Bathroom Remodel in Your Future?

New Year’s Resolution: Remodel the Bathroom?

It’s no secret that bathrooms are a popular room to remodel—because of outdated features, different decorating taste from the previous owners or simply normal wear and tear on a very functional room of your home. If the New Year has you thinking about remodeling a bathroom, here are a few things to consider:

  • Luxury Bathroom 300x211 Bathroom Remodel in Your Future?Timely or Timeless Style – Before you remodel, picture what it will look like in a couple years when you sell your home. Will you still enjoy that trendy sink? Make sure future buyers will, too. Otherwise they’ll factor in the cost of their own remodel when making an offer.
  • Costs—Good News – Right now many contractors are eager for work, and prices are lower for their materials and labor, so now may be an ideal time to make your bathroom more livable.
  • Resale Value – You may have heard during the housing boom that bath remodels add value to your home. These days you can recoup about 64% of the costs of a minor bathroom remodel, according to Remodeling magazine’s “2010-11 Cost vs. Value Report.” If your bathroom is especially in need of updates, you may recapture more.
  • Too Much? Think Small – If you’re not ready for a full remodel, then a fresh coat of paint, new towels and a pretty framed print can do wonders to update your bathroom—and give you a new look for 2011.

Remember: you and your family are the ones using your bathroom on a daily basis, so think about whether it makes you feel good when you brush your teeth every morning.

If you’d like more information about how a remodel can affect the value of your home, please don’t hesitate to call or email.

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Spruce Up the Kitchen for the Holidays

Spruce Up the Kitchen for the Holidays

Most of us spend a great deal of time in the kitchen—and not just while cooking. The kitchen is the traditional heart of the home. And with the holidays coming up, you may be looking for fast and easy ways to make your home more welcoming to guests.

virtual tour 34782 09 300x200 Spruce Up the Kitchen for the Holidays

Whether yours is a huge kitchen with a family room attached or a cozy convenience kitchen, several quick and inexpensive tricks let you spruce up your kitchen without undertaking a complete overhaul:

  • Nothing changes a room faster than a fresh coat of paint. It immediately brightens the walls and ceilings.
  • If your cabinets have seen better days, consider painting them—even if they are natural wood.
  • Express your style and liven up your cabinets with unique knobs, handles and hinges. Kitchen cabinets are a popular do-it-yourself project and can enhance the beauty of your home.
  • New linoleum is fairly inexpensive and provides a clean, fresh look.
  • Get rid of the refrigerator magnets—unless of course, they hold your family’s art gallery.
  • Select a brightly colored rug and dish towels to provide accent color.
  • Hang a window valence to tie it all together.
  • Line the windowsill with pots of herbs grown from seed.

Redecorating your kitchen is an easy way to change the whole look and feel of your home. And here’s something to remember when you decide to sell: the kitchen is considered by many to be the most important room in the house.

These tips can also be used to help stage your home to sell for the best possible price. If you’d like more ideas for getting your home ready to sell, feel free to email or call any time.

house value Spruce Up the Kitchen for the Holidays

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Tim Horton’s – Closes 36 U.S. Stores

Tim Hortons closes 36 U.S. stores

11/11/2010 9:01:19 AM

CBC News
Tim Hortons says it plans to close the doors at 36 of its coffee and doughnut shops in the northeastern United States.

The iconic Canadian restaurant operator has been making inroads into the U.S. market but announced that it will make a strategic retreat from Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn.

All but two of the store closures will come in those two cities, and the company will record a $20.9 million US accounting charge to reflect the impaired value of those assets.

That will be followed by an additional charge of up to $30 million US that will be recorded in the fourth quarter.

The closures, which represent a small fraction of the 600-plus stores Tims has in the United States, were largely responsible for the company’s third-quarter profit falling short of analysts’ expectations.

Tim Hortons earned $73.8 million in the third quarter, or 42 cents per share – up more than 20 per cent from last year, but falling short of analysts expectations of 53 cents per share.

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Selling Private to Save Commission

Selling Private Saves Me Commision

Interestingly enough many people who decide to sell privately have the same answer when asked why they chose to sell privately. The most common answer is, “to save the commission!”  Fair enough, and a seemly huge savings, in fact they are often told they can save 6% (we know this is an inflated number, but nevertheless  is still in the sales material of most private sale companies.)  Do you really save that much or anything at all? A colleague of mine posted a hilarious video exhibiting some of the silly things we encounter as real estate professionals.  Take a look. It is not too far off from reality.

To sell your house or learn more about why real estate professionals can get the job done faster, with less stress, for more money visit www.source4homes.ca or www.guelph-real-estate.ca Because it’s not about listing, it’s about SELLING.

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Closet Organizing Tips

Organizing Tips to Remove Closet Clutter

Do you save everything? Are you sentimental about the ill-fitting sweater your aunt knitted five years ago, or your ragged alma mater sweatshirt? If so, your closets may be very full.

Fall is an ideal time to clean out your home. Cleaning out your closets regularly will save you time and energy and keep you from feeling overwhelmed by the task later on. Plus, if your closet is packed with old clothes that you don’t or can’t wear anymore, you may hesitate to update your wardrobe.

messy closet 300x207 Closet Organizing TipsHere are some tips to help you organize and unclutter your closet:

  • Get rid of the clothes you haven’t worn in over a year.
  • Store out-of-season clothes in a different location.
  • Try on the clothes you can’t seem to get rid of—it will help you make a decision.
  • Buy good hangers: wire hangers don’t give good support and leave marks on your clothes.
  • Hang clothes according to style (i.e., shirts, suits, pants) or color.
  • If space permits, add a bar for shirts and pants.

When you clean your closets on a regular basis, you may find you don’t need some of the clothing you thought you did. And you’ll actually wear and enjoy the clothes you do have.

What’s more, cleaning out your closets is a small but important step towards clearing the way to closet organizers 271x300 Closet Organizing Tipsmove into your next home. If you’d like more information on getting rid of clutter in your home, please don’t hesitate to email or call.

Find houses with walk in closets: Click Here

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closets Closet Organizing Tips

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Fall Home Maintenance Check List

Fall Home Maintenance To-Dos

As autumn is quickly approaching, here are some areas of your home to inspect and repair now so you can relax and enjoy a safe and cozy fall season:

APE0093E Fall Home Maintenance Check List

Pests

Mice are excellent climbers and only need an opening the width of a pencil (¼ inch) to sneak inside your home to search for food. Protect yourself by sealing all cracks and other openings into your home and blocking off ventilation ducts with heavy-gauge wire mesh.

Fire protection

Open your fireplace damper and inspect the chimney flue for any nesting birds or animals. The National Fire Protection Association recommends that all chimneys, fireplaces and vents be inspected every year to reduce the danger of house fires caused by excessive creosote build-up.

Nooks and Crannies

Replace worn or missing caulking and weather stripping to keep energy costs down.

Windows

If you use storm windows to protect against the cold weather, make sure they are clean and free of cracks before installing.

Air Circulation

Clean and adjust ceiling fans so that air circulates more efficiently. This allows fans to gently mix warmer air (which naturally rises) back into the room.

Gutters

Whether you do it yourself or hire a handyman, have your all dead leaves and debris removed from rain gutters.

These are just the basics—but they’re important. And while you’re at it, take care of two more items on your home maintenance to-do list: Clean in and around dryer lint vents and replace all smoke alarm batteries. Enjoy the upcoming cooler weather!

Don’t forget to check out our current home listings at: www.guelph-real-estate.ca

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Overpriced Homes – Sell Slower and For Less

Overpriced Homes-Sell Slower and For Less If there’s anything we can take away from the plethora of Bank Owned Foreclosuresis they certainly know how to price a home to move!

I maintain that you almost always shoot yourself in the foot by overpricing your home. Your home will almost always sale at or above market value by pricing at or below market value.house dollar thumbsdown001 300x277 Overpriced Homes   Sell Slower and For Less

So why is that? Well think back at when YOU were buying a home. Remember when a “great deal” came on the market and everybody and their agents were “swarming” to the open house? You placed your offer only to find out their were 10 other offers and they were going above the asking price? This “bargain price” created an auction affect and got people excited. THAT is how banks are pricing their homes andif you want your home to move quickly and for the most amount of money, this is a winning strategy.

So why don’t sellers do it? I think it’s because there’s a little voice inside of our head (and pocketbook) that says “what if”.

“What if”- I can get $50K over market value. (even if someone were excited enough about your home to pay $50K over appraised value, their lender won’t loan the money if the value isn’t there. No loan, no buyer)

“What if”- I don’t get multiple offers and I only get one offer (May be still overpriced!)

Often fear (and greed) hold us back from making smart choices! Don’t feel bad though, even Real Estate Agents are guilty of senselessly overpricing their homes. Somehow when it’s our turn to sell all of our “market knowledge” becomes goo and leaks out of our ears! It’s like the hairdresser with bad hair!

The bottom line is, almost always, an Over Priced House will sit on the market longer and sell for less than it should have had it been priced strategically from the beginning.

Copyright © 2010 By Stephen Munson,Munson RealtyPasadena|Overpriced Homes-Sell Slower and For Less*overpriced homes,overpriced house

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Home Inspections for Sellers

Home Inspections… for Sellers

Most people think a home inspection is something that happens somewhere between making an offer and before closing on a home. But for a number of reasons, more homeowners are choosing to have their own home inspected before putting it on the market.

home inspect Home Inspections for SellersThe reason is simple: uncovering problems early on enables you to fix them, often making it possible to add value to your sale price. An inspection is designed to reveal any potential problems a house may have—and that’s true for both buyers and sellers. Sellers may benefit from gaining this kind of detailed information about their home, so that they can choose to handle problems long before the negotiation process is underway.

Many sellers also report that their buyers feel more comfortable when the information from a pre-sale inspection is shared early on, even if the buyers choose to have their own home inspection as well.

In short, a pre-sale inspection can reduce the chance of a surprise and help speed the closing process, which would otherwise have been delayed by scheduling repairs and having the buyers confirm they were completed properly. Because for buyers, making an offer contingent upon a home inspection is about saving expenses and trouble—not to mention providing confidence in what may well be the biggest investment they ever make.

Even if you’re not a buyer making an offer, or a seller thinking of listing a home in the next few months, a home inspection can provide homeowners with a thorough to-do list for maintenance—or even a little peace of mind. If you have any questions about inspections, please don’t hesitate to call or email.

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Student Housing – Changes Looming

Student housing has been a lucrative venture for landlords for decades. There are estimated to be around 900 houses that are rented exclusively to students and having 4 or more tenants sharing the house. A large portion of these houses are considered by definition, to to be lodging houses, but are not registered. Here is the official definition of a lodging house cording to the City of Guelph..

Student Housing – Changes Looming.

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Another New Listing

Ok, so I haven’t been blogging too much about our new listings but since I have been on the internet band wagon, I thought I should.  So you will see a few posts about our guelph real estate listings.  The first is the most recent: 45 Moss place.

45 Moss front e1277750908947 300x199 Another New Listing45 Moss Place is a fantastic opportunity to own a well kept investment property or starter home.  The current owner is not a renter and has put a lot of love into the upkeep and maintenance of this property.  This home is ideal for a young couple looking to start out and not break the bank on a home. Townhouses are selling for more than this plus additional condo fees, making this detached home a bargain.

New flooring has been put in all through the home, starting with the ceramic entrance way.  The hardwood laminate flows nicely into the living room area, and transitions back into a large tiled ceramic in the kitchen.  Upstairs you will find new neutral coloured carpet.

The backyard is large and the green grass is very desirable for your family activities.  Being completely fenced for your beloved pets and young children.  The house is also located on the curve of the street which makes the yard a pie shape for more room.

In the basement you will find a finished rec room that is also suitable for a 4th bedroom.  The rough in for the extra bath is conveniently located for a quick and painless new bath room installation.  The laundry area is large and exceptionally clean.

For more information visit: guelph-real-estate.ca

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