Edmonton Real Estate Blog

A home may be one of the biggest investments you ever make. Saving up a down payment is just the first step. Find out more.

A good investment in a renovation should increase the value of your home by at least the amount of money you spent, or close to it. A bad one doesn’t get you much of your money back. Here are some investments that have proven to return their value, or close to it:

• Low-cost improvements that make your home look better: Painting, new wallpaper, and items like new rugs and curtains help to brighten and improve the look of a home, and add value to your house if they are done close to the time of sale.
• New or improved kitchens and bathrooms: Improvements to your kitchen and bathroom seem most likely to increase the value of your home. Keep in mind that these improvements lose value over time.
• Improvements to the living room and the master bedroom: These are also good investments and will usually return most of the money you spent, if not more.
• Investments in more efficient use of energy: Oil, gas, and hydro costs continue to go up. That’s becoming more of a concern when people are looking to buy a home. You can make your home more energy efficient as an investment in its value. Some government programs help reduce the costs of these projects. Also, consider buying appliances that waste less energy.
• Keeping up with repairs. If you do a little at a time, you can avoid doing a lot of expensive repairs at the same time. A reasonable amount to spend yearly is 1% to 2% of the value of your home.

What are some renovations that don’t add much value to my home?

• Swimming pool: Make sure you want a pool before you invest in a pool. The cost of putting in one won’t show up in the price that you get when you sell a home.
• Costly appliances: Most people won’t want to pay an extra $4,000 for your home to pay for a $7,000 refrigerator instead of a $1,200 refrigerator. If you pay thousands of dollars for top-of-the-line appliances, enjoy them. You probably won’t get your money back if you sell them with your home.
• Costly landscaping: The way your home looks from the street can really help interest buyers. It’s called ‘curb appeal.’ But if you spend $30,000 in landscaping, don’t expect to get it all back. Most buyers probably won’t see or appreciate the value.
• Renovating in an area where homes are being torn down: Tear-down activity involves homes being sold, torn down, and replaced by bigger, more expensive homes. If someone is going to buy your home and tear it down, a renovation won’t return any of your money. The buyer will have no interest in the building, just in the land.

Remember: Don’t assume you will get all your money back from a renovation

The key to renovating is to keep the house in good repair and do the renovations you want to enjoy. If you think you might be selling in the near future, focus on renovations that are more likely to get your money back.

The results are in from a recent survey of designers conducted by the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) to reveal the key design trends for 2010. The results of the NKBA 2010 Kitchen & Bath Design Trends Survey confirmed the continuation of a number of existing trends in the marketplace, but also uncovered others that indicate shifts in the direction that kitchen and bath style will take this year. Below are 2010’s seven kitchen trends and four bath trends.

KITCHENS

1. Traditional is the New Contemporary

Traditional will continue as the most popular kitchen design style in 2010, with contemporary following closely behind, while the Shaker style is seeing a surprisingly strong resurgence. Shades of whites and off-whites will be the most common kitchen colors in 2010, while brown, beige, and bone hues will also be popular.

2. Cherry on Top

Cherry will remain the most popular wood for kitchen cabinetry, followed closely by maple, while alder increases in use. As for the finishes placed on those cabinets, medium natural, dark natural, glazed, and white painted will all be common. Other colors of painted cabinetry and light natural finishes are in decline, however, as are distressed finishes.

3. Floored by Tile

Ceramic and porcelain tile, as well as natural stone tile, remain popular kitchen flooring options, but hardwood will dominate the kitchen landscape more than ever in 2010. For countertops, granite continues to be the most popular option, but quartz will nearly catch up in popularity. For backsplashes, ceramic or porcelain tile and glass will serve as the primary materials.

4. Flexible Faucets

Standard kitchen faucets will become less standard in 2010 in favor of more convenient models. Pull-out faucets continue to increase their market dominance, while pot filler faucets will also become more prevalent. Kitchen faucets will most often be finished in brushed nickel, followed by stainless steel, satin nickel, and-surprisingly-polished chrome.

5. Undercounter Refrigeration

French door and freezer-bottom are the two most popular styles of refrigerators, and side-by-side refrigerators remain a popular option. A surprising trend is the extent to which undercounter refrigerator drawers are being used in the latest kitchen designs. Perhaps even more surprising is that undercounter wine refrigerators have been recently specified by half of kitchen designers.

6. A Range of Cooking Options

The tried-and-true range continues to serve as the workhorse for cooking, although the combination of a cooktop and wall oven is beginning to overtake it. Gas will maintain its position as the most popular type of cooktop over electric, although induction cooking continues to gain in popularity due to its energy efficiency.

7. Dishwasher-in-a-Drawer

Standard dishwashers, with the traditional door that pulls from the top down, will once again be easily the most common type in 2010. However, an increasing number of dishwasher drawers will be installed in kitchens this year for their convenience and their ability to wash small loads of dishes in each drawer, thereby saving water and electricity.

BATHROOMS

1. In With the Old, Out with the New

Traditional will be the most popular design style in bathrooms in 2010, as contemporary designs will be a distant second, followed by the Shaker style as an even more distant third. Beiges and bones will be the most common colors used in bathrooms, followed by whites and off-whites, and then by browns, indicating a somewhat subdued color palette this year.

2. Ceramic and Granite

Ceramic and porcelain tile will be the dominant flooring materials in bathrooms this year, while natural stone will continue to prove popular as well. Though increasingly popular in kitchens, hardwood flooring won’t become common in bathrooms in 2010. For vanity tops, granite will remain king, with quartz and marble also proving popular options.

3. Simple Fixtures

Perhaps more than ever, the most common color for fixtures will be white. Bisque and off-white will be the only other fixture colors at all common in new or remodeled bathroom. For sinks, simple undermount models will be most popular, followed by integrated sink tops, drop-in sinks, vessel sinks, and pedestal sinks.

4. A Nickel for Every Finish

Faucet finishes in the bathroom are similar to those used in current kitchen designs, with brushed nickel continuing to lead the way in 2010. Polished chrome and satin nickel will also be incorporated into many bathrooms, just as they had been throughout 2009. These faucet finishes will be followed by bronze and stainless steel.

When you are looking for top dollar for resale, you need to pay a lot of attention to detail. People are smarter than they were six years ago. They can really see through a quick and dirty renovation job.

OK, so our economic future is uncertain, energy costs keep rising and the Visa bills are already mounting from pre-holiday spending. Add to that the construction of a new home or pricey renovation and the bank account is sure to run dry.

Not so fast. Ottawa designer Ulya Jensen says with careful planning, selective choices and an eye to the future, you can stretch your budget without compromising on good style.

But the owner of Ulya Jensen Interiors admits the process can be daunting. What fixtures to choose? Hardwood or carpet on the floors? And what about the colours?

With so many decisions to make, she says buyers can get mired in “analysis paralysis,” setting themselves up for costly design mistakes.

Earlier this year, Jensen moved into a new home in Westboro — a home she and her boyfriend bought while it was still under construction and tailored to their needs while it was being built.

Fresh from that experience, she offers these tips to help buyers get the most bang for their buck when buying a new home or renovating an existing one:

HAVE A VISION

As a designer, Jensen is trained to have a vision — a good idea of what she expects the house to look like when she’s done. And as soon as she saw the 2,200-square-foot Westboro semi-detached under construction last spring, she knew how she wanted to tweak it.

Jensen wanted an open-concept main floor, which includes a living room, a kitchen and a dining area. Builder Frank Curcio of Bedrock Developments Inc. had planned to put up a wall between the kitchen and the dining area. Jensen worked with him to do away with the wall and make other changes.

“You don’t want to make mistakes,” says Jensen. “It’s good to get in early, but you do need someone to keep you in check.” Which is why she suggests working with a designer if you don’t have a vision.

“It’s very difficult for the average person to envisage the finished product,” she says. “If you can’t see where you are going, you aren’t going to be able to know where you need to go.”

WISE UPGRADES

“We didn’t go crazy on the upgrades,” she says, adding that while she might not have chosen the builder’s oak floors, they decided it wasn’t worth changing. They decided to put the extra money into upgraded vanities and quartz countertops.

“We upgraded only four light fixtures — but they are in smart places.”

You also have to be ready to make decisions quickly. “We had only three days to choose the lighting fixtures,” she says, adding this is when vision comes in handy.

Yes, it’s your home — possibly the home of your dreams. “But you always have to keep resale in mind,” warns Jensen. She tries to do that by being on the cutting edge of design, so that in five years, the home will still look fresh and contemporary.

Actually, the designer got a whole lot of experience in the resale market. She is co-host with Peter Fallico of Home to Flip, a 13-episode real estate-meets-design reality series on HGTV Canada.

“When you are looking for top dollar for resale, you need to pay a lot of attention to detail. People are smarter than they were six years ago. They can really see through a quick and dirty renovation job.”

RESTRAINED COLOURS

It’s best to keep to a few, quiet and related colours.”Because new homes are so white, a lot of people put in more colour than necessary. You don’t want to go crazy with colour on the walls. You can add colour with the furnishings.”

Her Westboro home is full of cool tones of soft grey. “This whole house is the same colour,” she says, explaining that the tone and intensity change from room to room.

PAPER PLAY

Jensen got the plans from her builder, and then made to-scale paper cutouts of her furniture. Every night, before moving in, she sat down with the plans and the cutouts and moved her furniture around to determine the best fit.

“Not everything from your last place works,” she cautions. “Sometimes you have to let some things go.”

Another advantage to playing on paper is that you may be able to order new furniture months before you move in.

ONE FINAL PIECE OF ADVICE

If you can handle it, don’t be afraid to take on a big job. Otherwise, says Jensen, you will find yourself living with someone else’s renovation, or someone else’s idea of what a new home should look like.

A sold sign is displayed in front of a home in Toronto December 15, 2009. A red-hot housing market fueled by cheap money has helped Canada climb out of recession, but fears are growing that it could be a bubble much like the one that brought the United States to its knees.

OTTAWA – As Canada’s red-hot real estate market shows no signs of slowing down in 2010, analysts are beginning to caution some buyers that their best move may be to step to the sidelines.

“If you’re somebody in a situation that you have only five per cent down and you’re stretching to get in the market with a 35-year amortization, I think that would be a very precarious situation right now,” said BMO Capital market economist Robert Kavcic.

Conversely, he said, “if you’re sitting on a pile of cash and looking to move into the real estate market, it would almost be a no-brainer to just wait for lower prices.”

Notes of caution simmered to the surface this week after realtor Royal LePage forecast home prices would continue to “appreciate significantly” during the early months of the year. Already in 2009, they’re up 19 per cent, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The trouble is that while prices are rising, incomes are not.

Yet rock-bottom borrowing costs continue to lure buyers, and investors are rushing in – despite a shortage of listings – for fear that if they don’t get into the market now, they’ll miss their chance.

“It’s absolutely not debatable that housing prices cannot rise faster than incomes over the long term,” said Will Strange, professor of real estate and urban economics at the Rotman School of Management.

Sooner or later, incomes have to rise, or home prices fall, for balance to be attained.

Many analysts argue that home prices are not yet out of line with the incomes it takes to pay for them, Strange said. Yet with the job market still weak, and unlikely to drive new employment and higher wages, odds are that if something’s got to give, it will be prices.

“If I didn’t personally have most of my wealth tied up in housing, this would not be the time that I would choose to jump in,” Strange cautioned.

At the same time, interest rates have nowhere to go but up, which could leave some buyers in a position similar to U.S. homeowners, who had houses worth less than their mortgages after the subprime bubble burst and prices crashed.

“We’re certainly urging people to error on the side of caution,” said Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada.

“If you’re paying an amount of money, whatever that might be, that you couldn’t sustain if interest rates rose by say 25 or 30 per cent – I can see that being a problem for a lot of people.”

Canada’s not headed for anything similar to the U.S. subprime mess because lending standards here are higher and because people can’t just walk away from their homes as they can in the U.S., other than in Alberta.

But there may yet be an economic impact if home prices turn down, as home values relate directly to the economy, fuelling spending as they rise and tightening personal budgets as they fall, Strange said.

For now, many observers are predicting, as does Royal LePage, that the market will find its balance later this year as rates rise and more listings come on the market.

In the meantime, there are still many good reasons to buy a house, Strange said, “but don’t buy it because you think the price is going to go up.”

Emotions are a big part of the homebuying process. People have to feel good about the house they are considering purchasing.

Both physically and financially, there has to be a comfort level or the cheque won’t be signed.

The location might be perfect and the price may fit, but the house might need some work– and the cost of, say, new kitchen cabinets, flooring and windows might just be enough to break the deal.

Laura Parsons, Calgary-area manager of national business development for the Bank of Montreal, has heard this scenario countless times from those on the front lines of the real estate industry.

“I talked with one realtor who showed clients something like a hundred homes and there was always something wrong,” she says.

“They couldn’t put a deal together.”

Banks want to help realtors sell homes to get the financing business, so Parsons had to find an answer to the you-scratch-my-back, I’ll-scratch-yours problem.

In the back of her mind, there was something she recalled that might solve the problem–some financing vehicle that would help both realtors and potential homebuyers.

After much mulling, it came to her.

More than five years ago, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. introduced a Purchase Plus Improvement Program (PPIP) that would allow homebuyers to finance the purchase of the home plus the cost of immediate renovations–all in the original mortgage.

Because there was no big flag-waving, horn-blowing announcement of the program, it’s been under-utilized to some extent.

Parsons decided it was time to brush the dust off the PPIP–which is available through both CMHC and Genworth Financial Canada –and put it to better use.

“We wrapped our arms around how to deal with this issue and came up with mortgage staging–our way of helping people fix up their homes without spending much extra money on a mortgage payment,” she says.

In a nutshell, here’s how the PPIP works,

A home is purchased for, say, $400,000. Based on a five-per-cent down payment and a 35-year mortgage plus things like the mortgage insurance, PIT (principal, interest and taxes). and property taxes, the monthly payment would be $1,524.

But $50,000 worth of renovations are needed to bring the home up to snuff at move-in. Add this amount to the original mortgage and the monthly cost goes up just $169–less expensive than taking out a separate loan.

When the decision has been made to make an offer on a home that needs upgrading, Parsons says the offer is conditional for a longer-than-normal period to arrange for a contractor to look at the place and give an estimate for the work.

If everything is satisfactory, the timing of the work is then between the buyer and contractor.

Bart Dutchak is one of the early success stories for the program.

The 32-year-old bought a unit in a 25-year-old condo building in April, knowing ing full well he was going to be spending money to fix it up on his own–things like laminate for new countertops, as well as new flooring, crown mouldings and baseboards.

“I worked for two solid months after work to get it done,” he says.

The bill was $10,000– which, when added to his original mortgage, didn’t make all that much a difference to the monthly outlay.

He shopped around, but he says he couldn’t find a lender who would let him add the renovations onto his original mortgage.

“Then the Bank of Montreal treal said, ‘Yes,’ and I was pretty excited to be able to combine everything,” says Dutchak, who is a senior draftsman and detailer at Canam Steel. “It just made it all so much simpler.”

Elena Salikhov, Calgary based based area manager for business development for CMHC, says the program was established to help people wanting to make improvements that would increase the value of the property.

The key to the program is that the cost of the renovations must be reflected in the expected future value of the home.

In the example of the $400,000 home with $50,000 worth of renovations, CMHC or Genworth must agree the home would have a value of at least $450,000 after renovations are done.

So, with CMHC and Genworth worth firmly on side, Parsons set out to find other partners who would help increase the profile of the mortgage program.

Because she is involved with the Canadian Home Builders’ Association-Calgary Region, Parsons explained the program pro-to its Renomark committee, which represents many of the city’s renovation contractors.

Unlike Dutchak, some people don’t want the challenges of doing the renovation themselves. They’d rather hire the work out.

Paul Klassen, president of Pinnacle Group Renovations by Design Ltd., was in the Renomark audience for Parsons’ address and says the timing was uncanny.

As part of the company’s five-year strategic plan, Klassen developed a 3-D application to show people how a renovation would look when complete.

The fact a program was available to help clients pay for it was an added bonus.

“I ran out to speak to her, explaining that this was a perfect marriage for us and would be another tool in our business arsenal,” he says.

Since that meeting, he has talked about PPIP with a couple of his clients.

“What we thought was a wall (to a renovation decision) has become a door,” says Klassen.

Parsons then went in search of a supply partner. Because of prior business dealings with Rona, she received the support of Mel Anderson, manager of the retail chain’s Crowfoot location.

“We thought it would tie in well with services we were already offering at the store,” says Anderson.

Rona has an installation department that includes designers and estimators. They also have programs and facilities to assist customers with all aspects of a renovation.

“We are an option to hiring a contractor,” says Anderson. “We can walk customers through the design and buying processes right here in the store, or we can go to their residence and give them an estimate.”

With program partners on side, Parsons says consumers are able to take advantage of another federal government program that might save them money and time.

“Its been around for a long time, but few have taken advantage of it because they don’t realize the little impact it will have on them financially,” she says.

———

In Short

If you intend to buy a home that needs some immediate upgrades, the Purchase Plus Improvement Program may be the answer. A qualified mortgage consultant can guide you through the process:

– Step 1: Mortgage pre-approval– Arranging a pre-approved mortgage not only protects you if interest rates increase, it also gives you a

clear price range for your new home. At least a five-per-cent down payment is required for a PPIP mortgage.

– Step 2: Obtain cost estimates for upgrades– Once you have found a home, you need to get written quotes from licensed contractors on the planned renovations.

– Step 3: Mortgage application–For example, with five-per-cent down, your mortgage consultant would apply to a lender for whatever’s lowest: 95 per cent of the purchase price plus 95 per cent of the cost to finish the renovations, or 95 per cent of the “as improved” market value, determined by the institution which insures the mortgage after the renovations.

– Step 4: Finalize purchase–Your realtor and mortgage consultant will walk you through this part of the process. The funds for renovations will be sent to your lawyer in trust when the mortgage closes.

– Step 5: Complete upgrades–The lender will hold back funds for the renovations until the work has been completed and inspected, at which time the contractor can be paid.

———

The Buyer

Bart Dutchak.

AGE: 32.

BACKGROUND: A senior draftsman and detailer for Canam

Steel, Dutchak bought an apartment condo in a 25-year-old building that he knew needed some renovations, including flooring, baseboards, crown mouldings and countertops. Using an estimate of the renovations costing $10,000, Dutchak shopped around for a lender who would add this cost to his original mortgage through the Purchase Plus Improvements Program offered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and Genworth Financial Canada. He got in touch with a Bank of Montreal mortgage official and received approval. He did the renovations himself over the course of two months working in the evenings.

TORONTO — Canada’s residential real estate market is expected to remain unusually strong through the first half of this year after a strong finish to 2009, according to a survey published Thursday by Royal LePage.

The Royal LePage analysis is consistent with other recent reports on the state of the Canadian real estate market, which has rebounded over the past 12 months after sales dried up in late 2008 and hit a multi-year low in January 2009.

The Canadian market’s sudden plunge was sparked by a credit crunch that originated in the U.S. housing and lending industries – eventually spreading globally, causing a worldwide recession in the late summer and early fall of 2009.

However, the Canadian real estate market has been much quicker to recover than its American counterpart, in part because of a more stable banking industry, historically low interest rates and improving consumer confidence.

Royal LePage executive Phil Soper says Canada’s real estate market enters 2010 with “considerable momentum from an unusually strong finish to the previous year.”

The stimulus effect of low borrowing costs has contributed to a sharp rise in demand that has driven activity to new highs, he said in a statement.

Royal LePage says house prices appreciated in late 2009, with fourth-quarter price averages higher than in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The average price of detached bungalows rose to $315,055 (up six per cent), the price of a standard two-storey home rose to $353,026 (up 5.2 per cent), and the price of a standard condominium rose to $205,756 (up 6.4 per cent).

Regions that saw the strongest declines during the recession are now showing marked gains. Those regions include Toronto and the Lower Mainland, B.C.

Vancouver, which is frequently Canada’s most expensive real estate market, experienced a particularly robust quarter, with home prices rising across all housing types surveyed.

“No other sector of the economy has been as highly affected by economic stimulus as housing,” said Soper.

“As consumer confidence has improved, Canadians have shown a lingering reluctance to acquire depreciating assets such as consumer durables, but have embraced the opportunity to invest in real property.”

Royal LePage estimates that Vancouver’s real estate prices will rise a further 7.2 per cent this year, although February may be soft because of the Olympic Winter Games that will be held in the city and nearby Whistler, B.C.

Detached bungalows in Vancouver sold for an average of $828,750 in the fourth quarter, up 11.4 per cent from the same period last year. Standard condominiums in Vancouver went up 11.8 per cent year-over-year to an average of $452,750. Prices of standard two-storey homes in Vancouver rose 9.6 per cent year-over-year, selling at $917,500.

In Toronto, the average price of a standard condo rose 2.9 per cent to $309,316, detached bungalows rose 9.9 per cent to $446,214 and standard detached homes increased 3.5 per cent to $564,175.

In Montreal, the average price of a detached bungalow rose to $245,125 (up 3.1 per cent; a condo increased to $216,667 (up 16 per cent) and a two-storey house increased 12.3 per cent from a year earlier to $345,789, Royal LePage said.

The Greater Montreal Real Estate Board reported Thursday that the number of sales last year increased 41,802, up three per cent from 2008. The median price of a single-family home was $235,000 last year, up four per cent from 2008.

“Although sales decreased the first four months of 2009, Montreal’s real estate market rebounded and finished the year on a positive note,” said Michel Beausejour, the Montreal board’s chief executive.

The group that represents Toronto-area realtors reported Wednesday that there were 87,308 transactions last year through the Multiple Listing Service, a 17 per cent increase over 2008.

In December, there were 5,541 sales in the Greater Toronto Area (average price $411,931), up from 2,577 sales in December 2008 (average price $361,415), according to the Toronto Real Estate Board.

The Toronto board also said the number of sales of existing homes rebounded in the latter half of 2009 after a slow start at the beginning of last year.

Royal LePage’s average price estimates for other Canadian cities include:

-St. John’s, N.L.: Detached bungalow, $217,167 (up 14.3 per cent); standard two-storey house $298,833 (up 14.1 per cent).

-Halifax: Detached bungalow, $238,000 (up 10.7 per cent); standard two-storey homes, $265,333 (up 1.8 per cent).

-Charlottetown: Detached bungalow, $160,000 (up 1.9 per cent); standard two-storey $195,000 (up 3.7 per cent).

-Saint John, N.B.: Detached bungalow, $228,000 (up 1.3 per cent); standard two-storey $299,000 (up 1.5 per cent).

-Moncton, N.B.: Detached bungalow, $152,300 in the fourth quarter (up 1.5 per cent); standard two-storey home, $131,000 (up 4.0 per cent)

-Fredericton: Detached bungalow, $182,000 (up 12.3 per cent); standard two-storey, $210,000 (unchanged).

-Ottawa: Detached bungalow, $332,417 (up 3.4 per cent); standard two-story home $331,917 (up 3.7 per cent).

-Winnipeg: Detached bungalow, $241,650 (up 9.9 per cent); standard two-storey home $275,500 (up 10 per cent).

-Edmonton: Detached bungalow, $299,286 (down 0.7 per cent); standard two-storey home, $340,557 (down 1.2 per cent)

-Calgary: Detached bungalow, $412,478 (up 0.5 per cent); standard two-storey home, $427,067 (up 2.3 per cent).

By David Paddon Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press

Extreme cold weather can be hard on both you and your home. Here are some tips to put into practice when freezing weather, snow, and ice hit your area.

How to Deal with Frozen Pipes

• Disconnect and drain garden hoses.
• Cover outside faucets with insulating foam covers.
• Turn off water to outside faucets, if available, and open valves on faucets to allow them to drain.
• Turn off sprinkler system and blow compressed air through the lines to drain them.
• Close or cover foundation vents under house and windows to basements.
• Close garage doors.
• Insulate exposed pipes (both hot and cold) under house with foam pipe insulation.
• Open cabinet doors under sinks.
• Drip hot and cold faucets in kitchen and bath. Drip single control faucets with lever set in middle.
• Set icemaker to make ice if the water line to it runs under the house.
• Don’t forget to check on pipes to your washing machine in the laundry room
• Locate water main cut-off valve, and have a cut-off key handy.
• Use a hair dryer, heat lamp, electric heat tape, or a portable space heater to thaw frozen pipes that have not burst.
• Keep the faucet open when thawing frozen pipes to allow water to begin flowing through it.
• After the weather has warmed above freezing and any frozen pipes have thawed, turn off dripping faucets and monitor your water meter to check for unseen leaks.

How to Keep Warm in Your Home

• Have your furnace inspected before cold weather arrives. Inspect the heat exchanger for cracks, install a clean air filter, and check the thermostat to see if it’s working properly.
• Inspect fireplaces, and chimneys before using, and have them cleaned if needed.
• Keep drapes and blinds closed, except when windows are in direct sunlight.
• Put up storm windows, or install sheet plastic window insulation kits on the inside of windows.
• Cover or remove any window air conditioners.
• Insulate electrical outlets and switches on exterior walls with foam seals available at home centers.
• Caulk any cracks or holes on the outside of your house.
• Repair or replace weather stripping and thresholds around doors and windows.
• Run paddle ceiling fans on low in reverse (clockwise when looking up) to circulate warm air.
• Put draft snakes on window sills, between window frames, and against doors.
• If you heat with propane or fuel oil, make sure the tank is full.
• If you heat with wood or coal, have plenty of fuel on hand.

How to Protect the Outside of Your Home

• Clean your gutters and downspouts before cold weather arrives to prevent ice from forming in them.
• Spray an ice repellent solution on steps and walks before freezing weather arrives
• Check antifreeze levels in cars. Add if needed, and run engine to circulate new antifreeze in the crankcase.
• Add freeze resistant windshield wiper fluid, and spay to circulate it in lines.
• Check air pressure in tires, since cold weather causes the pressure to lower.
• Bring in container plants, add mulch around plants, and cover plants that are prone to frost damage. Remove covering when temperatures warm above freezing.
• Drain birdbaths and fountains
• Gently sweep snow off plants and shrubs in an upward motion with a broom.
• Use rock salt, sand, or clay based kitty litter on walks and drives (NOTE: Salt can damage grass and other plants).
• Don’t overdo it when using a snow shovel.
• Stay off your roof during freezing weather, but once the ice and snow have melted, inspect your roof for any damage.

How to Stay Safe in an Ice or Snow Storm

• Stockpile nonperishable food and water.
• Refill prescription medications in advance of storm.
• Fill car with gas.
• Charge cell phones.
• Have flashlights, batteries, a weather radio, and a manual can opener on hand.
• A portable generator can come in handy when the lights go out, but take precautions to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning when using.
• Make sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and the batteries powering them are fresh.
• Have a working fire extinguisher on hand for emergencies.
• A chain saw can come in handy for removing broken limbs after an ice storm.

by Danny Lipford www.dannylipford.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Home remodelers are getting less bang for their bucks. For the fourth straight year, renovation jobs have added less to resale values relative to their costs, according to an annual Remodelling Cost vs. Value Report released this week by the National Association of Realtors.

The average remodelling job cost $50,908 in 2009 and added $32,497 to the value of the home, a ratio of 63.8%. That was down from a cost-to-value ratio of 67.3% in 2008, when the average was $49,866 and the added value was $33,568.

One common renovation, a mid-priced bath remodel, for example, runs an average of $16,142 and adds only $11,454 to the resale value of a house — recouping just 71% of its cost. In 2008, the same job cost less — $15,899 — and typically added $11,857 to the home’s value, recouping 74.6%.

The most financially successful jobs are smaller-scale, lower-cost renovations that improve the exterior appearance of homes. In this down real estate market, curb appeal is king.

“Once again, this year’s report highlights the importance of a home’s first impression,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz.

Ron Phipps, a real estate broker in Rhode Island, said how the house looks from the outside is more important than ever.

“If you’re driving down the street and the house doesn’t have great appeal, it doesn’t matter how nice it is inside,” he said.

But here’s the kicker: Clients are savvier than ever in their shopping. Even though the costs of home improvements are less likely to be returned on resale than they have been in prior years, sellers may still have to bite the bullet and do the remodelling if they want their house to sell at all, he said.

“It’s kind of intriguing,” said Phipps. “Buyers are using the unimproved houses to negotiate lower prices, but they wind up buying the remodelled homes.”

So, if there are two similar houses in the area, buyers will use the listing price of the one that has not gone through a metamorphosis to get the seller of the renovated house to slash their price. Buyers want to pay for the caterpillar but get the butterfly.

Seller must play along if they want to make deals. “You get to sell the house more quickly if you do the renovations,” Phipps said.

Biggest pay-offs

The major job that returns most in resale value is an upscale replacement of siding using fibre-cement. The job costs an average of $13,287 but increases home value by $11,112, or 83.6%. A vinyl siding replacement returns 79.9% of costs.

Adding a basement bedroom is also fairly cost effective, averaging $49,346 but adding $40,992 in value, an 83.1% return.

“Increasing liveable square footage with a new deck or an attic bedroom is usually more valuable than just remodelling existing space,” Phipps said.

The return on investment for some jobs varies greatly by region.

In New England, where winter are long and cold, vinyl window replacements reap a better return than they do in the warm South Atlantic region, where poorly insulated windows don’t mean as much expensive heat leaking away.

So, although replacement windows cost more in New England — an average of $11,155 — they add $9,152 to home values there, recouping 82.3% of their cost. In the South Atlantic states, they cost $9,705 but add just $7,417 to home values, 76.4% of their cost.

On the other hand, buyers in the South Atlantic seem to reward sellers for adding living space more than they do in New England. Maybe thrifty Yankees hate having to heat those extra rooms.

Finishing a basement returns 84.4% of its $55,357 cost in the South Atlantic and only 64% of the $65,715 New Englanders spend for the job.

Among the remodelling jobs faring the worst in return on investment were large, upscale kitchen remodels. They cost an average of $111,794 in 2009 and added $70,641 in recoupable value, just 63.2%.

That was down a whopping 7.5 percentage points from their 70.7% return on investment in 2008 . At the height of the housing boom, in 2005, upscale kitchen renovations returned more than 80% of their costs.

“A lot of the things that, historically, had huge value, don’t have as much today,” said Phipps. “If you want to redo a kitchen, it may no longer make as much sense to use upscale appliances — Viking ranges, Sub-Zero refrigerator. Buyers may not pay any more than they would for a home with GE appliances instead.”

Of course, most remodelling jobs are done to please homeowners. Any increase in home value is a bonus, not an end in itself. But for anyone thinking of selling in the near term, keeping an eye on the bottom line is always a good idea

By Les Christie CNNMoney.com

Well I hope you all had a Happy Holiday!! Now it is time to start thinking about what might happen in the New Year. Current data that I use to forecast the market are skewed right now because of the holiday season so we will wait until we have new data next month to see where the market is going.

It seems the consensus that home values will go up in the New Year, but I don’t think that it will be as much as most people think.

Yes, there are parts of Canada that the market is really getting hot again – but that is only because their home values had dropped more than we had, and their economies were more depressed than what we had experienced here in Edmonton, and Alberta for that matter.

The recovery in the USA isn’t going as well as most people had hoped, and that will slow down any recovery we have here in Canada as they are our biggest trading partner.

I think we will more likely to see a 5% increase in home values as that would be more realistic. We might be able to get lucky and get up to 10%.

But this all could be brought to a halt or slow down as the finance minister is worried that Canadian people have taken on more debt than they ever have in the past. He is thinking about possibly making changes that will affect mortgages and real estate.

Some of the changes they are considering are raising the amount of down payment up from the current 5% to at least 10%. They are also talking about shortening the amortization period from the current 35 years. Another expectation is that the interest rates will be going up this year.

These factors will have a great impact on the ability for people to buy homes, especially for first time buyers. They will now have to wait longer to save for a down payment and they will now qualify for less of a home because of the lower amortization period.

The real estate cycle starts with the first time buyer. They need to get into the market so that everyone else can sell their home and move up into a bigger or more expensive home.

In my opinion if any of these changes are implemented you can expect the real estate market to slow down and curb the chances of valuations to go up.

So if you are a first time buyer I would advise you to do everything in your power to buy sooner than later. We might be able to help you with this process including helping you to get pre-approved with the lowest rates possible ( in many cases lower than the banks), and we can send you a first time buyer package.

To receive the package call Kate at my office at 780-643-8151 or send her an e-mail @ teamleadingedge@shaw.ca

Lets see what this month will give us and hopefully we will have a better indication as to what we can expect in this springs marketplace, and that is my two cents… Serge

Edmonton, January 5, 2010: Residential sales through the Edmonton Multiple Listing Service® were at the second highest level ever for December (after a record number of sales in 2006 of 1,074). Sales of single family homes, condominiums, duplexes and other residential property totalled 948 units for the month. Total sales of all types of real estate for December was 1,066, also a second place finish for monthly sales.

The price of residential property remained stable in December with single family homes dropping just  one third of a percent and condos increasing 5.4% to reverse the 2.5% drop in November. An average* priced single family property in the Edmonton area sold for $366,761 in December; down from $368,018 in November. The average price for a condo was $244,174; up from $231,684 the previous month. The all-residential average price at the end of December was $319,201.

“Strong year-end sales put a crown on a year that started slow but ended big,” said Charlie Ponde, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “We entered 2009 with a global recession at our backs and a real estate meltdown to the south. However consumer confidence in Alberta started to return in the second quarter and the real estate market in Edmonton was the first place in the country to show signs of the recovery.”

There were 19,139 residential sales in 2009 with record setting sales in June and July after the slowest start since 1996. From September to December residential sales were just below record sales set in 2006.

Throughout the year the average single family sale prices varied from a low of $347,000 in February to $373,000 in July; a $26,000 or 7.5% spread. The average year-to-date value was $364,032. Condo prices varied within a 9% range from $227,000 in February to $247,000 in June. The average year-to-date price was $240,322.

There were 1,118 homes listed in December resulting in a sales-to-listing ratio of 85%. The average days-on-market was 50 days and total residential sales were valued at $302 million for the month. Overall, the MLS® System had total sales of all types of property of just under $7 billion in 2009 as compared to $6.6 billion in 2008.

“We predicted residential sales of 15,550 this year and exceeded it in early October,” said Ponde. “We anticipated that single family prices would end the year at $352,000 and condos would be at $222,500. We are pleased that the year ended up better than we had anticipated and look forward to the stable market continuing into the next decade.”

Source: REALTORS® Association of Edmonton