Tag Archives: pool

Homeowners once believed that having a pool in their backyard meant selling their homes faster and at the price they asked for. They were wrong. Others counted on their flower beds, patio and garden. Another disappointment. So, the landscape won’t make a difference either? Definitely not!

The landscape increases the value of a property, but very little compared with a kitchen or bathroom that is renovated pragmatically with modern materials and configured in a way to increase practicality. A roof and foundations in good condition, a basement designed with taste, and even multiple and efficient storage spaces will increase a property’s value more than the landscape.

You are selling your home. You are waiting for those first emails to come in or those first buyers to visit your home. If you were in their shoes, what would your first inquiries relate to? The landscape or the condition of the windows? The flower beds or the radon levels in the soil? The patio or the structure of the home?[……]

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It increases the value of the property by adding an extra room. It lets in plenty of sunlight. It reduces the energy bill by trapping in heat. It enhances the look of the exterior. Are you thinking about a veranda? Then, you’re absolutely right.

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This space, called a veranda, features large windows and was unpopular among the baby boomers. It looked old-fashioned, so they said. The ecological trend has changed that mindset. Besides trapping in heat during the day and dispersing it throughout the house at night, the veranda pleases plant-lovers too. It’s the ideal place to grow many plant species.

From the practical perspective, a well-equipped veranda can easily become a dining area, a reading space, an office, a place to play board games, listen to music or watch a movie. It can even include an indoor pool.[……]

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Selling your home in less than a year and selling it for the desired price is the dream of every homeowner looking to sell his or her property. How to make it happen? Here is an overview.

  • The asking price must be reasonable from the beginning. Setting it too high in the hopes of making a huge profit is the worst thing you can do. All professionals will tell you: properties that have been on the market for too long frighten the buyers away. They’ll back off.
  • A classic way to set the asking price is to look at the selling price of the similar homes nearby. But, this method is not foolproof. The houses on the street may look the same, but you don’t know their history, their overall condition inside and out or the upgrades that have been carried out over the years.
  • The municipal assessment gives an idea of how much a house should sell, but this method has its limits too.
  • Avoid setting the price according to your own judgment. What if the house is worth more than you had guessed? Otherwise, be realistic. Your house is not a mansion.
  • The real estate broker is highly qualified to determine the selling price for obvious reasons. However, by doing business with an accredited appraiser, you’ll end up with an appraisal report. It will come in handy when negotiating with the future buyer.
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  • Once you have set the asking price, establish the lowest price you would be willing to accept. Your real estate broker will help you with this step.

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Patio is a Spanish word that means inner courtyard. Anyone who travels in the Caribbean, Spain or South America has already encountered these outdoor spaces, often covered, which run the length of house or direct people to the centre of the property.

In Quebec, patio means most outdoor structures: large gallery, big balcony, deck. In general, a patio is on the ground while a deck is raised above the ground.

To get a taste of the great outdoors, the patio is a great choice if you have a small budget or if the space is too narrow. Sometimes it’s just a simple set of steps or a staircase leading to the yard. You can place plants, flowers and decorative pots there.

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The great thing about patios is that you can set them up any way you want, thus the importance of determining its use before you start the work. Do you extend it to the bedroom so you can have your morning coffee or a candlelit breakfast? Do you extend it to the living room for the pleasure of a cocktail in the fresh air? Do you extend it to the kitchen to benefit from outdoor meals or to organize receptions?  [……]

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Three 55-storey hotels side by side under an enormous 150 metre long swimming pool containing 1424 cubic metres of water, and reaching 191 metres above ground. The pool is not alone. Restaurants, nightclubs, gardens and hundreds of trees and plants keep it company at the top. This is definitely out of the ordinary.

Located in Singapore, the Marina Bay Sands is a hotel complex with 2,600 rooms in three towers, with a casino, a lotus-shaped museum, and two movie theatres at the bottom, and, at the top, a 340 metre terrace containing the famous pool, which can hold up to 4,000 people.

Take a good look at the picture. The pool hangs over the ground over a distance of 67 metres, which gives the bather the illusion that nothing is holding the water. Many people would probably love to walk along this terrace and splash in this mass of water rather than suffer through the cold and grey of January.

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When you look at the structure of the complex, you get the impression that you’re seeing the modern version of Stonehenge in England: a circular alignment of large stones, three of which are memorable because of the long stone that extends out at their peak, connecting the three. It’s as if Obélix had stretched out a long flat stone over three druid stones.[……]

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