CENTURY 21 Innovation - Blog

10 Things to Devalue your Home !!!

bedros.manikian@century21.ca — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Top 10 Things You Can do to Devalue Your Home

Sometimes, making an improvement to your home could actually hurt you when you try to sell it.

Here are the top 10 home improvements that can make your home harder to sell:

1. Kitchen Renovation. Any renovation of a kitchen that is too taste-specific or extreme in design. For example, a kitchen equipped with a restaurant-level stove or multiple refrigerators may not appeal to the buyer who is a simple cook. You want to appeal to the broadest range of buyers when selling a home, and if a buyer thinks they need to spend money re-doing what you’ve done, they will offer less.

2. Bathroom Renovations. The same can be said for bathroom renovations. Any design that is over the top could detract from the value of the home. It’s best to avoid garish sinks, faucets, and tiles. And skip the heart-shaped bathtub!

Dated and Overly Personal Bathroom

3. Painting. Painting the walls is a great way to freshen up a space prior to putting your home on the market, but painting with bold colors such as red, orange, purple or even black (I’ve seen this) is a sure way to turn off a potential buyer. Buyers want to feel like they can move right in and not have to re-paint the walls to match their own tastes and their existing furniture. The same goes for painting the exterior of the home – no bright blues, yellows or greens please!

4. Water Features. Having an in-ground pool, hot tub, waterfall or pond can also devalue a home, as buyers may perceive these as extra maintenance expenses they don’t want to incur. Also, buyers with small children may be fearful of these as well. The only exception of an in-ground pool definitely adding value is if the home is an investment property in a resort area where renters find homes with a pool to be more desirable.

Very personal colour choices can derail a sale!

5. “Wasted” Square Footage. Taking valuable square footage in a house and using it for a specific, personalized purpose can make the house harder to sell and/or detract from its value, for example, turning a garage into a gym. Also, on the Bravo TV show, Nine By Design, the hosts of the show were trying to sell their NYC townhouse. The ground floor was taken up by a basketball/squash court because the owners liked to play these games. However, most buyers would see this as wasted space and an expensive project ahead to change.

6. Redecorating. Redecorating in a highly taste-specific style, such as Asian, country clutter or extreme modern can turn-off potential buyers. When selling your home, you want to appeal to the broadest range of buyers, so it’s important that the furniture and décor is neutral and broadly appealing.

7. Illegal home improvements. Decks, driveways, expansions, etc. not approved by the local town authorities can devalue the home as you will probably be forced to correct the situation prior to selling which could result in something as extreme as actually removing it.

8. Laminated Wood Flooring. Installing laminated wood flooring instead of solid wood in an upscale home can also cause a buyer to think “I’ve got to rip this out”! Better to refinish existing hardwood floors, if any, or cover floors with new but inexpensive wall-to-wall carpeting.

9. DIY Home Repairs. While needed repairs and maintenance should be done to a home before putting it on the market, doing these yourself could end up costing you money in the end as buyers perceive your shoddy workmanship as something they have to spend money correcting, and therefore offering you a lower price.

10. Gardens and Landscaping. A high-maintenance garden and landscaping could also lower the value of a home. If buyers are not avid gardeners or don’t want to spend money watering or on hiring someone to constantly weed, trim and rotate your plantings, this could be a real turn-off.

So, before you decide to make that improvement to your home, stop and ask yourself: “Will most buyers find this desirable so that they would be willing to pay for it, or is it just to satisfy my own needs and tastes?”.

Do you know of any home improvements that could devalue a home?

Excellent use of space with modern furnishings sells buyers !!!

Why I will be your Real Estate Broker

adamo.mariani@century21.ca — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Why I will be your real estate broker,

Everyday I live and breathe the business, not many people can say this but I absolutely love what I do. Building relationships with the people I work with and work for is by far the most important aspect of the business to me. I respect what the client says and will always give my opinion no matter what the effect of what I say may bring with it, because in the end knowing that your getting the truth is more important than the short term gain a lie may bring. I'm here to ensure the long term prosperity of my career. Don't get me wrong we're all here to make money but not at the cost to the ones I respect personally or professionally.

My craft has been refined throughout the years, negotiating has become second nature to me. Reading each and every situation and determining the strategy, tone or level of aggressiveness needed to close deals has become my forte. Sometimes just listening will be the edge needed to make the deal happen. Brokers have many characteristics that vary from one spectrum to the next, being able to be divers in all spectrums gives me the knowhow and confidence needed to come out on top and giving my clients the best shot at achieving there goals.

I'm not here to give you the everyday speech about why you should pick me over another I'm here to tell you that in most situations you have one opportunity to make the deal happen, pick the broker who will be the full extension of you to represent you the way you should be represented with trust, professionalism, respect, and most of all experience.

Most people don't mix business with pleasure or even friendship with business… I do it everyday!

I specialize in Residential, Commercial, and Condo Development

Adamo Mariani
Century 21 Innovation
514-963-9333
amrealties@gmail.com
www.mtlrealties.com

Prices More Than Doubled in Québec Between 2000 and 2010

zi.zhang@century21.ca — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Residential real estate prices more than doubled in Québec between 2000 and 2010. Camille Laberge, an economist at the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards, explains why and compares Québec’s situation with that of other Canadian provinces.

http://www.cigm.tv/en/videos/voir/478/1/

Why I love living in the old port of Montreal

adamo.mariani@century21.ca — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A village within the big city,

why do I love living in the old port of Montreal, Living here is like a flashback in history except the amenities have changed a bit. I've seen such a change in the last five years in this area, now with much more flare and life. You've only really spent time here on those hot summer days or spent beautiful nights eating out at one of the many great restaurants. But now times have changed with many new restaurants and bars opening and offering something a little different from the same old. Not to mention the countless winter festivals have really made this area the place to be even on those cold winter days. Time seems to go by slower here, it reminds me of days in Italy where you enjoyed every moment. It just feels like everyone is in a better mood being here. It's funny how many people tend to just forget that the port even exist, then on a random day you make your way in the area and fall in love all over again. With all the changes and action going on it will be very hard for anyone to stay away.

More to come...

For any information about real estate or the old port of Montreal in general please contact me anytime.

Adamo Mariani

Century 21 Innovation

514-963-9333

adamo.mariani@century21.ca