Real Estate Blog - Ken Richter

Home Staging: Stairways

Stairways are one of the most neglected parts of a home, particularly when staging for an open house. But who cares, it’s just stairs, right? Wrong.

Stairways are important transportation devices that carry potential buyers into and out of and up through and back down your home. In some homes, stairways are a major focal point. Most people can remember a particularly grand, beautiful set of stairs they have walked at some point. How can you make them remember your stairs?

Let’s start with the outdoors. How can you make the stairs leading up to your front door as effective as they can be? First off, stay away from extremes. Your staircase should not be so covered in decorative items that its a James Bond worthy obstacle course to get from the bottom…

843 Views, 0 Comments

Preparing For Tax Season

Cue the scary music: it's tax season. For most people this is the most dreaded time of the year. Taxes seem like a dark hole of confusion and money flying out of your bank account. What can you do to make it out of this season alive? Read on to find out.

There are many reasons we pay taxes, the foremost being that taxes allow the government to run expensive programs that benefit citizens, such as the military and healthcare. Think of taxes as a way the government forces you to save for upcoming expenses: pay your taxes now, little by little, and a trip to the clinic is covered. Not only are taxes important to pay, but you have to pay them or else you will be seriously penalized.

Filing your taxes does not have to be a painful experience. There are a…

865 Views, 0 Comments

Fraud Prevention Tips

Fraud is no longer as simple and easy as putting on a costume and making a fake ID. Fraud is complex and affects more people than we realize. Fraud is carried out by highly skilled individuals who know exactly what to do to steal identity, money, property, etc. very quickly, seamlessly and quietly. Most individuals don’t know they are about to become a victim of fraud until it is too late.

There are ways to protect yourself from fraud. The biggest way to do this is by refraining from releasing your personal information into the world. This means not posting your address on social media, never giving out your social security number unless required for a job and making sure that no personal documents get stolen.

Something as simple as your cell phone…

1234 Views, 0 Comments

Home Staging

Home Staging || Def. || The act of preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money.

The goal of staging a home is to curate a space that draws people in. The space needs to feel warm, inviting and open for opportunity. There must be a delicate balance between providing visual stimulation to pull people in while at the same time leaving room for people to envision their own things in the space. So, how can you stage your home so that it is a space people will fall in love with?

The first thing you want to do is remove all clutter so that the space feels open. It does not matter…

1048 Views, 0 Comments

Unique Coffee Shops in YYC

Calgarians are busy. We are a city that thrives on an entrepreneurial spirit that works hard snow or shine. With such a bustling atmosphere, Calgary needs something to keep it chugging along at full speed ahead. Lots of things enable Calgarians to work hard: family, culture, community, etc. And what is the key ingredient to the start of a long day? Coffee.

Here in Calgary you can find a Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Good Earth or Second Cup on nearly every block. However, we also have a thriving independent coffee shop community. These coffee shops are locally owned and curated. These unique shops are the perfect place to grab a cup of joe on the go, or to sit and soak in the atmosphere. Either way, we guarantee you’ll love every single one.

Without…

1143 Views, 0 Comments

January 2016 Statistics

Every month we post the real estate market statistics from the previous month. This is a good way for us to summarize city-wide activity in the market and also give you some insight into what is predicted for the current month. We recognize that not everyone is numbers focused, but here are two good reasons why you should be reading these posts:

1). The housing market is a reflection of the city’s economic condition, so you gain insight into that sector, too.

2). They enable you to be an informed buyer / seller / investor.

So, without further ado, here is the January housing market statistics summery:

2016 has started off as a buyers market, just like this time last year. CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie explains this by saying, “The…

704 Views, 0 Comments

Productive Work Spaces

There is something euphoric about starting a brand new day timer, rearranging furniture to make space for a new desk and getting to start fresh with fresh supplies. Studies have shown time and time again that purchasing new organizational tools is not only good motivation, but enables people to stay organized for longer. With science backing this up, why wouldn’t you want to give it a try?

Organization is great when done well and horrible when done wrong, which can then lead to even more backsliding and disorganization. So, here are our tips for reorganizing your workspace in a way that will help rather than hinder:

De-Clutter: Do yourself a favour and buy a paper shredder. Now, shred EVERYTHING that you don’t need. This includes old bills, notes to…

943 Views, 0 Comments

2016 Housing Market Outlook

The 2016 Housing Market Outlook by RE/MAX is officially available and filled with important information for buyers and sellers alike. To read the whole report, click HERE. It is definitely worth the read, giving you an inside look at what the projections are for the housing market in 2016.

The report covers all of Canada so that you can get a birds eye view on what the market looks like as a whole. In this post, we will be highlighting the information specific to Alberta and Calgary. However, we highly recommend reading up on the other provinces.

Here are some key things to note from the report as we head into 2016:

As we are all well aware of, the sudden drop of oil prices was a shock to the system for every sector, including the real estate…

806 Views, 0 Comments

Keeping Your Resolve

Happy New Year, everyone! All of us here at Team Ken Richter are excited for what 2016 has in store. Like many people, this year we made New Year’s resolutions. What is at the top of our list? Helping homeowners make their real estate dreams come true.

The new year is a fantastic time to work towards new goals and resolutions because everyone gets a fresh start. 2016 will be whatever you make of it and January is the perfect time to hit the ground running. However, january can also be disappointing for some. Resolutions are great, but they are hard to keep, leading to more backsliding than before. We don’t want that for any of you.

What can you do to ensure you are able to stick to your goals and keep your resolutions?

Word them positively. For…

783 Views, 0 Comments

December 2015 Statistics

Can you believe it’s already 2016? It seems like just yesterday it was 2012. 2016 has a lot of promise, full of adventures and changes that we are really looking forward to. In the meantime, we have a review of what happened in the housing market during the last month of 2015, December.

While December is a great month to close on a house sale to squeeze in end of the year tax savings and take advantage of builders wanting to get rid of inventory, this December’s market slowed down. With Calgary’s economic condition borderline critical, December did not leave room for massive purchases. That on top of the money people were already spending on gifts and parties for the holidays left little room for the housing market to flourish.

The CREB® housing…

757 Views, 0 Comments