Neighbourly Ottawa - Sandy is Dandy

Ottawa Real Estate Neighbourhoods: Sandy Hill

If you are looking to buy a house in Ottawa, Sandy Hill might be just what you are looking for.

The Neighbourhood.  This neighbourhood is bounded by the Rideau River on the east, the Rideau Canal on the west, Rideau Street on the north and the Queensway / 417 on the south.  This is a very eclectic neighbourhood.  The hilly and sandy soil means buildings are low.  The variety of housing is huge. 

Approximately 12,000 people and 30 embassies.  Many of the large estate homes, built in the early part of the 20th century, have been converted for use as Embassies.  It is interesting to walk in the area and see the flags of these countries flying.  One conversion, that I like, is the  facility now used for the Cordon Bleu Cooking School .  The house construction began in 1874 by Scottish lumberman James Mather. It has gone through many uses and conversions and continues to be a beautiful building. 

Sandy Hill for higher education.  The University of Ottawa, sitting on the west side of Sandy Hill, is the draw for student housing.  Faculty live in the area as do people wanting the ability to walk downtown or to the Byward Market for work and pleasure.  The more expensive housing is generally located on the east side, near the Rideau River.  House hunting here is fun because every type of housing is available with many wonderful and sometimes quirky features behind those closed doors.  Be ready of surprises.

Valerie Zinger ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

 

Nine things to have ready when I list your house

I am on my way to your house to prepare the listing.  Here are some things that you can find or prepare in advance of our meeting.

Plan of Ground FloorSurvey. Have you got a copy of the most recent property survey?  If so, we will want to put that in the House Binder and make available to the purchaser.  In the last move, my husband and I got the survey as part of the package.  It was interesting and we filed it.  A couple of years later there was a question with the City of Ottawa as to who was responsible for removing a dying tree.  Having the survey proved to the city arbourist that the tree was on city property.  This saved us hundreds of dollars.  In addition to the survey, do you have the builder’s floor plan?  This would be a wonderful thing to provide to the purchaser plus it will help in measuring the rooms. 

Tax Bill. Maybe you are paying your taxes with your PIT (Principle, Interest and Taxes) and don’t have a copy.  I would like you to contact the city and get a copy of the bill.  This is an essential piece of information for the MLS® listing.  Buyers are very keen to know the taxes.

Energy Bills. While a family with babies and toddlers is likely to keep the house warmer and use more water than a couple who are at work all day, your energy and water bills (gas, water, hydro, oil) will give the prospective buyer an indication of what it cost to run the house. This is interesting information to have handy and we will be questioned about the energy costs. 

Photos. I hope that you have some recent pictures of your house and yard - when it wasn’t under 4 feet of snow.  We will want the buyers to see how lovely the yard is, where the pool is located and how your gardening efforts have enhanced the property.  We may need to have some of the best photos enlarged for our house book.  Sell, sell, sell.  When my husband and I were selling our house in the Glebe, we had two sets of photos - the photos of the yard with all the plants and trees in full splendour and a set of photos when the house was built in the late 1800s with the first family that lived in the house.  I believe that those historical photos were a significant selling feature.   

Receipts. If you have had some major house work done in the past 3 - 5 years, we will want to let the buyers know.  The receipts will prove when the work occurred, who did it and if there is any warranty left.  The receipts that you should find -new shingles, new porch, floors/carpets, furnace, windows, septic tanks and wells (more about this next), any room renovations and extensions.  We want the buyer to know that you have had work done on the house and that it is move-in ready.

Water Wells and Septic Tanks.  If you live in the city, you are off the hook for this one.  However, if you are outside of the main part of the city and not on city sewer and water, then we want to show the buyers your well record (when it was drilled, what quantity of water, etc.).  The buyer is going to want to have the water tested.  Run your taps and clean out the filter at the end of each tap.  We are not going to know where the buyer will take the sample.  I hope you have the septic use permit and any receipts for work done on the tank (such as having it recently pumped).   

List of Positives - At breakfast tomorrow morning, jot down the reasons why you have enjoyed living in the house. Sell, sell, sell.  Buyers will be interested in the park that you love, the wonderful block party every Canada Day, the proximity to the Dairy Queen, how easy it is to clean the tile floors and the high fence in the backyard so the deer don’t get in to eat your plants.  Whatever it is that you love about the house, let me know.

Key - I need a key to your house to put in the lock box.  Please have a spare key ready for me. If you are like me, it is likely on a key chain somewhere in the house.  If you have an alarm system, I will need the code. 

Be Prepared - We Are Going To Be Selling

Photo credit:  Plan of Ground Floor by http://www.flickr.com/photos/salimfadhley/188276262/

Valerie Zinger ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

Five Remarkable Ottawa Differences in Real Estate

Here are five things that people moving here have noticed as different.

Brick Houses.   Especially if you come from Newfoundland and the west, you will notice that Ottawa builders have made liberal use of bricks in construction.  Oh, you will find stucco somewhere and you will find clapboard and siding but brick has been the historical material of choice.  When you live here you will learn never to paint exterior brick and to expect to have to re-point brick every few decades.

2 Licence Plates - The Ministry of Transport did not issue you a plate and a spare.  You, by law, are expected to install both - one on the front and the other on the back of the car.  It was a bit of surprise, when my front plate went missing (okay, I snapped it right off the car when I scraped the curb while parking), that I was expected to go to the Motor Vehicle Branch and get another plate - at a cost.   It is now $20.00.  If you have vanity plates, it is $94.20.

Brown Paper Bags - For the first week I was in Ottawa, I noticed several people walking around the streets holding small brown paper bags.  My experience in Winnipeg led me to think that these held a mickey of some type of booze.  I first suspected an error in judgement when I noticed that there were more and better dressed drunks in Ottawa than in Winnipeg.  Surprise!  Those bags held hot, greasy, wonderful french fries from one of several Ottawa Chip Wagons.  Here is a photo from Flickr of my favourite chip wagon at the corner of Bank and Lisgar. 

Taking the Bus.  While there is public transportation in all the major cities, the use of public transportation by the government sector is impressive.  Buses coming to the downtown area are full of public servants, from Assistant Deputy Ministers on through the various organizations.  I have never seen a Deputy Minister on the bus - they have cars and drivers.  In the west, it is a sign of hitting upon economic hard times if you take the bus.  The people in Toronto and Montreal sneer at our public transportation system but Ottawa users find it reasonably good.  Certainly, reading your BB mail or briefing materials on the trip out to Kanata is better than driving your car on the 417 in rush hour traffic.

Canada Day.  Ottawa is the nation’s capital and Canada Day is wonderful.  Everyone goes to Parliament Hill at least once for Canada Day.  It is a long day of events, a recognition of our great country and a display of our pride.  If you don’t go to “The Hill” then you will find street parties, community parties and other private events happening all over the region.  It is wonderful. 

These are just five things that you may notice as differences. 

Let me help you find a home that can really make a difference for you. 

Photo Credit: Brick Houses @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/tweek/31322389/

 

Valerie Zinger ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

 

Neighbourly Ottawa - Be “Civic” Minded

The Civic Hospital -  MLS® District 4504.

Location.  The Civic Hospital Area is bounded by the Queensway / 417 on the north, Bayswater on the west, Carling Avenue on the south and Island Park Drive on the west.  Driving downtown takes 8 minutes from starting the car to parking.  Simply by walking to Preston Street or Wellington Avenue you will have over 3 dozen options of where to dine.

Neighbourhood.  There is a feeling of true neighbourhood - wide tree-lined streets with houses set several feet apart and yards varying in size from infill lots to property that extends from one street through to the next.  This is a friendly neighbourhood where people know their neighbours.  Help is available just by asking.  I am surprised at the number of neighbourhood parties from a friendly drop by for wine to Christmas and Canada Day events.

Knock Knock.  Who is there?  Many single people and young families have moved into the neighbourhood.  As families grow, people are renovating rather than moving out of the Civic Hospital area.  Some homes were built in the early part of the 20th century while others are currently under construction.  A new trend is to buy, level and build.  There is a range of housing from condos, multiple family and large and small homes. 

It’s the big one, Elizabeth.  You cannot ignore the hospital as part of the community.  I have told my husband how comforting it is to know how close the Heart Institute is as we get older.  I will be able to just wheel him up the hill in one of our office chairs and save the bother of waiting for an ambulance.  About those sirens, there are none.  Ambulances turn off the sirens so that they don’t wake up the hospitalized.  It is very quiet.

Valerie Zinger ~ Ph. 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

Get Moving: Is Ottawa Shelving Another Paper?

What’s on your shelf?

As part of planning your move, and something you can start buying before you move in, get shelving paper. 

The Lost Art.  You might think that lining shelves is a lost art but I highly recommend doing it.  Before every move, I go out and buy several rolls of plastic coated, non sticky, installed-on-damp-shelf, contact/shelving paper.  You can find it at most hardware stores, including the Dollarama stores around Ottawa. 

Acres of Paper.  Before my last move, I found a checked paper (that was useful because it gave me cutting lines) and bought 10 rolls.  Once into the job, I had to go out and buy another 15 rolls.  Mind you, at a dollar a roll, this was not a huge expense.  The shelves and drawers in your kitchen and bathrooms require a surprisingly enormous number of square feet/metres.  The good news is that, if you get the right type of shelving paper, you only have to do it once. 

Why, why why.  Lining shelves takes a lot of time, a bit of money and sense that maybe you are too fussy.  Unless your new home is truly new, someone else has had time to spill unknown substances and mark up the drawers and shelves.  Moving in is the perfect time to put down the paper.  There is nothing in the cupboards or drawers and you are going to want to clean these before you put your things away.  I have done this in every house I have lived in and every time I said it would be the last time.  Now I know that it is part psychological as I believe it is more sanitary and part forward thinking. 

Line now to save later. When you go to sell your house at a later date, the shelves and drawers will look good.  Potential buyers are notorious inspectors.  They love to open drawers and cupboard doors. Imagine how positive they will feel when they see clean lined shelves.  When you are moving out, all you have to do is pull out the lining and, voila, the shelves are clean.  There will be less work and time saved as you leave.

Valerie Zinger ~Ph: 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

 

Get Moving: A Front Door Mat and an Ottawa Locksmith

Between the time of buying your new house and getting possession, there are some things you can do to get organized and ready.

Door with welcome matNew Front Door Mat. Before moving, have some fun and buy new front and back door mats. You won’t have to worry about getting them to fit. Most door mats are small so that they fit in front of the doors. While sizes vary, they are about 3 feet wide. These are for you, the movers, your family and your friends to use. The movers will put drop cloths down inside the house but not outside the door. Moving day is about having a lot of people traipsing in and out of your house. On a dry warm day, this might not be a problem but not everyone moves on ideal days. Get some mats.

Locksmiths and alarm codes. On the day you get possession, the sellers are required to provide their lawyer a key to their house. Your lawyer will get the key and provide it to you, the buyer, when the paperwork is signed. Now the house is yours. While most sellers will try to scoop up all the extra keys to their house to give to you (sometimes leaving them on the kitchen counter), there is no guarantee that they have got all of them. People seem to give out their house keys and the alarm codes to family members, friends, neighbours, cleaning staff and other professionals that may need access to the house. I finally tossed keys from my house in Calgary, five moves later.  Call a locksmith to come out and rekey the lock. It would be good to do this within the first few days. The alarm codes and making these changes depends upon the company that has the system and whether or not you assumed the contract.

Sleep easy. It would be a terrible surprise to wake up in the middle of the night and hear someone unlocking the door. Find a locksmith and change the locks.

Photo credit:  Door with a welcome mat by:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/h3h/400307697/

Valerie Zinger ~ Ph: 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

Neighbourly Ottawa - My Hint about Hintonburg

According to the April 2007 enRoute Magazine, Hintonburg is one of the top ten emerging neighbourhoods in Canada.

Opportunity knocks. This is a neighbourhood undergoing change.

Where. Hintonburg is bordered by the O-Train line on the east, the transitway on the north, Holland Avenue or Island Park Drive (depending on who is doing the definition) on the west and the Queensway / 417 on the south.

Get back to Hintonburg. You can get home from downtown in less than 10 minutes by car, be back from your cottage in the Gatineau cottage country by crossing the Pont Champlain / Island Park Drive bridge or crossing the Pont Chaudière, a little further east. If you are out in Kanata or in Orleans, your exit is at Parkdale and minutes later, you are home. Wellington, the main street through Hintonburg brings you directly back from the Parliament Buildings when you go west and back from Westboro when you go east. This is a great location, accessible from all parts of the city.

Be ready. Hintonburg is at the edge of revitalization. Aaccording to the April 2007 enRoute Magazine, Hintonburg is one of the top ten emerging neighbourhoods in Canada. Old houses, new condos, infill housing, the Parkdale Market, the Urban Element and the Great Canadian Theatre Company provide just some of the mix - old and new.

Now serving 7,500 people. The Hintonburg Community Association is active and ensuring that the needs of the community are being addressed. Residents of Hintonburg live in single family, multiple family homes, condos and apartments. This has been a mature stable area since it was established in the late 1800s and now finds itself going through change. The growth in demand for condos in the urban areas has resulted in construction on available land in Hintonburg. People are looking to move to Hintonburg.

Like the Glebe, housing will be upgraded as young professionals and people in the arts see the opportunities to renovate and make this community their home.

Take a look at Hintonburg (MLS® Map Districts 4202 and 4203).

Valerie Zinger ~ Ph: 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

 

Enjoy Ottawa - Winterlude

Strap on your skates. Ottawa is in the middle of Winterlude - February 1 - 17,2008. Now is the time to skate along the Rideau Canal Skateway. Thousands of people get out during the week and weekends to skate along the canal, stopping from time to time to sip hot drinks and maybe, if you are lucky, top up your calorie count with a Beaver Tail. This deep fried dough delicacy is part of being on the Canal. Skate a bit, eat a bit. For those who don’t skate, a walk along the edge of the Skateway is a refreshing alternative and puts you right in the middle of the action.

More than being on the Canal. There are events, snow kingdoms for the children and ice sculptures to see. The full schedule for Winterlude is available on the National Capital Commission site.

Make it your neighbourhood. When you are out celebrating winter, take a look at the neighbourhoods that surround the Winterlude sites - Dows Lake, Old Ottawa South, the Glebe and the Golden Triangle just to name a few.

Imagine not having to drive to the Canal to start your skate!

Photo credit:  Rideau and Laurier @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/63056612@N00/18442996/

Valerie Zinger ~ 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

 

Ottawa Real Estate: 7 Reasons to Work with Valerie Zinger

I think we not me. I firmly believe that real estate is not about me, it is about we. When we work together as a team it will work best for you.

Current and contemporary. I bring a creative and innovative approach to real estate as you can tell just by reading this website/blog. The website is dynamic and changing just as I will be dynamic and open to change to meet your needs.

From houses to homes. I love transforming houses into homes. I know how important it is to find the right home, not just a house.

Ottawa and beyond. I have lived in Ottawa for 11 years and I know our city well. Yet, I have also lived in Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, and Calgary so I bring knowledge of different cities to what you are looking for. If you are moving to Ottawa from the west, we have an instant connection. At the same time, the people of Newfoundland have embraced me as one of their people - I am open and friendly. Yes, I talk to people in elevators (strangers when we started the trip and friends when it is finished).

I am connected. I work with a first class brokerage, Royal Lepage Gale. I am backed by the Brokers and the sales people in the company. Their generous provision of time, advice and direction means that you are getting decades of experience for your unique sale or purchase. There is a team providing support.

Fresh perspectives woven with experience. You get the freshness of a new realtor woven together with vast experience in leadership, government, and management.

I put you first.

Valerie Zinger ~ Ph: 613-723-5300 ~ vzinger@royallepage.ca

Outing Ottawa Grow-Ops

A really good thing is happening in Ottawa.  We finally have a police registry for grow-up locations.  You want to be happy with your new home and be a savvy buyer.  The following article is not to scare you but to caution you so that you can “smoke out” grow-op homes and use that information in your decision-making process. 

50 A Year.  There are marijuana grow operations and clandestine crystal meth labs being run in Ottawa homes.  Each year, the Ottawa Police Service uncovers approximately 50 of these operations.  Later these homes are sold, sometimes without the purchaser knowing the house’s history.

The Registry.  On February 1, 2008, the Ottawa Police Department began publishing a registry of addresses of former grow-ops and labs.  Three locations were cited on its first day.  Two of these locations were linked to Google maps so that the reader more accurately could determine the locations.

The Damage.  As a buyer, you need to be apprehensive about the former use of a house or condo as a grow-op or crystal meth lab.  Concerns fall into two categories - air quality and structural integrity.  For example, while the house is being used for the hydroponic growth of plants, the possibility of mould increases substantially.  Off-gas from a crystal meth lab may have long term implications for air quality as the chemicals saturate the building.  To access electricity illegally and extensively, the operator may have drilled through the foundation to access hydro and may also have rewired the house.  One assumes, of course, that that rewiring occurred without permits. 

See for yourself.  If you are interested in seeing what kind of damage can occur, Mike Holmes did an episode called Gone to Pot.  The photos from the house in question are available on Mike’s site.    

Assess the damage. Damages can be repaired.  What you, the buyer will want to know is the extent of the damage and the cost to remedy the situation.  If you continue to want to buy, your offer should reflect what you, your real estate sale professional and your contractor have determined as risks and costs. 

Where to see the list.  The Ottawa Police Service have a website with the registry and additional information and photos of grow-ups and crystal meth labs. 

Valerie Zinger

Ottawa Real Estate Today

Phone:  613-723-5300

Email:  vzinger@royallepage.ca

 

 

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