Am I obsessed with Ottawa doorways?
I talked about painting your front door and then I gave you what are my top three things to do, after painting the door. Now, I find that I have so much more to say about the stuff that we seem to love putting in and around our doorway.
New doorknocker. Do you need a doorknocker? I know that you can get some fun knockers (see the Doorbell Factory) but… If you have one already, okay. If not, think about how much clutter do you want on and around your front door. What happens if it is Christmas time and you have hung a wreath on the front door and it covers half of the knocker and looks like one more bit of clutter that you have added? Repeat: simple, simple, simple.
Door Knob -Polish the doorknob. If it is old and the metal is wearing thin, you might want to buy a new door knob. You will want to keep the style of the other “door jewels” and the same metal. It would really look odd to have a mail box, kick-plate, door knocker, doorbell, welcome sign, etc all in different metals in different styles, all making your eyes bleed from too much to see.
New Kick-plate and Welcome Mat - If you must - then remember to polish or replace the kick-plate and ensure that the Welcome Mat is clean and no debris has accumulated under and around the mat. In this picture, there are three kickplates attached to the door. This door, in addition to shedding a few pounds of plate, would be greatly enhanced with a lick of paint. BTW - have we all stopped sweeping the front doorway?
Finally, two more things that are useless or a waste of your money.
A Welcome Sign - Yikes, I will say no more.
Anything with your name on it - on the mailbox, on the mat, on the door or anywhere where the new owner will have to have it removed. The house is no longer about you but about the buyer seeing him/herself living at the house.
Don’t be a door fool. Clean and Simple is the Rule.
Photo credit: Gtown at Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/katmere/69168456/
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca
Ottawa House Hunting - The Ottawa Real Estate Board MLS Internet
The public increased their visits to the OREB Internet Site during the month of May 2008, compared to May 2007. The statistics indicate, that increasingly, people are shopping for their dream home and checking out on house prices via the internet. This tool supports the search. I encourage you to visit http://orebweb2.oreb.ca/index.shtml
| Month of May 2008 | Month of May 2007 |
Members of the Public Visiting OREB 221,594 184,784
Searches on property details 1,944,290 1,462,473
Searches done on Open House details 40,957 32,342
These statistics are provided by the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB).
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca
Three More Things to do to Your Ottawa Front Door Before Listing
Continuing on an earlier blog about painting your front door, I would like to add three more things for you consider doing to the front door before listing.
For your front doorway - if you add a couple of these things you will make a significant impact. Remember, buyers will step into your home through the front door and this and your front yard are where you are making the first impression. Some of these little improvements will cost less than $50.00 but will make an impact of $100s.
I like this picture. You can see the house numbers, the mailbox is new (even if the old one is still stuck in the corner), there are flowers and the glass looks clean. The stairs are wide and debris free. If this house were for sale, the entrance would welcome in a buyer who would have positive feelings before entering.
New doorbell. Start by making sure that the bell works. I ring the doorbell at each house that I visit with my clients. I am not testing if the doorbell works (I just don’t want to walk into a house with the owner coming out of the shower). If the bell doesn’t work, we will know this and start judging your home, before we have stepped over the threshold. Now that it works, you can pump of the house appeal with a funky new bell the ringer and the sound. I know you love your pug but a pug doorbell may not be to everyone’s taste, nor will the false barking or the Battle Hymn of the Republic. If you go to Preston Hardware or other stores with special hardware you can spend hours deciding on how to jewel up your door. I found the Doorbell Factory website that allows you the fun of shopping from your computer. While based in Texas, it appears that the company will ship to Canada. There are lots of wonderful bells available. Just remember, you will be leaving it behind and it will have to appeal to a group of buyers that you have never met. Be careful.
Mail box. Look at your mailbox. Even if your mail is delivered to the central box, you likely have a mailbox by your door for flyers and newspapers. If the box is rusting, lid does not close, newspaper holder is bent and the box looks cheap, please replace it. Again, this is part of the first impression of your house. While we are on the topic of mail, if you hate flyers and have pasted a sign on your door or mailbox discouraging people from leaving flyers, remove it now. I want your house to look welcoming and a negative message from you, in print, right at the door is not a good idea. You want us to think that you and, by extension, your house are loving, welcoming and warm.
House Numbers. It is so important that we can find your house. Are your house numbers visible? Are they large enough to see from the street. Please do not leave rusty little numbers hidden under the mailbox. For a few dollars, you can buy and install some nice big house numbers that are appealing and the buyer can see.
Make a good first impression.
Photo credit Front door @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/gideonstrauss/2480910923/in/photostream/
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email valeriezinger@royallepage.ca
The Door to Your Ottawa House Listing
Paint your door. What? Paint wood? Most men will think that you will be struck dead from painting a wood door (or any wood in the house for that matter) but…
Consider painting your front door. When I was in Ireland I fell in love with the doors painted in high gloss primary colours. What a treat!!!! You are going to / living in the house with the yellow (or red, or green or blue) door. From a long line of row houses, it will be apparent which one is yours by the colour of the door. In Ottawa, where row houses are so popular, where builders have built every house on the block or neighbourhood, you might want a way to distinguish your home from others. Get together with your neighbours and think of painting each door a different colour. Imagine the impact! Think of what fun it would be to take your door to a new level of interest with bright red or yellow or green. Here is a collage of pictures of what this could look like…… Okay, there are not that many houses with eyebrow windows over the door in Canada but in Ireland and maybe on your street ….
All right, maybe the primary colours are not going to work but… you can step away from the white metal door or bland wood door and into a world of some colour. The people at the paint shops can give you help in choosing colours. Remember - If you are going to paint your door, be ready for the comments from your neighbours and do as professional a job with the primer and paint as you can. Have some fun. After all, it is just a door to your house and not the entrance to the Louvre. Okay, one caveat, if you are living in a house with an historical designation you may not be able to apply your creativity to colour choices but then, you already know that.
Photo credit: Irish Doors @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/rbos/172238979/
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca
Listing - Fourth Avenue, The Glebe - $849,000
Thanks to Luigi Aiello of the Royal LePage Gale office, my name was on a listing for this large semi-detached house in the Glebe. Unfortunately, our listing expired before the home was sold.
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca
Ottawa House Hunting - What is moving in the Glebe
For the period January 1 through May 31, 2008, the following listings and sales were recorded on the Ottawa Real Estate Board multiple listings:
| Residential Properties – Detached (69), Row (5), Semi(18) |
| 92 Listings Available |
| 54 Sold |
| 3 Conditionally Sold |
| 35 Active |
| For the 54 properties sold: |
| The average number of days on the market was 35 with a range from 2 to 226 days |
| The average price paid was $579,525 with a range from $275,00 to $1,075,000 |
| The average Sell Price to List Price ratio was 98% |
| Condominium Properties - Apartments (22) |
| 22 Listing Available |
| 8 Sold |
| 0 Conditionally Sold |
| 14 Active |
| For the 8 properties sold: |
| The average number of days on the market was 41 with a range from 9 to 88 days |
| The average price paid was $535,363 with a range from $306,000 to $695,000 |
| The average Sell Price to List Price ratio was 98% |
| Multiple Family Dwellings - 3 |
| 3 Listing Available |
| 3 Active |
Things Ottawa Buyers May Notice #14 - Wallpaper
WALLPAPER
As I go out with Buyers looking at houses and host Open Houses on Sundays, there are things buyers seem to repeatedly notice. This series looks at the good and the not-so-good things that buyers have noticed.
Not-So-Good - Wallpaper - The buyer was looking for a home built in the 60s. Yes, I know, the 60s!!!!! For the best list price, we were finding homes untouched for the past 40 years. Original owners (and there were a few) were just now selling. Do you know what is in those homes? Well, I am going to start by talking about the wallpaper. Holy Hannah! My buyer was not born in the 60s and thought that the paper might be kitchy. No - not so much. After 40 years it is permanently glued to the wall and removing paper like that will take time, effort and lots of patience. Do you think the seams were glued down with airplane glue (another part of the 60s)? My money was on the drywall / plaster coming away with the paper.
Here are some samples that I found on Flickr that are identical or close cousins of the colour, type and style we saw:
Think about stripping before selling. Be proud of the house you are selling.
Photo Credit: Wallpaper @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/sindesign/298786928/
Photo Credit: Wallpaper and Picture @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ekonon/88467637/sizes/m/
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca
Things Ottawa Buyers May Notice #13 - Ceilings
CEILINGS
As I go out with Buyers looking at houses and host Open Houses on Sundays, there are things buyers seem to repeatedly notice. This series looks at the good and the not-so-good things that buyers have noticed.
Good and Not so Good - Ceilings. There was an era when plasterers were hired during house construction to finish off the lath and plaster walls and to do decorative swirls and curls and strange designs on the ceilings. If I had to guess the timeframe, it would be around 1920 - 1970. I could be wrong. Do you know what I mean? You can see some these designs in older homes in Sandy Hill, the Glebe, Ottawa South, etc. Some of them are beautiful and reflect real craftsmanship. Others - well - not so much. This week I was out with a buyer looking at homes built in the 1950s. In the basement of one home the ceilings had been plastered - BUT - it was as though they had paid for the plaster by the truckload and were moved to use it all. The ceilings were low, especially where the heating pipes had been encased. The plaster, dried and hardened after many decades, dripped from the ceiling in long upside down peaks. It was as though we were in a cave with decades of stalactite growth. My client was over 6′ tall so there was a clear and present danger in that basement. The following image is so close to what that ceiling looked like that I had to share it with you.
This plaster time seemed to be followed by the stippled ceiling time. Here, the drywall guys or painter guys would be hired to tape off the drywalled ceiling and then, rather than do the fine sanding and make the joins invisible, stippling was added. This covered any and all imperfections. Once up, they are a real bugger to The problem now is - we seem to hate stippled ceilings. The Americans call it popcorn ceilings (and I for one wonder what their popcorn looks like). Removing stippled ceilings is not for the faint of heart. You need a shower cap and cape, you need a lot of water to loosen the stippling and then you need plastic covering everything (of course your plastic is the cap and cape). We - scrape - wet - scrape - wet - scrape OOOOPS!!! Drywall, tape, sand, mud, sand, mud, sand. Now you know why those stippled ceilings are still around. It could be worth the cost to have someone come in and do the ceilings professionally. 
Whatever your decision on your ceilings, minimize the odd and bizarre. At least touch up the paint smears from painting the walls and, if you are a smoker, you might want to paint the ceiling (plastered, stippled or drywalled) as the yellow from the smoke is not a selling feature.
Be proud of the house you are selling.
Photo credit: #1. Stalactite Layers @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomscott/152131917/sizes/m/
# 2 - Popcorn Ceiling Removal - Oh The Fun! @ Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/74399486@N00/403422078/
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca
Things Ottawa Buyers May Notice #11 & #12 - Wine Cooler and Alcohol
WINE COOLER and ALCOHOL BOTTLES
As I go out with Buyers looking at houses and host Open Houses on Sundays, there are things buyers seem to repeatedly notice. This series looks at the good and the not-so-good things that buyers have noticed.
Good - Wine Cooler installed in the Kitchen. This is a bit of the wow factor. Most Buyers can see themselves having a cool glass of white wine upon arriving home after a long day of work. Your wine cooler helps build up the chic elegant nature of your home.
Not-so-good - Counter full of Alcohol Bottles and Mix. If the valuable real estate (meaning space) on your kitchen counter is dedicated to your alcohol collection, it will be difficult for the Buyer to see him or herself cooking in your kitchen - drinking and partying yes. Either drink up those bottles as you pack or move your bottles to a less visible location in your home.
BE PROUD OF THE HOUSE YOU ARE SELLING
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca
Things Ottawa Buyers May Notice #9 & #10 - Garage Doors and Automatice Door Openers
GARAGE DOORS and AUTOMATIC DOOR OPENERS
As I go out with Buyers looking at houses and host Open Houses on Sundays, there are things buyers seem to repeatedly notice. This series looks at the good and the not-so-good things that buyers have noticed.
Good - Garage Door with no dents. A nice smooth garage door and if it is stained wood, even nicer. So one day when you were not paying attention, you drove into the garage door. Were you out with friends at the bar? Kids in the back seat distracting you or were you just on ice and slid into the door? So many garage doors are metal and, as you know, once you dent metal it is difficult to make it better. In New Zealand autobody guys are called “Panel Beaters” and now I can think of job opportunities for panel beaters here in Canada. Those darm dented doors. If you can, beat back the worst of the dent(s) by using wood blocks on either side of the dent and, as gently as possible, trying to smooth out the dent. It does really detract from the appearance of your house.
Not So Good - Automatic Garage Door Opener that Does Not Work. It is frustrating. It is always caught by the home inspector and, although replacement costs are not pennies, they are not in the thousands either. Think about repairing or replacing the garage door opener before listing you house.
BE PROUD OF THE HOUSE YOU ARE SELLING
Photo credit: GB’s Garage Door at http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdies100/2111021523
Valerie Zinger ~ Ottawa, Canada ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ Email vzinger@royallepage.ca
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Welcome
My name is Valerie Zinger. I am a Realtor in Ottawa. I look forward to listing your property or helping you find your home.
Phone: 613-723-5300 Click here to contact Valerie by Email at:
vzinger@royallepage.ca -
