Virgin or not open your eyes

Watching Property Virgins for me is like watching a sporting event. I stare in disbelief, yell at bad calls and get all worked up. It never ceases to amaze me how far from reality some people are when it comes to real estate. The truth is that everyone is an expert in something and real estate is something most people are interested in but are far from experts at.

An example of a small change: our cupboards before

I find myself frustrated with the people on HGTV who walk into a house and don’t like the carpet or the layout of the furniture. Most of the complaints I hear on these real estate shows are cosmetic and easily fixed. Not liking the layout of furniture is not a strike against the house itself. Most likely the seller will be taking their furniture with them and once you’re in you can put your own stuff wherever you want.

Our cupboards after refinishing them

Also I find that a lot of these ‘virgins’ are unrealistic about housing in general. If the quality of finishes isn’t high end or if anything at all needs to be done to the house they’re not willing to do it. Most of them want a turnkey property and that is just not realistic. Even new builds (unless you were there with a builder from day one) are going to have some aspect you don’t want and will likely fix down the road.

Furniture placement, wall colour, heck even flooring, can all be changed. Do not get blinded by the trees. Make sure you are walking into each property with an open mind and seeing its potential. You may not want to shell out thousands of dollars but most houses are livable as they are and cosmetic stuff can be done a little at a time to make the house yours. Take a step back and you might just notice that the cupboards are great and really only need new hardware to spruce them up or the seller’s furniture is what your opposed to not the wall colour.

I was watching another program on HGTV where the young couple specified they wanted a fixer-upper because they wanted to work on the house to make it their own. They obviously were willing to put in the time, money and effort to overhaul a property but most of the time houses just need a little touch up here and there. If you watch HGTV you already know what needs to be done or maybe even how to do it.

For more information please contact: Kathy And Joe Gordon Sales Representatives RE/MAX Professionals Inc., Brokerage 270 The Kingsway Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario M9A 3T7 BUS (416) 236-1241 FAX (416) 231-0563 E-MAIL kathy@etobicokehomes4sale.com Website: etobicokehomes4sale.com