The Vancouver 4th of July Celebration is Back !

Vancouver has celebrated July 4th at Fort Vancouver for 46 years, and in 2009, due to funding problems, the event was cancelled.  With the support of  Bank of America and other partners, businesses, corporations and individuals the event will be brought back this year with a few minor changes. Once again Business working for our community.
 
For the event to be economically sustainable, a small admission fee will be charged for those ages 13 and older, and all attendees will once again enjoy a renewed focus on family, community and having fun.  There will be a great spectacular fireworks show at Pearson Field.  Please plan to join the community by attending,  and tell everyone that the Vancouver July 4th Celebration is back !!

Tweet

Landscaping Tricks That Wow Buyers

In today’s market, sellers have to work harder to persuade buyers that their property is worth considering.  Here are 6 tips to help WOW buyers:

• Add splashes of color. With every changing season, a landscape should provide a new display of colors, textures, and fragrances. It’s best to use one or two and repeat them.
• Size trees and shrubs to scale. These should be planted in the right scale for the house so that they don’t block windows, doors, and other architectural features on the home’s facade.
• Maintain a perfect lawn. A velvety green lawn demonstrates tender loving care is given to the property.
• Light up the outside. Good illumination allows buyers to see a home at night and adds drama.
• Let them hear the water of a small fountain or water feature in the front yard.
• Use decorative architectural elements, like a new mailbox, planted window boxes, etc. Colors should complement the landscape and the home, however, just don’t overdo it: Too much can seem like kitschy lawn ornaments.

Tweet

Why Cleaning and De cluttering is important to sell a Home

One of the easiest and most cost-effective steps when selling a home is the cleaning and de cluttering process that we all face when preparing our home to put it on the real estate market today.

Cleaning and de cluttering are the two most overlooked areas when preparing a home for sale. ‘Home Staging Resources’ conducted a study on the costs and the resulting benefits of staging and found that spending just $200 – $300 on cleaning and de cluttering alone resulted in an increase of $1,500 – $2,000 in the sale price, and that translates into a 578% return on investment.

In addition to being turned off by the condition of a home, potential buyers see a dirty house as evidence that the owners didn’t maintain the home like they should have. The condition of a home is especially important during a seller’s market, which is when there are more homes available than there are buyers to purchase them. Buyers have a wide choice of homes today to choose from and can afford to be discriminating. Messy homes make buyers think about all the work they will have to do when they move in. Moving is stressful enough.

Before listing a home for sale, sellers must do a thorough cleaning. If this is really an issue, it is worth the money to hire a professional cleaning company take care of this.  A thorough cleaning includes the basement, garage, outdoor spaces and all those places where people tend to hide things, such as under the bed or in the closets. There can be no shortcuts here. Get behind and under furniture and especially under the kitchen appliances. And don’t forget the windows, as clean windows let in lots of light. While cleaning, make sure to wash draperies and carpets.

Get rid of any excess window treatments to allow lots of light into rooms.  As spaces are cleaned, items can be thrown away, set aside for a garage sale, or packed away.  Remove all unnecessary items from surfaces, especially the kitchen and bathroom counters.

Next, take a good look at the amount of furniture in each room.  Be careful not to go to the other extreme and make the home cold and bare.

A properly staged home will sell quickly and won’t result in months of rental or storage fees. The improved sale price will more than cover the costs. If storage is just not possible, a last resort is to pack belongings in boxes and store them neatly in one section of a basement, garage or spare bedroom.
All of this cleaning goes toward selling your home much faster.

Tweet

Why Isn’t My Home Selling?

I am asked that question many times during the week and I usually find that the answer is the asking price.  Anything is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay, and a seller willing to accept. This is the same whether it’s a pack of baseball cards or a $1 million house. Although the economics may be simple, arriving at that magic price is difficult. Just think of the cost, time and energy that major corporations put into pricing a product, so it succeeds in the marketplace. It’s no different in the real estate market.

If you’ve taken the time to educate yourself on the local real estate market and are diligent in hiring a good real estate professional, and are willing to listen to him/her, you can get a lot closer to the magic number. But you are setting yourself up for disaster if you don’t do your homework and then go with what you “feel” your house is worth. This just won’t work.  There are a combination mistakes that sellers make when setting the sales price for their home.  Don’t base your price on your need.  What you want to make from selling your home means absolutely nothing to buyers or the marketplace. Don’t base your price on your ego. Nearly every owner thinks their house is the best on the block, or at least better than any of the ones that have recently sold or are on the market at present.  The solution is to get the price right at the time it goes on the market, and this is done by using a market analysis. If you’ve hired a good real estate professional, this is one of the first things you will talk about when you meet to list your home. A market analysis breaks down the sales price of homes that are similar to yours in location, size, age and condition.
 
While working with your real estate professional, you must allow showings of the property almost at anytime for a buyer to view it. Make it available at any time and be sure the property is in tip top condition and clean and neat.

Its not always the fault of the sales price that can hinder the sale of a property.  There are other factors that can come up like rising interest rates, change of zoning laws, and other factors that the seller cannot control.

One of the most important things to do right from the beginning is to sign up with a  real estate professional who has experience in your area, who knows the local market and has the know how to help you set the sales price correctly by doing a market analysis, and then start getting it marketed.

Tweet

Understanding Capital Gains in Real Estate

When you sell a stock, you will owe taxes on the profits you made on that stock — the difference between what you paid for the stock and what you sold it for. The same holds true when selling a home (or a second home), but there are some special considerations. In real estate, capital gains are based not on what you paid for the home, but on its adjusted cost basis.

Contact me for further details or check with your tax accountant.

Tweet

« Previous Page — Next Page »