#Full Bathroom Renovation in burnaby

[bathroomrenovationservicessurrey]

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Renovate your bathroom with Full Bathroom Renovation in Burnaby by Excel Dream Construction. Transform your bathroom into luxury and comfort.

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Elevate Your Home with the Best Home Renovation Services in Surrey. Transform your space into a haven of beauty and functionality with expert services. We offer Best Full Kitchen Remodeling in Surrey by Excel Dream Construction. Turn your kitchen dreams into a reality with our renovation services.

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[quickandeasymoving]

Tips for Moving Out for the First Time

Are you moving into a new apartment? Moving into a new house can be full of excitement and anxiety at the same time. It’s often a roller coaster. There’s so much to pack, clean, and transport. Moving is often an overwhelming experience for beginners. Even for those who have moved houses before, your experience doesn’t offer much help.

You are supposed to handle the packing, legal responsibilities, real estate contracts, renovation, and cleaning (to name a few). All these tasks can take a toll on your mental and physical health. If you are also stressed about moving, here are a few tips that can help!

Hiring Movers

Moving can be super stressful and exhausting. You may hire friends and family for packing, but they can’t load those heavy boxes on the moving truck. You need to work with Vancouver / Victoria movers to pack your furniture and move these heavy and large items through small spaces without any damage.

Professional movers bring a large moving truck and the necessary equipment to help you with the moving. Before hiring movers, set a budget and get quotes from the most reputable moving companies in your area.

Pack Your House

Once you have hired a moving company, move on to the packing. To begin with, create a list of the inventory to be moved. You can check each item off the list once it is packed and loaded on the truck. There’s no magical trick to packing everything overnight. You will probably have to stuff everything into random cardboard boxes at the last minute.

Pack at least a week before the moving day. This will give you enough time to select items that need to be packed, donated, and sold. Now is the perfect time to get rid of the clothes, accessories, appliances, and other items you will not use in your new home.

Get Insurance

Moving insurance offers financial protection to families that move houses frequently. If you are moving to a new city or state, getting insurance before planning a move makes sense. If there’s any damage to your goods during transport, the insurance company will cover the expenses. Although insurance isn’t mandatory for long-distance moving, it’s good to get one. Furniture movers in Burnaby are insured and certified. They offer safe, hassle-free, and quick transportation of your house stuff.

Set a Deadline for Unpacking

Your job doesn’t end with your stuff arriving at a new house. In fact, the most stressful part starts after you have moved in. With all the boxes lying around, it’s hard to unpack and arrange everything in their designated rooms. While packing, use labels for each box so that you know which box will go into which room. It will make it easier for you and the movers to arrange everything in the right place. Start with the bathroom and kitchen. Unpack a few boxes containing your essentials. Organize a house-warming party to set a deadline for finishing the unpacking on time.

[rebeccahpedersen]

Photos Of The Week!

TorontoRealtyBlog

What’s the difference between “Photos of the Week,” and my more-regular, “MLS Musings” blog posts?

Well as you probably assume, the “MLS Musings” contain photos, those bizarre and unforgettable, from active MLS listings in Toronto.

The “Photos of the Week” are from houses and condos I visit in person, whereby I often find a lot crazier features.

Let’s have a look at the ones I’ve collected over the past couple of weeks…

  –

Let’s start with a doozie, folks!

Here’s an absolutely gorgeous renovation – one that’s tough to really find a problem with…

…except that the bathroom sink is in the bedroom!

Yes, really.

I showed this to a couple of people who were like, “What?  What am I looking at?”  It’s like those 3-D puzzles that were big in the early-90’s; sometimes you just need to stare at it until it jumps out at you.  The room looks so clean and polished until you realize it’s a fantastic mess of a renovation.

Not to be outdone, the bathroom itself had this odd hole in the floor:

And no, that wasn’t for a heating duct the way we see the vents on the floor in condo townhouses, as opposed to up on the ceiling.

That looked to me like a hole exactly the same size as the toilet drain, which was exactly across from the actual drain.

Is it possible they just cut a hole on the wrong side?

It reminds me of the time my mom shortened my Levi’s Jeans by two inches, both on the same leg…

–

For those of you that work in the construction field, maybe this next one isn’t that odd.

But it wasn’t just the knife on the floor of this 96%-finished condo, but rather the tape around the handle mimicking a classic jail-shank!

It reminds me of OZ.  I miss that show…

–

Let’s continue the theme of poor workmanship.

I always tell my buyers, “If you’re looking at a ‘newly-renovated’ house, don’t look at the big things, look at the small things.  Like where two pieces of trim join, or where the baseboard meets the flooring.”

If this is how the flippers of this house show what can be seen, imagine what they’ve done behind the scenes…

–

Such a simple task!

Take the bright-green painter’s tape off the ceiling fixture before you put the property on the market, or, for the love of God, do it on the first day of the listing, the second day, the third day…

–

Who was it that said, “Duct tape fixes anything“?

Was it from The Simpsons?  Or Seinfeld?  Or Home Improvement?

Well, the owners of this house figured that if one tube didn’t quite reach the other tube (it was off by two inches), they’d simply wrap duct-tape around the end of the first tube, and voila!

–

I laughed when I saw this.

Maybe heating and cooling isn’t my chosen field.

But I do know that if you’ve got electric baseboards wedged behind a gas radiator, then either one of them isn’t working (which is bad), or both of them are working (which is highly questionable):

–

I’m also not an electrician by trade.

But I do believe that the electrical panel is a little too close to the sink:

–

I’m also not a stager.  And as was perhaps noted by the readers of Wednesday’s blog, a professional photographer…

….but I know what I like, right?  This pretty set of wine glasses and flowers on the bed?  Even though it’s completely impractical to have wine glasses on a bed in real life?  Sort of how “practical” photos don’t really beat out “marketing” photos?  No?  Let that dead horse remain dead?

Okay.  But what’s that I see in the wine glasses?

Oh, okay.

It’s just jagged pieces of broken glass…

….like I said, I’m not a stager.

–

Here we see another lovely set of wine glasses, but this time there’s actually, you know – wine!

What type of wine, I wonder?

….this type:

Yes, you’re seeing that correctly.

It’s not wine, but rather sparking juice!

But not just sparking – it’s ORGANIC!

–

From now on, every time you see a bed in a house that looks staged, pick up the sheets and look at what’s underneath:

That’s bad, but this is far worse:

–

And last, but certainly not least, let me end on a positive.

I love the character that exists in some of Toronto’s Victorian-era homes.

Maybe I’m obsessed with history, and “how people did things” in just about every fashion before our time.

But I love looking at load-bearing walls that held up Victorian homes, when they’re made out of stones!  Not poured concrete, not cinder-blocks, not hundred-year-old brick, but actual stones that you’d basically find out in the woods.

In this Junction-area home, they kept they restored the original foundation, and used it as a feature-wall in the basement rec-room.

It’s absolutely gorgeous!

The post Photos Of The Week! appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from https://ift.tt/2JnQKSd

[geraldlleming]

The Background of Burnaby general contractor 2018.

The Never-Ending Saga Of Home Improvement-Is Some Assistance

There are numerous renovations that need only basic planning rather than several years of experience to pull off.

Using the right information, most homeowners can complete these renovations. If you are intending on making improvements to your home, stick to the useful tips in this post.

Watch out for offers from flooring stores and home improvement stores that could help you save money installation fees. Some stores will give you free installation to boost their carpet sales. Once you encounter a sale similar to this, take advantage of it since full-priced installation often costs greater than the carpet itself.

Make sure you dust all accent decor often. Dust will build-up and you could have allergies that will make you sick. Cleaning your home thoroughly once per week can also be a great way to get rid of parasites as well as to keep everything looking nice.

It is crucial that you focus your improvement work towards the visible portions of your property. Home buyers judge housing because of their eyes. Old peeling paint and damaged floors can lead to a lost sale. If your goal is to improve the price of your house, concentrate on things buyers will notice – but if you wish to produce a more at ease home for yourself, there are numerous other improvement projects it is possible to work towards.

Use something unusual as a coffee table within your family room. Such as an old hope chest or possibly a large stump could work well. You can even dress up a storage bin or shorten the legs of a larger table. Your options are endless. Toss a couple of coffee table books on it to imbue added flair. A country look can be produced with the addition of teacups and tablecloths.

When it comes to a bathroom upgrade, take into consideration making the space handicap-accessible. It’s not essential to produce the total conversion, however, if you get prepared for it, it might save time in case a handicap accessible bathroom ought to be needed. If you decide to sell your residence, these improvements will add value to your property.

Provided you can, attempt to fix a challenge as soon as it pops up. Often damages to your home don’t immediately affect habitability, so that you will probably note the trouble and then dismiss it. You must resist this impulse! Different parts in your house are very connected to one another and also the damage can spread quickly. This can occur more rapidly than you anticipate.

In a major redecorating project, homeowners should not take everything a contractor says at face value. Even contractors that have a very good reputation may try to benefit from an unsuspecting homeowner. When the contractor mentions any problems or issues, homeowners ought to have the details validated before investing any longer funds in the project or modifying the building schedule.

Beware contractors who offer to perform your task faster than expected, in a cost. A contractor could possibly have their own reasons behind rushing a task. Some contractors work as soon as they could to enable them to begin working on something else. Sometimes, it’s better to not have a strict deadline, as it can lead to shoddy workmanship.

Now, by using these tips in mind, you happen to be prepared to conquer your upcoming home remodeling project. Be inventive and keep to the tips above to accomplish your projects smoothly..

from Ugri The Successful Home Improvement Idea Blog http://www.ugri.org/the-background-of-burnaby-general-contractor-2018/

[rebeccahpedersen]

Photos Of The Week!

TorontoRealtyBlog

What’s the difference between “Photos of the Week,” and my more-regular, “MLS Musings” blog posts?

Well as you probably assume, the “MLS Musings” contain photos, those bizarre and unforgettable, from active MLS listings in Toronto.

The “Photos of the Week” are from houses and condos I visit in person, whereby I often find a lot crazier features.

Let’s have a look at the ones I’ve collected over the past couple of weeks…

  –

Let’s start with a doozie, folks!

Here’s an absolutely gorgeous renovation – one that’s tough to really find a problem with…

…except that the bathroom sink is in the bedroom!

Yes, really.

I showed this to a couple of people who were like, “What?  What am I looking at?”  It’s like those 3-D puzzles that were big in the early-90’s; sometimes you just need to stare at it until it jumps out at you.  The room looks so clean and polished until you realize it’s a fantastic mess of a renovation.

Not to be outdone, the bathroom itself had this odd hole in the floor:

And no, that wasn’t for a heating duct the way we see the vents on the floor in condo townhouses, as opposed to up on the ceiling.

That looked to me like a hole exactly the same size as the toilet drain, which was exactly across from the actual drain.

Is it possible they just cut a hole on the wrong side?

It reminds me of the time my mom shortened my Levi’s Jeans by two inches, both on the same leg…

–

For those of you that work in the construction field, maybe this next one isn’t that odd.

But it wasn’t just the knife on the floor of this 96%-finished condo, but rather the tape around the handle mimicking a classic jail-shank!

It reminds me of OZ.  I miss that show…

–

Let’s continue the theme of poor workmanship.

I always tell my buyers, “If you’re looking at a ‘newly-renovated’ house, don’t look at the big things, look at the small things.  Like where two pieces of trim join, or where the baseboard meets the flooring.”

If this is how the flippers of this house show what can be seen, imagine what they’ve done behind the scenes…

–

Such a simple task!

Take the bright-green painter’s tape off the ceiling fixture before you put the property on the market, or, for the love of God, do it on the first day of the listing, the second day, the third day…

–

Who was it that said, “Duct tape fixes anything“?

Was it from The Simpsons?  Or Seinfeld?  Or Home Improvement?

Well, the owners of this house figured that if one tube didn’t quite reach the other tube (it was off by two inches), they’d simply wrap duct-tape around the end of the first tube, and voila!

–

I laughed when I saw this.

Maybe heating and cooling isn’t my chosen field.

But I do know that if you’ve got electric baseboards wedged behind a gas radiator, then either one of them isn’t working (which is bad), or both of them are working (which is highly questionable):

–

I’m also not an electrician by trade.

But I do believe that the electrical panel is a little too close to the sink:

–

I’m also not a stager.  And as was perhaps noted by the readers of Wednesday’s blog, a professional photographer…

….but I know what I like, right?  This pretty set of wine glasses and flowers on the bed?  Even though it’s completely impractical to have wine glasses on a bed in real life?  Sort of how “practical” photos don’t really beat out “marketing” photos?  No?  Let that dead horse remain dead?

Okay.  But what’s that I see in the wine glasses?

Oh, okay.

It’s just jagged pieces of broken glass…

….like I said, I’m not a stager.

–

Here we see another lovely set of wine glasses, but this time there’s actually, you know – wine!

What type of wine, I wonder?

….this type:

Yes, you’re seeing that correctly.

It’s not wine, but rather sparking juice!

But not just sparking – it’s ORGANIC!

–

From now on, every time you see a bed in a house that looks staged, pick up the sheets and look at what’s underneath:

That’s bad, but this is far worse:

–

And last, but certainly not least, let me end on a positive.

I love the character that exists in some of Toronto’s Victorian-era homes.

Maybe I’m obsessed with history, and “how people did things” in just about every fashion before our time.

But I love looking at load-bearing walls that held up Victorian homes, when they’re made out of stones!  Not poured concrete, not cinder-blocks, not hundred-year-old brick, but actual stones that you’d basically find out in the woods.

In this Junction-area home, they kept they restored the original foundation, and used it as a feature-wall in the basement rec-room.

It’s absolutely gorgeous!

The post Photos Of The Week! appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from https://ift.tt/2JnQKSd

[rebeccahpedersen]

Hot House of the Week: 18 Kings Park Blvd

TorontoRealtyBlog

Welcome to Danforth Village!

Charming and updated 3 bedrooms, and 3 bathroom semi-detached on a wide 23 ½ foot lot with parking.

Spacious principal living and dining areas, updated kitchen with granite counters, stainless steel appliances, and back door with mud room leading to deck, backyard, and parking.

Renovated basement with large recreation room, laundry room, and 3-piece bath.

9-minute walk to Pape TTC station, located in sought-after Chester P.S. District.

Let’s take a look!

Price: $899,900

Taxes: $4,292.95 / 2016

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 3

Lot Size: 23.52 x 100 Feet

Parking: 1 Space

MLS: E3784165

What do you think about our Hot House of the Week? Yay or Nay?

The post Hot House of the Week: 18 Kings Park Blvd appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from http://ift.tt/2quHrXc

[rebeccahpedersen]

Hot House of the Week: 18 Kings Park Blvd

TorontoRealtyBlog

Welcome to Danforth Village!

Charming and updated 3 bedrooms, and 3 bathroom semi-detached on a wide 23 ½ foot lot with parking.

Spacious principal living and dining areas, updated kitchen with granite counters, stainless steel appliances, and back door with mud room leading to deck, backyard, and parking.

Renovated basement with large recreation room, laundry room, and 3-piece bath.

9-minute walk to Pape TTC station, located in sought-after Chester P.S. District.

Let’s take a look!

Price: $899,900

Taxes: $4,292.95 / 2016

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 3

Lot Size: 23.52 x 100 Feet

Parking: 1 Space

MLS: E3784165

What do you think about our Hot House of the Week? Yay or Nay?

The post Hot House of the Week: 18 Kings Park Blvd appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from http://ift.tt/2quHrXc

[rebeccahpedersen]

Co-Ownership Of Your Primary Residence: What Could Go Wrong?

TorontoRealtyBlog

With talk of how difficult it is to purchase a home in Toronto in 2017, there will undoubtedly come talk of alternatives.

Moving out of the city is one alternative, no doubt about it.  This is a topic we’ve explored before several times.

But I’m hearing a lot about “co-ownership,” and I don’t mean buying a co-op as an alternative to a condominium, but rather the idea of, say, two young couples, pooling their money to buy a duplex.

The advantage is obvious: getting into the market, and owning real estate.  But today I want to look at the disadvantages, and what could go wrong…

There was an article in the Toronto Star on the weekend about “co-living,” which suggested that the style of living that’s gaining popularity in expensive cities in Europe and the US is something that we could see develop here in Toronto.

Read the article here: “Co-Living Could Be Answer To GTA Housing Crunch.”

The problem I see with this, of course, is that it likely relies upon the government to spearhead the initiative, and determine what is legal and how any housing “collectives” would be operated, in the same way there’s legislation for building codes, health and safety, etc.

I just don’t see this happening any time soon, as I consider our government, at all three levels, to be inept.  But that’s a topic for another day, and if you get me going about Kathleen Wynne cancelling John Tory’s road tolls in a desperate attempt to gain back favour with the public, well, I’ll never stop talking.  On that note – make sure you read Marcus Gee’s fantastic column, “Wynne’s Veto of Toronto Road Toll Plan Is An Act of Cowardice.”

See what I mean?  Nothing like politics to throw you off topic…

So while innovative housing solutions will go from novelty to necessity as the years go on, and the population continues to grow, I don’t see them coming down from the government level any time soon.

In the meantime, it’s up to individuals to be innovative, and find ways to get into the real estate market when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it.

The ever-popular “house with basement apartment” has risen in price so dramatically over the last few years, that I honestly don’t know if it’s worth it anymore.

Rewind three, four, or five years – and I was selling $600,000 houses with basement apartments that rented for $1,000.  That $1,000 could carry over $200,000 worth of mortgage, and suddenly the cost of living in this house was the same as owning a smaller condominium.

But as the years went by, every buyer in the city of Toronto wanted a house with a basement apartment.  And while I’ve long-maintained that the same house with a fully-renovated basement that contains a large rec-room, guest bedroom, and 4-piece bathroom is worth way more than the house with a basement apartment (the ‘single family’ buyer will pay more for the ‘single family’ home than the buyer on a budget, looking for basement income), every house with a basement apartment seemed to rise in value at a greater-than-average rate.

So now that those $600,000 houses with $1,000 in the basement are now $900,000 with $1,100 in the basement, where to these buyers go?

That’s where the creativity comes into play.

And through 2016, I heard multiple cases of buyers pooling their resources, and “partnering” to buy properties.

There was an article in the Globe & Mail last year called, “Two Couples Pool Money To Live Under One Roof.”

My mortgage broker, Joe Sammut, was quoted as saying that these deals account for less than 1% of his business, but when you think about it, if even 1 in 100 sales involves multiple buyers, that’s a lot more than I’d have ever thought.  And more to the point, I’d expect this trend to grow as prices rise, and as buyers get more creative.

So with this idea gaining momentum, I thought it prudent to do what I do best, and play devil’s advocate, to point out the potential pitfalls.

The way I see it, there are five major potential issues here:

  1) Disposition Of Asset

This is clearly the largest “potential issue” you could possibly come across.

What do you do when one person, or one couple, wants to sell?

Use the scenario from the Toronto Star article, where two couples buy a duplex, and each live happily ever after in their 2-bed, 1-bath unit; one below, and one on top.

I think it’s fair to say that the two couples won’t live there forever, so what do they do when time comes to move on?

Your first suggestion might be, “Have one couple buy out the other.”

But if they’re pooling their money to be able to buy the property to begin with, then what makes you think one, two, or ten years down the line, when the property is worth even more, that either couple would have the funds to buy out the other?

When, how, why – all questions to be answered regarding the eventual sale of the property.

The potential for conflict is massive.

What time of year do you sell?

Who do you hire?

Do you spend money to fix it up, or sell it as is?

Do you move out of the property, like many people do, during the week of showings?  What if one couple is on board, and the other isn’t?

I suppose all of this is small potatoes to the “when,” however.

The biggest problem with co-ownership of a property, is without question, going to be when to sell it.

2) Growth

If a couple moves into a 2-bed, 1-bath apartment in a duplex, and then has a kid, are they okay there?

What if they have two kids?

What if one changes jobs and starts to work from home?

What if the couple’s parents start coming to visit once per month, and need a place to stay?

Life in 2016, for just about everybody on the planet, will not be the same as life in 2021.

And eventually, one couple, or one partner in the property, is going to want more space.

That’s when the couple downstairs is going to look above, or vice versa.

As I said in point #1, buying out the other partner might not be financially viable.  But if it is, then how do you go about it?

Many businesses with two partners have a “shotgun clause,” where one partner pulls the trigger and names the price, and the other party can either pay that price, or be bought out at that price.

The first time I ever heard of this was back when I was in high school.  The Toronto Raptors co-owner, Allan Slaight, enacted his shotgun clause with co-owner, John Bitove.  $50,000,000 for, I believe it was, a 39.5% stake in the team.  Nine years later, and hindsight, I wonder how Mr. Bitove feels, as the Raptors have to be worth $600-$700 Million, don’t they?

In the end, it’s fair to say that most people eventually outgrown their home, save for those at the completely opposite end of the spectrum who elect to downsize.  But we’re talking about first-time buyers, and sooner or later, everybody needs more space.

If you own a condo, and you sell to buy a house, that’s simple enough.

But when you’re joined at the hip with a partner or co-owner, moving up, and on, is no longer that simple.

3) Maintenance

The points that follow will demonstrate that some expenditures are necessary, and some are discretionary.

But for items that need to be done, is everything split 50/50?

Who pays?  Who reimburses who?

What if one party is “having cash flow problems” after the other party pays $4,000 to replace the busted A/C unit?

Who is responsible to monitor the systems in the home?

Who takes out the damn garbage?

Who mows the lawn?

If one person enjoys gardening, is that an individual hobby, or is that value-add on the home, and thus the gardening-party would expect reimbursement?

Remember back in university, living in a house with five people, how the Bell Telephone bill was in one person’s name?  And each month, that person would ask the other occupants to go through the bill, highlight their calls, and determine what they owe.  The person with the bill in his or her name never got full reimbursement.

Imagine doing this as an adult, with every expensive on the house?  The property taxes, hydro, gas, water, insurance, and then the ongoing maintenance?

4) Renovations

Let me give you a scenario.

Owner-A lives upstairs, and wants to renovate his kitchen.

Owner-B lives downstairs, and already has a renovated kitchen.  For whatever reason, when they bought this duplex, one unit had a renovated kitchen, and one unit didn’t.

So Owner-A goes to Owner-B and says, “I’m going to spend $20,000 on the kitchen.”

Does Owner-B then simply write a cheque for $10,000?

What if Owner-B says, “Tough luck,” then what?

Or change that scenario above – what if both owners have outdated kitchens, and one wants to renovate, and the other doesn’t.

Do they go ahead?  And if so, who pays for what?

These aren’t two condominium units within one building.  Each partner owns half of the entire property.  Who lives in which unit has nothing does not change the ownership of the property as a whole.

I could see this issue arising a lot as the years go by.

5) Style

This follows from point #4.

When do you agree to “update” the property?  Often renovations come not from need, but rather desire.

If the furnace breaks, then both parties would agree to fix it.

But what if the property just becomes stale?

Some home-owners will re-do their kitchen every five years.  Some never do.

How do you decide when to spend money on aesthetics?

–

After reading these five points, you’ll undoubtedly conclude that co-owners really need legal advice before taking on the endeavor.

And not just legal advice – I’m talking an ownership agreement, that lays everything out.

What if one owner wants to take out equity on the property?  Where is that written in the agreement?  That doesn’t fall into the five points above!  Imagine if one owner found out that the other owner had taken out a $200,000 loan against the home?  Can he or she do that, or does the other party have to sign?

Many of you will comment that the points above, and any subsequent points or discussion, simply highlight the problems that any partners, in any business, will ultimately face.

And you’d be right.

I’ve never been a big fan of “partners” in investments.

And if and when you do take on partners, working with friends and family simply gives you a 50/50 shot of losing a friend, or becoming estranged from a family member.

Now I said at the onset that co-ownership an idea that is gaining momentum, and I would simply play devil’s advocate.

I think I’ve done that.

And if I had to take it a step further and give a “yes or no” on the matter, I’d honestly have to straddle the middle ground, and say, “It really depends on the people, and the situation.”

I would never co-own.

And I can’t think of any of my clients who I would advise to do so.

But there’s something to be said for getting into a hot real estate market, when you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

Gaining a place to live, and riding the appreciation wave, might make sense to a lot of folks out there…

The post Co-Ownership Of Your Primary Residence: What Could Go Wrong? appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from http://ift.tt/2k8thbu

[rebeccahpedersen]

Co-Ownership Of Your Primary Residence: What Could Go Wrong?

TorontoRealtyBlog

With talk of how difficult it is to purchase a home in Toronto in 2017, there will undoubtedly come talk of alternatives.

Moving out of the city is one alternative, no doubt about it.  This is a topic we’ve explored before several times.

But I’m hearing a lot about “co-ownership,” and I don’t mean buying a co-op as an alternative to a condominium, but rather the idea of, say, two young couples, pooling their money to buy a duplex.

The advantage is obvious: getting into the market, and owning real estate.  But today I want to look at the disadvantages, and what could go wrong…

There was an article in the Toronto Star on the weekend about “co-living,” which suggested that the style of living that’s gaining popularity in expensive cities in Europe and the US is something that we could see develop here in Toronto.

Read the article here: “Co-Living Could Be Answer To GTA Housing Crunch.”

The problem I see with this, of course, is that it likely relies upon the government to spearhead the initiative, and determine what is legal and how any housing “collectives” would be operated, in the same way there’s legislation for building codes, health and safety, etc.

I just don’t see this happening any time soon, as I consider our government, at all three levels, to be inept.  But that’s a topic for another day, and if you get me going about Kathleen Wynne cancelling John Tory’s road tolls in a desperate attempt to gain back favour with the public, well, I’ll never stop talking.  On that note – make sure you read Marcus Gee’s fantastic column, “Wynne’s Veto of Toronto Road Toll Plan Is An Act of Cowardice.”

See what I mean?  Nothing like politics to throw you off topic…

So while innovative housing solutions will go from novelty to necessity as the years go on, and the population continues to grow, I don’t see them coming down from the government level any time soon.

In the meantime, it’s up to individuals to be innovative, and find ways to get into the real estate market when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it.

The ever-popular “house with basement apartment” has risen in price so dramatically over the last few years, that I honestly don’t know if it’s worth it anymore.

Rewind three, four, or five years – and I was selling $600,000 houses with basement apartments that rented for $1,000.  That $1,000 could carry over $200,000 worth of mortgage, and suddenly the cost of living in this house was the same as owning a smaller condominium.

But as the years went by, every buyer in the city of Toronto wanted a house with a basement apartment.  And while I’ve long-maintained that the same house with a fully-renovated basement that contains a large rec-room, guest bedroom, and 4-piece bathroom is worth way more than the house with a basement apartment (the ‘single family’ buyer will pay more for the ‘single family’ home than the buyer on a budget, looking for basement income), every house with a basement apartment seemed to rise in value at a greater-than-average rate.

So now that those $600,000 houses with $1,000 in the basement are now $900,000 with $1,100 in the basement, where to these buyers go?

That’s where the creativity comes into play.

And through 2016, I heard multiple cases of buyers pooling their resources, and “partnering” to buy properties.

There was an article in the Globe & Mail last year called, “Two Couples Pool Money To Live Under One Roof.”

My mortgage broker, Joe Sammut, was quoted as saying that these deals account for less than 1% of his business, but when you think about it, if even 1 in 100 sales involves multiple buyers, that’s a lot more than I’d have ever thought.  And more to the point, I’d expect this trend to grow as prices rise, and as buyers get more creative.

So with this idea gaining momentum, I thought it prudent to do what I do best, and play devil’s advocate, to point out the potential pitfalls.

The way I see it, there are five major potential issues here:

  1) Disposition Of Asset

This is clearly the largest “potential issue” you could possibly come across.

What do you do when one person, or one couple, wants to sell?

Use the scenario from the Toronto Star article, where two couples buy a duplex, and each live happily ever after in their 2-bed, 1-bath unit; one below, and one on top.

I think it’s fair to say that the two couples won’t live there forever, so what do they do when time comes to move on?

Your first suggestion might be, “Have one couple buy out the other.”

But if they’re pooling their money to be able to buy the property to begin with, then what makes you think one, two, or ten years down the line, when the property is worth even more, that either couple would have the funds to buy out the other?

When, how, why – all questions to be answered regarding the eventual sale of the property.

The potential for conflict is massive.

What time of year do you sell?

Who do you hire?

Do you spend money to fix it up, or sell it as is?

Do you move out of the property, like many people do, during the week of showings?  What if one couple is on board, and the other isn’t?

I suppose all of this is small potatoes to the “when,” however.

The biggest problem with co-ownership of a property, is without question, going to be when to sell it.

2) Growth

If a couple moves into a 2-bed, 1-bath apartment in a duplex, and then has a kid, are they okay there?

What if they have two kids?

What if one changes jobs and starts to work from home?

What if the couple’s parents start coming to visit once per month, and need a place to stay?

Life in 2016, for just about everybody on the planet, will not be the same as life in 2021.

And eventually, one couple, or one partner in the property, is going to want more space.

That’s when the couple downstairs is going to look above, or vice versa.

As I said in point #1, buying out the other partner might not be financially viable.  But if it is, then how do you go about it?

Many businesses with two partners have a “shotgun clause,” where one partner pulls the trigger and names the price, and the other party can either pay that price, or be bought out at that price.

The first time I ever heard of this was back when I was in high school.  The Toronto Raptors co-owner, Allan Slaight, enacted his shotgun clause with co-owner, John Bitove.  $50,000,000 for, I believe it was, a 39.5% stake in the team.  Nine years later, and hindsight, I wonder how Mr. Bitove feels, as the Raptors have to be worth $600-$700 Million, don’t they?

In the end, it’s fair to say that most people eventually outgrown their home, save for those at the completely opposite end of the spectrum who elect to downsize.  But we’re talking about first-time buyers, and sooner or later, everybody needs more space.

If you own a condo, and you sell to buy a house, that’s simple enough.

But when you’re joined at the hip with a partner or co-owner, moving up, and on, is no longer that simple.

3) Maintenance

The points that follow will demonstrate that some expenditures are necessary, and some are discretionary.

But for items that need to be done, is everything split 50/50?

Who pays?  Who reimburses who?

What if one party is “having cash flow problems” after the other party pays $4,000 to replace the busted A/C unit?

Who is responsible to monitor the systems in the home?

Who takes out the damn garbage?

Who mows the lawn?

If one person enjoys gardening, is that an individual hobby, or is that value-add on the home, and thus the gardening-party would expect reimbursement?

Remember back in university, living in a house with five people, how the Bell Telephone bill was in one person’s name?  And each month, that person would ask the other occupants to go through the bill, highlight their calls, and determine what they owe.  The person with the bill in his or her name never got full reimbursement.

Imagine doing this as an adult, with every expensive on the house?  The property taxes, hydro, gas, water, insurance, and then the ongoing maintenance?

4) Renovations

Let me give you a scenario.

Owner-A lives upstairs, and wants to renovate his kitchen.

Owner-B lives downstairs, and already has a renovated kitchen.  For whatever reason, when they bought this duplex, one unit had a renovated kitchen, and one unit didn’t.

So Owner-A goes to Owner-B and says, “I’m going to spend $20,000 on the kitchen.”

Does Owner-B then simply write a cheque for $10,000?

What if Owner-B says, “Tough luck,” then what?

Or change that scenario above – what if both owners have outdated kitchens, and one wants to renovate, and the other doesn’t.

Do they go ahead?  And if so, who pays for what?

These aren’t two condominium units within one building.  Each partner owns half of the entire property.  Who lives in which unit has nothing does not change the ownership of the property as a whole.

I could see this issue arising a lot as the years go by.

5) Style

This follows from point #4.

When do you agree to “update” the property?  Often renovations come not from need, but rather desire.

If the furnace breaks, then both parties would agree to fix it.

But what if the property just becomes stale?

Some home-owners will re-do their kitchen every five years.  Some never do.

How do you decide when to spend money on aesthetics?

–

After reading these five points, you’ll undoubtedly conclude that co-owners really need legal advice before taking on the endeavor.

And not just legal advice – I’m talking an ownership agreement, that lays everything out.

What if one owner wants to take out equity on the property?  Where is that written in the agreement?  That doesn’t fall into the five points above!  Imagine if one owner found out that the other owner had taken out a $200,000 loan against the home?  Can he or she do that, or does the other party have to sign?

Many of you will comment that the points above, and any subsequent points or discussion, simply highlight the problems that any partners, in any business, will ultimately face.

And you’d be right.

I’ve never been a big fan of “partners” in investments.

And if and when you do take on partners, working with friends and family simply gives you a 50/50 shot of losing a friend, or becoming estranged from a family member.

Now I said at the onset that co-ownership an idea that is gaining momentum, and I would simply play devil’s advocate.

I think I’ve done that.

And if I had to take it a step further and give a “yes or no” on the matter, I’d honestly have to straddle the middle ground, and say, “It really depends on the people, and the situation.”

I would never co-own.

And I can’t think of any of my clients who I would advise to do so.

But there’s something to be said for getting into a hot real estate market, when you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

Gaining a place to live, and riding the appreciation wave, might make sense to a lot of folks out there…

The post Co-Ownership Of Your Primary Residence: What Could Go Wrong? appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from http://ift.tt/2k8thbu

[rebeccahpedersen]

A Job Worth Doing, Is Worth Doing Well

TorontoRealtyBlog

The stakes are high in this real estate market, and I would vehemently argue that they’ve never been higher.

What I mean by that is there has never been more fluctuations between sale prices of similar properties, and there have never been more buyers paying “crazy” prices for houses and condos.

I’m not going to turn this post into an advertisement for “why to hire an experienced, full-service agent,” but I am going to tell you about two listings I had late last year where we took our time, did things right, and smashed records in the process…

“Most agents.”

I use that term a lot.

It’s not intentional; it’s not that I’m trying to differentiate myself from the masses each and every time I explain what “most agents” would do, but rather I have always felt (as you can tell from this blog) that honesty is the best policy.  And so I like to detail how “most agents” would handle a given situation.

“Most agents,” or “most people” in life, do things the “usual” way, and they might expect the “usual” results.  But in real estate, where the asset has no fixed value, and can sell for more, or less, than fair market value, there’s always an opportunity to break free from the norm and the pack that strives for mediocrity, and do something extraordinary.

When I get called in for an evaluation, or a “listing presentation” as it’s called in the business, I don’t bring any paperwork with me.

I’m honest with the sellers, and I tell them that I’m interviewing them, as much as they’re interviewing me.

Some people don’t like this, and that’s fine.  A seller has earned his or her right to a massive power-trip and ego-boost by calling twelve real estate agents in for an interview, but I’m looking for somebody I can work well with; I’m not looking to “beat” other agents in a series of “listing presentations.”

Those “listing presentations,” in my world, are simply chats.

I tell the sellers that I don’t bring paperwork with me the first time I meet them because it’s probably not necessary.  We’re not going to sign anything, because firstly, we need to decide if there’s a mutually beneficial relationship to be had, and secondly, because if we do things my way, we’re a ways away from listing.

“Most agents,” I explain, “Want to get your property on the market tomorrow, but that’s not the way to sell real estate in this market.”

And it’s true.  Most agents will look to sign that listing agreement at the earliest opportunity, and would do so in the front hall as they take their shoes off, if they could.

Last fall, I received a phone call from a seller who was looking to put his loft on the market.

He and his wife had purchased a new home, and they wanted to know what I could do for them, and how I could list, market, and sell their condo.

I knew the building very well, and I researched their unit as much as I could.  But the irony of these “listing presentations” and evaluations is that you don’t really know what a unit is worth, or how you would sell and market it, until you’ve spent some time inside it.

The building was A+ all the way, and the unit had the potential to be A+, but it was not.

And I told them this.

The average price per square foot in the building based on the most recent sales would put the value of their unit around $950,000.

But their unit was, as I also told them, in below average shape.

In its current condition, I explained, the unit was “worth” about $895,000.

This was certainly not what they wanted to hear, but they listened, and I could tell that they weren’t tuning me out based on hearing something unpleasant or unexpected.

Previous sales were clustered in the mid-$900’s, but a unit identical in layout to theirs had just sold for a whopping $1,030,000.  The first and only unit of this size to break $1 Million, and this was because it was gorgeous, and “fully renovated.”

I put “fully renovated” in quotations, because I hated the renovations.  Just because somebody spends $100,000, doesn’t mean they added $100,000 in value.  But somebody jumped on this place, and they set a record in the process.

This model unit was an open concept loft, with 20-foot ceilings throughout.  Not those stupid lofts that advertise 20-feet ceilings like this:

I mean this unit had real, true, 20-foot ceilings, from the kitchen wall right to the balcony door.

The unit has so much potential!

But the unit had sub-par, original-builder-grade finishes, which the sellers, after an hour conversation and a couple of beers (don’t worry – I drank water) eventually admitted.

The unit was a loft, and should have had “loft-like” features, but some of the features were, as the sellers put it, “1990’s sub-division quality”

Instead of a sleek glass-and-steel railing, there were light-brown wooden spindles, which didn’t make any sense in this unit.

Rather than having a beautiful, sliding loft door to the den, which most people used as a second bedroom on account of its size, there was simply, nothing.

The kitchen had no backsplash – just drywall in between the counters and the cabinets!

The bathrooms were outdated.

And after sitting with the sellers for an hour, and just being really honest, and with neither of us having any sort of agenda, we all agreed.

So then what?

Did we list the condo for $895,000?

No.  We didn’t.

We plotted a course of action, and immediately started a five-week process of renovating and preparing for sale.

“Most agents,” as I told them, “Would just get your condo on the market, and hope for the best.  Most agents wouldn’t go down this road with you.”

Again, I’m not writing this to toot my own horn here.  You know that’s not my style.

I’m writing this to make two points:

1) You have a very high chance at getting bad advice 2) If you’re willing to do some work, you can get an incredible, tax-free return on your investment.

From that initial meeting, it was five weeks until we were on the market, and we did a ton of work on the condo.

We cleared out about 60% of everything they own, to make the condo look and feel larger, and cleaner.

We installed a very cool sliding loft door in the den.

We enclosed the den where it met the staircase (for some odd reason it was open) with a frosted glass panel.

We replaced all the wooden-spindle railings with glass and steel.

We refinished the staircase leading up to the second level.

We installed a new kitchen backsplash.

We installed a new kitchen sink.

We installed new kitchen counters, and moved the “island” back to its rightful place in the kitchen, which separated the kitchen from the dining area, as opposed to having that “island” facing the wall.

We painted about half of the condo.

We put a new vanity in the master bathroom, re-grouted the shower, and installed a glass shower door where there was a curtain before.  I believe we even added pot lights in there as well.

We installed custom closet organizers in the master bedroom, and fixed the doors and the tracks.

We had property management refinish the front door in the hallway, which had really shown some wear.  And while they were there, we got them to refinish the back of the door, which was inside the unit, and split the cost too.

We refreshed the main bathroom with new grout and caulking, new hardware, new mirrors, and another new glass shower door to replace the plastic curtain.

And finally, we staged the condo too, while using some of their existing furniture, but we moved out some furniture items and moved others in, to maximize the space, and give it the “style” we felt would work with the loft.

We brought in the best photographer (there is only one that I use, and he’s so good that I will LITERALLY move a listing back a day or a week if I can’t get him), put together all our marketing material, and lined up the listing date with the completion of all marketing initiatives, including having the building’s Status Certificate in hand (95% of agents order this after a deal is done, meaning you’re conditional for two weeks).

We left absolutely no stone unturned.

It took five weeks from that initial meeting until we went to market, but we completely transformed this condo, and did so far, far under budget.  My clients were amazing at finding deals, and the money they spent was probably 40% less than the average person would have dropped on the same project.

Our target was $1,000,000 from the beginning, but once we saw how the condo looked, we figured it might be worth more.

But I chimed in and said that nobody looking at this kind of unit really knows whether it’s worth $1,010,000 or $1,090,000; they simply see the photos on MLS, and want to come have a look.  In addition, listing at $1,015,000 would make no sense.  Why list just over $1M?

So we listed at $1,079,900, even though the price made absolutely no sense.

The same unit, with better finishes, sold for $1,030,000 a short time ago.

But from the very beginning, I told them that our target market was a young playboy, or playgirl, with money.  I know, I know – you hate hearing this.  You work hard for a living, and so do I.  But some millennials have their parents’ money, and those kids are out in full force buying condos downtown.

We were on the market for, I believe, four or five days, before we got an offer.

We sold for $1,050,000 – a new record in the building.

And the buyer, as you might have guessed, was a 20-something.

My clients’ hard work paid off big-time.

They probably got a 4-to-1 return on the money they spent, which is to say that had they not done the renovation, their unit wouldn’t have shown well, wouldn’t have sold quickly (probably not at all, and we’d come back on the market in 2017), and it would have sold for around $900,000.

There was a “right” way to do this, and we did it, without hesitation, from the start.

I love working with clients like this.  They trusted me, never doubted me, and I got to show them the payoff in the end.  They were fantastic to work with, great people, and I can say that the project at every given moment was “fun” for me.

I love a challenge, and I love a job well done.

I also feel that any job worth doing, is worth doing well.

This is the way you sell real estate in 2017.

People who chime in with “a house sells itself in this market” are missing the bigger picture.

No property is ready to go to market “tomorrow,” and I’ve yet to see a property that you can say is “perfect.”

So on Friday, let me tell you a second story about the “right” way to sell real estate, and how that job worth doing can be well-done, only this doesn’t involve a renovation, but rather how to deal with “life” as it interferes with buying and selling real estate…

  The post A Job Worth Doing, Is Worth Doing Well appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from http://ift.tt/2jZe4Io

[rebeccahpedersen]

A Job Worth Doing, Is Worth Doing Well

TorontoRealtyBlog

The stakes are high in this real estate market, and I would vehemently argue that they’ve never been higher.

What I mean by that is there has never been more fluctuations between sale prices of similar properties, and there have never been more buyers paying “crazy” prices for houses and condos.

I’m not going to turn this post into an advertisement for “why to hire an experienced, full-service agent,” but I am going to tell you about two listings I had late last year where we took our time, did things right, and smashed records in the process…

“Most agents.”

I use that term a lot.

It’s not intentional; it’s not that I’m trying to differentiate myself from the masses each and every time I explain what “most agents” would do, but rather I have always felt (as you can tell from this blog) that honesty is the best policy.  And so I like to detail how “most agents” would handle a given situation.

“Most agents,” or “most people” in life, do things the “usual” way, and they might expect the “usual” results.  But in real estate, where the asset has no fixed value, and can sell for more, or less, than fair market value, there’s always an opportunity to break free from the norm and the pack that strives for mediocrity, and do something extraordinary.

When I get called in for an evaluation, or a “listing presentation” as it’s called in the business, I don’t bring any paperwork with me.

I’m honest with the sellers, and I tell them that I’m interviewing them, as much as they’re interviewing me.

Some people don’t like this, and that’s fine.  A seller has earned his or her right to a massive power-trip and ego-boost by calling twelve real estate agents in for an interview, but I’m looking for somebody I can work well with; I’m not looking to “beat” other agents in a series of “listing presentations.”

Those “listing presentations,” in my world, are simply chats.

I tell the sellers that I don’t bring paperwork with me the first time I meet them because it’s probably not necessary.  We’re not going to sign anything, because firstly, we need to decide if there’s a mutually beneficial relationship to be had, and secondly, because if we do things my way, we’re a ways away from listing.

“Most agents,” I explain, “Want to get your property on the market tomorrow, but that’s not the way to sell real estate in this market.”

And it’s true.  Most agents will look to sign that listing agreement at the earliest opportunity, and would do so in the front hall as they take their shoes off, if they could.

Last fall, I received a phone call from a seller who was looking to put his loft on the market.

He and his wife had purchased a new home, and they wanted to know what I could do for them, and how I could list, market, and sell their condo.

I knew the building very well, and I researched their unit as much as I could.  But the irony of these “listing presentations” and evaluations is that you don’t really know what a unit is worth, or how you would sell and market it, until you’ve spent some time inside it.

The building was A+ all the way, and the unit had the potential to be A+, but it was not.

And I told them this.

The average price per square foot in the building based on the most recent sales would put the value of their unit around $950,000.

But their unit was, as I also told them, in below average shape.

In its current condition, I explained, the unit was “worth” about $895,000.

This was certainly not what they wanted to hear, but they listened, and I could tell that they weren’t tuning me out based on hearing something unpleasant or unexpected.

Previous sales were clustered in the mid-$900’s, but a unit identical in layout to theirs had just sold for a whopping $1,030,000.  The first and only unit of this size to break $1 Million, and this was because it was gorgeous, and “fully renovated.”

I put “fully renovated” in quotations, because I hated the renovations.  Just because somebody spends $100,000, doesn’t mean they added $100,000 in value.  But somebody jumped on this place, and they set a record in the process.

This model unit was an open concept loft, with 20-foot ceilings throughout.  Not those stupid lofts that advertise 20-feet ceilings like this:

I mean this unit had real, true, 20-foot ceilings, from the kitchen wall right to the balcony door.

The unit has so much potential!

But the unit had sub-par, original-builder-grade finishes, which the sellers, after an hour conversation and a couple of beers (don’t worry – I drank water) eventually admitted.

The unit was a loft, and should have had “loft-like” features, but some of the features were, as the sellers put it, “1990’s sub-division quality”

Instead of a sleek glass-and-steel railing, there were light-brown wooden spindles, which didn’t make any sense in this unit.

Rather than having a beautiful, sliding loft door to the den, which most people used as a second bedroom on account of its size, there was simply, nothing.

The kitchen had no backsplash – just drywall in between the counters and the cabinets!

The bathrooms were outdated.

And after sitting with the sellers for an hour, and just being really honest, and with neither of us having any sort of agenda, we all agreed.

So then what?

Did we list the condo for $895,000?

No.  We didn’t.

We plotted a course of action, and immediately started a five-week process of renovating and preparing for sale.

“Most agents,” as I told them, “Would just get your condo on the market, and hope for the best.  Most agents wouldn’t go down this road with you.”

Again, I’m not writing this to toot my own horn here.  You know that’s not my style.

I’m writing this to make two points:

1) You have a very high chance at getting bad advice 2) If you’re willing to do some work, you can get an incredible, tax-free return on your investment.

From that initial meeting, it was five weeks until we were on the market, and we did a ton of work on the condo.

We cleared out about 60% of everything they own, to make the condo look and feel larger, and cleaner.

We installed a very cool sliding loft door in the den.

We enclosed the den where it met the staircase (for some odd reason it was open) with a frosted glass panel.

We replaced all the wooden-spindle railings with glass and steel.

We refinished the staircase leading up to the second level.

We installed a new kitchen backsplash.

We installed a new kitchen sink.

We installed new kitchen counters, and moved the “island” back to its rightful place in the kitchen, which separated the kitchen from the dining area, as opposed to having that “island” facing the wall.

We painted about half of the condo.

We put a new vanity in the master bathroom, re-grouted the shower, and installed a glass shower door where there was a curtain before.  I believe we even added pot lights in there as well.

We installed custom closet organizers in the master bedroom, and fixed the doors and the tracks.

We had property management refinish the front door in the hallway, which had really shown some wear.  And while they were there, we got them to refinish the back of the door, which was inside the unit, and split the cost too.

We refreshed the main bathroom with new grout and caulking, new hardware, new mirrors, and another new glass shower door to replace the plastic curtain.

And finally, we staged the condo too, while using some of their existing furniture, but we moved out some furniture items and moved others in, to maximize the space, and give it the “style” we felt would work with the loft.

We brought in the best photographer (there is only one that I use, and he’s so good that I will LITERALLY move a listing back a day or a week if I can’t get him), put together all our marketing material, and lined up the listing date with the completion of all marketing initiatives, including having the building’s Status Certificate in hand (95% of agents order this after a deal is done, meaning you’re conditional for two weeks).

We left absolutely no stone unturned.

It took five weeks from that initial meeting until we went to market, but we completely transformed this condo, and did so far, far under budget.  My clients were amazing at finding deals, and the money they spent was probably 40% less than the average person would have dropped on the same project.

Our target was $1,000,000 from the beginning, but once we saw how the condo looked, we figured it might be worth more.

But I chimed in and said that nobody looking at this kind of unit really knows whether it’s worth $1,010,000 or $1,090,000; they simply see the photos on MLS, and want to come have a look.  In addition, listing at $1,015,000 would make no sense.  Why list just over $1M?

So we listed at $1,079,900, even though the price made absolutely no sense.

The same unit, with better finishes, sold for $1,030,000 a short time ago.

But from the very beginning, I told them that our target market was a young playboy, or playgirl, with money.  I know, I know – you hate hearing this.  You work hard for a living, and so do I.  But some millennials have their parents’ money, and those kids are out in full force buying condos downtown.

We were on the market for, I believe, four or five days, before we got an offer.

We sold for $1,050,000 – a new record in the building.

And the buyer, as you might have guessed, was a 20-something.

My clients’ hard work paid off big-time.

They probably got a 4-to-1 return on the money they spent, which is to say that had they not done the renovation, their unit wouldn’t have shown well, wouldn’t have sold quickly (probably not at all, and we’d come back on the market in 2017), and it would have sold for around $900,000.

There was a “right” way to do this, and we did it, without hesitation, from the start.

I love working with clients like this.  They trusted me, never doubted me, and I got to show them the payoff in the end.  They were fantastic to work with, great people, and I can say that the project at every given moment was “fun” for me.

I love a challenge, and I love a job well done.

I also feel that any job worth doing, is worth doing well.

This is the way you sell real estate in 2017.

People who chime in with “a house sells itself in this market” are missing the bigger picture.

No property is ready to go to market “tomorrow,” and I’ve yet to see a property that you can say is “perfect.”

So on Friday, let me tell you a second story about the “right” way to sell real estate, and how that job worth doing can be well-done, only this doesn’t involve a renovation, but rather how to deal with “life” as it interferes with buying and selling real estate…

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