How to Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal

 How to Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal

Ideally, you would like buyers to wait until they’ve viewed your whole property before they judge it. However, the reality is, buyers start forming an impression of your home as soon as they see it from the road or pictures.

So, it pays to do everything you can to improve your property's "curb appeal". Here are some ideas:

• You can improve the impact of your landscaping by trimming hedges, removing any unsightly weeds, and cutting the grass. Planting just a few fresh flowers can make a big impact. Coloured mulch will do wonders.
• If your main entrance door is old, a fresh coat of paint will make it look like new. In some cases, the effect is significant. This is where the lockbox usually is and time is spent here waiting for the agent to open the box and unlock the door.
• Remove any items that might distract the buyer from forming a good first impression. For example, garbage cans, stored items along the side of the property, etc.
• Make sure the curtains and blinds on your front windows are open during viewings. That will make your home look more friendly and appealing. · If your driveway has grease stains and other blemishes, consider renting a power washer and giving the driveway a thorough cleaning.
• Clean your front windows. If possible, also clean the exterior panes.

Finally, if possible, park your vehicles on the street and away from your home. Doing this will not only make your home look more inviting to buyers, it will give them a convenient place to park. Nothing makes buyers more tense when they think the homeowners are home.

Most of these tips can be done in less than a day. Yet, they can make a big difference in your home's curb appeal. They are worth the effort!

Brad Sinclair

Team Lead “The Brad Sinclair Team”

Sales Representative

Royal Heritage Realty, Brokerage

Visit my website! www.bradsinclair.ca

Call Or Text me 705-927-6236

Your Cottage Country Inside Source

Waterfront-Commercial-R.E. -Investing

Absolutely Stunning Ennismore Home

 

Absolutely Stunning Ennismore Home!

10 out of 10! Just an absolutely stunning Ennismore home on a one-acre lot that offers so much more than we can list here, but I will try. We will start off with the main section of the home as it offers an open concept kitchen, dining & living room with a walkout to a massive deck overlooking the open rear yard. Family living at its best! Upstairs you will find 3 bedrooms and a tastefully updated bathroom with an exceptionally rare bathtub. In 2016 an in-law suite was added to the home featuring a further full kitchen, 4 pc bath, 2 additional bedrooms, and a newer furnace and AC. The in-law suite also features an amazing deck that overlooks the yard. The in-law suite could also be used to house your older children giving them a place to call their own. During the renovations, the septic system, shingles, landscaping and decks were all replaced or upgraded. For you water people, you have access to Pigeon Lake steps away using the Township-owned lake access. It is all here except you! Come take a look!

Virtual tour using your mouse! Click here

For more Pictures and information Click here

Brad Sinclair

Team Lead “The Brad Sinclair Team”

Sales Representative

Royal Heritage Realty, Brokerage

Visit my website! www.bradsinclair.ca

Call Or Text me 705-927-6236

Find out what you don’t know

Sturgeon Lake Waterfront Home For Sale

 

143 BEEHIVE Drive, Cameron, Ontario

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready to move to the water but keep close to all the conveniences? Here it is! Sturgeon Lake waterfront home on a beautiful eastern viewing lot. All the features you want are here. 1-1/2 insulated car garage, boathouse, docks, and a modern and well-maintained home. The home features a large bright kitchen with quartz countertops, a dining area with water views, main floor laundry, and 3 upper bedrooms, and the primary bedroom has water views, an ensuite, and a walk-in closet. Nice bright family room with gas fireplace and walkout to deck. Remodelled lower level ready for your rec room purposes but could be further renovated to be used for an in-law suite. Do not miss out on this one, check it out today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more pictures and information click here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virtual tour using your mouse! Click Here!

             

 

Brad Sinclair

Team Lead “The Brad Sinclair Team”

Sales Representative

Royal Heritage Realty, Brokerage

Visit my website! www.bradsinclair.ca

Call Or Text me 705-927-6236

Find out what you don’t know

for saleSturgeon LakeTrent SevernWaterfront

 
 
 
 

Oak Lake Residential Building Lot with Creek

BRAD SINCLAIR

 
 

My name is Brad Sinclair of the Sinclair Real Estate Team. My Team specializes in selling Kawartha Waterfront cottages and homes. Local knowledge is vital! We are not here to give you a sales pitch but give you the info. Local information that will help you in your purchase or sale of waterfront property. My position while working for you as a trained professional is to make sure the process goes as smoothly, stress-free, and as profitable for you as it can be. We believe the two most crucial aspects of selling your home or any property is to achieve the highest price possible and in the shortest allowable time.

What are Capital Gains

 What are Capital Gains?

Ahhhh, good old Capital Gains. Hello everyone, Brad Sinclair here from the Brad Sinclair Team at Royal Heritage.

Today's topic, What is Capital Gains? Capital Gains is a tax you pay when you sell a secondary property for more than you paid for it, less any legitimate expenses associated with its sale

Side note. Before we go any further, to be clear, Capital Gains
does not get collected on the sale of your principal residence……For now.

How much will you pay in capital gains? That question is best to be answered by your accountant, not your realtor. That said, I will give you a rough calculation for “understanding” purposes here in this video.

Ok, On a capital gain of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), you will be tax on 50% of the profit, which would be fifty thousand dollars($50,000). For a Canadian whose tax bracket is at 33% marginal tax bracket for example the gain would be sixteen thousand, five hundred dollars ($16500) of taxes owed. The remaining eighty three thousand, five hundred ($83,000) is the investors to keep.

If you want to get a better idea of what your capital gains tax looks like before you speak to your accountant, there are many capital gains calculators online that can provide some clarity.

There are a two certainties in life: death and taxes. As I said Capital Gains is the swear word in the world of real estate. The simple fact is you live in Canada, you make money off an asset, you will pay tax on it. Just the way it is!

Written for you by:

Your local Realtor®

If you are looking to either Buy or Sell contact me at

705-927-6236

Brad Sinclair, Sales Representative

Team Lead at The Brad Sinclair Team

Royal Heritage Realty

Your inside source for cottage country waterfront real estate

Silent Lake Provincial Park

 

Silent Lake Provincial Park

Silent Lake Provincial Park is a phenomenal place for endless outdoor activities all year round. With over 19km of hiking, 34 km of groomed trails for cross-country skiing, 17 km of mountain biking.  Silent Lake Provincial Park offers swimming/relaxing sandy beaches, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. There are opportunities for camping in both the summer and winter months, you can rent a yurt for the most comfortable stay. Most of the campsites are drive-in, but if you are more adventurous there are also hike in campsites. Silent Lake Provincial Park occupies an area of 1,450 hectares (3,600 acres). The Park was first opened to the public in the summer of 1975. Silent Lake was a privately owned lake before it became a provincial park.

Silent Lake Provincial Park is located near beautiful Bancroft, Ontario, is north east of Peterborough, and is a 2 and half hr drive from Toronto. Offering a variety of trails with different levels of difficulty, there is something for everyone. The Park’s lakes are well known for its excellent fishing. There are a variety of fish that call Silent Lake home including Yellow Perch, Trout, Large and Smallmouth Bass and sunfish. Just remember there are no motorized boats allowed so fishing from shore, canoe, or kayak are only permitted.  Certain Park waterbodies may be closed to fishing temporarily or permanently for fisheries research or management purposes. Wherever possible, fisheries management within the park will seek to maintain and enhance native, self-sustaining fish populations.

 

Silent Lake Provincial Park is home to a variety of wildlife species made up of birds such as Northern Flicker, Barred Owl, Loon, and Black-capped Chickadee. Some Reptiles and amphibians that can be found are Spring Peeper, Green Frog, and Garter snake. Common mammals that can be observed include North American Porcupine, Beaver, American Red Squirrel, Northern Short-tailed Shrew, White Tail Deer, and snowshoe hare. There are also variety of moths, butterflies, and insects that can be observed in the spring, summer, and early fall.  

Brad Sinclair

Team Lead “The Brad Sinclair Team”

Sales Representative

Royal Heritage Realty, Brokerage

Visit my website! www.bradsinclair.ca

Call Or Text me 705-927-6236

Your Cottage Country Inside Source

Waterfront-Commercial-R.E. -Investing

Kawartha Highlands provincial park

 

Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park is a memorable place with many opportunities to experience the outdoors ranging from backcountry canoeing and camping to a short hike. Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park is open all year long, for exciting adventures in any season. Visitors can enjoy shorter hikes, fishing, birdwatching and other nature-based activities. Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park is a relatively new park (it was designated as a provincial park in 2005 and became operational in 2011). Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park is the second largest park in southern Ontario next to Algonquin provincial park. Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park offers an alternative to avoid the crowded, and often difficult-to-book Algonquin Provincial Park. Kawartha Highlands presents all of the beauty with less of the frustration of Ontario’s most popular provincial park.

Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park spans four geographic townships of Cavendish, Harvey, Burleigh and Anstruther, in the northern half of Peterborough County. Situated along the southern edge of the Canadian Shield, this relatively undeveloped area encompasses over 35,000 hectares. Regional topography features a rugged rolling landscape of small lakes, wetlands, forests with wooded hills, rocky barrens, and deep valleys. Soils are generally shallow, with areas of exposed bedrock. There are over 500 private properties which are surrounded by Kawartha Highlands. The most significant cottage development occurs on Anstruther Lake, Wolf Lake, Loon Call Lake, and Long Lake. None of these properties are regulated as part of the park, and all are governed by municipal by-laws and other applicable legislation and regulations. As a natural environment park, Kawartha Highland's focus is the protection of its landscapes and natural surroundings however some acceptable wilderness activities include: Canoeing, Kayaking, Fishing/Ice fishing, Boating, Hunting, Snowmobiling, Camping (both in summer and winter), and Wildlife Viewing.

Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park is about two hours from the Toronto area and has very limited services compared to many provincial parks in Ontario. There is no official visitor’s center, if you plan on camping in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park be prepared to canoe to one of the over 100 campsites within the park. Reservations are recommended to secure your campsite. There are six recommended Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park canoe loops. The loops range from easy to moderate in difficulty. In the fall, the maple trees beam with vibrant red colours and the poplars with vibrant yellows. For a unique view of the fall foliage, explore the area by water. You can also take a nice day walk along the park trails, or at portage points. 

The park’s lakes are home to a wide range of fish species, including Lake Trout, Rainbow Trout, Walleye, Small and Largemouth Bass, and panfish. Visitors are encouraged to try their luck on any of the 17 stocked trout lakes in the park. The park is also home to a variety of other animals made up of 176 bird species such as Osprey, Whip-Poor-Will, Common Nighthawk, Scarlet Tanager, and Eastern Towhee. About 37 mammal species such as Eastern Wolves, Coyote, Mink, Whitetail Deer, and Black Bear. There are about 29 species of reptiles and amphibians for example; the Spotted Salamander, Eastern Rat Snake, Northern Water Snake, Snapping Turtle, and Leopard frog.

Brad Sinclair

Team Lead “The Brad Sinclair Team”

Sales Representative

Royal Heritage Realty, Brokerage

Visit my website! www.bradsinclair.ca

Call Or Text me 705-927-6236

Your Cottage Country Inside Source

Waterfront-Commercial-R.E. -Investing

What is a Flood Plain and Shoreline Erosion?

What is a Flood Plain and Shoreline Erosion?

Do you know what a floodplain is? More importantly do you know what a floodplain is before you purchase a waterfront property? Well, if you don’t know, stay with me here for a minute.

My name is Brad Sinclair, and let me help you buy or sell your waterfront property. So what is a floodplain and why should you care?

Floodplains are the flat, barren or vegetated areas at the edge of lakes, streams and rivers. Floodplains are usually at or near the same elevation as for example the top of the river bank or the high water mark of a lake. Some flooding can be expected every year. All rivers, lakes and streams flood at one time or another. Usually flooding occurs during the spring run off or after an extreme rain fall.

Building on Flood Plains is now extremely restricted. No one wants to have their basement turn into a swimming pool every spring. But many older builds were built on flood plains, something your Realtor should warn you about before you purchase a waterfront property. You can assess the danger zone yourself by keeping an eye out for evidence of high water marks, past basement damage or the most obvious the central air conditioner on a four foot stand, don’t laugh, I have seen it!

In todays codes in Ontario there is a minimum distance, called a setback that a building now can be built from a lake or river. The setbacks are regulated by the local municipality but only have been enforced in the last 20 years or so.  Also, for septic tanks every municipality has guidelines on minimum setbacks and clearances for septic system absorption areas. Again, these are things you should be looking into before purchasing.

Floodplains are prone to shoreline erosion. To help prevent erosions from flooding, leave your shoreline as natural as possible. There is a natural price to pay if you want to remove vegetation or trees. Vegetation and trees are essential for maintaining the integrity of the shoreline and help stop erosion. I have seen limestone break walls used as a natural looking way to stop erosion. Just be sure before you start the work proper permits in place!

Brad Sinclair

Team Lead “The Brad Sinclair Team”

Sales Representative

Royal Heritage Realty, Brokerage

Visit my website! www.bradsinclair.ca

Call Or Text me 705-927-6236

Your Cottage Country Inside Source

Waterfront-Commercial-R.E. -Investing

Why shoreline road allowances are so important to have knowledge on when purchasing your waterfront dream!

 First of all, what is a shoreline road allowance (SRA)? Well, in the late 19th century the Crown instructed their surveyors to lay out 66-Foot road allowances along the banks of lakes and rivers in Ontario. These road allowances were used for logging and transportation of goods. Today, there is very little use, if at all commercially for the road allowances. Since road allowances were no longer of interest to the general public for commercial uses the road allowances were turned over by the Crown to the individual municipality the lakes were in. This leaving the road allowances being owned publicly.

Over the years individual land owners were offered to purchase the SRA from the municipality to have exclusive use. Having ownership of the SRA would mean there would be less restrictions the seller would have on usage and building. Many did purchase the SRA, many did not. In the past municipalities would not enforce rules so many cottages, boathouses and docks were built on these SRA’s. In todays tighter enforcement and environmental protection, problems can now arise with current and future usage if the SRA is not owned. That said “riparian rights” does say you could build a dock on the SRA, for example and enjoy it without any problems.

Closing or purchasing your SRA was always an option at anytime as long as land owner was willing to pay the costs of purchase plus a purchase price to the municipality. No one could purchase the SRA other then the abutting land owner. There is an application process to purchase the SRA, I would recommend to approach the municipal planner about any plans to do so. There are some municipalities now that limit how many of the SRA’s they sell per year as the SRA’s are future funds for the municipality. They would like to spread out the returns as rates escalate over time along with real estate values.

In some cases purchasing the SRA just does not make sense for a property owner. Existing cottages and buildings are well off the SRA. Their access is secured by riparian rights, so usage is not an issue. As long as there is no future plans to build or need the set back amounts there is no reason to purchase.

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to ask!

Written for you by:

Your local Realtor®

If you are looking to either Buy or Sell contact me at

705-927-6236

Brad Sinclair, Sales Representative

Team Lead at The Brad Sinclair Team

Royal Heritage Realty

Your inside source for cottage country waterfront real estate

PAVING YOUR DRIVEWAY FOR CURB APPEAL AND FUNCTIONALITY

 We have been in our new house for 13 months now. One thing we missed from our last house is a paved driveway. A paved driveway keeps the house clean, the curb appeal of the house is high and a large surface for the kids to play on. I had a knock on the door the other day with a young lad asking if I would be interested in having my driveway paved. You are always a little suspicious of a guy knocking on your door offering his services so I did what I do. Chat.

After chatting with the young lad I was very impressed with him. He was personable and a nice kid. I felt comfortable in hiring his family to do the work. The company is HJM Asphalt Paving 519-643-6885. They did a wonderful job. I would highly recommend! Check out how much better our home looks with the paved Drive.

Written for you by:

Your local Realtor®

If you are looking to either Buy or Sell contact me at

705-927-6236

Brad Sinclair, Sales Representative

Team Lead at The Brad Sinclair Team

Royal Heritage Realty

Your inside source for cottage country waterfront real estate