Archives for Buyers

The Lowdown on Open House Etiquette for Home Buyers

July 27, 2016 | Comments Off

Open houses in Ottawa are an excellent opportunity for you to check out potential future homes. You do not need to have a real estate agent, nor is making an appointment necessary. You don’t even have to be an official home buyer. Instead, open houses can be a stress-free way for you to ease into buying a home. They may help you prioritize what you want, for example. That said, if you are new to open houses, you may be unsure how to act, so here are a few etiquette tips. Just Show Up You may feel odd attending open
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4 Helpful Tips for Purchasing Home Insurance for a New Homeowner

August 9, 2016 | Comments Off

An insurance policy is an asset for any home owner. Owning a home for the first time is incredibly exciting. After all, you have a space that is completely yours to decorate, spend time in and simply enjoy. However, with the rewards of homeownership also come the responsibilities, and people who are buying their first houses will discover that they suddenly have a whole slew of necessary to-dos. One of the most important things for a new homeowner? Buying a home insurance policy for the new house, which will not only protect the structure of the house, but also
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Considering Your Lifestyle When House Hunting

August 21, 2016 | Comments Off

Considering Your Lifestyle When House Hunting Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions you will ever make. As a result, making a smart and focused decision requires an analysis of your unique needs, allowing you to find a home that suits not only those needs but also your lifestyle. In addition to the physical attributes of a home, such as the number of bedrooms and total square footage, you should consider your lifestyle when choosing a home. Evaluate these factors on your next house-hunting adventure. Commute Time Your dream home might not be a dream if a
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Finding the Best Neighbourhood for Your Family

September 9, 2016 | Comments Off

A row of a new houses in Ottawa, Ontario Buying a home is arguably one of the biggest decisions we will ever make. The process can often seem a little daunting at first, especially for those who are first-time home buyers: where to buy, what neighbourhood, what to buy, when to buy – all relevant ponderings that can (and will) be answered in time, rest assured. Similarly, when it comes time to choosing a home that is best suited for your family, there are also a lot of factors to consider – some of which can seem a little overwhelming.
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Checklist for Home Buyers

September 21, 2016 | Comments Off

When buying a home, there are always a series of questions that run through a home buyer’s mind. At Royal LePage Team Realty, we encourage you to ask them, we try to think of everything for you … including a checklist to keep track of the important details about homes we show you! Of course your Real Estate agent will be there every step of the way to help you find the right home, but falling in love with a property is not the only factor to consider when purchasing a home. We’ve put together a checklist that outlines details that are important to many
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Homeowners Can Earn Extra Income Using Airbnb

September 28, 2016 | Comments Off

Congratulations, you’re a homeowner! With all of the joys of home-ownership also comes the task of paying off your mortgage, paying property taxes and keeping up with regular maintenance as required. While you’ve purchased a home within your means, paying off a mortgage can be daunting; however, there are ways in which you can make your payments a little more manageable. If you’ve decided to purchase a home, you’ve put down a certain percentage as a down payment, and you’ve agreed to pay into a mortgage (over the course of x-amount of years with an interest rate of x-percent). You
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Millennials Bring the Big City to the Suburbs

October 11, 2016 | Comments Off

Small businesses in suburban neighbourhoods bring a sense of the big city to smaller towns The high cost of downtown living in big Canadian cities like Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver are driving more and more people out of city centers and into the suburbs. However, millennials say they don’t want to miss out on the look and feel of the big city when they move to the outskirts. Some suburbs have heard these desires, and are trying to find ways to change and better promote the amenities they offer in order to attract more young people. The amenities offered
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Regulating Home Inspectors in Ontario

May 30, 2016 | Comments Off

The Ontario government has announced plans to begin regulating home inspectors, requiring potential inspectors to pass a written exam and field test in order to qualify for a license. In doing this Ontario will be following in the footsteps of British Columbia and Alberta, the only provinces in Canada that have home inspector regulations in place. The hope is that these measures will prevent stories like Alyssa Hanson’s, whose inspector missed water leaking into the basement that led to a $12,000 repair bill according to a recent article in the Globe and Mail The big question about these changes, however,
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What’s In a Name?

June 16, 2016 | Comments Off

When you’re shopping for a new home, there’s a good chance you’ve got a long list of considerations that you will factor into your decision-making process: size, neighborhood, condition, etc. But have you ever considered a home’s street name to be a factor when you’re deciding whether or not you want to buy? It might surprise you, but for many home buyers the name of a house’s street can determine whether that house is desirable – or not – making addresses not just random labels for a property, but influential factors that could make or break a sale. The Origin of
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4 Important Things to Know About the Difference Between a Realtor and Real Estate Agent

June 10, 2016 | Comments Off

Happy young man and woman consulting plans digital PC real estate apartment So, you want to buy (or sell) a house in Ottawa or beyond. What’s the first thing you do? If you’re like most people, you go find a real estate professional to help. While the whole process sounds pretty simple (hire a representative you like and trust!) there’s actually one extra decision you’ll need to make before you proceed — and that is whether you want to hire a Realtor, or a real estate agent. You might be thinking, “But those two things are the same!” If so,
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Kim MacDowall