WAYNE COCHRANE’S REAL ESTATE
INSIDER April 2014
SH O 46 $3 R E 4 99 D R ,8 IV 00 E
A List to Help You Get Your Home Ready for Resale To Renovate or Not - That is the Question 5 Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Home Renovation What First Time Home Buyers Need to Know About Making an Offer on a House How a New Roof Can Save You Money and Help You Sell Your Home Add Sizzle to Your Kitchen Makeover
Wayne Cochrane...www.mooving.ca Your Neighbourhood Real Estate Professional
APRIL ISSUE
A List to Help You Get Your Home Ready for Resale Written By Annemarie Greenhill Selling your home in any kind of market is a stressful undertaking. Keeping things show-ready, worrying about pricing and wondering how long it will take can make an already difficult situation intolerable. Here are some basic tips to help you get your home ready for sale. 1. Clean! I don’t mean a lick and a promise, I mean a deep thorough cleaning, including the spaces you don’t usually look at, like the tops of light fixtures and appliances, the vents and the baseboards. The kitchen and bathrooms should be especially shiny. Nothing will turn off a potential buyer more than a grungy bathroom or grimy kitchen. 2. Declutter! Maybe you’re used to climbing over extra furniture to get places, but a potential homebuyer shouldn’t have to. Think of it as an opportunity to edit your things so that moving will be easier. Put that extra stuff into storage or throw it on Buy and Sell and make some money on it. 3. Depersonalize. This may be the hardest part, but I know from my own experience homebuying that personal photos and mementos are completely distracting to buyers. It’s fun to look at people’s photos, so homebuyers will do
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that instead of noticing the features of your home. Take a deep breath and pack them up. Keep them on your phone until you can set them up in your new house. 4. Remember the details! Look at those home maintenance projects you’ve been ignoring or neglecting. It’s easy to put the blinkers on and not notice the hole behind the closet door, or the casings that are missing. These details will cost you! Fix them or get them fixed. What is critical is to give the overall impression of a house that functions well, is clean and well maintained. Your house may still sell otherwise, but you will get thousands of dollars less than you could have. Finally, don’t be afraid to get help if you need it. A home stager can save you thousands if it prevents even one price reduction on your home. Ask your real estate agent about this. Follow this advice and you will increase your chances of selling! Good luck!
WAYNE COCHRANE’S REAL ESTATE INSIDER To Renovate or Not - That is the Question Written By Don Descoteau Homeowners and prospective buyers come at the idea of renovations in a variety of ways. Some consider making improvements to add value to their home before selling. Others weigh the idea of enhancing their personal living space with shopping for a home that better meets their needs. Still others look at buying low and doing basic renos as a way to turn a quick profit. In the Capital Region, the last category is pretty much non-existent, given the relatively flat prices, says agent and Victoria Real Estate Board member Wendy Moreton. For other people, however, certain factors are important to consider. “The first thing I would look at would be the market conditions, to see who’s buying right now,” she says. “Are people wanting (the home) all done, or are people willing to roll up their sleeves and do the work?” While kitchen and bathroom makeovers get many people excited, renovators have to be careful about
Give me a call... Wayne Cochrane EXIT Realty Metro wayne@mooving.ca (902) 830-4761 (902)
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how they go about such jobs. “There’s cost-effective, there’s thrifty and then there’s just plain cheap,” Moreton says. “Sometimes people will do cheap and quick, but the majority of people can see through those kind of renovations.” Spending a little more on such features as proper cabinet installations, decent bathroom fixtures, and well-fitted carpet or flooring can pay off in getting more serious prospective buyers. Also crucial to consider is whether the property is a good candidate for a reno, Moreton says. If it’s “a good little house with a good layout,” it might be a good candidate, she says, whereas if it’s on a busy corner or is clearly run-down, it might not be worth putting money into. Experts say that while certain homebuyers are skilled enough to do some work themselves, they make up a small percentage of the total.
It’s also common for people to be surprised by the cost of renovations. When buyers purchase an older house that needs work, the upgrades frequently cost more than expected. A good idea is talking first to a professional with renovation experience. For homebuyers on a budget, create a list of improvement priorities, work with a builder from there and spread costs over a period of years.
APRIL ISSUE 5 Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Home Renovation Written By Karl Lohnes 1. Not knowing your resale timeline Is the space you are renovating a limited investment or will you be living in this home for the rest of your life? That influences the amount of time, customization and money you should spend. A first-time purchaser of a studiosized condo will most likely only live in it for two to five years before they sell up, so spending a lot of money on things they can’t take with them is not a smart idea. A family with school-age children will most likely settle in a home for five to 10 years before thinking of reselling. For places you will own short-term, spending less than 10 per cent of your home’s value on renovations will ensure a good return on the investment. I suggest spending your money on quality items you can take with you to your next place. If you plan on staying in one spot for a long time, invest in renovations that help you enjoy the space: Bathrooms, kitchens, family rooms or backyard landscaping are great areas to consider renovating. 2. Hiring a contractor who hasn’t worked locally Hiring a professional contractor who has worked in your local neighbourhood has many advantages: It will be easy for your to check references. The contractor is familiar with your municipal laws for noise, parking, obtaining permits, etc. They know where to grab lunch, shortcuts for driving and local hardware shops for those last-minute items when completing a job. Always get a least two quotes for the work needed to be done and call at
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least two references. Always visit at least one reference place (and not the contractor’s own home). 3. Not budgets
being
forthcoming
Agree upfront on the budget and work in a bonus for the contractor if they come in on time or spend under the estimated amount. Always have 20 per cent extra saved for additional upgrades and unforeseen costs and ask for a fixedcost budget from your contractor. This will ensure that the agreed-upon job is completed before the contractor is fully paid. about
closets
5. Taking advice from too many people
about
When it comes to money, homeowners (and contractors and trades) lose their ability to talk openly about how much is available and how much is needed. Homeowners think if they disclose their budget, the contractor will use it all and then want more. Contractors think if they commit to a price too early that they will not make any money.
4. Forgetting lighting
and hang it.
and
Two areas often forgotten about in a renovation are a proper lighting plan and well outfitted closets. A contractor often waits for the homeowner to plan this and homeowners assume its the job of the contractor. As soon as the closets are drawn on the floor plan, you should start considering how they will be used and what you will need inside of each closet (shelving, rods, lights, drawers, etc.). Knowing the style, size and weight of each lighting source will allow your contractor to plan your lighting scheme with an electrician. Having the 150 pound chandelier on-hand is the best way to plan on how to wire
Quite often homeowners are excited about their upcoming project and tell everyone, resulting in opinions from too many people. This will only drive your support team crazy! You should find one friend who has been through a similar reno and stick with them as a sounding board. Between yourself, your friend, designer and contractor you will have enough expertise to get the job done. Remember: There can be too many chefs in a kitchen. Thank your uncle, doctor, workmate or distant cousin for their input, but take it all with a grain of salt.
WAYNE COCHRANE’S REAL ESTATE INSIDER What First Time Home Buyers Need to Know About Making an Offer on a House Written by David Fleming Recently, I found myself discussing an offer with a buying client on a house that would likely attract a lot of bidders. “So when do we find out what all the other bids are?” the client asked. “You won’t,” I replied. Right then, it occurred to me that very few buyers are aware of the ins and outs of the offer process. Perhaps it’s because we realtors take for granted how complex a sale really is: We deal with these logistics several times a week, whereas the average buyer might only run the real-estate gamut once a decade. However nebulous it may seem, the procedure for reviewing bids on a home is fairly consistent, and every potential buyer should fully understand how it works. Freehold homes in high-demand areas are listed for sale with a set offer date— the calendar cutoff by which sellers are required to review all the offers on their property. This stipulation is typically referred to as a hold back, which means the homeowner is effectively trying to bring all prospective buyers to the table at one time. Like it or not, we’ve existed in a seller’s market for a while now, so if you’re a buyer, you can’t expect to be the only interested party. This hold-back window typically lasts between six and eight days. If a house is listed for sale on a Tuesday, for example, chances are the offer date will be the following Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. The odd scenario has seen offers held back for as long as 19 days, but, in my opinion, this tactic drives buyers away. Such a protracted length of time could cool their purchasing desires, or simply give them the opportunity to find something else. On the flipside, potential buyers can also choose to submit a bully offer, which, as the name suggests, means
they don’t wait for the set offer date, and instead, send an attractive figure to the listing agent ahead of time—typically, the day the property hits the market. Bully offers must include exceptional compensation in order to be accepted by the seller because if they agree to its terms, the listing agent risks angering dozens of agents and buyers who actually adhered to the seller’s timeline. Come offer day, each buyer’s agent has their client sign an offer, at which point the agent calls the listing brokerage to register it. Then they spend all day placing calls to the brokerage to inquire about how many others have been registered for the same home. As one would imagine, this makes for a long day for hopeful buyers; at noon, there could be one offer, but 11 more might come in by the time bids are being presented to the current owners (usually around 7 p.m.). Most buyers’ agents will present their offer in person, though some elect to email it. (Sometimes, we agents are just too busy to attend.) At no point are the terms or conditions of competing offers revealed by the listing agent to any of the buyer agents. (If a house is listed for sale at $599,900, and owners receive 12 offers, it’s up to the buyer and their agent to decide on a bid, even if they are running blind). There are usually a few throwaway offers—say, if someone bid in the low $600,000s on the example above.
period is how the successful bid is selected. If given a dozen offers, a listing agent (and their client) may just accept the highest one. They might also send back the top four offers to see if they can improve, or they could decide to work with the top two, and pick a winner that way. What may seem like a straightforward buy, or a “one-shot deal,” as we agents say, may actually turn out to be a complicated (and possibly expensive) jockeying process for buyers. In the end, only one buyer will go home happy at the end of offer night, forcing all the other unlucky bidders back to the drawing board. If you’re growing weary of the offer game, however, rest easy knowing that the ultra-busy spring market is almost upon us: The number of new freeholdproperty listings is always highest in April, May, and June.
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The real wild-card aspect of the offer
Brain Teasers Word Scramble: What asks no questions but receives lots of answers?
smiontpusa Three little letters, a parodox to some. The worse that it is, the better it becomes. What am I?
Go to www.mooving.ca - ‘Wayne’s Team’ and click on ‘Trivia Answers’ Page 5
APRIL ISSUE How a New Roof Can Save You Money and Help You Sell Your Home By StarNews Looking to add value to your home and make it more sellable in the future? While little fixes here and there can help a bit -- there is one single upgrade that can make a huge impact -- a new roof. To get the best return on your investment possible, experts say there are a few things to take into consideration. “A roof that will add to the curb appeal of your home, as well as withstand wear and tear, is always an instant winner with potential homebuyers,” says Sharon Sigman, an experienced realtor who manages a team of 30 real estate agents. With 28 years of home-selling success under her belt, Sigman has a deep understanding of what types of exterior products help "sell" a home that's on the market. With that in mind, she is offering insider insights into what to look for in a roof: Durablity Think back on the past several years. What trials has your current roof faced? Protect your home by opting for roofing that’s resistant to the natural disasters and everyday weather to which your home is most susceptible. With an impact- and fire- resistant roof that’s virtually maintenance-free, you won’t need to fret when you watch the weather report. Pair those features with a long-term warranty and you even may be eligible for a significant rate break on your insurance premium. Curb Appeal When it comes to form vs. function, form often wins out when it comes to potential homebuyers. After all, the power of first impressions cannot be overstated and a roof is one of the first things people see when they look at your home. Luckily, a high-quality roof can also make a big visual
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impact. You may only be accustomed to wood or slate roofing. But there are alternatives to natural products that offer the same authentic look without the problematic associated maintenance. For example, DaVinci Roofscapes manufactures award-winning synthetic slate and shake roofing that replicates hand-split real cedar shakes and natural slate. Each composite roof shingle is lightweight, impervious to freeze and thaw cycles, impact resistant, virtually maintenance-free, color fade resistant, and rated Class A for fire retardance, wind resistance to 110 miles per hour, and is backed by a 50 -year limited warranty. More information can be found at www.DaVinciRoofscapes.com. Energy Efficiency By seeking out an ENERGY STAR qualified synthetic roofing material, you can improve your entire home’s energy efficiency, as well as reduce the carbon footprint of your home. Look for eco-friendly roof tiling designed to reflect sunlight and heat away from your home and reduce your cooling load. For a home upgrade with a major return on investment, consider taking advantage of the season and give your roof a fresh makeover.
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WAYNE COCHRANE’S REAL ESTATE INSIDER Add Sizzle to Your Kitchen Makeover By Megan Cole
Saying goodbye to an '80s kitchen can be as easy as applying a coat of paint, modernizing lighting and installing stone countertops. Though kitchen renovations can often require a serious financial investment, painting kitchen cabinets is a relatively inexpensive way to give the space a new look, says Lana Lounsbury, Victoria interior designer. "If you've got old wood cabinets that are beat up or need to be refinished, painting them can bring them up to date," says Lounsbury. But she warns that homeowners should be aware of the kind of wood their cabinets are made of before they paint them, and what kind of paint they use. "You cannot paint oak - the grain is too deep - and when you put lacquer over it they look fake and gross because you can still see the grain," she says. "Homeowners should also contemplate having them professionally sprayed in a booth to avoid having the marks of brushes and rollers seen in the end product." Lounsbury says homeowners shouldn't cut costs on paint and are advised to use a high-quality, semigloss sheen after applying a primer. While quartz, stone and marble countertops can be a major investment in a kitchen, an impact can be made by installing a new countertop on a smaller space like an island. "If you go to any of the granite or marble yards, they might have offcuts of other jobs and you could buy pieces," says Lounsbury. "But I would say when it comes to marble and stone you should pay for it." Marina Hildebrand, an interior designer in Regina, and Lounsbury both say updating lighting fixtures can change the look of a kitchen. According to Hildebrand, homeowners
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are replacing the '90s trend of three small pendant fixtures with two more dramatic lights. "Lighting is dramatic and pretty inexpensive considering the options out there right now," she says. Lounsbury points out that a mix of ambient and task lighting is important in a kitchen. Incorporating colour and pattern in a kitchen is another effective way to update the space and Hildebrand says this can be done using fabric on chairs and bar stools. "Get some new chairs and if they are inexpensive, get them reupholstered," she says. "You don't have to choose expensive fabrics. You can go to the fabric store and pick out some wow stuff, and create a bit of punch." For homeowners who have more experience in home renovations, or who are interested in learning, Hildebrand says including a new backsplash in the kitchen can make an impact. "There are so many products online and at home improvement stores that are pretty inexpensive, but they still require a bit of skill," she says. "Many home improvement stores offer classes on tiling if homeowners are willing to invest some time." Both Hildebrand and Lounsbury say there are many ways homeowners can update their kitchens on their own, but they should be aware of their own skills and abilities when it comes to home improvement. Homeowners shouldn't overestimate their skill because if they tackle projects out of their comfort zone it could take away from the final result, notes Hildebrand. "Sometimes they just need to come to terms with what they have and recognize that a lot of the world would love to have our
problems with out-of-date kitchens. Maybe sometimes smaller is better because homeowners can afford to treat their space well, and that is wellappointed and well done."
WAYNE COCHRANE’S REAL ESTATE INSIDER
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Wayne Cochrane Real Estate Professional 902-830-4761 wayne@mooving.ca unless noted otherwise
Note: This is not intended to solicit clients currently under contract. The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA.
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