If you’re eager to lower your carbon footprint and also save on energy bills, equipping your home for solar power is a great option.

There are several things to consider in the quest to go green:

How does solar power work?

Solar power is generated by thin silicon panels, divided into photovoltaic cells, which act as semiconductors. When sunlight hits the cells, it excites the electrons and produces a direct electrical current.  To generate power for your home, the panels are either installed on your rooftop or angle mounted on your property. Most urban users favour a rooftop set-up so they won’t have to sacrifice valuable backyard real estate, but it’s not unusual to see a freestanding panel in rural areas where properties are generally

There is an important part of taking on a home renovation -- the building permit.

You may know of friends who have had their basements finished over the past few years and maybe none have obtained a building permit first. They assumed that since the renovation did not extend beyond the existing walls of their home, they were free to make any changes they wished. According to Ray Leclair, a real estate lawyer your friends have been breaking the law.

"It's a municipal by-law under building code," he says. "The impact of it is that there could be a fine for the homeowner or the municipality can say remove the structure or they'll condemn the property."

Most of us realize that major renovations such as building an addition to a home require a

Everyone wants to live in a beautiful home.

We all a house that attracts compliments from friends and family. It is a proud feeling, indeed, when you stay in a home that is the envy of entire neighborhood. Owning such a home, however, is no piece of cake. Even if not too much, it still does require a certain amount of effort, time and knowledge to keep it well-maintained and updated.

People who live in houses with front yards or lawns need to be more patient and careful about taking good care of the grass and foliage and keep it free of uninvited pests, insects and rodents.

Enhancing the curb appeal of your home is all about increasing the visual appeal of your front yard or lawn, which in turn, elevates the overall splendor of your home

When buying a house, getting your offer right is both very important and very difficult.

What do you need to consider? How do you make your offer stand out? How do you get your offer accepted? And how do you ensure that you are getting the best deal? These are some of the questions that you might already be struggling with, so to help you out, we have put together some of the key things to consider.

What to consider before making the offer

Ask yourself...

• What are my long term plans?
• Will I live here for more than a few years?
• Can I commit to paying my mortgage on time every month?
• Will I like the neighbourhood?
• Am I ready for the expenses of a home?

Use our calculators page for help with affordability

Other things to

Listing your home for sale: Should you update, or should you sell as-is?

When listing your home for sale, should you spend the money to make some home improvements, or should you sell it as-is?  Of course, as in most questions of this sort, it depends on the particular improvements that your home needs, and it depends on the local market trends. It depends on your goals as a seller. It also depends on the condition of the homes that are your closest competition.

 The Mind of A Seller VS. the Mind of A Buyer

In my experience, there is a different calculation that goes on in the mind of the seller, compared to that which is in the mind of a buyer.  For instance, if the carpet in your bedrooms is original carpet in your 18-year-old home, there

The spring home-buying season is in full swing.

But there is just one problem: Low housing inventory in most price points of the market.

And no matter how much the demand is there and how much lenders are willing lend, it means little if there are no houses to buy.

As a result, the few houses left end up being fought over in multiple offers, leaving many borrowers without a house.

Here are a few tips that may help you win a multiple offer situation:

1. Offer Full Price or More. Money is a major factor in a seller’s decision, but not the only one.
2. Good sized deposit. Show the seller you are committed with a good sized deposit to stand by your “word” (purchase agreement) to buy the home.
3. Cash is King. Go in with cash if possible to

The two most important elements of selling a home have always been 1.) Price and 2.) Condition but maybe today there is a third factor.

MARKETING can be equally -and sometimes more- important when selling a home as price and condition. Professional marketing is the secret sauce that sells homes! There are more options to market a home than ever before. The way a home is marketed online determines how much attention it gets as in cases where homes that were priced too high end up in multiple offer situations due to impressive marketing presentations online. On the opposite side there are homes that sell for less than they are worth due to poor marketing efforts.  When people start to sell their home most of the time they haven't thought much about the

So you want to get started investing. Now is the best time to set yourself up for a comfortable financial future, but there are a few tasks you should tackle before putting your money to work for you. These tips apply to any investment, whether it’s in real estate, tax liens, or the stock market.

5 Financial Steps to Take Before You Invest in Real Estate

1. Fill Your Emergency Fund

Your emergency fund is a pool of savings you set aside to pay for emergencies. It’s self insurance for things you can’t insure.

Whether it’s a major car repair, unexpected medical bill, or the loss of a job, having an emergency fund can help bridge the the financial gap. Instead of turning to high interest credit cards for funding, you can turn to your emergency

Getting your home purchase or the sale of your Kamloops Property right there are a few simple steps to making it as stress free as possible.

BUYING A HOME IN KAMLOOPS

A step at a time: Before seriously house hunting, have your mortgage financing in place, says Kent Browne, broker of record with Royal LePage Team Realty in Ottawa. Make sure you also have roughly two per cent of the anticipated purchase price set aside in cash for legal fees, land transfer tax and other expenses.

Preparation: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.'s free, downloadable 72-page guide Buying a Home walks you through the entire house-hunting and -buying process. There's also a condominium guide: http://cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/buho/index.cfm.

Browne suggests scouting

Whether lighting a single family home or the common areas of an investment property, the difference in electricity cost between LED, fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs is astounding.

It costs possibly six times as much to operate an incandescent bulb as it does the equivalent illumination (lumens) of an LED bulb. In this writer’s geographic area, a 60W incandescent lamp costs 15 cents to operate 24 hours while the equivalent LED bulb costs 2.5 cents.

You can download a detailed analysis of 30 lights left on 24 hours a day for 20 years. While that is likely not the case for a home, the cost ratio between the two lighting technologies should remain similar.

The spreadsheet with all calculations can be downloaded here. Plug in your