Packing

Packing is OK, assuming you don't have a hard time finding boxes. Must be because it's the end of the month, but all stores I've hit for spare boxes are out, including the liquor stores (normally a great source of sturdy boxes for heavy items). I had to BUY boxes, go figure. Fortunately, I'll be able to claim up to $2,000 of my moving expenses with my new employer. Yay!

I met with my realtor on Friday morning. This lady is incredible. The last time I saw her was probably in 2004, when she sold one of my neighbour's place. When I called to set up an appointment, she said "Melissa? Oh yes, with the condo on West 8th?" She's good. I wanted to sit down with her to get an idea of which renovations I should focus on to prepare my place for the market. First thing she said? The carpets have to do. I cringed at the statement, this means the staircase and top floor need hardwood and it's going to be expensive. What else? The place needs a fresh coat of pain. Agreed. Fortunately, I had just met with a contractor (recommended by two colleagues) who quoted me a very reasonable price to repaint almost the entire condo. What else? Replace the linoleum floors in the bathroom and kitchen with tiles. Yup, already on that and I'm getting an estimate from the tile guy working for Rona tomorrow morning.

She said that spending $10,000-15,000 on the place could get me an additional $20,000-30,000 on the selling price. In any case, I'll recover at least the cost of the renovations and it will make my place much more attractive to buyers. The market has become more competitive in Vancouver, condos don't sell as quickly as they used to.

I'm sad that I, unfortunately, won't be the one enjoying the renovated place. Annie will get to live in a snazzy one-bedroom condo in Vancouver. What she doesn't know yet is that she'll probably have to live through some of the renovations, as most contractors are not available to do the job within the next two weeks ;)