The Right Kitchen Can Sell a House.

Jan 31, 2012 - "What is this not-so-well-kept secret of real estate? A kitchen can sell a house. ..... Kitchens are integral to entertaining and in today`s age of open floor plans, they`re a focal piece of many family rooms. It`s because of this that kitchens play such an important role in the buying and selling process. This one room is the showpiece of the house. You`ll see it every day and your guests will see it during most visits. This means buyers want homes with up-to-date kitchens. Kitchens, however, can be one of the most expensive rooms to renovate. These projects can also be the most labor and time intensive of all home renovations. It`s not just a new layer of paint...... The main thing to remember as a seller is to not price yourself out of your market. If homes in your neighborhood are selling for $100,000 with tidy, but not luxury kitchens, then this is no time to upgrade to granite, travertine, and marble at the price tag of $40,000+. You simply won`t find a buyer...... " by Carla Hill, M.A., works on the Realty Times staff read more

CMHC Tankless Water Heater Study

Jan 30, 2012 - According to CMHC, "replacing the existing natural gas-fired, storage-type water heaters with gas-fired tankless water heaters can result in significant natural gas savings for water heating. On average, 0.63 m3/day or 230 m3/year of natural gas was saved. At $0.30/m3, this translates to an average savings of $69 per year. It may also be concluded that, based on the study results, the installation of tankless water heaters may lead to an increase in hot water usage though the extent of any such increase would be highly dependent on how individual occupants respond to the availability of endless hot water. Homeowners tended to respond positively to the endless supply of hot water delivered by tankless water heaters. Some reservations were expressed regarding how long it took for hot water to arrive at the faucet and the cost of the units." read more

EREB Year End Stats.

Jan 4, 2012 - "The all-residential average price for the entire year (2011) was $325,457 as compared to $329,019 in 2010. There were 10,962 SFD sales (up 5.5%) in 2011 and 4,638 (down 0.4%) condo sales. Total residential sales were 16,893 units (up 3.8%) on listings of 30,906 units (down 2.0%)." read more

Top 6 reasons mortgage applications are rejected

Nov 11, 2011 - BY T.N. Nelson Inman News. "Half of refinance applications (in the US) are abandoned or rejected, as are 30 percent of purchase mortgage applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. All told, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) says that well over 2 million mortgage applications were rejected last year.

Want to avoid falling into that number? It`s tough -- especially in light of the fact that mortgage lenders have become increasingly restrictive in terms of their lending guidelines since the housing market crash.

Here, as a cautionary tale and primer on what to expect, are the top six reasons mortgage lenders reject applications...."

(CLICK Read More LINK TO READ REASONS) read more

Colliers 3rd Quarter Office Report

Oct 7, 2011 - "On September 27, 2011 EPCOR Tower officially opened its doors becoming the fi rst high rise office tower to adorn the Edmonton skyline in 22 years. The 625,000 square foot state of the art building boasts both a LEED Gold designation as well as a ‘AAA’ class rating making it Edmonton’s premier offi ce tower. Tenants such as EPCOR and Federal Justice are slated to move into the building over the next few months. EPCOR Tower’s inventory was added to the market last quarter and the market has almost fully accounted for this new addition in terms of rate and vacancy adjustments. After a very positive second quarter, the market has statistically fl attened in quarter three. Overall vacancy rates have risen slightly from 11.07% in quarter two to 11.26% and we experienced 29,677 square feet of negative absorption. Although the outlook appears to be less positive than last quarter, the increases in vacancy are immaterial and there is a signifi cant amount of activity underway that is not yet recognized, which is likely to ensure that positive absorption will resume in quarter four. There is a great deal of activity in the market that has not been accounted for yet, and will begin to show up in the following quarters. Of note, the Sherwood Park market demonstrated positive growth this quarter, with both a decreasing vacancy rate and a signifi cant amount of positive absorption. As the bulk of this activity is heavy oil related, this can be seen as a positive predictor of future growth for the economy." read more