Edmonton Real Estate Blog

Do you know how great investors are distinguished against average people?

They are the ones who grab an opportunity fast whenever it presents itself.
Okay, wait, let me rephrase that. They’re the ones who POUNCE to every bit of opportunity that life presents!
That’s much better.

To elaborate further, great investors are the kind of people who make their own luck. They don’t wish for luck. One of the best books I’ve ever read is “The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason”. There were four quotes mentioned in that book relating to luck that I would like to share with you. First, “Good luck waits to come to that man who accepts opportunity”, second, “To attract good luck to oneself, it is necessary to take advantage of opportunities” third, “Good luck can be enticed by accepting opportunity” and lastly, “Men of action are favored by the Goddess of Good Luck”.

Although the book was written ages ago, the quotes still apply to this day and as I see it, it will persist for as long as there are human existence that strive to achieve a greater sense of being. I’m striving to achieve a good life and if you do as well, then its best that you too take the quotes to heart as it may guide you in your own journey.

A great opportunity is in front of you right now. Take the Canora Experience. This 4 bedroom half duplex bungalow is currently in the market. Given the economic rise of Alberta this year, this kind of real estate property would come ever so rare.

At $274, 900, this 969 sq ft piece of opportunity can and should be your next home or investment. Analyze the data, crunch the numbers, do your due diligence, I assure you all of it would point to same conclusion. To put it simple terms; this will bring the best bang for your buck.

Check out the photos below and see for yourself how this opportunity could change your life.

View the complete details of the property here.

Opportunity awaits! Act now before its too late.

Selling a home is no easy task that is why there are Realtors such as our team, but don’t think of it as a deterrent. The point that you are reading this article suggest that you would like to do something on your end to make the selling process as fast and efficient as possible, which is great! Below are 5 incredibly easy ways for you to help your Realtor market your home and create more value for your priced possession. Follow it and you’re going to be smiling your way to the bank.

Ceramic Wall Tiles

1. CHOOSE NATURAL: Materials such as granite, ceramic tiles and even hardwood create more value than synthetic materials such as acrylics. When renovating kitchen floors, chose wood over linoleum as it will look classier to home buyers than the latter.
   Laminated products offer additional value for wall-to-wall renos. Keep the carpets well maintained as it is one of the very first things home buyers see. You wouldn’t want potential buyers to think they’ll spend tons of money just to replace the carpet, wouldn’t you?
2. KEEP THE PAINT FRESH: Keeping a fresh coat of paint in the master bedroom, kitchen and other parts of the house will go a long way. It is the most cost effective way to add that buzz to your home.Stay clean and neutral with taupe, brown and off-white colors. Neutral shades is key as bright colors would tend to do more harm in the selling process than good. Lastly, stay off dark colors as it tends to create an effect which makes a room smaller than it really is.
3. BE ENERGY EFFICIENT: Nothing beats having low electrical bills. You experience it yourself every time the bill comes. An energy efficient house is a very marketable piece of real estate especially now that almost everybody is budget conscious. There are low cost solar panels and rain catchment systems now out in the market that you could take advantage off. You may even ask your local utility company to show how to truly maximize home energy efficiency. Majority of the energy providers do it for free.
4. STORAGE GALORE: The more storage you have in your home, the better. Home buyers nowadays prefer a generous amount of attic and closet space. Having space is very important, especially if the potential buyer/s have a lot of equipment’s, i.e. snow blower, bicycles, lawn mower. In this kind of scenario, an over sized garage would really come in handy. His and hers walk-in closet in the master suite would be synonymous to additional dollars in your pocket.

   

5. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, MAINTENANCE: Hold off the lavish home upgrades and focus on the basics first. Fixing the small things such as leaks, leaky windows, insulating the attic, inspecting the septic system and weeding the flower beds go very long way towards creating value. These small repairs could cost you a hundred dollars but it may create additional zeros to your selling price.

After a hardcore Monday work, time for you to catch some breath and recoup before blazing again through the rest of the week. If you have already subscribed to our blog (great for you!), you might have already noticed that we here at Team Leading Edge always mix up our articles and this time we wanted to feature something funny. I figured nothing is funnier than seeing a home that have failed in some engineering or architectural way-or basically a photo that sums up loss of common sense. I don’t want to be mean but being in the real estate industry myself, I have seen a fair share of failed home designs and it always cracks me up. Too bad I wasn’t able to take photos of the failed home designs that I saw when I was doing site visits!

Now lucky for you I have done the leg work and filtered the worst, funny and crazy home designs around. Check out the list below to see Failed Home Designs.

Remember to view our list of amazing homes for sale in Edmonton through our MLS real estate listing after. You would not be disappointed.

1. WRONG ERECTION. I don’t know if the owners are one of those “fertility” believers but, really, this is just wrong.But, Austin Powers like it.
   

   Time to get your mojo

2. SUICIDE DOOR. They took it literally. Judging from this photo, I can safely assume that if the 3^rd floor is for rent, they would have extremely low tenancy rate due to this fatal flaws in the floor design.  
3. LEANING COUSIN OF PISA. Get it? No? Shame on you.
4. DRA-WHERE? A big facepalm right here. Complete waste of storage space.
5. BACKDOOR. In some weird way, this isn’t really that much of a failure. Looking at the positive side, if you ever really really needed to use the toilet when you arrive home, you wouldn’t need to go inside the house, you can dash straight at the backdoor!
6. [             ]. I will just leave this one for you to think of a caption.
7. WRONG SIDE. Seriously. You had one job!
8. ECO-FRIENDLY GARAGE. They didn’t want to cut down the tree for environmental purposes. Should’ve moved the garage though. See amazing garage designs here. 

   

9. MAKE ROOM FOR THE FRIDGE. Yup! Squeeze it right there. Perfect!
   

   I know how Patrick feels

10. SOME MEN WOULD RELATE.
11. OKAY, THESE TWO DESERVE THE LAST SPOT.
    Plumber was just making sure that if there would be a leak, he already had it covered.Bro, just no.
    
    Here’s hoping you won’t do the same mistakes seen here or your work may just end up in our future list! That’s about it, don’t forget to subscribe.

    See beautiful homes with great working designs for sale in Edmonton here.

I love cars, Lexus LFA type of cars to be exact. The only game on my iPhone is Asphalt 8, a kickass car racing game. Cars today aren’t just simple mechanical tools used to travel from point A to point B, no, they have evolved to become an extension of one’s self. The brand, color and interior all provides subtle clues into who or what the owner is. As for me, I’m always in awe with the aesthetics of it, the status-symbol and the toys-for-the-big-boys bragging rights that it brings to the table.

This is love.

With that in mind, I wanted to know what the best garage designs look like and what I found brought tears into my eye-yes, I stared so long on the computer screen that my eyes got watery-probably you would too. Be warned, some of the images might be disturbing, as one user pointed out “some of these cars spend the night in a better room than I do!”. Couldn’t agree more [Insert sobbing emoticon here].

Okay, enough with the introduction and let’s get down to business. Below is a gallery I made of what I believe is the most epic, amazing, outrageously expensive and very creative garage designs. Also, don’t forget to check out our list of amazing Edmonton houses for sale (with garages, of course) in our supreme Edmonton MLS real estate listing. Enjoy!

Here’s the mother lode of amazing garages I hand picked from luxury4play.com:

Elegant garage from Houzz.com:

Condo living to the max! This sky garage is the future:

I don’t know about you but it may take sometime for me to afford one of these garage designs but hey, if there’s a will (or wheel for that matter) there’s a way, right?! Share with us your own garage design in the comment section below.

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

View details here

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.

http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/news/breaking-news/canada-housing-agency-trims-insurance-offerings

I’m excited about some news and I wanted to share it with you! For those who own a home already or looking to buy soon, I’m happy to say Alberta and Edmonton is heading for another boom.

If you are THINKING about buying a home or rental property… NOW is the time. I don’t need a crystal ball to know what’s brewing. Just take a look around and read the news articles.  If you don’t trust the columnists/reporters just visit the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance website. A heading for their article is “ Alberta’s economy enters 2014 firing on all cylinder.” What does this all boil down to? Well, the components to create a perfect storm are aligning and the end result will be a new boom in Alberta!  Here are the components we are experiencing:

1)  The dollar is devalued… This means oil is produced in Alberta and paid with Canadian dollars. When sold in the higher U.S. dollars, this is a hike in profit for the oil producers.
2)  Job growth and full employment. Developers out east are viewing Alberta as favorable place to set up shop. We have projects that are delayed simply due to lack of qualified workers. So, not only will Alberta attract people from outside of province, but also out of country.
3)  Net migration into Alberta last year is 43,000 according to Robert Kalcic, Senior Economist with BMO Capital Market. This year that number will be higher.
4)  Low volume of homes sales. Many, we see now have multiple offers.
5)  Close to all time historic low interests

So, let’s add all of that up: low volume of homes, high demand = higher prices or higher rents…The Perfect Storm. So, if you missed the boat, or were too young during the last boom you may want to act now. Dorothy, hold onto your slippers we’re in for a ride!

What an exciting time to be in Alberta! Give me a call to discuss your financing options.

Here are links to the news articles and data that I’ve extracted my information from:

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/business/story.html?id=ab10cab1-c242-44f4-99db-bf23a39ac9c4

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/03/14/hicks-on-biz-a-boom-is-happening

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/alberta-housing-market-set-to-
surge-bmo/article17493280/

http://globalnews.ca/news/1220698/migration-to-alberta-is-exploding/

http://www.finance.alberta.ca/aboutalberta/economic-trends/current-economic-trends.pdf

Written by Chita Metcalf – Contact her today to get yourself pre-approved for a new mortgage.

The Mortgage Group

Phone: 780-932-2225

Website: www.EdmontonMortgageSource.com

EDMONTON – The Alberta government will build three schools in Edmonton — in the rapidly growing Summerside, Ambleside and Lewis Farms neighbourhoods — along with expanding the existing Lillian Osborne High School.

“One of the cornerstones of our Building Alberta Plan is education and preparing our kids for their future,” Premier Alison Redford said Monday in a news release. “Last spring, I committed to building 50 schools and modernizing 70 others and that is exactly what we are doing. Before the month is over, all of those projects will be underway.”

The new schools — to address enrolment pressures in growing communities — will create more than 3100 new student spaces. The projects include:

– new kindergarten to Grade 9 school for Summerside, benefiting as many as 750 Edmonton Catholic Separate School District students;

– a new kindergarten to Grade 9 school in Windermere (in Ambleside), benefiting as many as 900 Edmonton Public School District students;

– a new junior high school in Lewis Farms, benefiting as many as 900 Edmonton Public School District students; and,

– a new 600-student space expansion to Lillian Osborne High School in southwest Edmonton.

“Our commitment to build state-of-the-art schools in communities across Alberta is critical to achieving the goals of Inspiring Education,” Education Minister Jeff Johnson said in the release. “We are putting students first by making smart and strategic investments in their education. These new schools will help ensure that every student can reach their full potential.”

Source: EdmontonJournal.com