Six surprises first-time owners find with their new homes

The day you own your first home is joyous – finally you’re on the property ladder with a place of your very own and the opportunity to build your wealth. And after probably saving for years for your deposit, there should be no small measure of delighted relief that you’ve achieved your goal. Of course,…
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Let’s get strategic – don’t withdraw just because of tariffs

Who can blame any buyer and seller for beating a retreat from the property market with a global trade war looming involving our nearest neighbour.  The shock and uncertainty of tariffs between the world’s biggest economies and ensnaring Canada has caused every Canadian to recoil and reassess. The latest figures from the Canadian Real Estate…
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It’s not only money that matters when renewing a mortgage

It’s always good to know your options when it comes to mortgages. While so much time and effort is spent on finding and buying the right property, we often don’t think enough about the type of mortgage we’re choosing. And we think about mortgages even less when interest rates fall, as if that is the…
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Five tips make your bedroom a relaxing haven

Have you ever been to someone’s home and immediately felt the occupant led a busy and stressed life?  Perhaps, you’ve seen clothes dropped onto a kitchen countertop, or the living room has throw-blankets scattered or left on the floor. These are signs of a person, couple or family on the hamster-wheel of modern life and…
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Six cabinet trends to make your kitchen feel brand new

With America’s housing market caught in the spotlight of tariffs and even a trade war with China, owners looking to sell in the next few months will need to push a little harder to attract buyers and make a deal. A dip of 6% in home sales in March – a natural consequence of the…
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Are you an organic modernist? It’s possible!

Who doesn’t love the idea of selling your home for more than expected? No one, of course. But what are the features of a home that command a premium with today’s cautious buyers? The aggregator Zillow loves to delve into its database and come up with answers to these types of questions. There’s no guarantee…
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Eight tips to look after houseplants this summer

Summer is just around the corner, and many owners will be looking forward to enjoying their gardens in the warm weather. You may be one of thousands of people promising that this year you’re going to get on top of the garden situation. Enough with the overgrown hedges and ugly weeds in the lawn –…
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Want to move before any tariffs bite? Here’s how you do it

Where is the opportunity in real estate when everyone is too scared to make a move? It’s the big question in Canada right now as we collectively try to second-guess or shrug at the tariff dramas that are playing out across the global economy. Even the Bank of Canada (BoC) appears caught in the headlights.…
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Why first-time buyers have every reason to be positive

If you’re a first homebuyer,  you’d be forgiven for being mentally exhausted by the endless commentary and predictions of how Canada’s economy will cope with these on-again, off-again tariffs. Uncertainty is the scourge of decision making, and every real estate agent in the land will be sympathetic to the emotions you’re probably going through. Any…
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Six features sellers miss but buyers notice

When buyers walk through your home, they’re looking for certain features that they’ll have listed as nice-to-have and must-have. Serious or experienced buyers will often have these features written down, and some will even tick them off as they go from room to room. This is a good sign because it means you made a…
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