Quick tips to get your Nanaimo home ready for winter

            The winter months are quickly approaching, so be sure that you and your Nanaimo home are ready for the winter months ahead.  It is very important to safely get onto your roof to inspect for missing shingles or other factors that may lead to a leaky roof. If you are not comfortable doing it yourself, call in a professional and have them take care of the rooftop work for you.  Inspect doors and windows to ensure that the weather-stripping is in good condition to keep your house warmer and cozier in the winter months.

            Make sure that your heater and ventilation systems are in good working order.  Clean out accessible ducts and replace filters where necessary.  Inspect your chimney for creosote and call a chimney sweep to keep your fireplace safe and functional.  Now's the time to clean out those rain gutters.  If you want to do it yourself, make sure that you can safely access the gutters and then scoop out any debris, blast the drains clean with a high-powered hose, and repair any leaks you may find along the way. Drain water from outdoor faucets and sprinkler systems to keep those pipes from freezing. Disconnect and store outdoor hoses; cover outdoor faucets with foam insulators.

Moving with kids – It can be fun

            Moving with kids can be stressful, but there are a few things that can make moving fun for the whole family. Plan a Movie night to watch a family favorite. This can make your new house feel familiar. Order pizza or have root beer floats and forget about the day's stresses and enjoy each other's company, along with a meal that is easy to clean up.  When beds are still packed, camp out on your living room floor for a great adventure for the kids. Sleeping in the same space can be reassuring to young children.

Let your children have a hand in decorating their new room.  Their age will dictate the level of their participation but younger children can still help pick a favorite accent color or a few new accessories. Older children could pick design styles, new bedding, and even paint color and their involvement will help them feel ownership of their new space.

To lessen anxiety for the younger kids, take Goodwill piles to the trunk of your car at night so that you can drop them off the next day. That way they won’t accidently see that one toy they never played with and decide it’s their favorite and you’re a monster for giving it away. Perhaps before you move, if it is at all possible, you might plan to take a trip a week after the move to give you all something to look forward to after leaving your friends and old neighbourhood behind.

How To Make Money Being A Landlord

Invest in a rental property that is low maintenance. The more items you have in your rental property that require maintenance, the higher your potential repair costs could be. Spas, elaborate landscaping that requires a lot of upkeep, and fancy kitchen appliances are just three examples of things that could end up costing you more money in repairs than what you are making in rent.

Do you really want to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?  Experienced landlords and property managers know that if a toilet gets clogged, a heating system goes down, or if a tenant locks themselves out of their house, it is not going to happen during normal business hours.  When you are a landlord be prepared for a 2 a.m. wake-up call from your tenant with an emergency that he thinks needs to be solved right away. Many professional real estate investors engage property managers to deal with tenants.  While there are pros and cons to this, there is the added expense of the property manager fees that cut into your profits.

Familiarize yourself with B.C.'s landlord tenant laws. Many new landlords think that they can choose who they rent their property to and end up accidentally violating tenancy laws.  Successful landlords know that the last thing they want to do is discriminate - even by accident - and receive a notice of violation, or worse. Before you decide to become a landlord consider the true costs involved in owning rental real estate and do the necessary research to make your income property in Nanaimo a success.

Nanaimo Homes For Sale – Is It Worth It To Stage?

When home staging is done properly, it can potentially put your home ahead of the competition.   You want prospective buyers to imagine that they’re already living in your home.  A well staged home shows buyers what it could be like to live in that home.  Homes often sell faster when staged. Even at more modest price points, staging can help a property command a higher price.  However, some homes look better when they’re empty than when they’re filled with furniture.  Sometimes it’s the floor plan, sometimes the lighting looks better without furniture, or maybe there’s a huge picture window that will draw peoples attention to the gorgeous view you’ve got.

One way to decide whether or not to stage, is to survey your competition.  Pretend you’re a potential buyer for your home, then take a good look at what the alternative choices are.  Visit open houses, see what’s available over the internet, and maybe even ask your real estate agent to take you around to view competing properties when they’ve got a little extra time. The cost to stage your home for sale is also something to think about.  If there are a lot of similar homes for sale when yours goes on the market, maybe it does make sense to spend a little extra and stage your home.

Staging a Home for Sale In Nanaimo

We have plenty of experience staging homes for sale in Nanaimo! Please call for more information.

Housing in Nanaimo for the 55+ market

A real estate agents client base is often made up buyers seeking housing for the 55+ market.  Often at this point in life couples find themselves to be empty nester's and choose to be less tied down to their homes.  Perhaps they want to travel more and don't want to leave a large, family home un-attended.  The other possibility is that couples are thinking ahead to a time when either age related difficulties or health concerns may make owning a traditional home too difficult to manage. According to stats from Nanaimo's City Data the Median age of the population in Nanaimo is around 43 years of age.  It is likely this median age in Nanaimo will soon be 55+.

The top choices for housing in Nanaimo for the 55+ market are: ranchers with low maintenance landscaping, patio homes, manufactured homes in development's like Deerwood Estates and single level townhouse, half duplexes and condos. The wonderful thing about purchasing any of the above is that the resale potential on your home will be excellent.  As the population ages housing in Nanaimo for the 55+ age group should be much in demand. For a complete list of available housing in Nanaimo for the 55+ market please either email me or give me a call.

Nanaimo Real Estate 55+ Market

If you are in the 55+ age range and are interested in Nanaimo real estate, please call us. 

When is it Time To Downsize Your Home?

Look for these signs to tell if it's time to downsize your home:

1. When you find yourself more and more leafing through beautiful, four-color travel guides to  transport you to far away places you'd rather be instead of house cleaning or caring for that big backyard, it may be time to consider trading down for a low-maintenance easy care condo or townhome.

2.  Are you and your spouse beginning to rattle around in your home? Perhaps you've got too much house and need to move.

3.  Owning a bigger house than you need means higher utility bills, higher maintenance costs and higher landscaping costs.  Even if you're not financially stressed, you may still be thinking that there must be better things to do with your money than pay that high heating bill every winter.

4.  You have accumulated so much stuff that the garage and spare bedrooms are being used as storage rooms is a sure sign that you've got too much house and a garage sale may be in order.

5.  More and more baby boomers are reaching retirement age and are selling their big homes for something smaller.  Many real estate experts question whether or not the next generation of buyers are going to be willing or able to buy all of those big homes on the market.  If this proves to be right, now might be the time to consider downsizing rather than waiting for everybody else to do it. 

Nanaimo Homes For Sale

For other pertinent information regarding Nanaimo Homes for sale call us anytime!

Should I find a home before I list mine?

Is it best to find a home before listing or list and then find a home once it sells? 

There is the chance that if you sell your house first, you might not be able to find anything, or you find something and lose it because your house doesn’t sell in time. To prepare yourself in the best possible way you may want to do some research by viewing some homes that appeal to you. Choose a Realtor that is well-informed about the area and knows what these homes are worth. This will help you avoid overpaying for a property and reassure you that there are many lovely homes available and that one or several of the current listings may work for you.

Should I find a home before I list my Nanaimo home? 

            A Realtor can supply you with a CMA (Comparative market analysis) which will help determine the market value of your home.  Ask your realtor to do a room-by-room walkthrough, and make recommendations on ways to stage or declutter your home so it shows at its best.  This is also the time to make any repairs necessary to get your house sold. Get your finance in order for your next purchase.  The mortgage market has seen some big changes over the past 6 months.  Its important to know what you will be approved for at the new rates and with the new requirements. Doing your up-front research will pay off as you will be in a position to get your home listed quickly when you are ready, or when the right house comes onto the market.