Edmonton Real Estate Blog

6 September-Today on our For Sale list we feature this 4+1 bedroom home in Rundle Heights, Edmonton. The house includes hardwood flooring in the living room, dining room, and bedrooms, newer stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, and renovated bathrooms just to name a few.  The spacious master bedroom also features a walk-in closet and half bath. Enjoy the album below and remember to call Team Leading Edge at 780-634-8151 to view your next home!

Call Team Leading Edge now 780-634-8151

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Sneak Preview of new listing coming up next week in Rutherford.

• 3 bdr. 2 storey home with hardwood floors.

• Just under 2,000 sq.ft. above grade.

• Upgrades include central air conditioning.

Asking Price: $519,900Call us today before it goes on MLS

780-634-8151

This past few months, I’ve been contemplating on whether or not to convert the spare bedroom into my very own home office. It seem I’m always either too busy or too lazy to do it (sometimes both). I finally came around today and decided to do it already. Just like any young ordinary men in their 20’s, I have little or no clue as to the design of a home office. I knew I needed to throw in tables and chairs but wondering as to what kind exactly? This burning question led me to ask the almighty Google for answers-and I was not disappointed.

With my work function managing the online marketing campaign of the team, my job entails that I work 90% of the time in front of the computer, this could get a bit tiring and dull when done in a not-so-engaging environment a.k.a the living room. The only time my work environment change is when I go to my favorite coffee shop. Well, now it will all change because I would finally have my own little nook of an office!

With this excitement I chose to share with you the best of things I found on Google. Unsurprisingly enough, majority of the great ideas came from Pinterest where there’s a truck load of different designs ranging from the beautiful to the weird. Luckily for you I filtered it out to what I subjectively see as awesome and simply doable ones. I arranged it from simple to elegant.

1. The small but workable: We start off with this light hearted design. The simple materials used such as vintage table and chair (with a very cool pattern) makes it seem doable. The moss green wall background blends perfectly with the setup. The little add-ons too makes it more creative.
The only con that I see is that there isn’t a lot of table space or cabinets to put materials in.

Photo courtesy of McKelden Creative

2. The maximized: One thing that immediately stand out when I saw this design is the print on the floor, it creates the illusion that the room is bigger than what it really is. The deciding factor that landed this on the number 2 spot is its great use of dead space-the table barely fits! A few file holders, some motivational photos on the wall (the dollar) and plant furniture make it affordable.
The only downside that I see in this photo is the overhead light fixture, being 5’9’’ I see myself bumping my head into it 95% of the time when I stand up-it’s clever, I have to give them that.

Photo courtesy of Pink Ronnie

3. The ideal kind: As the title says, this is one of the most ideal designs in the list. Overhanging cabinets for storage, front window for natural lighting, multiple drawers for more storage and the hand painted leather desktop just makes it so sleek!

Photo courtesy of Alan Design Studio via houzz.com

4. Storage Galore: I always tried to be organized… keyword = tried. With this design, I might just be able to succeed in the endeavor. Plenty of overhead storage, side by side drawers and a generous desktop real estate all provide an environment of success, especially in my side of the business. The diamond-shaped cross laces also looks aesthetically good and utterly functional-you can pin pictures in it! I can populate it with notes in a week! Though small, the flower creates serenity, it would specially be useful in relaxing the eyes after starring long hours at the computer screen. Based on a Time Magazine article (http://time.com/3257927/you-asked-can-computers-ruin-eyes/) starring for long hours at the computer screen could ruin your eye sight so it is best to have something to look at elsewhere every few hours.

Photo courtesy of Samantha Hackradt

5. The 1%: I added this last one just for fun. I was looking for a Don Draper kind of office design but unfortunately Don Draper doesn’t work at home so this would do. This is the design I would most probably have in my late 30’s. It’s classic, elegant and most of all functional. Everything is within reach and the ladder shelves are just ingenious. The taker in this photo is the front view of what I assume is a beautiful landscape. Huge windows provide natural lighting which complements the nature-inspired theme of the room. See, even the dog like it. There are a lot of people who are working at home now but only a very few would most probably have this kind of home office design.

Photo courtesy of Rey

Here’s a bonus. Wouldn’t it look good on any kind of office? It’s functional too, aesthetically and metabolically.

Photo courtesy of Chris Carmody

So there you have it, a dose of inspiration for what would I hope to be a successful project. I wish you luck in your next home office!

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*About the author: Jake Nasol Loria is the Internet & Social Media Marketing Director of Team Leading Edge.

Today, 24th of August, Team Leading Edge’s Joseph Tolvay will be conducting an Open House at 48 Coachman Way, Sherwood Park.

This is an exciting event for the team as it will provide an excellent opportunity to feature one of the best homes for sale in Edmonton.

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Home for Sale at 48 Coachman Way, Sherwood Park | $475,000

688 Warwick Rd, Edmonton – Beautiful. One word that sums up this newly listed home in Dunluce. With its 4-level split design, this property features 4 spacious bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms and a double detached garage. This home eagerly awaits its new owner, and by that, we mean YOU!

Dunluce 4 Level Split

Its splendid south facing backyard (complete with irrigation system) is ideal for providing substantial amounts of natural lighting. Accented by mature trees and low-maintenance landscaping, this is the perfect place to have barbecues all weekend long while watching the kids play.

Excellent Backyard

If the cover of a book is worth judging, then why stop there? Take a look at what’s inside that really makes this beauty stand out above the others.

House Interior

A smart combination of classic meets modern, this 1184 sq. ft. home features all the appliances you’d expect from a house of this caliber, but one thing you might not see coming is the generous amount of cabinet space!

Spacious Rooms

Find out how this could be yours by clicking here.

More listings will follow this week so please don’t forget to subscribe!

The local housing market will not feel any pressure from the recent mortgage rate increases, according to the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. Several of the major banks increased their mortgage rates in August because of changes in the bond market. The higher rate will increase the monthly payments on a typical mortgage or decrease the total amount that a buyer can borrow from their financial institution.

“Buyers applying for a mortgage now may have to buy a slightly less expensive property than before because their qualification amount may be lower,” said President Darrell Cook. “In the short term, any reduction in the number of buyers will be made up by the potential buyers becoming more motivated to buy before their pre-approval period ends.”

The all-residential average* price in the Edmonton CMA in August was up a quarter of a percent from last month at $351,455. The average price for a single family detached (SFD) property in the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in August was $416,494, up 1.5% from July but up 5.4% from a year ago. Condominium average prices were also up by 0.9% at $244,675. Duplex/row house prices rallied in August after a price dip in July at $337,745 (up 2.1%).

As compared to August 2012, prices of all types of residential property were up: SFD up 5.4%, condos up 3.8%, and duplex/rowhouses up 12.1%. The all-residential average price was up 3.7% over the same time last year.

“Our market continues to exhibit strong fundamentals,” said Cook. “Rental vacancy rates are low at about 1.2%, new home starts are up and weekly take-home pay rates are the highest in Canada. The upward pressure on housing prices will be moderated by the seasonal decreases as we approach winter.” Despite the increases, housing prices in Edmonton continue to be affordable, mainly because of the higher average incomes.

The sales-to-listing ratio of 65% was the result of 2,299 residential listings and 1,490 residential sales in August. The inventory of available homes on the Edmonton MLS® System was down from 5,834 units in July to 5,557 units in August. It took 53 days on average to sell a home in the Edmonton area.

The total value of MLS® sales YTD is the highest it has been in five years at $5.8 billion as a result of stronger sales numbers and higher prices overall.

Source: Realtors Association of Edmonton

Many lenders have already raised rates, however, I still have a couple lenders holding off. They too will increase them in the immediate future so get your pre-approval right away.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is limiting guarantees it offers banks and other lenders on mortgage-backed securities. The measure comes amid the federal government’s efforts to protect taxpayers from financial risks in the housing sector, further cool lending and add upward pressure to mortgage rates.

The Crown corporation has notified banks, credit unions and other mortgage lenders that they will each be restricted to a maximum of $350-million of new guarantees this month under its National Housing Act Mortgage-Backed Securities (NHA MBS) program. The decision comes in the wake of “unexpected demand” for the guarantees, a spokeswoman for CMHC said in an e-mailed statement.

The conversion of loans into securities with CMHC backing has become a popular way for lenders to tap funds from a broad range of investors, enabling banks to issue more mortgages and at a lower cost.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, concerned that Canada’s housing market might overheat and infect the economy, has been taking steps to cut back the flow of mortgage credit. This spring, he went as far as to publicly chastise some banks for dropping their mortgage rates too low.

He is also taking steps to reduce the degree to which taxpayers backstop the housing market.

This year, he announced he would restrict the ability of banks to buy bulk insurance from CMHC, and he curtailed the use of government-backed insurance in securities sold by the private sector. Ottawa released a legal framework for covered bonds, another type of bond backed by pools of mortgages, last year. It said banks could not use insured mortgages in such securities.

In addition to removing fuel from the housing market, these moves force banks and other lenders to take on more of the risk of mortgage defaults, rather than offloading that risk to Ottawa.

Canada’s housing market slowed in the wake of the government’s moves, namely Mr. Flaherty’s decision last summer to tighten mortgage insurance rules. Still, prices in most areas continued to climb, and sales have begun to bounce back.

“The government is attempting to tighten credit conditions for home loans, for example the changes to CMHC’s underwriting standards last year, and this is the latest iteration of that effort,” said National Bank analyst Peter Routledge.

He said that the four largest mortgage underwriters, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bank of Nova Scotia, had made good use of the NHA MBS program “and I expect that their funding strategies will change as a consequence.”

“Given the differentials in funding costs via NHA MBS or unsecured long-term funding, I could see [an additional] 20 to 65 basis points in the cost of funding mortgages for the larger banks,” he said. “All else equal, we could see mortgage rates start to move up in unison.”

At the start of this year, after consultations with CMHC, Mr. Flaherty said the Crown corporation could guarantee a maximum of $85-billion worth of new NHA MBS this year. By the end of July, lenders had already issued $66-billion worth of the securities, compared to $76-billion during all of 2012. As a result, CMHC is imposing the $350-million cap on each issuer effective immediately, while it comes up with a formal allocation process this month that it will put in place for the final four months of the year.

The Crown corporation guarantees timely payment of interest and principal to investors in both types of securities, and charges the banks a fee for the service.

On its website, CMHC states that “MBS [have] helped to ensure a ready supply of low-cost funds for housing finance and to keep mortgage lending costs as low as possible for homeowners.”

Mr. Routledge said that smaller mortgage lenders don’t create enough NHA MBS to be materially affected by the new $350-million cap.

The amount of NHA MBS being issued shot up during the financial crisis, as banks sought cheaper sources of funds to continue lending mortgages. The securities are backed by pools of insured mortgages, and investors receive monthly principal and interest payments that stem from the payments homeowners make on the underlying mortgages. Banks sell the securities to investors, or to be used in the Canada Mortgage Bond program.

Feel free to call for questions or more information.

Source: www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co