When you’re selling your home, and especially when you’re also shopping for a new home, you need to manage your time carefully.

Here are some tips that will help:

• Block out times on your calendar for home selling/buying activities. The simple act of scheduling these activities makes them easier and more manageable.

• Be pessimistic when scheduling. For example, if you estimate you’ll need three hours on Saturday afternoon to check out new neighbourhoods, add an hour.

• Maintain a to-do list. That way, details won’t fall through the cracks and cause stress. If possible, use a to-do app on your phone that automatically alerts you of important tasks.

• Leave plenty of one-hour breaks in your schedule. Time management experts call these “buffer periods”. You need these times to take a breather!

• Whenever possible, get help. It could take you three days to paint several rooms on your own. Or, it could take just one day with a couple of family members or friends helping.

• Use technology to save time. For example, use Google Maps to estimate driving times, and the caption feature on your phone’s camera to make notes and take pictures of homes you see.

*Morris Marketing*

Let’s face it. Planning events can be stressful. So, it’s not surprising that some homeowners can slip into “worry mode” when putting their property up for sale. Who wants that? So here are some things you can do to reduce selling stress and enjoy the adventure.

• Understand the selling process. The more you know about the steps involved in selling your home, the less mysterious — and, therefore, less stressful — it will be.

• Give yourself the time you need. Feeling rushed and stressed comes from trying to do too much in too little time. Even if you’re selling quickly, it’s important to block off sufficient time in your calendar for the things you need to do.

• Take care of yourself. When it comes to selling your home, that
means you need to eat well and stay healthy, so you have the energy you need throughout the process.

• Make your home attractive to buyers. That not only means tidying up and doing a little home staging, it also means setting the right listing price.

• Get the help you need. You don’t have to do everything on your own. That’s why working with me is so advantageous. I take care of the many details for my clients so that they can enjoy the journey.

Let me help you. Call today! 416-779-8732

Every season, products appear in the marketplace that are either new or simply newly discovered. Here are some that you might find are worth checking out:

• A whole-home water system monitor that shuts off supply at the source in the event of an unexpected leak. It connects to your smartphone and gives you the ability to respond with remote-control commands.

• All-natural cork flooring sheets that unroll like linoleum and provide a thin waterproof cushion that also helps insulate floors and absorb sound.

• A waterproof shower light that claims to kill mould and fungus using ultraviolet light. Turn it on after your shower is over.

• Liquid masking “tape” that dries after you apply it with a brush, then peels off by hand when you’re finished your paint job.

• A “smart” electrical panel box that tracks power usage on your smartphone, broken down by circuit breaker or appliance. You can even remotely turn off a breaker if you think you may have left an appliance running.

*Morris Marketing*

Although it’s still early in the year, we’ll soon be heading into what’s traditionally a busy period in real estate: spring and summer.

As the season changes, many buyers will start shopping for a new home. If you’re thinking of selling, this is the time to start making plans to take advantage of the spring/summer market.

You’ll want to find out how much you can get for your current home, what type of new home you qualify to purchase, and how best to prepare your current home for a quick sale at a good price.

I can help!! If you have any questions or need advice, please give me a call at 416-779-8732.

Cheers,

Ruth.

Two of the biggest stressors for DIYers are projects that cost too much or take too long. There’s no sure way to guarantee that one or the other (or both) won’t happen, but there is a lot you can do to minimize the probability.

When budgeting, a big mistake DIYers make is not considering the little things. For example, you might budget for drywall panels but neglect to include the cost of nails, tape and plaster. It’s easy to
overlook these small items thinking they won’t add up to much of an expense. But often they do. In fact, for many renovation projects, the little things account for up to 20% of the cost.

Another expense that is often overlooked is taxes. When you find a
bathtub you like for $399, be sure to budget for what you’ll actually pay out-of-pocket. Also, don’t forget possible delivery expenses.

A budgeting tip many experts recommend is to price everything you
need and then add 10%. That gives you a buffer. Regarding scheduling, consider whether or not you’ve done this type of project before. If you’re laying hardwood floors for the first time, there’s
a learning curve. You’ll likely take two or three times longer than you would if you were more experienced.

Imagine you’re looking for a new home. You have a list of all the features you want, just like you would have a grocery shopping list. However, when you explore the homes currently on the market, none meets all your criteria.

What do you do? You have a few options.

First, you can take a second look at your list. Does your new home need every single feature on it? Are there one or two features you can do without?

For example, can you settle for a smaller kitchen assuming the property has everything else you want? Often, buying a home that’s close to perfect is perfect enough.

Second, consider what you might be able to add to a home later, by way of a renovation or other improvement. If a property doesn’t have a finished basement, for example, you might be able to get that done down the road.

Finally, consider the current level of activity in the local real estate market. Is it likely that a lot of new homes will be coming on the market soon? If so, your perfect home may come up on the market within the next few weeks. Maybe even tomorrow!

In that situation, make sure you arrange to get immediate alerts for newly listed homes that meet your criteria. You’ll want to jump on each new opportunity before other buyers see the listing.

When a buyer opens a cabinet door in your kitchen, it’s not an invasion of privacy. The buyer simply wants to get a sense of the available space. So, you can expect some buyers to explore cabinet space, especially in your kitchen and bathrooms. That’s why making sure cabinet space looks clean, organized and spacious is so important.

Consider these tips:

• If you store a lot of items inside a cabinet, make liberal use of storage bins, baskets, and small plastic containers. Clutter doesn’t look like clutter when it’s organized!

• Go through each cabinet and get rid of as many items as possible. Pay particular attention to expired products. If you haven’t used an item for a while, question whether you need to keep it anymore.

• Consider storing some items somewhere else in your home. For example, pack up less used items and store them in a larger closet or other storage space.

• Thoroughly clean cabinets that are prone to odours, such as the ones under the kitchen sink or used for storing food. Buyers will only give a cabinet space a quick glance, yet they’ll form a lasting impression.

Make sure it’s a good one!

It can be tough, sometimes, to push the “go button” and put something new into action. For example, it takes courage to register for your first marathon or quit a job to accept a new opportunity.

So, it’s understandable that you might hesitate to list your home for sale, even when you know it’s the right decision for you.

That’s where I can help.

If you have any lingering concerns or questions about pushing the “go button” on listing your home, don’t hesitate to call me.

I can help you with information and advice on getting the best price for your current home and, if needed, I can also assist you in finding your next dream home.

All the best! (416) 779-8732

2020 promises to be the year that 5G networking – the Fifth Generation of internet connectivity – becomes available to millions of North Americans through a number of major data carriers.

While consumers may only become aware of many of its features and benefits over time, many hardware and appliance manufacturers are currently embedding advanced technology into their new products, in order to utilize 5G’s enormous capacity to transfer data.

For example, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be applied to day-to-day functions, such as shopping and deliveries. The 5G bandwidth will enable instant communications – from your refrigerator to your grocer, or from your trash bin to your municipal waste service.

Just as previous 4G interactivity enabled companies like Uber and Amazon to create entirely new domestic cultures, 5G will create many more new opportunities, with exponentially greater effect.

It will drive the next era of technological breakthroughs, by allowing immediate responses and continuous coverage during critical tasks, such as enabling traffic management for driverless cars, and many other types of sensitive operations.

If you find that the water flow in your house is letting you down, there are some simple steps you can take to isolate and possibly alleviate the problem.

For example, a blockage could be caused by mineral deposits on faucet nozzles, tub spouts and showerheads. By immersing the spout and/or aerator in a bucket of water and vinegar or other manufacturer recommended solution, you might easily free up the flow and volume of water.

Another problem that could impact overall pressure is a leak along your main supply. Detection tests can confirm a leak – even if it’s underground – but, if it’s on your property, you’ll be responsible for fixing it. Inside your home, examine your water supply for leaks. Even if you can’t see the full system, listen closely for hissing pipes, or watch for mould infestation – a sure sign of excessive moisture.

Finally, if your lines are a collection of various carriers joined together (e.g. lead pipes to copper or copper to plastic), there is a possibility that you are losing pressure at those links – especially if older material is in use. Have a qualified plumber address those kinds of issues.