Growing up I use to LOVE watching the Flintstones, so when I saw this real life Flintstones house, I couldn't resist posting it and sharing it with all you Flintstone lovers! This home is located in Malibu, minutes away from the beach. It sits on 22.89 acres of land and offers incredible panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, Channel Islands, Boney Mountains, Serrano Valley and of course, LA. This home features tons of Neolithic decor and has one bedroom and 2 washrooms. It is currently owned by American producer/actor, Dick Clark and is currently on the market for a whopping $3.5 million!!!! I would definitely love to be the listing agent on this one, wouldn't you?
I know you're dying to see it, so here it is.......
If you aren't in awe yet, then get ready for the views...
What do you think?
If you have a cool space or uniquely decorated place that you would like me to feature, make sure to contact me! ***Images via Home-Designing***
We all strive to keep a clean home, but sometimes life gets in the way and things start to pile up! It's always good to take inventory of what's actually in your home and practice the art of declutter our homes from things we don't need or use anymore. This is not just another staging technique for when you're thinking of selling your home, if you declutter a few times a year, perhaps the beginning of every new season, the mission doesn't seem as daunting. Also when you are actually ready to list your home, the task of decluttering won't be so bad and overwhelming.
Lucky Matt Schexnayder from SpareFoot has agreed to share some tips on how to declutter effectively, take it away Matt.....
Everyone has lofty ambitions of home organization, but not many can accomplish it. We all say that one day we will get organized, and then before you know it ten years has gone by and everything is still a mess. And what happens if all of the sudden you decide to move? How will you approach this situation now that the clock is ticking? Bring on the migraines.
People who manage to stay organized have never experienced this sense of panic, and they are lucky. But how do they do it? What is their secret? Well, a select few are just naturally good at keeping things in order, but most require the helping hand of a self-storage facility. Renting a self-storage unit is by far the best way to keep your home clutter-free.
It always seems as though there is never enough room to put all your belongings, probably due to the fact that people don’t have the heart to throw away items that were once precious to them even if they serve no purpose now. Even if you are living in a mess, you still can’t find it in you to throw anything out. That being the case, most people’s best scenario is a clutter-less home with an overstuffed garage.
Instead of spreading the mess of a renovation all over your house, or in your garage, rent a small unit from one of your local self-storage companies. Keep all of the things you can't get everyday use of out of the way until you have found a purpose for them. Placing your unused items in cheap storage units can help cut down on the visual chaos of a messy house, and it also gives you an opportunity to take a mental break from the stress.
Listed below are a few tips for achieving home and garage organization, the divide and conquer way.
First, before you can conquer, you must divide. This means separating the “keepables” from the “unkeepables” and using a judicious eye to identify belongings that should be given or thrown away.
Second, conquer. Identify what you need and segregate what you don’t need. These are the items you’ll be putting into storage.
Finally, pack things logically. Don’t just throw everything into a box. By packing things in an organized manner and labeling boxes, you’ll make it much easier to find something.
Putting the home you're living in in order can be one of the most stressful things you do as an adult. However, you can minimize the chaos and relieve some of the tension in your home by taking advantage of cheap storage units.
This article was written by Matt Schexnayder. Matt is on the SpareFoot marketing team and writes for the SpareFoot blog. SpareFootis the largest online marketplace for self-storage with more than 5,000 self-storage facilities listed nationwide.
I'm often asked by my clients, what are closing costs and how much should they budget. It is a very common question, especially among first time buyers and there are a lot of myths out there about what your closing costs include. The other day, one of my buyer clients told me that they heard from a friend that they should budget 7% of the asking price for closing costs, that's a lot, especially since they are first time buyers!!!
So I thought I would set the record straight for everyone out there scratching their heads. This only applies to resale properties, not new homes or condos as there are other factors to consider. I will start by doing a break down for 1st time buyers...
First Time Buyers:
Lawyer fee to close the deal, $1000-$1500, make sure to shop around, also ensure the quote given includes all disbursements and title insurance
Title insurance, $250-$650, this one is a no brainer people and should be taken by ANY buyer (done through your lawyer), this is a one time fee and the best and cheapest insurance you will ever buy! If the previous seller has something on the title of the property that your lawyer didn't discover during the title search (mortgage liens, etc) and costs money to reprimand or any outstanding property taxes or water bills, title insurance will pay for it in a heartbeat, no battling it out with your typical insurance companies, so why not take it and give yourself a peace of mind! I've had to use my title insurance a few times in the past and it was a pleasure and took no time at all.
Ontario Land Transfer tax, for any property purchased in Ontario, you must pay this tax, good thing for first time buyers is that you can receive up to a $2000 rebate, just remember, all buyers on the agreement of purchase and sale must be first time buyers! This tax is a percentage of your purchase price so it's hard for me to estimate here, but I have a great LLT calculator you can use on my blog, just click here. Keep in mind this tax is only paid on the closing date and not before!
Toronto Land Transfer Tax, this tax is paid only on properties purchased in Toronto and again it's a percentage of the purchase price. The good news for first time buyers is that they can receive a rebate up to $3,725 (equivalent to the Toronto LLT payable on a $400,000 property). First time buyers are NOT exempt completely, it all depends on the purchase price!
Insurance tax, if you are receiving a high ratio mortgage (less then 20% down payment) the bank automatically insures your mortgage, either with CMHC or Genworth. An insurance premium is charged to the buyer, this premium is a percentage, but lots of factors, that I won't be getting into, come in to play when deciding what percentage the buyer will be paying. Not to worry as this premium gets added to your mortgage amount, but what doesn't get added is the HST the buyer has to pay on the premium. The buyer must pay the HST on the premium during closing and therefore should be factored in as an important closing cost. Please also keep in mind that some banks even insure mortgages with a 20% down payment or more, but the bank will usually absorb the cost.
Mortgage broker fees, all banks and most mortgage brokers do not charge a fee to the buyer when arranging a mortgage, but there is some that do and this cost must also be considered in a buyer's closing costs, as the fee, if any, will need to be paid on the closing date
Non-First Time Buyers:
all the same fees apply like above
the difference is that as a non first time buyer, there will be no rebate on the Ontario Land Transfer Tax
as a non first time buyer purchasing property in Toronto, the rebate for the Toronto Land Transfer Tax will not apply, the buyer will have to pay both taxes, Ontario and Toronto, yuck!
I hope that has helped you solve some of the questions and myths you may have regarding closing costs. Please keep in mind that other various costs associated in purchasing a property apply. Those are, but not limited too, movers, cleaners, deliveries, etc, but these are the main ones that always stay consistent, unfortunately, unless our Mayor Rob Ford does good on his promise and eliminates the Toronto Land Transfer Tax, but I will leave that discussion for another day!
Let me know if you have any questions or comments and I will do my best to answer them! ***Image via San Francisco Chronicle***
Today's feature is not so much a home, but nevertheless is near and dear to me as it's from Poland, the country where I was born! The designer's challenge was to design something minimalistic yet functional for people visiting Poznan in Poland and to also have all the amenities of a hotel room while feeling and looking like home. I think the designers, mode:lina, were successful in their mission, what do you think?
I LOVE all the quotes on the wall, don't you?
If you have a cool space or uniquely decorated place that you would like me to feature, make sure to contact me!
I know this newsletter comes extremely late, but it's always a good time to look and analyze the numbers for the Toronto Real Estate market. I will start off by discussing the numbers for January 2012 and end off with the numbers for the first 14 days of February 2012.
The Toronto real estate market continued its frenetic 2011 activity right into 2012! Not only has the real estate activity continued, but low inventory levels of homes available for sale has pushed prices up almost 9% compared to January 2011.
A strong economy, continued immigration and low interest rates have created a favorable affordability situation, where buyers not only want to buy, but can actually afford to buy.
With 4,567 sales reported in January by the Toronto Real Estate Board, 2012 is shaping up to be another boom year. Hopefully as we get deeper into the year, the pressure on prices will release slightly as more homes come on the market.
I was looking back at the history of house prices in Toronto. 20 years ago, the average price of a house was $234,313. Today its $463,534. Sometimes I wonder – how many people missed the real estate boat? How many people are waiting (some for years now) for prices to adjust, for the bubble to burst? I know a few!
I don’t know if there is a bubble and I do not know if prices will adjust, but I do know that Toronto will continue to grow. I know that immigrants from all over the world find shelter and freedom from all kinds of persecution on our shores. I know that Canadians from other parts of Ontario and other provinces come to Toronto for jobs and opportunity. I know that demand causes prices to increase. I don’t know what will happen to prices tomorrow, but I believe that home prices will double in the next 20 years.
On that note, let's reflect back on the numbers for the first 14 days of February 2012 from TREB's report:
3,206 transactions reported through the MLS during the first 14 days of February, up more then 9% compared to the 2,933 sales reported during the same time in 2011
Average selling price in the 416 area is.......$543,068, up 9% from the same period last year
Average selling price in the GTA is..............$491,493, up by 9% from February 2011
The good news for buyers is that listings were up 13% during the first 14 days of February when compared to the same period in 2011, which will hopefully ease some of the competition happening between buyers in the market place and stabilize home prices.
On the flip side, the good news for sellers during the first 14 days of February is that sellers received on average 99% of their asking price and their homes were on the market for an average of 25 days. So if you're thinking of selling your home this year, no time like the present to do so and I can help!
So, I continue to encourage you, my clients, to buy real estate. Buy an investment property, buy a downtown condo if your kids are planning to go to University, invest in your country and your future!
I leave you now with a video of Jason Mercer from TREB discussing the Toronto Real Estate market in January 2012 and the outlook for the rest of 2012:
Also check out the new MLS Home Price Index, very exciting for real estate:
Have a great March and please call me if you have any questions or know of someone thinking of buying or selling. And don't forget about my referral contest too (click here for more details). I appreciate your help and support!
I'm going to hit you with another guest post today. You are probably wondering what's up with the guest posts recently, well when I went away on my snowboarding vacation, I asked some of my favourite people to write guest blog posts to keep you all entertained while I was gone. Unfortunately the wifi I was promised in the condo I rented didn't work all week so I wasn't able to post anything. I figured I might as well post them now as there are some great posts and I couldn't let them go to waste!
So, next up is Renee Elliott, she is not only a dear friend of mine, but she's also the talent behind Eat.Live.Shop, a blog about, well, I think the title sums it up well. Renee doesn't stop there though, she is also an amazing DIYer, you can find her projects over on her column at Sweetspot, or join her for one of her crafting DIY workshops in her new studio, all details on her website, Re:Creative Works.
So without further ado, take it away Renee.........
I'm so happy that my amazing friend Aleksandra asked me to do a guest post for her!
I'm always brainstorming DIY ideas I can do in my small apartment. Not only does making things myself save me a ton of money but I always get immense satisfaction from it! Since my apartment is on the tiny side, I really need to focus on key storage and a good organization system. Here is a round up of some DIY ideas I've done in my apartment over the past few months:
Thanks Renee for these amazing ideas, I love the creativity and handmade details in each project. Make sure to follow Renee on twitter (EatLiveShop & Re:Creative) and "like" her facebook page.
What do you think of these projects? Is this something you would try?
I've had the pleasure of getting to know Ken Biehler through twitter and facebook, side note, social media is great for networking and boy am I glad we met. Ken is founder and president of Venturehomes.ca, a virtual tour company and pioneers in their field. Realty Royalty has had the pleasure of working with one of Ken's reps and let me tell you they are very professional and get the job done! With the popularity of virtual tours on the rise, a Realtor would be crazy not to have one for their upcoming listing and not utilize the services from Venturehomes.ca.
Ken has so kindly agreed to write a guest blog post and explain a bit more what Venturehomes.ca can do for all of us Realtors. So without further ado, take it away Ken.......
Venturehomes.ca boasts 12 years and over 30,000 virtual tours experience in marketing real estate via the Internet.This vast experience has made Venturehomes.ca the leading Virtual Tour company in Southern Ontario.Virtual Tours are a series of photos and multi-media elements that allows a potential homebuyer to view the home over the Internet without actually visiting the property.It is basically a 24/7 open house of the home that allows hundreds of people to see the property.
Venturehomes.ca takes this to the next level.We sketch a floorplan of the layout of the home; the floorplan is interactive and allows visitors to click the room of interest and automatically pictures of that room will appear. Unlike a movie that has a start and a finish, a Venturehomes.ca virtual tour allows the customer to see the rooms that they are interested in most.Visitors have a very real experience of what the homes is like.After viewing a Venturehomes.ca virtual tour the buyer is often interested in buying before they even visit the home in person.That is great marketing!
You need more than just pictures on the Internet to sell a home. Like any form of advertising you need eyeballs to see the advertising for it to work. Venturehomes.ca actively links up to as many websites as possible and utilizes social media.All virtual tours get linked up to Facebook and Twitter.In fact Venturehomes.ca expects to receive 2 million visitors to the website this year and every property will get hundreds of extra visits! The visits are tracked and monitored through a stats program so you know when and how many people are visiting the virtual tour.
The extra attention can only benefit people selling their homes with a Venturehomes.ca Virtual Tour on it!
Don't forget to follow Venturehomes.ca on Twitter and "like" their Facebook page (and check out some of their cool tours). Thanks again Ken!
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Real Estate,
Resale Homes
