Abbotsford, BC

I am finally back in the land of written blogs, I have been work on video blog things for the last few months and have taken a bit of a break from writing. Not that my writing was ever any good but hopefully there was some information gleaned or a fun story read here at my blog.

Anyway I just wanted to let you all know that hopefully I will be back on here on a more regular basis again. If you are curious as to what I was working you can always go check out askchris.ca to seem my Real Estate Q & A via video, feel free to leave your comments and suggestions.

Our local market place here in the lower mainland and the greater Vancouver area has picked up substantially, so much so we have had some of the best months ever. Prices are still flat, activity increased and inventory slowly going down.

Did we really hit the bottom or was it just one of those false bottoms like they theorize about? We will just have to wait and see.

Enjoy the sun and the rest of the summer it is quickly coming to a close, enjoy and if there is any real estate question you need answered feel free to go check out askchris.ca

Cheers!

Being home stager I worked closely with my clients to de-clutter their home and get it ready for lising and staged before hitting the real estate market. We began with De-cluttering which can be difficult for clients at the best of times with so many emotions attached to their home and their belongings, Fortunately, my clients were motivated, we began with gettinga storage locker and the pictures tell a story...

Not exactle the same angle but i am sure you get the picture!.. First rule of thumb to good home staging is to DECLUTTER and CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN if its all your client can afford these are the must do's next off is a coat of Paint to give a fresh look and smell.. If you can match up the paint you may only need one coat depending on when it was last painted. oops we must not forget the carpet cleaning, if you cannot afford to hire someone, rent a carpet shampoer from your local grocery store for a weekend.

'We brougt this L shaped sofa up from the downstairs media room and added an "Accessory Package" to suite their home and budget. Again if your client does not have much of a budget be creative. borrow stuff from their family members if necessary, no one wants to buy stuff when they are moving as it may not suit their new home.

I think everyone was please with the outcome... which house would you linger in?

Attract buyers to your lisitngs HOME STAGE WITH PAIR HOME DESIGN www.pairhomedesign.com

serving Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Fraser Valley, Vancouver, Lower Mainland.. No job too small. Furniture rental and Accessory packages available to suit your home and pocket book.

Yet another run to the storage room, Home Staging is not just about good placement of furntiure, art and accessories, its about the whole package of cleaning, de-cluttering, painting, curb appeal and everything in between, the furniture and accessory package is the attractive Icing on the house.

Every home needs updating in some way or another. realtors and home stagers can "PAIR" up to give added value to a home owner and ensure their home is on the "TOP 10 must see properties"

Hey Abbotsford REALTORS®, this post is for those of you who email their new (and old) listings to others REALTORS® on regular basis. Email can be great marketing tool if you are using is properly. I use Google apps for my email and recently I have noticed that most of your "listings blasts" are landing in the junk mail folder. Google has some of the smartest junk mail filters available and if Google is starting to filter your emails as junk you can imagine whats happening at other mail exchange servers like 1and1, GoDaddy, Shaw & Telus etc.

Now I'll move your e-mail addresses to my safe list because I don't want to loose your emails if we are doing a deal together or if there is any other important e-mail coming from you guys. But is everyone else out there going to do the same thing for you?

Once your domain name or email address is "blacklisted" at major ISPs you'll have tough time delivering emails to other REALTORS® or even clients. So be careful how many mass e-mails you send from your e-mail address. If you are using email based on your domain name (IE: listings@MyAbbotsfordListings.Com) your domain name will be seen as the culprit by the junk mail filters. Changing email address to something like NewMail@MyAbbotsfordListings.Com will not work.

I usually delete your listing promoting e-mail without opening it if I am receiving 1-2 emails a day from your office, because I know there is nothing special about this email (you know who you are). If you are one of those who send out listing emails once in a while because there is something special to announce about your listing, there is better chance that I'll open it and there is minimal chance of getting blacklisted at internet service providers.

You should also track you emails to see if they are being opened by the recipients. Point2, MLXjet and other software allow you to do that. By using these easy to use programs you can easily tell if your email campaign is working or you are wasting your time.

Here is a screen shot of my junk mail folder:

New Listings. Link Ct Abbotsford.

Well kept home in desirable location offers three bedrooms Plus 2bedroom in-law suite. Family room and living room are on the main floor. There is a rec room + full bathroom downstairs for owners use.

Click here for more details and pictures.

New Listing! 34462 Marcliffe Place, Abbotsford, BC - ONLY $519,700 INCLUDING GST!

Carefee family living at the Quarry! Fully finished basement entry style home quality built by E. Schmidt Construction. Chef's dream kitchen with a huge granite island (will seat five!), large dining area and double sided floor to ceiling rock F/P with custom built in millwork. This brand new home features beautiful crown molding, high quality 3/4 inch hardwood flooring throughout the main and luxurious carpeting in the 4 bedrooms. Finishing second to none! This energy smart home features 2x6 construction, low E windows, high efficiency furnace and hot water tank. Enjoy year round bbq's on your South facing partially covered patio featuring natural gas hookup. Fully landscaped lot. Move in today! Call me for more information at 604.855.8228