Condos are usually found in urban cities, and they come in all shapes and forms. So, it’s no surprise that Metro Vancouver offers a great selection of condos. These include high-rises, low-rises and townhouses. In addition, most condos come with amenities such as gyms, study rooms and a games room for its residents and guests. By the way, some condos also include built-in retail stores that serve the community.
Furthermore, condos are cozy, and your suite represents your lifestyle. From time to time, it’s important to give your suite a new look. After all, you never know when you might want to sell and with our insights you can get the most value for your condo.
Table of Contents
- Condo Kitchens Reflect New Choices
- New Colour Considerations
- Create a Gallery Wall
- Moisture Absorbers
- Considering Walk-In Tubs
- Resurface Your Balcony
- Watching Out for Changes in the Condo Real Estate Market
Condo Kitchens Reflect New Choices
Well before any pandemic concerns, urban consumers were becoming more reliant on out-of-home sources for prepared meals. Then, as restaurant dining became curtailed in many cities, food delivery services thrived – even as many homebound families expanded their culinary repertoire.
Condo developers are taking notice of this continuing trend towards take-out meals, and some are actively planning units that do not accommodate traditional ovens. Although such a kitchen rethink may seem extreme to some, there are some logical contributing factors.
Perhaps the most compelling rationale is that it avoids the cost of pre-purchasing and installing a full-sized appliance and negates the need to install and provide heavy-duty electrical wiring. It also increases kitchen cabinet and counter space, creating a more expansive, uncluttered appearance.
But, the most important reason may be that buyers now have so many other modern, smaller appliance options that could replace a traditional oven and cooktop, such as plug-in air fryers, induction hotplates, rice- cookers, bread-makers and convection microwave ovens.
New Colour Considerations
The spread of the global pandemic has meant that many of us have spent more time in our homes. This has inspired many of us to brighten up our surroundings. Colour experts are well aware of the tendency to change the appearance of our living space as our needs evolve, and some suggest there will be predictable effects from this pandemic on our choice of décor.
In essence, it’s believed that the threat of compromised health and the sense of social isolation will contribute to a desire for comfort and reassurance from our surroundings.
Consequently, it’s now expected that we’ll be more attracted to natural colours that offer comfort and sanctuary, such as soft hues and soothing shades of browns, greens and blues.
However, while such a palette selection might range from earthy beiges to ocean blues, experts caution against having one colour dominate a condo. Colour should be used to support the noticeable trends toward delineating various areas in the condo for specific purposes and designating spaces for different uses over the course of a busy day.
Create a Gallery Wall
Making a gallery-style wall look great requires a sharp eye and a sense of organization. One of the most important considerations is deciding on the subject matter of your intended group of images. Think about a common visual element in your arrangement. You might display a collection of frames or images that have a similar design, colour tone, subject matteror medium.
For example, you might choose to create a wall of family photos, movie posters or water colours. Choose a wall that holds a place of importance, either in a visually dominant location or in a private nook.
Using a tape measure and level, identify your available space and the sizes of your frames, before planning your artistic arrangement. Of course, the mathematical process of planning a gallery wall has been simplified a great deal by the introduction of modern software apps for smartphones and tablet devices.
However, to ensure a successful, satisfying and lasting result, it’s also important to know that your nails will be secured permanently – ideally in a wall stud – so the weight of the pictures and frames is properly supported.
Fortunately, when it comes to finding studs, there are apps for that, too!
Moisture Absorbers
There are several products on the market that use natural substances to remove unwanted humidity from a room through a process called hygroscopy. They offer condo owners a handy solution in areas where an electric-powered dehumidifier is not desirable or practical, such as in a confined space like a closet, crawlspace or storage area – or even a small bathroom that does not have an exhaust fan to remove damp air.
Employing measured quantities of calcium chloride or rock salt, they draw moisture from the air, which is then trapped in a container such as a pouch or reservoir that is easily removed and emptied.
It’s a convenient small-scale solution to persistent moisture accumulation, which, if left unattended, often leads to other problems such as mould, mildew and musty odours. However, because most of these products are not intended for large rooms – and do not normally take up a great deal of space – the accumulated water in these containers needs to be emptied regularly.
Also, it’s worth noting that the raw material will need to be replenished, which results in an ongoing cost.
Considering Walk-In Tubs
As more seniors choose to remain in the family home for as long as possible, walk-in tubs are becoming a very desirable and welcome accommodation. The clear benefit is in providing the comforts of a soothing bath or access to a bathtub shower while avoiding the risk of injury while getting in and out of a tub. However, it’s important to understand and appreciate the drawbacks of these tubs as well.
Installation safety and other factors aside, preference should be given to purchasing a tub that has easy access with a door that swings in. A swing-in design reduces the risk of a major flood caused by a door latch that fails to close completely, as the water pressure would not permit a swing-in door to accidentally open when the tub is full.
As far as use and comfort, it is also important to note that a bather will need to get inside a walk-in tub when it is empty, in order to close the door before starting to fill it. This can be very uncomfortable for some bathers. It can be even more uncomfortable afterwards, as a bather has to wait for the tub to drain before exiting. Strategic towel racks and a safe heating source nearby might be a useful way to deal with this unavoidable inconvenience.
Resurface Your Balcony
If you have a walk-out balcony that is in disrepair or is no longer an appealing setting for outdoor relaxing and entertaining, you might feel the need to fully replace it.
However, depending on the surface, you may be able to consider a makeover, where your existing material is covered by a substrate (usually installed plywood sheathing) and coated with a waterproof membrane that is comfortable underfoot and available in a variety of colours and patterns.
These types of resurfacing options can be successfully applied to outdoor living spaces that are made from traditional wood decking with open slats between boards, or interlocking tiles that may not be impervious to water.
Aside from avoiding a complete replacement, added benefits include a surface that’s smooth, continuous and easy to clean, and also protects against water damage underneath.
However, professional installation is critical, because it’s important that the membrane is intact, and that there is a carefully graded slope to ensure that ponding does not take place during and after a rainstorm.
Watching Out for Changes in the Condo Real Estate Market
Condo owners are almost always curious about the true value of their unit. For many reasons, it’s a good thing to know. However, most condo owners don’t have the tools and expertise they need to fully understand what their unit is worth in the current marketplace. That’s because there are many underlying factors that need to be considered and many are in a constant state of flux. For example, it’s critical to acknowledge that 2020 was a year like no other, so examining year-over-year statistics must be done from an analytical perspective.
It’s also important to distinguish trends that have emerged in reaction to the anomaly of a pandemic from those that will sustain well beyond recovery and affect long-term real estate values. One view expressed by some sociologists suggests that the next generation of condo buyers may avoid smaller urban condos in favour of more expansive suburban and rural living spaces, especially if they can work from home.
Other experts predict aging baby-boomers will avoid smaller condos, potentially keeping larger condos off the market longer. Meanwhile, every micro-market has its own factors that can’t be ignored – and every condo has its own unique desirable features. If you want to know how all the variables might affect your unit’s value, let’s have a conversation.
