This property, only 5 minutes from Carberry and 22 from Brandon, is well-priced and ready for you to move in - possession can be quick!

We'll count down for the top 10:

If you are thinking of selling your home this year, it is TIME TO GET MOVING!  You need to get started with your preparations right now.

​1.  GET RID OF CLUTTER!
Sometimes it is hard to hear that the doll collection that your Grandma spent her life acquiring should be packed away before listing your house but really, honestly, your house presents better without them.  Just because those sweet plastic faces are dear to you, doesn't mean that they will look attractive to most buyers.  

An important part of selling your home is to start to think of it as someone else's home.  Detach yourself from the things that make it yours and pack most of your THINGS away.  Clutter muddles people's minds and subconsciously, they think, 'oh my goodness!  How am I going to deal with all of those THINGS!'.  Even though CONSCIOUSLY, they know that your things will leave the house with you, clutter prevents them from envisioning their own things in your spaces.  

Focus on choosing a few items that contribute to making your spaces look comfortable with a bit of character and colour.

This photo shows the shelves in my living room at this very moment!  YIKES!  Good thing I'm not trying to sell my house - what a mess!  This is a great example of TOO MUCH STUFF!  

2. DO REPAIRS
You know that tap that has been dripping for the last 8 months, but if you move the faucet handle to the exact right spot, it stops?  Or the step that is a little bit rotten on the right hand side?  You may know to use the left hand side of that step to avoid damaging it more but potential buyers don't know.  They immediately perceive that there is 'work to do' at your house and sometimes that becomes overwhelming, steering them away from your house and on to the next.  
​
Spending a little money and doing minor repairs like fixing leaks, replacing rotting boards or even replacing old, rough looking vinyl flooring helps to make homes look 'worry-free', never mind the positive impression that the house makes to potential buyers.  You will easily get your money back for simple repairs, when you sell your house.

4. STAGE YOUR HOME
Why should you stage your home?  Because it could help to sell it and just like you, your realtor wants to help you do exactly that.  You and your realtor are a team, working together to sell your house to everyone possible.  Some people, try as they might, can not picture things in a house unless, well, things are in the house!  ​

There are two basic types of staging.  The first, is to make an empty house look like a home and the second, is to make the home that you live in look its very best.

Type 1:  EMPTY HOUSE

I was having a REALLY hard time selling this condo.  It was quite new, a great price, had great space and a garage RIGHT IN THE CONDO but no one was interested in it.  I looked around and thought to myself, 'would I be interested in buying this condo?  Probably not.  Why?  Hmmmm...it has no soul - nothing special'.  So I set about showing how it could have great soul, by staging it.

It sold one week later.  Now, it doesn't happen like that every time.  But heck!  Why not try??

​Type 2:  MAKING YOUR HOME LOOK ITS BEST

This picture is also in my house.  It's a similar shelving unit to the one in my living room but in the lower level.  My nephew just moved out and his former living area looks more than a little bare, and really, not that inviting.

I started by cleaning, vacuuming and scrubbed those shelves from top to bottom.  Then I looked at some things that I have around the house.  I would like to stress that these are not special items.  They are just things that I collected from other places in my house and grouped together in an organized fashion.

Then I looked at the sad looking futon and covered it up!  The cover is also nothing special.  It's actually the back side of a somewhat dated-looking duvet cover with a duvet inside it.  It's the solid colour with cool homemade cushions on it that makes it look pretty fabulous!  

I guess the reason that I place so much importance on staging is because many people choose homes that make them FEEL a certain way.  It is tough to describe this feeling because it's not measurable.  But it IS real.  

5. Interview REALTORS
Why, exactly, would a realtor say that you should interview realtors and not just say, 'PICK ME!!!'?  Because it is really important that you have trust in your realtor and you won't automatically have that feeling with all of us.  That's why there are all types; super organized ones, out-going and personable ones, those with great reputations and those that are known to you.  Your home is most likely your largest investment and you really need to feel that you have made the right decision about your chosen representation.  If you search online, there are all kinds of sites that make suggestions about the questions that you should ask a realtor.  Once you have the information that you need, decide which things are most important to you.  But just like buying a house, sometimes you just get the right 'feel'.  You need to know that your realtor will be as invested in selling your house as you are.  Once you have chosen, put on your seat belt!  It's going to be a wild ride!  Selling your house almost always is.

I don't know about you, but the town that I grew up in, (MORDEN!!!) had a school, a place to buy candy, a playground and my parents pretty much just let me go outside and play anytime, as long as I was in earshot for my mom to yell, "KAAATTHHHHERYNNNNEEE", so I could come running in for supper.  We sometimes played in other kids' back yards, but most often, we just rode our bikes on the street, scooting to the side when cars came.  On special occasions, we got to ride in the backs of pick-up trucks, or all pile into the car, whether we all had seatbelts or not (usually not - seatbelts weren't really a 'THING' until I was about 19 years old).  

Rapid City, Manitoba, is still that town.

I spent the morning there on Saturday and I saw things that day that I haven't seen in a long time.  It was town-wide garage sale day and it was, well...AWESOME.  I saw a ton of people congenially driving from one sale to another, talking, laughing and buying other people's excellent used items.  I saw kids riding their bikes from sale to sale, excitedly chattering to each other with treasures in packs on their backs.  I saw kids riding in the box of dad's truck holding down the larger finds from the sale before as they went around corners.  I saw 4 golf carts and 1 gator driving the streets along the sale route.  It was heart-warming and for half a day, I was part of it.

Now, admittedly, it was a special day - the town-wide garage sale is truly a force to be reckoned with.  However, I get the sense that Rapid City is this kind of town EVERY DAY; the kids play until mom calls, the cats roam free and nobody calls the cops when somebody drives a golf cart down the street.  It's a great town.

If this is the type of place where you want to live - if this is the type of place where you want your KIDS to grow up, CONSIDER Rapid City. 

It's 30 minutes to Brandon.  There's a hotel with a restaurant that re-opens on July 1st and a bar that sells beer.  There's a river that goes right through town and a golf course beside it.  There's a K-6 school.  There's a convenience store that sells, in addition to candy and many staple-type items, gas.  The insurance agent sells liquor.  There are organized sports teams.

It is even rumoured that there are superheroes hidden in the population of what some call, the ideal home town.

Great view?

​Yeah...that's the view from this house:

Unassuming from the street, 350 1st Avenue in Rapid City has 4 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms on the main floor, over 1500 square feet of living space and a FANTASTIC yard.

​

You can have this view, every day of your life.

Oh!  I forgot to mention - a double insulated garage/workshop, in which you can keep your snowmobile, your golf cart and your gator to carry all of your garage sale finds next June.

Call me today, to make Rapid City and 650 1st Avenue YOUR new home.

Katheryne Lumgair
204-573-6558
https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/16901492/650-1st-Avenue-Rapid-City-Manitoba-R0K1W0-ANW
​

CFB Shilo military base is located in southwestern Manitoba and, like other bases across Canada, there is no housing available to PURCHASE, only on-base rental accommodations.
If you are interested in BUYING your own home, investing in real estate, then you might like to know a little about the surrounding communities.

Sprucewoods: This  community borders on Shilo and folks who live in this area are often close enough to walk or bike to work on base.  There are home lined streets, a mobile home park and many nearby acreages for those who like SPACE!  Services available to Sprucewoods dwellers include but are not limited to (I’m sure I’m missing something!): gas, car sales, auto body and repair, motel accommodations and a restaurant and bar, open Tuesday-Sunday, movie rentals and a community club.  There are also bookkeeping services available, as well as at least one convenience store.  Brandon and Wawanesa are close by for groceries, about 15 minutes.

Click or copy and paste the link below into your favourite browser for a list of homes that are available to purchase in Sprucewoods(Shilo)(as of 11:00pm April 28, 2016):
http://KeystoneMatrix.ca/DE.asp?k=36974642cS&p=DE-37474197-446

Wawanesa:  I love this town!  South of the base on the 340 highway, is Wawanesa, a small, picturesque town 15 minutes to Shilo base.  There is a K-12 school, fire department, post office, bank, hardware store, daycare, flower shop, grocery store, pool, campground, playground, rink, gas, restaurant, bar and more.  Many military personnel have chosen to live in Wawanesa because it is a small town with services, good people and offers lots of community activities to take part in.  The population of the village of Wawanesa is about 550.

Click or copy and paste the link below into your favourite browser for a list of homes that are available to purchase in Wawanesa (as of 11:00pm April 28, 2016):
http://KeystoneMatrix.ca/DE.asp?k=36974642cS&p=DE-37474162-268

Carberry:  With a population of over 1500 people, Carberry is another good option for those who would like to look for housing off base.  The drive to Carberry is about 25 minutes, all of it on paved roads.  Carberry has a community centre, K-12 school, groceries, gas, restaurants and many other services.  There are many places that military spouses might find work.  There is a casino close by that employs between 100 and 200 people and there is a McCains plant just outside of town too.  There are several other agricultural and industrial operations that seek employees as well.  The average home price in Carberry is approximately $190,000 (that includes everything from mobile homes to acreages).

Click or copy and paste the link below into your favourite browser for a list of homes that are available to purchase in Carberry (as of 11:00pm April 28, 2016):
http://KeystoneMatrix.ca/DE.asp?k=369746XC0Bc&p=DE-37474167-98

Brandon:  Manitoba’s second largest city, Brandon has a population of somewhere just under 50000.  It boasts a WHL team (the Wheatkings), a curiously high ratio of  italian/greek restaurants to people, and no less than 8 tasty places to obtain excellent ice cream treats.  There are 4 grocery stores, 2 office supply stores, a university and 3 high schools, 3 furniture stores, pool and hot tub stores, pretty much anything a person could want for.  The vacancy rate in Brandon is commonly under 2 % or lower and the median home price for the last 365 days is between 241-250,000.

Click or copy and paste the link below into your favourite browser for a list of homes that are available to purchase in Brandon (as of 11:00pm April 28, 2016):
http://keystonematrix.ca/DE.asp?k=369746XC0Bc&p=DE-37474160-527

Western Manitoba is truly a great part of this province!  The people here are friendly and the economy is varied.  Brandon has excellent recreation facilities and there are two national parks and one provincial park within an hour's drive for outdoor adventures as well.  There are a many K-8 schools, 3 high schools and 2 post-secondary institutions, Assiniboine Community College and Brandon University, home of the Bobcats.  

I would love to help you find your new home in Westman!  Find me on Facebook at Katheryne Lumgair Sutton-Harrison Realty, this website, katsellshomes.ca or call me anytime at 204-573-6558.  

Make yourself a great day!