Blog Archives

You may have heard the term RPR or Real Property Report.  What the heck is an RPR and why do you need it? An RPR is a survey conducted by a survey company of the land and buildings where you live.  This drawing shows where your home sits on the property as well as the garage, shed and any other outbuildings as well as fences, decks and patios if applicable.  It also show where the property line sits and shows any encroachments from your property onto neighboring property including city land and vice-versa.  It will also show any easements or relaxations for any encroachments.  This RPR further requires a stamp from the city showing that it complies. In Alberta a recent RPR provided by the seller is a contractual obligation in the purchase contract.  The buyer needs to know of any issues with the property and an RPR certainly provides much of that information.  If the RPR is not up to date or is not provided, then a purchaser may have some legal recourse against said seller.  Now, I’m not a lawyer.  You would want to speak further to counsel over such a situation.  Better to have it and avoid the situation […]

You’re selling your home.  What does a Realtor do for you?  Thanks for asking! You need only to read last week’s blog on Selling Your Own Home to understand some of the value that a Realtor provides in the sale of your home.  Consider also that many Realtors will incur a cost to market your home and that it is included in your real estate fees.  I spend anywhere from $1200 – $1500 per listing in advertising because I believe in using all of the tools in my tool box to market and sell your home.  When you’re at your day job Realtors are at theirs and that means fielding calls to view your home in an effort to facilitate a sale.  Realtors don’t merely work 9-5.  We separate ourselves from our families on evenings and weekends because we’re out working for you.  Realtors have the experience that you don’t and that means we keep you out of trouble!  We realize where our expertise begins and ends and that’s why many of us have terrific people on our teams from various professions!  Mine includes a terrific lawyer, mortgage broker, home inspector, contractor, and the list goes on!  If something goes wrong we […]

Interested in selling your own home?  Why not?  What can go wrong?  Why pay real estate fees?  Think of all the money you’re going to save!  Hmmm…. if you have to ask what can go wrong then perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.  This applies not only to real estate, but to taxes, legal representation, even family photos… you know who you are!! Consider these questions:  Do you really know how to price your own home?  You’re experienced at this discipline?  Do you have access to the appropriate data?  Are you prepared to sit face to face with a buyer and keep the personal out of it?  Are you trained in negotiation?  Are you aware of the importance of seller disclosures and the legal implications?  Do you understand all of the language in a purchase contract?  Do you understand what happens if you fail to meet all of the criteria as outlined in the purchase contract?  An unrepresented buyer thinks they too will save on real estate fees when buying your home.  Are you prepared to lower you price below those homes that do have Realtor representation?  If not, how will you justify your price?  Do […]

A Comparative Market Evaluation (CMA) is a report that a Realtor puts together to discover what a home might sell for in the current real estate market by comparing recent, comparable, sold listings in a given area.  It is not an exact science, but it certainly helps to ascertain a price range that a prudent buyer might be willing to accept.  After all, that is the goal of selling! Many things can affect a CMA for one’s home.  This can include the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the interior finishings such as flooring, kitchen cabinetry and counters, exterior finishes, landscaping.  Perhaps some of the biggest factors are the one’s you cannot change such as the lot size and location including the view, and the above grade square footage within the home itself.  These are all things that a Realtor must take into consideration.  Yes, nice finishings are important, but if the location and lot size or the footprint of the home is not reflective of the price, then one shouldn’t overprice your home for the neighbourhood based on your finishings alone.  You might have to accept that it’s not worth what you think it’s worth.  On the other hand if all of the above is present […]

Recently I was sitting down with a client in order to provide her with a home evaluation.  There happened to be a new home going up next door with some beautiful finishings!  Some of the finishings were quite expensive.  My client commented on how she did not like the exterior and would never have the finishings on her home.  She also did not like the maintenance free exposed aggregate patio or the granite in the kitchen again commenting how these are things you would not find in her home.  Naturally we’re all entitled to our opinion, but it got me to thinking.  As a seller you really must extricate yourself emotionally from your home when you are selling it even though you are still living in it.  The goal is to make your home as appealing as possible.  You want it to appeal to 90% of the population 90% of the time.  Now if your tastes are a little eclectic then it might be a good idea to have a little help from your Realtor or a home stager in order to meet that goal.  Exposed aggregate is expensive and virtually maintenance free as is cement board.  The majority of […]

Lighting can play a huge part in setting the ambiance within your home.  This is especially true when you are selling.  Take a look at the light fixtures in your home.  Are they dated?  Do they have a brass finish?  Do you have a sunshine ceiling in your kitchen?  Do you have fluorescent lighting?  These are all things that date your home.  Perhaps it’s time to replace them.  When doing so try to create a little continuity between your light fixtures from room to room.  Lights that can be dimmed go a long way for creating ambiance.  You can change out your old light switches for some with dimmer switches.  Lighting can be a cost effective way of creating a huge change in your home. Try to leave some lights on when people tour your home.  Dim the lights if it’s appropriate to do so, such as at night.  Ambiance goes a long way to create warmth and comfort in your home.  Make lighting work in your favour and help sell your home! Thanks for reading! By Patrick Murray Join me on Google+

You’ve got a terrific home to sell!  The exterior is beautiful.  The yard is landscaped.  You have 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths with a terrific kitchen.  What about the walls?  You likely have had pictures, mirrors, etc hanging on your walls.  Your kids have likely run into them more times than you can count.  Are the walls in your home in poor condition? Imagine you’re selling your car.  It has low mileage and you’ve never had any mechanical problems, but the body is rusting and has a few dents.  You’re not getting any offers.  What’s wrong?  People can’t see by the body of your car to appreciate all of it’s positive points.  You need to patch and repair the body. It’s the same with a house.  Your walls likely have a few areas that need repair and patching.  It might be time to freshen up the paint to a color that is pleasing to 90% of the buyers most of the time.  Put your wants out of the picture.  You’re selling.  Make your walls beautiful so people aren’t distracted by them.  Let them appreciate your home in it’s entirety! Thanks for reading! By Patrick Murray Join me on Google+

When Realtors list a home sometimes the home owner will request an open house.  Some home owners want an open house every weekend.  That’s fine.  I’m happy to do that for my clients.  The question is whether the open house actually helps to sell the home. Here are some things to consider with open houses.  First off, there is only about a 3-5% chance that a buyer will be someone that goes through the open house.  Is there a chance that the buyer may have attended the open house?  Yes, but it is a slim percentage of chance.  Often times the open house is frequented by your neighbors.  Sure they may be sizing up your home against their own, but we never know who your neighbors know!  This is not necessarily a bad thing.    Plenty of houses sell without ever having an open house.  Open houses are but one tool in my marketing arsenal.  I’ve sold houses that have never had an open house. Open houses are a terrific way for me as a Realtor to pick up clients.  If people are from the neighborhood, they may be sellers.  If people are from outside the neighborhood, they may be buyers.  Often times people will attend open houses prior to enlisting […]

How sharp is your Realtor?  Does he or she seem truly interested in your needs?  Does your Realtor admit when they don’t know a piece of information?  Do they do research to find out the answer for you?  Does your Realtor seem unconcerned about your concerns?  Is your Realtor perhaps a little too relaxed, bridging on being unprofessional?  Do they merely agree with everything you say? These are some things you want to consider when choosing a Realtor.  You want to be relaxed and have a good working relationship with your Realtor, but you don’t want your Realtor to merely be a warm body.  A Realtor that is overly aloof may not be very sharp when it comes to writing your real estate contract. You want your Realtor to be interested in your needs, but your Realtor needs to be a participant in pointing out both positives and negatives.  Realtors are also human.  The admission of “I don’t know”, as opposed to feeding you some inaccurate information that may come back to haunt you down the road, can be refreshing.  As long as said Realtor will research the correct answer for you and get back to you! Choose your Realtor wisely.  After all, this Realtor is working […]