How can a company like Zipcar or Autoshare create value in a specific location for Property Owners and Tenants? We interview Chris Ho who is a Real Estate Investor and Research Analyst and we ask him what he plans on presenting to these companies in the near future.

Transportation is an Economic Fundamental when it comes to having an impact on a particular City. You can add these companies to an area to make transportation more accessible. What this means for Renters and Home Owners, now you have more ways to move around the city without the burden of car ownership. Therefore, Renters will be more attracted to rent from your property because they have an option to commute in a very convenient way. For Home Owners, this can definitely have a positive impact on property values.

Results of the (AIC) Appraisal Institute of Canada’s Home Renovation Survey have been recently tabulated. Based on the informed opinion of Canada’s professional fee appraisers, the three most frequent renovation improvements undertaken by homeowners, which provide the highest payback potential for property owners:

Bathroom Renovations
Kitchen Renovations
Painting – Interior/Exterior

This information is valuable for homeowners to measure what effect home improvement projects may have on the resale value of their homes. Consumers should be aware that home values and returns on renovation investments are dependent on many factors such as the location of the property i.e. province, rural/urban, the neighbourhood. Notably important is the quality of workmanship and materials.

In this episode we discuss the greatest payback potentials, the ten average payback potentials, and the top trends in home renovations.

To check the R.O.I on your proposed renovations visit: www.aicanada.ca and click on the RENOVA Logo!

You can always call me to discuss these matters…it is always an interesting topic.

What is the value in having floor plans? There are several reasons why someone should consider drafting floor plans. We interview Dan Kapelus from Toronto Drafting Company about the benefits.

Toronto Drafting Company creates As-Built Floor Plans and CAD drawings, showing the existing conditions, layout and structure of all types of buildings. The measurements are taken on-site with state-of-the-art lasers and the drafting work is performed on and off-site by an architectural technologist with a background in Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) and Civil Engineering.

Who can benefit from this?

Real Estate Investors: Floor plans have a big impact on rental values so it is important to have a copy of the floor plan of an income property to ensure you can project potential rents more accurately.

Home Owners: When planning a renovation or obtaining building permits, many homeowners will get floor plans drawn before contacting an architect, or the architect will tell them to get the drawings first so that they have something to work with. Many of the homes in Toronto have no drawings at all, or they are outdated. Is it important to have good accurate drawings to help plan the construction, and the cost for the service is extremely reasonable compared with other associated architectural services and permit fees.

Architects, Engineers and Interior Designers: They want the Base Drawings for existing buildings in CAD format so that they can create their designs from. This saves them time from going on-site to measure themselves. Our technology is also faster and more accurate.

Realtors: Use the floor plans as part of their marketing for a listing. Floor plans are important to provide to buyers because they help them to visualize the space and the room sizes in relation to one another. They are beneficial to give out at open houses, so that buyers have takeaway material they can review afterwards, causing that house to be more memorable, and may be the key to more and higher offers. Floor plans are also useful for filtering out buyers who aren’t interested in a particular size or layout, thus saving time for both parties.

Property Managers: To get commercial space measured for accurate square footage, for building leasing and sales, insurance purposes, marketing, and fire plans.

Architectural Floor Plans for homes start at $300. Realtor floor plans for Agents start at $200. The difference is that architectural plans are more detailed, showing the size of every opening along with additional ceiling and structural details. We also have a package that includes elevation drawings and a site plan (not a survey), starting at $600. This is usually required by the city for any renovation that alters the exterior look of the building.

If you wish to Contact Dan Kapelus please visit: www.torontodrafting.com