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Should your house be staged before you sell?

January 16, 2012 By 6 Comments

To Stage or Not to Stage – that is the question!
by Sveta Melchuk

Updated from the Home Staging archives. Originally published on Jun 18th 2007.

Staging a Home for sale will cost you money. Is it worth spending time and effort on it? After all, once the decision to sell has been made, you just want to get it over with as fast as possible, right?

First, did you determine the «right» price for your house? It should be based on certain objective criteria, such as the location of the property, sale price of comparable homes in your neighbourhood and today’s market conditions. But don’t forget the desirability factor…
While you can’t control some of the other criteria, you definitely have a say in the way your property looks, feels and is perceived by prospective buyers. Increase the visual/emotional value of your property and you will increase its desirability, therefore the price and the urgency to buy it from potential buyers. Why? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home Staging, Popular, Selling Real Estate Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Would you like to rent your property for more money?

December 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Posted by:  Sveta Melchuk. Founder of Home Staging Montreal

Professional staging/decorating for rental of a condo or an apartment is becoming more and more in demand. If you are looking for executive rental income for your unit, the property has to be presented accordingly.

Some of the apartments are quite new and others require some cosmetic renovations before decorating for rental. Some clients need help with managing the total project from beginning to end and taking care of things such as:

  • Make the list of what needs to be updated
  • Purchase all the materials, tiles, light fixtures, etc.
  • Provide renovation team to do the work
  • Provide cleaning team
  • Purchase all furniture
  • Purchase all accessories
  • Purchase linens, towels, even dishes if required
  • Decorate the apartment for rental

Decorating for rental involves some clever and creative thinking. We want it to look nice but we don’t want to spend a lot. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home Staging Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Review: Tools for Work – Epson WorkForce 845

December 8, 2011 By 5 Comments

An Epson rep sent me an email a few weeks back asking me if I would like to have a free printer in exchange of a review. Not a bad deal, I thought, I get to test drive (and keep) one of their latest model and write about it at the same time. Which it kinda takes care of two things at once, since:

  1. My other printer is about 3 years old. – Still good, just a little *on the slow side*, due to old age.
    And
  2. I need to create blog content.

So, it seems like a win-win situation

I just took it out of the box and thought it would take me a while to set it all up. Alas it did not. It took me merely 6 minutes to get the whole thing running. Yes, I timed it.

And here are my thoughts about it: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology & Real Estate Tagged With: ,

Property Hunting: Diligence is The Key to Your New Home

March 19, 2009 By 3 Comments

Even when the numbers from the last couple of months show otherwise, the sales in March are increasing. I’m not saying this because I have access to the stats (yet), but because I’ve been extremely busy working with buyers, visiting properties and trying to make offers. Yes, trying.
Let me explain: By the time the visit’s over and we’re deciding on the purchase price, I get a call from the listing agent saying: “Just to inform you, we have just received an offer on this property”.

Bummer. And then they say we’re in a slow market.

On many occasions, even before getting to see the place, we are notified that the property is already under negotiation, thus a visit isn’t possible until we know the outcome of the offer.

I have to admit, I am not the pushy type. All my clients receive their listings and a little walk-though the description sheet, with the advice to: “Look it over and let me know when you’re available to visit”
But because of the demand and the fact that a lot of properties are getting sold-pretty fast, my new motto is:

If the property meets your requirements, if you like the images, and if it has the WOW effect on you, don’t waste any time: Make yourself available to visit it ASAP.

If after the visit, you are still in love with the property, don’t hesitate to make a conditional offer. There have been times where a buyer takes a few (too many) days to think it over, and while they’re meditating on it, another more decisive buyer comes along with an offer that will leave everyone else out.

Get all your questions clarified before making an offer: Average sold price, conditions to include, etc. And after that: Be diligent. Be decisive.

It will be very sad to see your dream home going to another person.

Filed Under: Buying Real Estate, First Time Buyer Tagged With: , ,

A better way to get your daily news

March 2, 2009 By 4 Comments

I noticed a large amount of our new readers are subscribing by email. While this is the most common way to receive updates from websites, it has its disadvantages. Let me explain: If you subscribe to a blog or a news site that publishes several articles a day/week, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed with an inbox full of unread articles, and racing to keep up with the new content. (Too much information, too little time). Most likely you’ll end up deleting unread mail, and finally unsubscribing from the site.

The good news: There’s a better way to get yours latest articles delivered to you without having to fill up your inbox.

Here is a little video explaining RSS in Plain English.


You’ve probably seen the RSS sign on the top of the blog’s column (the orange button). You’ve seen the icon on mainstream sites, major newspaper’s online are now aware of this way of sharing information and have implemented it. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.Other feeds like this ones will be Atom, but let’s stick to the basics for now :)

Personally, I get all my news from different online journals plus all my favorite blogs using the RSS reader. It saves me tons of time, and it’s quite simple to do. The first time I used an RSS reader was through my Google account, they have a nifty little Blog reader you can add to your personalized Google homepage. Although there are a lot of feed readers out there, (and I’ve tried a few) my favorite one right now is NetNewsWire, which is the Mac version of NewsGator (windows). There is an online version or the desktop software (where you can go offline after you retrieve all news), they are both free. If you want, give it a try and let me know what you think!

Already using RSS reader? Let us know what’s your favorite one in the comments box.

Filed Under: Technology & Real Estate Tagged With:

Who pays the buyer’s agent?

December 14, 2008 By 18 Comments

If you are in the market to buy a home for the first time, and never have used the services of an agent who represents buyers, it’s important for you to know that this service is free.

One of the most common questions from first time buyers is:
How much does a buying agent (or agent representing the buyer) charge in commission?

The answer will be: Zero.

The buyer’s agent (representing the buyer) works in collaboration with the listing agent (who represents the seller). The Listing agent will share the commission with the buyer’s agent if a sale takes place between the two parties.

This is how it works:

Mr seller decides to list their property with agent X (Listing agent). They write up an agreement (brokerage contract) in which, the asking price, description of the immovable, length of the contract (etc, etc, etc) and the service fee (commission) is set.

If a successful sale was made from a buyer brought by a collaborating agent, the commission will be shared.

So, who pays the buyer’s agent? The seller does.
It’s the seller who signs the contract, agreeing to pay the commission to the listing broker/agent, and (when applicable) shares it with the collaborating agent when a sale is made.

The buyer himself, already has many expenses to cover: down-payment, welcome tax, notary fees, etc. One thing that you don’t have to worry about (as a buyer) is to pay for the extra expense of an agent representing you. It’s free

Filed Under: Buying Real Estate, Featured, First Time Buyer, Popular Tagged With: ,

Buying a New Condo: The Pros and Cons

April 29, 2008 By 2 Comments

You can buy a new condo from the developer before or during its construction and also before the condo corporation is formed. A developer may have some unsold units available after the condominium has been completed and registered.

In some markets, the developer may wait to sell a large percentage of the units before registering the condo corporation or even starting construction, in the latter case it’s what we refers as: Pre-sale phase.

Keep in mind that a deposit is required to secure or reserve a condo unit in a new development.

Buying a new condo. The Good Side:

  • The purchase price could be lower than resale market (used) condos. Especially in pre-sale phase of the construction.
  • Your property will gain value; from the time you purchase the pre-sale unit to the time that it’s delivered. This, of course, it’s subject to the current market conditions.
  • New home warranty protection. (Up to five years)
  • You have more choice of locations within the building; floor level, different views, etc.
  • Customized design (in some cases); more options and upgrades to choose from, such as: material, color of the floors/ cupboards, etc.
  • Newer buildings have less risk of having to undergo costly repairs and renovations.

Buying a new condo. The Bad Side:

  • If the constructions have not started, you cannot physically see what you are buying and have to rely on floor plans and sketches that are subject to change.
  • Your initial deposit will be locked up for the duration of construction
  • The construction may not be completed by the expected date. The delivery date can be later than originally agreed.
  • It’s possible that you may move into your unit while construction continues in others: it could be noisy.
  • Taxes. New constructions have to pay GST and QST. (Not the same as the Welcome tax ) The good news for first time buyers: you might be eligible for a housing rebate.

Basically it comes down to this:

If you’re not in a rush to move in, then a new condo might be a good choice. New construction can be unpredictable when it comes to delivery dates, some do deliver in time, others can take a few months more than speculated. For buyers who don’t want to do renovations themselves; a new condo construction offers you a “key in hand”, no headaches type of solution. All you have to worry about is decorating to your own taste.
Apart from the above mentioned facts, there are also several government refunds for those who purchase in Eco-Friendly Projects.

So there you have it. The choice is yours.

Need more info before buying? Subscribe to the Montreal Real Estate Blog

Filed Under: Buying Real Estate, First Time Buyer Tagged With: , , ,
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