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Archive for the ‘Planning’ Category

Top ten tips to getting the best price for your home

Friday, May 20th, 2011 by Dan Cooper

Dan Cooper For Sale Sign

Spring is upon us and the housing market is set to enter its busiest time of the year. With winter a mere memory and lots of sunshine on the way, many potential homebuyers will be out and about looking for the perfect home to suit their needs and budget. If you’re preparing to put your home on the market this spring, there are a number of things you can do to erase signs of winter wear and improve your home’s appeal.

Whether you’re in a buyer’s market or seller’s market, simple, cost-effective improvements like applying a fresh coat of paint to your home’s interior or exterior can transform your home and help attract greater interest from potential buyers. Large-scale improvements like renovations can also enhance a home’s appeal while some houses might require repairs after a long and harsh Canadian winter.

To make sure your home is not only sale-ready but fetches the highest possible price, Royal LePage has compiled a list of top 10 tips for selling your home this spring:

Create curb appeal – First impressions count! Get rid of any debris that winter left behind, edge your gardens and add creative arrangements to your front porch.
A fresh coat of paint goes a long way – Refresh the interior and exterior of your home by painting your walls, front door, garage, shed and fence.
Clean, clean, clean! – Nothing will turn a potential buyer away quicker than a dirty home. Be sure to scrub your floors and wash your windows.
Inspect your exterior – Have a professional check your property for any damage to your roof, shutters or siding caused by winter wear.
Are renovations required? – An updated kitchen or bathroom might boost your home’s appeal as well as the value of your home.
Engage the senses – Create a welcoming scent for potential buyers by lighting a few scented candles or placing fresh flowers throughout your home.
Turn your backyard into an outdoor oasis – Update your patio furniture to create a relaxing outdoor environment.
Reseal your driveway – This will remove any wear and tear and keep your driveway looking new.
Depersonalize your home – Potential buyers want to picture themselves in your home. Remove family photos and diplomas.
Rid your home of unwanted clutter – Donate gently used items to many of the good causes that offer collections in your area.

If you are looking to buy a home, make it a point to regularly check the listings on dancooper.com or visit my innovative dancoopertv.com for virtual tours, client testimonials and some interesting pieces of colour about our great community.

Dan Cooper is an award-winning broker with Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage – the #1 Royal LePage Team for Canada in 2009. He can be reached at 905.338.3737, direct line at 905.849.3303 or through his innovative and interactive website at DanCooper.com. Be sure to catch the Dan Cooper Real Estate Series on DailyWebTV.com. For his free booklet How To Sell Your House For Top Dollar – Fast! or his Guide to Oakville Real Estate, please call The Dan Cooper Team.

Posted in Planning, Selling, Staging | No Comments »

The proper lighting can add ambience and value to your home

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 by Dan Cooper

Lighting Ambience

I have made many great connections with businesses in the Oakville and Burlington areas; associations that have provided additional help for my clients who are selling or buying a home. My connections include mortgage brokers, real estate lawyers, home inspectors, stagers, florists, galleries and the list goes on and on.

Clients who are selling have been able to increase the value of their home by making modest and cost-effective upgrades that make their properties more attractive and more appealing to a wide audience of buyers. For the buyer, moving into a home is exciting and creating your own personal style is all part of the experience.

Lighting plays such an important role in the appearance of your home. Perhaps you need some additional ambience lighting to create a mood to sell, or maybe you want to replace the existing fixtures in your new home with something that is more your style.
An important connection and a very good friend is Don Parans, owner of Concept Lighting Galleries. This is not your average lighting store. I have known Don for many years and I can tell you firsthand that his staff (designers) are obsessed with service. Whether you have trouble making a design decision or if it’s a question of installation, they can help.

“To ensure that our store has broad appeal, we have selected pieces from more than 30 different suppliers,” Don says. “If your taste is contemporary, traditional or the latest trend to transitional, we have it all. We also have an outstanding assortment of larger pieces to suit the scale which is required in today’s new homes where 9 or 10 foot ceilings, great rooms and grand foyers are common.”

Updating your lighting fixtures can dramatically change the way your home looks without costly home decorating or remodelling. The experts at Concept Lighting suggest that when choosing several lighting fixtures for a room, check for available fixtures from the same collection, to match the overall look. You can make a room seem larger by washing its walls with even lighting. In a large room, lighting up a few areas with pools of light can make the room feel smaller and cozier.

Here are some tips when calculating the light needed for each room. The formula is:
• multiply the length times the width of the room (in feet). Then, multiply that number times 1.5. This number gives you the amount of wattage needed to light the room properly for general illumination. • For task lighting in areas where stronger light is needed (such as a kitchen island), multiply the area’s square footage by 2.5 rather than 1.5 to find the needed wattage.

This is just a sampling of the help you can find at Concept Lighting. For more information visit their website www.conceptlighting.ca or drop into their store and tell them Dan sent you.

Dan Cooper is an award-winning Broker with Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage – the Number 1 Royal LePage Team for Canada in 2009. He can be reached at 905.338.3737, direct line at 905.849.3303 or through his innovative and interactive website at DanCooper.com. Be sure to catch the Dan Cooper Real Estate Series on DailyWebTV.com. For his free booklet How To Sell Your House For Top Dollar – Fast! or his Guide to Oakville Real Estate, please call The Dan Cooper Team.

Posted in Buying, Concept Lighting Galleries, Lighting, Planning, Real Estate, Staging | No Comments »

How the latest changes to the mortgage rules will impact you

Monday, January 31st, 2011 by Dan Cooper

Recently Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced changes to Canada’s mortgage rules. He reduced the maximum amortization period, lowered the amount Canadians can borrow in refinancing their mortgages and withdrew government insurance backing on lines of credit secured by homes.

The maximum amortization period was shortened to 30 years from 35 and the maximum homeowners can borrow in refinancing mortgages was reduced to 85 percent from 90 percent. He said he had to take this action to save Canadians from financial risk. He said he was not concerned about Canada’s mortgage default rate, but rather about those who are borrowing as much as possible.

“We’re seeing people borrow to the max, and borrowing to the max at low interest rates. Most Canadians are doing that,” he says. Home equity lines of credit and loans have surged in Canada, rising at almost twice the pace of mortgages over the past decade to account for 12 percent of overall debt, according to a BNN report.

CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld referred to the move as putting “Canadians on a debt diet” as household debt levels sit at record levels. “Policy makers now have that credit buildup in their policy gun sights and will use higher rates and regulatory changes to bring spending into better line with income, and mortgage demand,” he wrote recently.

What does this mean for us in the Oakville and Burlington area? Who does it really affect? Most experts see the changes affecting only the extreme margins. Those with amortization between 30 and 35 years represent about 5 to 10 percent – a fairly low percentage in the larger picture.
TD Canada Trust has calculated that the changes might reduce national home sales by 20,000 units and cut 2 percent off the average price of a home. TD also calculated that homeowners who refinanced with less than 15 percent equity represented only a tenth of the total volume. Again, this will only affect the ability of homeowners at the extreme margins to access refinancing,

It is safe to assume these changes will not have a significant impact on the Oakville and Burlington markets where home prices have held their value and household income is among the highest in the country. Being affluent doesn’t mean people don’t become overextended, of course, but not at the proportions perhaps found in other parts of the country, which influences statistics and spurs the government to take action.

Investing wisely and maintaining a sound household budget will ensure Flaherty’s changes will have little impact on your future plans. If you have any questions about those changes and how they impact your decision to sell or your ability to buy, feel free to call The Dan Cooper Team.

Dan Cooper is an award-winning broker with Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage – the Number 1 Royal LePage Team for Canada in 2009. He can be reached at 905.338.3737, direct line at 905.849.3303 or through his innovative and interactive website at DanCooper.com. Be sure to catch the Dan Cooper Real Estate Series on DailyWebTV.com. For his free booklet How To Sell Your House For Top Dollar – Fast! or his Guide to Oakville Real Estate, please call The Dan Cooper Team.

Posted in Burlington Real Estate, Buying, Finances, Interest Rates, Mortgage, Oakville Real Estate, Planning, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Selling | No Comments »

The Top 6 Reasons To List Your Home For Sale Before The Spring Rush

Monday, January 24th, 2011 by Dan Cooper

Dan Cooper For Sale Sign

There is a common misconception that the best time for anyone to sell their home is in the spring. We’ve put together the following information: to show you how you can maximize your return by acting sooner, rather than later.

Reason #1: Less competition. The winter months are traditionally slower times for new listings. April through June usually sees an increase of up to 70% in the number of new homes hitting the market! This means more choice for buyers and more competition for you. The more properties prospective purchasers have to choose from, the less likely they are to submit full price offers. Lower inventory also means a greater likelihood of competing offers, resulting in a higher sales price, and a higher net return on your sale.

Reason #2: Only serious buyers look at this time of year. Winter months have a tendency to weed out the lookers from the serious buyers. People who are ready and willing to move don’t care if there is snow on the ground or that it gets dark early. They have made a decision to move and they want to move now.

Reason #3: Interest rates are predicted to rise in 2011, quarter by quarter over the year. Buyers are anxious to get settled before any possible rate increases occur. Increases in rates decrease the amount of mortgage a family can afford, cutting them out of certain price ranges. Buyers will be looking to maximize their purchasing power early in the year.

Reason #4: Relocation is at its highest at this time of year. Companies are anxious to get new employees settled for the beginning of the year. Statistically, corporate relocations rise by up to 15% from November to March.

Reason #5: Current market stability. Right now, the market is perceived as stable, leading to greater consumer confidence. This is in contrast to many months through late 2009 and early 2010 when the media created a false sense of instability which had caused many buyers and sellers to withdraw from the market.

Reason #6: The perfect gift to yourself – a new home. Start your year off the best possible way – in a new home for yourself and your family. By the time everyone else decides to list their home for sale, you will be moved in to a new comfortable space.

To find out if the time might be right for you to sell, or to see how you can benefit from today’s market conditions, call The Dan Cooper Team.

Dan Cooper is an award-winning broker with Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage – the Number 1 Royal LePage Team for Canada in 2009. He can be reached at 905.338.3737, direct line at 905.849.3303 or through his innovative and interactive website at DanCooper.com. Be sure to catch the Dan Cooper Real Estate Series on DailyWebTV.com. For his free booklet How To Sell Your House For Top Dollar – Fast! or his Guide to Oakville Real Estate, please call The Dan Cooper Team.

Posted in Burlington Real Estate, Interest Rates, Marketing, Mortgage, Oakville Real Estate, Planning, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Selling | No Comments »

Will 2011 be the year to buy a home?

Monday, January 3rd, 2011 by Dan Cooper

2011

From all accounts, this Christmas shopping season was one of the strongest in the past few years as consumers shook off those recession blues and expressed their confidence in the future through their pocketbooks. And while many of you are currently enjoying the deep discounts during the Boxing Week sales, some of you will perhaps be thinking about a new home.

If the retail scene over the past few weeks is an indication that our economy continues to get back on track and that consumers are feeling more secure about the employment picture and confident in their finances, then we can look forward to some good real estate investment opportunities in 2011.

Just to confirm that 2011 promises to be a better year, a recent poll conducted for the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business revealed that Canadian executives are increasingly optimistic about the economy and that they plan to boost capital spending, hire more staff and make acquisitions. In fact, 92 percent think our economy will grow next year, albeit moderately as opposed to strong growth. This optimism is the highest level recorded in the Globe’s annual survey in more than four years. That is good news after the struggles we’ve faced over the past couple of years.

On the housing front, improving economic conditions and stable mortgage rates will help fuel a projected 5-percent increase in house sales next year, according to a recent forecast by Central 1 Credit Union. According to the firm, housing resales have climbed since last July when the introduction of the HST stalled the housing market. The rebound is thanks to low mortgage rates, improved affordability and an improving economy. Central 1 expects sales to continue to grow early in 2011 and to tail off in the second half as mortgage rates rise.

“Mortgage rates will remain well anchored and conducive to housing demand over the forecast horizon. Posted rates in 2011 will range from an average of 5.4 percent in the first quarter to 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter. Rates are projected to rise to a modest 6.5 percent by the fourth quarter of 2012,” the credit union predicts. For those of you who are considering the lower but riskier variable rates, these reflect the Bank of Canada’s policy interest rate, which has been increased three times in 2010 in 25 basis point increments, pushing the rate to 1 percent. The credit union predicts that the next rate hike will most likely be a 25 basis point increase on the Bank’s next rate-setting meeting on April 12. While the credit union says the Bank will resume its rate normalization, it expects the policy rate to reach 2.25 percent by the end of 2011 and then to 2.75 percent or higher by the end of 2012.

Trying to predict future mortgage rates and choosing a mortgage that is right for your circumstances is an important consideration for anyone buying their first home or moving up into a larger home and carrying a mortgage. There are several strategies from fixed to variable mortgages to length of amortization.

For example, selecting the length of your mortgage amortization period will affect how much interest you will pay over the life of your mortgage. While the lending industry’s benchmark is 25 years, there are shorter or longer timeframes available. The popular opinion is that shorter is better – you pay off your home faster and pay less interest over the life of the mortgage. But there are advantages to a longer amortization and next week Lee Anne Taylor of Dominion Lending Centres will outline the pros and cons when choosing an amortization period.

Until then, all of us at The Dan Cooper Team wish you every happiness for this season and throughout the coming year.

Dan Cooper is an award winning Broker with Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage – the Number 1 Royal LePage Team for Canada in 2009. He can be reached at 905.338.3737, direct line at 905.849.3303 or through his innovative and interactive website at DanCooper.com. Be sure to catch the Dan Cooper Real Estate Series on DailyWebTV.com. For his free booklet How To Sell Your House For Top Dollar – Fast! or his Guide to Oakville Real Estate, please call the Dan Cooper Team.

Posted in Buying, Finances, HST, Interest Rates, Mortgage, Planning, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Selling, Statistics | No Comments »