NewHomeAssociation.ca's New Home News Site

How To Find A New Home in Ottawa: Our Top 3 Resources Online

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:33:00 +0000

It's somewhat ironic that in the three months of this blog's life so far, we've looked at ways to do all sorts of things using online tools and resources... but we've yet to talk about different ways to use the internet to find a new home, which is our bread and butter!

Mostly, the reasoning for this is that we want New Home News to truly be a resource for prospective home buyers and sellers, and not just to be viewed as a publicity engine for our Ottawa new home search engine New Home Association.ca (it isn't.)

But since we are experts when it comes to leveraging the web in your home search, we would be remiss if we ignored the topic altogether. And so, here are the top 3 resources we've come across online to help those of you in the Ottawa area find your dream home.

1) NewHomeReviews.com

While the design of this site is a little mid-nineties and some of the content has not been updated in a few years, there is still some value to be had for Ottawans in search of a new home by visiting this site. Namely, NHR boasts a pretty comprehensive directory of Ottawa builders, including a phone number, physical address, web site and brief bio for each one.

The directory is really the only valuable resource on the site, unfortunately; a gaggle of other half-implemented ideas like a homes services directory, discussion forum and articles database are either out of date or just plain non-working. Nonetheless, aside from this blog's own exhaustive list of Ottawa builders, the NHR directory is one of the best ones online.

2) New Homes And Condos Online

The online complement to the popular Traders Corp (publishers of Auto Trader, etc.) publication New Homes and Condos, this site offers a way to search for new homes by region, type of home and price. The site serves all of Ontario, including Ottawa and he selection and variety of model homes for Ottawa is pretty good, but not great: an open search for all models pulls in about 60 results.

The presentation and functionality on this site are really clean and easy. The only potential downside of the New Homes and Condos service is the way it displays results: Basically, you are presented with a list of models from different builders that match your search query, but instead of providing more in-depth information about each one when you click on it, all of these results actually redirect to the specific builder's own website, where you will have to start from scratch, find the model and proceed from there.

3) New Home Association.ca

What, did you think we were going to leave our own service out? Well, if we didn't believe that NHA was truly useful to potential new home buyers in Ottawa, we wouldn't waste our time going to work every morning, so it stands to reason that we would include it here!

When you visit our site, you're presented with a splash page that invites you to choose a region. Currently, we serve Ottawa and Gatineau, but an upcoming expansion will involve all of Ontario. In any case, once you've chosen Ottawa, you'll come to the home page where with one click, you can search for your dream home by price, region, type of home, builder or specific development, very similar to the options offered by New Homes and Condos (see above.)

Where we feel we offer additional value is in two areas: selection and convenience. Firstly, an open search of all our models returns literally over a thousand results (compared to 60 on NHaC.) That's what we call variety.

Secondly, all your searches and comparisons can be done right on NHA.ca, because we have uploaded all the information you could ever want about each and every model onto our own database. No need to leave and visit builder websites here there and everywhere. That's what we call convenience.

We're working on all sorts of added features as well, such as builder profile pages, a home service directory, and much more. Of course, you just need to stay tuned to this blg to hear all about the new functionalities as they're rolled out.

Well, what is your unbiased opinion, valued reader? How does our service stack up against the competition's? We'd love to hear what you think in the comments.

We're working hard to make NHA.ca the number one destination for new home searches in Ottawa, and eventually all of Ontario and beyond. We hope you like the fruits of our labour so far!

The Simple 5-Question Realtor Quiz That Every Homeowner Should Use

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:12:00 +0000

Finding a realtor that meets your needs can be quite a task. In fact, about a month and a half ago, we tackled the issue briefly when we offered 3 Helpful Hints for Dealing with Realtors. But many people still wonder - How can I really get to know potential agents and see if I want to trust them with my home?

For that purpose, we've put together a 5-Question Quiz that you should ask any potential realtor before signing any papers.

1) Tell Me A Bit About Yourself

This may sound like the opening gambit of a job interview, but then, well, that's exactly what this is, isn't it? Asking an open-ended question allows the realtor express to you what he or she thinks is his or her greatest assets. See if you agree.

2) What Is Your Specialty?

You don't want to hire a condo expert to sell your turn-of-the-century home, or vice versa. Ask this question to see what types of homes they are most familiar with. And by the way, don't accept "I sell everything" as an answer... everyone has a specialty (or should.)

The same goes for regions within a city. Ideally, you want a realtor who is familiar with the very area where your home is located.

3) Do You Belong to Any Organizations?

There are many organizations and certifications that realtors can belong to and or hold in Canada and the US. The answer to this question will give you an idea how well-connected your potential realtor is, as well as how committed they are to the profession.

4) Do You Work Full Time as a Realtor?

Speaking of commitment to the profession, you would be surprised to know how many realtors do their gig as a part-time affair. If you want full-time attention (hint: You do), this is a good question to ask point blank.

5) What Are Your Numbers?

As we mentioned before on this blog, a realtor with good sales numbers is a realtor you probably want on your team. Asking potential agents flat out how many homes they have sold in the past year will give you an idea of their talent (and or commitment, see above.) Also, watch out for shifty eyes and other telltale signs of lying on this one to be sure you're getting the straight goods.

There are obviously many other things you may want to ask any potential realtor, but there 5 questions will provide a solid base to decide whether someone is a good fit to sell your home or not. So go ahead, administer the quiz and see who passes with flying colours!

Eco-Renovation # 2: Five Simple Ways To Keep Your Renos As Green As Posible

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:41:00 +0000

For the second installment of our Eco-Renovation series (the first one on environmentally kind painting tips is here), we've culled a list of 5 great tips for all kinds of different home improvement projects, all of which aim to make them that much more earth-friendly. Enjoy, and we hope you put them to good use during your next project!

1) Reduce, Reuse, Reshingle?

If you're a fan of natural wood shingles, try re-shingling with reclaimed redwood shingles, a product made with the stumps of old growth trees. They are available at most major hardware stores, although you may pay a bit of a premium over regular wood shingles.

2) Say No to Poison Lumber

Most people don't realize that that greeny tinge in pressure treated wood is given to it by a toxic blend of pesticides that is injected into the lumber and can often leech out into the surrounding environment. If you're building a deck, or some other exterior wood project, consider asking for CA-B Pressure Treated wood, which is pressure treated, but without the harsh chemicals.

3) Go EnerGuide

This may seem like a no-brainer, but the simple act of making your next appliance upgrade an EnerGuide certified one will help the environment tremendously over the long term... and save you money as well.

4) Insulate Au Naturel

Rather than using fiberglass insulation, which is bad for air quality and difficult to dispose of, consider using all natural cotton-based insulation instead. Again, there is a slight premium associated with preferring this variety, but the R-Values are comparable and the ecological footprint much smaller.

5) One Man's Trash...

When you're ripping out old building materials for a renovation, remember that what you no longer need, someone else may be able to make use of. Bringing un-wanted building supplies to a Habitat for Humanity's ReStore location near you is a great way to give some renewed life to what was essentially your trash. There are two locations here in Ottawa, the locations of which are listed on the local HFH chapter website here.

Do you have any other great green reno tips that you'd like to share with our readers? If so, drop us a note in the comments!

Sell That House: The Top 5 Tips For Staging Your Home Like a Pro

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:59:00 +0000

SELL THAT HOUSE

In this installment of Sell That House, we're going to look at one of the importance but often-overlooked aspects of the home-selling process, the staging. For those who haven't heard of the practice, home staging is the art of making a home look... well... buyable, for lack of a better term to those you are showing it for.

Some people will hire a professional stager to come in and take care of their home before having an open house, and many real estate agents recommend going this route. It especially makes sense to do this if you've already moved out and the house is empty; a stager can and does usually provide his or her own furniture to make the rooms look luxurious and comfortable.

But if you don't have the budget to hire a pro, or just feel like tackling the challenge yourself, we're here to help. Here are our top 5 ways to start staging your home like a trained professional. Follow these guidelines, and you'll have your home off your hands in no time!

The Hit List:

1) Just Because It's Called a Fixture...

One of the biggest mistakes made by DIY home stagers is to skimp out on replacing outdated fixtures before showing the home. In the grand scheme of things, spending a few dollars to replace your door hardware, faucets and 70s-era light fixtures will be well worth it. Skipping this step altogether will leave prospective buyers thinking you and your place are dowdy and out of touch with current trends.

2) Clean Means Cared For

When prospective buyers enter your home, you better believe that they are going to notice every dust bunny on the floor and scuff mark on the wall... and worse, they'll extrapolate from every imperfection and assume your home is in much worse condition than it is if it isn't spic-and-span.

Bottom line: When your home is on the market, it must be spotless at all times and ready for a showing. If you have to pay a cleaner for that period to keep it that way, do so - it will be worth it when your home sells that much faster!

3) Less is More

A common mistake made by homeowners, when they are trying to make their home look good, is to clutter every room with oversized furniture, knickknacks and decorative pieces. When you're trying to sell, try to remember the popular adage: K.I.S.S, Keep It Simple Stupid!

The more things you stack into every room, the smaller and less homey the room, and the house as a whole, will look.

4) Fur Better or Worse

You might think that your little Muffy or Fido is God's gift to humanity, and that all prospective homebuyers will share your love of pets. They won't.

If you have pets, make sure to vacuum up fur ardently and erase all evidence of pets living in the home before showing it, so as not to defer potential buyers who aren't fond of animals, have allergies, etc.

5) Taste is Personal

By far the most common and largest error made by homeowners when trying to ready their home to be shown is to allow themselves to be blinded by personal taste.

When it comes to staging your home, neutral is the word of the day. You may think that your 4-green motif in the dining room is the cat's meow. Others might not be so enthused.

You might think that the faux Picasso prints on the hallway wall bring the space to life. Browsers with a realist penchant will be turned off. (Now if you've a genuine Picasso print, then you can probably leave that hanging...)

As much as it pains you, the less personal you make the space before showing it, the better. This allows each new visitor to better imagine how they could and would make each room their own.

After all, the sooner you sell this house, the sooner you can buy a new home and start decorating the rooms in that one any way you like!

Eco-Renovation Tip # 1: Painting the Town Green

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:04:00 +0000

Many of our readers, both on and offline ask a lot of questions about how to go about doing eco-friendly renovations. When we looked at online resources for do-it-yourself renovations a few weeks back, we highlighted The Green Home Guide, which is a great site for planning out ecologically-conscious home projects. But since this is a topic of such interest among our readers, we'd like to start our own on-going series here as well offering tips and tricks for making your renovations as green as possible. Today's topic? Paint.

Every renovation involves painting at some point. Whether you're doing a freshening coat, or building an addition to your home, at some point the walls are going to need some colour! That's why we want to start today with a look at how you can make this part of the reno earth-friendly.

Just to Clear the Air

When it comes to paint and the environment, the main consideration is the level of VOC's in the product. Volatile Organic Compounds are toxic fumes that leech out of the paint when you're working with it and afterwards. Many of these are thought to be carcinogens when exposure is prolonged. Obviously, the lower the level of VOC's in a paint, the better it is for both the earth... and your lungs.

Paint companies have been making low and no-VOC paints for some time, but independent testers have found that each brand varies in the amount of smell they emit, regardless of labeling.

One brand that has come up several times in our review of many comparative studies, however, is called Aura by Benjamin Moore. So keep your eyes peeled for that one, available at any Benjamin Moore retailer.

Other brands that have received top marks from independent testers are True Value Easy Care and Glidden Evermore. True Value is a US-only hardware store, but Glidden's should be available at any Color Your World location or ICI affiliate in North America.

What Goes Around...

While VOC's are the most common measure of a paint's ecological standing, another issue to consider is the life-cycle of the paint production process: the very system of creating paint (and disposing of it later) can be harmful to the environment in and of itself.

One innovative company I have come across that tackles this issue is called Boomerang Recycled Paint.

Based out of Quebec, this company uses patented technologies to take unused, unwanted paint and mix it together to form completely recycled product for commercial or residential use.

The color selection is more limited than most paint lines because of the challenges of combining multiple paint varieties into one can, but other than that, the paint is largely the same in finish and durability as any of the paints that go into it. And of course, you can rest easy in the knowledge that by using Boomerang, you're keeping toxic paints out of landfills, and that virtually no pollution was created to produce the product. Oh, and a a bonus, because of the savings of reusing discarded product, their prices are very competitive too!

You can visit their web site, linked above, to see if Boomerang serves your area.

Now the floor is yours: Are there any other Green-Painting tips that you'd like to share? If so, let us know in the comments, and we'll update the post with any additional tricks!

Richcraft Celebrates 25 Years Of Building Quality Homes in the Ottawa Area

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:25:00 +0000

This year, Ottawa builder Richcraft is celebrating its 25th anniversary and as with all anniversaries, this one is a great time to reflect on the journey that has brought them to this point. So today, let's take a look at what the last quarter century has meant for one of Ottawa's most successful home construction companies.

Kris Singhal, the millionnaire CEO and owner, says the ride hasn't always been an easy one.

Singhal grew up in New Delhi, India one of eight children of a lawyer. He and his wife Manju studied and prepared for a better life in Canada, and arrived in 1974. He was the only one of the siblings to emigrate.

He worked hard and continued formal studies, and in less than 10 years in his new country, he was established as a Canadian.

The Singhals had an upper-middle-class income, a secure job in government service at a management level, and could look forward to an indexed pension. They could make annual trips to New Delhi to visit family, and replace the family compact car every six years. Their two daughters could attend university.

What more could he want?

Fateful Decision

It was then that they decided to build their own home... without really knowing how.

"At that time, if you sent me to the store to get a two-by-four, I wouldn't have known where to look, or what one looked like," says Singhal.

But he never lacked confidence, and always believed that if somebody else could do something, he could too. (It just might take him a little longer.)

To save money, he decided not to buy from an established builder, but instead to buy a lot and build his own home on it.

Campeau Corporation was selling lots around the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, so they bought one. To build the house, they hired a contractor, and Singhal was there every day, watching and learning. The land was swampy and they had the unexpected and costly problem of building on a slab.

But finally, the day came when they could stand in front of their finished dream home.

Sadly, however they had to sell it almost immediately. They had built a home that, with all the cost overruns, was just out of their reach. Luckily, though, it sold quickly.

A Eureka! Moment

When it was all said and done, they looked at their bank account and had an epiphany... They had just made a pile of money.

With that realization, Singhal asked for, and was granted, a one year leave-of-absence from his government job. They bought two more Hunt Club lots and got permission from Campeau to build two copies of the popular Bennington Ultra with 3,000 square feet of luxury living. He invested in a white hardhat and went to work as supervisor. The hours were long, but the new job gave him a feeling of freedom that no 9-5 would allow.

A year later the houses were sold for handsome profits, and their bank account said they were on the right track. It was 1983, and they decided to give up job security and pension plan, and ride the rocket instead.

Sleepless in South Ottawa

When asked to give an example of the sleepless nights of an entrepreneur, Singhal admits: "I still have them. I look around me and I can't believe I've done this. I can't believe I've got so many people dependent on me to keep making decisions. Right decisions."

He goes on to point out that there are 75 people employed at their 2280 St. Laurent Blvd. headquarters, and estimated there must be about 3,000 subtrades working with them.

Early on, he first placed a small ad in the Ottawa Citizen to sell his homes. He soon had as much work as he could handle, building custom homes for people who already owned the lots. That way, no large outlay of cash was needed.

Then came some sleepless nights after he sat down over a lunch with Campeau vice-president Vic Whittaker, and watched him scribble out a deal on a paper napkin. Singhal went to the meeting hoping to get some building lots. He left with a huge tract of land that is now the heart of the Hunt Club subdivision. The deal on the napkin was worth $14 million. For a man who didn't have that kind of money, it was terrifying.

Whittaker remembers that day, and says that's the way deals were done. His orders were to sell the land. Hardest part of the sale was convincing Singhal that the napkin, presented to the right bank manager, would close the deal.

Kris Singhal now found himself steering a corporation that had just blasted into hyperdrive. He talks about being frightened then, but there's no sign of fear now as the confident CEO sits in his polished headquarters, routinely making multi-million dollar deals. Often there isn't even a napkin. He can close a deal by telephone.

Richcraft homes are in singles, rows and highrises. It's getting difficult to maintain a count. Richcraft is one of the city's major players in the world of land banking, owning the majority of land in the city available for new construction.

Singhal is determined to never again let himself be caught thinking inside the box, as he had been accustomed to doing in his government job.

Aiming to Be Part of The Family

His mind is still reaching over the walls of Richcraft to the living rooms of those who buy his homes.

He thinks back to his year as a start-up contractor and says he doesn't want to ever forget what he learned from a happy customer who was impressed by his battered Chevy Malibu. It was to her a selling point that made her accept him as her builder. In her mind, home builders were a flashy lot. She wanted somebody she could trust, afford and work with.

"Building a home for somebody makes you almost a member of the family. There's a trust factor."

And here at New Home News, that's what we like to hear: builders aiming to create consumer trust, and that's what we're trying to help do with our free New Home Association builder-finding service, too.

(This story originally appeared in the Homes section of one of our partner publications, the Ottawa Citizen - interview and writing by Dave Brown. It has been edited for this blog's audience, but the original article can be accessed online here.)

Minto Continues Community Commitment with Another Stunning CHEO Charity Dream Home

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:51:00 +0000

As you know, on this blog we like to highlight when builders make an effort to give back to the community. One builder who consistently does so is Minto, with their annual CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario) Lottery Dream Home.

Every year, Minto puts their nose to the grindstone to come up with a CHEO Dream Home that will blow visitors away. This year is no exception.

The 4,833 square-foot open concept, called "Stirling III", is shown above in an artist's rendering and is one of Minto's exclusive designs in the development of Winding Way (a neighbourhood in the south west of Ottawa.)

This year's Dream Home features four bedrooms, a full outdoor kitchen by Capital Appliance & BBQ, a Four Seasons sunroom, Dell home office, RONA workshop, and a hot tub from SubZero Hot Tubs & Pool Tables.

The kitchen, located in the home's centre, sets the tone with its dynamic dark cabinetry and splashy red countertop. This theme is continued in the home's basement, which houses the Signature Audio Video home theatre, Fitness Depot exercise room, Palason games room, and a cozy sauna.

The home also comes fully furnished by La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries, and with picturesque landscaping by Artistic Landscape Design.

If you're in Ottawa, you can visit the Dream Home at 9 Tradewinds Drive in Winding Way located south of Prince of Wales Drive between Woodroffe and Merivale. Hours are Monday to Friday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

For more detailed information about the home and other prizes feel free to visit the Web site at www.dreamofalifetime.ca.

Here's to hoping this year's draw raises lots of money for this worthy cause, as it always has in years past.

The Top 10 Renovation Projects That Will Actually Help You Sell Your Home

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:01:00 +0000

A couple months ago, we looked at simple ways to improve the curb appeal of a house you're trying to sell, and then we discussed some easy ways to spruce up the interior for sale as well.

But we get a lot of questions from readers about whether there is a secret list of renovations that truly pay off when it comes to upping the resale value of your home. Well it's no secret, but there is definitely a list and though some of these will double up on my earlier advice, feel free to use this top ten list as a guide for future reno planning!

1) Painting

I've said it before, but it bears saying again: if there is one thing you do before putting your house on the market, do this. A new coat of paint does wonders for the look of your home and can increase your resale value by as much as 300%, according to realtors. Now that' return on investment.

2) Kitchen Renovations

Kitchens sell homes, so it makes sense that sprucing yours up will help you sell faster. Just remember to keep your budget in check, as kitchen renos can easily go sky-high price-wise. Also, remember to keep the price of the renovation comiserate with your asking price. There is no point in adding a 70 thousand dollar kitchen to a house worth only three times that amount, for example. Real estate agents say that a kitchen reno, done right, can add as much as 120% to the value of your home.

3) Bathroom Additions

This one's easy: If your home only has one bath (or 1.5) and has more than one person, you can always benefit by adding a second full one. These renos can run up a tab as well, but you should see a payback of up to 130% when you sell.

4) Bathroom Remodeling

It's not so fun to think about, but the fact of the matter is that we spend a lot of time in the bathroom! It should come as no surprise, then, that making the room more comfortable and stylish can add appeal to your home. Realtors claim that a well-done reno of the main bathroom can increase your resale value by up to 120%.

5) Finishing the Basement or Attic

These are not projects for the lighthearted to take on, but they can be very rewarding if done properly. By finishing a basement or attic, you can add up to 30% more square footage of living space without having to build any extensions to the home. The downside is that these renovations are cumbersome, costly and only add 80 to 90% to the home's value on average.

6) Window and Door Replacement

Nothing scares prospective buyers away faster than old, ratty looking windows that are drafty and generally in disrepair. Putting in new windows and doors can give the whole house a facelift and convey to visitors that your home has been well cared for. Payback should range between 50 to 90% on this investment.

7) Deck Improvement or Addition

There is not much you can do outside renovations-wise to significantly improve the value of your home. Building or adding to your deck is the one exception, a project that can add up to 90% to your home's resale value.

8) Adding Rooms

Adding on to your house can be extremely difficult and expensive, but square footage is always king. You'll need to balance the cost of the reno versus the value that the extra space will bring. These projects can add as little as 30% to your home's value, or as high as 80 if they're done correctly.

9) Improving Home Office Space

With more and more people working from home, the home office has become a new home-selling space. A well-designed room with plenty of outlets, calm colours and other office-specific improvements can really help prospective buyers envision the space. Payback can be as high as 70% for this type of reno.

10) Energy Efficient Retrofits

When it comes to renovating to save money on power consumption, you should always be wary that you're not making all the capital outlay... only to save the next owner thousands of dollars on heat and hydro. Some improvements like quality insulation and energy efficient furnaces will add value right away. Others, like photovoltaics, take a long time to pay for themselves, and may not appeal to all homebuyers either. Tread this road with caution, unless the reasoning for your renovations is to be Green as in Earth-friendliness, not Green as in rich!

If you found this list helpful, why not email it to a friend, or save it to your browser's favourites so you can come back to it later? We hope to see you back here soon!

How to Find a Reliable Contractor Tip #2: Paid Directories

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:34:00 +0000

In the last installment of our helpful series on foolproof ways to find a reliable contractor, we suggested looking up online directories published by relevant trade associations to get the names of contractors who are running legitimate businesses.

Today, we'll look at a secondary source of reputable companies: Online Paid Directories.

Paid directories, as you would probably have guessed by the name, are services that can provide information about vetted contractors in your area who specialize in the type of work you require done.

The downside to these types of services in comparison to Association Directories, for example, is that the contractors are not necessarily good simply because they appear in a paid directory (they did pay to appear there, after all.) However, I have found that most contractors who run a tight enough ship to pay for inclusion in these types of services are usually the kinds of contractors you will feel most comfortable dealing with (ie: the type who will finish your project without going bankrupt!)

So, without further ado, here are the top three Paid Directory Services tat I have come across on the web:

-Handy Canadian / Handy American

This site, which has a Canadian service at handycanadian.com and an American one at, you guessed it, handyamerican.com, lets your search by project type and region, and returns a healthy list of companies for most sections.

-Service Magic

This is probably the best known of the paid directory listings online. It also has both Canadian and American regions grouped together on the same site, and offers a great number of types of contractors for most regions.

-eRenovate.com

This site is a great one because it offers a great collection of listings, as well as articles and advice pieces from experts on many different renovation types. eRenovate also administers a verification program that aims to ensure all its contractors are legitimate and trustworthy. (One caveat: This site is Canada-only at this time.)

Local Variations

There are certainly others, but these are three of the biggest (and so tend to offer the most contractors in their respective directories.) Of course, these types of services also vary in effectiveness by country and region, so you should definitely supplement my suggestions here with a Google search that goes something like "Find a Contractor in MY CITY AND PROVINCE / STATE."

You'll almost surely get a few local-focused directories as well, which can be just as useful as the bigger ones I've listed here.

For example, a search like that for here in Ottawa uncovers a great locally run paid directory called HomeFocus.com, which has a veritable wealth of information about Ottawa contractors in any field you can imagine. (They are also expanding to other Canadian markets, but their strength is still clearly in Ottawa, where they started.)

7 Things To Remember When Searching for Your Dream Home

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:14:00 +0000

When you're on the hunt for your dream home, sometimes those old rose-coloured glasses can cloud your vision and make it difficult to see straight. But we should never forget that a home is a huge investment, and whether you're buying a new home or a resold one, there are certain things you need to consider before you fall in love with a property.

Here are the best 7 tidbits of advice we could come up with for finding a dream home that doesn't disappoint. As always, let us know what you think of them and if you'd add any others in the comments!

1) Always Do Your Research

Whether you do it online, in newspapers or in person by visiting homes or model homes (with a realtor or without), it always pays to do your homework. This may seem like obvious advice, but all too often home buyers get so caught up in the excitement of purchasing a new home that they may skimp on some of the hard work. Don't be one of those.

2) You Can Pick Your Nose...

Always look for the cheapest house in the best neighborhood, because homes can be improved, but neighbours can't! When you buy for the area first, you are more likely to get the utmost bang for your buck in the long haul. This doesn't mean you should buy a house you hate in a burrough you love, but it's something to keep in mind nonetheless.

4) Location, Location, Location

Like neighbours, a house's address is pretty fixed, too. You can change pretty much everything about your home after you buy it, in fact... except where it is located. Buying a home you love in an area that is inconvenient, dangerous or less than ideal is a short-sighted plan. Find a region you love first, then look for a home within it.

5) Compromise is Key

The sooner you come to terms with the fact that the perfect home does not exist, the easier this will be for everyone. Unless you're commissioning a custom home to be built on land of your choosing, there will always be a few things you don't like about every property you visit. Give and take a little, and aim to find the home that satisfies most of your needs and wants, not all.

6) Don't Fall In Love, If You Can Help It

No, I'm not talking about Cupid's Arrow, and Yes, this is easier said than done, but it is always best to stay as emotionally detached as possible when looking for and bidding on a home. This is, after all, a business, and there is no room in the deal room for emotion.

If you do lose what you thought was your dream home when a deal falls through, don't fret, another one that's even better for you will come along soon!

7) Beware The Handy-man's Special

It might be refreshing to walk into a home that has been gutted and redone from top to bottom, but always remember to look closely at renovations to make sure they don't exhibit any signs of unprofessionalism.

As we mentioned in our post about home inspections, professional inspectors are always wary of such renos, saying that they nearly always have code errors and other problems that could cause headaches down the road. Look out for crooked walls, oddly wired appliances and anything else that just doesn't seem right. Better to turn your back now on a house that looks great, but really isn't, than to look the other way and have issues down the road.

How to Spot the House-from-Hell From the Very Beginning: Helpful Hints from Two Professional Home Inspectors

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:49:00 +0000

When looking to buy a new home, most people know the importance of hiring a good home inspector to make sure all is as it seems before they put all your money on the line.

(If you are looking for a reputable inspector in Canada, you can try the directory at MyHomeInspector.ca, or the home inspector section of HomeFocus.com. In the US, the American Society of Home Inspectors online directory is a great starting point.)

But of course, when prospective homebuyers are looking at many different homes, trying to decide on the best one, even if they want to be look out for red flags, it's just not practical to bring in an inspector for every property they fancy.

So for this reason, we thought we would pick the brains of some experienced industry professionals to try and suss out the best ways that these home shoppers can watch out for trouble homes. Enjoy!

Advice from the Pros

We spoke with two established home inspectors in Ottawa, Ontario: Neil Card from Barrhaven Home Inspectors Inc. (pictured above left), and Francis Caza of Closer View Home Inspection Services (above right), and both had some really great tips to share.

When asked what prospective home buyers should watch out for when touring a home for sale, Card says they should always keep moisture and vegetation in mind.

"The biggest issues with homes are always water and tree damage," he says, "Get the water and trees away from the home and you'd have no problems. Homeowners should look out for hedges and plants up against the house, as well as big trees that are close to the home. As a rule, the circumference of the root system of a tree is double that of its branches, so they should keep that in mind always."

Card also says that improperly installed eavestroughing is a common problem with homes.

"One of the biggest and most common problems I come across in my inspections is a minor one that has to do with downspouts," he says, "often they drop directly down onto the driveway, which in the winter can lead to snow and ice buildup and dangerous slippery conditions. It can also cause damage to the foundation of the home. It's a minor thing to fix and very inexpensive, and it's better to fix it now rather than waiting 5 years, and then you need foundation repairs or a new roof."

Both Card and Caza recommend that every potential home buyer take a trip or two down to the basement to look for evidence of foundation problems and flooding.

"Using all your senses, you should walk around the entire home outside and then in the basement and look at all the parts of the foundation," says Card. "Look for cracks in the walls, especially around the windows. Smell for must and mildew that might indicate flooding has occurred. Be wary if there are two dehumidifiers in the basement."

Caza agrees 100%.

"The main concerns in basements is obviously moisture. You should always check all walls for any visible discoloration or evidence of water damage."

Renos Gone Awry

Another red flag that you should be aware of, according to both inspectors, is home renovations that look as though they may have been done by a ... less than professional individual. (Obviously these must be DIYers who didn't take advantage of our exhaustive guide to reno resources!)

"One thing that concerns (inspectors) is that in a lot of areas we'll find renovation work in homes that must have been done by the home owner or some other non-professional," says Caza. "This is especially worrisome when the renos involve plumbing and electrical work."

Card agrees that this can be a real problem.

"I always look out for 'handyman' work. I can tell when a job is professionally done, and when we've got a 'handyman house' on our hands... which can be very scary," he says. "The home owner maybe didn't know what they're doing or what's going on, they do what they think is right, but it's often all wrong."

Both inspectors say that with their experience, they can usually spot such unprofessional renovation work in a single pass, but that home buyers can probably get an idea as well if they pay attention to things like crooked walls and doorways, poorly fitted doors or (more scarily) electrical outlets and switches in unusual places.

No Substitute for a Professional Inspection

Even though these tips from the pros may help you spot problem homes earlier in the process, both Card and Caza made a point of urging all prospective buyers to take the time to find and hire a reputable inspector when they find a home they love.

"At the end of the day, there is a lot to see in a home and you don't know what you're looking for unless you're trained specifically for that purpose," says Card. "Something may look fine to the untrained eye, but on closer inspection may not be working, for example."

"Home inspection is very cheap when you look at the cost of buying a home - the few dollars you're paying is peanuts when you consider how much it could save you."

While this opinion is obviously slightly biased, I have to agree with the logic. If you're going to be making one of the biggest investments of your life, it obviously makes sense to spend the money (usually $200-$300) to ensure that you're not buying a money pit!

At least with these helpful hints, you'll be able to better narrow your choices and avoid those homes-from-hell earlier on. Then when you've decided to put in an offer on the home of your dreams, be sure to hire a professional to really scour the place.

For what it's worth, if you're located in Ottawa, I would definitely recommend either of the gentlemen I spoke with for this post, as both really impressed me with their knowledge and helpfulness. You can reach Neil Card of Barrhaven Home Inspectors by phone at 613 421 4001 or by email here. Francis Caza of Closer View Home Inspection Services can be reached by phone at 613 913 9020, or by email here.

Do you have any more helpful hints on how to spot a bad egg home during a quick walk around? We'd love to hear your ideas in the comments as usual!

The Top 5 Online Resources to Help You With Any DIY Home Repair or Reno Project

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:04:00 +0000

Whether you were trying to spruce up that old home of yours for resale, or looking to make your new house a little more homey and a little more personal, you've probably been bitten by the renovation bug at some point.

When the urge to revamp strikes, you could always call reliable contractors and get estimates to have them take care of the project (hopefully seamlessly.)

But if that's not in the budget, or you prefer to do things yourself, you might find yourself in need of guidance on how to make your vision come alive. (Or else you might end up with a scene like the one depicted in that "unmotivation" poster above!)

In this post, we're going to provide you with five of the best resources we've found online for teaching you how to do almost any renovation or repair project on your home. So get out your pen and paper and write these sites down, so you'll know where to find them later when you just can't wait to start knocking down walls!

1) The DIY Network:

This comprehensive site, which is run by popular home improvement network HGTV, is completely dedicated to providing easy-to-follow video guides for any do-it-yourself project you can think of, including home renovations. From Installing Cabinets to tricky Plumbing and Electrical jobs, this site has videos to tackle whatever you're trying to do.

2) The Green Home Guide:

As concern for the environment grows (as well it should), it is becoming more and more common for homeowners to be worried about the green-ness of their renovations. If you fall into the eco-conscious renovator category, you won't want to miss this excellent site.

It is provided as a free resource centre by the US Green Building Council (Creators of the LEED standards for green homes that is also promoted by the Canada Green Building council north of the 49th, and has been mentioned on this blog before.) It is all about ways to make your home renovations as green as possible.

3) CMHC Renovation Planner:

I'm sure you've heard old adages like "measure twice, cut once" and "an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure." (And then there's "don't use too many cliches in your writing in order to keep it fresh", but I digress.) The point is, with a renovation, like any other endeavour, it can really pay of to plan carefully before you start tearing down walls and replacing fixtures.

Luckily, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Commission (CMHC) provides the most in-depth guide I've seen online for choosing and executing renovations based on need, cost and return on investment. Definitely worth a read.

4) eHow Building and Remodeling How-Tos

In this age of web 2.0 collaboration and wikization of the web, I would be remiss if I didn't include the foremost for-the-people-by-the-people how-to resource online, eHow. This site is a sort of grassroots organization similar to wikipedia, where anyone who signs up can write or edit articles on myriad different subjects. The only difference is that on eHow, articles must be guides for completion of specific projects, and members can vote these up or down so that, in theory, the cream rises to the top. These are also supplemented by a number of expert-written guides.

The site features nearly half a million different articles, nearly 5000 of which are on the top of home remodeling and repairs (the section linked to above.) There is also a burgeoning how-to videos section of the site as well, the Home and Garden section of which can be found here. Between this site and the DIY network, you should be able to find step-by-step instructions for completing whatever project you have in mind.

5) BEHR ColorSmart Color Chooser

As the former owner of a professional painting company, I may sound biased in saying this, but we all know that every reno ends with a paint job. And whether you tackle it yourself or pay a pro to take care of it, at some point you're going to run up against the age old question: "What colours should we choose?"

Of course, if you're priming your home for sale (no pun intended), I had some advice on choosing appropriately neutral paint colours in a previous article about prepping the interior of your home for sale. But if you're renovating and choosing paint colours just for you and yours, then the sky is the limit. The problem with deciding on colours, however, can often be that it is difficult to visualize them in your home from those small swatches.

Enter BEHR's excellent ColorSmart tool. With this utility, you can choose a model of room that is similar to the one you'll be painting, and then simply point and click to see how different colour combinations will look together. The site also makes suggestions for complimentary colours and the like. All in all, well worth checking out for anyone struggling with visualizing that final touch.

There is also a paid service offered on the same site that allows you to upload actual photos of your home and colour them using the ColorSmart system, instead of using computer models. I'm not sure this is really necessary for most people, but if it interests you, it's only 5 bucks a year for unlimited use.

Of course, this list could go on, there are hundreds of thousands of sites on home improvement on the web, but these are the five that we've found to be the most thorough and comprehensive of the bunch.

What do you think, do you find them helpful? Are there any resources you would add to the list? Let me know in the comments, and I maybe lengthen the list to 10 at a later date.

Ottawa Builder Urbandale Links Arms With Habitat for Humanity to Bless a Local Family In Need With a Brand New Home

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:53:00 +0000

BUILDERS GIVING BACK

It is often said that the homelessness problem in any given city, Ottawa included, is much worse than it appears. It's not just the stereotypical "homeless" we see lying on sidewalks in the downtown core who are under-sheltered.

In reality, for each of these poor souls on park benches, there are several times as many people who are living with family, or in shelters, or even in crowded rental units, and often with multiple children and little money for other necessities like food and clothing.

These are the somewhat more invisible "homeless" of our cities, and the ones that charities like Habitat for Humanity seek to help. And since homebuilders house people for a living, by definition, it is always refreshing to see builders step up to the plate and partner with Habitat to give back.

That's what Ottawa builder Urbandale was doing this week, as they prepared to break ground on one of the local HFH chapter's two home projects for this year.

The two projects will house two families in need of help, in side-by-side homes in Orleans. One home has been sponsored by The Home Depot Canada, and the other by Urbandale.

The Urbandale home will house Angela Durant and her two sons Sherwin and Sheldon (pictured at left.) It will be built to the stringent R-2000 Environmental standard, which is a first for the National Capital Region Habitat chapter.

Orleans (Otawa East) city councillor Bob Monette spoke at the ground-breaking ceremony earlier this week and encouraged the Durants to be hopeful for their future in the new home.

"You'll notice the community you're moving into is a beautiful one," he said. "It's very safe and you'll feel very welcome here."

Indeed, as Platinum Sponsors, Urbandale has made a significant impact upon the future of this family, donating $75,000 towards the construction of their new family home. The builder has made this donation as part of its 50th Anniversary celebrations.

As with all Habitat projects, the home, when finished, will be sold to the Durants on an interest-free mortgage that will be paid back in full. The family has also already begun the 500 hours of "sweat equity" required of participants in the program, helping out at fundraising BBQs, delivering flyers and the like.

Despite this generous donation from Urbandale, Habitat is still always in need of volunteers to help make their projects a reality. If you would like to participate in this build, either by doing a skilled trade, committee person or coordinator, they would love to hear from you. You can reach the Ottawa office at 613 749 9950 or via email here.

If you don't live Ottawa, but would like to help this great hand-up-instead-of-out charity, you can find a chapter near you on their Canadian site here, or their American one here.

Kudos to Urbandale for giving back to the community in such an apropos way.

The Best 2 Ways to Make Your Home's Interior Irresistible to Prospective Buyers

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:38:00 +0000

An attractive entryway. (Creepy head statue optional.)

SELL THAT HOUSE: It's What's Inside That Counts

Two weeks ago, we looked at 3 Ways to Give Your Home Killer Curb Appeal and promised that we would follow up soon with a guide for how to spice up the inside of your home for selling as well. Here it is.

As with the exterior of your house, the first impression that any prospective buyers will have when they enter your home is always the most important thing to consider when trying to sell. So here are The Best 2 Ways to Make Your Home Interior Irresistible.

The Grand Entrance

When a prospective buyer walks into your home, what is the first thing they will notice? Will it be scuff marks on the floors and baseboards and nicks and stains on the walls? Or will it be a pristine entryway that shows everyone just how well you take care of your home.

This is one of the easiest, but most effective things you can do to up the resale value of your home. Those nicks, scratches and holes in the walls? A little putty and patience will make quick work of those. This helpful guide can help you with smaller repairs, and this nifty trick is great for larger holes.

Once the repairs have been done, a couple quick coats of a neutral colour like a light beige or off-white will give the room a certain newness that will speak volumes to anyone thinking about buying your home. (More on paint colours in the next section.)

If the thought of repairing drywall and spending two days painting gives you the willies, it may be worth looking at hiring a professional to do the work. You can often find some reliable contractors to provide estimates on sites such as Craigslist.org and Kijiji.

Or, if you are located here in the Ottawa area, drop me a line here and I'll be happy to put you in touch with some reliable local painting companies -- I owned a painting company here myself for four years and know the industry well.

As for the floors, most stains on ceramic and hardwood or laminate can be removed with a little soap and elbow grease. (Be careful not to use abrasive cleaners on hardwood, however, as they may damage the veneer.) For really weathered hardwood, hiring a contractor to sandblast them can be a great option to renew the look.

If you're working with old linoleum, you might consider putting down ceramic tile or laminate, as the cost can be quite affordable considering the improvement that such a makeover will make.

Neutralize, Neutralize, Neutralize

While painting the entryway may be one of the most important things to do, there are probably some other walls in the house that could use the touch of a brush and roller, too.

Ask any realtor or home renovations expert and they will tell you that applying a fresh coat of paint to the interior of your home is one of the best bang-for-your-buck ways to increase its appeal to potential buyers.

Your main concern here, if the header above didn't give it away, should be to keep a consistent, neutral tone to the colours on the walls.

I know, I know, you thought that eggplant and khaki green motif in the living room was positively to die for, but, well, taste is a funny thing, isn't it?

It's best to stick with colours that have some life, but don't detract attention from the home itself and the furniture. For this reason, I usually recommend going with a warm beige like the one in the picture at the top of this post, rather than a muted off-white, but both are preferable to vibrant primary colours and the like.

By the way, this goes for kids' rooms too. You know Little Joey's childhood refuge, with a jungle motif plastered on all four walls? Well some prospective buyers may have wanted that room for an office. Or to house a child who has outgrown that particular safari obsession.

As much as it hurts, it's best to cover any elaborate motifs and kid-friendly colours with neutrals as well.

(Hint: If you're covering a mural or bright vibrant colour, use a solid white primer before painting. You'll thank me later. By the way, aside from the use of tinted primers as bases when painting rich colours, the former is the only time you need to do a full prime indoors. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.)

While we're on the topics, I'd like to warn you against some common shortcuts people will take, or ask their painting contractors to take when doing a "freshen-up" paint job on a to-be-sold home.

Doing, or asking a contractor to do only one coat. On anything. A proper paint job always requires two coats and it will only look streaky if you skimp. Yes, this includes painting white over white walls, because your old walls are no longer white but actually yellowed.
Painting the baseboards and trim the same colour as the walls. The amount you'll save on paint and labour doing this is not worth it for how stupid it will look when finished. Trim is meant to frame the room, and can only do so when it is white or off-white (or in some cases varnished natural wood) that contrasts with the wall colour.
Worse still, painting doors the same colour as the walls. Again, this will not save you enough money to justify the tackiness of the end product. Also, as an aside, intelligent people will still be able to find the door, so even the camouflage argument does not hold up here.

If you are planning to do the job yourself, this guide can be helpful to get you started. If you see the value in paying someone else to do the work, see my notes above for help in finding a reliable contractor.

Next Stop: SOLD!

Once you've applied a nice neutral colour to all the walls, and really taken the time to make the entryway pop, you'll be well on your way to wowing potential buyers right off the bat, and putting them in the right mood to see your home in the positive light it deserves.

If you have the time and the budget, other places worth sprucing up are the kitchen, the master bedroom and the master bathroom. Sometimes the smallest improvements can make a big difference in these hyper-important areas of the home.

So, what do you think, have any tips and tricks to add? Have you had any experiences, good or bad, in making these types of changes? Did they help sell your home? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Design and Build the Home of Your Dreams With Dharma Developments' New Custom Home Building Service

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:07:00 +0000

A New Direction

With one successful multi-lot development under their belt and another underway, Ottawa builder Dharma Developments has announced that they will be bringing their eco-conscious, high-quality building style to the custom home market starting this winter.

Dharma impressed many with its first development, Powers Enclave, a 29-home neighbourhood in Stittsville, just minutes from Kanata Centrum, because of the quality of their construction and the durable products they use, as well as for their innovative approach to sustainable building.

A new loft-style homes development called Orville Station is set to break ground next spring and has attained the lofty environmental designation of LEED Silver for its eco-friendly design.

And this reputation for quality and innovation is exactly what is driving Ottawans to enlist Dharma's help in building their custom dream home, now that the service is being offered.

"The feedback we've gotten so far from clients about why they're choosing us is because of our quality workmanship and our focus on green technology," says Dharma Sales and Marketing Manager Wendy Bissonette. "One potential client who viewed Powers Enclave recently was really impressed with the finishing detail and the attention we pay to the quality of products used in the home."

The move into custom homes does not signify a shift in priorities for Dharma, says Bissonette. The company will continue to plan and execute innovative communities like Powers and Orville Station in the future. Instead, the new division is meant to complement their existing work, and help home owners who may already have their own lot or would prefer to live in an area outside Dharma's current communities to achieve their vision.

"A lot of people have this dream of building their own home, but when they get to the point of actually doing it, they realize they don't know how," says Bissonette. "We want to be there as a partner for them and help them through the process."

For Dharma, this business transition is partly about expanding their reach and keeping busy between major multi-lot projects, but it is also about making a contribution to the Ottawa community, a value that Dharma has always espoused (evidenced by their commitment to charity and the local arts community.)

"Offering custom homebuilding for us is about being able to pass on the knowledge that we've gained with Powers Enclave and Orville Station, in terms of LEED and green technologies," says Bissonette. "We want to help build smart homes that are efficient and as green as people want them to be - we always look at new technologies to be able to relay those options to our customers. With our custom homes, the client really has a blank canvas."

LEEDing The Way

This commitment to green building has set Dharma apart from other builders in the Ottawa market. While some smaller local homebuilders have been afraid to experiment with eco-technologies for fear that homebuyers wouldn't willing to pay the necessary premiums, Dharma has consistently led the way in offering stylish, environmentally friendly and affordable homes, proving that the combination is indeed possible.

And as is often the case, daring to be different has paid off for Dharma. Bissonette says more than half of the inquiries they are currently receiving for custom home quotes involve requests for green technologies, so it is clear that their reputation precedes them.

On every build, Dharma considers a strict set of eco-criteria in planning, design and construction, including but not limited to:

Use of building supplies that are locally available, contain recycled material and/or are themselves salvaged and recycled;
Use of durable products that won't end up in landfills in the near future;
Low toxicitiy in indoor materials; and minimal emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) during construction.

But perhaps more importantly, "green building" isn't just a glorified checklist for this builder, it's a company mantra.

Not only does Dharma try to make each and every project as environmentally low-impact as possible, but every employee is committed to the cause as well. As Bissonette says, it's the little things that make the difference.

"We always recycle in the office, we power down lights and computers when not in use, we don't use paper plates or napkins unnecessarily, we all drive fuel-efficient vehicles. Each employee is very conscious of their impact, we all do our part for the environment in our own lives, and we bring that commitment to work, too."

For more information any of Dharma's developments, or about their new custom homes service, you can visit them on the web at www.dharmadevelopments.com, leave a comment on this post or send me an email and I will be happy to put you in touch with the custom homes team.

For a detailed look at the few lots still available in their Powers Enclave community or to pre-order for Orville Station lots, head over to NHA.ca and take a look.

Finding Your Dream Home Just Got Easier With 3Vista's New Panoramic Tours

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:24:00 +0000

Here at NewHomeAssociation.ca, we strive to make it as easy as possible for prospective homeowners in Ottawa (and soon across Ontario) to find the homes they are looking for.

One of the comments we consistently get about house-shopping online, however (be it for re-sale houses on a site like MLS or new homes on one like NHA.ca) is that it is difficult to really experience the atmosphere of a home from just a few still photos.

And that's where our exciting new partnership with 3Vista comes in.

3Vista is an innovative company that provides a way to showcase 3D renderings and videos of homes that may not even be built yet, based on the builder's plans. You can see some examples of their demos on their site, like this one. Starting next month, every NHA listing will include a virtual walkthrough that allows you to explore each model of home as though you were walking through it yourself!

Our company President Genevieve Tremblay announced this new strategic partnership last week and we're really excited to roll out even more functionality for our users.

"We are delighted to join forces with a company like 3Vista, who share the same values and philosophies as we do," says Tremblay. "Buying a new home is a very important decision and the tools we now provide helps make the purchasing process a more enjoyable one."

We hope that you'll find the new features a useful addition to our arsenal of tools for finding your dream home. As always, we'd love to hear your feedback in the comments. Happy house-hunting!

Teaming Up With Capital Region New Homes to Bring Ottawa New Home-Seekers More Information in More Places

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:49:00 +0000

When you have a service that aims to fill a void and truly help consumers (like we at NewHomeAssociation.ca do, I hope), any opportunity to expand your audience is an exciting one. So it should come as no surprise that we have been chomping at the bit to announce a new partnership we've forged with Ottawa Region Media Group and their print publication insert called Capital Region New Homes.

Ottawa Region Media Group is a network of popular community newspapers here in Ottawa, including the Kanata Kourier-Standard, Nepean This Week, the Ottawa South Weekender, plus eleven others. Capital Region New Homes is a publication highlighting new homes and developments in Ottawa that is included in all those publications regularly.

So ORMG had a publication reaching over 200,000 doorsteps each edition, but before now didn't have a meaningful way for readers to search for homes online.

And we obviously specialized in making that kind of search painless, but, before now, didn't have the means to reach so many people through the print medium.

It was a successful partnership waiting to happen, and ORMG General Manager John Willems agrees.

"We both immediately recognized the value the other brought for new home buyers and for builders," says Willems. "We're feeding off each other's expertise and experience to deliver the most comprehensive consumer resource in the region."

As of the next issue of Capital Region New Homes and the next version of our site rollout, our collective properties will be completely co-branded and integrated.

OK, But why should you care?

That's the important question. As a consumer, what difference will this partnership make?

Well, for one, this team-up will give us at NHA the means and opportunity to expand and evolve faster than ever before, which means more features and more areas served sooner than would have been possible otherwise.

And on that last point, this partnership will also help us to leverage a more powerful combined brand and expand across to province so that prospective home-buyers anywhere in Ontario can enjoy the same convenient searching experience as those in Ottawa now do.

As well, since NHA is still a fairly young service, linking up with an established media group just gives us one more notch of credibility to convince the few builders who haven't decided to offer their listings with us that they should get on the bus! For you, that means a broader, more complete selection for you to choose from on our site, and that has always been our main goal.

The bottom line is this: the NHA team and the Capital Region New Homes team both share a desire to provide all the unbiased information necessary to prospective buyers so that they can make educated decisions about buying new homes.

We think that the lack of this information is one of the reasons that many choose to buy resale homes rather than new ones, and that's something we'd like to change.

In fact, John Willems sums up our sentiments well:

"I wonder how many more people will consider buying new homes new that there's a centralized location of listings data, working together with a leading print publication," he says. "Because ultimately, our services together just make the whole selection process a lot more convenient."

We hope the answer to his question is "many, many more."

How To Use Online Tools To Make Moving to a New City Painless, Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:14:00 +0000

In the previous segment of this 2-part series we looked at some different ways to use online tools to help find the home of your dreams in an unfamiliar city (although the same tools could be used to find a home in your own city too.)

Today, we follow up on that post by highlighting some utilities that will help you become comfortable with your new neighbourhood after you've found a winner, but before the big move.

Two of the main concerns expressed by new homeowners are the proximity of their new house to convenience destinations like grocery stores, restaurants etc., and the closeness to important institutions like schools for children. Here are some ways that you can put those concerns to rest using some Google Maps tricks and Google Maps-based services online.

Nearby Amenities

Before moving to a brand new area, it's always nice to know which, if any, amenities are nearby; and particularly which ones are within walking distance.

Luckily, with a great Google Maps-based service called WalkScore.com, you can find out exactly what types of restaurants, stores, bars, cinemas and more destinations are within walking distance from any address in North America or the UK.

This little tool was also brought to my attention by my friend and social media expert Rahaf Harfoush over at TheFoush.com, and it is definitely worth checking out for anyone who is moving to an unknown area. As you can see in the screenshot at the top of this post, the Google Maps on WalkScore feature overlays of commonly sought amenities like the ones I mentioned earlier, and in a side tab it shows the estimated distance of each one from your home.

Even if you don't intend to walk a lot in your new city (though we should all consider doing so for the sake of the planet), this tool will still give you a pretty detailed bird's eye view of how conveniently located your home may or may not be. It's worth a look - after all, if you find you're 30 kilometres from the nearest grocery store, that might be less than desirable!

As a bonus, in many major American cities, WalkScore also features Google StreetView integration, which means you can actually see the routes from street level as though you were walking along the sidewalk. It doesn't get much better than that for checking out a new neighborhood from afar. (StreetView will be rolled out eventually in Canadian and British cities, despite initial holdups around privacy concerns, and when it is I'm sure we'll see WalkScore integration for those addresses as well.)

Schools

For those of you with children, another important feature of any new home will be its proximity to local schools. Obviously, it's great to know how far your little ones will have to trek by foot or bus every morning to get to class.

For this particular tidbit of information, we can use Google Maps and a simple little search query that I'll show you now to find a list of all the primary and secondary schools in your area on an easy-to-interpret map.

First, go directly to Google Maps and when you get there, type the following into the search bar:

category: "Schools Academic Elementary & Secondary" near YOURADDRESS

Obviously, you will need to replace "YOURADRESS" with the address of your new home (be as specific as possible). As you can see on the screenshot above, this query should give you a nice map with all the elementary and secondary schools in the immediate vicinity of your home. Here's a link to another Ottawa example of the query in action.

You can also click the link at the top of the left column that says "Refine by: Distance" to narrow or widen your net by kilometre radius.

I've tried this tactic for several major cities in Canada and the US and it seems to work quite well in all of them, but keep in mind that this tool is only as good as the data available to Google Maps, so your mileage may vary if your local school district does not publicly list school locations.

With these tricks and tools, combined with those we covered in the first installment, you should be able to find the perfect home, and get an excellent idea of all the amenities and schools available in your new neighborhood, all before you've even visited in person. How's that for technology improving the way we live?

Have we missed any great tools in this roundup series that you would use to get to find a home from a different city and/or get to know the neighbourhood? If so, please feel free to share in the comments!

Mattamy Homes Makes it 3 Years In a Row with JD Power Customer Satisfaction Award

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:14:00 +0000

FIND YOUR DREAM HOME

The homebuilding industry is so competitive and the incentive to cut corners and lower prices so great for builders, that when companies go above and beyond to ensure that the quality of their product exceeds customers' expectations, they deserve to be recognized.

Today, Mattamy Homes falls into that category. The builder, which has developments in Southern Ontario, Ottawa Ontario, Calgary Alberta, Minneapolis Minnesota, Phoenix Arizona, Jacksonville Florida and Charlotte North Carolina, has been awarded the prestigious J.D. Power award for Highest Rank in Satisfying New-Home Buyers for the third consecutive year!

Each year, J.D. Power and Associates conducts a survey of new home purchasers across Canada to rank all builders by customer satisfaction. They ask questions to evaluate companies like Mattamy in 8 different categories, which are, in descending order of weighted importance: Home readiness, construction and site teams, warranty service, sales staff, price and value, physical design, home quality, and design centre.

This year, Mattamy scored 893 out of a possible 1000 to top the field, with industry-leading rankings in all 8 categories. Congratulations are in order - a three-peat victory in customer satisfaction is truly something to be proud of!

All Builders Continue to Improve

Another point worth mentioning about this year's survey results is that overall customer satisfaction has increased across the board for all builders for the 4th straight year as well. This is great news for consumers!

"Builders should feel proud of their achievements in satisfying new-home buyers over the past four years," says Mark Thibeault of J.D. Power. "The majority of builders -- not simply a select few -- have contributed to this overall improvement, which bodes well for homeowners."

The questionnaire also asked respondents about their primary source of information on builders and their products and the most overwhelming answer to this question is telling, if not entirely surprising: recommendations from friends, family and colleagues. The study also found a clear correlation between those who rated builders a 9 or 10 out of 10 and those who were willing to provide a recommendation for that company to friends and family. (Again, not rocket science here.)

"When prospective buyers are in the market for a new home, they look to a trusted resource to assist with their decision-making resource," says Thibault, "and those builders with a track record of high customer satisfaction performance will have a distinct competitive advantage in a softening housing market."

It is great to see that builders here in Canada are taking customer satisfaction really seriously, and that homebuyers are willing to repay the best of the best in the industry by referring them to their friends and family. After all, for all the talk you'll see on this blog outlining innovative ways to find new home information on the web, you still can't beat good old word of mouth recommendations when it comes to finding a builder you can trust.

Here at NewHomeAssociation.ca, we strive to provide the most comprehensive information about new home developments in Ottawa (and soon other major markets.) In light of this study, however, do you think we could improve our existing offering by providing an area within each model profile for clients to leave testimonials for builders and their products as well? We'd love to hear your feedback, so please let us know what you think in the comments!

How To Use Online Tools To Make Moving to a New City Painless, Part One of Two

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:50:00 +0000

FIND YOUR DREAM HOME

Moving from one house to another within a region can be stressful enough as it is. Moving to a new city can be even worse. But maybe you've just received the job offer of a lifetime. Maybe you need to be closer to someone or something in another town. Whatever the reason, sometimes the decision to pick up and move can come sooner than we anticipate.

And when it does, there are things you can do to make the transition as smooth as possible.

In fact, in this digital age, it is easier than ever to do so. Tasks that may have taken multiple trips to your new home city can now be done online in a matter of minutes. In this 2-part article series, we'll look at 2 of the most difficult tasks you'll run into during this process (finding a home, and getting settled into a neighborhood) and suggest some great web tools to help you along the way.

Of course, the first and probably most important responsibility you'll need to tackle is finding the right home in your new city.

Note: These tips can also be helpful if you're moving within the same city, since you will still need to do a lot of research, but they will especially save you time and stress if you're searching from afar.

1) How to Find and Compare Homes Online

When you're moving to a new locale, finding your home can be extremely difficult and stressful. After all, buying a home, as we all know, is a huge investment both emotionally and monetarily.

While it is not recommended that you do all the research on your new digs online and purchase before seeing the place first hand, some online tools can definitely help narrow the field so that you only need to take one or two productive trips to look at prospective homes and make a decision, instead of six or seven.

If you are planning to buy a home on the resale market, the most obvious tool to use in Canada is the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which offers a comprehensive search engine that can filter by region, house type, bedrooms, view, and many other features. In the US, you can visit Homescape.com and do a similar type of search of the American Multiple Listing Service.

But if your plan is to make your next house a dream home, and you plan to buy a brand new home from a builder in your new city, it can be a little trickier to search the database of available models from the various builders.

You could just do a Google search for builders who are active in that area, and then visit all their sites, one by one, to tour their model homes. But that isn't the most efficient strategy.

In the US, a great alternative to this hunting and gathering approach is to use a site called Newhomes.com, which allows you to search models from varied partner builders in cities all across the US all from one central location. In my testing, some cities fared better than others, so your mileage may vary, but it is certainly worth checking out if you're American and going the New Home route.

To the best of my knowledge, here in Canada there doesn't yet exist a nationwide resource that offers the same type of comprehensive searching convenience. Having said that, however, this is exactly the problem we are trying to solve here at NewHomeAssociation.ca.

For now, we only offer listings for the Ottawa-Gatineau area, but we have tried to offer as many different searching options as possible in an easy-to-navigate user interface. We will be expanding our offerings to the Greater Toronto Area soon, and after that across the country, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, if you're moving to Ottawa, our tool can be a great way to search all the available new home models in the Ottawa area from many different builders.

A final tool worthy of mention is one called HousingMaps.com, which is a mashup of Google Maps online mapping service and the Craigslist online classifieds service. This one was brought to my attention by my friend Rahaf Harfoush, who is a new media consultant in Toronto and pens a great blog about social media here.

In any case, the service is very useful: it scours listings for rentals, resale homes and some new home listings and then plots them by address on a map. The visual can be very helpful, especially if you don't know the area well (or at all.)

The only downsides are that a) it can only provide information about homes that are listed on Craigslist, which is certainly not a comprehensive list and may vary in results from city to city, and b) for now the cities available are US-only, with the exception of Toronto and Montreal. Even still, this one may be worth a look too if you're moving to one of the cities covered by HousingMaps.

And that's it - those are the best resources we could find to help you find the right type of home in the city you're moving to. But what about making sure you find a home in the right neighbourhood?

Well, in the next installment of this series, we will look at how to complement your housing search by learning all about about the characteristics of different neighbourhoods in your soon-to-be hometown so that you can choose to settle in an area that fits your lifestyle and needs. We'll see you back here then!

Meanwhile, have we missed any great resources here that you've come across? If so, please share in the comments so we can all benefit, and I will update the post with any gems you may submit.

Freakonomics and The Commission Conundrum: Why You Should Never Forget That Your Realtors' Incentives Are Different Than Your Own

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:28:00 +0000

SELL THAT HOUSE

Good real estate agents are difficult to find, but they can be extremely helpful and can make the process of selling your current house and finding your dream home a lot less laborious.

Here at NewHomeAssociation.ca we even offer some links on our Resources page to help you find a realtor you can trust in Ontario because we know how important that step is in any housing transition. (Similar sites exist for regions across North America, and look out for a post here soon rounding up many of these resources.)

But there's more to the story.

You see, we also know that real estate agents are human like everyone else and are driven by the same types of incentives as the rest of us, and we think these are facts that every homeowner should be well aware of when buying or selling a home.

So What is Freakonomics and What Does It

Have To Do With Selling My Home?

The "Commission Conundrum" referenced in the title refers to a dilemma outlined in the excellent book Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything, by economist Steven Levitt and author Stephen J. Dubner (they also have a great NYTimes blog by the same name here.)

This book is a really great read, full of off-the-wall social and economic analyses of things like the correlations between race, child names and success and the statistical propensity of drug dealers to live with their moms.

And among these nuggets is a full chapter on real estate agents and their motivations that I think should be required reading for every homeowner thinking of selling.

Of course, being the busy people you are, you might not all have the time to go out and read their book right away, so this post will describe the Steves' theories briefly and explain how they relate to you and your home sale.

Different Paychecks, Different Pages

The main point to remember when you are selling your home is that you are selling your largest asset. Your realtor, regardless of their competency or integrity, is not.

They may be guiding you and helping you along the way, but ultimately they are conducting a business transaction for an asset that has no bearing on their own net worth, and it is best not to forget that.

So what does this mean?

Well, quite frankly, it means that in order to make sure you get the best possible 'buck for your bang' when you sell your home, it helps to understand your agent's own motivations so that you can guard against any rash decisions that may not be in your own best interest.

'But my realtor is so nice... how could their motivations in selling my home be any different than mine?', you might ask.

Good question.

Well consider this example given by Levitt and Dubner in their book: If an agent holds out for an additional $10,000 on your $300,000 home, that's a big deal for you, right? There's a lot you could do with 10 grand, I'm sure.

But when you consider that the realtor's 1.5% commission take (half of the 3% average commission, with the other half going to the real estate co) on that large sum is only $150, you begin to see how your motivations might be a ittle bit different than theirs.

Just think- If you were a realtor and could seal the deal right now and forfeit just $150 out of over $4500 in commissions so you can move on to the next deal, or hold out an additional week to make sure your client gets full pop, what would you be inclined to do?

Steve and Stephen even take their observation one step further, pointing to a study that shows agents on average keep their own homes on the market 10 days longer than their clients' and sell them for 3% more as well.

Interesting thought, isn't it?

So Now What?

Ok, so what does all this mean anyway? Does this mean all agents are selfish and untrustworthy? Hardly.

Should you swear off realtors and their poorly incentivized commission structure for good and go the for-sale-by-owner route? Well no, we don't think that either.

Because as with hiring lawyers to navigate the law and accountants to do your taxes, competent, trustworthy professionals are usually worth their weight in gold. But it never hurts to understand the motivations of your business partners, and that's exactly how you should view your realtor.

You can minimize your exposure to this type of risk by a) finding a realtor with integrity (as money-hungry agents may be more likely to try and churn volume sales), b) stowing in the back of your mind your understanding of your agent's motivations throughout the process and c) holding your ground when you don't feel like you're getting the cash you expected for your most prized asset.

By doing these three things, you are more likely to have a smooth home-selling experience thanks to your realtor's expert guidance, and one that doesn't leave you $10,000 poorer than you ought to be thanks to your understanding of the incentives involved in the sale.

How about yourself - have you ever sold a home? If so, how did you find your experience working with a realtor? Have you ever encountered this disconnect of incentives first hand? Let us know in the comments!

How to Find a Reliable Contractor Tip #1: Choosing Greatly By Association

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:32:00 +0000

A question we get a lot here from readers who are planning renovations on their home is how they can find reliable contractors to help get their project done. So in this on-going series, we'll look at different ways to do just that, online and offline. Today, let's dive in and discuss one great way to find trustworthy tradesmen using the vast resource that is the internet: Online Association Directories.

1) Leverage the Power of Governing Bodies

While the main purpose of most trade associations is to provide networking and partnership opportunities to their members, and provide their members with support relevant to their industry, etc., another role that these institutions often play is one of legitimization.

That is to say that for many contractors, belonging to the flagship organization of their given industry can often be viewed as a sign that they run an above-board, legitimate enterprise and one that can be trusted implicitly.

This is not to say, of course, that all contractors who aren't members of their relevant associations are not running viable, reliable businesses. In fact, when I used to run my own painting company, I actually abstained from joining any industry associations, so I would by quite hypocritical to suggest as much!

But if you are wary of getting tangled up with one of those few bad egg contractors who make the lot of us look badly sometimes, then going the Association route can be a great first step towards greater peace of mind.

Of course, I can't very well list every association for every trade and every region in this small space, but they do exist in plentiful abundance and should be fairly easy to find: Just go to Google (or your search engine of choice) and type in "TRADE TYPE, REGION, Association" and that should point you in the right direction.

For example, if we were to search "Ottawa Builder Association", the first few results all point to one of our proud association partners, the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association, which features a comprehensive directory of all its members (comprised of local builders as well as contractors who do a lot of new construction, and some renovators too. The reno-only section of the directory can be accessed here.)

Or say you were looking for an electrician in Ottawa for your renovation. A quick Google search for "Ottawa Electrician Association" brings us the Electrical Contractors Association of Ottawa as the topmost result. They too have a comprehensive directory of all their members.

You get the idea. Now why not give it a try and see if you can find an Association for the type of contractor you need! As always, let us know in the comments how it goes. You can also suggest other ways to find contractors in the comments below and we'll feature as many as possible in future parts of this series.

Three Ways To Give Your Home Killer Curb Appeal

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:29:00 +0000

SELL THAT HOUSE

Psychologists will tell you you have about 3 seconds to make an impression, good or bad, when you meet someone for the first time. It may be unfortunate that we are innately so quick to judge, but alas, that's the nature of the beast. And guess what:When it comes to that house you're trying to sell, the very same rules apply.

So what can you do to make sure that prospective buyers are getting a good first impression when they come to see your home? That's a great question, and in this article, we'll take a look at 3 easy ways to give your home some killer curb appeal.

#1) Doctor Your Driveway

There is no doubt about it, the very first thoughts a prospective house-buyer is going to have about your home will run through their head as soon as they pull up to your property.

It's the fabled question of curb appeal: what can you do to make your home look as attractive as possible from the street?

Well, there first thing you can do is make sure your laneway is somewhat attractive.

I am always amazed by the number of homes I see with For Sale signs stuck in the ground beside a driveway that's cracking, heaving and sprouting weeds all over.

Consider this: I used to run a painting company here in Ottawa and most of our exterior work came from door-to-door canvassing in the summer. And when I was making my rounds, I would often choose which houses to visit and which to skip based on certain criteria. The most common of these? The appearance of their driveway. I figured, 'If they can't be bothered to maintain their asphalt, they're not going to pay me to maintain the rest of their home either.'

In other words, if you want canvassers to skip your home when making their rounds, then leaving your driveway to rot can be a great strategy. But if you don't want the first impression people have your home to be 'I guess they're too cheap to maintain anything they own', then you might give that strategy a second thought.

Now, to be clear, I'm not saying you should drop three grand to rip out the existing driveway and repave it. Usually that isn't necessary (although if you've really let it go, that may be the only option...and it still may be worth it.)

But if you have some cracking along the lane and sinking up by the garage (the two most common types of asphalt damage), you can have a reputable contractor repair these with hot asphalt for around $400 (that's here in Ottawa, your mileage may vary elsewhere.)

For that price, they should build a ramp that comes out 2.5-3 feet and re-adheres the asphalt to the concrete of the garage, they should fill the cracks with black concrete and they should coat the drive with liquid asphalt.

Stay away from contractors who pitch acrylic seals - they are cheaper but they're bad for your asphalt (they trap moisture in and don't allow the masonry to breathe) and many prospective homeowners will be turned off by the shiny, unnatural appearance, too. Same goes for rubberized crack-fillers and Cold Patch ramps. They look bad and won't last.

Along the same lines, resist the temptation to do-it-yourself, because almost all the DIY products for driveways are non-asphalt based. As a rule of thumb, you should always use asphalt to repair asphalt (It makes sense when you think about it, right?)

Now, will your driveway look as good as new once you've had this procedure done? No.

But it will look naturally black (from the liquid asphalt) and properly maintained. It will also show prospective buyers right off the bat that you've been committed to maintaining the home.

#2) Lush Up the Lawn

There is nothing that will turn off a first-time visitor to your home more than a lawn full of dandelions, overgrown grass, or no grass at all. My so-simple-it's-stupid first piece of advice on that point is this: mow and weed your lawn regularly, but be careful not to kill the good stuff.

To elaborate, the best ways to maintain a lush, green lawn are to avoid pesticides, take it easy on the fertilizer, set your mower to the highest setting, and water thoroughly but infrequently.

Pesticides only kill the organisms that help aerate your lawn naturally, like earthworms, along with the bugs they're meant to eliminate.
If you use too much fertilizer, the nitrogen will burn your grass.
Setting your mower to the highest setting ensures that you don't accidentally kill your grass by removing too much of the blade at once.
And finally, watering for an hour every week is better than a couple minutes every day, because the former practice soaks the plant down to its roots where it really needs the moisture.

Some more great tips for maintaining a healthy lawn of green grass can be found here, here and here.

I wouldn't recommend throwing a lot of money into landscaping the yard if you are planning to sell your home. Sure, expertly placed paving stones and beautiful gardens will impress the eye, but they might also turn off home buyers with children, who would rather have open expanses of lawn than interlock-woven paths and statuesque fountains.

If you've a green thumb and can add some colourful flowers to a garden in front, all the better. But aside from that, just focus on keeping your lawn looking healthy and, along with the newly doctored driveway, your front yard will truly beckon prospective home-buyers in.

3) Fix Up the Facade

Of course, while a luxurious lawn and smooth driveway will certainly make a good impression on your visitors, that will hardly matter if the outside of the house itself looks run-down!

With the trend towards platicizing home exteriors, this tip won't apply to many of you whose windows and siding are vinyl and whose door and shutters are metal. (ie: No paintable surfaces.)

But if you do have paintable surfaces on the exterior of your home (wooden windows, shutters, siding, garage doors, porches, etc.), you will find it well worth it to have them scraped down and re-coated before putting your home on the market.

And that's just from an appearance-of-maintenance perspective. Another thing to consider is whether the colours of your trim and doors are attractively neutral.

You might think that your ruby red garage door and matching window trim is de rigeur... Some of your prospective buyers may not.

Window trim should be restored to white, and garage doors painted in a neutral shade that complements the colour of the siding.

A word about front doors, though: Don't paint them unless you absolutely have to. Yes, I know I just insulted your ruby red motif, and if you've gone and painted your door to match, then by all means, paint it neutral too. But if your door has never been painted before, then don't mess with it.

The reason? Heavy metal doors like those are spray-painted in pristine factory conditions, then baked to set in an oven. No painter, no matter how careful, can re-create that look with a roller and brush (yourself included.) In my experience, homeowners were never quite pleased with the end result when they hired me to repaint metal doors, because the finish just never looked as smooth.

Working this front-yard trifecta of driveway, lawn and facade into shape will definitely help you ratchet up your curb appeal. Of course, the inside of your home will have to deliver on the promises the exterior has now made, but that's a topic for the next installment of Sell That House.

Now the only thing you may be wondering is ... Why should you spend your hard-earned cash prettying up a home that you're just trying to get rid of anyway? Well, while I can appreciate your hesitation to do so, I can assure you (and so, too will any Real Estate Agent worth their salt) that improving the look of your home from the street is always a good investment. Just think of all the additional bids you will attract, just because people weren't turned off by your home's ruddy facade or weedy driveway.

If you do nothing else to your home before selling, do these three things, because I am confident you will see a huge return on your investment when your house sells quickly and without a fuss.

Do you have any other questions that I didn't quite answer here? Don't be shy- let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to help. Or perhaps you have a suggestion for our readers on how to increase curb appeal- I'd be happy to hear it in the comments as well.

3 Helpful Hints for Doing Business with Realtors

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:46:00 +0000

So, the time has come for you to sell your current house and look for a new home-sweet-home. Whether you will be looking to find a brand new home, or a previously owned gem, you will doubtless require the services of a real estate agent, both to get rid of your current digs and to land the new one.

The fact of the matter is, cliche or not, buying or selling a home is the single largest business transaction most people will ever make in their lives. So it only makes sense that you should want to seek out expert guidance to navigate the waters and avoid making any regrettable errors.

But how can you make sure to find a reliable agent, and when you do, what can you do to get the most out of your real estate transaction? In this article, we will look at the top 3 tips for doing business with realtors.

Number 1: Find a Realtor You Can Trust

This one might seem like a no-brainer, but it is definitely important and worth looking at. Choosing the right agent can be the difference between hellish nightmare and easy breezy experience, and in the face of selling and buying such large assets, the process of finding someone you can trust can be daunting.

The single best way to find a realtor that you know you can trust is the same way you discover new restaurants and decide which movies to see: get recommendations from people you trust.

Chances are someone in your group of friends and/or family has used an agent to sell their home and can vouch for their professionalism.

But don't worry, if you're new to an area and don't know anyone who can recommend a real estate agent, or if you severely mistrust the judgment of your inner circle, there are other ways you can find a reputable one. (By the way, if your reasoning fell under the latter classification, you may have greater problems than finding a realtor...)

In the US, sites such as HomeGain and RealEstateAgent.com can be great directory resources for finding registered real estate agents in your town or city. In Canada MostReferred.ca is an excellent neutral recommendation engine for realtors, and offers up only those agents who have been selected by their peers as upright and trustworthy.

Number 2: Choose A Successful Realtor

This one obviously relates partly to the previous point, but is an important one nonetheless. When choosing your realtor, remember the old adage: money talks.

It might seem a very materialistic tact to take, but certainly choosing to work with a realtor who has strong sales numbers when selling your own home is a very logical thing to do. After all, if they can sell ice to an Inuit, imagine the wonders they can do with your home!

You can usually find information about Top Ranked realtors for your area by contacting your local Real Estate Board. For example, in Ottawa the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) can provide you with that information. Just do a quick search engine search for "YOUR REGION Real Estate Board" and you'll be well on your way to finding your area's shining stars.

Number 3: Practice Your Poker Face

Once you've found a realtor, it's important that you always remember this: Real estate agents, as nice as they might be, are still salespeople at the end of the day. And that isn't said with any hint of denigration - I myself have done sales jobs for years - but rather it is said with an overtone of realism. Everyone has incentives, and when you're a realtor, your incentive is to sell the home as quickly as possible. (Remember our discussion last month about the realtor incentives dilemma?)

So, first thing's first: it is integral that you never reveal your desperation to sell when you're putting your home on the market. Desperation gives a realtor the vibe that you will take a lower price than you deserve, just to get ride of your home.

And secondly, speaking of price, don't ever give yours away when you're buying either. If you give your realtor a maximum price when looking for a home, you had better believe that your chances of haggling it down have gone out the window.

Basically, just remember that relators will naturally use whatever wiggle room they are given in order to close a deal. Not because they are bad people, but just because they are... well... people. So keep your cards close to your chest as much as possible.

So, all your home owners out there, have you picked up any other helpful hints for working with realtors along the way? Or how about the real estate agents among you - we'd love to hear your perspective on this topic as well. Let us know in the comments!

Green-Building Pioneers: Minto Pushes The Envelope With Their New EcoHome

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Smith) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:29:00 +0000

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending a tour of the Minto Eco-Home in Manotick (about a 15 minute drive south of Ottawa, Ontario), a joint presentation by Minto's project director Serge Desjardins, Minto's manager of innovation and green solutions Robert Smith (that that title exists at all is a testament to the power of the green building movement), and Douglas Rowland from CMHC, whose EQuilibrium program provided the grants that made this development possible (or at least viable.)

The home is called Inspiration and it is a project that Minto is using to test innovative construction and envelope techniques and materials to achieve a net zero energy building. The EQuilibrium program bills itself as "a national housing initiative ... that brings the private and public sectors together to develop healthy homes that produce as much energy as they consume on an annual basis."

In other words, the CMHC uses this vehicle to promote and fund net zero builds across Canada. They will also coordinate and fund a metering initiative for one year after the home is sold to track how it performs under actual usage scenarios. (In other words, the first owner of this home will be a bit of a guinea pig - but that's a worthy tradeoff for living in a home that actually produces excess energy and sells it back to the hydro company at a profit!)

This building achieves net zero by employing a highly insulated building envelope (double wall construction with an R-Value of 40 and ceilings at R 60), triple-pane low-e argon filled windows, a solar HRV ventilation system, and a gaggle of roof-installed photovoltaic panels.

What does that all mean for you, the prospective homebuyer? Well, put simply, it means that the home is so well insulated in every way that it takes much less heat to warm in the winter, and much less AC to cool it in the summer.

Another neat feature of the home is its sophisticated green-plug-enabled electrical system, which will allow the homeowner to use special green outlets in any room for any items that do not need continuous power when no one is home. With this cool feature, you could, with the flick of a switch, turn off computers, cable boxes and that TV the kids left on downstairs before heading out, and thus avoid unnecessary energy consumption.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the tour (aside from seeing the home itself) was the interesting discussion it promoted from the 10 or so guests who were present. As we were waiting for stragglers to arrive before heading into the house, a stimulating conversation about the strengths (and weaknesses) of LEED broke out.

You can check out the above link for a thorough explanation, but basically, LEED is a special certification given to builders whose projects meet a stringent list of Green qualifications. If you are interested to know just how and for what LEED awards points, I have uploaded their checklist and published it here for your viewing pleasure.

In any case, during this discussion, I mentioned the difficulties that many developers have expressed around trying to meet the certification in rural areas, a statement to which both Minto reps nodded in agreement: the Eco-home is in the middle of a giant field on the south end of the south end of Ottawa, so there were no LEED points to be had here for, say, convenient access to transit!

Another attendee expressed some degree of pessimism around what he viewed as the trend of people in the construction industry jumping on the 'green bandwagon', to paraphrase, and he wondered if there was any real meat behind all the green potatoes being promoted.

But Robert Smith from Minto (who is a certified LEED consultant) made a great point here that I agree with 100 percent: He replied that despite its problems and shortcomings, he believes LEED is still good for the industry because it allows builders to quantify their green initiatives in a meaningful way, and encourages them to consider new ways of doing business.

I think what Minto is doing here is a really great sign and I hope they continue with the program. While I think it is admirable and important that smaller developers like Dharma Developments here in Ottawa go out on a limb and innovate in the green building space despite the additional up-front costs associated with doing so, the reality is that the industry as a whole can't truly change until the big dogs like Minto (and Tamarack and Richcraft...) start using their relatively massive RND budgets to really drive innovation and progress in sustainable homebuilding.

As Serge explained to me, at the end of the day, market demand is simply impossible to ignore. You, the customers are asking for ecologically friendly dwellings and are willing to pay a higher up-front cost to purchase them, knowing that you will recoup the difference in energy savings relatively quickly, and Minto is not going to leave that money sitting on the table for smaller custom home builders and niche developers to take without a fight.

There used to be a terribly vicious cycle that held true when it came to green construction: Builders didn't want to shell out extra cash to offer ecologically-friendly homes because they were afraid that competitors would just continue business-as-usual and steal away all the customers with their lower prices.

At the same time, some consumers claimed to be environmentally conscious, but still made price their top concern when push came to shove. The end result was, for the longest time, a huge disincentive for builders to bother catering to the "green niche" at all.

It's nice to finally see that cycle breaking and that "green niche" becoming the general home-buying population.

How about you - Will you consider ecological factors when searching for your new home? Even if it costs more up-front? Let us know in the comments.