Burlington, Canada, June 8, 2016- The Linda Maguire Team recently announced their success with selling a home in Alton Village, Burlington for over $100,000 above the asking price.

Listed at $729,000, the family was pleasantly surprised and impressed when their home sold for a whopping $836,000.

The Linda Maguire Team used its Active Staging service to really show off the home and maximize its appeal.

According to Brian Maguire there is a difference between staging practiced by most real estate agents, and the Active Staging service offered by the Linda Maguire Team: "The typical realtor’s “staging service “involves walk through a house pointing at things that need to be done, removed or replaced, but these realtors don’t actually do the work themselves. They just suggest to the homeowner a list of things they need to do or buy."  This technique adds more pressure and cost to homeowners.

“What we do is called Active Staging, because we take an active role in getting it done. We actually go to our staging warehouse, and using a truck, we bring in accessories, furnishings, carpets, wall pictures, outside tables and chairs, plants, etc.  We also get involved in things like taking down wallpaper and painting.  We do a lot of the staging and preparation work ourselves.  For this particular house we brought in furnishings, lamps, pillows, and accessories, while the owners took on the role of de-cluttering the house of the children’s personal belongings." 

Another successful strategy used by The Linda Maguire Team was their advice to the homeowners to list at the predicted market value and not to allow offers for a few days. As a result they received 9 offers, including the successful bid which was more than $100,000 over the asking price. 

Overall, the great success in this sale was attributed to the combination of a hot market, the right listing strategy, the homeowners’ efforts to de-clutter and the Active Staging service provided.  The family who ended up with an extra $100,000 tax free in their pockets, were especially grateful and enthusiastic about moving to the next stage of their lives.

About The Linda Maguire Team

The Linda Maguire Team consists of highly experienced and dedicated real estate sales representatives with Royal LePageBurloak Real Estate Services. Our team includes Linda Maguire, Brian Maguire, Elaine Blamauer, and Cathy Buttrum. Whether assisting with selling or buying homes for sale in Burlington, Ontario, The Linda Maguire Team will understand their clients’ goals, and guide them through the processes to achieve success. To find out more about these real estate services and homes for sale in Burlington, Ontario, or to schedule an appointment with The Linda Maguire Team, call (905) 335-3042 or visit http://lindamaguire.ca/.

Burlington, Ontario – May, 2016 – Increasing the value of a house does not always have to be an expensive endeavour. Real estate specialists, The Linda Maguire Team, share essential Burlington, Ontario, real estate information, services and tips in their new e-book about how to increase the value of a home. The free e-book giveaway offers pertinent information for those looking to spruce up a house before a sale.

Check out the new e-book about how to increase the value of a home, from The Linda Maguire Team.

The Linda Maguire Team spoke to a list of trusted industry professionals to gather information that would benefit clients and homeowners that are preparing their homes for sale. Topics covered in the e-book include painting, electrical, interior stone surfaces, landscaping, staging, tiling and hardwood floors. Each expert was asked how they would increase the value of a house on a minimal budget to make a home more salable.

The e-book presents a long list of low cost suggestions for improvement, each with the potential to create a big impact on a home’s overall impression and ultimate salability. Some focus on the appearance of the home, while others target items that could scare off buyers, or pose a potential hazard for homeowners.

The Linda Maguire Team Seller Services

The award-winning Linda Maguire Team works with clients of their Burlington, Ontario, real estate services through the entire home selling process. Beyond complimentary advice from their network of home professionals, they prepare a thorough market analysis and selling strategy, and will help clients prepare their home with active staging services to maximize its value. The Linda Maguire Team works with buyers and sellers, and aims to earn long-term relationships.

For more information about Burlington, Ontario, real estate, please contact The Linda Maguire Team at (905) 335-3042 or visit http://lindamaguire.ca/. 

Prices are soaring in the Burlington, Oakville and Hamilton real estate markets, especially since the number of houses available on the real estate market currently is about 10% below the ten-year average. The price increases, however, are not uniform. In some neighbourhoods, the price increases are steeper than in others. In this article we will identify some of the popular neighbourhoods, and explain why the prices in these real estate markets are increasing more rapidly than elsewhere.

Some of the places that are currently hot areas for real estate are:

1. Alton Village – Located in Burlington’s north end, Alton Village is a growing community that appeals to young families and first-time home buyers. Since the homes there are relatively new, double income families are attracted to these “move-in-ready” properties.  Alton Village features nearby community centres, large shopping areas, parks and brand-new schools. These amenities are all well suited to young families. Although the number of houses in Alton Village is growing, so are the prices.

2. Downtown Burlington – Downtown Burlington retained its small community culture over the years, and provides walkable access to the lake, and many restaurants, café’s specialty shops, a large waterfront park, cultural center and even a beach. The area appeals to a more mature population who are willing to forgo the larger homes and double garages found in other areas for the downtown character homes and the walkable lifestyle.

3. Pockets in Hamilton – Hamilton is an old city, with roots traced back to the late 1700s. It has long had a reputation as a steel-town, but lately has been seeing a tremendous revival. In fact, for the last few years, Hamilton has been rated the #1 city in Canada for real estate investment!  Areas such as Loche Street, Herkimer, Gage Park and Rosedale have become very desirable for young professionals and young families. The key attractions are affordable historic brick homes with beautiful architecture, the close proximity to a growing number and wide variety of popular restaurants and bars, as well as a significant bay front development for recreation. These areas have become attractive for real estate investment where buyers can still find comparatively low-priced houses. However, with the extension of the Go Train into Hamilton and improvements in lifestyle opportunities, the demand for homes has increased, and so prices are rising rapidly.

How the Linda Maguire Team Helps You

The Linda Maguire Team, Royal LePage Burloak real estate agents, can help you find a home in these highly desired neighbourhood. With over 15 years of experience in real estate, and decades of experience in these communities, we know exactly where to find what you are looking for! We lead buyers through the often daunting process of buying a house in a real estate market with rising prices, and educate them about the market so they can make informed decisions. We keep our clients informed and help them every step of the way. These are traits that make The Linda Maguire Team from Royal LePage Burloak an excellent choice for securing a home in an area that fits your needs.

About The Linda Maguire Team

The Linda Maguire Team are Royal LePage Burloak real estate agents are highly experienced and dedicated to clients and their needs. The Team consists of Linda Maguire, Brian Maguire, Elaine Blamauer and Cathy Buttrum. Contact these Royal LePage Burloak real estate agents today!

Selling a home can be quite overwhelming and take a lot of effort when you “Do It Yourself”. More importantly, you may miss out on opportunities to maximize the value of your home!

Even when working with a real estate agent you may end up with a lot of work. Many agents provide “free staging” as part of their listing services, which usually means the agent suggests a list of tasks to be carried out by the seller to make the house more “sellable”. Many of these tasks come at a cost, such as painting walls, removing and storing furniture, and even purchasing decorative items that may make the home more attractive to target buyers.

The Linda Maguire Team, sales representatives with Royal LePage Burloak, provides services that make selling a home less stressful.  One service that sets The Linda Maguire Team apart from other real estate sales representatives is their “Active Staging” service, where they actively get hands on involved with staging their customers’ homes using the team’s own warehouse of furnishings and using their design background, at no cost to the customer.

The Importance of Active Staging when Selling your Home

Your own furnishings or interior design will often not work well when selling a home. The reason is that potential buyers need to be able to envision your house as their home, and your personal belongings may simply not fit their personal style and preference. The main objective is to present a cohesive and clean aesthetic that aligns with the very latest styling trends.

According to professional real estate sources, staging does in fact impact buyers, and can increase the sales price of your home.  Staging creates an appearance that enhances a room rather than detracting from it. Staging is done through reducing the amount of clutter, grouping things in a way that optimizes space, and adding furniture or accessories in a manner that enables potential buyers to imagine their personal items in the home, and how they would use the space.

Active Staging from The Linda Maguire Team

When working with clients, Linda and her team come to your home with a selection from their warehouse of furnishings specifically used in the active staging process. In their Active Staging process, the Linda Maguire Team will showcase your home for maximum value.

About The Linda Maguire Team

The Linda Maguire Team consists of highly experienced and dedicated real estate sales representatives; Linda Maguire, Brian Maguire, Elaine Blamauer and Cathy Buttrum. Contact the Linda Maguire Team (Royal LePage Burloak) today!

It’s like clockwork: the real estate market will spike each year in the spring. In April and May, as the snow melts  and the weather improves, buyers start to look for their next home, and sellers prepare their home to make the best possible impression.

This year, however, the number of houses available on the real estate market is very low - about 10% below the ten-year average. More than in previous years, the current real estate market is a true seller’s market. Houses are being sold for record prices, often well above the asking price. It’s a stressful situation for buyers, but also for sellers who are often at a loss deciding on a pricing strategy to adopt.

The Linda Maguire Team (Royal LePage Burlington real estate agents) can assist you in selling your home in the current market with steadily-rising house prices. First we’ll help you predict the market value based on recently sold properties in the same location, and with similar features. Then we’ll help you set the pricing strategy. There are essentially two strategies that you can adopt to realize the highest possible value for your home:

-          List your home above the predicted market value and hope a buyer pays that price

-          List your home at the predicted market value and hope to get multiple bids

Below we provide some insight in these two pricing strategies available to sellers:

1.  List your home above predicted market value.

Many homeowners feel that there is an opportunity to “cash in” with the unexpectedly high prices being paid for real estate. It is an often chosen strategy with the current shortage in the supply of houses. However, in this current spring market, buyers have generally been oddly unwilling to even approach a home that is clearly priced well above market value. Educated buyers, especially those working with a realtor, have easy access to all relevant information on the internet. They can assess the fairness of the price of a newly listed home, and sit back and wait for an overpriced home to be reduced in price. This pricing strategy can therefore backfire, when a house “sits on the market” for an extended period of time.  Buyers then begin to wonder if there is something wrong with the house. It creates a very real stigma for the home, so much so that homes priced with this strategy often sell for less than their true market value, and certainly far less than the original list price.

2.   List your home at the predicted market value

Even in a seller’s market it often makes good sense to list a home at, or just slightly above, the predicted market value. The best way to find out the predicted market value is working with an honest and experienced real estate agent, who is familiar with the specific area in which the house resides. The advantage of a local real estate agent with a lot of experience in the neighbourhood of the about-to-be-listed house, is that the realtor will likely have been inside of comparable homes which were sold recently. Very often homes that look similar in size and condition on the outside, or through real estate photos, are in fact very different in terms of quality of finish on the inside – the extent of the impact can be several hundred thousand dollars!  So an experienced local realtor can present an objective listing price recommendation.

Holding off offers for a few days after the initial listing date gives your home a chance to be viewed by the most ideal potential buyers (as those are the ones who will view it first) and their realtors, and, in a spring market, delaying acceptance of offers will often attract multiple bids. In situations where there is competition among buyers, sellers often realize sale prices that 5-10% above their asking price. 

The spring 2016 market is unusual.  Currently there is an historically low shortage of available listed homes.  In competition, buyers will jump at the chance to overpay for a home listed at close to market value.  But they often won’t even bid on a home that is listed too far above market value.

The Linda Maguire Team Seller Services

The award-winning Linda Maguire Team works with you through the entire home buying and selling processed. We prepare a thorough market analysis to help with buying ad we visit the inside of comparable hoes.  We also help with the selling strategy, and will help prepare your home with active staging services to maximize selling price. We’ll guide you through the processes every step of the way.

About The Linda Maguire Team

The Linda Maguire Team are Royal LePage Burlington agents who are highly experienced and dedicated to their clients and their needs. The Team consists of Linda Maguire, Brian Maguire, Elaine Blamauer and Cathy Buttrum. Contact these Royal LePage Burlington real estate agents today!

The following market stats are based on data from The REALTORS^® Association of Hamilton-Burlington , which (RAHB)reported 1,649 sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) System in April. 

Sales were 2.7 per cent lower than the same month last year yet 13 per cent higher than the 10-year average. 

Click here to read the entire report.

In Hamilton, average freehold sale prices were up 15.7%.   Click here for the Residential Real Estate Market Activity chart for the City of Hamilton.

In Burlington, average freehold sale prices were up 11.4%.  Click here for the Residential Real Estate Market Activity chart for Burlington.

Click here for the Monthly Market Activity chart.

Follow the links below for the Stats Map and Stats Chart for the month of March.

Stats Map

Stats Chart

Click the image below to watch Linda's market update. 

Burlington, Ontario – April, 2016 – Homes for sale in Burlington, Ontario are selling fast – very fast. Newly listed homes are selling as quickly as within 24 hours. Buyers need to be prepared, focused and ready to act when a preferred listing is introduced.

With a higher rate of migration west from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to the Burlington area the demand for housing has increased significantly. The price for a detached home has risen as much as 10 percent in the past year. With fewer listings to choose from, buyers are engaging in bidding wars, creating a market that most buyers find difficult to navigate. On the flip side, sellers benefit with faster sales and higher sales prices for their homes.

Becoming a savvy buyer is essential for buyers that want to succeed in a seller’s market. When the right home is listed, consider conducting a pre-offer inspection, and obtain pre-approval from a lender and find out the seller’s desired closing date. In order to compete with other buyers, minimize buying conditions, and wherever possible, agree to the seller’s closing date when making an offer. The Linda Maguire Team will make sure clients proactively understand the steps in the process and ensure each client is fully prepared for success in buying a home. 

About The Linda Maguire Team

The Linda Maguire Team consists of highly experienced and dedicated real estate sales representatives with Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Services. Our team includes Linda Maguire, Brian Maguire, Elaine Blamauer, and Cathy Buttrum. When assisting purchasing and selling homes in Burlington, Ontario, The Linda Maguire Team delivers passionate, personal service to ensure a successful result and a satisfied client.  

To find out more about our real estate services, or to schedule an appointment with The Linda Maguire Team, call (905) 335-3042 or visit http://lindamaguire.ca/.

Burlington, Ontario has a very active real estate market. More people are making the move west from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to live in this beautiful area, rich in urban charm and culture, and with a myriad of housing options. From the many things to do and see, to the appealing mix of historic and new residential housing, Burlington has put itself on the map as a vibrant city, and is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live in Canada. Within Burlington, buyers will find fascinating neighbourhoods, each possessing its own distinctive personality. For buyers looking to make a move to Burlington, here are some of the hottest up-and-coming areas in Burlington real estate.

1. Roseland - The established neighbourhood features less density than the urban center, and offers larger detached residential homes. The residences often include custom, upscale details, and the neighbourhood provides a prestigious atmosphere that remains family-friendly.

2. Downtown Burlington - People who prefer walkability and urban flair will find their needs met in the downtown neighbourhoods. Downtown boasts easy walking access to a wide variety of restaurants, shops, attractions, performing arts, dynamic culture and many of the city’s festivals. Housing is a mix of renovated historic residences as well as newer condos and townhomes . Along the waterfront is Spencer Smith Park, where the city’s many festivals are held, and you’ll always find residents out enjoying walking, biking, jogging and rollerblading. Also a short walk away is the Burlington Beach strip, which provides an experience typically only found outside of urban centers.

3. Brant Hills and The Orchard - These two neighbourhoods offer their residents convenience and accessibility. Thought of as family-oriented, Brant Hills and The Orchard are a pleasant mix of newer detached homes, condos and townhome developments. Brant Hills and The Orchard provide good schools and plenty of community amenities, and are also near recreation centers and t he main transportation routes.

Burlington is a city with stunning views, diverse opportunities and a wide variety of things to do. Whether you are looking for recreational activities, want to settle down to a “walkable lifestyle”, or want to explore a thriving urban scene, Burlington is a place that meets the needs of many buyers.

Buyers in Burlington's complex real estate market do better when utilizing the services of a professional, experienced team. The Linda Maguire Team can assist you with identifying the right neighbourhood, and will guide you through the entire buying process from search to closing. The Linda Maguire Team consists of highly experienced and dedicated real estate sales representatives; Linda Maguire, Brian Maguire, Elaine Blamauer, and Cathy Buttrum.

For more information on the real estate in Burlington, Ontario, please contact the Linda Maguire Team today!

The Linda Maguire Team, a real estate service company from Royal LePage in Burlington, and surrounding areas, has launched their new and improved official website.

Burlington, Ontario - February, 2016 - The Linda Maguire Team has announced the upcoming launch of their new website for real estate services in Burlington and surrounding areas. The new site is designed to provide potential clients with important information regarding several aspects of home sales including:

• Real estate listings.
• Home buyer and seller guides.
• Local area information and current trends.
• Company details and team member bio's.
• Client testimonials.
• And more.

The new website will highlight The Linda Maguire Team's dedication to providing exceptional customer service, while educating current and potential clients about the housing market in the area. The website will also include valuable information for buyers and sellers, such as home staging tips and how to get the most out of home inspections. Linda Maguire and her team consistently put a client's needs first.  As Lindasays, "I am a firm believer in exceeding expectations and enhancing your quality of life."

Linda Maguire, owner and operator of The Linda Maguire Team, began her career as a real estate sales representative in 2006, following over 15 years as an international software sales and marketing professional. Linda Maguire’s past experience, coupled with her Honours Business degree from McMaster University, is a contributing factor toward her ranking among the top 3 percent of national sales representatives in real estate sales for Royal LePage for the last several years - earning her the Diamond Award. 

To learn more about the new website launch, please contact The Linda Maguire Team directly.

About The Linda Maguire Team

The Linda Maguire Team consists of highly experienced and dedicated real estate sales representatives;Linda Maguire, Brian Maguire, Elaine Blamauer, and Cathy Buttrum.

Passionate .Personal .Service .

Contact:

The Linda Maguire Team

Royal LePage Burloak Real Estate Service, Brokerage

3060 Mainway

Burlington ON L7M1A3

(905) 335-3042

For more information, please visit: www.lindamaguire.ca/

It's a seller's market this spring, as homes for sale in Burlington, Ontario fly off the listing pages, some lasting only a single day before they are snagged up by home buyers. Due to this frenzy, buyers are encouraged to act fast when a home is listed that meets their needs and budget.

Property Prices Rising Fast

As more people move west into the Burlington area, the demand for housing has increased drastically. The increased demand has caused prices to rise for detached homes by as much as 10 percent per year. With fewer homes to pick from, buyers are engaging in bidding wars over highly sought after properties, effectively driving up prices even more, and promoting faster sales. While this is good news for those looking to sell their home, buyers are feeling the consequences. 

How Does This Affect the Buyer?

The speed in which properties are being sold at leaves many buyers going from property to property, sometimes not being able to secure the ideal home. However, there are steps buyers can take before and during the process. By being properly prepared prior to making an offer, the buyer has a higher chance of securing their dream home.

Tips for Buyers in a Seller's Market

With homes for sale in Burlington, Ontario in such high demand, buyers must be ready to act quickly when their ideal home is listed for sale. To do this, buyers are encouraged to get financially “preapproved “so they can be ready prior to making an offer. Educate yourself about the buying process by asking your real estate professional if you have any questions. Here are some things buyers can do to help secure their new home:

• Find out the seller’s preferred closing date, and the reason why that date is important. Then attempt to accommodate that target date. Doing so can set you apart from other buyers with less flexibility.
• Limit the buying conditions as much as possible - the less onerous the offer, the quicker it will firm up which helps those sellers that just want to be done with the stress of listing process. Two options to consider:
• 1. Inspect the property BEFORE placing an offer.
• 2. Get solid financing in place so you that don't need to include a financing condition.

To learn more about what buyers can do in a seller's market, or for information regarding homes for sale in Burlington, Ontario and the surrounding area, contact the professionals at The Linda Maguire Team (Royal LePage).Passionate .Personal. Service .