Unfortunately, our homes don’t always grow with us. What may have initially worked fine for a single person, a young couple’s starter home, or a family with a newborn can quickly become too small as families expand and multiple generations live under one roof.

Remodeling and adding to your home is one option for creating more space, but it can be costly, and the size of your property may be prohibitive. That’s when moving to a bigger home becomes the best solution.

Where do you need more space? The first thought when upsizing your home is to simply think about square footage, bedrooms, and bathrooms, but it’s important to also consider how your space will actually be used.

If you have young children or expecting more, then focusing on bedrooms and bathrooms makes sense, but if your children are closer to heading off to college or starting their own families, it may be better to prioritize group spaces like the kitchen, dining and living room, and outdoor space. It’ll pay off during the holidays or summer vacations, when everyone is coming to visit for big gatherings.

Moving outward. If you need more space, but don’t necessarily want a more expensive home, you can probably get a lot more house for your money if you move a little further from a city center.

While the walkability and short commutes of a dense neighborhood or condo are hard to leave beyond, your lifestyle—and preferences for hosting Thanksgiving, barbecues, and birthdays—might mean that a spacious home in the suburbs makes the most sense. It’s your best option for upsizing while avoiding a heftier price tag.

Is it time to upsize? We'd love the opportunity to help with that! Contact us today.

Anny & Sherry Kosovic | Kamloops Property Sales Team | 250.320.5586 | 250.819.2136

For most of us, our bedroom is little more than a place to sleep and relax. However, just because it’s always been that way doesn’t mean that we have to settle for drab and dreary.

One trend that’s gaining steam these days is converting your current bedroom into a luxury suite (or something comparable). If you want to live like you’re renting a room at the Marriott, then you want to follow these tips.

Compartmentalize Your Activities Making your bedroom more functional is going to make it more luxurious. Add a gorgeous desk for working and a TV area for entertainment, and you’ll be living it up in no time.

Make it Chic Choose a color palette that is both luxurious and classy. Silver and gold can seem tacky, so choose muted shades that compliment each other. Also, a brilliant and commanding headboard can instantly upgrade the look of your room without any other changes.

Light it Properly Finally, make sure that you have the right light to show off your designs. If it’s too washed out or yellow, then it will look drab and run down. Switch to brilliant LEDs and see the difference.

Choose Your Accents Wisely We already mentioned a headboard, but some elegant drapes can also make your room feel more royal. Being strategic with your furniture accessories is going to both keep you under budget and avoid doing too much with the space.

Are you ready to lux your bedroom? You’ll be impressed by the results, and the feeling of decadence will make you more confident in your surroundings.

Contact us today for answers to your everyday real estate and homeownership questions! Anny & Sherry Kosovic | 250.819.2136 | 250.320.5586

Winter may not be the time you typically think of tackling home renovations, what with its harsh and unpredictable weather. But there are plenty of updates you can complete without trouble any time of year, both big and small.

Here are a few to get you started:

Kitchen cabinet refresh Before your next get-together, try your hand at refacing your kitchen cabinets. It’s an affordable way to give this important space a whole new look for less time, money, and hassle than a full remodel. Remove the doors, sand them down and apply new primer and paint. The type of sandpaper and paint you use may depend on the existing finish. Top off the look with stylish new hardware for what feels like a serious upgrade.

Updated attic It’s smart to do any attic projects during the colder months; in warmer seasons it may get too hot up there to work safely. For simple updated storage space, declutter any junk you’re stowing up there, check your insulation and seal up any pesky air leaks – you’ll feel leaks best in winter. For a grander upgrade, now’s the time turn the extra square footage into a perfect kid zone, reading nook or guest space. Always seek a permit for a bigger project and make sure the floor is sound enough for your vision.

Modern fireplace A fireplace can be a highly rewarding project that adds polish and warmth to your living space. If your home doesn’t have a fireplace, it’s relatively simple to add a direct-vent or zero clearance one you can enjoy throughout the season. To enhance the cozy vibes of your new fire feature or to seriously upgrade an old one, consider facing the fireplace surround with elegant stone veneer. An easy-to-install, mechanically fastened stone veneer option, such as Fusion Stone, means you can achieve an Instagram-worthy fireplace without having to mess about with mortar.

Visit fusionstone.ca to learn more or contact us for your everyday homeownership and real estate questions!

Hunting for a new home online is a great place to start your search, but it should not be your end all be all. Good listing agents are excellent at highlighting the best features of the home, but keep in mind there may be more than meets the eye. To make the most of your time and efforts and gather a well-rounded picture of home listings online, keep the following three things in mind:

Stay up to date. When you start your search, make sure you find a site that pulls up-to-date listings directly from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) where real estate agents actively post their most current homes for sale. Many online resources update less often or fail to remove listings that are off the market, making it more difficult to sort through the clutter. Our Private Client Services (PCS) system connects you directly to listings in the MLS and notifies you when any that meets your criteria hit the market. Contact us today to learn how.

Pictures can be deceiving. Real estate photographers are experts at showing a home in the best possible light. Many use tools and strategies to boost appeal, such as a fisheye lens to make areas look larger and creative editing to make colors and textures really pop. But, often listings will not contain photos of unappealing parts of the home, like small closets or outdated bathrooms.

See it to believe it. Once you find what appears to be your dream home online, call up your real estate agent and schedule a showing. You want to take the opportunity to vet the home in person and explore every part of it before beginning the offer process. Your real estate agent will help you cover all your bases and will ask questions you may not have thought of.

Don't currently have a real estate agent? Give us a call, and let's discuss how we can work together to achieve your home goals!

250.819.2136 or info@kamloopspropertysales.ca 

You’ve found your dream home and it’s now time to cross all your T's and dot all your I's before it’s all your own. One of the first items on your closing checklist is the home appraisal. So, what exactly is that?

The home appraisal is essentially a value assessment of the home and property. It is conducted by a certified third party and is used to determine whether the home is priced appropriately.

During a home appraisal, the appraiser conducts a complete visual inspection of the interior and exterior of the home. He or she factors in a variety of things, including the home’s floor plan functionality, condition, location, school district, fixtures, lot size, and more. An upward adjustment is generally made if the home has a deck, a view, or a large yard. The appraiser will also compare the home to several similar homes that were sold within the last six months in the area.

The final report must include a street map showing the property and the ones’ compared, photographs of the interior and exterior, an explanation on how the square footage was calculated, market sales data, public land records, and more.

After it is complete, the lender uses the information found to ensure that the property is worth the amount they are investing. This is a safe-guard for the lender as the home acts as collateral for the mortgage. If the buyer defaults on the mortgage and goes into foreclosure, the lender generally sells the home to recover the money borrowed.

For more information and answers to your everyday real estate questions, don't hesitate to contact us at 250.819.2136 or info@kamloopspropertysales.ca. 

When you own a home, it’s important to have the tools that are necessary to make little repairs, or even do major DIY if that’s your thing. One of the most useful tools you can add to your collection is an air compressor. An air compressor can do so many things around the house, from helping you keep screens and vents debris-free, to airing up car tires and other inflatables, and even powering a whole collection of useful tools. But how do you pick the perfect air compressor for your projects? Don’t worry, it’s easier than you may think.

First, Choose Your Air Tools

Before you can really select an ideal air compressor, you need to know what you’re going to do with it. Are you going to use it to power an air nailer to help you install new trim work throughout your home? Will you just use it seasonally to blow up tires and pool toys? Knowing what you plan to do with your air compressor can help you choose an air compressor that can do the work.

How quickly an air compressor can supply air is measured in cubic feet per minute (cfm) and different tools use air at different rates. Paint sprayers, for example, will use a lot more air than a pneumatic nail gun, so if you plan to do a lot of painting, you’ll need an air compressor that can really step up. If you’ll use more than one air-thirsty tool at once with the same compressor, that goes doubly.

Consider Tank Size and Shape

The size of the tank on your future air compressor does matter, but nowhere near as much as the cfm it can supply. Having a large air tank can help compensate for a lower cfm, but that won’t work if you’re using a tool that uses air most of the time, such as a sprayer. You can’t exactly stop mid-spray to wait for the tank to refill, but you certainly could take a break if you were nailing or sanding.

For household use, there’s a secondary concern with tank size. Most of the tasks many homeowners will be tackling will be small jobs, and they may happen anywhere on the property. Having a smaller tank means that your unit is more portable, generally speaking (some do come with wheels), and can get into tighter spots. This can be an advantage, depending on how you’re using the air compressor.

Convenience IS an Option

Sometimes, you know you need tools, and you know you need an air compressor, and you find a delightful bundle of both. If you’re just doing occasional work around the house, and the bundled tools are ones you’ll actually use, it can be a great way to get into an air compressor and tool kit at a significant discount.

You’ll still want to consider all the other things you may do with that air compressor in the future, to ensure it’ll be useful to you as time goes by. So you’ll need to keep in mind how much air it can hold and how much it can produce, but choosing a bundle can make the decision easier. No matter which you choose, though, always make sure to get things like an air chuck for tire inflation, because you’ll use them over and over again.

Not Sure You Want the Baggage of an Air Compressor?

For some homeowners, extra tools just mean extra clutter and valuable space being taken up by things you might not use all that often. It’s ok to not buy an air compressor if it doesn’t make sense with what you hope to do with your home. If you’d rather hire someone to come around and hang your trim or winterize your pool house, that’s perfectly fine.

But, in that case, you’ll need a hook-up for a great air compressor owner who can get the job done right the first time. Whether you need a carpenter, a general contractor, a handyman, or a pool expert, there are tons of professionals full of compressed air to choose between. Reach out to us for a list of local contractors or ask the HomeKeepr community for their recommendations to get started!

Credits: HomeKeepr

You’ve heard of the term “curb appeal”. It refers to the initial impression buyers get when they first see your property from the street. If the impression is a good one, it sets the right tone for the rest of the home viewing.

How do you boost curb appeal? Here are some proven ideas that you can get done in an hour or so:

• Wash both the inside and outside of the front windows. You’ll be amazed at the difference that can make.

• Sweep the walkway leading up to the front entrance. Add a new welcome mat. Also, wash down the front door.

• If possible, remove cars from the driveway. Let buyers imagine their own cars parked there!

• Mow the lawn. Lightly trim the hedges. Weed flower beds.

• Remove anything from inside window sills that may look unsightly from the outside. Try putting a couple of flowering plants there instead.

• Place any trash bins out-of-sight. For example, put them in the garage or neatly at the side of the house.

• If the entrance door hardware is old and worn, change it. New hardware can make a bigger difference than you might think.

• Make sure the outdoor lights are working, especially if you’re showing your home in the evening.

• Add some flowering plants to flower beds, or buy a couple of portable potted plants and place them strategically.

• Clean your mailbox. If it’s rusted, replace it.

• If you have a power washer, give the walkway and driveway a quick blast. Just be sure it will be dry before the buyers arrive.

These improvements may seem minor, but anything that helps buyers form a more positive first impression of your home is worth the effort.

Has selling your home crossed your mind? We'd love to help. Contact us for our comprehensive marketing and support system to get your home sold for top dollar.

 If you’re like a lot of long-time homeowners, you’ve probably got a great deal of home equity on your hands right now. If you’ve been considering putting it to work, it’s still a decent time to take out a second mortgage or a HELOC, even as rates are starting to rise. Having so much home equity can enable you to make some very seriously needed changes to your home, either to allow you to age-in-place or to accommodate other lifestyle needs. It’s an opportunity to make major changes or upgrades, but there are certainly some ways that are better than others to use your home’s equity. We’ve got some ideas to get you started.