Bonnyville Homes Blog

As far as value is concerned, having a pool is a hard feature to figure out. Therefore, you will find just as many realtors telling you how much a family would like one as the ones opposing this notion. Even though a home with a pool is a dream come true, the ability to sell your property depends on your expectations. This is because in most cases, having a pool is like purchasing a car, once its in your ownership, you might never get the full cost back. However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t instances where your pool can help you sell your house.

How Swimming Pools Add Value

There is a huge difference between an above ground pool and an in-ground pool.  Even though an above ground pool is more costly and takes more time to install, it is a permanent investment and one of the real ways to add some value to your property. On the other hand, above-ground pools might be easy and cheaper to install but it might not necessarily provide any value when it comes to the resale of your house.

Why are Swimming Pools Tricky?

When it comes to getting a great price for your house, pools can be a hard sell. Swimming pools are a personal choice and people have a plethora of reasons for not wanting them as they do for wanting them.

Since you were the one who paid a hefty upfront cost, as an educated buyer, you are aware of the maintenance costs that go into owning a house with a swimming pool regardless of whether it is below or above ground. While pools can cost an average of $1,000 a year to maintain, research says that a well-marketed pool (mostly in-ground) can boost the value of your home to as much as 7%.

When Can a Pool Provide a Boost to Your Property’s Value?

There are two major things that can help you help you boost the sale of your home if you own a swimming pool. Here they are:

1. Knowing Your Buyers

It is essential to know your target buyers when marketing your home for sale if it has a pool. According to research, health enthusiasts, high-end buyers and families with teenagers are most likely to invest in a house with a swimming pool. However, you should also know that not all families with children will be interested in a home with a pool. In fact, a great majority of families with young kids do not want pools. This is because they don’t want to maintain it or they see it as a safety problem.

Therefore, if you’re seeking to sell your home with a pool, then you should know that it might shrink your buyer pool thus taking longer than you anticipate to sell your home.

1. Location

This is another thing that plays an obvious role when it comes to guaranteeing a buyers interest in your home if it has a pool. Buyers will debate on whether the purchase will enhance their quality of life or it will be an irritating and expensive extra for the summer season. For this reason, places that have warmer climates may be more ideal for homes with pools thus attracting interested buyers.

Whether you’re looking to buy or sell in the Bonnyville area, for a greater probability of success you need a dedicated professional. Gerry can guide you through the process and be counted on to protect your investment! Get in touch today!

Whether it is a family house where you’ve grown up or you just have inherited and created lots of beautiful memories, selling your home would be an emotional experience. However, if you want to sell your beautiful house, it’s essential to talk with a reliable real-estate agent who has experience in selling similar properties in your area. You can read reviews of the real estate agent online for a better idea. Or look for recommendations from your friends and family.   

There is no doubt that getting the house ready to sell needs a lot of work and it can be stressful as well! Here are some great tips that will help you get your house in a ready-to-sell condition.

Listing the Home for A Good Price

You need to evaluate the worth of your home, then you may consider asking 15% to 20% less. You’ll receive multiple bids from various buyers and get your desired price if you list it correctly the first time.

Work with An Experienced Realtor

You need to select a realtor who is well-informed about the market and can provide you with the complete selling process. They will monitor MLS (multiple listing services) regularly and keep you updated.

Take Attractive Photos for Your Listing

With social media and the internet, it’s really important to create a positive first impression. You can take some professional, high-quality photos for the online listing. It will definitely help you sell your property.

Clean up Your Walk-throughs

You have to perfectly clean your walk-throughs and keep the place clean as it is. Additionally, you need to keep your kitchen and bathrooms impeccable, mop and dust, and clean the windows and wall for a beautiful clean look.

Declutter and Depersonalize

If you make your space more personalized, it will reduce the possibility of selling it as the buyers don’t like to see your personal stuff-stash. Clutter includes keepsakes, travel items, collections and photos.

Remove All Your Polarizing Items

You have to polarize your religious and political items as well as pack your personal things in a single place. You shouldn’t show your religious and political beliefs to your potential buyers.

Organize Your Closet Space

Your buyers want to see everything in a single place and look for an organized closet space. You can put half of your belongings in a separate storage unit if you have too many clothing items.

Lights On!

You cannot show a dark house to your buyers. Clean the windows, open up your drapes, up your bulb’s wattage and swap out the lampshades to something more modern.

Make Minor Repairs

You can replace broken appliances, patch holes in your walls and change any damaged light bulbs. These minor repairs will change the entire look of you house.

No Pets Allowed

Not everyone is an animal lover. If a potential buyer smells a litter box, sees a dog bowl or animal fur around, then they may be turned off.

If you want to know how much your home is worth on the current market, check out Gerry Storoschuk, Bonnyville REALTOR® and his free home evaluation.

Staging your house before selling can be a time-consuming and expensive process. However, it is one of the easiest techniques to help sell your house quickly. Here are a few reasons why you should consider staging before selling your home:

Increases the Possibility of the Sale

Selling your house fast and for the best possible price is a priority. Staging the place before listing, increases the chances of a quick sale. The main point of staging your house is to make it look great. Potential buyers are a lot more likely to make an offer if you get your house stages by a professional.

Give Your House A Well-Maintained Look

During the inspection, buyers look at every aspect of your house. They want to feel comfortable and imagine themselves living there. Buyers also want to make sure that all their needs, from a structural standpoint, are met. They also look for small details that indicate the actual condition of your home. This makes it crucial to stage your house so it looks great during showings.

Helps You Advance-Pack

In order to have to best staging effect, all unnecessary objects need to be disposed of, and the entire area de-cluttered. Pack all your personal belongings and put them in storage. Clutter-free, de-personalized spaces help buyers imagine that they can live there. Staging makes the job of moving a lot easier, as you don’t have any last minute packing to get done when moving day comes around.

Adds Value to Your Home

Post the housing crisis, the prices of homes have decreased, making it much easier for buyers to decrease their offer price. If buyers notice a number of things that have to be replaced or repaired, it will not work in your favour. This makes staging a very important aspect while selling your house and improves the chances of you getting your asking price.

Adds To the Size of Your Home

Staging has a lot to do with space and decluttering. Arranging furniture pieces in a particular way helps increase the usable space of your house. This gives your buyers the illusion of the house being bigger than it actually is. Sellers are often surprised at the size of the house once the staging process is complete. This also helps create a great impact on potential buyers, as the one thing they don’t want is to feel cramped.

Additional Benefits of Staging

• Allows buyers to visualize themselves in the apartment
• Buyers will have a great first impression
• Increases your chances over the competition
• The buyers can have the housewarming party a lot sooner
• Reduces expenses if you are working on a low budget
• Buyers will enjoy staying there

By keeping these simple tips in mind while staging, you can create a great first impression on buyers and can sell your house without much effort. Staging your house also gives you a great space to live in until it gets sold. Call in expert stagers to help you throughout the process, and to make your job much easier.

Are you having troubles selling? Or are you just starting the process and not sure where to start? Get advice from an expert! Get In touch with Gerry Storoschuk, Bonnyville Realtor® and get your FREE home evaluation.

Every person that is looking to sell their home wants to ensure that it gets sold as quickly as possible. When a house languishes on the market for too long, it’s natural for people to wonder whether there’s something wrong with it, and this impacts the asking price. Here are a few tips that can help you sell your home fast:

Rent A Storage Unit For The Duration That House Is Put On The Market

You might feel that the simplest way to de-clutter all the areas in your house is to simply shove all the items into the closets and cabinets. However, this isn’t a good idea. A serious homebuyer will always want to check the storage spaces to ensure that they would be able to keep everything in an organized manner.

If your closet spaces seem crammed and chockablock with various things, prospective homebuyers may feel the house doesn’t have sufficient storage space. One of the best ways to overcome this problem is to rent a storage unit to keep all the things you don’t require while your house is on the market. Make sure your home looks neat and clean and rid of items that you aren’t using/don’t need.

Hire A Professional To Photograph And Stage Your Property

Professional home stagers have the experience to look at your house from the buyers’ perspective. They know exactly how to mask the flaws and highlight it’s salient features. The listing photos are important when it comes to creating a great first impression on buyers. Research indicates that properties which have more than six photos on their online listings have far greater chances of being viewed by buyers.

However, not every home buyer wants to get their home staged, and many may not have the budget for it either. You can get your real estate agent to walk through the house and look at it from a marketing standpoint. They would be able to give you a more objective view of whether it requires staging or not.

Hire An Experienced Real Estate Agent

It’s important that you conduct a certain amount of research on various local real estate agents. Compare them on the basis of their experience and the number of houses they have sold in the past. It important that you interview a few of them to understand whether they would be a good fit for you. They should be communicative and able to tell you exactly what buyers would like or dislike about your home.

This indicates they have solid knowledge and experience in this space. Check whether they hire professionals to take photographs of various areas of your house, to place on their site. Find out what digital marketing methods they use. Today, most prospective home buyers check social media and other sites to look for the right properties and your property needs to be listed there.

In addition to all these things, ensure that you to move all personal items from your house, make small repairs and minor upgrades, and do a certain amount of promotion yourself. It’s also important that you time the sale right. Typically, summer and spring are known to be the best times to sell.

If you’re looking to sell your home and want an experienced Real Estate Agent in Bonnyville, Alberta, look no further! Get in touch with Gerry Storoschuk, Bonnyville REALTOR® and get your home sold!

Home buyers want the house to be in a pristine condition while they are inspecting it. A large majority of buyers may turn around and walk away if they notice any issues. Here is a list of things that can be a turnoff for homebuyers:

Unpleasant Odours

One of the biggest turnoffs for homebuyers is an unpleasant odour.  Cigarette smoke and pets or even the odour of mildew doesn’t create a good impression on buyers. Get rid of all unpleasant odours prior to the buyers’ visit. Ensure your house has a clean and fresh atmosphere.

Pets That Greet You at Doorways

Dogs often frighten many people or can even irritate some people. Buyers will have a better response if there are no animals present during the showings. Have someone look after your pet or ensure they are in a special enclosure or areas during showings. This shows you respect the homebuyers.

Untidy Bathrooms

Dirty or untidy bathrooms are a turnoff for many buyers. If you are keen on selling your house, scrubbing the tiles and grout, installing a new shower, adding fresh towels, and shower curtains are all crucial aspects to focus on.

Dim Rooms

Many homebuyers find dim and dark houses to be a turn-off. Brighten the house up by:

•   Replacing dim lighting
•   Installing new lighting fixtures
•   Draw back the curtains and let the light stream in
•   Install skylights if possible
•   Repaint rooms to reflect light
•   Trim the trees outside that keeps your house in shadows

Aside from these things, dirty windows can prove to be another turnoff for some buyers. Clean them inside out to help bring in additional sunlight. Consider replacing any broken windows, you can detect them by looking for fog residue that doesn’t come off.

Walls Covered With Wallpapers

Wallpapers too can prove to be a turnoff for many prospective buyers. People who enjoy putting up wallpapers may not like the wallpaper you have chosen. It is a personal touch that buyers want to add themselves. While selling your house, consider what the buyers might want. Their preferences matter much more than yours. Remove the existing wallpaper and paint the wall. Avoid painting over the wallpaper as it is easily noticeable and buyers know removing it is far more difficult.

Moisture in Basements

The damp smell in basements is an instant turnoff for many. This moisture buildup is a result of water pooling near the structure’s foundation. Some common reasons for this include:

•   Clogged underground drains
•   No existing rain gutters on the roofline
•   Downspouts aimed in the wrong direction

Ill-Maintained Curb

In order to sell your house at the best possible price, start from the curb. Many buyers refuse to inspect houses that have old or peeling paint, ill-maintained yard or sagging doors, fix the doors and the yard to get buyers interested in your house.

Sellers Present At Showings

Consider leaving the house when buyers visit. Being present during showings makes them uncomfortable when they’re inspecting closets and other rooms. Give the buyer space to move around and check out everything without feeling uncomfortable or awkward.

By avoiding these potential turnoffs while selling your house, you can ensure that potential buyers have a more positive feel about your property, increasing the chances of a sale.

Need help selling your home? Get in touch with Gerry Storoschuk and get your home sold today!

Many property owners take up remodelling and renovation projects to spruce up the appearance of their home. The challenge of working on something that big is what gets them excited. In addition, it also adds to the beauty and comfort factor of your property. This drives up its real estate value when it’s time to sell. Here are a few pointers to improve your home before selling:

Tidy up Your Bathroom

It isn’t necessary to have a complete makeover, but adding new fixtures such as exhaust fans, new paint, and new lighting fixtures will prove to be effective during the sale.

New Flooring

Adding new flooring gives your house a completely new look. Consider using materials like hardwood, laminates and tile floors, as they are relatively easy to clean, and dirt & dust do not adhere to these surfaces. In addition, it also adds a warm feel to the house and will prove to be a great investment.

Add a Unique Touch

Using mid-century or retro designs is extremely trendy and will add a unique touch to your house. Hang a unique barn-door rather than a regular closet door or updating the lighting fixtures by adding Edison bulbs will be a great addition. Consider updating the walls by using brick or wood tiles. Such DIY projects are easy to complete without the need of professionals.

Add a New Floor Plan

One of the main things that can be a major turnoff for potential buyers is the layout. Typically, buyers tend to look for houses with an open floor plan, where the kitchen is directly accessible from the family room. However, taking this up as a DIY project isn’t advisable, as knocking down a wall or two requires specialized tools and the skills of a contractor.

Upgrade Your Shower

Improve your knowledge of trends regarding shower renovations. People today, prefer smaller tubs with a larger and better shower. This will instantly catch the buyer’s attention and is also a great investment.

Include Energy-Efficient Products

Adding energy efficient features to your house can increase its value greatly. Use CFL bulbs to replace existing ones. Buy appliances that conserve energy. Do this by replacing toilets & showers with low-flow features. Add energy efficient windows by replacing the old ones with double or triple-paned modern windows. Upgrade to a programmable thermostat, this allows you to turn down the heat automatically.

Roof Replacement

If the house is over 20 years old, you need to consider replacing the roof with a new one. Even if there are no visible problems like leakages or other issues, replacing the roof will help increase the resale value of your house. Consider choosing energy-efficient roofs like the white metal roof which is around 60 percent cooler than your average black asphalt roof.

Improve the Curb Appeal

Home buyers simply walk away from houses that lack curb appeal. To avoid facing this, consider having a well-maintained lawn and an eye-catching front door. In addition, cleanup and upgrade various features of your landscape, replace the old mailbox. Adding plants near the front door adds a welcoming touch to your house.

Include these simple tips while improving the features of your house to add to the value of your property.

Whether you’re looking to buy or sell in the Bonnyville area, for a greater probability of success you need a dedicated professional. I can guide you through the process and be counted on to protect your investment!

Are you planning to sell your property? It is a big deal. You will be faced with many hard decisions, with the knowledge that making the wrong decision could lead to a significant loss on your part. The worst part is that there is no certainty either. The question now is how to avoid making the wrong assumptions or choices and make sure you go through a positive real estate experience. This should also be beneficial to you financially. This post contains some mistakes that you should avoid when trying to sell your property.

Choose the Right Real Estate Agent

Select your agent carefully as this could impact every phase of your home selling process. Do not choose one based on just the commission they charge. It is also not a good idea to go ahead with an agent just because you know them personally. While a reduced commission might seem worth it, you will actually be spending more in the long run, especially if your agent is not a skilled negotiator. Always try to work with experienced agents who have been highly recommended.

Do not control your real estate agent at every step. This makes it difficult for them to do their job. While you should have a say in everything, it is always better that you take in their recommendations and advice as well. After all, they are ones who are experienced in this sector. If you are not willing to pay for advertising, you are stopping the agent from closing a great deal for you. One way to work this out is to work with an agent you trust implicitly. This would mean that you value their suggestion and are sure they have your best interests in mind.

Make Sure You Are Ready

Be sure about the fact that you want to sell your house. It can be an exhausting process when the seller keeps changing their mind. It is not a good idea to put your house on the market just to see if buyers are interested in your property. Since an agent has a ton of experience, their opinion is very important. However, conducting further research on your end will offer you better options. Do your homework and study the market rate. Find out how much other houses in your area and similar suburbs are worth and make sure you are ready to sell your house for a similar price.

Don’t be Too Desperate

Buyers seem to find a desperate seller from a mile off. They will then offer a low price which is too low to be of any use. Some indicators that you are desperate could be the frequent lowering of the price and not using visually appealing photographs of the house, yard, or the street. What you can do is to improve your house and make sure it is clean and tidy during inspections. You should also fix any repairs and give the house a basic makeover so that you can get a better price.

Another common mistake many owners make is to not take early buyers seriously. They usually believe that a better offer will come along. In most cases, it does not. According to statistics, the best price is usually received in the first few weeks.

Whether you’re ready to sell or wondering how much your home is worth, let Gerry Storoschuk at Bonnyville Homes help you sell your home. Get in touch today!

When there is no offer coming in from prospective buyers, it is a good idea to start looking into the reasons why. If your house is not selling, it could be a marketing problem. Having the data helps to see what needs to be done to your property with regards to interior décor and appeal. If the house has been on the market for a while, you may need to be competitive more completive in giving a better choice to prospective buyers.

You may also need to remodel your house by repairing and improving its aesthetics. Take many photos of your house and put them up online as well as share them with social media. Post only quality images to attract the right buyers. While taking pictures, don’t just take a few images of the main rooms. Snap all the bedrooms, laundry room, backyard etc.

Take Pictures

Always take pictures which will show your house in a positive frame. If your hallway is narrow maybe avoid posting pictures of it. Take multiple photos of your kitchen because that is a major concern when people are looking to buy a home. Make the dining room attractive by setting up the dining table. Your living room should give an impression of a large space, so don’t crowd the room with too much furniture or knick knacks. Take pictures of the gardens and the backyard. You might need to get help from professional photographers or your real estate agent to give it an appealing look.

Try putting your ads in various places. Consider shooting a video and then try uploading it on YouTube. Make sure you’re also posting on the weekends as this is when most people will look for homes for sale. You should also keep your house open on Sundays for inspection as well. Try to get feedback from the buyers as to their likes and dislikes of the property. This will help you in making minor adjustments to make it better.

Choose the Right Agent

Choose a good agent to sell your house. Select one who can deliver fast results. If you want a large profit, then you should choose an agent who specializes in that area and neighbourhood as they will have the best knowledge of the buyers and proper selling prices.

Try to see how many houses your agent was able to sell at their original price. Make sure that your agent keeps you well informed of any and all developments. Ensure that the agent has a strategy to sell the house. While quoting the sale price of your house, don’t be unrealistic. Otherwise, you may not get the desired result. Overpricing is the worst thing you can do. Try to compare the market rate and quote according to your house location and accessibility. If the demand for the house is more and the buyer market prevails, then price your house accordingly so that you can easily sell it.

Marketing in the correct manner is the most important thing in order to successfully sell a house and to make a reasonable profit. If you’re still unsure about what to do, or if you need help marketing your home, contact Gerry Storoschuk at Bonnyville Homes and get your home sold!