Importance of a Book's Front Cover

This statistic proves it. As Canadians, we are very superficial and we do judge a book by its cover, at least if the book is a house. It’s been often told that a tidy house does matter more than the land it sits on or the square-footage of the condo when it comes to selling. A recent study of Canadians shopping for a house found that first impressions matter more than price, lot size and square-footage.
Nationally, 46 per cent of respondents said their yard catches their attention before anything else. The survey also found that 40 per cent say that a deck or patio is the most important backyard feature to consider in a prospective home.
How did they get this statistic?
Leger Marketing surveyed 1,500 Canadian women between the ages of 18 and 49 years for this survey, which was commissioned by Home Depot Canada. The data was weighted against Statistics Canada to ensure a sample representative of the Canadian adult population. The maximum margin of error for a sample of 1,500 respondents is plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

So the next time your agent gives you advice on doing some “home work,” – DO IT! If you don’t remember where to start, here are a few pointers suggested by Home Depot:

- Add potted plants around the doorway and porch. Place shrubs along the driveway and keep grass neatly cut to showcase your home.

- Repaint the garage door, front door and window shutters. Clean the windows.

- Renew hardwood by refinishing and staining it to make it look brand new. Consider replacing worn floors altogether.

- Update lighting fixtures and apply a new coat of paint to the house interior to erase the wear of everyday living.

- If you're going to invest in renovations, consider starting with the kitchen, the most important room to prospective buyers. If that is beyond the reach of your budget, consider replacing the appliances and counters, then simply re-facing the cabinets and hardware.


info source: Joanne Hatherly, Victoria Times Colonist; CanWest News Service

July 2007 – Another Record Broken

July 2007 – Another Record Broken.
On August 2nd TREB reported sales 26% ahead of last year’s July record – setting a new all time record for this month. While sales have gone up, prices eased down two percent from June’s average of $373,719. However this decline is thought to be a seasonal. "Prices tend to ease in July/August as potential homebuyers and sellers go on holiday," said the President. He went on to note that the year-to-date average, at $373,326, was up five per cent over the same time-frame in 2006. This goes along with what I had experienced on home searching for clients. July was a slow month for new listings.

- data source: TREB