If you’re buying a home, you’re likely going to pay some closing costs. And bad news, those closing costs can pack a wallop. Typical closing costs can range depending on the home’s purchase price. For a $350,000, you could pay anywhere from $5,000 and up.

Closing costs for the buyer usually consist of the following:

• Homeowners insurance
• Title search and insurance
• Home Appraisal fees
• Property tax
• Lender’s fees including loan origination/underwriting fee
• Home inspection
• Private mortgage insurance (if down payment is less than 20%)
• Real Estate Lawyer fees

As you can see, there’s a lot there to pay for, so you don’t want closing costs to sneak up on you.

The most cost effective way to deal with closing costs is to pay them in a lump sum at closing. That’s why budgeting and planning for them is so important!

However, you’ll have the option to roll some closing costs into your monthly mortgage payment. The catch? You’ll pay interest on those costs, just like you would your mortgage. That makes financing the costs more expensive over time.

You can also negotiate with the seller and see if they would take on any closing costs. While it’s not likely in our current market, a motivated seller may be interested.

And just so you know you’re not alone, the seller will also pay some closing costs, usually in the form of commission for the buyer and seller real estate agents who are guiding the transaction. They usually pay a percentage of the home’s purchase price to the buyer and seller agents.

Now that you know all about closing costs, you can prepare for them. If you have any questions about closing costs or about how to budget for them, just send me a message and I can help.

When you’re getting ready to sell your home, you’re always on the lookout for ways to increase your home’s value and get more money in your pocket. There’s the old standbys, of course, like the kitchen remodel, updating the backyard, redoing the bathrooms.

But there’s one quick fix that can seriously boost your home’s value: paint! A recent study by Zillow found that buyers were willing to offer $5,000 more when a home was painted certain colours.

It seems so simple, but paint can really change the feeling of your entire home. Just imagine repainting a bright red kitchen with a cool grey. It would make the room feel totally different with just one change. And the best part? Painting a room is fast and inexpensive compared to other renovations.

Here’s how you can get the most bang for your buck by painting your home.

• Avoid bright colours. Not only do many buyers dislike bright colours, it can also really date your property. If you can think back to when your paint colours were in style and trendy, it’s probably time to repaint.
• Stick to calming colours in the bathroom and bedroom. Buyers love light blue bathrooms and moody, dark blue bedrooms according to Zillow’s study.
• Keep it neutral, especially in the kitchen and living room. We all know how fickle trends are, but you really can’t go wrong with a fresh neutral. Right now, buyers are loving a modern crisp white or cool grey.

When repainting your space to bring in the most value, keep your palette to cool, timeless colours that lean more towards classic than trendy. These colours will appeal to the most buyers and make it easy for people to picture themselves in the home.

Want my opinion on how to boost your home’s value? Send me a message and let’s set up a time to chat!

Whether you’re building a new house or remodelling your current property, you want to make sure it appeals to potential buyers. 

But all the trends can be confusing, and sometimes it seems like they change overnight. Here are some of the top features that experts recommend working into your property to get buyers really excited. 

Energy Efficient Upgrades
Buyers are becoming more and more climate aware. Add that to ever-increasing utility prices, and you’ll find that buyers go crazy for energy efficient upgrades in homes. Focus on the bones: good windows and insulation, and then add in new energy-efficient appliances and LED lights. Solar panels will get major bonus points for buyers into sustainability and resilience.

Flexible Home Office Spaces
Working from home or hybrid office situations have turned permanent for many people. That’s why more buyers are looking for homes with home office spaces. For the best investment, keep the space flexible so it can be used for something other than an office too. For example, it could turn into a bedroom or den.

Home Gym Areas
Just like the office, people are liking their at-home workouts. You can cater to this need by creating a space for that Peloton or weights machine that isn’t in a bedroom or living area.

Functional Backyard
It used to be that you’d lay down some sod in the backyard and buyers would be happy, but that’s not always the case now. Buyers today are looking for backyards that they can really live in. That means a nice patio or deck, landscaping, and a fence to keep things safe for kids and pets. Veggie gardens, pools, and outdoor kitchens will also increase the property’s value in the eyes of buyers.

Even with just a few of these features, your property is sure to stand out to buyers. And the biggest bonus is that each of these will stand the test of time.

After you buy your home, it’s easy to get excited about renovating rooms and putting your unique spin on the design of your home. You can imagine the results of renovating your home with a gorgeous new kitchen, the perfect family room, and the beautiful bathroom just waiting for a bubble bath. But then comes the question: where to start?

There’s an easy trick you can use to decide which room to renovate first. Simply choose the renovation that will get you the most return on investment (aka the most bang for your buck).

Renovations are often expensive, and although they add value to your home, you won’t necessarily make all of that money back when you sell the home.

For example, if you spend $20,000 on a backyard reno, you may only make back $15,000 of that when you sell. As a result, your return on investment or ROI is $15,000 or 75%.

Typically, kitchen renovations will score the most ROI because a beautiful kitchen will sell a home. Bathrooms come in second. By focusing on the ROI of your renovations, you’ll make smart money choices that will help your house sell for more. You’ll instantly boost the value of your home when you do the biggest ROI renos first.

But if your home already has a decent kitchen and/or bathrooms, you can look at the commonly used areas: living room, family room, and bedrooms. And if you live in a place where the backyard doubles as another room, consider the backyard as well.

But hey, if there’s a room you just can’t wait to get started on, go with that one first!

Your real estate agent should be able to help you get an idea of which room renovation will up the value of your home the most. As always, I’m happy to give you my opinion on which reno will be best for you—whether you just moved in or you’re getting ready to sell.

Just contact me whenever you’re ready to choose which room to renovate first.

We talk a lot about the financial benefits of homeownership because there are just so many of them. But owning a home has way more benefits than just financial.

1. You can have pets! Gone are the days of paying ridiculous pet rent or sneaking your dog out the door when the landlord comes to visit. When you own your house, you make the rules. And if you want to have the most pet-friendly property around, you can!
2. You have the freedom to express your own style. There’s nothing worse than coming up with the perfect design for a room, only to remember that you’re renting and your landlord won’t let you do anything with the bare white walls, lest your deposit disappear. Owning your own house means you can paint, wallpaper, replace fixtures, and renovate as much as you want. Only your own ideas are the limit.
3. You’ll have more privacy and security. Not that it isn’t great getting woken up by your upstairs neighbor at 4 am because they just have to move the furniture, but… it could be better, right? There’s something about knowing you’re safe and secure in your home and have privacy that makes it so much easier to sleep at night.
4. You’ll feel settled in the community. When you buy a home, you become a part of the neighborhood fabric. You’ll get to know your neighbors, attend neighborhood events, and start to build those relationships that can really make life enjoyable. And, it’s always nice to know you can pop over to someone’s house for a cup of sugar.

I could go on and on about the benefits of becoming a homeowner, but you get the picture. Basically, owning a home has the potential to improve so many facets of your life—from your finances to your home life to your creativity to your relationships.

If you’re ready to start feeling the benefits of owning a home, just contact me anytime

When it comes to building your wealth, there are few investments as good as real estate. When you buy a house, you boost your net worth considerably. In fact, in 2016, the average homeowner had a median net worth of $231,400. Renters on the other hand had a net worth of only $5,200, according to the Federal Reserve.

That’s a HUGE difference in net worth—we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. And I don’t know about you, but I would much rather have a bigger net worth.

But can renters build just as much net worth as homeowners? The short answer is yes, in some cases. The long answer is a bit more complicated.

First, to build wealth as a renter, you have to find a place to rent that’s WAY cheaper than owning a house would be. If you can’t find super cheap rent, you won’t be able to build as much wealth as a homeowner.

You then have to put all the money you would have spent on a home into the stock market, which is often volatile and requires long periods of time to get consistent returns.

So, if you want to be a lifetime renter, then go ahead. But make sure you’re investing the money you would have spent on a home in smart stocks.

No spending extra on vacations or Starbs. You have to be ruthless with your spending to make up for not owning real estate.

But of course, even if you do go this route, you’re still paying housing costs that go straight to your landlord—which is money that could be going into building wealth.

And wouldn’t it make more sense to put that money somewhere you can actually use it? Like, say. A house? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: real estate is truly one of the best investments out there. You’re going to have to pay for housing regardless, right? Might as well turn it into a wealth-building machine.

If you’re ready to build your wealth with real estate, just contact me and I’ll get you started!