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For many people, real estate investments are a key strategy to grow wealth and get set up for success. As I always say, there’s a reason why all of those millionaires and billionaires have strong real estate portfolios. There are many tax advantages, allowing you to keep more of your wealth, including the capital gains deferral and deducting of operating costs.

Real estate investments also diversify your investments to avoid having all of your wealth in one basket (AKA the stock market) so you can better weather turbulent economic times in the future. Real estate investments can also allow you to bring in passive income and get paid for doing basically no work.

Now to make all of those benefits a reality for you, you need to get into the “how” of real estate investments. When you think about investing in real estate, you likely go right to rental properties, which are a great starting point. Rental properties are pretty straightforward. You buy a property, give it a little TLC, and then rent it out for more than you pay on the mortgage/maintenance. As a result, you get to profit while building equity, which is a major way to build wealth!

You can also look at house flipping, where you buy a fixer-upper for cheap and then give it a makeover and sell it for a profit to buy the next home, fix it up, profit, and so on. This is a great way to take advantage of the capital gains tax deferral and really grow your wealth.

A new real estate investment method, called house hacking, has also started to take off in the past few years. House hacking is when you buy a home to live in while also renting out a room or a level to someone else. You take the rent and put that towards your mortgage payment, which allows you to basically live in the home for free. Then, once you save up enough for another down payment, you can do the whole thing again while keeping the first property as a rental.

Real estate investing comes with so many benefits, both long-term (investment diversification) and short-term (passive income). But the best part is that there are so many ways to get started from buying a rental property to house hacking.

If you want to talk more about real estate investments and how you can get started, just fill out the form below!

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4 Benefits of Home Inspections

1. A home inspection can eliminate any surprises. If you find a serious problem with the property during the inspection, you’ll know ahead of the appraisal and will be able to work with the seller to come to a favorable outcome.

 2. A home inspection could you the upper hand in negotiations. Again, if your home inspector alerts you to some problems with the property, you’ll may be able to negotiate further with the seller. Your agent will guide you through this entire process and provide the advice you need to negotiate well.

3. A home inspection protects you as a buyer. Let’s say the worst happens and your inspector finds some huge problem with the property that you are not comfortable with. Including an inspection contingency in your offer to purchase, you’ll be able to get out of the deal rather than being stuck in a bad house.

4. A home inspection provides you with a understanding of the the condition of the property and how to maintain it. You should always take the opportunity to attend the home inspection, because you’ll learn so much about the house from the inspector. They’ll show you things you never even knew to ask about, and as a result, you’ll be able to better take care of one of your biggest investments.

Getting a home inspection has virtually no downsides—but comes with so many benefits. I highly recommend that buyers take full advantage of the opportunity to conduct an inspection. If you’re looking for some good inspectors in our area, I have a full list of partners I recommend to all my clients! 

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STAGING SECRETS TO BOOST YOUR SALE PRICE

Are you the kind of seller who thinks that staging is just another added cost as part of the process of getting your home ready for sale? If you are, you’re definitely going to want to read this.

Staging is the process of styling and furnishing your home to show off its best features and help buyers feel like they could see themselves living in the property. Studies have shown that staging can increase the price that your home sells for. Instead of being just another cost, staging can make you back all the money you spend on it and then some. 

According to a quarter of real estate agents, staging your home can increase the dollar amount of the offers you receive from buyers by 1 - 5%. When we’re talking about the prices of homes right now, that could be a lot of money. That’s not all: other real estate agents say that staging can increase those buyer offers by 6 - 10%! 

If your home is worth around $300,000, simply staging your home could kick your offers up an extra $3,000–$30,000! Staging is starting to sound worth that small upfront cost, right?

Even better, there are a million different ways to stage your home. You can DIY your staging by decluttering your rooms, pulling some furniture out, and showing off the best parts of your home. Or, if you don’t have the time or the interior design skills to do that, you can hire staging out to a professional stager who will know exactly how to highlight your home’s best features.

Overall, staging can make a big difference in the sale price of your home and can increase the amount that goes back into your pocket as the seller. That makes staging definitely worth it for any seller, especially for the small upfront cost it poses.

If you’re looking for more information on staging or want to know who I recommend for professional staging help, lets chat!


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Data is supplied by Pillar 9™ MLS® System. Pillar 9™ is the owner of the copyright in its MLS®System. Data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by Pillar 9™.
The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA. Used under license.