Design Tips, Investment Properties
Shauna Lynn Simon
Expert Advice for Your Vacation Rental Property

If you own a vacation rental property (or are looking to invest in one), you know that designing a short-term rental cottage that stands out from the competition is key to attracting renters and earning repeat business. With the growing popularity of short-term rentals and Airbnb properties, it's important to create a space that not only looks beautiful but is also functional and comfortable for guests.

In this article, we'll provide you with expert tips and insights on how to design a short-term rental cottage that will have guests raving and coming back year after year. Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to update an existing space, this guide will provide you with the inspiration you need to create a truly exceptional vacation home.


Start with the Basics

Before you start decorating, make sure you have all the basics in place. This includes…

Expert Advice for Your Vacation Rental Property

The Goldilocks Rule of Home Selling

The Goldilocks Rule of Home Selling

Some things are meant to be indulged in. Think extra saucy wings, sunshine, chocolate cake, and laughter. But, like most things in life, it’s important to ensure that your indulgences are balanced, and in some cases, are enjoyed only in moderation.

We take a similar approach when preparing a home for sale. It’s important to showcase the home’s greatest features, and this often means sprucing things up through updates, repairs, and of course, stylish décor. However, if we over-indulge, we could end up taking the focus away from what we are truly selling, which is the house itself.

The Goldilocks Rule to preparing your home for sale is about finding that delicate balance between too much, and too little, in order to get it just right to engage your homebuyers from the first moment that they view your property.

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Living Through Renovations

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Living Through Renovations

It can be easy in our busy, everyday lives to ignore the overdue updates needed in our homes. That is until we are forced to spend a whole lot of time there. Enter 2020, the year we stayed home. If you are like most people, you probably found that things that were once a mere annoyance (the kitchen cabinets that don’t quite close right, the bathroom tiles that are from 1970, or the open-concept office space you’ve set up) were now in desperate need of attending to.

Whether you plan to live in your home for a few more years or several decades still, taking care of these much-needed updates can be a great investment into your future, and there has never been a better time to renovate your home. Planning a renovation is exciting, and the end results are always worth it, but the road to transformation is not always a smooth one. Here are a few tips to assist you with planning for your upcoming renovation project.

Maintaining a Show-Ready Home

Maintaining a Show-Ready Home

Preparing a home for sale is a coordinated effort, but now that your house has been cleaned, staged, and photographed, you realize your next task is to maintain it.

If you’re starting to stress about the idea of keeping a show-ready home, don’t worry, we have the tips and tricks to help you show your home to prospective homebuyers at a moment’s notice. From the pile of shoes at the front door to the dining room table covered in your 'at-home office' or your unmade bed - skip the worry and follow these easy tips.

Remember, the better your house shows, the faster it sells, and the faster that it sells, the less time that you will need to maintain your show-ready home!

What to Expect (While your Home is on the Market)

What to Expect (While your Home is on the Market)

COVID has changed much of how we do things today, including selling our homes. Real Estate Agents have numerous protocols in place to ensure that you and your family are protected throughout the home-selling process, but in-person showings are still an important part of the buying process for homebuyers.

Here's what you can expect while your home is listed:

PRE-SHOWING PREP

To help to minimize the amount of pre-showing preparations required, strive to maintain a “show-ready” home by putting items away where they belong immediately after use, and cleaning as you go.

The Mudroom Revival

The Mudroom Revival

Mudroom: noun

~ a small area where people leave their dirty or wet clothing and shoes when they enter a house

As she entered her house through the side door from the garage, she carefully removed her face mask, placing it on the console table. Having rolled the gloves off her hands - the left then the right - she turned and tossed them into the wastebasket under the table. Turning, she sat down on the cool, smooth wood of the bench, leaning back against the wall and let out a great sigh. Now for my shoes, she thought. It had been an extremely long day.

As we continue to manoeuvre through our new normal – the result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – entering our homes has now become a process for so many of us.

Summer Doesn’t Have To Be A Bummer During COVID-19

Summer Doesn’t Have To Be A Bummer During COVID-19

Where has the time gone?! It’s hard to believe that the summer season is now upon us and that we are still living under a continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

While we continue to slowly and steadily reopen parks and businesses, those activities that traditionally represent summer to us - summer vacations, outdoor concerts, fireworks, and kids going off to summer camp – look much different this summer. While we continue to practise social distancing, and while it may take a bit of extra planning, we are all itching to get out of the house, and with a little creativity, we can find ways to safely enjoy the pleasures of the season and warm-weather activities. Need some ideas? Here are a few to get you started.