March 2016

From the moment a potential buyer drives up to the front of your home, they’ve made a decision about whether or not they even want to come into your home.

The intelligent seller understands that plenty of work should be undertaken before putting a sign up on the front lawn especially in a buyer’s market where there is way too much choice.  You need to have a competitive advantage and it starts from the moment a potential buyer drives up to the front of your home.

So, where do you start?

Look at your home from a buyer’s POV

Stand across the street from your house and have a good look at it.  Pretend you are someone else looking at the property for the first time.  There was something about this house that, after all, caught your eye when

Don't wait until you list your home to simplify your surroundings. Clean up your space, simplify your life and keep your home in show home condition all year long. But so often with lifestyle changes, people don't always know how to start or where to start, and if you have a lot of stuff, what do you keep and what should you get rid of?

Here's a little check list of action items to help get you started to living large with less:

Make a List

Grab a notebook or a piece of paper and write down all the reasons why life would be better if you made it simpler. Your reasons don't have to be stuff-related. It can be anything that would make life easier, such as living without debt. Lack of hours in the day to do what you want. More sleep, less food.

There are two important aspects to the small home under construction in the North West Edmonton community of Westmount. The first is the fact that this cottage is the city’s first officially-recognized lane-way home.  At 638 square feet, this two-bedroom abode is atop a large two-car garage behind the home on a quiet, Westmount street. 

Supervising the job are owners Karly Coleman and Andreas Hengst, who employed Carbon Busters, an Edmonton consulting firm, to design the small building. The couple has a keen interest in green energy systems are determined to build a home that produces the same amount of energy as it consumers, otherwise known as a net-zero home. The green energy system includes solar panels on the roof, to capture solar energy

For those who prefer driving to their nearest LRT station rather than taking a bus, there’s a price to pay for the convenience.  Lack of parking.

Some art taking to residential streets to park much to the chagrin of local homeowners, particularly at the McKernan-Belgravia LRT station.  So the city is looking at options.

That could include church parking lots which are next to empty during weekdays.  Or going the other way – making park-and-ride lots more expensive and less desirable.  The transit authorities have also suggested having a four-hour limit when people are riding the train for shorter trips.

Something needs to be done to ease the congestion.

Century Park LRT station is another trouble spot.  Some commuters have said they’ve