It's time to throw that stuff out!

Yes yes, I know that you have lived here for 35 years.

Yes, I know that you marked all their heights on the door frame every birthday.

But there comes a time when you need to sell the house to get the most money out for your retirement. Will you tell Mom and Dad what they really need to hear?

Will you be objective and hide all those momentous and memorabilia. I have an easier solution.

Lets call an experienced Home Stager. Christine's Motto is Stage. Save. Sell.

Christine LeLacheur advised me that According to Canadian Business Magazine, staged homes are on the market half the time of the average home and sell for almost 5% more than the average home. With the average house price in Toronto around $385,000, staged homes can mean over $19,000 in your pocket! And, although it's been around for years, it's still considered a relatively new segment of the industry, which means that Toronto realtors and homeowners who are proactive in staging their properties are already leaps and bounds ahead of the competition! With the real estate market right now, don’t you want a surefire way to keep ahead of the competition and sell faster and for more money?

Christine LeLacheur can be contacted at P: 416.485.7879 C: 416.619.5231 E: christine@thefrugalstager.com or on Twitter follow @thefrugalstager

If you are considering selling I would be pleased to interview with you. Call me at 647 218 2414 or email David@DavidPylyp.com

Your Cottage and keeping it in the family

Ahh, your cottage – a place of sanctuary, family fun and warm memories. But passing along a cottage to the next generation can set off complex financial and family issues. Here are some suggested steps to ensuring cottage continuity.

Know what your kids want You know that cottage ownership is a big personal and financial responsibility that is not for everyone. Discuss this with your children and if any of them are not interested in inheriting the cottage, avoid family squabbles by making sure they are treated fairly in your will.

If you decide on shared ownership, keep in mind that it can be a difficult proposition. That’s why it can be useful to obtain legal advice when you put an agreement in place – about such things as who uses the cottage and when, who pays for repairs, maintenance and upkeep, and the other nitty-gritty aspects of joint cottage ownership – to avoid protracted disputes and misunderstandings.

Manage the tax burden If your cottage has appreciated in value, your estate can face a significant capital gains liability that could force its sale by your heirs.

Capital gains taxes are based on the difference between the cost of your property and its current fair market value at the time of your death. The cost of your cottage is what you initially paid for it plus the value of any capital improvements you made to it over the years – a new deck or roof, for example, including the cost of anyone you hired to do the work for you – so keep your receipts to account for all these costs to help offset capital gains. General upkeep costs such as painting the cottage are generally not considered capital improvements.

Consider taking advantage of the primary residence exemption. You are allowed to name a primary residence that is exempt from tax on capital gain. The residence must be a property you ‘ordinarily inhabited’. It can be either your city home or your cottage. You are allowed just one principal residence at a time but you can choose to exempt the property with the bigger gain.

Have a succession plan Include an effective strategy for passing on your cottage. One option is to purchase life insurance with tax-free death benefits that will cover the capital gains on your cottage and/or other expenses and avoid the forced sale of estate assets. Life insurance is also a good way to equalize an estate where one child wants to keep the cottage, whereas other children would prefer to sell it and divide the proceeds of sale.

Some of these estate planning options may not work in your situation, so it’s a good idea to talk to your professional advisor about your wishes for your cottage and the financial and estate planning options that will work best for you.

John Scholl B. Mathematics, CGA,

Consultant - Investors Group Financial Services Inc.

Wealth Management & Financial Planning

Phone: (905) 450-2891 Toll Free: 1 (866) 799-2223 Cell (416) 731-3660

Is Home Staging Older than Shakespeare?

Frugal Home Staging - Toronto

Even if you’re not a fan of Shakespeare’s works, his words of wisdom have made their way into our common, everyday vernacular. Why? Because the Bard’s words prove true time and time again.

What does home staging have to do with Shakespeare? Well, the term “staging”, which refers to preparing a property for sale to maximize its appeal to buyers, was coined due to its parallelism with setting the stage of a theatre.

As Shakespeare wrote in ‘As You Like It’, “All the world’s a stage.” The same holds true for the house you’re trying to sell. And, just like the theatre stage, we are merely the players and we have our exits (sellers) and entrances (potential buyers). It’s a professional stager’s job to make sure the stage is set to encourage dialogue between the players.

Makes sense, but what else can the Bard teach us?

“Parting is such sweet sorrow” – Romeo and Juliet

Juliet’s famous line obviously was referring to her Romeo. However, our home is also something we love. It is very normal for homeowners to have a strong connection to the house they’ve turned into a home by personalizing the furniture, décor, and design. Detaching ourselves from our home can be a difficult process. Yet, it is also sweet because, often times, selling our home means we’re about to embark on another, new and exciting chapter of our lives. As well, for most people, a home is their largest asset and maximizing the return of that asset is very sweet.

Moral of the story: Detach yourself from your home and think of how you can create emotional connections for potential buyers.

"Delays have dangerous ends” – King Henry VI, Part II

When is the best time to stage a property? Regardless of which stager you’re talking to, you will hear the same thing come out of his/her mouth: BEFORE the property goes on MLS!

Occasionally, I hear a homeowner say, “We don’t have time right now to worry about staging, so we’ll list it first and see how it goes.” At first glance, that looks like a good way to go; however, as your realtor can tell you, the first 10 days on the market are crucial—, at open houses, and showings. As well, if you post photos online of your un-staged property, you are losing potential buyers from the onset and they’re gone for good. 78% of buyers look online FIRST before deciding which houses to go see—do you want to risk not being on that list?

Delaying staging can ultimately lose you a sale. Take the time before listing your home to properly get your house ready for market. If the thought of packing stuff away seems overwhelming, just remember that you’ll have to do it eventually when your house sell, so think of this as Step 1! Imagine how much easier your move will be at the end when you’re already half packed!

Moral of the story: Waiting to stage your home can cost you much more money than anything spent on staging. If you wait, it usually means that staging accompanies a price reduction. Why wait and leave money on the table? Squeeze as much equity out of your house as possible by being proactive and investing in the right changes to get a positive return on investment.

“Nothing can come of nothing” – King Lear

I sometimes hear clients protest with comments like, “I’ll just let the new owners make the changes they want.” or “Why do I need to stage anything for potential buyers? They’ll just imagine the house the way they want to.” Here are the problems with those statements:

Sure, potential buyers can always make the changes that need to be made to the property, but you can bet their offer will reflect these cost AND the time and effort to make these changes. If potential buyers are actually interested in making the changes (many aren’t though), they will likely go through the house making a list of “deductions” that will come right off their offer price.

Sure, potential buyers can visualize the property regardless of its current state…. If they’re part of the small percentage of the population that actually has the ability to do so (only about 15%).

Moral of the story: If you put nothing (staging, elbow grease, repairs, etc.) into your home before you sell it, don’t expect to get more from potential buyers. They’re looking for move-in ready homes that they can easily visualize themselves in the space. Help them do just that!

“Be not afraid of greatness” – Twelfth Night

And so we end our Shakespeare lesson with the most important lesson of all—do not be afraid of greatness when it comes to showing off and selling your property. Whether in a buyers’ market or sellers’ market, your house should always be ahead of the competition. In the case of a buyers’ market, staging your home will help it sell faster (about ½ the time of a comparable un-staged property) and for more money (about 6 – 10% more than a comparable un-staged property). In the case of a sellers’ market, staging your home will often lead to multiple bids!

Moral of the story: It is statistically proven that the time, effort, and investment that go into staging lead to faster sales and for more money. Why say no to greatness?


Christine LeLacheur is a Certified Staging Professional (CSP™) and has a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). She continually augments her formal education by keeping on top of industry trends and keeping an ear to the ground to ensure she provides homeowners with ideas and layouts that appeal to an array of potential homebuyers.

Christine and her team are committed to making your house looks its best, optimize its value, and add to your pocketbook without leaving any equity on the table! Contact Christine today to learn more about how The Frugal Stager can help you sell your home!

Internet Advertising for Real Estate

An interesting article entitled ‘Papers losing real estate ads to online’ appeared on the Globe and Mail – Report on Business website, which talks about how real estate advertising dollars are moving away from print and onto the Internet.

Media industry analyst Mike Simonton of Fitch Ratings says, “The threats from the Internet are real. Newspaper advertising should remain under pressure until newspapers are better able to address the threat of online advertising.”

“Representatives of several major real estate franchisors said in interviews that many home sellers still see newspaper advertising as an essential component of selling a home, but that younger brokers, home sellers and buyers are clearly more focused on using the Internet.”

In the same article, Blanche Evans, editor of Realty Times, says “As home-buyers flock online, it’s also tough on realtors, since home-buyers are becoming accustomed to seeing extensive colour photos, descriptions of the neighbourhood as well as video tours of the property — all of which costs money to produce.”

Single property websites are an easy and affordable way to address these issues in that they create a powerful ‘link’ between print (including yard signs) and Internet advertising.

An easy-to-remember domain name seen in a newspaper or posted on a yard sign will increase the liklihood of a visit the property on the Internet. Plus, the domain name takes the potential buyer directly to the property details, with no distraction from other listings. Sellers will love this concept and the time-sensitive consumer will also appreciate it.  

Balance of Source Blog.

David Pylyp: The domain Name can easily be the Home address Dot com. The key is understanding the technology.

Virtual Tours are then embedded into the webpages and also the MLS listing so that shoppers can get a real perspective of the exterior front, exterior rear yard, and key interior living areas. The video tours on a recent listing out numbered the MLS.ca views 2:1. Absolute prooof for me that the technology is effective.

Sign Calls and property inquiries can be directed to the online webpages and video tours to qualify the prospects that are touring properties. This saves time for me, but also brings a more focused buyer through the property.

Combining these features with a strong website will get your listing noticed. It would seem that the days of your weekend printing in a local newspaper are no longer the most effective way to bring fresh eyes to your home. FLASH presenters can be prepared and emailed to your address book of friends and associates, further extending the reach out to potential buyers.

If you are considering a sale, I would like to be interviewed to discuss your marketing plan and future home.