To stage or not to stage?
And if you do stage, do you admit to it? Submitting to this relatively new whim of real estate agents (do you think your parent’s ever staged their home?) somehow implies that the home you’ve been living in quite comfortably isn’t actually good enough for everyone else. The truth of the matter is that we can all learn a little something from professional home stagers. The good news is that many of these things are easy to do and budget-friendly to boot!
Declutter and Get Organized
The number one rule of home staging is to get rid of all clutter. The best way to do that is to have a designated place for everything whether it's file boxes in the office or storage jars in the kitchen. This task can seem daunting (which is why there are probably companies you can hire to do this for you) but if you think of tackling one room per weekend you could have a well organized and clutter-free house by end of summer.
Freshen Up with Paint
Home stagers will tell you that in order to have the best chance of selling your home you should choose neutral paint colours that appeal to a wide spectrum of buyers. I don’t know whether or not I absolutely agree with that but there is no denying that a freshly painted house seems cleaner, brighter and more welcoming. If it's been a few years (or decades!), you might want to consider a touch up. You’ll be amazed at what a difference a little paint can make.
Rearrange Furniture
Oftentimes, all it takes to revitalize your home is a simple reshuffling of the existing furniture. Don’t be surprised if your home stager tells you to move some of your items into storage and distribute what's left around the house. In order to create more space and flow you might want to remove some of the chairs from your dining room and add them to your living space. Conversely, you might take an occasional chair from your living room and place it in the hallway. See what rearranging your own furniture can do for your space.
Add Decorative Touches
The role of a good stylist is to add those small decorative touches that turn a ho-hum space into something intriguing and dynamic. Take a look through your closets and see what accessories you have that could make your place look a little more pulled-together. Look for items that are either all in the same colour palette or the same shape. Repetition is key!
Create Zones
Potential home buyers like to imagine their life in your space. By creating distinct zones of eating, relaxing, studying, playing and working, you allow them to envision a harmonious day-to-day routine in their new digs. Take the time to walk around your house to see if there are any spaces that are not being used to their full potential. Try to think as a stranger -- what would bother you if you weren't already totally used to it?
This article is taken from HGTv.ca's online article database.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Competing with Multiple Offers: Five Key Tips
In a sellers’ market buyers will frequently find themselves in competition with other buyers to purchase a home. Obviously this is great news if you are the seller, but it can leave the prospective buyer in a fear-driven flummox.
In these circumstances, a property’s asking price and its selling price can vastly differ, where the actual selling price can be well above and beyond the original listed price.
Often in this scenario, homeowners strategize with their real estate agent to under-price a property in order to generate a lot of interest and ultimately create a bidding war. The seller chooses to consider offers on a certain date, in a timeframe that works for them. This allows the property owner, in conjunction with their agent, to hold open houses on the weekend so that many prospective buyers can see the home at once, and then they deal with the offers several days later.
This positioning of a property to garner multiple offers creates anxiety and can make a buyer feel less in control. Logic tends to go by the wayside in multi-offer situations. As a buyer, you need to be prepared, by doing all of your homework upfront with a strong understanding that you may not get the property in the long run.
The seller will obviously want to get the best price they can for their property, but the offer they choose or not choose could also have to do with subjects and conditions that go along with it.
If offers are withheld until a certain date, here are a few things you as a buyer can do to feel in control of the situation and will assist you in your bid:
1. Make sure your home financing is secure.
2. Make sure the property title is in order. If you know in advance there aren’t any easements or rights-of-way that exist, it's one less "subject" you have to include on your offer. Fewer subjects make more appealing offers to sellers.
3. If you can, do an advance home inspection. The buyer could consider your offer more readily, if it doesn’t include a “subject to inspection” clause.
4. Work with your agent and to assess the competition. Are you competing against one family or a dozen? This will help you gain perspective on the situation.
5. Establish the price you are willing to pay and just how much you want the home, so you make an offer you feel confident about. Then if you lose the home by a mere $1000 you won't agonize over it afterwards.
If all else fails you might want to consider a bully offer, where you present your offer via your agent before the indicated date. The hope when doing this is that the seller will consider your offer without seeing any other offers that may come forward on that date.
If you decide to make a bully offer, we suggest that you make an enticing offer with few, if any conditions. Know that bully offers are risky as you may end up paying an unnecessary premium for the property -- what if it ends up that you never had competition in the first place? You’ll never know. You can also risk alienating the seller, as they may not be impressed by your aggressive approach and direct you to submit your offer on the day they originally chose.
Finally make sure you get everything in writing. Don’t engage in oral agreements. Write everything into the contract. Your offer to purchase a home becomes a binding contract when the seller signs and you need all of your terms and conditions within in.
In these circumstances, a property’s asking price and its selling price can vastly differ, where the actual selling price can be well above and beyond the original listed price.
Often in this scenario, homeowners strategize with their real estate agent to under-price a property in order to generate a lot of interest and ultimately create a bidding war. The seller chooses to consider offers on a certain date, in a timeframe that works for them. This allows the property owner, in conjunction with their agent, to hold open houses on the weekend so that many prospective buyers can see the home at once, and then they deal with the offers several days later.
This positioning of a property to garner multiple offers creates anxiety and can make a buyer feel less in control. Logic tends to go by the wayside in multi-offer situations. As a buyer, you need to be prepared, by doing all of your homework upfront with a strong understanding that you may not get the property in the long run.
The seller will obviously want to get the best price they can for their property, but the offer they choose or not choose could also have to do with subjects and conditions that go along with it.
If offers are withheld until a certain date, here are a few things you as a buyer can do to feel in control of the situation and will assist you in your bid:
1. Make sure your home financing is secure.
2. Make sure the property title is in order. If you know in advance there aren’t any easements or rights-of-way that exist, it's one less "subject" you have to include on your offer. Fewer subjects make more appealing offers to sellers.
3. If you can, do an advance home inspection. The buyer could consider your offer more readily, if it doesn’t include a “subject to inspection” clause.
4. Work with your agent and to assess the competition. Are you competing against one family or a dozen? This will help you gain perspective on the situation.
5. Establish the price you are willing to pay and just how much you want the home, so you make an offer you feel confident about. Then if you lose the home by a mere $1000 you won't agonize over it afterwards.
If all else fails you might want to consider a bully offer, where you present your offer via your agent before the indicated date. The hope when doing this is that the seller will consider your offer without seeing any other offers that may come forward on that date.
If you decide to make a bully offer, we suggest that you make an enticing offer with few, if any conditions. Know that bully offers are risky as you may end up paying an unnecessary premium for the property -- what if it ends up that you never had competition in the first place? You’ll never know. You can also risk alienating the seller, as they may not be impressed by your aggressive approach and direct you to submit your offer on the day they originally chose.
Finally make sure you get everything in writing. Don’t engage in oral agreements. Write everything into the contract. Your offer to purchase a home becomes a binding contract when the seller signs and you need all of your terms and conditions within in.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Home of the Week: Groundbreaking design stands the test of Time
51 ROXBOROUGH DR., TORONTO
Asking price: $6.5-million
Taxes: $16,426.52
Lot: 37.5-by-166-feet
Agents: Donna Thompson and Nick Thompson (Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd.)
The back story
Lawrence and Mary Wolf knew they were challenging convention when they commissioned a house of glass and steel. They didn’t know they would be living in an architectural landmark.
Mr. Wolf pulls out a copy of House & Garden from 1975 and points to the weeping fig tree, which has grown several feet taller, in the same spot in the living room – facing the exterior courtyard.
The Wolf House, built on stilts facing a Rosedale ravine in 1974, has won many awards and international acclaim for architect Barton Myers.
The Wolfs hired Mr. Myers after they visited another famous house of his design – his own residence on Berryman Street in Yorkville. “We saw what he did with his house and we were blown away,” Ms. Wolf says.
The Wolfs were young advertising mavens in the 1970s who would build Wolf Group Integrated Communications into a cross-border powerhouse. Mr. Myers was a Toronto-based architect who would go on to world renown for his urban planning, museums, theatres and concert halls.
The well-connected modern furniture retailer Klaus Nienkamper made the introduction.
Mr. Myers, who currently practises at Barton Myers Associates in Los Angeles, caused a sensation in Rosedale with the Wolf House.
Not all of the attention was positive in such a staid neighbourhood. But the Wolfs had no qualms about building a precedent-setting house.
“Either you can relate to it or not relate to it,” Mr. Wolf says simply. “We were into what was new – what was forward. A lot of people are wowed by it and there are people who would love to live here.”
The steel structure and the mechanical and electrical systems are all exposed. A bridge overlooking the courtyard connects the front and rear of the house on the upper floor.
Mr. Myers was inspired by his early career in the U.S. Navy to try out new space-age materials. In designing the Wolf House, he was experimenting along the way, says Mr. Wolf, who adds that there was no convention for treating the steel and other industrial materials. “We demanded a level of finishing for which there was no tradition.”
It’s obvious the architect cherishes the project to this day: The Wolf House is featured in Mr. Myers’s 2005 tome 3 Steel Houses.“This residence, sited on the edge of a wooded ravine in Toronto, employs off-the-shelf industrial materials in an elegant way,” Mr. Myers writes. “Although the area of the house is a modest 3,000 square feet, the effect is one of unusual spaciousness.”
Architectural Record selected it as a Record House for 1977. Mr. Myers notes the honour on his website. The house won the Prix du XXe siècle from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2007.
The Wolfs loved the all-white interior and the high-tech components. The elegant, simple lines, Ms. Wolf says, keep the design contemporary and fresh.
“When you come home to a house like this, it’s very uplifting,” Mr. Wolf says. “The exterior is almost incorporated in the interior.”
Ms. Wolf says the couple was fortunate to obtain a piece of land in Rosedale that had been severed from a large estate. And they had no idea at the time they were commissioning a residence from an architect who would become so celebrated.
“Sometimes you just get falling down lucky,” says Ms. Wolf.
The house today
Mr. Myers’s creation remains substantially the same, but the Wolfs have made some changes to the interior over the years.
Because the house was built on stilts, the Wolfs were able to slide a glass box underneath to create a garden-level living room in 1983. A home office on the same level can be enclosed behind panels or opened up to views of the garden.
On the upper level, the kids’ area at the front of the house has been reconfigured to create a guest bedroom and a home office.
“In the late nineties, the family grew and changed,” Mr. Wolf says. “Our sons were older. Then when they moved out, it changed again.”
At the rear, the master bedroom was transformed by interior design firm Yabu Pushelberg. Warm wood furniture built-ins define the space. A new ensuite bathroom features dramatic gold leaf tiles and an oval freestanding tub with views of the ravine through floor-to-ceiling windows.
In 2008, New York-based Heather Faulding of Faulding Architecture was brought in to reconfigure the kitchen and redesign the glass living room. The original galley kitchen was inspired by Mr. Myers’s time in the navy, Ms. Wolf says. That vision translated into a very industrial look.
The work by Ms. Faulding and Yabu Pushelberg has created a kitchen and main floor with cabinets and built-ins of golden pear wood. Outside, the landscaping surrounding the inground swimming pool was designed by Walter Kehm to take advantage of the ravine and rolling terrain.
The best feature
The Wolfs feel very fortunate to live on the edge of a ravine. With his design, they say, Mr. Myers was almost able to incorporate the exterior into the interior.
“We had this incredible lot. We wanted to take advantage of it.”
Mr. Wolf takes pride in another feature: A glass door opens to a terrace at the same level as the kitchen. The outdoor dining area overlooks the pool.
He says he had to press Mr. Myers to build the terrace because the architect thought the protrusion would ruin the lines at the rear of the house. But Mr. Wolf says he is glad he was able to persuade him to find a way.
“This is the most glorious dining room in all of Toronto.”
-Article from The Globe and Mail
Asking price: $6.5-million
Taxes: $16,426.52
Lot: 37.5-by-166-feet
Agents: Donna Thompson and Nick Thompson (Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd.)
The back story
Lawrence and Mary Wolf knew they were challenging convention when they commissioned a house of glass and steel. They didn’t know they would be living in an architectural landmark.
Mr. Wolf pulls out a copy of House & Garden from 1975 and points to the weeping fig tree, which has grown several feet taller, in the same spot in the living room – facing the exterior courtyard.
The Wolf House, built on stilts facing a Rosedale ravine in 1974, has won many awards and international acclaim for architect Barton Myers.
The Wolfs hired Mr. Myers after they visited another famous house of his design – his own residence on Berryman Street in Yorkville. “We saw what he did with his house and we were blown away,” Ms. Wolf says.
The Wolfs were young advertising mavens in the 1970s who would build Wolf Group Integrated Communications into a cross-border powerhouse. Mr. Myers was a Toronto-based architect who would go on to world renown for his urban planning, museums, theatres and concert halls.
The well-connected modern furniture retailer Klaus Nienkamper made the introduction.
Mr. Myers, who currently practises at Barton Myers Associates in Los Angeles, caused a sensation in Rosedale with the Wolf House.
Not all of the attention was positive in such a staid neighbourhood. But the Wolfs had no qualms about building a precedent-setting house.
“Either you can relate to it or not relate to it,” Mr. Wolf says simply. “We were into what was new – what was forward. A lot of people are wowed by it and there are people who would love to live here.”
The steel structure and the mechanical and electrical systems are all exposed. A bridge overlooking the courtyard connects the front and rear of the house on the upper floor.
Mr. Myers was inspired by his early career in the U.S. Navy to try out new space-age materials. In designing the Wolf House, he was experimenting along the way, says Mr. Wolf, who adds that there was no convention for treating the steel and other industrial materials. “We demanded a level of finishing for which there was no tradition.”
It’s obvious the architect cherishes the project to this day: The Wolf House is featured in Mr. Myers’s 2005 tome 3 Steel Houses.“This residence, sited on the edge of a wooded ravine in Toronto, employs off-the-shelf industrial materials in an elegant way,” Mr. Myers writes. “Although the area of the house is a modest 3,000 square feet, the effect is one of unusual spaciousness.”
Architectural Record selected it as a Record House for 1977. Mr. Myers notes the honour on his website. The house won the Prix du XXe siècle from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2007.
The Wolfs loved the all-white interior and the high-tech components. The elegant, simple lines, Ms. Wolf says, keep the design contemporary and fresh.
“When you come home to a house like this, it’s very uplifting,” Mr. Wolf says. “The exterior is almost incorporated in the interior.”
Ms. Wolf says the couple was fortunate to obtain a piece of land in Rosedale that had been severed from a large estate. And they had no idea at the time they were commissioning a residence from an architect who would become so celebrated.
“Sometimes you just get falling down lucky,” says Ms. Wolf.
The house today
Mr. Myers’s creation remains substantially the same, but the Wolfs have made some changes to the interior over the years.
Because the house was built on stilts, the Wolfs were able to slide a glass box underneath to create a garden-level living room in 1983. A home office on the same level can be enclosed behind panels or opened up to views of the garden.
On the upper level, the kids’ area at the front of the house has been reconfigured to create a guest bedroom and a home office.
“In the late nineties, the family grew and changed,” Mr. Wolf says. “Our sons were older. Then when they moved out, it changed again.”
At the rear, the master bedroom was transformed by interior design firm Yabu Pushelberg. Warm wood furniture built-ins define the space. A new ensuite bathroom features dramatic gold leaf tiles and an oval freestanding tub with views of the ravine through floor-to-ceiling windows.
In 2008, New York-based Heather Faulding of Faulding Architecture was brought in to reconfigure the kitchen and redesign the glass living room. The original galley kitchen was inspired by Mr. Myers’s time in the navy, Ms. Wolf says. That vision translated into a very industrial look.
The work by Ms. Faulding and Yabu Pushelberg has created a kitchen and main floor with cabinets and built-ins of golden pear wood. Outside, the landscaping surrounding the inground swimming pool was designed by Walter Kehm to take advantage of the ravine and rolling terrain.
The best feature
The Wolfs feel very fortunate to live on the edge of a ravine. With his design, they say, Mr. Myers was almost able to incorporate the exterior into the interior.
“We had this incredible lot. We wanted to take advantage of it.”
Mr. Wolf takes pride in another feature: A glass door opens to a terrace at the same level as the kitchen. The outdoor dining area overlooks the pool.
He says he had to press Mr. Myers to build the terrace because the architect thought the protrusion would ruin the lines at the rear of the house. But Mr. Wolf says he is glad he was able to persuade him to find a way.
“This is the most glorious dining room in all of Toronto.”
-Article from The Globe and Mail
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