Real Estate Blog - Ken Richter

Backyard Renovations

After a little bit of a rainy last week, the sunshine is breaking through here in YYC. The conditions are becoming absolutely excellent to begin your backyard project. There are a number of reasons backyard renovations are a sound investment for homeowners:

1). Renovations add aesthetic value to the property. Whether you personally care about this or not, future buyers will definitely care.

2). Renovations are part of being a good steward of your property. Little renovations here and there will keep your property up to date and in good condition.

3). Renovations add an incredible amount of value to your property. A simple fresh coat of paint goes a long, long way. Do not underestimate this investment opportunity!

We understand how daunting…

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How To Find An Open House

June has a long history of being a popular month for buying and selling here in Calgary. With the nice weather, vacation time, and influx of new families before the new school year starts, June is the perfect month to be active in the world of real estate. Whether you are buying or selling, now is the time to enter the market.

If you are planning to buy a home, June is a great month to start going to as many open houses as possible. Not only will this give you a good idea of what is out on the market, but it will also help you to get a feel for benchmark prices. Plus, open houses can be really fun if you go into them with a positive attitude.

There are a number of ways to find open houses to visit.

Open Houses are a lot like garage sales:…

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May 2015 Statistics

Spring is all about fresh beginnings, and that is what is happening in the Calgary real estate market: Calgary is finally recovering from the hit it took back in January when prices in oil fell. Against all odds, Calgary is coming back out on top.

While doomsday forecasters predicted an economic crisis to rival that of America’s crash, the Calgary Real Estate board held onto hope. That hope is starting to pay off. It has taken some time for the real estate market to stablilize after January’s economic hit frightened citizens away from being active in the market, but as the economy gets its footing once more, so has the housing market.

CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie reports, “For the third month in the row, new listings have eased compared to…

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The Perfect Patio

Imagine it is summertime. It’s not hard to, right? The birds are chirping, the sun is out, and Calgary is finally seeing the end of cold, snowy days. Imagine a cold drink in your hand, a bowl of fruit and good book at your side, and those shorts you’ve had buried under jackets and scarves all winter long. You can smell ribs on the barbecue, and George Strait is playing on the radio. Where are you? Outside on the patio! You don’t have a functioning patio? Well, here’s how you can make one.

Step One: Measure the area you want to cover and buy enough supplies to cover the space. We recommend using pegs to map it out beforehand so you get a good idea of how much space it will take up.

Step Two: Your patio should be elevated off the ground, or else the…

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Property Investments and Vacation Homes

When people think of recreational properties, they often think of a small house in Palm Springs or Arizona that they can retreat to during the cold winter months. This is absolutely true: many people who can afford the cost and upkeep of a second property somewhere outside of their primary area of living choose to invest.

Recreational properties are great for personal use, but they can also make extremely sound investments. Many people pursue real estate as a way to make money, whether its their primary job or not, and investment properties are one of the ways they do this. An investment property is not so different from a recreational property. In fact, the only difference is the mindset: a recreational property is for personal enjoyment, and an…

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Mother's Day: Gift of Love

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. It is a day to celebrate all the Mothers that were, all the Mothers that are, and all the Mothers-to-be. Moms have done so much good for the world, especially for their loved ones. A Mother is a beautiful role that should never be taken for granted, and that is why we look forward to celebrating it every year.

Celebrating Mother’s day is very important, but sometimes it can be tricky to come up with ideas of how to show your Mother she is loved. None of us will ever be able to truly, fully show the Mothers in our lives how much they are appreciated and loved, but we have some ideas to help.

As many know, there are five different love languages: acts of service, gifts, words of affirmation, quality time, and…

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De-Cluttering

Many people have tuned in to watch TLC’s “Hoarding: Buried Alive.” We watch the show in complete astonishment at the clutter people live in. We watch the show all high and mighty, as if we have never held onto something a little longer than necessary. What is that saying about shaming the sliver in someones eye when a plank sticks out of your own?

The reality is, it has become nearly impossible to completely reject a life of consumerism when we are socialized to be materialistic beings. All of us have gone through periods where we have had way too much stuff. Whether you should be on “Hoarding: Buried Alive,” or you have subscribed to a life of minimalism, everyone has things that they don’t need. Some of us have things that we don’t even want.

What…

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CMA's for Buyers

Earlier this week on Monday we featured a blog post that discussed CMA for sellers. In it we explained what exactly a CMA is and why it is important to have done on your property before you list your home. If you have not read that post already, please do now. Here is the link: http://blog.kenrichter.com/2015/04/14/cma-for-sellers/#sthash.2iUj4jlU.dpbs

Now that you know exactly what a CMA is, you may be surprised that we are discussing why a CMA is important for buyers to do on homes they are interested in. After all, shouldn’t the current homeowners have done their due-dillagence and already had a trustworthy CMA done? The answer is, hopefully. However, here are the reasons why a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) is important for you to do on any…

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March 2015 Statistics

March was a good month for the world of real estate! Calgary is still in recovery mode from the drop in oil prices earlier this year, but conditions have remained relevantly stable and continue to stay in a healthy environment.

The most significant thing that happened in March that you, a potential buyer or seller, need to be aware of is the rise in inventory and the fact that benchmark prices dropped %0.44. Why is this? The more houses there are on the market, the more competition sellers have. If you are looking to buy, this means you have lots of options at reasonable prices. If you are looking to sell, remember that there are a lot of houses on the market right now, so you need to make sure you are offering a fair, competitive asking price.

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Ken Richter is #1... Again!

Team Ken Richter has done it again! This 2015 awards season we are thrilled to report that we have been recognized as leaders in the industry. This is all thanks to you, our amazing clients, who have decided to partner alongside us. We hope that we can live up to these titles and continue bringing you experience, expertise and passion. Without further ado, here is the official list of the awards we are so honoured to have won:

• Re/Max Real Estate (Central) – #1 Office Worldwide for the 16th Consecutive Year

• #1 Office Worldwide for Number of Closed Transactions – Metro Market

• #1 Office Worldwide for Total Sales Volume – Single Office

• Largest Single Re/Max Office in the World

• Ken Richter has also…

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