Mastering the Home Hunt in the Midst of Chaos

Between work pressures, the challenges of home-schooling, and daily tasks like groceries and laundry, life's pace can feel dizzying. Amidst this whirlwind, how can you even think about finding your dream home? Fear not! With strategic steps, you can streamline the process and find your haven without missing a beat in your hectic schedule.

Streamlined Home-Buying for the Super Busy:

Here's a tailored approach for those who are time-pressed:

• Clarify Your Vision: Start with a crystal-clear vision of your desired home. Instead of a generic "house", think in terms of specifics like "a detached two-story with a spacious backyard" or "a condo with a sunset view". Factor in essential criteria such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and any special amenities you desire.
• Zone in on Your Ideal Locations: Instead of being open to any area, concentrate on specific neighborhoods that align with your lifestyle and daily commute. This precision saves you from unnecessary detours to listings that aren’t geographically desirable.
• Financial Readiness: A pre-approved mortgage can be a game-changer. Not only does it give you a clear budget, but it also strengthens your bargaining power and accelerates the purchase process.
• Efficient Home Viewing: Prioritize home viewings amidst your busy week. Utilize online resources like photographs and virtual tours to pre-screen properties. Allocate dedicated slots in your schedule, perhaps a weekend morning or weekday evenings, ensuring you remain focused during these tours.
• Be Comprehensive in Your Exploration: Make the most of each viewing. Carry a notebook to jot down impressions, ask in-depth questions, and explore the home and its surroundings thoroughly. Aim to gather enough insights to avoid the need for multiple visits.

The secret weapon in your home-hunting quest, especially when time is of the essence? A seasoned real estate agent. Their market insights, property shortlists, and negotiation skills can slice through potential hurdles, making your search efficient and effective.

Ready to embark on the journey to your next dream abode? Let's chat and make your vision a reality.

Discover Your Dream Home Faster with Our  MLS® System

Unlock Early Access to Calgary's Latest Property Listings

Are you tired of discovering your dream home online, only to find out it's already been snapped up by another buyer? By the time many homes appear on public websites, they've already been viewed and shortlisted by realtors and their in-the-know clients. With our MLS® System, you get early access, ensuring you're ahead of the crowd.

The Power of Priority Access

Every home listing starts its journey in the MLS® System before making its way to public sites like www.JerryCharlton.com. This crucial head start can be the difference between securing your dream home and missing out. In real estate, timing is everything, and with our system, you're always at the front of the line.

Customize Your Home Search Experience

Whether you're particular about location, size, price range, or all of the above, our MLS® System tailors your search to match your unique criteria. You'll receive instant notifications about fresh listings that fit your desires – often before the 'For Sale sign even graces the front yard!

The Secret Behind Fast-Selling Homes

Ever wondered why some homes never even appear on public sites or are labelled 'sold' as soon as they do? The finest homes, priced just right, get sold in a flash. They're often discovered and secured by those privileged with early access, like our MLS® System users.

Gain the Advantage with Our Exclusive Auto-Search

Stay ahead of the curve. When you're ready to embark on your home search journey, our Auto Search feature ensures you're the first to know about the latest listings. And the best part? You can set up multiple search criteria, toggle them on or off at will, and always remain in control. Plus, there's no obligation to buy; it's a risk-free, hassle-free experience that puts you in the driver's seat.

Enjoy seamless browsing on all devices, from mobile phones to tablets. Elevate your home search experience and never miss out on your dream home again.

Discovering Your Perfect Calgary Home: Prioritizing the "Big Three"

Finding a dream home in Calgary that aligns with your budget may seem challenging, especially when your wish list extends beyond the horizon. But what if the secret to your dream home isn't in the vastness of your list but in its core essentials?

The Pitfall of the Never-ending Wish List

While it's beneficial to visualize and itemize all you desire in a home, anchoring expectations on an expansive wish list can be a recipe for disappointment. It's easy to lose focus on what truly matters. For instance, fixating on an elegant, mature backyard tree might blind you to an otherwise spectacular property that meets your core needs.

Distilling Your Desire: The Magic of the 'Big Three'

Rather than getting overwhelmed by endless wants, let's dive deep into what genuinely shapes your dream home. Here's an example:

1. Community Essence: Prioritize a secure, family-friendly neighbourhood that resonates with your lifestyle and values.
2. Outdoor Delight: Envision a generous backyard space that caters to both relaxation and recreation.
3. Functional Space: Consider practicality, such as having four bedrooms and two baths to accommodate your family's needs.

Of course, secondary features like "move-in ready" conditions or aesthetic elements can be delightful additions. However, emphasizing your "big three" ensures a streamlined and effective home search.

Strategizing Your Hunt

With your core essentials identified, it becomes significantly easier to gauge the market. You can swiftly determine the price range for homes that match your criteria. Pair this knowledge with a pre-arranged mortgage, and you're not only a focused buyer but a compelling one.

Embark on Your Calgary Home Journey

Whether your "big three" are set in stone or still simmering in contemplation, I'm here to guide and assist. Let's transform your vision into a beautiful Calgary reality. Reach out today, and let's embark on this exciting journey together.

Stuff Addiction - You Have It

Stuff Addiction... most of us have it. We have become a society totally addicted to the accumulation of stuff. Some stuff we use, most stuff we don't use that often.

The government wants us addicted to buying and storing more stuff - it's good for the economy they tell us. But really it's good for the skim (taxes & fees) the government takes from everything that moves.

If we all just started circulating the stuff we already have Walmart and the government would get extremely pissed off at us. All the stuff Walmart sells today and the government taxes today already exist and sit unused in someone's home or storage unit.

I know people who have so much stuff that they fill a double-car garage with household stuff and freeze their cars outside in minus 40.

Other people have so much stuff that a whole storage industry has been created to store all that extra stuff. E Bay, Kijiji, and Craigslist all exist solely because we have too much freakin stuff.

Stop stockpiling your stuff and get it back in motion.

Here are a few of my rules and philosophies for dealing with all your extra household stuff.

1. If you have to rent, build, buy or convert space to store your household stuff - YOU HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF

2. Stored Stuff is of no use to anyone and must be set free to re-circulate in the universe. SET YOUR STUFF FREE

Here are my 4 steps to dealing with stuff I haven't touched in over a year.

1. Sell It
2. Donate It
3. Give it away
4. Throw It Out

As a full-time Realtor in Calgary, I see the effects of Stuff Addiction every day and it's not pretty. Another industry called Home Staging has been created because of stuff addiction. There isn't a professional home stager or Realtor who doesn't tell home sellers that the first step to getting a home ready to sell is to De-Clutter. This is actually a polite way of saying you have a Stuff Addiction problem you need to admit you have and deal with it.

Stop the hoarding you call collecting and de-clutter today, Don't wait until you're moving, don't wait for spring, don't wait another minute get started today.

The universe is waiting...... Set Your Stuff Free

Understanding Your Credit Score: A Simple Guide

Have you ever wondered how lenders determine your financial credibility? Enter the realm of credit scores! Every individual has a credit score, and this number plays a pivotal role in your financial journey. Let's break it down.

What's a Credit Score and Why Does It Matter?

Your credit score is like a financial report card. It's a numerical representation of your creditworthiness based on your credit history. This score influences lenders' decisions on whether to offer you a loan, how much they're willing to lend, and at what interest rate.

Your Financial Footprint

Your interactions with credit – be it a credit card application, a car loan inquiry, or a mortgage – leave a trace on your credit report. Whether you're granted the loan or not, the fact that you applied is recorded.

Get to Know Your Credit Score: Soft vs. Hard Inquiries

Curious about your credit standing? You can request your credit report – this is termed a "Soft Inquiry" and it doesn't impact your score. However, when a lender checks your report, it's called a "Hard Inquiry", which can slightly reduce your score. The golden rule? Only allow credit checks when necessary and always provide written approval for them.

Accessing Your Credit Report

In Canada, two main agencies - Equifax and TransUnion - provide credit reports. While their systems differ slightly, lenders often consult both. For around $30, you can obtain your credit report from these agencies. It offers a real-time overview of your credit status and provides insights on how to enhance your score.

Tips to Boost Your Credit Score:

• Avoid impulsively applying for credit cards, even if they're tempting offers in the mail.
• Regularly review your outstanding debts and ensure timely payments.
• Believe it or not, it's not just about how much you owe, but how timely and consistently you pay.
• Always prioritize making payments on time; missed and late payments can negatively impact your score.
• If you're facing challenges in making a payment, proactively reach out to your lender to negotiate a feasible solution.

Be Proactive, Be Prepared

If you're gearing up for a significant financial move, like securing a mortgage or loan, arm yourself with your credit report. Address and clarify any potential red flags with lenders upfront. By showing proactiveness, you place yourself in a better position for negotiations.

Final Thoughts

Being in the know about your credit score is empowering. By understanding where you stand, you can chart a course to where you want to be. Regularly monitoring and taking measures to improve your credit score can pave the way for a brighter financial future. Don't let poor credit stand in your way; take charge today!

Finding Homes For Sale Is Easy….. or is it.

A search on Google for “Calgary Homes for Sale” today brought up 40 million web pages in less than a blink of an eye. Any Google search with any variation of Homes for Sale + Calgary will bring up more web pages than anyone would ever have the time to look through. You can get more specific and search for Bungalows in South West Calgary only in Acadia or Haysboro, etc. You will still get tons of web pages to scroll through and many that have nothing to do with what you are looking for.

In comparison, if I do a search in the Calgary Real Estate Boards MLS Database, I find 4,686 homes for sale.

40 million vs 4,686…. Where do you want to search for homes for sale?

In the “Old Days”, you hear Realtors past their prime talk about, how all homes for sale were published in a catalogue that only those Realtors possessed. If you knew a Realtor well, they might lend you the book, although that was against the realtor's rules of engagement. The book was a crutch for many real lousy Realtors. If you wanted to know about properties for sale, you had to talk to a Realtor or drive around looking for signs. Egos were huge amongst Realtors because they had the info you needed and they flaunted that fact.  The internet was like the end of the world for these “Old School” Realtors. Like Warren Buffet loves to say, “When the tide goes out, you will see who has been swimming naked”. Many of the Realtors who built their business and their egos on access to information quickly retired voluntarily or the business retired them.

So the internet solved the problem of lousy realtors holding the information as ransom for you to do business with them. However, the vacuum of information that once existed has now turned into a Niagara Falls of information. Before it was hard to find a tree, now the forest is everywhere and spreading rapidly.

In the Internet Age of Real Estate, every Realtor has a webpage and has it linked to the main MLS Data Base at the Calgary Real Estate Board. Many Realtors will create a single page for a single property. They advertise the same property on every website that is out there. Therefore, a single property can end up on thousands of websites, blogs, facebook pages and posts, twitter posts, tumbler posts, pinetrest posts, etc…

There is no problem finding homes for sale anymore. They are everywhere.

Now however a few new problems arise. #1, is nothing ever gets deleted on the internet. Your own personal pictures and info will be there in cyberspace long after you are gone. Same thing happens with real estate. Search through those 40 million web pages Google found and you will find properties long since sold. #2, is pictures of real estate has gotten so good… that pigs with lipstick are everywhere. Just ask anyone who has rushed out to see that hot new listing because of the awesome pictures. And when they arrive…. the only thing they marvel at are how good the photographer is!

 In the “Old Days” the primary reason you needed a Realtor was to find a home for sale. That is no longer the case. You can find tons of homes for sale yourself. Therefore, the primary role of a Realtor has changed and for the better I think. Realtors today have to help you find the tree in the forest. They have to get you even more information not readily available to help you make your own informed decisions. Realtors should not be salespeople. They should be information providers and transaction facilitators always representing you in your best interests at the expense of their own 100% of the time.

Realtors cannot represent the buyer and the seller at the same time. That is like one lawyer representing a wife and husband at the same time in a divorce. Cannot and should not be done, it defies logic. If you buy a home from the listing real estate company, you just bought as a customer in an electronics store. No one represented you. The same thing happens if you buy directly from a builder. The sales agent at the show home is paid for production by the home builder.

Most bad experiences you hear about regarding real estate started because someone representing a buyer or a seller had a conflict of interest that wasn’t revealed or was downplayed at the time of the transaction.

Realtors Conflict Of Interest will be another blog article coming soon