Wayne Cochrane's Real Estate Insider-November 2013

INSIDER WAYNE COCHRANE’S

November 2013

Your Neighbourhood Real Estate Professional

Wayne Cochrane...www.mooving.ca

Inside this Issue:

Home Organization & Using Self-Storage Spaces

Can Color Help Sell Your Home?

Worst Time of the Year May Be the Best For Buyers

Remodeling Projects that Add Value to Your Home

How Much Home Should You Buy?

Design Tips that Light Up the Room

212 Voyageur

Way

$549,800

Waterfront!

Though self-storage is typically used for storing things you can no longer afford to keep in your home, storage units can be used for more than just a place to stack your old boxes. The beauty of having your own unit is that you have the freedom to do what you want with it. Some storage facilities can even serve as weekend soup kitchens, business stowage, exhibitions, and much more. Other facilities like Storage Post can also help with hosting projects such as community events or canned food drive

For the fellow -mothers out there, storage can be something that drastically reorganizes your life. Regardless of the space you live in, having things in their proper place gives you an opportunity to declutter your living space and your mind. Personally, my head tends to be clearer when I know where belongings are safely located. Many of my stored items are seasonal, like winter sweaters or holiday decorations, as well as furniture that I simply do not have the space for. Whether you consider storage for seasonal items, as an outlet to ease your mind, or neither, there are a plethora of uses for it – and it's not going anywhere any time soon.

From obscure to original to downright awkward, here's a quick list of a few other things your self-storage unit may be good for, whoever you are or wherever you live!

Drink in the Good Life

One of the big advantages of an indoor storage facility over a shed or garage is that it is often climate controlled. The interior is maintained at the ideal temperature and humidity to preserve valuable documents, furs, and more. These conditions also are perfect for the storage of most fine wines. If you are a wine lover without space for a cellar at home, you can easily add racks to a self-storage unit. The security of the self-storage space also makes sure your prized pinot noir does not end up in the glass of an underage oenophile.

The Man Cave

It is a story told over and over again: a guy gets his space just the way he wants it, and circumstances beyond his control force him to man up and relinquish it. If your cave has been transformed into a nursery or home office, adding shelves may be your best bet. If not, storage may be something you must resort to. All you need to do is move your big screen, mini fridge, and recliner into the unit. There may even be enough room for a new putting practice area.

Broadcast Yourself

It seems that everyone is living online today. If you are serious about being the next straight-to-web star, a self-storage space could be the

Home Organization & Using Self-Storage Spaces Written by The Realty Times Staff

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studio you need. You can create and record your latest episode in the unit, or you can go live with Wi-Fi technology. Internet radio personalities can add removable sound proofing to the walls. You can hang a backdrop to give your broadcast a more professional or exotic look as well. Self-storage can be the ideal choice for not only band practice, but for new businesses, too!

DIY Art Show

Aspiring artists often have a difficult time finding a place to show their works to the public. With a few adjustments, a self-storage unit can become a miniature art gallery. You can set up room dividers to create additional wall space for canvases. Additional lighting may be needed to show your work to its best advantage.However you decide to use your self-storage unit, make sure you follow the guidelines for the site. Also, remember to be a thoughtful neighbor and to turn off the lights when you leave. Though storage units have been commonly known to store old belongings, furniture or even larger items like cars, motorcycles, or boats, there are ways to use a storage unit as something more than just another empty space.

Witten By Realty Times Staff

Yes! Just like curb appeal matters, the colors of your home can and will influence buyers. With that in mind, we explore which colors tend to appeal to the masses.

The color scheme of your home, from the outside in, sets the tone. It's like going to see a theatre play and seeing an intricately crafted and appropriately painted set for the production. It can immediately intrigue you–before the play has begun and even if you know few details about the play.

When it comes to color, be sure to consider the location. A peach-pink home in a retirement community might be okay, but that same color in an upscale, urban city may be unappealing to younger city dwellers.

The outside of your home is one of the largest areas potential buyers will see. So make your decision carefully and be sure to have a professional paint job done. If you choose white for the exterior, your home is likely to appeal to the masses, according to one study that indicated upwards of 40 percent of people liked white homes.

The great thing about a white home is you have plenty of options to make the home stand out by using an

accent color for the trim. The downside is that white gets dirty very fast and shows it more than other colors. So before you list your home, make sure that you have a fresh coat of paint applied or pressure wash the exterior to bring back that newly painted look.

Also take into consideration the color of other homes on the block. Typically, white will not look out of place. However, if you had a purple home on a block where the homes are mostly beige and neutral colors, you'll get noticed but won't likely get the kind of attention you want.

Beige with neutral-colored trim is another popular color scheme. Both beige and white are safe exterior colors. They don't turn buyers off.

There's also been a trend to paint just the front door a deep, rich color like red. This may not be appealing to all. However, buyers would tend to overlook it because it's a simple change as well as one that can easily and cheaply be changed to the new buyer's choice. As long as the colors look good together, this wouldn't necessarily turn buyers away.

The paint inside your home is equally important. In fact, one good tip for sellers is that if they can do nothing

Can Color Help Sell Your Home? Written by Phoebe Chungchua

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WAYNE COCHRANE’S REAL ESTATE INSIDER

else, they should get some fresh paint up on the walls. The new paint helps showcase the home and gives it a new-home feel.

There are a wide variety of interior colors. Don't feel like you have to go with only beige. You can be a little more daring, using bold accent colors. Just make sure the paint colors you choose don't give a dark, closed-in feeling. Aim to create comfort, a sense of calmness, relaxation, and a place where family can unwind. Earth-tone colors convey this very well.

For a more chic and sophisticated look, interior designers often choose from the grey palette. A dark grey color can create a bold statement and attract the eye to a particular area.

Whatever colors you choose, remember that your aim is to appeal to the masses. Test the colors out first. Get opinions from the experts.

Your real estate agent has likely been in hundreds of homes and can offer you some very good guidance.

Written By Phoebe Chungchua

Worst Time of the Year May Be the Best For Buyers Written By Blanche Evans

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Why is the worst time of the year, often the best time for real estate buyers?

The holiday season and the following "worst weather" months are widely considered the worst time of the year for selling or buying real estate. In reality, these distraction-packed months - November to February - carry benefits for determined buyers.

Join the "herd" of buyers who are active during traditional "good weather" home shopping months - starting with the spring frenzy of home buying - and this competition for properties can mean buyers pay more, lose out on good-value listings, and receive less attention from swamped real estate and mortgage professionals.

Get outside the traditional "box" of right times to buy and you'll deal with sellers who are very committed to selling, real estate and mortgage professionals able to give you their full attention, and less competition for good-value listings. This lack of competition should mean you get more for your money with less hassle, more personalized service from real estate and mortgage professionals, and time to make confident decisions.

Yes, tradition may dictate that you put your dreams and your life on hold to spend and eat too much over the holiday season, and then cut corners when bills come in during the winter. However, "we've always done it that way" tradition does not mean we've ever done it the right way. What priority do you give your real estate goals and dreams? Is it time for you to break from the buyer "herd" and make sure you receive the best buying opportunity possible?

The key advantage of shopping for a home during "the worst times" is that sellers who have listed their property during these periods are serious,

often very serious, about selling. Motivated sellers understand why they benefit from taking offers to purchase seriously and take the time to explore how they may be able to work with the buyers. As we've discussed before, it's about a lot more than purchase price. For instance, offering to match the seller's perfect closing date can carry considerable value for the seller just as not asking for a huge shopping list of inclusions means savings for sellers.

There's a practical side, too. Viewing property at "the worst time" can tell you a lot about what you can really expect from a property:

Visit a house during a hard rain and you'll see how well the eavestrough system does its job. No overflowing gutters, waterfalls at corners, or soaked exterior walls. There should not be exterior water damage or water in the basement (at least from that source). Observe how the rain water flows off the land. Does it collect around the house or move to the street? Pooling may indicate a potential basement problem. The longer water problems from poor maintenance continue, the greater the cost of repairing the damage. Paint may camouflage the trouble, but the problem will persist.

Drive by houses after a fresh snowfall and you'll discover which are well insulated (snow on roof) and which are losing heat (melted snow).

Tour a house on a very windy day and drafts, insufficient insulation, and poorly-sealed windows and doors will be revealed.

Spend time in a house on a cold day and study how well the furnace heats the whole house. When a furnace is replaced, the duct work is not always adapted. Is it noticeably colder in the back rooms? How's the second floor and the bathrooms?

During the holiday season when parties and cooking are popular pastimes tour condominium units and you'll see how far noise and smells travel in the building and into the suite or townhome you're considering.

Ask an experienced real estate professional for their "best things" about "worst times".

Are you ready to turn "the worst times for home buying" into the best time for your successful real estate transaction?

Onward & Upward - the directions that really matter!

Written by Blanche Evans

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Remodeling Projects that Add Value to Your Home Written by Phoebe Chunghua

Selling your home for more money is always top importance for sellers. However, sometimes they don't know how to add value to their home. Not all remodeling and maintenance projects increase the value of your home. Some may not even provide equal return on investment, at least not initially. Think solar. That may take a while to recoup the expense of the installation.

The following are remodeling and maintenance projects that tend to increase not only the value of your home but also its mass appeal to buyers.

Updating electrical and plumbing

Bathroom remodel

Kitchen remodel

Painting

Outside maintenance

When you think about what buyers are looking for, it's easy to understand why improving these areas would bring increased value. Moving into a home that has major, or even minor, electrical and plumbing issues can be a real headache. Electricity and plumbing are two major necessary conveniences in the home. When they're malfunctioning it's often not only time consuming to fix but possibly costly.

Take time to note the areas of your home that have electrical and plumbing issues. It may just be a

minor issue such as an electrical outlet needs fixing. If that's the case, fix it before you have buyers coming through your home.

During home inspections, many things are noted. Then the buyer studies that report and often wants to have the seller fix the issues and/or take money off the sale price. Be a step ahead by taking care of the issues you know are problems. Better to cross them off the list rather than wait for the buyer to discover them and add them to their list of reasons the home should have a lower price.

Bathroom remodels are projects that are often long overdue. Expanding a tiny bathroom, updating hardware or painting cabinets can help make your house more appealing to a prospective buyer. Any needed maintenance must be taken care of. Be sure there is no mold behind the shower walls, no leaky faucets or toilets, no broken tiles...things that you would not accept in a house you were looking to buy. The time and money you spend will be worth it!

And, if you're planning to stay in your home for a few years, then giving some thought to a bathroom renovation might be to your benefit. That way you can enjoy it for the time that you remain in the home and then recoup the expense when you do decide to sell. Be careful not to go for extreme trendy materials and patterns that will give the bathroom a dated look in the years to come.

Kitchen remodel: This is attractive to nearly everyone, even those who don't cook! There's something really

appealing about a beautifully remodeled kitchen. Again, remodeling an entire kitchen and then immediately selling isn't in the budget for most sellers.

But simple things can help like new paint on the kitchen walls and throughout the house. It can brighten and freshen up even a very old home. Resurfacing the cabinets or giving them a good cleaning can also make a big difference. Clearing clutter from the shelves, cabinets, inside the pantry and refrigerator will help make the kitchen feel cleaner and look bigger.

Outside maintenance is one of those areas that is a must- do. Why? Because it's outside and it's often the largest and first area buyers see. Yes, curb appeal matters. If your home doesn't look inviting from the outside, chances are, no matter how cute it is on the inside, buyers won't look at it. Call it unfair, but that's the way it goes. First impressions count. So, make your home as charming as possible from the outside in.

Written by Phoebe Chongchua

To buy the home that's right for you and your household, you may already have a dream home in mind. Then comes "what if we had a...?" Reality sets in - you've got McMansion tastes on a starter home budget.

That's when it's time to face the question - how much home do you really need?

Nearly every buyer compromises on something. Maybe you get a fixer upper instead of a new home. Or, you buy a smaller home in a more expensive neighborhood. Or, you get a larger home in a suburb and compromise on the commute.

Here's a better way to set your shopping parameters. Ask yourself these questions:

How long will you likely live in the home?

How large is your household? Is it likely to grow?

Where do you want to live - near work, near family, in a certain school district?

You should have a fairly good idea of the number of bedrooms, baths and living areas you want as well as other features you want your home to have. But the trick with buying a home is getting as much as you can on your wish list without becoming "house poor."

House poor means you can afford your house payments but you can't afford to do much else. That's why you should begin your search for a home with learning what you can comfortably afford.

Lenders have a conforming loan standard that they use as a benchmark for prequalifying you as a borrower. To

qualify you, lenders use two ratios - income to mortgage debt, and income to total debt.

To qualify for a 30-year fixed rate conforming loan that is federally insured, your income to mortgage debt can be no higher than 29% of your gross annual income, and your debts plus mortgage payment can be no higher than 41% of your gross monthly income, according to FHA.com.

That means that if you make $3000 gross income per month, under a conforming loan standard, your house payment (principal, interest, insurance and taxes) should be no larger than $870.00.

If you're carrying credit card debt, student loans, or pay child support, the monthly debt service must be accounted for. To get the income- to-debt ratio, multiply your monthly income by 41%. If you make $3000, your total debt including your house payment can be no larger than $1,230.00. That means to qualify for a $870.00 house payment, your debt service can be no higher than $360 per month.

This formula is time-tested, and it's designed to help you minimize the risk of home buying by making sure you can afford your payments over time.

Once you know how much home you can afford, you'll find it much easier to decide how much home you really need, keeping in mind whether you'll need more space for the future. Having a price in mind will quickly sort out which neighborhoods are affordable, which homes are most suitable and most likely to serve your needs.

Written By Blanche Evans

How Much Home Should You Buy? By Blanche Evans

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NOVEMBER ISSUE

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What's hot in home decor? Festivals like the London Design Festival shed some light on the latest trends.

Among popular lighting looks this year is a totem-style floor lamp that has an electrical cord running up the center spine. Pulled taut and wrapped around the base of the lamp, the cable holds Ed Swan's "The Fine Line" light in place and upright. When let loose, the floor lamp can be disassembled or moved into different positions.

The Trinity Shades by Woodstar showcase the regenerative aspects of wood. These lights were created from wood that was molded into a Bali-style hanging shade providing light and drawing attention to the interesting design.These environmentally conscious shades were shaped into curved, circular, and spherical forms.

Designers created streams of light that were both powerful and mood-intensifying at the festival. But whether you're using the creative and popular designs from a festival or finding your own pieces to add to your home, lighting should do more than light up a room. It should help set the tone of the space and draw together the entire contents of your home.

Here are some lighting trends and tips for a few areas of the home.

Bathroom. This is an important area to have excellent lighting for obvious reasons. We spend ample time in the bathroom performing tasks that require good lighting. Women apply make up and men shave their faces. So enough light is critical. However, lights with dimmers or the ability to turn down the lights is an equally important feature because having the ability to create a serene and peaceful space for a hot bath, for example, is very desirable. Overhead lighting and additional wall sconces can help achieve this look.

Bedroom. Sometimes homes are built without any overhead lighting in the bedroom. This can make your room dark and dreary. Installing a ceiling fan with lights is a great way to light up the room and also have a better way to circulate air. Couple that with nightstand lights, placed near the bed but not aimed at the bed will provide a "time-to-settle-in-for-the-night" tone. Wall sconces flanked on either side of the bed can also act as reading lights.

Kitchen. Go bright and bold with light. This is another area of the home that sometimes doesn't have enough light. Yet, lighting in the kitchen is crucial; just ask any chef who's dicing vegetables with a sharp knife! Overhead lighting is a must; however, under- the-cabinet lighting can be a big advantage too. It gets the light right on the countertops and allows you to have a well-lit space to prepare your meals. When you're selling your home, turn these under-the-cabinet lights on and showcase a few simple displays, such as a glass bowl of fruit, on your countertop.

Lighting should be decor that is thoughtfully placed in a room not just an afterthought. It can make a room look cheap, elegantly decorated, or even dreary, depending on the style of lights, the placement, and the bulbs and the amount of light used. So light up your life and your home with a style that creates continuity and harmony.

Written by Phoebe Chongchua

Design Tips that Light Up the Room By Phoebe Chungchua

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WAYNE COCHRANE’S REAL ESTATE INSIDER

WAYNE COCHRANE’S REAL ESTATE INSIDER

Note: This is not intended to solicit clients currently under contract.

The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA.

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Wayne Cochrane Real Estate Professional

902-830-4761 [email protected]

More homes listed and sold by Wayne - view these homes at:

www.moov i n g . c a

unless noted otherwise

List Today and EXIT Tomorrow!

68 Gallery Crescent

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741 Voyageur Way 250 Glen Arbour Way

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Kingswood

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