Tub of trouble

You are looking at a home to buy and there is a wonderful tub in the bathroom.  You see yourself with candles, soft music and bubbles.  Now you need to know if you fit in the tub.  DO NOT try out the tub with your shoes on.  Would you do this at home?  Don’t leave  behind scratches, marks and ruined acrylic.

You may be marking your own territory.

 

Zinger 117

Days on the Market – DOM

Buyers and Buyers’ agents are very interested in knowing the number of days that a particular house has been on the market.  The question sounds like – “How long has this house been for sale?”  Why is this important? 

A house that has been on the market for less than a couple of weeks is still hot.  If it is just listed and properly priced then it may be sizzling hot – subject of a bidding war in a Sellers’ Market.  A potential Buyer may want to avoid newly listed houses just because of the bidding war situation.  Conversely, some Buyers will only look at new listings assuming that older listings are “picked over”. 

If the house has been on the market for a long time, Buyers and agents will be asking what is the problem.  Is it the wrong price?  Is there a problem with the house that the MLS pictures do not show?  Is there a stigma to the house or neighbourhood?  Maybe the Sellers are stubborn and refuse to move on their price or they are just listing the house to see what the market will bear and are not really interested in selling unless they find an uninformed Buyer. 

DOM (Days on the Market) for an area is also interesting to a Buyer and Seller.  For the Seller, there is no need to lose sleep about not selling a home in a week if the average DOM in the area is 28 days or greater.  If houses turn over quickly then the Seller will have some indication that the price may be wrong.  For the Buyer, looking in an area with a high DOM means that, when selling the house at a later time, he or she can expect it to take longer than in more popular areas. 

There is a lot of information available to Buyers and Sellers to make informed pricing and buying decisions.

Photo credit:  PriceReduced @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/37486024@N03/3490989249/

No Pane No Gain

One thing most home inspectors will verify is the age and condition of the windows in a home.  Of course some money was likely spent on making the house look good – a lick of paint, a good cleaning and some flowers inside and out.  However, the real money (thousands of dollars) may not have been spent on replacing old leaky windows. 

My house in the Glebe needed new windows as it was over 100 years old.  No one likes putting up the winter/storm windows every fall and taking them down in the spring.  They were single pane windows and highly inefficient.  It cost approximately $12,000 to do the windows.  Overall I used an average of $1,000 per window – some far less and some far more plus installation on a three storey house.

If you are buying a house get to know how to date windows and understand the cost of replacing windows if they are close to the end of their usefulness.

Photo credit:  Old Window @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/doc-adams/3857296378/

Red River Blues

Before buying your house along the river find out the history of flooding on that section of the river.  Most rivers, with residential property on the banks, have a conservation authority that established building rules (such as proximity to the bank, type of construction and plantings).  Go to the Authority and find out the flooding history.

Don’t get sandbagged into buying the wrong property. 

Zingers 113

Here kitty, kitty

If you have ailurophobe (the fear of cats), make sure that you let your real estate agent know.  Most listings indicate if there is a cat in the house.  If you cannot be in a house with a cat, then your agent will do everything possible to ensure that you don’t see those homes. 

Not only Andrew Lloyd Webber has Cats

Zingers 112 

Zingers #110 – Freedom on Runway #2

Are you looking at buying a house near a freeway or under a flight path?  Maybe you never entertain outside or have children who need to play in the yard.  Being near a highway or beneath the flight path is not likely to be an issue for you.  If you are annoyed with noise then locations near these are considered to be incurable defects. 

Don’t let  your peace be “leaving on a jet plane”.

The Ottawa House – Dehumidifier

Ottawa summers are very humid.  Just check the humidex and you will see that being located in a valley impacts the temperature and level of discomfort with June, July and August being the worst.  Now, if you are buying a house in Ottawa don’t be surprised to see a dehumidifier working non-stop in the basement.  In some houses, the owner has not run the line to the drain and there is a beeping sound because the tank is full.  On really hot days in summer, the tank can fill up overnight. Having a dehumidifier is essential.  Not using one can often lead to problems.

With moisture being a house buying issue, Buyers need to be aware that a running dehumidifier may be disguising problems that the owner has not be attending to over the past years.  Is there a musty smell?  Another sign is a lot of room deodorizers in the basement.  Can you see water forming on the windows?   Is there visible black mold in the corners of rooms or in the basement along the baseboards. Have the home inspector test for humidity levels.   If the level is above 45% and it is in the middle of winter then humidity is an issue resulting in bacteria, mold, mildew and wood rot. 

Watch and smell for all the warning signs of high humidity.

 Photo credit:  CIMG1106 @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcasimir/3709152335/in/photostream/

Zingers #109 – Houses are like fish

 Sometimes a Buyer will find the perfect house on the very first appointment.  What happens?  Fear sets in that not enough time was spent looking and that there is no basis of comparison.  Maybe there is something better out there.  Some Buyers get the house and some Buyers think, years later, that that house was….

The one that got away.

Consider living large in a small Ottawa space

Living big in a small space.  There are hundreds of websites that discuss how to de-clutter and decorate small spaces.  Before you get to the decorating, think about buying a smaller house.  How much space do you need? 

Unless you have a big family there is very little chance that you are going to need a living room, a family room, den and a recreation room.  On top of that new houses have enough room in the master bedroom to make a private sitting area.  The question should be private from whom?  If you have the empty nest, retired, never had children, single child situation then you might want to consider going small.  It need not be about the money.  Some very expensive homes in Ottawa are small, perfectly outfitted and located in prime locations.  You will not have the big house to clean or the huge yard to weed and mow.  These are the upside. 

My neighbour is in the process of moving from an 1,800 sq ft home to something over 7,000 sq ft.  She said that she has never had to de-clutter because she has always had space in her house to save things.  Now that she is moving, she will be able to keep everything.  The house is lovely and there will definitely be space to spread out and reason to buy new things.  Good for her but she is leaving the centre of town.  Everything is a trade off.

There is something out there for everyone.  Bigger is not always better.  Consider trading space for a “jewel” of a house. 

Photo credit:  The Doll House @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/morticide/3768730608/in/photostream/

Zingers #108 – Incurable defects

 When you are looking for a home be aware of some defects that cannot be corrected or can be but with extraordinary expense.  Your home inspector will point out things that are most likely correctable.  However, what the inspector is not doing is looking at the location of the house, the size of the yard and the efficiency of the layout. 

Vaccinate yourself with knowledge about the house and location.

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