Edmonton Real Estate Blog

Making your home bright and shiny is really easy so I’ve come up with a 5 ways on how you can do it.

Whether you’re selling your Edmonton home, staging it for an Open House or you want to simply make it look good, these 5 tips will definitely add more aesthetics (and financial) value to your home.

Carpe Diem! Seize the moment! Take a day off and make all these home improvement happen.

Follow me on Instagram @SergeBourgoin and get a first hand view on how I’m helping Edmonton home buyers and sellers.

For a complete list of available Edmonton homes for sale, check out my new Edmonton MLS listings.

Popular home plans in Edmonton incorporate ground carpet winning home outlines with an open-arrangement space that permits daylight to stream uninhibitedly from space to room. Broadening an inner part live with a deck or light-filled Edmonton home with a sunroom give homebuyers an inclination of more space.

(For a list of great light filled Edmonton homes for sale, check out our new and improved Edmonton MLS listings)

You can pick up the profits of more daylight filling your home without the stress of included window space spilling in icy winter winds. Property holders can diminish Edmonton home’s vitality utilization by putting in new vitality effective materials. Sun based vitality costs about $7,000 to $8,000 every kilowatt hour, and the run of the mill home uses four to five kilowatt hours in crest utilization. In the event that homeowners decrease  utilization by one kilowatt, Edmontonians have diminished their establishment costs essentially.

Daylight Cheers Edmonton Home Buyers Need Open Light-Filled Homes & Vitality Proficiency

We have a decent measure of sun in Edmonton contrasted with different markets. One misguided judgment is that a home emphasizing stupendous windows is more qualified to other cities that have more daylight. An alternate misinterpretation is that a daylight filled home is just for communities extravagance property holders.

Low-e Windows Lets Daylight Stream into Your Edmonton Home Yet Altogether Lessens Heat Misfortune

Low-emissivity windows (Low-e windows) are recorded seventh out of 10 home peculiarity patterns for 2014.  Glass windows that have a straightforward covering that diminishes the measure of bright and infrared light going through the windows, without trading off noticeable light. Low E glass permits heat from the sun to enter your home however altogether decreases heat misfortune from inside a home by reflecting brilliant high temperature go into the home. Bright light is the light that causes home decorations to blur, while infrared light is hotness vitality. The covering mirrors the sun’s hotness in the mid year, keeping the house agreeable, and traps warm air inside the house in the winter for included warmth. Perused our tips on the most proficient method to trim home vitality bills.

Decently Outlined and Vitality Effective Well-Lit Edmonton Homes

Edmonton city property holders have survived long winter months and are entering brighter days with temperatures perfect for home renovating activities. Plan now for brighter winters with a fresher, cleaner, and more redesigned search for your home. Open up the spaces in your home and appreciate all the more splendid daylight to lighten your temperament. Perused remarks by experts about the pattern to open light-filled homes.

Well-Plan Vitality Effective Well-Lit Homes

• An Edmonton Home’s Envelope and Circumstance – Your home’s envelope incorporates just where its windows and entryways are put. A decently planned efficient power vitality productive home begins with considering which headings its openings face. By basically diminishing the quantity of windows in the north divider of the home’s outside, less drafts are liable to diminish the home’s glow. Superior windows, cementations siding and a roof with sun oriented photovoltaic gimmicks make it less demanding to have a light filled home with huge amounts of windows without trading off the solace of a cozy home amid winter months.

• Letting in Daylight & Keeping Out Dust – A very productive home envelope keeps out all dust and allergens, however may restrain regular ventilation. It can be fitted with a ventilation framework that continually accumulates open air through a channel and hotness exchanger utilizing just low-VOC and low-formaldehyde materials.

• Sun powered Boards and Generators – The vitality cost investment funds delivered by vitality proficiency home enhancements can be utilized to balance the buy and establishment expenses of renewable vitality era frameworks and therefore abbreviate payback periods. A top produced using sun based boards on its south-bound side are better for aloof sun powered introduction. The outcome may be that warming the house does not require as much vitality and brings down vitality bills. There are a few motivators to introducing sun oriented boards too from the elected, state, or neighborhood government. These can make the introductory extravagant installment of sunlight based boards more moderate over the long haul.

Outline Some way or another to a Well Lit Home

Before you rebuild, think about enlisting as an inner part creator to help you make a home plan that guarantees a more astute, more pragmatic utilization of space and light. Concentrate on where you invest the most time. Lighting has the capacity definitely change the way your home looks. It can make a room feel more great or get to be more practical to diverse undertakings.

Here are a couple of diverse sorts of lighting:

This falls into the classification of the general lighting that you use in your home to do ordinary regular exercises. Most rooms in your home need to have one sufficient wellspring of encompassing light to utilize day by day.

Certain exercises in your home can oblige particular sorts of lighting called assignment lighting. Some of these exercises could be cooking, perusing, painting, drawing, or home enhancements. Ordinary surrounding lighting is lacking for itemized errands. Under-cupboard lighting is a decent illustration of errand lighting in kitchens and an incredible overhaul to think about amid as a when considering minimal effort approaches to spruce up your home. A room’s general lighting is considered the light normally found in the inside of the room that scatters sufficient light for most minutes in a day. Be that as it may, it is similar to that the light will fall behind you when taking a shot at a particular assignment, throwing a shadow on the work region. This is the place assignment lighting proves to be useful.

Regular emotional issue (Miserable) indications surface at the onset of shorter fall days or in right on time winter. The sickness by and large goes on for between five to seven months until spring, when the days develop essentially more, and the side effects vanish, leaving the sufferer alive and well until the accompanying fall. Huge numbers of these individuals will likewise feel an increment in vitality at the onset of spring.

Spring is advancing and now is an incredible time to put your Edmonton home available on the Edmonton MLS listing. Before you pounce on the market, there are some finishing touches you ought to consider  to make your home much more important once it hits the MLS. One of the most ideal approaches to expand your Edmonton home’s estimation is to make it all the more tastefully satisfying, so get your most loved devices or approach an expert to offer assistance.

Here are a portion of the least demanding and best overhauls you ought to considering doing to kick your home deal off:

Paint the outside

The outside of your Edmonton home needs to be remodeled the most since its the first thing that potential purchasers will see. Whether your home looks a bit dismissed or antiquated, a crisp layer of paint will have an immense effect in its appearance. Nonetheless, you have to be exceptionally particular. Excessively striking shades will probably accomplish more damage than great. It might be best to repaint your home in a shading that supplements encompassing homes.

Redesign entryways and windows

Poor entryways and harmed windows accomplish more than simply hurt your home’s control offer, so provide for them a redesign. Vitality productive windows are ended up being phenomenal options on the grounds that they help lessen service bills over the long haul, and they make the indoor environment more agreeable and cozy.

With respect to your entryways, you ought to supplant them with advanced ones that are more powerful. Such entryways will go far to making your home more secure and outstandingly engaging.

Take a shot at the yard

Purchasers truly do enjoy a well-kept yard, so take measures to improve the presence of the grass. In the event that the grass is not doing so good, consider setting down fake turf – it will look astonishing and supplement the yard in a huge manner. Your other choice is to remove any dead plants or unattractive arrangements. You can undoubtedly inhale new life into your yard by beautifying it with mulch, trees, bushes and outer surface lighting installations.

Supplant the carport

On the off chance that the garage is loaded with breaks and oil spots, there are a few ways you can redesign it so that its more appealing. You can either have it repaired or supplanted. Ordinarily, nonetheless, it would bode well to supplant the garage in light of the fact that it won’t be troublesome for potential purchasers to see the patches.

Enhance the state of the top and the establishment

On the off chance that there are any structural defects in your home, you can rest guaranteed that they can be found by an expert examiner who won’t dither to open them to potential purchasers. Accordingly, you should take measures to guarantee that the top and the establishment are in place. To help you get ready for your home review, look at these 10 absolute necessities on your home examination agenda.

Clean the inner part and the outside

It won’t cost much to clean up the home, however it will oblige an enormous exertion on your part. The objective is to guarantee that everything is in its legitimate spot.

Dispose of any additional disorder inside to keep preoccupations in the home to a base. Concerning the outside, make a point to gather up bicycles, toys, stray shoes, pointless grass enhancements and some other sort of jumble.

By finishing these 6 straightforward overhauls, your home will be fit as a fiddle. You can hunt down a specialists close you on our site or let us do the looking or you!

Organizing an Edmonton home available to be purchased is basically setting up a house to be sold. There are various perspectives to organizing, yet there is a straightforward establishment to every last bit of it.

Procuring an expert stager is justified regardless of the venture on the grounds that they address all parts of arranging. Be that as it may imagine a scenario in which you have no arranging plan.

There are a few steps you can take to stage your Edmonton home available to be purchased — and a hefty portion of them don’t cost a dime. Here are five free things you can do to set up your Edmonton home to offer.

Clean!

The most obvious thing individuals consider while in a house is whether they trust it is clean. A home that is totally flawless shows too looked after.

Clean all windows all around. Clean all entryway edges, light installations, roof fans and blinds. Don’t leave a solitary spot in your home untouched. Potential purchasers look all over, so verify the whole home is clean.

Depersonalize the house

Pack up pretty much all individual photographs and family mementos. On the off chance that you have an extraordinary photograph of your family getting a charge out of an outdoors excursion or other family movement, you can forget it on presentation if your house is being showcased to families. This one family photograph plants a seed of satisfaction in a purchaser’s psyche, making them think how content their own family could be existing in the home.

All different photographs, representations and mementos must be pressed away out of perspective — and in a perfect world, put away outside the home. All in all, family photographs and souvenirs attract a purchaser’s consideration regarding your family and keep them from seeing your home as their potential home.

You’re not offering the family, you’re offering the house — so dependably let that be the inside of consideration.

Pack — and pack some more

You could most likely live agreeably for a brief time with about a large portion of the things you possess, particularly on the off chance that you have existed in your home for more than a couple of years. We every one of the have a tendency to gather things. Whether we utilize them or not doesn’t make a difference, however what does make a difference is showcasing the space your home brings to the table potential purchasers. You can’t showcase rooms that are loaded with stuff — particularly a lot of furniture.

Pack up as much as you can live without, then store it offsite if conceivable. Store pressed boxes and additional furniture conveniently far from living spaces regardless. On the off chance that you need to store things in the carport, make certain you leave enough space for an auto.

Beauty treatment on outside spaces

Open air living is currently a piece of regular life for the greater part of us. Potential purchasers will totally consider the open air spaces as discriminatingly as they do indoor spaces. In the event that you don’t have the financial backing to rouse the scene with blossoms and enhancing things, you can in any case verify the yard is splendidly manicured.

Keep your yard watered, and slice grass to more or less 3 inches high. Any shorter detracts from the new green look, and any more begins to look unkempt.

Foliage ought to be extremely slick and appropriately molded to match your neighborhood. Trim the trees so that a 6-foot-tall individual can without much of a stretch pass under them. This makes the trees show up taller, and gives the yard a clean, clean look.

Force wash the walkway, yard, deck, garage and wall. You will be astonished what a distinction this will make in the look of your home.

Lighten up

At the point when indicating or shooting your home for potential purchasers, open each visually impaired and blind in your home, and turn on every light. Indeed the lights over the stove and inside the broiler ought to be on. (Keep in mind, the apparatuses are flawless — they have to be flaunted!)

Purchasers are searching for “light and splendid,” not “dull and troubling,” so provide for them light. Help them perceive how clean and decently administered to your house is. Don’t be hesitant to move a light to light up a space on the off chance that you have to. May there be light — and parts and heaps of it.

It can be a considerable measure of work getting your home prepared to offer. Indeed with no arranging plan, you can in any case take the time to roll out a couple of improvements that will have a significant effect on your Edmonton home for sale.

To find out what the latest trend is in Edmonton home staging, check out our new and improved Edmonton MLS listings.

With home value increases abating in many parts of the nation, Edmonton home sellers will be searching for approaches to get top dollar for their posting. Cleaning and arranging have an enormous effect. Yet for a few dealers, for example, financial specialists looking to bring an Edmonton property up to neighborhood benchmarks before the deal redesigning work may be the ticket.

As the 2015 Renovating Expense versus Quality Report makes clear, substantial scale occupations aren’t liable to return Edmonton home sellers their full cost. At the same time there are enhancements worth doing in reckoning of an up and coming deal. Some will return just about 100 percent of their expense. Others might not have as awesome a payback, yet they can enhance the business sector position of the Edmonton property in connection to the opposition. (Consider the effect of delightful kitchen photographs on online Edmonton home customers.) also, a few pricier undertakings can furnish managers with a couple of years of pleasure while as yet offering a not too bad payback not far off.

When in doubt:

More straightforward, lower-expense tasks have a tendency to return more prominent quality. The national normal expense for a steel entryway substitution was $1,230, for instance. That is the slightest extravagant extend on the rundown, and it positions most elevated on the payback scale, giving back 101.8 percent broadly by and large. Truth be told, in 43 of the 102 business sectors overviewed, REALTORS® said the new entryway would recover more than 100 percent of its cost. Different tasks anticipated that would beat 100 percent payback in various markets: the midrange carport entryway substitution, the upscale carport entryway substitution, the midrange wood window substitution, and the minor kitchen redesign. Notice an example? Except for the kitchen occupation, they’re all substitution ventures. All in all, substitutions cost less and give a greater payback than redesigns or augmentations.

Early introductions are vital. The substitutions that offer the best payback are the ones that are most evident to purchasers when they first view a house in individual or on the web, for example, new entryway or carport entryway. Siding substitution likewise gives extraordinary worth at resale—especially the current year’s one new extend, produced stone lacquer,  which is required to recover 92.2 percent of its cost broadly by and large.

Kitchens still offer the most renovating value for the money. The main renovating occupation softening into the main 10 up terms of payback is the minor kitchen rebuild with a national normal expense of $19,226 and a national normal payback of 79.3 percent.

Main 5 undertakings broadly as far as expense recovered:

1. Section entryway substitution (101.8%)

2. Fabricated stone polish (92.2%)

3. Carport entryway substitution mid-range (88.5%)

4. Siding substitution, fiber concrete (84.3%)

5. Carport entryway substitution upscale (82.5%)

Expect greater adjustments in the West. Notwithstanding reporting national midpoints, Redesigning magazine separates Expense versus Esteem information by Enumeration locale. In the Pacific area which incorporates The Frozen North, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington—six undertakings are relied upon to main 100 percent payback. The closest contender is the East South Focal district Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee—where two activities are required to main 100 percent payback.

Exactly how much dealers can hope to recover from home changes relies on upon the occupation and the district of the nation they live in. There are additionally considers that fluctuate from house to house and deal to deal, for example, what overhauls are commonplace for the area, the nature of the work, and how vital the change is to a specific purchaser. Keeping in mind you can’t make a difference this information straightforwardly to any particular house or neighborhood, you can utilize the Expense versus Worth Report as a beginning stage in discourses with purchasers and venders about the expense and benefit of renovating.

Check out our complete list of available newly renovated Edmonton homes for sale at our new Edmonton MLS listings.

Oftentimes, renovating an older home comes with surprises beyond the control of contractors and home owners. There are times that hidden expenses lurk beyond old walls.

When it comes to forecasting costs, new constructions are much more controllable.

Bear in mind that the process of renovating and improving your Edmonton home should be planned with a budget that is less than you can really afford. Your contractors would have contingency plans as well to cover the mistakes that they “may” have committed.

Yes! Nobody is truly perfect so you can be sure that your chosen constructors would run into problems they might not have foreseen.

That best way to actually get a grip of the actual cost of renovation or home improvement is to get bids from three local firms. Getting the figures from other people is a good plan to get a gauge of how you would have to spend.

Once you get a good picture of the cost, it is to your best interest to provide a buffer of at least 20% additional budget to cover any other surprises.

As a homeowner, you could also use the approach taken by commercial constructions, this is by asking the constructors to bid on a guaranteed max with a shared savings contract. Your builder will provide you with all the construction expenses, overhead costs and gains. Once the project is done, both of you will share in the savings. It is a great way to incentivize contractors to do their work more cost effectively.

It is highly important that you and your chosen contractors have a transparent working relationship. Both of you needs to be on the same page as to who is in charge to decide when to proceed when new costs arises.

Good communication together with your contingency plan in the finances of the project would be your best bet to having a successful home improvement or renovation.

Visit our Edmonton MLS listings for a great list of new homes for sale in Edmonton and nearby areas.

The shopping season is upon us and for this last week of October we at Team Leading Edge have decided to gather the best new tech toys you must have for your Edmonton home.

Since technology will now always be integrated with our modern homes it is best to know whats new in the market and how it could help us live more comfortably.

Below are the top 5 gadgets we handpicked just for you!

1. Philips  Hue – Personal Wireless Lighting | $199.97
   This light-weight toy (pun intended) is one for the books. Although Philips may not be the first to use this technology, they surely are the one to take advantage of it.

   This one is pretty slick as it allows you to control the lighting ambiance of your home through your tablet or smartphone. You can create lighting scenes and other cool stuff with it! It has also garnered Forbes Product of the Year in 2012

2. LG’s Home Chat | Price N/A
   For the love of beer, this is the future of smart home appliances! This technology allows you to communicate with your appliances via your smartphone. You will know how many beers you have in stock by asking the fridge, you may also order your washer and bot cleaner to start doing their work minutes or hours before you arrive home!

   As I have said before, automation is the key—for the lazy 😉

3. Chamberlain MyQ Garage | $129
   James Bond would use one of these. Using the power of geo-fencing technology to detect if the owner is near the driveway, Chamberlain MyQ Garage would automatically open the garage door and once the car is inside, closes it spontaneously.

   You can also monitor the status of your garage door (open/close) wherever you are in the world through an app in your smart phone. This comes pretty handy when you’re always away and fighting bad guys from the opposite side of the world.

4. iPad Commode Caddy | $99.95
   Let’s throw in something bizarre in this list. Introducing the iPad Commode Caddy! It’s a bathroom stand that holds your iPad and roll of toilet paper at the same time! Genius! This would definitely come in handy for those people who browse their iPads while taking a morning potty.

   The 10” goose-neck gives users the ability to position the iPad either in landscape or portrait mode!

5. Sleep Number x12 Bed | $8,000
   A must-have for all those who can’t sleep properly and have $8,000 to spare! This bed is so futuristic that it provides the users a SleepIQ score to let them know what their optimum sleep number is. Aside from that, it also tracks heart, breathing and movement rate! If that’s not enough, it would also provide a quality assessment of your sleep.

   For those people who snore (I don’t snore, I think), this bed would automatically raise the head of whoever is snoring. It also has a timer setting, in-bed massage and for aesthetic purposes, an under bed lighting. Tony Stark, anyone?

Thinking of adding more value to your home or you just want it to simply look awesomely good? We got the good stuff for you! Team Leading Edge gathered the 5 simple tips and tricks to help you execute your home reno perfectly.

THINK AHEAD OF TIME

Knowing what you want and deciding what you need to do a head of time will help you avoid those excruciating delays-time is gold my friend!

Having planned ahead would also help your bottom line. You’ll know what the cost would be and can make those necessary adjustments in your cash flow as to not impact your other expenses, in other words, budget!

INFORMATION IS POWER

Home renovation does have the possibility of ending up in a mess and giving you and your family headaches due to the potential inconveniences that it poses. A simple way to avoid this is to inform your family of all the reno plans, from the top to the bottom and preparing them for it. With simple preparations, the whole family can adjust their schedules to accommodate the renovation process. Reno work might start from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, so you may want to bring the kids back home after 5 or since the living area might be a bit dusty, you may want to take your family out for dinner.

REMEMBER THE FILTER

As we have said, the reno work could be dusty so it is best to check and change the air filters during and after the whole work. Worst case scenario would be having the HVAC system damaged because of the heavy dust particles. Avoid this costly mistake by simply changing the filters.

IF YOU’RE DOING THE KITCHEN

If you still don’t know, improving the kitchen is one of the most cost effective way to drive up the value of your home once you are ready to sell. Replacing the kitchen counter top can be the most affordable and be made in a short span of time.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, KNOW YOUR CONTRACTOR

Unless, you’re a contractor yourself (which is cool) you may want to double check on the background of your chosen contractor. Don’t just be impressed because the contractor was referred to you by your friend, do your own research and try to find out the contractors previous projects-this will give you a snapshot of he’s quality of work.

It’s a manic Monday once again in Edmonton and I just had a fill of my cappuccino so let’s start our week right and bright with some home improvement ideas!

There’s a saying that the fastest way to a mans heart is through his stomach (I approve!) so its best to focus our attention to the kitchen. Ladies, moms and girlfriends we did the leg work for you and compiled the list of great kitchen inspirations available in the world wide web. Prepare to stimulate your visual senses with the compilation below–and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comment section!

1. Small Space Kitchen Design Suggestions: It’s all about maximizing space. In this piece, HGTV provides superb tips and tricks to put into great use all the nooks and cranny of your kitchen. Read more here.

2. SieMatic’s Sliding Drawer System: Kitchens.com showcases SieMatics new product line for the beloved Kitchen drawer. Mr. and Mrs. Smith would love this one. According to the article, “Thanks to the outstanding versatility of the SieMatic system, drawers can be subdivided and accessorized more individually than ever before.” Read more here.

3. 19 Amazing Kitchen Decorating Ideas: realsimple.com shows us how to decorate the kitchen like a pro! Be your own interior designer with this one. Read more here.

4. 30 Great Kitchen Design Ideas: housebeautiful.com pieced together an artistic slideshow for those serious in taking the kitchen to a whole new level. Cali kitchen, French Fantasy Kitchen and a whole lot more funky sounding kitchen design awaits you! Click here to view it.

5. Kitchen Design Ideas: Saved the best for last! One of my favorite places to look for inspiration is Pinterest. It’s a universe of fantastic images. Here is a board of kitchen ideas that would surely be a visual overload! Browse until your heart is satisfied. View it here.

Kitchen is one of the most important places inside the house. Improving your kitchen could and would surely add to the overall value of the home literally and figuratively so don’t stop with just your plain vanilla designed kitchen. There’s thousands of possibilities on how to make your kitchen stand out and we hope the sources have above would serve as an inspiration for you.

Subscribe to our blog and get your daily fill of home improvement ideas.

This fall, your furnace is one of the most important features of your home that should be checked for functionality and efficiency. We gathered a few simple ‘must-do’ work that you should consider taking actions on, in order to have a warm and cozy fall season just like last year. Don’t wait for disaster to strike, act now before it’s too late.

ANNUAL MAINTENANCE: To keep the furnace in great running condition, you should always schedule an annual tune-up by a licensed technician. It’s best to do this in early fall to give you ample time to schedule any repairs that needs to be accomplished.
In order to avoid any emergency furnace repairs, maintenance work should be done regularly. Your technician should check for cracks or damage on the heat exchanger and that all safety systems are in place in order to make sure the furnace is running efficiently.

CHECK SAFETY: If you would consider doing the maintenance on your own, safety would always be the number one priority. To avoid getting electrocuted, always remember to turn off the power if you if you will be performing more than just changing the filter.

Gas leaks are one of the most serious safety issues, if you detect any gas-like odor, immediately call the fire department. You should not attempt in fixing the furnace on your own in this scenario, you will be putting not just your life, but everybody inside the house in danger.

MAKE IT EFFICIENT: Here at Team Leading Edge, we have always emphasized the need for home efficiency. We try to include little tips and tricks whenever we could and this furnace maintenance is now exemption. As we have mentioned in our previous post 5 Ways To Minimize Home Energy Consumption, installing a programmable thermostat can ensure to help you achieve optimum energy efficiency. Since gas furnaces takes up a big chunk of the electric bill during the fall and winter season, a programmable thermostat will come in handy by adjusting the heat automatically in scheduled intervals.

Investing your time in these little ‘must-do’s’ will provide great ROI in the form of home efficiency and safety. Carpe Diem!