Category: Lynn Valley Homes and North Vancouver Real Estate

If you have made a trip to Lynn Valley lately, you’ll notice the community is buzzing and more vibrant than ever. When driving up or down the local streets and cul-de-sacs you’ll notice something taking shape with Lynn Valley homes. A quiet building boom is unfolding before your eyes as a people are realizing that this great community, it’s great school selection, proximity to everything and picturesque landscape just can’t be beat. It’s truly the ideal place to live.  The lot sizes are fantastic and ideal for builders to build that perfect Lynn Valley dream home.  Living in Lynn Valley is an excellent place to settle down with your family, while putting you just 15-20 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

 With the addition of the new Lynn Valley Village shops, restaurants, library and more, it’s vastly becoming one of the great family destinations right in the heart of Lynn Valley. Adding to that will be the new and upcoming plans for, “Lynn Valley Town Centre” development. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything missing with our wonderful parks, trails, canyons, schools, waterfalls, local ski mountains and golf.  People are choosing to call  Lynn Valley home for many reasons.  One thing Lynn Valley residents get is a wonderful community.   Lynn Valley has some of the longest standing community events and traditions. Every spring Lynn Valley host the “Lynn Valley Gala” a dinner and dancing event open to anyone.  The following day you’ll be amazed as Lynn Valley comes to life with “Lynn Valley Day”, which starts off with a parade down Lynn Valley Road, followed by entertainment, rides, games, races, and so much more at Lynn Valley Park. During the month of December right in the center of Lynn Valley Village is the ever popular, “A Lynn Valley Christmas”, which hosts over 70+ Christmas trees decorated by local merchants and businesses and kicks off with a visit from Santa, music, choirs, refreshments, and more. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in Lynn Valley, let local Lynn Valley expert and realtor Jim Pilkington of RE/MAX Crest Realty proudly share home grown passion for Lynn Valley.

1. Curb appeal

This is your first and most important chance to make an impression with your Lynn Valley Home.  Simple things like mowing the lawn and turning over the garden areas with new soil and plants go a long way. Trim the shrubs. Buy a new welcome mat. Add a hanging plant next to your entrance, or some large terra-cotta pots filled with colorful blooms. This is crucial – online pictures of your front door will likely be the introduction to prospective buyers. 

What buyers see when they first drive by your home is really important and often overlooked.

2. Kitchen.

For many potential home buyers, the kitchen is the heart of the house. When I’ve held my open houses in Lynn Valley, it’s amazing how potential home buyers make a beeline for this room when they first view a home for sale.   So make sure your kitchen looks clean and reasonably updated.

For a few hundred dollars, you can replace the kitchen faucet set, add new cabinet door handles and update old lighting fixtures with brighter, more energy-efficient ones.

If you’re working with a slightly larger budget, you can give the cabinets a makeover. Rather than replace your kitchen cabinets, there are some excellent refinishing.

3. Paint.

In Lynn Valley, it’s easy for the weathering to leave it’s mark over the winter and fall.  Nothing can instantly transform a room like a new coat of paint. That’s especially true if you’re going from something dark and dingy (and scratched and dirty) to something light, bright, and white. Painting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to change and improve a room’s appearance. Anyone can do it. I know, because I have. A bedroom upstairs and the kitchen and dining room in my main house, and two bedrooms in my parents’ home. HUGE difference.

4. Clean and de-clutter

Cleaning is obvious – we shouldn’t even have to mention that a dirty kitchen or bathroom will cost you customers. But clutter is another matter. Step back and try to look at your home the way someone else would for the very first time.

And what about the garage? If you use it to store everything but your car, clean it out so a prospective buyer can imagine pulling their own vehicle in there. (Although they’ll probably do just like you and use it for storage.)

5. Create rooms

Substituting one room’s use for another is a cheap way to transform a three-bedroom home with a den into a four-bedroom home. If it doesn’t have a closet, add an armoire. Or maybe your home has a formal dining room that’s never used. Add doors if it doesn’t have them and a freestanding wardrobe – and you’ve got an instant main floor master bedroom

6. Lighting

Ceiling fixtures tend to get hung, then forgotten, which means they look dated before long. Inexpensive replacements from a home improvement store can brighten up the interior and make a room look more current.

7. Add storage

New homebuyers are always looking for storage space. Maximize what you have by adding a closet storage system, incorporating shelves, two-tiered hangers, and the like. Storage doesn’t have to be deep to be useful. Open up a space between studs and walls, install shelving, and you’ve got the perfect place for a series of small shelves

8. Staging

Potentially this could be the most expensive, but it doesn’t have to be.  Staging a home is just about making it more like an uncluttered luxury hotel suite and less like your family’s home.  Do it on the inside and outside and your home will probably sell faster and for more.

9. Clean Carpets

Carpeting is another detail that can quickly update a home and make it look cleaner. A professional carpet cleaning is an inexpensive investment, especially if your rugs are in good shape and are neutral colors.

10. Shine the bathroom

Next to the kitchen, bathrooms are often the most important rooms to update.   You can improve the look without a lot of cash.  Simple things like a new toilet seat, shining faucets and possibly a pedestal sink are pretty easy for homeowners to install, and they make a big difference in the look of the bath.

Lynn Valley continues to transition as families are falling in love with this passionate community, the great elementary and high schools we have to choose from, the new Lynn Valley Village and Library, the future Bosa Properties build out of Lynn Valley Town Centre, parks, trails and so much more.  It’s an extremely desirable place to settle down with your family and either buy a great family home or build that dream home on very reasonable sized lots.  I’ve grown up in Lynn Valley, went to both elementary and high school here, so it’s exciting to see the buzz around the area and see so many new family start to realize what a wonderful gem we really have here.  Over the last year home prices for a single family detached home in Lynn Valley went from $894,000 in 2014 to $993,000 in 2015, an 11% jump for Lynn Valley homes.  As a Lynn Valley real estate agent and specialist, I’m not surprised.  I work with a lot of buyers on the North Shore and when they ask where I see the most upside potential, hands down my answer is always Lynn Valley.  It’s evident if you do a quick drive in and around Lynn Valley, there’s a real building boom going on.  Older Lynn Valley houses are being bought for their beautiful lots and proximity to everything and buyers are excited to build that new family home surrounded by one of the most picturesque back drops the North Shore offers.  North Vancouver Real Estate Assessments just came out and Global news had a segment last night with “Winners and Losers” for the 2015 property assessments.  Lynn Valley was further validated by being 1 of 3 areas featured: http://globalnews.ca/video/1753275/2015-bc-property-assessments-winners-and-losers

.  If you are considering a move to Lynn Valley, call Lynn Valley real estate expert Jim Pilkington of RE/MAX Crest Realty, 604-785-5188 or JimPilkington@shaw.ca

*Source Global News and BC Assessment