Why You Should Consider Selling In The Winter

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Working as a Realtor I often hear people say “We are going to wait and sell in the spring.” I cannot tell you how many times I hear this. While there is nothing wrong with this I would like to point out a few examples of why it’s a good idea to sell in the winter. Last year I was working with Brian and Sandy who had a beautiful two story home in north east Barrie. The house itself was very nice but their backyard was awesome. It was substantially larger than other properties and also had an in ground pool. At the time we were listing the property for sale, there was a significant amount of snow to the point you could not even see that there was a…
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What You Need To Know When Buying Power of Sales/ Foreclosures

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Power of sales and foreclosures usually happen when an owner is no longer making their mortgage payments and the lender is selling the property to recover the amount owing on the existing mortgage. The process that is most frequently found in Ontario is the Power of Sale and not a Foreclosure. The main reason being that Power of Sales can be completed much faster than a Foreclosure. Power of Sales can be completed in most cases in 3-4 months, where as Foreclosures can take up to a year to complete. Banks and lenders like the shorter process as it permits them to get bad loans off their books faster and if there is any shortfall, they can immediately sue the original borrower for the deficiency. Lenders are supposed to try…
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Five Things To Remember When Doing a Renovation

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Spring time is around the corner (hopefully), and with the warmer temperatures home owners often start to consider doing home renovations. Here are 5 really good things to remember when thinking of hiring someone to renovate your home. 1. Check References Make sure to ask any contractor how long they have been in business and for a list of previous customers that you can call to make sure that all work was completed on time and on budget. You may even wish to go see the work that was done, this way you can judge for yourself the quality of the workmanship. Also make sure that the contractor is licensed and insured in the event that someone is injured on site or there is damage to your property or even…
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Real Life Example of How a Realtor Can Help

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This month I wanted to share a real situation that took place around this time last year. I was out for a run with my dog, as we often run different neighbourhoods in the Barrie area. I came across a "For Sale By Owner" sign.  Being in the business of selling homes I was curious and stopped to talk to the seller. The Seller explained they were going to sell the house themselves. I understood their situation of wanting to keep as much equity as possible, left my business card and later that day dropped off some marketing information and went on my way. A few weeks later the Seller called to say that the home had not sold. They asked if I could come by and speak with them. We discussed…
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