Archive for October 28, 2007

Laurin Jeffrey | October 28, 2007
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Home sellers have one shot at a good first impression

Make sure your house is a perfect 10 before the ‘For Sale’ sign goes up. A little effort can help ensure the best price in the shortest amount of time.

Vancouver Sun

If you’re thinking about putting your home on the market, you need to do everything you can to make sure it’s a perfect “10″ before the “For Sale” sign goes up!

Today’s homebuyers are busy people, who are rarely interested in spending the time or money to carry out major repairs or improvements when they move in. To help you get the best price and sell your home as fast as possible, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has a number of tips on how you can get your house ready to sell:

First, stop thinking of your house as the home you love, and start thinking about it as a product that’s about to enter a highly competitive market. Prospective homebuyers aren’t looking to buy your home; they’re looking for a place they can call their own. So take a long, objective look at your home’s strengths and flaws, and identify any areas where a little effort or elbow grease could make a big difference.

A good place to start is with your home’s curb appeal. The curb is where buyers make their first impressions, so make sure the impression they get is a good one. Remove any clutter in your yard. Repair cracked or uneven driveways and walkways. Make sure your lawn and flowerbeds are well tended. And ensure your windows, walls and doors are clean and freshly painted.

Next, check the roof, chimney and exterior walls. If any repairs are required, carry them out yourself, or hire a qualified contractor to do the work for you.

Inside, make sure potential buyers are greeted with a clean, clutter-free and well-lit interior, preferably with a fresh coat of paint on the walls and trim. Eliminate any unpleasant odours, and make sure all the lights are turned on and that all doors and windows open and shut properly.

Thoroughly clean all appliances, sinks, tubs and toilets, and give all your fixtures a good shine. Repair any leaks or drips, and clean the cabinets, mirrors, switch plates and cupboard handles.

Keep furniture and family memorabilia to a minimum to help people imagine their own belongings in the space and ensure an easy flow of traffic .

Make sure your foundation and basement are structurally sound, and free of cracks or water seepage. If you use the basement as a catch-all for storage, try to clear it of as much clutter as possible, or at least organize your things as well as you can.

In the garage, carport or shed, get rid of any broken or useless items. If there are any oil stains on the floor, remove them with a strong cleaning solution.

Last but not least, if you have an agent, then the single best thing you can do to help make the sale is to leave when the home is being shown. This will help prospective buyers imagine the house as their new home – not yours!

For more information or a free copy of the “About Your House” fact sheet Getting Your House Ready to Sell, or other fact sheets on buying, maintaining or renovating your home, call CMHC at 1 800 668-2642 or visit our Website at www.cmhc.ca.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

Category: Ajax Real Estate, General Real Estate, Miscellaneous, Pickering Real Estate, Renovation and Maintenance, Scarborough Real Estate, Selling Real Estate, Staging | Tags: , , , , , ,
Laurin Jeffrey | October 28, 2007
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Flip this house: Learn from two veterans

Buying and renovating for resale isn’t always easy or profitable

Joanne Hatherly, The Victoria Times Colonist

They’re provinces apart, but Randy Mackay of Toronto and Robin Pickard of Victoria have a few things in common.

They’re both 40 years of age and they both have found, fixed and flipped four houses.

That’s where the similarities end.

Mr. Mackay has sworn off flipping. Ms. Pickard is still in the game.

On paper, Mr. Mackay looks like an obvious winner when it comes to house-flipping.

A 13-year veteran of the residential construction industry, Mr. Mackay co-hosted HGTV Canada’s The Big Flip. Cameras followed Mr. Mackay and a friend for a year as they flipped as many homes as they could. During the same period, Mr. Mackay’s construction firm built 18 luxury homes, showing that he is a businessman with resources.

It’s a good thing. He put up $1.5 million in the race to make a fast buck off the hot real estate market. But one year later, Mr. Mackay refused to sign up for a second season.

“I’ve had enough,” said Mr. Mackay from Toronto. “I’m not doing it again.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Pickard, a full-time wife and mother, doesn’t even call herself a flipper, “because we actually live in the house. It’s our home.”

Ms. Pickard doesn’t flip as much as she flows from home to home, living in each one for about a year.

That’s her advantage. While Mr. Mackay fell victim to a stalled real estate market that hit in the middle of the show’s production, Ms. Pickard can weather those storms.

“We never buy a house that we can’t live in,” she says.

If the market slowed, Ms. Pickard and her family would simply stay put and wait out the downturn. Ms. Pickard has never lost money on a flip, but she has sometimes spent more on a renovation than she expected. Those costs have ranged from $5,000 to $65,000.

She demures when asked how much money she’s made on her Victoria-style leisurely flips.

Of Mr. Mackay’s four flips, he lost money on two and made money on two. He likes to say that he broke even, but admits that’s only true if he limits his audit.

“That’s if I don’t count my own time,” says Mr. Mackay, who reckons that if he also took into account six-per-cent interest he could have earned on the money if he hadn’t taken it out of circulation, his losses would go into the hundreds of thousands.

“It’s like gambling,” says Mr. Mackay. “If you cannot afford to lose, don’t get into the business.”

A cross-Canada 2006 survey for HGTV Canada found British Columbians are the most likely to know someone who has flipped a house (49%). Only 13% of respondents in Quebec would say the same. And 72% of respondents in B.C. agreed that house flipping can be a very profitable business.

Arnie Harnden, operations manager for MAC Renovations in Victoria, says some clients have approached MAC to do renovations for a flip, but MAC usually doesn’t get involved in the project because they would prefer to do a quality job rather than a quickie makeover.

Other times, Mr. Harnden says MAC has been called in to fix flips that flopped.

“I’m sure there’s people out there who will do a quality job, but there are those who are just in it for the money,” says Mr. Harnden.

That’s where flippers can get into trouble, says Ms. Pickard, who says she does every upgrade as though she’s going to stay in the house, because she may end up doing just that if the real estate market slumps.

She ponies up the cash for upgrades that are best left to professional tradespeople, such as plumbers and electricians. She saves dollars by taking on the surface work of painting and patching, with her husband’s help. They also reduced the cost of their renovation by selling some of the things they replaced, such as kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

She relies on a home inspector to ferret out trouble spots.

“We’ve walked away from some houses.”

She looks for homes that appeal to a broad cross-section of the market — one-level houses that were built with a unique architectural esthetic quality that appeals to both empty-nesters and first-time homebuyers.

“Location is everything.”

Would she ever start flipping houses in earnest?

“I don’t know,” says Ms. Pickard. She also doesn’t know how many more houses she’ll shine and sell. The tug toward creating a permanent home is strong.

“There are things I miss doing, like being able to take my time doing landscaping and gardening.”

Mr. Mackay has some advice for wannabe flippers.

“Don’t step up to the plate if you can’t hit a home run.”

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

Category: Ajax Real Estate, Buying Real Estate, Miscellaneous, Pickering Real Estate, Selling Real Estate |
Laurin Jeffrey | October 28, 2007
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Selling a home takes a lot of work

Make sure all is clean, decluttered

Michele Oberoi, For CanWest News Service

Summer is the prime time for flowers, patios and moving.

“The first flower of spring is a ‘For Sale’ sign,” says Ottawa real estate broker Bill Renaud of Re/Max. One reason is cabin fever that results from several months stuck inside over the winter, Renaud says. “We become critical of our environment.”

No matter the reason for selling a home, the process can be difficult.

“It’s not easy. It’s a stressful process,” says Renaud. “I don’t think people go into it lightly.” Going in informed makes all the difference. “I’m the ‘shock absorber,’” he says, describing one of a realtor‘s many roles in the house-selling adventure.

To begin, Royal LePage broker Joan Smith advises home sellers to have a good plan. Sellers should ask themselves, ‘What am I doing here? How long do I want my house on the market? What do I need to do?’

“It’s no different from anything else,” she says. A solid plan is particularly important for those who choose to sell their homes themselves, says Smith.

For the majority of sellers, however, “it’s important to have an agent that knows the neighbourhood,” says Renaud. “Listen to your gut instincts. You have to feel comfortable with that person.” Renaud also suggests checking the realtor‘s references and experience.

“You must work in order to sell [your home],” adds veteran real estate broker Neta Clarke of Royal LePage, who is celebrating her 50th year in the business. A good realtor “should go through the home and see what condition it’s in,” says Clarke. The realtor should make suggestions for repairs and changes and should obtain a list of comparable sales in the area in order to help determine a correct price for the home.

In order to prepare a home for public viewing, a realtor may call in a house stager — a person who visually prepares a home for resale by removing clutter, rearranging furniture and even repairing and redecorating in order to give the home a welcoming, clean look.

“I do my own staging,” says Smith, adding it’s important to keep in mind people still have to live in the home while it’s on the market.

“The place must be very clean and it should have curb appeal,” says Clarke, who advises sellers to get rid of extra furniture and family pictures and to make sure cupboards are clean and the basement is spic and span. “If the home is untidy, it doesn’t show as well.”

Once the price has been set and the home is in viewing condition, homeowners must make their home available for viewing.

“The first 21 days are the most important,” says Renaud. “The longer [the house] is on the market, the farther it will sell from the asking price.” If the home doesn’t sell after this time, Smith says the homeowner and realtor should sit down again and discuss the price.

There are several reasons why homes don’t sell: not enough exposure, poor condition, lack of floorplan conformity, or bad location all play a role. All three agents agree the main reason homes don’t sell is the pricetag but Renaud says simply lowering the price isn’t always the solution.

“There may be structural damage,” says Renaud.

Tips for homeowners wishing to sell their homes

People tend to buy a home based on 30-per-cent logic, and 70-per-cent emotion. If you’re thinking of selling your home, here’s helpful advice:

- Spring may not be the best time for selling all property types, or properties in all areas. Speak to a realtor for professional advice on the best time to sell.

- Little extras: Homeowners with extras, such as backyard pools or waterfront access, should make sure these areas are clean, open and operational.

- Emotion: List the top 10 things you love about your home. Chances are a buyer will love many of the same things.

- Light: If there’s a light, turn it on, even during the day, but especially at night. Seeing house lights glowing adds an extra helping of warmth.

- Remember, less is more: If you can’t decide if a room is too cluttered, then it probably is.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960

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Category: Ajax Real Estate, Detached Homes, General Real Estate, Miscellaneous, Pickering Real Estate, Renovation and Maintenance, Selling Real Estate, Semi-Detached Homes, Townhouses | Tags: , , ,
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