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Wednesday, May 30, 2018

To Paint Or Not To Paint

The single most cost effective way to prepare your home to list is with a fresh coat of paint. This works for two reasons.
1) A fresh coat of paint covers up the small scratches, dings and wear and tear that occur over the course of a family living in a home, it's natural, but it's not pretty. When you apply new paint, the home now has a fresh, well kept, well cared for appearance. It no longer looks or feels old or worn, and this is ideal.
2) New paint that is neutral and pleasing to most people allows a buyer to picture themselves living in the home. Bright, dark and too trendy colour choices are distracting to most buyers - have you ever noticed one of the most common comments on those real estate shows from buyers is about paint, and specifically, paint that they don't like. 


If you are preparing to sell and you think that it's too much work to paint your home, imagine how the buyers feel... they are contemplating making a huge purchase and right off the bat they see work that needs to be done. Do it for them and I guarantee you will have more successful showings.

If you don't want to paint because you believe that the buyer may not share your tastes in colour selection, pick a colour palette that is generally appealing to the majority of people, believe me, most of these buyers are watching real estate shows and have pinterest boards that are showcasing the relaxing neutrals that are timeless classics. If they have more wild tastes, it's much easier for them to get excited about painting an accent wall than painting the entire home.

Another important thing to consider is continuity through the home, painting each room and hallway a different colour is a poor choice as it makes the home feel broken up and compartmentalized. Buyers want open concept so carry a theme of 2-3 colours through the entire home and if you really want some variation choose another shade on the same chip so that you don't break up the flow.

If you are thinking of listing and want really expert advice I can align you with a local paint guru that will custom match a colour palette for you and your home based on everything from the architectural style to the flooring and even available natural light! I can attest to the prowess of this expert, he helped me choose the paint colours for the entire interior of my home plus the exterior colours as well. He is amazing! 

Monday, May 21, 2018

Holiday Monday in the Office!

I have been having a lot of conversations with people lately that are thinking of getting into the real estate industry. They are asking for my thoughts and ideas on how to make that transition, and if it's a good idea for them.

There are quite a few factors that need to be considered while contemplating making a career change, especially to real estate. The biggest discussion is about income, and yes, this is a commission only career, no salary. The downside to this is you are not guaranteed a minimum paycheque every two weeks. The upside is that you have absolutely no cap on what you can make in a day, week or month. As an example I received the largest single transaction paycheque that my broker had ever issued since becoming a franchise owner ten years ago. And I had only been practicing real estate for just over 3 years at the time. And at Exit there are multiple ways to make money. As a sponsor, by simply introducing a new agent to the broker, you stand to make up to $10,000/year from Exit for this introduction for as long as that agent remains with Exit. And you can sponsor as many agents as you like! (No this is not a pyramid silly, it's only applicable to ONE single level of residuals!)

It is tough to get started, but with the sponsoring program I can help you learn the ropes, and I have a vested interest in making sure that you last and are successful. No other brokerage uses this model. Exit also has the best administrators in the business which in turn makes your job easier. Our admin do all the data input of listings so that you are free to go get more business, you won't be stuck behind a desk all day!

I have discussions with people all the time that have toyed with the idea of getting into this business, it's intriguing and appealing to a lot of different types of people. And it's flexible so that you can tailor the career to how you want it to fit into your life. I went on a 25 day trip to Southern Asia/India this winter because I have the flexibility to make my own schedule and the income to be able to go away and still have my business flourishing when I return!

If you are thinking that this type of lifestyle might suit you, reach out! I would love to get together with you to talk more about it! I haven't once woken up on a Monday morning since starting this career dreading the week ahead. Think about that. Seriously. It's a vibrant holiday Monday and I am writing a blog about how much I love my job. There's something special here.

Thursday, May 03, 2018

Feeling HOT! HOT! HOT!


I recently attended the Kentville Home Show as a vendor and got a great chance to speak with people about what’s going on with the local real estate market. It was so nice to connect with people that I wouldn’t normally see and chat about the recent trends. Most people that I come across are noticing a significant upswing in the number of properties getting sold lately, it’s true! Year to date sales in the Annapolis Valley are up almost 23%! In case you don’t have a benchmark of what’s normal in terms of fluctuations in sales, this is AMAZING!!

In the past 5 years since I have been a REALTOR® I have noticed maybe a couple of percentage points difference up or down. The general trend has been that of a Buyers Market. Well as of 2018 that has changed, there are more properties selling each day/week/month than properties getting listed. Get this! There are several shortages of inventory in a few different price ranges too! I have people looking for specific properties to purchase and they are selling almost immediately after coming on the market, we are seeing multiple competing offers on places, homes selling for above list price!

As an example, I recently wrote an offer on a property, we knew we were in a competition when we wrote the offer so we went in significantly above list price with no conditions. Unfortunately, we did not win the bidding war, but I later found out it sold for more than 60% above the list price!! WOWZA!! Obviously, this is an extreme example and the property had some very special circumstances surrounding it to go for such an astounding amount above the listing price!  

The general consensus with the professionals in the industry (and even the public) is that the market here in the Annapolis Valley is HOT! HOT! HOT! If you are thinking of listing, it’s absolutely imperative to get it price correctly and marketed aggressively so that you can get top dollar! If you are thinking of purchasing, get an agent that has their finger on the pulse because you may find you miss out if you’re not completely prepared before making an offer on a popular property!

Need to discuss things? Call me anytime and let’s chat about your needs!

(902) 680-2736