If children are part of your family dynamic, the suitability of a recreational property to youngsters will determine how much you enjoy it. Indeed, a cottage should be a getaway where you relax and kick back - not a source of anxiety.
If children are part of your family dynamic, the suitability of a recreational property to youngsters will determine how much you enjoy it. Indeed, a cottage should be a getaway where you relax and kick back - not a source of anxiety.
Once you’ve made the decision to sell, it’s time to turn your cottage into an appealing and marketable property. The way you live at your cottage is not the best way to market your cottage. In fact, your cottage becomes a product on the market and, like any product, it must show well to achieve optimum sale.
Although the summer is over, memories of warm, languorous days still linger. And you may catch yourself daydreaming about owning a cottage in the Kawarthas by next summer.
The market cycle for recreational properties in cottage country has its rhythm, inspired in part by the predictable changes in season.
When you purchase a new cottage in the Kawarthas, there are several terms you will encounter that you may not understand. But don’t worry. Your real estate representative will be able to explain these terms to you. Here are some common “closing day” terms as defined by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation:
It’s the wee hours of the morning and you are knocked from your sleep by the sound of scurrying within the walls of your cottage bedroom. It’s horrifying to realize you are sharing your space with at least one mouse. And it feels like such a violation.
With the summer officially over, it is now the season for those most unwelcome cottage guests. Although mice are well-adapted for living year-round in cottages, in autumn, as colder temperatures take hold, they migrate indoors in search of food, warmth, and shelter. That’s why cottagers are especially likely to stumble upon mice during winter.
“When I take a buyer to see a cottage property in the Kawarthas, I always walk down with them to the waterfront as soon as we get out of the car,” says Kevin Copithorne, accredited buyer representative at Kawartha Waterfront Realty. “It’s important that the buyer is excited about the waterfront as it is the focal point of a recreational property,” he adds.
“When we work with buyers who are ready to purchase a cottage in the Kawarthas, they often ask us what their purchase costs will be,” says Gail McCormack, broker and owner of Kawartha Waterfront Realty. Indeed, the total cost of buying a cottage involves not only the purchase price of the property, but also the closing costs to complete the transaction. These expenses, which are the buyer’s responsibility, are necessary to complete the purchase but are outside of the purchase price for the property.
“If there is one thing I have always told cottage buyers it is this: Buy the cottage in the Kawarthas that meets your needs right now, not the cottage you imagine will be suitable for you in two or three decades,” says Gail McCormack, broker and owner of Kawartha Waterfront Realty.
Why are cottages sold “with contents?”
“Most cottages in the Kawarthas are sold with significant furnishings included,” says Gail McCormack, broker and owner of Kawartha Waterfront Realty. “Only family pieces and heirlooms or fine antiques might be excluded from the real estate deal,” she adds.
The location of a property is fundamental to its value - and that’s especially true in Ontario’s cottage country. In a cottage purchase, the location of the property determines the distance you will travel from your primary residence, which is likely in Toronto. Rather than straight mileage, what really matters is how much time it will take you to travel back and forth from your house in the city or the suburbs to your new cottage. Hence, a secondary question you need to ask yourself is: