Have you ever observed the inside of your home and felt like you were up to your head in things to do?

I am not referring to just the every day tasks like errands, laundry and dishes, I am more so referring to de-cluttering and re-organizing your entire space. To sum it up in two dreadful words "Deep Clean." Between working fulltime, trying to see family and friends, keeping up on your hobbies and volunteering, life can get pretty overwhelming. If you have children, this makes it even harder to check off even half of what was on your list to do that day. 

Recently, I met with the owner Laurie Matinez with Simply Neat LTD and guess what? I have your solution! They are a professional organizing company who will go above and beyond to get you back on track with your life. Trust me you will feel REFRESHED once they are done working with you!

When we met up the first thing I wondered is how can this benefit my clients?

The biggest pain of buying and selling a place is what comes after you sign all the contracts...preparing to move! It's a HUGE job on top of everything else you've got going on. 

Simply Neat will come to your property on your clock and help you pack and then eventually unpack all of your belongings. They will assist you with decluttering before hand and then help you organize while settling into the new pad. How amazing is that? Talk about a fresh start!

Laurie and her staff take massive pride in what they do creating strategies and solutions to meet your lifestyle. I wanted to share this contact with you all so you have it at your fingertips. Getting to know my ‘team members’ has always been crucial for my business to ensure my clients are always offered the best services! Their website is www.simplyneatltd.com and phone number is 403-681-3597.

The segment of Calgary's housing market with the greatest influence on the overall market is showing signs of pricing stability. The detached benchmark price totalled $503,400 in September, which is 3.3% below last year, but the second consecutive month at price level. 

Well overall economic conditions remain soft, for now the detached sector is demonstrating some steadiness in terms of pricing.

"The decline in demand has caused many people to anticipate steeper price declines for detached homes." said CREB* chief economist Ann-Marie Laurie. "That hasn't happened in a large part because detached supply levels haven't climbed as sharply as many expected. There was a limited amount of supply in the overall market when this cycle began, and while levels did rise and remain somewhat elevated, they were well below previous highs,"

The level of detached new listings also eased compared to last year, helping push down year-over-year inventory levels for the second consecutive month,

"Consumers are really starting to come to terms with the current environment." said CREB* president Cliff Stevenson. "Most sellers have adjusted their expectations at the same time that many buyers are realizing the price of a home is influenced by factors like location, supplying specific price ranges and condition of the property."

Residential inventory levels totalled 5,877 in the month of September, 5% higher than last year, due to gains in both the apartment sector and attached sector. City wide months of supply neared 4 months, but ranged from a low of 3 months in the detached sector to a high of 8 months in the apartment sector

Sales were equally inconsistent, improving by 4% in the detached market while declining 23% in the apartment sector. Nonetheless. in every category, sales activity year-to-date sale activity has declined over over levels recorded last year and remains below long term averages,

The resale apartment market has recorded large inventory gains and a sharp pullback in sales. This, combined with additional competition for new builds, is resulting in steeper price adjustment in this sector,

Condominium apartment prices totaled $274,700 in September, 0.1% below last month and 6.8% below last years price.

Disclaimer: This article was provided by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) October 3, 2016.

Hire the Right Agent, For the Right Reasons: 8 Questions to Ask

Finding a real estate agent who is right for you requires doing a little homework, and asking the right questions. Choosing an agent is a decision that could ultimately cost or save you thousands of dollars. Keep in mind the individual you choose will be handling almost every maneuver in the biggest financial investment of your life. Experience, interests, and expertise vary from agent to agent, so you should be asking very specific questions in order to align your own needs with the abilities of an appropriate representative. Use the following list of questions as a guide to finding the agent that is right for you:

1. How long have you been involved in residential real estate in this area? If the agent hasn’t been connected to the residential real estate market for several years, s/he will be out of touch with the cyclical nature of the current market. Your agent must be familiar with trends of the local market and have an eye for the ways in which it will change. This knowledge could mean the difference of thousands of dollars in the long-run.

2. What is your marketing strategy for my home? A realtor should be able to lay out for you, in detail, a marketing plan to sell your home. Examine this plan carefully. How much money does the realtor allot to advertising? What type of media does s/he use? S/he should be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of one form of media over another, explaining why his/her particular marketing strategy will sell your home faster and for top dollar. The realtor should employ current, innovative marketing techniques that indicate creativity and a willingness to market outside of the box. Stay away from realtors who rely on traditional, dated forms of advertising. They simply won’t work in the current real estate market.

3. How do you support a buyer throughout the process? A realtor should be able to indicate how s/he will support you through each step of the home-buying or selling process, offering you a unique system to suit your needs and goals. Also, ask if a specialist will be available at each level of the sale. Your realtor should always be on hand to answer questions, but the specific resources of an expert can be invaluable during different stages of the process.

4. What other properties has your company sold in my area? The realtor should be able to provide you with a complete, detailed listing of their own sales in your area, as well as other comparable sales. You should get a clear idea of what you might be able to expect both from the realtor and from the current market.

5. What is your experience with financing options? How would you suggest I approach my own financing plan? Each buyer requires a different financing strategy. A realtor should be able to suggest a plan catered specifically to your financial background and needs. Don’t just depend on your lender for information and guidance on financing a new home. Let your agent lead the way.

6. On average, how close is the selling price of your listings to their asking price, and how long do they take to sell? You can contact the Real Estate Board to obtain information on the selling record of an agent. The Board also has statistics on a broader scale, so you can see whether an agent’s selling performance is higher or lower than the board average, and whether s/he tends to sell faster or slower than the board average. Placing the realtor’s performance on a scale will help you get an idea of how much you might expect your home to sell for, and how long it might take to sell.

7. What is your philosophy/method of negotiation and how will you apply it when selling my home? Your realtor should be able to articulate effective and informed negotiation tactics that demonstrate a commitment to securing the best price for you.

8. Do you have a reference list of clients I could contact? Do some homework! Choose a few names on the list and call them. The stories of others who have gone through the home-selling process can be a valuable source of information.

Continuing from my last blog post and how important it is to stage the outside of your property, we are now going to move into the inside of your warm cozy home and make it really shine to its full potential. Staging the inside of your home has some basic, but very important touches I am going to discuss.

Clutter:

If you are serious about staging your home the clutter must go. It might not be easy and can be a huge task, but it will be well worth the trouble. Clean surfaces, cupboards, floors, tables, closets, etc. equal more space to your potential buyer. 

Cleaning:

You have two options with cleaning...you can do it yourself or hire a cleaning company. Get that house shiny and spotless, we want those gleaming windows and sparkling floors to have the whoa factor. Cleaning is the most cost effective way to put your homes best foot forward. I always tell my clients to think of a show home, neat, clean and tidy.

Odors:

A big one is pet odors. We love our little fur babies, but they can be our stinky best friends. Cleaning your carpets professionally and vacuuming helps a lot. The smell of our pets can be a big turn off to some buyers. Can you blame them though? The second common odor is smoking. It isn’t as common anymore, but we still do see it. The first step would be to start smoking outside. The next step is getting an ionizer (air purifier) and opening windows to get some fresh air flowing through. The last odor topic I want to mention is an obvious perfume scent you have placed around the house. The scent might smell amazing; however, it might look like you are covering up the smell of something else (Even if you aren’t). Let the natural 'home smell' be in effect when listing.

Furniture:

Make the best of each space by maximizing its area and placing your furniture in places that make sense. We want all the rooms open and flowing. If there is an awkward space in your home, try to find a unique way to show it off. It could become a selling point. An example would be a room or area beneath the stairs. Open it up and use it as a work station for yourself or maybe it could be a homework station for the kids. How cool would that be?

Staging your home can be a lot of work. With little and big jobs involved, it's crucial to put the time in before selling to get your home into tip top shape. When you’re selling your home, you are in a competition with the other properties for sale in your area. Staging puts you ahead of the game and impresses potential buyers.

Thankyou for reading this week’s blog!

Oh and on another note...one more day until the weekend! I like to call it FriYAY! Who am I kidding though? I’m a realtor, I work weekends haha! Enjoy the rest of your week every one. 

Hugs,

Samantha 

Staging is one of the key items that needs to be discussed and implemented when listing a property. Not only does staging make a home look even more beautiful, it is also a fantastic recipe to promote and market a property. These simple staging tips will help you earn top dollar for your home.

There are many tips to help stage a home properly. Let’s start with the outside of the house, which is a big one…curb appeal! Curb appeal stamps the buyers mind with their first impression of your house which brings me to my next point; I believe you have to sell your home to a buyer three times... Once online, once when they drive by, and if they like it from there the third sell point is the inside of the house. If buyers don’t like what they see on the outside, many times, they will keep driving or scroll to the next house on the internet.

Let’s talk about some staging tips to that boost curb appeal and to also impress any potential buyer – oh heck to even impress a neighbor!

Front Lawn;

A green, blossoming, shimmering yard screams pride of ownership. Can't you picture it? It's beautiful. As many homeowners or even tenants know watering, mowing, weed picking and fertilizing your lawn takes a lot of hard work. The great thing is though, a healthy lawn shows itself off if you are consistent with keeping your yard alive and strong. A service I highly recommend is a weed control service if your yard is in dire need of a serious make over, or maybe even re-sodding it.

Front Door, Lighting & Porch;

When you are walking up to someone’s property and you feel that warm welcome before you go inside - this is what I’m talking about! A new coat of paint does the trick a lot of the time. It freshens the area up with solid clean colours providing that clean curb appeal look. Lastly, simple items such as the light fixtures can be the cherry on top of the beautifully repainted doorway. Make sure the lights are all working, undamaged and that the fixtures are on straight which will then light up your stunning home.

Gardens, Tress and Shrubs;

This goes hand in hand with your lawn as mentioned above. Making sure your shrubs, bushes, flowers, trees are all in tip top shape really magnify the beauty of a home. However, if plants are dead it's best to take them out and just keep the garden looking as neat and tidy as possible. If that were the case less is more, the key idea is to keep your garden fresh.  If the budget allows, replanting is always an option as well. 

Driveway;

If this applies to you, this one is simple - keep it clear. The first thing you think of is snow, right? Living in Calgary we can pretty much all say since we were big enough, we’ve shovelled snow at least once if not twice a day numerous times every winter. The last thing we want is someone slipping on the driveway because we were lazy. The other element to this would be keeping the driveway clear of cars, trailers, quads, or whatever other toys you can think of. We want potential buyers to be able to look around and see the whole picture. Let’s help them envision themselves living in your charming home, even if its something as simple as parking their car in the driveway. We want to give buyers a positive experience.

Those are a few staging tips when getting a property ready to be on the market. Take the time before you sell and spiff up that curb appeal. Every little detail helps your home shine to its full potential. Next week I will talk about what you can do to stage the inside of your home. Stay tuned!

Samantha 

Sitting in my cozy home by the warm fire place as winter finally approaches Calgary, I decided it's time to share some informative real estate tips to first time home buyers who are thinking about investing into their first home. It isn't uncommon for people to run into obstacles because they didn't do their homework. Typically, these obstacles are a result of bad planning and bad decision making. We all learn from our mistakes, but I am here to help you learn from some of the mistakes I have made or have seen other people make as well. Here are six helpful tips to consider when looking to take the next step in purchasing your first home.

1. Don't look at houses that are not in your budget;

This can lead to the feeling of disappointment or discouragement and potentially a financial ruin. As an agent I want you to be excited about your first purchase and focus on what we can find you. Financially, whatever you are approved for, you don't have to spend or stretch your entire budget and become "house poor" which can compromise the rest of your life style. Balance is key.

2. Under the proper circumstances do not be afraid to go in with a lower offer;

There is absolutely no shame in starting low with an offer to purchase. As the classic saying goes "You don't know until you try." My dad raised me on that saying. I'll never forget when I was growing up and he said to me "You know Samantha your allowance has been the same for one year now." I looked at him puzzled thinking to myself ‘Well he makes the rules, so what does he mean by this?' My dad could see my confused face. He continued "If you don’t ask for what you want, how are you going to get it? You need to learn to set goals and expectations for yourself so I want you to think about why you deserve a bigger allowance and tell me how much you think is fair. I might agree with what you have to say, but I might not. We can talk about it when you decide what you think you deserve" That was the first time I realized exactly what that saying meant and how true it really was. The point is: you could luck out and get yourself a great deal if the circumstances are in your favor.

3. Get a home inspection;

Getting a home inspection clearly maps out where you need to invest money. This helps you budget and understand fundamental expenses that will be happening in the next 5-10 years which is crucial for your budgeting, I highly encourage home inspections to avoid any possible surprises. 

4. Get the condo documents reviewed;

This is similar to the previous point on home inspections. Obviously, it's only applicable if you are writing an offer on a condo. Condominium documents keep you up to date on any key topics such as the budget, meeting minutes or bylaws, etc.

5. Don't be afraid to walk away;

Once you've had a home inspection or condominium document review and the results were not promising, whatever the issue is, don't be afraid to walk away. Emotions can sometimes take over, but it's vital to remain logical and thoroughly think your decisions through. Being cautious and getting out of a potential disaster early after spending your minimal dollars on a home inspection is better than getting hit hard in the long run. Patience is key, there are plenty of properties out there.

6. Know who is representing you;

This goes for anybody looking to sell or buy a home. I cannot stress enough to get to know your agent before signing into a contract. Are they properly licensed? Will they work in your best interest? Are they connected to the market and know what’s going on? Do you have a personal connection and feel comfortable with your agent? The list goes on and on, ask questions, look people up and go with you gut - always!

I hope there was some helpful information to anybody reading this. If you have any further questions I am always free to share advice and help with whatever I can!

Cheers,

Samantha Rose