The numbers don’t lie; often well-staged homes can see quicker sales and higher offers than their messy counterparts. The key is getting an early start on the process of getting ready. By beginning the huge task of removing the clutter and doing a pre-pack now, you can reduce the stress of preparing for showings and make it easier to move when your home sells when you are already part way done.
Try these five staging and organizing tips to help you reach a faster sale.
Purge From Top to Bottom — Do a proper sort and purge, getting rid of outdated clothing, duplicate items and rarely used gadgets. To keep this task from turning into a source of serious frustration, tackle one room (or even one drawer) at a time. Go at it steadily.
Pack Up Everything but the Essentials — Start pre-packing your home, storing non-essentials or out-of-season gear in the garage or off-site. Garages and unfinished areas are great for this extra storage. The idea is to give potential buyers a sense of space, which can’t be done if your home is overloaded with clutter.
Fix Glaring Problems — Remove out-of-style wallpaper, replace broken light fixtures, update cabinet and drawer pulls, and refresh dated window treatments. Simple fixes like these can make your home stand out from the competition.
Depersonalize — Remove family pictures and personal collections, and replace them with neutral artwork and simple accessories. The idea is to give potential buyers a neutral canvas so they can imagine their belongings in your home.
Go for Polished — Research the latest design trends and stage your house to match. Professional stagers recommend tailoring the design style to your target demographic. For example, if you’re in a family neighbourhood, style the bedrooms for children, even if none live in your home.
A professional stager is a nice to have but not necessary. It can add to your cost of selling. If you follow other simple steps outlined above, you home will look much better and be ready to sell. We often do staging for our clients by arranging furniture, helping pick new flooring and paint when necessary or bringing in professional trades people when needed. Call us and we’ll show you what selling real estate through truly professional REALTORS® is like. Continue reading →
Just drive around Barrhaven these days and you’ll see tons of construction both residential and commercial real estate. And of course they are all welcome signs of the area’s amazing growth. Costco is under construction now, the new Toyota dealership has been open for a while and three more dealerships are under construction on the West side of the 416. The Greenbank underpass looks like it is nearing completion and another new shopping area will be started near that location soon. Barrhaven real estate values grow with the times.
And that’s not all! ProSlide Technology Inc., a designer of water park attractions around the world and owner of Cantley’s Mont Cascades, has been busy acquiring land around the 100 acres it already owns at the corner of Bankfield Road and Brophy Drive, filing new site plan approvals to the City of Ottawa and meeting with city councillors from that area as the company begins to turn its focus back to opening Alottawata Ottawa in time for summer 2019.
And don’t forget the hundreds of new homes that are being built in the area. Now you can live in Barrhaven as a child and continue living here as a senior citizen with many existing and some new senior living facilities. This will allow Grandma and Grandpa to stay close to their families for many years and live in Barrhaven real estate.
What does this mean for your home? It means that if you live in an older home you have got to keep it up to standards. With so much competition in real estate sales and changes to the way homes are designed, keeping your older home up-to-date and modern can be expensive and a challenge. In order to keep your home up to date, you must also look into the condition of your windows and shutters. Look up plantation shutters Melbourne to choose from their wide range of shutters and windows.
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Start with the basics. Windows, doors, roof, furnace, central air, paint and landscaping. Get those items repaired or replaced and half the battle is over. If your bathrooms and kitchens are looking old and tired, no one else will find them attractive and when selling, a buyer will hit you harder in the wallet than the actual cost of bringing those room up to a modern look.
There are so many website and brick and mortar stores to look at when it comes to updating your home. It might be worth it to engage a designer to help you with this. And do these updates well before you want to sell so you can at least enjoy a few years of your investment.
Source: H2 Real Estate.
Landscaping Tips for Added Security
In 2014, just over 1.7 million individuals fell victim to burglary according to the FBI. Sometimes deadbolts and alarm systems just aren’t enough to deter thieves, and all they do is a opening a Pandora’s box of security issues. But there are outdoor security measures you can take to prevent property loss at the hands of a burglar. Here are 10 ways you can help protect your home and real estate investment with a well-planned landscape design:
1. Use plant deterrents. Thorny shrubs and bushes like holly or roses help thwart would-be burglars.
2. Prune vegetation regularly. Unkempt hedges provide hiding spots where perpetrators can lurk.
3. Trim the trees. Leave sufficient distance between tree branches and the roof or second-story windows to limit intruder access.
4. Leave a clear line of sight to windows or doors. Blocking these views leaves your home more vulnerable to break-ins.
5. Invest in accent lights. Illuminate your yard to eliminate potential hiding spots.
6. Install additional lighting. Don’t just rely on the porch light. Consider adding motion-sensitive lighting to help ward off possible intruders.
7. Put gravel beneath ground-floor windows. Burglars rely on silence; stepping on gravel can be a startling repellent.
8. Protect the back door. Many thieves try this less obvious point of entry first.
9. Replace solid privacy fences. Solid fencing helps intruders go undetected. Partial privacy fencing is a more secure option.
10. Lock all gates. It seems obvious, but it’s still worth a mention. The Liberty Locksmith website recommends that you should keep front and back gates locked at all times. While pleasing to look at, landscaping does more than enhance your home’s outdoor aesthetic. Go to SixTechSys.com for expert advice. Consider whether your current setup promotes security or makes your home appealing to thieves. Use these landscaping security tips to help prevent your home from becoming the target of a burglary. If you have any issues with locks, solve them using Kwikey Locksmith Services, INC.
Provided by Rebecca Silva Realtor.
(Check related article: Find more at ManhattanTreeServices.com about tree removal services if you are in an urgent need of such a service)
LED lighting was pretty much reserved for those low output solar powered deck and garden lights we have seen for many years. They were easy to install, no wiring and relatively cheap. The only thing was they gave off very little light.
So, when household LED lights started to hit the market, most people including myself scoffed at the idea. Plus, they were very expensive at $7.00 or more per bulb. But in the last few years the prices have come down, the light output is as good if not better that the old incandescent bulb and there are a variety of colours from bright white to a warm yellowish glow. And unlike the curly bulbs, they are attractive looking and do not need to warm up so you get instant light.
These new LED bulbs are the answer to lowering your energy use and cost in your home. Barrhaven, Kanata, Orleans or Ottawa, reducing your costs is always a good idea. I have changed almost every bulb in my home and have noticed a difference in usage. Can’t say it cost less as Ontario keeps raising the price of electricity but I’m sure I am still saving. For more solutions of this kind consult electricians-portsmouth.co.uk/air-source-heat-pumps-efficient/. The price of these bulb have come down tremendously. I just bought 24 bulbs a few weeks ago for only $1.00 ( with government rebate coupon) on sale at Canadian Tire in Barrhaven. Usually in the fall, there are coupons for discounts issued by the Ontario Governments reducing the price of LED bulbs. Another benefit are that they last thousands of house and most if not all are dimable so you can set the mood!
To know about alternate sources of energy which can help you protect your electronic appliances and get you a cheaper electricity bill visit – utilitysavingexpert.com.
If you like to stay up to date on the latest in home design, you may be interested to hear the color trends predicted for 2016. From Benjamin Moore’s Simply White to Behr’s Ivory Keys, the leading color trend is white, which serves as a neutral backdrop for other dramatic elements.
But before you go out and buy gallons of white, note that this year’s on-trend whites have color and warmth to them. These subtle variations in tone make them the perfect accompaniment to other hot colors highlighted this year, so keep that in mind as you select accent colors.
To update your space using the neutral white trend, take the following steps:
- Create a blank canvas — Paint an entire room in your favorite warm white. Starting with a neutral background lets other elements in the room stand out and become the focal point. Neutral rooms tend to be minimalist, so scale back on accessories and let the major pieces support your design.
- Experiment with hues — Try layering with several shades of white. Create a clean, classic look with a white room and an occasional pop of color. The design possibilities using a white color palette are surprisingly endless.
- Add contrast — Bold accent colors and crisp lines create sharp contrasts against white walls. Consider creating a feature wall with one of the other 2016 trend colors, like Blue Cloud from Olympic Paints or Paradise Found by PPG Porter Paints. You can also add other architectural elements in a dark wood or with geometric patterns.
Regardless of were you live in the Ottawa real estate market, it’s always adds value to your home for a small real estate investment that will pay for itself many times over.
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