5 Tips On Keeping A Cleaner Home

With a new school year in full swing and summer vacations at an end, we fall back into our routines (seasonal pun intended!). Everyone's life demands different things at different times, and this can leave our homes in a mess. It doesn't take long, either! Cleaning ends up feeling like a monumental task by the end of the week. The last thing you want to do is sacrifice your weekend, your time to relax, to washing, drying and tidying. The secret to keeping a cleaner home is to complete simple tasks on a daily basis, so that clutter never gets out of control. Here are five tips on how to do it: 

1) Empty Your Dishwasher Every Morning

If you've got one, use it! Put away the dirty dishes before bed, so that they don't have to sit on the…

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15 Questions To Ask Your Realtor

Real estate is an interesting business. Even though you have professionals who take care of financial transactions and legal documents, you still need someone to connect with. When you're helping someone buy their home or sell their existing one, you need to have a good sense of your client - their likes, dislikes, mannerisms and demeanor. Likewise, people need to have a good sense of their real estate professional. Something as simple as a basic understanding of a person can be the difference between a smooth home buying/selling process, and an absolute nightmare. There's lots of Realtors out there, isn't there? It seems like every home you look at online has a different listing Realtor. Here's the thing, though. You have a CHOICE when it comes to…

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When Your Home Buying Checklist Turns Into “Too Picky”

This is a tough subject to approach, for both Realtors and home buyers. Even though we all approach home buying with an objective-as-possible attitude, at the end of the day we’re all human. We all have emotions. Emotions are what make this subject so tough to approach. However, this is what makes this topic so important to talk about!

On one hand we have you, the home buyer. You do your homework, and you make a list of must-have home features to find a home that meets your needs. It's understandable how you can feel that the proper approach would be to include as many details as possible, in terms of applying intense criteria to your home shopping. On the other hand, we have the Realtor. They know the market like the back of their hand – what’s…

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How To: Make Your Laundry Room More Efficient

Do you find you are spending far too much time sorting, washing, and folding laundry? No one wants to be spending their valuable time stuck in their laundry room – no matter how big or small it may be! We are sharing our favourite tips and tricks to make your laundry room more efficient, and more beautiful. Let's look forward to laundry day from now on!

1) Create Effective and Appealing Storage Solutions

We all know the number of products it takes to get your clothes miraculously clean, but why put these mix-match product boxes on display? Instead, place your cleaning products in matching display boxes, baskets, or crates. For frequently used items, like detergent or dryer sheets, store them in clear jars for a décor piece. Remember to…

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Should You Go For A Fixer Upper?

We all love the idea of a fixer upper. Breaking down the old, out-of-date and deteriorated to create a new, personalized and modern space for ourselves. We all love the idea, until we are putting the idea to work. Nothing else can break down a relationship and/or your finances faster than renovations on a fixer upper. However, given the right circumstances and know-how, fixer upper projects can make a lot of sense! Let's talk about this in detail, and see if a fixer upper project is a good choice for you:

They're Priced Low

..as they should be! Project homes are priced lower than other homes in accordance with all of the fixes required. Dan Bawden, of The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), says that people shopping for a…

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Early Spring Maintenance

It's always an experiment to start your outside maintenance in March or April. Will it snow again 3 times, or 4? Will we flood, or will our sump pumps work alright? Once you're confident that second and third Winter have passed, you can get yourself on these 7 easy outdoor tasks:

Eavestrough Cleaning

Clean out all of the pesky pine needles, leaves, dirt and other debris in your gutters! Overflowing gutters and blocked downspouts can damage the siding and foundation of your home. If you want to be pro-active, you can install a gutter guard once it's clean, which allows only the smallest of particles through. All you have to do every now and again is wipe off the large debris.

A/C Condenser Cleaning

Find your big air conditioner…

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While Your Home Is Listed

Now that you've done all of the prep work to get your home on the market and pretty as a picture, what do you do? You know it's up to us now to do our job, but sometimes sellers can feel like they SHOULD be doing something during this time. Here's a list of things to remember during this listing time, so that you can be the best seller you can be:

Be Flexible

Make it as easy as possible for buyers to view your home! Adjust your schedule around potential buyers as much as you can. of course, there are commitments that you may have where you can't compromise your time, but if you can accommodate buyers most of the time, you'll be giving yourself a higher chance of a sale. Not only that, but this accommodation is perceived positively by…

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How To: Move With Kids And Pets

Looking at making a move with your children and/or pets? Here are some simple tips to help you with the process:

1) Prepare Ahead Of Time

Start a discussion with your kids, especially the younger ones, about the move. This gives them time to wind down, figure out the new situation and accept change. Have a question and answer style session with them. All of this helps with the transition! Moving day can be a very challenging day for young kids who aren't adequately prepared.

2) Visit The Neighbourhood

Take the kids and pets to parks around the new place. Let them see how much fun the new area has to offer! If there's a dog park, you have an excellent opportunity to socialize your dog and meet other dog owners. Just like kids…

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Home Buying Advice For Non-Married Couples

For most, this is an awkward topic to cover. More and more couples are electing to buy a home together before marriage, as well as couples that choose to remain common-law. This change in societal norm can result in uncomfortable talks between your sweetheart, your lawyer, your Realtor and your parents. However, the most productive talks ARE the awkward ones! And, in terms of real estate, there's always uncomfortable scenarios you need to be prepared for anyway. In a traditional fashion, married couples had to plan and arrange their finances in a streamlined way for their real estate investment. Does this change for non-traditional you and yours? Nope! In fact, it's pretty much the same - sans the same last name. Let's dive right in and talk about it…

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Preparing For The Sale

Thinking about selling? Not sure about doing it on your own, or getting a Realtor to help you out? Here is the perfect place to begin. Let's go over the process from your perspective:

1) Call Your Realtor

Okay, so we're a little biased. We want you to go with us instead of doing this all yourself. Is it because we're greedy, commission hungry sales people? NOPE. It's because we're professionals. Would you install a water heater in your home if you weren't completely sure on how to do it? Probably not. You'd seek a professional to complete the work. The same thing goes for selling, and that's exactly why we're here. When you're beginning to think about selling your home, we have an informal conversation about why you want or need to…

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