Positive Buyer Strategies for a Tough Market

With the way the housing market is at present, it’s tough for buyers to compete and even harder to stay positive, and things may seem especially hopeless for first-time homebuyers; they have no previous home on which to draw equity, and they can also be dealing with sky-high rent and high student debt balances, making it extremely difficult to save for a down payment.

Buying a home is always emotional, and having to deal with disappointment and uncertainty just adds to the stress levels. So how can buyers stay positive in a market like this? We’ve put together a few tips on how buyers can make smart decisions, and move in the right direction towards finding their new home.

1) Mortgage ...

Imagine you’re shopping for a car. You find one that’s a suitable model, a recent year, and hasn’t been driven a lot. The price is right, too.

But, there’s a caveat.

The paint is worn off in several places. The driver’s seat upholstery is torn and requires repair. And, the tires needed to be replaced… a long time ago.

Would you still buy it? You might. However, unless you enjoy fixing up cars, you’d probably hesitate to make the purchase.

After all, in addition to seeing the car itself, you’re noticing the work that needs to be done to fix it.

The same holds true when selling your home.

The more “move-in” ready you make the property the more likely buyers are to become interested in...

If you are thinking about upgrading parts of your home, but aren’t sure where to start, maybe your kitchen should be the first place you think about.

Royal LePage recently surveyed hundreds of experts across the country to determine the home improvement projects with the highest return on investment, and according to the report, a kitchen renovation is the most worthwhile home improvement project, with the potential to increase a property’s value by an average of 20%.

Here are a few other facts that came out of the study:

• Royal LePage professionals say, on average, bathroom renovations can increase the value of a home by 16%
• Finished basements and basement apartments have the potential to increase a home’s value by 15%, according...

Keeping your lawn, flowerbeds and shrubs looking great enhances the ‘curb appeal’ of your property, presenting a clean, tidy, and attractive appearance to your property for potential buyers. However, it can also be a lot of work, so here are a few do-it-yourself tips that may help to make these tasks easier and less time-consuming:

• Add bark mulch around trees and shrubs. That way, you won’t have to cut the grass in those areas and you’ll avoid having to use shears or a trimmer to do the job properly. Plus, bark mulch around you trees can alleviate stress to the roots, making your trees and shrubs healthier!
• Consider applying mulch in flower beds too. It will reduce weeds, and also help to retain moisture so you won’t...

Finding out how much you can afford on your mortgage is ideally something you should do before you start looking for a home. That way, you don’t spend time looking at homes that are out of your price range, and you avoid disappointment when you realize that you need to be looking at lower priced properties.

When figuring out your budget, keep these things in mind:

• The amount of your down payment
• Your household income
• Your current debts and the monthly payments
• Your monthly bills, such as your property taxes, insurances, utilities, home care costs, and your current mortgage, if you have one.
• Your closing costs
• The spending habits of your household

Examine all of your expenses.

Remember that outside of your mortgage, you need to feed and...

When you plan to take a journey – such as a vacation or road trip - you hope it will be ‘smooth sailing’ all the way. Quite simply, that means the trip will be relatively trouble-free, and without stress, upset, or hassle.

And in many ways, selling your property is a lot like a journey. So how do you ensure that selling your home will be as ‘smooth sailing’ as your road trip adventure?

No one can ever guarantee that there won’t be some kind of challenge or curve-ball to overcome on the road to selling your home; life isn’t like that. But there are tried-and-tested ways to help ensure everything goes as well as possible, minimising the chance of any of life’s unexpected events from occurring.

First...

Imagine this; you've been waiting for exactly the right moment to put your home on the market. But then, just as you're about to put up the sign and list, you see other FOR SALE signs unexpectedly popping up around the neighbourhood.

So now there are competing listings. This is a fairly common scenario, but does that mean you should put your plan to sell your property on hold?

Not necessarily.

Just because comparable homes are for sale in your area doesn't mean that it's not a good time to make your move. In fact, even if there is a sharp increase in local listings, active buyers might still outnumber properties available. And buyers love choice, so in that scenario, you quite likely to get several interested buyers.

Even in the case of a buyer's...