready for bed without having to sort through 50 boxes. You might also pack a lunch complete with utensils, napkins, condiments, (and perhaps a wine opener?) to enjoy your first meal in your home as a picnic on the living room floor. And if you like a cup of coffee in the morning, you’ll want to pack the coffee maker and all the fixings to take in your car as well.

These little things can add up to a pleasant adventure on moving day, rather than an exercise in frustration for you and your family. Ask your Coldwell Banker real estate representative for more advice about hassle-free moves. They’ve been through this with hundreds of customers, so they’re the experts!

Friday, August 3, 2012

According to a 2012 survey from Coldwell Banker Real Estate of 1,000 men and women, they both rely on how they feel and how their lifestyle fits into a home when looking for a place to live. The survey found 28 percent of women and 25 percent of men put more emphasis on their feelings about a home than they do on the layout, square footage, or even price. But despite the differences between men and women, there’s at least one thing they agree on when it comes to buying a home -- the majority of women (62 percent) and men (61 percent) know within the first visit if the home is right for them.

For couples entering the home-buying process, here are some tips for harmonious house-hunting:

· Each person should come up with a list of a few things that are most important to them. Then, they should come together as a couple to decide on a list of the top three to five things that are important for their home together.

· When looking for a home, communication is key. Consider designating a point person for different aspects of the home-buying process, so that information is not delayed or communicated to just one part of the couple.

· Don’t get too many people involved; typically more people means more stress and what is most important is that the couple is happy with the decisions being made.

· Don’t forget to have fun! Remember that this home will be the place to build memories and a life together.

Following these simple, common-sense guidelines can help couples keep the home-buying process fun. For more helpful advice on the home buying process, you can contact me at any time.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

New Round of Tightening - Canadian Mortgage Regulations kicks in July 9th.

On June 21^st, Canada’s federal government announced a further tightening of Canadian mortgage regulations effective July 9^th. In the announcement, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty stated that the new regulations were introduced “to keep the housing market strong, and help to ensure households do not become overextended.” Changes include the maximum amortization period being reduced to 25 years from the previous 30 years. Also, the maximum amount of equity homeowners can take out of their homes in a refinancing is being reduced to 80% from 85%. These new mortgage regulations echo earlier reductions of amortization period and lowered refinancing maximums that came into effect last year.

Although the changes have been endorsed in the media by Canada's big banks, including TD and Bank of Montreal, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) urges the government to carefully consider the impact of further interventions in the market. It is well known that housing is a key driver of the economy. In fact, according to CREA, re-sale housing will add an estimated $20 billion in spin-off spending and over 165,000 jobs to the Canadian economy in 2012. CREA also cautions the government to closely monitor the impact of these measures to ensure they have the desired effect without slowing the economy.

Meanwhile, the Canadian real estate market remains balanced, and Canada continues to enjoy near-historic low interest rates. The dream of homeownership remains in reach for a large number of Canadians. While the reduction in maximum amortization period may affect some buyers, there are many who will not be impacted by the changes. Others who may have planned to amortize their mortgage over a 30-year period have several options, including saving for a larger down payment, choosing a slightly lower-priced home in their target area, or consider trading location for commute. There are a variety of options, and buyers should work with their local Coldwell Banker© real estate professional to find the solution that’s right for them.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What makes a good neighbourhood?

There’s an old saying that ‘the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location. But what makes one community more desirable than another? Often, it’s the visible aspects of the neighbourhood such as pride of ownership in well maintained houses and clean, tree-lined streets. Sometimes it’s the intangibles: a look or feeling you get while driving down a street. When you’re house hunting, it’s important to remember that when you buy a home you’re also buying the neighbourhood.

Your home is probably the single largest investment you’ll ever make. So, it’s wise to buy in an area that is stable and has a good reputation. A community’s reputation is based on many factors, including close proximity to a thriving economic centre. Look for good schools and easy access to public facilities such as libraries, parks and recreation centres. Also consider commute time: how long will it take you to get to work? Remember not to make that decision based on how long it takes to make the drive to view the house, but actually during rush hour. Are you the type of person who doesn’t mind an hour’s drive each way to work? Or do you prefer to take public transit?

Before you purchase a home, it’s a good idea to check with the planning and zoning departments at city hall for proposed developments in the area. If you’re looking for a quiet area away from the hustle and bustle, you’ll want to know if there’s a proposed shopping mall going in at the corner. Or could there be an office tower slated to back up against your backyard?

The resale potential of the neighbourhood is important too. Your Coldwell Banker sales representative can create a report for you, showing the properties listed and sold in the area, and discuss the potential for appreciation in property values.
Try to get a sense of the community before you move in. Make several trips to the area you’re considering. Visit on different days of the week at different times of the day and night. Do you like what you see? Do you feel comfortable? Talk to residents—they are a wealth of knowledge about the area amenities and the community spirit. Read a few issues of the local newspaper to get up to date on current initiatives and developments. You might even want to visit the local library or community center to get an overview of what’s going on in the area.
You can rely on your Coldwell Banker sales representative to be a fountain of information too. Then, when it comes time to buy your first house, you’ll choose a community where you’ll feel right at home.

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