Real Estate Blog - Ken Richter

Top 10 Tools for Simple Tasks

If you want to be self-reliant around the house, a good selection of basic tools is essential to have in your toolbox. When you have the right tools, little tasks are not a big deal. To get the job done right you might want to invest in the following:

1. Claw Hammer – good for driving nails, hanging pictures and other things, and useful for small demolition projects.

2. Flathead Screwdriver – has a single blade that fits into the single slot of a flathead screw. Good for driving in screws and opening all sorts of things held together with screws!

3. Phillips Screwdriver – has a four star point at the end that fits into the corresponding screw’s cross-shaped depression. Allows a user to apply more torque than is possible with a flathead…

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Monthly Renovation Tip

When buyers tour homes for sale, they’re taking a close look at the bathrooms. If you want to impress potential buyers create a comfortable, spa-like environment.

RE/MAX studies show that making your bathrooms the best they can be will generate a 56% return on investment. Consider what potential buyers will see at first glance.

Focus on the visuals with light colours, rich textures, nice tiles and fixtures. Boost home value by choosing quality materials that appeal to the masses.

When it comes to anything permanent try to stay as neutral as possible, giving potential buyers a clean canvas on which to imagine themselves in.

Remember, houses with well-done improvements tend to sell quicker plus you get to enjoy it before you sell your property!

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Monthly Household Tip 5

Nothing is so frustrating and potentially expensive, as having a major appliance on which you rely on a daily basis, like your refrigerator, furnace or air conditioner, break down when you need it most. There are a few things that you can do on a regular basis to help ensure their longevity and effectiveness.

* You can pull your refrigerator out from the wall and vacuum off the condenser coils, as they rely on air flowing around them to work efficiently.

* On your furnace, it’s easy to replace (or clean, on some models) your filter in order to keep it in good working order.

* To keep your air conditioner in top form, keep the grill and register clean and it will keep on working for you when you need it the most.

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Pre-Sale Inspection or Not?

Before a serious buyer makes an offer on your home, he may want to have a professional home inspector check your house from top to bottom.

The option of hiring a professional home inspector is open to you, the seller, as well. An inspection in advance of putting your home on the market is a good idea. It will allow you ample time to fix the things that you may not have known about, ultimately allowing you to ask for and receive a better price for your home. Providing a pre-inspection may also reassure prospective buyers that no major surprises are in store. Better you find them and take care of them before an inspector hired by a potential buyer discovers them!

If you need a referral to a quality inspector, contact us!

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Monthly Renovation Tip: Painting 6

Choosing to make the right upgrades to your home can improve its resale value. Most realtors recommend a fresh coat of paint before putting up the for sale sign. Since paint colour can have such a dramatic effect on a room, using a neutral-coloured palette will help to de-personalize the space. This allows potential buyers to envision how their personal taste will work in their new environment. Overall, choosing the right shade of paint can not only improve your return on investment, but can increase the appeal of your home and help you sell it!

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Monthly Household Tip: Furnaces 7

Clean or change the filter on your furnace regularly so that it will run more efficiently. Dirty filters can increase operating costs and affect the life and efficiency of heating and air conditioning equipment. If the filter is reusable, remove it, wash down with a hose and then re-insert. Otherwise, you’ll want to replace it with a new one.

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Consider Being a RE/MAX Franchisee

RE/MAX has become one of the best-known names in the world – and one of the most respected. The RE/MAX name is synonymous with quality, integrity, professionalism and experience.

As a RE/MAX franchisee, you too, can take advantage of the RE/MAX reputation. RE/MAX offers you the chance to build your own business in your own community. The chance to become an entrepreneur in business for yourself, but not by yourself.

The RE/MAX system provides its franchisee’s and their agents with a highly robust and complete platform of business solutions including the opportunity to network and consult with some of the top broker/owners and the services and support you need to be successful in the Real Estate industry.

Did you know that RE/MAX has been named…

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Selling In The New Year

Selling or Looking to Sell in the New Year? If you’re looking to sell your home in 2013, it’s a great opportunity to make improvements and better position yourself for a successful outcome.

One of the key things a homeowner can do if they’re planning to sell is clear out the clutter. De-cluttering helps to open up the space so the potential buyer can imagine themselves living there and not focusing on stepping around or tripping over the extraneous stuff! De-cluttering and donating will make for a more organized, less stressful move.

Staging your home before you put it on the market is another proven technique for selling a home. Whether you hire a professional home stager or do it yourself, staging a home for sale is a great way to reduce the time…

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Gift For Dad: Power Tools?

Whether it’s home improvement, home renovation or home repair, the desired outcome is to add value to your home. Many do-it-yourself dads have great intentions, but end up inadvertently causing structural problems and other defects. These amateur power tool users often get into trouble by cutting before thinking. What’s the good old rule of thumb: measure twice, cut once? Many ambitious do-it-yourselfers do just the opposite and have cut or nailed through pipes in a wall leading to water damage and major repair issues.

Kathleen Kuhn, President and CEO of HouseMaster, the most experienced name in home inspections says,”it’s easy for homeowners to get in over their heads with home improvement projects… collateral damage caused by such mishaps often show…

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Christmas Lights Safety Advice

Christmas lights are beautiful and add to the magic of the season, but all that electricity can cause problems if not used properly. The Ken Richter Team wishes you a safe and wonderful holiday season and reminds everyone of the top safety tips and special precautions to make sure they’re safe as you go about decorating your home with lights:

• Before you string up a single strand of lights, carefully check them for cracked cords, frayed ends or loose connections. Frayed cords can lead to a short.

• Replace burned out bulbs promptly with bulbs of the same wattage.

• Modern lights have fused plugs, preventing sparks in case of a short circuit. Ditch old strands of lights that don’t have fuses and get a set of newer, safer lights.

• Use…

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