Renovations, especially when preparing your home for sale, can make or break how quickly your property will stay on the market. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of choosing new finishes for home projects or be blindsided by unforeseen hiccups that can dramatically increase costs. Deciding on how much to spend on home improvement projects can be tricky—lucky for you, I have compiled some tips that will help you stay on track and minimize any unwanted surprises!

Set Your Spending Limit

According to Zillow, you should spend no more for each room than the percentage of what that room values in the overall house value. For example, the kitchen generally makes up to 15% of the overall property value. If your home is worth $200,000, you

Home design trends are constantly changing, but with the state of the world over the past year and a half, we can identify some common themes emerging. We see many rethinking the functionality of their homes and the concentration on building a safe, calm, and joyful space to centre us in throughout the various recent and tumultuous events. Here are some key trends that you can easily incorporate into your living space or make it more appealing to potential buyers if you are planning to sell your home!

Say Goodbye to Exclusively Formal Rooms

Have a formal dining room or living room you only use once every 6 months? The focus is now on livable luxury and versatility in design. This means rethinking our less-used spaces and embracing furniture

I'm not going to beat around the bush; a house is a big purchase and a huge life milestone. You want to make sure you are making the right choice. Have you been wondering if it is worth it to take the leap? Are you overwhelmed by all the information out there? While there are many benefits of owning a home versus renting one, here are some of the top ones you’ll want to consider!

#1: It’s  Great Way to Build Equity

First off, what does equity mean? Equity refers to the probable market value of your property against any liens (such as a mortgage). The longer you own a home and pay towards the balance of any liens, the liens will gradually decrease as the property value and your equity in the home increase. The larger the home equity you have, the

Buying a house isn’t like buying a kitchen appliance. You don’t have the luxury of researching, reading reviews, price matching, and using all of that to choose the absolute right fit before bringing it home. And if it doesn’t quite fit as well as you thought, you have the opportunity to return it for an exchange or refund.

Instead, when buying a home, you are limited to the ever-changing availability of the real estate market inventory, which may or may not contain a home that fits all your wants and needs. This is especially true in a seller’s market, like we are currently experiencing in Saskatoon real estate. And if you do find one outside of your budget, saving up just a little more and coming back to it usually isn’t an option. There are no

Well, Saskatoon, it looks like we’ll be spending another summer close to home. With the real estate market as hot as it is right now, it’s evident that some people are taking the opportunity to upgrade their living situations. Imagine finding a home with a great outdoor space—kids' playset included. Or what if it has a pool? How amazing will your summer be with access to your very own backyard oasis?

If it's possible to change your primary residence to suit your desired lifestyle better, that is a great option. If you are unable to find your family’s perfect home, what can you do to improve your outdoor space? The good news is, there's plenty you can do to enhance the outdoor area you do have while you are waiting to move!

Furnishings: Need a

Some people may make the mistake of rushing into renting or buying a property, only to realize later on that there’s something that they dislike or is missing. I’m not talking about missing shingles or whether it is up to code or not—a proper home inspection can easily catch that. I am talking about those key features and lifestyle elements you and your family are looking for that take the property from house to home. Those should play just as important of a role in your home search as whether the plumbing has been installed correctly.

Below are my best house hunting tips to ensure you choose a property that you will love.  

#1 - Does It Check Your Boxes

My best advice before you even begin your house hunt is to evaluate your current home. 

When you have a potential buyer request a viewing of your home, you have passed the first test. Your home meets some or most of their search criteria and the listing looks appealing enough for them to want to see more! One of the most important things you can do now to ensure your home makes a great first impression for buyers, both online and in person, is to stage your home.

Why Stage a Home For Sale?

Home staging has been growing in popularity for many years in the real estate industry. It’s important to understand that staging goes much further than placing furniture in a home that is going on the market for sale. The prime reasons staging has become commonplace is due to consumer demand and the increase of online home shopping.

Most, if

Have you taken the time to browse through the listings in Saskatoon?  If you have, you may have noticed a lack of options available, especially homes ranging in price between $300,000 and $500,000. It’s all thanks to the seller’s market that we are currently experiencing!  

Seller’s Market vs Buyer’s Market vs Balanced Market

Understanding the difference between a seller’s market, a buyer’s market, and a balanced market is important no matter if you’re buying a home, selling a home, or trying to do both at the same time. 

A seller’s market signals that there is more demand for homes than there is supply.  A buyer’s market, on the other hand, happens when there’s ample supply but less demand. In a buyer’s market, not only is there more

There’s more to house-hunting than just going to a few open houses, although getting to know the market in advance is not a bad idea. Before you become a serious “House Hunter,” there are some important things to consider. Whether this is your first house or you have just sold an existing home and now need to find your next home, this will be a helpful guide to ensure you’re ready. The following tips will make house hunting a smooth process. Well...as smooth as possible.

Team Building: Finding Your Real Estate Help

Now’s the time to start assembling your real estate team. These are the professionals whose expert knowledge will help focus your house hunt, seal the deal, and get you the keys to your first home.  

It’s important to find the

Curb appeal is one of the most important selling factors for a home. It’s the very first impression potential buyers ever have, and it can even be the make-or-break factor that decides whether they even step inside the door at all. That’s why, if you’re planning on selling your home, it should be one of the first places you focus your home-staging efforts to ensure a quick and seamless sale!

Give It a Good Clean

Dirt and grime on the exterior of a home very rarely accumulate in just one day, so it’s easy not to notice the subtle build-up over time. To us, it may not necessarily feel unclean because we saw it just yesterday and it looked just the same! But to a potential buyer, that slightly “off” tinge can stick out like a sore thumb. 

Take a