Love your space but want to make it feel more like your own? Try adding texture to your walls and get an instant feeling of personalization.

 Whether you’re renting, renovating, or the proud new owner of a home, here are some simple ideas to help make your space your TruHome.

Get Your Wallpaper On

Fashion designer Bridget Smatlan of Fridget Apparel brings her design skills off the runway and into your home with her custom wallpaper installation service Tops Wallcovering. The savvy designer has an eye for detail and an unwavering commitment to using correct adhesives and surface preparation techniques. If done correctly, wallpaper can add an instant boost and focal point to any room.

Art for the Commitment-phobes

Looking for a more low-profile way to give your walls a little je ne sais quoi ? Edmonton-based Oliver Apt. designed a series of magnetic frames to hold your beloved art, music posters, and prints. The Prof. Prints series retails for $30 CAD and comes in three sizes and the choice of white ash or walnut finishes. Each kit includes countersunk holes to screw directly to the wall, as well as gold and white twine for hanging.

Plaster on the Warmth

Who says green living can’t be fashion-forward too? High Street’s Carbon Environmental Boutique proudly carries the American Clay line of natural earth plaster. These non-toxic plaster finishes come in a wide selection of earthy-tones, and can be applied on traditional wall surfaces – adding warmth and texture to your living space.

Hang Some Modern Nostalgia

Macramé is back in a big way, and nobody knows how to use it better than interior designer Julie Adams from Of Quartz Interiors. Check out her website and sign up for one of her plant or wall hanging workshops to make your own macramé work of art. You can also purchase ready-made wall hangings from her online shop.

Finnish with Fabric

Sometimes the simplest solutions can make a big (and memorable) impact. This is definitely true when it comes to using textiles as art. If you want a temporary solution to add colour and texture to any size of wall, try framing fabric and watch how it instantly transforms a space. We are especially in love with the selection available from Finnish design company Marimekko.

Spring is just around the corner, making it the perfect time to start preparing your two-wheeled beauty for a few months of glorious bicycle bliss.

Join the Network

If you are an avid cyclist, you will already know that construction is underway for a $7.5-million bike network that will provide seven kilometres of separated lanes for cyclists in downtown Edmonton. When complete, the Downtown Bike Network project will be similar to bike networks found in Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal or other major Canadian cities.

Edmonton Bike Swap

Looking to buy, sell or donate a bicycle?  Be sure to check out the Alberta Bike Swap, Saturday, May 13 from 2:30 – 4 PM at Northlands Edmonton EXPO Centre. This annual event is a perfect opportunity to sell a bike that’s been taking up space on your balcony or collecting dust in the garage, and an awesome opportunity to get a great deal on a new-to-you bicycle inspected and ready to ride off the lot.

Tune-up for Spring

If it’s a spring tune-up that you need, you’ll appreciate the friendly service at MEC’s Bike Shop, located in Oliver. Tune-up packages range from basic to premium, or you can choose individual bike services and repairs. This is also the place to check out for unique bicycle storage solutions for your house or condo.

Hands-on Help

More of the DIY-type? Then you are going to love the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters (EBC) fully-equipped, volunteer-run community bike workshops at BikeWorks North and BikeWorks South. For a small hourly fee, you will have access to specialty bicycle tools needed to repair and maintain your bicycle, as well as access to friendly  mechanics on hand to answer any questions you may have.

Choose Your Ride

When it comes to shopping for a new ride, Edmonton is home to a variety of of bike shops geared for all levels of cyclists. Garneau’s Redbike is the place to go if you are looking for function and European style. They also have a number of group rides you can sign up for on their website. Western Cycle and Revolution Cycle carry a wide selection of mountain bikes, scooters, and road bikes. MEC and United Cycle offer bikes and other sporting accessories at multiple price-points. Also be sure to check out Velocity Cycle at the new Ritchie Market.

Thinking about moving to a cycle-friendly neighbourhood? The TruHome team can help you choose the best options when it comes to condos and homes in Edmonton’s Central communities. Be sure to explore these great Edmonton neighbourhoods: Downtown |  Oliver | Queen Mary Park | Garneau | Strathcona | Ritchie

Last week we had the pleasure of attending the Edmonton Housing Forecast that featured 3 economists (from CMHC, Alberta and the City of Edmonton) and the new chair of our board to gain a deeper understanding of what is happening in the economy overall and more specifically Edmonton. Surprisingly, all 3 economists shared similar views about Edmonton’s market for 2017. The best way to describe it would be “fairly steady” which is not a bad thing to hear considering all that has been occurring in Alberta over the last few years.

• Edmonton will outperform Alberta due to it’s relatively diverse economy.
• Unemployment in the Edmonton region will stabilize in the 7.5% range in early 2017.
• 2016 looked a lot like 2015 when it came to Real Estate – Strong prices, high inventory, dipping sales

What Was The Outcome For The Edmonton Real Estate Market In 2016?

What Are The Predictions For The Edmonton Real Estate Market In 2017?

So, what exactly does this mean? We are feeling optimistic about the market. It is a great time to invest in Edmonton real estate. That being said, remember, this only tells one aspect of the story, since this is only a general overview of the entire city. Each neighbourhood in the city will have it’s own story to tell. The good news, is that the TruHome team has a full time data scientist on our team to better evaluate the market to provide more in depth data and advice.

Interested in discussing your unique home buying and selling needs, be sure to connect with us today. 

Hello Edmonton Real Estate – What Is Going On? (A Recap From May)

• 1,771 properties were sold in the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (up 18% from April)
• 1,119 single family detached homes were sold in the Edmonton CMA (19% percent increase from April)
• 449 condos and 203 duplex/rowhouses sold (up 5% and 37% from April, respectively)
• $382,695 was the average all-residential price for May (up by over 1% from April)

“While new listings coming onto the market were down this May compared to 2015, inventory continues to remain strong with more than 8,000 residential properties on the market at month’s end,” REALTORS® Association of Edmonton Chair Steve Sedgwick said. “The fact that we haven’t seen a significant decline in prices is giving buyers more assurance. They are making purchases based on market stability and good selection.”

What Is Happening In Your Area – Stats Wise?

We are excited to annouce that we are now launching monthly stats based on region. Central Edmonton Dwellers (Downtown & Oliver)  – check out stats specific to this area below. Don’t live in the core? Contact us to get updated on what’s happening in your hood. 

Start-up week is finally upon us! A week to celebration entrepreneurship and innovation and we are extremely excited to be a part of the excitement. This year, HomeTribe has been included as one of the start-up’s being featured at Launch Party 6 this Thursday, October 22, 2015.

What Is Edmonton Launch Party?

Launch Party Edmonton, the city’s flagship startup event that celebrates and showcases the hottest startups in town. Launch Party gives you the opportunity to meet our city’s brightest entrepreneurs, demo their products, and celebrate everything that our startup community has to offer.

Many amazing companies that have been a part of this amazing event have gone on to reach new heights. I’m sure many people have heard of Poppy Barley or Pogo Car Share for example. These are just 2 examples of many.

So, who exactly made the cut for the class of 2015, preview some amazing companies that will be cheering on tonight as well:

Chitter

Brought to you by: Mark Galloway, Tamara Bain, Kyle Kaiser, Ben Lavin, Sabby Choudhary

Get To Know Chitter: “Chitter is a mobile social media app that gives college and university students a digital way to engage with each other and keep up with what is going on around them in the fast paced environment of higher education.”

FitSet

Brought to you by: Tim Gourlay, Jake Stief, Raj Gandhi, Leila Panjvani, Bindesh Rach

Get To Know FitSet: “Fitset is a single membership to thousands of group fitness classes every day in 5 major Canadian cities — including yoga, spinning, obstacle course training, dance, boot camps, ballet barre and so much more. Our membership gives you the ability to try a new workout every day or visit each partner studio up to three times per month — for $99/month. Whether you are looking to diversify your workouts, discover your next favourite studio, or just explore your city, chances are we have studios close to wherever you live, work, and/or play. We aim to make fitness exploration as simple and convenient as possible.”

Carenetwork.com

Brought to you by: Dr. Noel Gibney, Kyle Fox, Emmet Gibney

Get to know Carenetwork.com: “CareNetwork.com is the easiest way for teams of hospital doctors to stay in sync. With teams working in shifts to provide around the clock care to dozens of patients with complex problems it is incredibly challenging to stay organized. CareNetwork.com helps these doctors to keep track of who their sickest patients are, what their patients’ stories are, and what needs to get done now. Collaborating through the CareNetwork.com app ensures this typically ephemeral information gets shared during shift change. Happier doctors, safer patients.”

instaMek

Brought to you by: Asem Alsaadi, Uzair Ahmed

Get To Know instaMek: “instaMek removes the hassle and struggle associated with traditional automotive service and repair by making the process as simple as ordering a book online. Within seconds this on-demand service allows car-owners to request and schedule a fully certified mobile mechanic (“Mek”) to their home or workplace – all at a price up to 30% cheaper than a shop. All work is guaranteed with a warranty on parts and labor and Meks are reviewed after every job to ensure top notch workmanship. Since its launch in February, instaMek has serviced over 500 vehicles and currently operates in 11 different cities across Canada.”

Evented

Brought to you by: Ramneek Purewal, Avneet Purewal

Get To Know Evented: “Evented is a web-based platform geared towards serving the event industry. Evented works by offering people who are planning events a consolidated, comprehensive, and current directory of local vendors who can service their events. Users can use features such as sorting filters and user reviews to make finding and finalizing vendors a more streamlined and efficient process. Evented is also able to eliminate the need for vendors to advertise on multiple platforms by providing a marketing tool that specifically targets their intended audiences. Evented works to create something useful for you; your city’s essential event vendor directory.”

VR Bike

Brought to you by: Peter W Wood, Pierre Boulanger, Stephanie Shaeffer, Ga Young Kim

Get To Know VR Bike: “MedROAD Inc. is a company designed and formed to act as a portal for delivering to the general community the exciting and state-of-the-art research and innovation developed out of the Advanced Man Machine Interface Laboratory, University of Alberta. These areas of innovation include: 3D virtual reality, telemedicine and enhanced image viewing. We at MedROAD Inc. are very excited to deliver some of the exciting and unique projects we have been worked on at the University; connecting our clients and consumers with the very forefront of research and development.”

PFM Scheduling Services

Brought to you by: Dale Schuurmans, Csaba Szepesvari, Martha White, James Neufeld, Jason Harder

Get To Know PFM Scheduling Services: “PFM is a company that came out of Alberta Innovates Center for Machine Learning (AICML) at the University of Alberta after 3 years of ground breaking research. PFM has developed a scheduling product suite that automates schedule production, optimization and analysis for shift workers in complex organizations that contend with sophisticated rule sets such as collective bargaining agreements. Currently, PFM is focusing on healthcare and is partnering with Telus Sourcing Solutions as a distribution channel and United Nurses of Alberta Union and Alberta Health Services as clients.”

Varafy Corporation

Brought to you by: Werner Biegler, Justin Sharp, Ken Fyfe

Get To Know Varafy Corporation: “Varafy gives Educators the power to create an unlimited number of fresh and unique problems and their detailed solutions in minutes versus hours – and have fun doing it!”

JumpSeat

Brought to you by: Mike Priest, Paul McCarthy, Trevor Dell, Christian Dendy

Get To Know JumpSeat: “JumpSeat is a product of Ten Speed Technologies and transforms how organizations onboard, train and support their employees. By providing in-context, interactive, step-by-step task guidance, users learn what they need to learn, at the moment they need to learn it. Our unique training method keeps the user in the browser, away from your support desk, and since it overlays on top of your existing web-applications, keeps them productive while learning. No code integration is required and no developers are needed to create your interactive guides.”

and last but not least last:

HomeTribe

Brought to you by: Elisse Moreno, Ryan Ramage, Luke Wang, Chantelle Maris and the rest of our awesome crew

Get To Know Home Tribe: “Home Tribe is a technology driven real estate team dedicated to creating a more personalized real estate experience. We do this by combining traditional real estate services, technology, Big Data and Analytics. Our first technology application, “Home Tribe Match” helps buyers find the perfect home based on their lifestyle needs. We take into account safety, commutability, neighbourhood dynamics and more to determine the homes currently for sale on the market that are most desirable to a buyer. This time-saving, easy to use app makes it simple for a buyer to move through the buying process.”

We hope to see a lot of friendly faces at this awesome event. Until tomorrow night. 🙂

The goal of most Edmonton homeowners who are preparing to list their Edmonton home for sale is to make their home more desirable to a potential buyer. The underlying goal may be to get the highest sales price possible from selling the property, to sell the home more quickly or to accomplish a combination of both of these. While some Edmonton homeowners will invest a small fortune in improvements to their home before listing it, others may be focused on making small improvements that will add true value and that will raise home value. These are a few great ideas that homeowners can consider as value-added improvements to their Edmonton home.

Dress Up the Kitchen Back Splash

The kitchen is one of the key selling points in an Edmonton home, but it can be costly to replace counters, cabinets and appliances. The back splash, however, is highly visible, and it is rather affordable to update. Depending on the size of the kitchen and the materials that you select to use, this improvement may be only a few hundred dollars to complete. It can make the kitchen more desirable, and this can have a great improvement on the desirability of the entire home to a potential buyer.

Refinish the Cabinets

Outdated or worn cabinets can make a home look older than its years, and this can decrease desirability to a potential Edmonton home buyer. While replacing the cabinets in the kitchen or bathrooms may not be in the homeowner’s budget, there are affordable solutions available to improve the look of cabinets. For example, some cabinets can be painted. There are also refinishing kits available that homeowners can use. Homeowners can dress the finished cabinets up with new hardware, and this can give the kitchen and bathrooms an incredible facelift that makes the spaces look newer and modern.

Update the Front Door

The front door is among the first features that buyers will see when they drive up to the property, and it will continue to be a focal point as they walk into the home. With this in mind, the condition and style of the front door can have a dramatic improvement on value and appeal alike. A very affordable option is to paint the front door and replace the hardware. Re-staining the door is another option for wood doors. For homeowners with a larger budget, there are some attractive front door styles available at the lower end of the price range that can add style to the home. Consider replacing the front door mat and front porch light to finish the look.

When preparing to list a home for sale, it makes sense that homeowners want to focus on making repairs that will add true value to the home. They want to recoup the investment they are making with an increase to the sales price or other related benefits. Those who are thinking about listing their Edmonton home for sale can contact us today for more information about improvements that add value to a home.

A Recap of What Happened During the Month of June 2015:

A first for 2015, the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton has recorded an increase in year over year sales for the month. Over 2008 sales occurred for residential real estate, up 2.4%, compared to June 2014. The number broke down as follows:

• 1243 Single Family Homes (2.1% increase from 2014)
• 572 Condos (1.6% increase from 2014)
• 156 Duplexes/Row Houses (11.4% increase from 2014)

Compared to last month (May 2015), sales were also up by 13%. The average days on market for June was 49 days, resulting in an average increase of 3 days more to sell.

“The reality of what we are seeing in the market is that the slight hesitation from buyers that came with the drop in oil prices is lessening. Edmonton has not been hit nearly as bad as what many predicted and buyers are becoming more confident that our market won’t plummet. This renewed confidence coupled with low mortgage rates and a healthy selection means that people are realizing that this is still a good time to buy.” [EREB] continues, “People move when their lifestyle warrants a change. This will always be true. There are always buyers and sellers, no matter what the market looks like or what analysts predict. REALTORS® are here to help you decide what move is best for you.”

Choosing to buy or sell is really about making the right lifestyle decisions for yourself. Remember, Elisse Moreno and the HomeTribe.ca team are here for you when you are ready to buy or sell.

Prices Continue To Rise As Inventory Stabilizes

We are beginning to see the inventory in the Edmonton region stabilize with new listings down over 2% from last May. That being said, there are almost 30% more listings than last year and prices are continuing to rise for all residential properties.

The average days on market compared to last year is only slightly higher at 45. This number may continue to increase over the next few months due to slower sales and higher inventory.  During the course of May 2015, residential sales began to pick up with 1,784 reported sales, a 12% increase from April that reached 1,597.

A major trend is that duplex/rowhouse  homes continue to sell quicker with a an average 4% increase year over year.  Year-to-date, residential sales are down 13%.

That being said, everyone is optimistic that the increased sales will continue as confidence in the stability of the market grows. Multiple offers are still occurring in “popular price brackets” and prices have not declined. This is very reassuring to Edmonton Home buyers.

According the stats from the Edmonton Real Estate board:

Despite a decline in all residential sales, the average sale price was $381,111 up 2.5% from May last year. Single family dwellings sold for an average of $451,312 (up 3% from last May), condos for $256,143 (up 2% y/y) and duplex/rowhouses were the only price drop at $345,659 (down 2% y/y).

“People are continuing to take advantage of low interest rates and a greater selection in the marketplace. We are moving into our busiest season for real estate.”

Ready to discuss your buying or selling needs – be sure to contact our team at Home Tribe!