Edmonton Real Estate Blog

Stats are a common tool used to help you with the purchase of an Edmonton home. They can help you understand the real estate market better. However, they can also inadvertently hurt you, especially if you plan to purchase a luxury property.

You can certainly use statistics to get a good idea of the average price in a specific community. They can also be used to help get a more accurate look at the actual community and to negotiate a better price. However, they can also be used in the wrong way. Here are some of the most common ways stats can trip you up.

Single Sales

Instead of using averages, using single sales can really trip you up. Whenever possible, you want to use the average of at least 10 sales in the neighbourhood or zone. This makes

Purchasing an Edmonton home represents a significant financial investment. For most families, it is the largest investment of their lifetime. Buying a home is often charged with a number of heavy emotions, including fear, excitement and even guilt.

The guilt associated with purchasing a home is sometimes referred to as "buyer's remorse." Rather than falling for such a trap, you can use the following tips to overcome the difficulty before it becomes an issue for you.

Top Tips for Avoiding Buyer's Remorse

Understand the Buying Process – Going to the closing table with your eyes open is one of the most important things to do for overcoming buyer's remorse. Talk to others who have already purchased a home as well as real estate specialists, who

A vacation home not only gives an owner a beautiful place to visit whenever they want a break from the norm, it also opens the door to secondary income if the owner chooses to rent out the home during parts of the year. The rules of Canadian real estate change from primary residences to secondary vacation homes though, so keep the following in mind before contacting a real estate agent to buy a home.

Practical Concerns

Before deciding on a location, a buyer should thoroughly know the area, be it in the Magrath real estate market or elsewhere. Rental rules change from place to place, and they may directly interfere with when and how you can rent the property out. In addition to local ordinances, building and zoning laws can make it difficult to

The ultimate goal of reselling a home is always to try to sell it for more than you paid for it. At the very least, you want to sell it for what you paid for it so you can get your money back. Unfortunately, it is very hard to sell a home for what you paid for it or to sell it for more than you paid for it after you've lived in it.

The value of your home declines as you live in it. Things start to become worn out and the home begins to need work done. The longer you live in the home, the more the value declines. There are, however, things you can do to increase the value of your home. This way you can make some money out of it after living in it. The question is: can you increase the value if you add a deck or a patio to your property?

Yes, a New

Home sellers are often treated with a certain amount of distrust from the home buyers. This is partially because the buyers have been heavily cautioned by their real estate agent to take what the seller says with a grain of salt. But sellers also have to be careful when they're negotiating with buyers. Here are a few red flags to watch for so sellers are less likely to waste their time.

No Backup

A buyer who just started home shopping and doesn't have a real estate agent yet is likely someone who's just looking around for the moment. It's not to say that they won't unexpectedly fall in love with the home immediately, only that it's unlikely they'll make a serious offer. As a rule, most buyers take about three months, so the first seller's home

Homeowners looking to put their home on the market are not going to immediately run and turn off their utilities when they list the property. Sellers generally need electric, gas and heat up until the day they move out.

Have you ever thought about what happens to your utilities when you sell a home? In the interest of saving money, you probably want to turn those utilities off. Unfortunately, that isn't really how the world works. Just because you stop living in a home, it does not mean you can stop paying the utilities for it.

Why Turning Off Utilities Could Be Bad

The problem with ceasing to pay utilities is the fact that it can cause damage to the home. Think about any appliances in the home. You also have to think about the weather

Unpermitted work is often a headache for new homeowners when it is uncovered. Arising when home improvements are done without seeking proper permitting and documentation, unpermitted work may lie behind the walls of a home, making it hard for a home inspector to see indicators of this issue. A new homeowner who uncovers such a problem may then be responsible for such work if it continues to go unaddressed while they reside in a home and when they may decide to list a home for sale. Unpermitted work is a problem. What should homeowners who find unpermitted work do about it?

There are times when unpermitted work may need to be removed. However, it may be possible to get a permit after such work is performed or even have certain responsible parties

Foundation damage, when there are cracks and crumbled areas in the concrete foundation in a home, can make life very hard for homeowners. As this type of home maintenance problem causes instability, it can prevent a homeowner from remodeling their home or making improvements, and it compromises the overall integrity of yourself. Foundation damage can also make a home hard to sell. Knowing what foundation damage looks like, how to get a good diagnosis and how to repair foundation damage can help homeowners to protect their property.

What Does Foundation Damage Look Like?

Foundation damage can take different forms and may present different symptoms. For some homeowners, the signs may be subtle. Doors and windows that become jammed shut or open,

The paperwork for a home sale will be different depending on the province in which you live and what type of home you're selling. But even if a certain form isn't necessarily required, it helps to have as much information available as possible for the buyer's peace of mind. See the types of documents that will make a before they go through on the sale.

Property Information

Much of seller's paperwork in Canada is common sense in that the seller is providing relevant information to the homeowner about the property, whether it's a Spruce Avenue home or elsewhere. Electricity and gas statements from the past year will let a homeowner know how much they'll have to budget for their utility bills. If there are any lease agreements on the property or

A home addition is usually one of the more exciting parts of owning a home. Instead of just wishing for an en-suite bathroom or extra bedroom, homeowners have the option to make it happen. But new construction can also be more of a hassle than residents ever imagined it to be. Between wrestling with contractor quotes and watching a savings account quickly deplete, it's not always the best idea. In addition, most additions are not good candidates for a weekend DIY project. Homeowners may want to ask a few key questions before they start calling construction companies.

Space Conversion

A lot of homes have rooms or parts of rooms that aren't effectively being utilized for the residents. They may even have whole floors available that can be