Edmonton Real Estate Blog

Here’s what our radar picked up this week, Condo Mortgage Infographic from Marimark Mortgage LLC. Another valuable information that might just help you if you’re planning of getting a mortgage for your Edmonton condo.

Just in case you have not yet decided as to what condominium unit to buy, head to our Edmonton MLS listings for a great list of new condominiums for sale. It’s updated daily for your convenience.

What does it really take to make a home green? Whether you’re thinking of selling your Edmonton home for just planning to make some renovations, converting to a green home would have tons of benefits.

There are currently six broad categories that could be used to measure or see if your home is truly green. Your home must fit all these categories in order for it to be considered as green. Let us discuss it one by one.

1. WATER EFFICIENCY: 260 gallons is the typical water consumption of a household every single day. Using water saving structures and landscapes at home such as containers for holding rain water properly could reduce the amount of water consumption and ultimately save you more money.
2. ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The point of having an energy efficient home is to minimize the environmental impact. Advances in technology have provided improvements in building elements and construction techniques that allow energy saving equipment such as solar panels to be seamlessly integrated into the overall house design.
3. BUILDING MATERIALS: The use of environmentally friendly building materials is at the core of turning regular homes into green ones.
4. INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: These category enhances the lives of the inhabitants and significantly increase the resale value of your home.
5. LOCATION: Large percentage of home energy consumption is linked to the location of the family’s home. A walkable community would be a thriving and sustainable place that would give you and your neighbor’s safe transportation and improved quality of life. Although you might not change your community, keeping this in mind in some way could and would help you in future decisions if and when you’re going to buy another home.
6. SUSTAINABLE SITE: Last, but not the least is the site. Complementing number 5, there’s a shift in land development and design that leans towards conservation and restoration of natural systems. This is just for you if you would be redesigning the landscape of your backyard or front porch.

There’s a wide variety of green options out in the market if you’re renovating your Edmonton home or building a new one.

As we have said in our previous posts, the value of your home could jump up a few zeroes higher if you convert your home into a green one. Check out the green homes for sale at our Edmonton MLS listings to get some inspirations. Good luck!

Making your Edmonton home as warm and comfortable as possible is one of the most important activities you should do this winter season.

We at Team Leading Edge have gathered the a few great ways to make that magic happen.

Read on and enjoy.

1. COLORS: We start with the easiest. Shades that compliment flesh tones gives off a comforting effect and it makes those who are around look and feel good. Cover your sofa with slipcovers that are warmed toned, paint your walls with gold and use warm shades for your throw blanket and pillows. These will quickly make any room feel cozier and brighter.
2. PLANTS AND FLOWERS: Bring in the outdoors, simple put your favorite flowers and plants inside your home, this would offset the mundane and bleak landscape outside your window.
3. RUG IT UP: An area rug is the fastest way to warm any bare floor. Sunburst tones provide an awe inspiriting visual warmth. You will love it!
4. CANDLES: Step up the warming game with some lighted candles. These little flickering flames will work with all your décor. Hurricane lamps made of amber-toned glass will provide an added visual warmth and design cachet.
5. SCENTS: Saving the best for last, alter your senses with some wonderful scents. Enliven your rooms with a pleasant aroma or create a vibrant focal point on a coffee by using colorful, multi-textured potpourri. These are mixtures of scented nuts, fruit slices, leaves and pineconse.

Easy, quick and reliable ways of making your Edmonton home warmer this season. What are you waiting for? Carpe Diem!

Visit our Edmonton MLS listings to view available warm homes for sale on the market. Updated daily for you.

Always, there’s that never dying question whether to keep your Edmonton house on the market or not this holiday season. The last thing on homebuyers’ mind and priority list is buying a new home, right? This is one of the main reason why most Edmontonians prefer to remove their home listings from the MLS temporarily and just wait it out until the New Year.

Before you jump into the bandwagon, here’s a few pointers that you might change just your mind.

First and foremost, the amount of listings on the market significantly drops, there are ever so few new homes for sale in this time of the year which means fewer competition on your side of the business. The fewer competition, the better chances your home will be sold faster.

Second, during the holiday season, home buyers are more motivated to spend. And these home buyers are typically the ones that are really serious about buying-they’re not the window shopping type. They would not waste your time.

Lastly, companies usually transfer employees in the first quarter of the New Year, these employees usually chose to buy homes right away because they can’t wait. Since Edmonton’s economy is on the rise, you’ll see more of this kind of transactions.

As a bonus, the winter months make homes better for open houses because the decorations pop-out, the fire place makes it warm and cozy (selling point right there) and the smell of cookies baking just make it irresistible!

If you’re ready to sell, call us at 780-634-8151. For a list of houses for sale right now, do check out our Edmonton MLS listings.

We discussed yesterday the Points To Ponder When Remodeling Your Edmonton Home, now the things you need to ponder when dealing with your Edmonton real estate agents, Team Leading Edge is no exemption. Exciting!

Okay, first and foremost, you have to understand that a triumphant real estate transaction depends not only with your agent but also with you… yes, it definitely takes two to tango.

Now, as one of the deal makers, your participation is very important but you have to do your homework as not to hinder the process in an unfavorable way.

There is a relative connection between the success of the transaction and the quality of your business relationship with the agent.

This may surprise you, but meeting the right real estate agent might mean more to you, yes! This person will do all the heavy lifting for you, be your adviser, be your expert, be your counselor, the list goes on.

Confidence, trust, faith and hope is solid foundation upon which your business relationship should be built on with. If from the very start you have that gut feeling that things would not work out with you and the real estate agent, then the relationship is not worth pursuing.

Here are a few points that you may need to ponder when you start working with that agent.

TRUST: This comes first, as with any type of relationship. You may never achieve anything with the other person if you do not have trust. Your agent, or in this case, Team Leading Edge Realtors, live and breathe real estate. They eat real estate transactions for breakfast, so you have to believe in them. The reason they are with you from the very start is to act as support and provide the best solution to your real estate endeavor.

RESPECT: This goes hand and hand with trust. If there is no respect, do not expect to have a successful business transaction.

GRATEFULNESS: Show your consideration and appreciation-that means a lot to all agents. Do not be afraid to show how grateful you are with the efforts that your agent makes. It is essential to have feedback in order to give your agent that much needed motivation. It’s free after all!

DO NOT BE PUSHY: Respect, remember? It is advisable to maintain close contact with your agent but do not be too pushy. Your real estate agent was trained to provide you with vital information of the transaction, being too pushy would just hinder his/her effort.

On the other hand, do not be hesitate to give your agent a call whenever you would like to clarify something.

LASTLY, OPEN-MINDEDNESS: It’s a whole new world, today’s real estate buyers all ways have too high of an expectation. Be the better person by seeing the broader picture. You need to listen intently with what your real estate agent would advise you. This agent knows the conditions and possibilities in today’s real estate market than you. Be flexible to demands, be open-minded.

Ready to start working with an agent? Great! Call us at 780-634-8151 and let’s get that transaction going! Team Leading Edge provides high-speed access to Edmonton’s real estate MLS listings, this will make sure you get the fastest turn-around time for your property.

Understanding the value of your Edmonton home is one of the hardest parts of being a Team Leading Edge Realtors®. As you might already know by now, sellers already have a predetermined amount in their minds on how much they want to sell their homes.

But, how do you really determine your Edmonton home’s value? Well, it basically depends on what kind of property you own. If for example, you own a condominium unit, checking out the recently sold units in the same condominium building could help provide a starting point for the price. While for properties located inside a subdivision, such as town houses and detached homes, determining the price starts by checking out similar properties sold within a one mile radius in the past 2-3 months.

Remember, this is best done by Realtors®, like our team, since we have access unhindered access to the local Edmonton MLS listings.

After the check-up is done, probing deeper is key. You must analyze if the properties sold were at a lower or higher price range. In a stable market like Edmonton, foreclosure or short sales at a lower price range may not be the best representative of the actual fair market value of the house. Regular sales within the higher price range on the other hand can be a good consideration for the price as it can be a reflection of an uptick in the neighborhood prices.

The time of year is also a big factor in knowing your home’s value. Typical prices usually drop or stay flat in the winter months, such as what we’re experiencing at this moment.

If you have read our previous posts, we emphasized that upgrades or renovations play a crucial role in improving a home’s value. Those homes with upgraded baths and kitchens always have a better (higher) value than those that doesn’t have one. If you own a condo unit, those on the higher floors with a balcony and view tend to have a premium over those in the lower floors.

After all these things have been factored in, that’s the only time a reasonable price could be determined for your home.

Get in touch with us at (780) 634-8151, we’d love to help you figure out the best value for your Edmonton home.

It’s one good way to make money, heck, some people even make it a living! Like most businesses, flipping houses takes time and dedication. Apparently, now is one of the best time to flip real estate properties in Edmonton. The industry is on an upward trajectory and it’s projected to last for a couple of more years.

Here at Team Leading Edge, we gathered some of the ways to do this effectively, so you would not waste money. Take note and good luck!

1. NO FAMILY

First and foremost, avoid at all cost involving your family. It doesn’t matter if your family is a contractor, it’s never a good idea to mix family with business. Utilize third-party contractors.

2. CONTRACTORS

Speaking of contractors, shop around for contractors who would make the repairs for the property and always remember to inspect it as often as possible when the project is being done. Interpretation errors are one of the major risks that you would encounter in this business so from the very start it is best to make sure you provide crystal clear terms of what you are expecting them to accomplish.

3. MAIN RECORDS

Diligence is key, make sure to store each and every receipt or bill you receive from your contractors.

4. LIGHTING

Great lighting can greatly increase the chances of having the house sold from the very first showing so utilize bright lights!

5. FIRST IMPRESSIONS LAST

The truth is, buyers would start making their decisions once they stepped in front of the door, so always ensure to “Wow” your buyers from the moment they lay their eyes on that door.

6. THE ESSENTIALS

Double check if the gas lines, plumbing and electricity are working. The keyword there is “double check”. You wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself if you tried to switch on the light and it fails.

7. LASTLY

Last but not least, hire professionals to help you sell the property quickly! Team Leading Edge, sells houses for breakfast. As a matter of fact, the team have been awarded once AGAIN as one of the top 50 RE/MAX real estate teams in Western Canada for the month of October based on paid out commissions-that speaks volumes to the quality of service the team would bring to your business.

Check out the available homes for sale in Edmonton that you could very well flip, our Edmonton MLS listings are updated in real time so you could be sure to get instant access to the real estate market.

Taxes aren’t the most pleasant of expenses to pay, but then again, in its essence, it’s necessary to keep things going especially in a prestigious place like Edmonton.

Last 31 October, CBC News published an article entitled “City admin says tax increase needed for growing population”. This apparently was not received well, with one reader commenting, “City council should get rid of the suits and go to their job in jeans and a T shirt for a while… Maybe it would help them come back to reality…”

According to the report, the 5.3% tax increase is for one, due to the rapidly growing population of the city. As of last Friday, the city administrators have released details of the 2015 proposed operating and capital budgets. This would mean an added $9.17/ month or $182 / year for a total of $2,184 to the ordinary Edmonton home.

Lorna Rosen, Edmonton’s Chief Financial Officer wrote in a release that “The proposed 2013 Operating Budget allows us to expand services to a population that has grown by 60,000 people in the last two years,”

Of the $2.3B operating budget, 15% would go to police services, 14% to the transit sector while the third largest expense would be towards parks and community services.

A small fraction of the billion dollar budget would be spent towards infrastructure projects.

“Council will hold a public hearing on the budget Nov 24. Councillors will then begin deliberations, where they will finalize the budget, on Nov. 26” the report said.

View complete report here.

Let us know what you think about this in our comment section below.

September is finally upon us and here at Team Leading Edge we start off the month in the most productive way possible-LISTING A NEW PROPERTY!

 Today, we feature a 678 sq. ft. home in # 215 10555 93 St, Boyle Street, Edmonton. This one bedroom apartment is now listed in the market for only $109,888!

Home for sale in Edmonton

This type of home is an ideal start for bachelors and young couples with its $109k price tag and best of all the proximity of the property to downtown establishments!

The simplistic design of the bedroom creates a homey ambiance and with a bit of personal touches, you could transform this room into a one-of-a-kind den, just imagine the possibilities!

And if you’re the kind of person who loves to cook then this galley style kitchen with a large walk in pantry would be treat! Home cooked meals will always be the best kind of meals and with this kitchen, making them will surely be worth it.

The living room would be unquestionably the center piece of the whole property! With its spacious floor area, your family and friends will always feel at home. Throw in your favorite carpet, install your picture frames and add a handful of love and viola! your own livable piece of art!

Seems like a great property you?  Call the team now at 780-634-8151 to view the property for yourself.

Come and join us on August 30 and 31 at #223 Wyman Lane NW!

Open house starts at 1:00pm until 4:00pm

Open House

This is the most desirable house in Wyman Lane so you might want to take this great opportunity to view your next home!

Call the team now at 780-634-8151 to set a schedule.