With the weather finally warming up, and the days getting longer, it’s time to move the party outside. But is your outdoor living space ready? Here are 4 quick and easy ways to refresh your outdoor living space - and you won’t have to break the bank to do it.

1. Add an outdoor area rug

Outdoor area rugs are great for centring your patio furniture, upping the cozy factor and adding a pop of colour.

2. Change out your accent pillows

Accent pillows are great for sprucing up your patio furniture, making it more comfortable for lounging and even adding a pop of colour if you choose to.

3. Add Lights:

String Lights: String lights are a fun way to light up your outdoor space for those summer evenings. You can hang them on a pergola, across the fence,…

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Welcome to the final segment of our 3-part spring cleaning series. So far we have covered decluttering and deep cleaning your home - linked if you missed them and want to check them out. In this post, we are going to cover everything you need to do to get the exterior of your home ready for Spring.

First up: Assess.

Look over the following areas of your home’s exterior to make sure that your home weathered the winter months and came out intact. Check eavestroughs and downspouts and remove any built-up debris. Inspect your roof shingles. Inspect your driveway and sidewalks for cracks - not all cracks need to be fixed, but it is good to be aware of any smaller cracks so you can monitor them. Inspect your fences and deck along with any other outdoor…

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With winter’s last big hurrah finally behind us (cross fingers, knock on wood, say the rosary), homeowners in Edmonton can finally start dreaming about summertime, and planning all the ways they’re going to soak up the few months of warmth we’re about to have. But wait… we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic. Well, that really narrows down the options a bit. I guess it’s safe to say that, for people like myself, our backyards are finally going to receive a little attention. I’d love to sit back there with a cold drink on a hot day without that dead rosebush staring at me from the other end of the yard. And not just that. I want a garden. But not just your run-of-the-mill decorative flower garden with a few herbs (not that there’s anything…

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Last week Sheldon and Sara were joined by two amazing Liv agents for a Facebook Live to discuss multiple offer situations. Deidre Harrison and Tonya Brown have helped many clients successfully navigate through multiple offer situations and they shared their strategies with us. Check out the replay here and read on for more details in the blog post below.

Why are multiple offers are such a hot topic right now?

Multiple offers arise when inventory is low and demand is high, which is what we are experiencing right now, particularly for single-family homes in the $350,00-$500,000 range.

Top strategies for standing out from other offers

Prepare

Have all financing pre-approved and a letter from the lender stating this. Be careful what you…

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Welcome to the second segment of our three-part Spring Cleaning series: Deep Cleaning. Hopefully, you went through the decluttering with us last week and are now ready to get scrubbing, if not you can check out that post here.  Deep cleaning your whole house can seem daunting at first, but if you break it into chunks, it’s not so bad.

Top Tips for a Deep Clean

  • Work systematically, one room at a time. (Bathrooms are an exception, you can treat those as one room - more on that later.) 
  • Start with the biggest jobs / dirtiest rooms first. 
  • Start on the far left and work your way around clockwise.
  • Clean top to bottom - light fixtures, ceiling fans, vents, walls, furniture, floors. 
  • Vacuum everything first. Wiping dust and dirt with a…

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Spring is in the air! Somehow this muddy and mucky season screams fresh and clean and new. Anyone else curious how the smell of snow-mould is so refreshing? Somehow it works, and with the days getting longer and warmer, we are here for it.  Spring also means time for spring cleaning. Join us for our three-part blog series where we dive into the three main components of a good spring clean: Decluttering, Deep Cleaning and a Yard Refresh. We will share all the tips and tricks you need to get your home and yard ready for the new season. 

First up - Decluttering!

(Hot tip - Spring isn’t the only time to do this. We love a good seasonal purge - and always suggest decluttering your home before having your listing photos taken) 

Step 1: Sort

Go…

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Buyers almost always include a home inspection condition when they make an offer on a house. The purpose of a home inspection is for the buyer to have a clear picture of what they're buying, so they are aware of the home's condition and get a good idea of what expenses they will face for maintenance and repairs. Buyers shouldn't expect any property to be perfect, and they shouldn't look at the home inspection as a re-negotiation tool. Still, in some cases, they will ask for concessions from the seller based on the inspection report. According to this American study, 29% of sellers either make minor repairs or reduce the sale price to close the deal.

Home Inspection FAQs:

What is a home inspection? 

A home inspection is an opinion provided by a…

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It’s fall, and that means it's time to test your home for radon gas. If you've never tested your home before, Health Canada recommends that we should all should test our homes for radon gas at least once during the winter heating months (October to April).

Why should I care about radon? 

Exposure to high levels of radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. According to evictradon.ca, the Canadian prairies have some of the most radon-generating soils on earth. For example, a recent study - http://cmajopen.ca/content/5/1/E255.long - showed that 47% of homes in Southern Alberta had elevated radon levels of 100 Bq/m3 or higher, and 12% had levels of 200 Bq/m3 or higher (which must be remediated).

What is radon gas?

Radon is…

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We are open and ready to help; whether you need a totally contact-free experience, would like to limit contact, or are comfortable with physically distant meetings, we can and have done it all, and will happily adapt our process to meet your needs. The city of Edmonton mandated the use of masks in public spaces on August 1 (and most surrounding areas followed suit shortly after), but this does not necessarily mean masks must be worn inside private residences. We've helped hundreds of clients buy and sell homes safely in the past few months and in our experience buyers and sellers in the Edmonton area have been very conscientious and flexible. Here are some of the ways we can help you stay safe:

Contactless or Physically Distanced Listings

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A small rule change has lead to big changes for buying and selling real estate in Alberta. The new rule requires that REALTORS® report pending sales to their Association's MLS® system database unless the sellers complete a form instructing their agent not to report the pending sale. When a property is reported pending, it will not appear on property search sites like REALTOR.ca and EdmontonRealEstate.pro, effectively taking it off the market. Pending sales were previously handled differently by different associations across the province, and now all REALTORS® will follow the same rule in Alberta.

What is a pending sale?

A pending or conditional sale occurs when the seller has accepted an offer on their property, but there are conditions that…

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