February is the time to rekindle romance with your home

Photo caption: Showing your home some love this time of year can pay off with energy savings and a healthier, more comfortable indoor environment.

(NC)—Valentine is just around the corner and it’s the time of year when we seek appropriate ways of expressing our love for those closest to us. Why not rekindle the romance with your home at the same time? Flowers, candy or jewelry might not get you very far, but asking these three questions is going to show you care:

How is your home feeling?

It’s often hard to get fresh air into our homes during the winter, meaning pollutants can get trapped inside. If your home has poor indoor air quality you can help it feel better.

• Limit the use of products containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in common household products, such as cleansers and paint.

• Consider adding a mechanical ventilation system to provide a controlled source of fresh air to your home. It can help manage indoor pollutants and excess indoor moisture.

Is your home warm and comfortable?

Conventional fibreglass insulation is like a wool sweater on a winter day. It might look warm and fuzzy, but it won’t stop cold air from passing through.

• Conduct an energy audit of your home to spot key sources of air leakage, especially around windows and doors and through the attic.

• Consider installing spray foam insulation (like popular Icynene) in your home. It can create an air barrier and help control air leakage, energy loss and airborne pollutants.

Is your home nice and dry?

Indoor moisture can accumulate in the winter months, leading to a musty smell, condensation on windows and even to mould.

• Make sure bathroom fans and kitchen hoods are hooked up and working.

• Use proper ventilation to the outdoors when showering or cooking.

• Limit the use of humidifiers. Set up a dehumidifier in damp areas inside the home, like the basement.

You can find more ways to love your home online at www.icynene.com.

Don’t pay another cent in rent to your Landlord. I can get you a Home. There are several home loan programs with Zero or Low Down Payment* and with the interest rates at an all time low now is a good time to buy. Give me a call!

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You Should Hire the Best!

A picture is worth a 1000 words. The results are hard to ignore so when selecting a Realtor choose the company that sells twice as much Real Estate as anyone else . There is a difference. www.DaleDyer.com

Spacious Raised Bungalow

See Visual Tour Open House 24/7 at www.DaleDyer.com

Who do you know that is looking for a home in Hespeler? This one has 2,000 sq.ft. of living space and is in an excellent location close to shopping, schools and major highway. Check it out.

27 Barnicke Dr., Cambridge ON

How to make your home look and feel more spacious

 (NC)—After months of being cooped up, a lot of homeowners are beginning to feel their indoor living space is too small. Moving to a larger home is one answer, but for most Canadians, a change of that kind is simply not an option. There are, however, a number of solutions to make a room, or an entire home, look and feel more spacious, experts say.

“When renovating or building a home, or putting on an addition, a great way to create more physical space is to install radiant heat instead of a traditional forced air heating system,” says John Goshulak, heating ambassador for Beautiful Heat. “Radiant heating uses a ductless design without the need for fans, blowers or vents in the floors. As a result, room layouts aren’t limited by vents or registers, and in the basement, bulky ductwork can be completely eliminated.”

For homeowners who are feeling cramped and confined, the following design tricks can help make a living space feel more spacious:

• Use light colour paint on the walls to make the room feel airy.

• Move large sized furniture against the walls and select pieces that can have several functions, such as a trunk that can serve as storage and a coffee table.

• Let the light flow in. Use sheer window coverings or better yet, pull them back completely to make the maximum use of natural light. If natural light isn’t available use a lamp as a focus point.

• Learn how to eliminate bulky ductwork, vents and registers with radiant heating at www.beautifulheat.com.

• Tidy up and move unwanted clutter out to keep the floor space clear.

Now is the time to think of selling your home. Less competition means more opportunities to sell. Find out what your home is worth online at www.WhatsMyCambridgeHomeWorth.com or www.WhatsMyKWHomeWorth.com Or give us a call Now!

What Facebook and Google are Hiding

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New ‘radical look’ smoke alarm gets thumbs up from homeowners

(NC)—Interior designers have been quick to embrace the arrival of new, low-profile smoke and carbon monoxide alarms on the market. Now it seems home builders and homeowners, too, are catching the excitement.

“Alarm designs have not changed much since they were first introduced over 25 years ago,” says Carol Heller, a safety specialist with industry leader, Kidde Canada. “So this new radical change in design raised some eyebrows at first. But now it is proving quite popular with new home builders, renovators, and people looking to make sure their design style is not compromised when it comes to fire protection for their family.” Kidde Canada manufactures more than 80 per cent of all smoke and carbon monoxide alarms sold across the country.

The company’s new Silhouette line of both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms is considerably lower profile than traditional alarms. The units are wired into a home’s electrical system, but feature a sealed rechargeable battery for back-up in case of power outage, lasting for the life of the alarm. For smoke alarms this is 10 years; CO alarm lifespan is seven years.

Smoke alarms also feature: a single button for Test and Hush; an LED indicating the alarm condition; and as memory that stores information each time the alarm sounds.

The low-profile carbon monoxide alarms give you: a backlit digital display that indicates any presence of the deadly gas; a single Peak Level and Test button; and a signal that sounds when the alarm approaches the end of its seven-year life.

More details on these newly designed alarms can be found at www.kiddecanada.com.

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Tips for buying that perfect home

 

(NC)—You have finished school and you’ve managed to land yourself a decent job. Finally in a position where you are financially stable, and you may be ready to take the next step in your life and buy a house. No more having to deal with crazy roommates or strict landlords. But first, you have to find that perfect house.

It is often easy to narrow down the specific elements you want in a house, besides providing a roof over your head. How many square feet is it, does it have a lawn, is it in a great location; but it is important to consider your budget when dreaming up your ideal dwelling. Since this is your first house, you can take advantage of the Home Buyers’ Plan which allows you to withdraw up to $25,000 from your registered retirement savings plan to buy or build a qualifying home.

Once you’ve finally chosen a house and put down the deposit, all that’s left to do is pack up your belongings. Then, once tax season rolls around, you may be able to claim $5000 as the first-time home buyer’s amount. This is a non-refundable tax credit representing tax savings of up to $750. You can find out if you qualify online at www.cra.gc.ca/hbtc.

Buying the perfect home starts with the right Real Estate Agent. Who will you trust your hard earned money to?

Dale Dyer is a full-time, second generation, negotiation guru and Realtor. Receive “Hot New Listings” as soon as they come on the market and start your house hunting search now.

JUST LISTED-49 McNaughton St., Cambridge On

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Curing Home Buyer’s Remorse

Buying a home and experiencing feelings of remorse is about as common as death and taxes. It happens to us all, unless, of course, you have money to burn and you purchase homes like the rest of us do coffee.  

 Most likely that is probably not the case for most of us. We all suffer from doubt, fears and worries and even more so once your ‘John Hancock’ is on the signature line of the deal. The wheels of your mind go into over drive with questions such as will the furniture fit in the living room? Will the dining room accommodate grandma’s heritage set for 12? Did we pay too much? What’s wrong with it? Are the neighbours friendly? Are there other kids in the neighbourhood for our little Johnny to play with? Is this really our dream home or should we have waited for something we like better? 

The fears and anxieties that surges from the fact that you just bought one of your biggest lifetime investment is without a doubt a life-changing event. But it doesn’t need to take over your life as there are ways to alleviate your concerns.

Doing your homework before you purchase should help and needs to  include factors such as checking out the neighbourhoods to make sure that it meets your need. Visiting at different time of the day or evening will give you a good idea about what the atmosphere of the street is like. Hiring the right Realtor goes without saying. (This is where I come in). Experience and proven negotiation skills are a must. Getting pre-approved is also high on the list of things to do before you buy. You will know exactly what price range you can buy and it will give you clout with the sellers especially if there are multiple offers on a home. Purchase with the thought of resale value. Would this home be a good resale or will it sit on the market for months? Don’t ever think that your questions are simple. This is too large of an investment to be shy about asking the questions that you might have. Your agent works for you and is full of information just waiting to be retrieved.   

The anxiety might still haunt you even after the deal has firmed up and you’re just waiting for the closing date to get here. Go over the list of reasons that made you want to buy a new house in the first place. Does your present accommodation has you feeling like you live in  a can of sardines  or does the prospect of having a new baby has you fretting as to where you would put a bassinet? Go over the listing of the home you bought. Envision your furniture placement in the rooms and maybe window shop for new pieces – but wait until you move to buy new stuff as you might change your mind once you move in. Mentally decorate your new home with paint, pictures, accessories. It’s important to analyze all the facts that made you decide to move. You might just be experiencing remorse especially if your present pad is full of great memories.

Now that you’ve told everyone and their brothers and that you posted on every media that you were new home owners,  keeping quiet about it might be a good thing. Go on with your daily tasks because sometimes your closest allies could become your harshest critics. Everyone has an opinion as to how much you should have paid and where you should have bought but they are not the ones who will be paying for it or living there. Seek out the positive reasons you picked the home that you did. And for goodness sake stop house hunting. Stay off the Realtor’s website as this will only cause you more pain.

Your Realtor is there to help you with any questions, and to reassure you that you have made the right choice. A good Realtor will ease your mind of its worries and anxieties. Hopefully you will have had a home inspection done and that too will ease your mind as to what has been done and what needs to be done (no surprises). It’s also a great resource for maintaining your home.

Life is more than your house so think about your family and the new memories that you will be building in your new home. Holidays and special occasions with family and friends will be new and something to look forward to. Give it a few months and you will look back and wonder what the fuss was all about.

 

The Best Man for the Job

You’ve heard the saying that “good help is hard to find” especially when it comes to home repairs. Having Mike Holmes as your best friend might not be an option but these tips when you need to hire help might be of great help and save you money:

Choose your plumber, then your fixtures

If your plumber is charging you by the hour to install new bathroom or kitchen fixtures, here’s a sure way to save money. Ask him what brand he likes best. Chances are this will be a common, dependable brand that he’s very familiar with.
Choose models made by this brand, and he’ll install them more efficiently, saving time and money by not having to struggle through detailed instructions about what washers go where and what size wrench he needs to tighten everything. Also, he’s more likely to install products correctly if he’s already done it countless times before, and that will save you repair costs in the long run.

Hire a qualified electrician

A handyman can be a real help when it comes to tackling small jobs you don’t have time to complete, or skilled jobs you just don’t feel comfortable attempting. You may even be tempted to give your handyman small wiring jobs or other electrical work. Before you do, however, make sure he is licensed to do electrical work (if local code requires it) and that his work is up to snuff.

“You get the wrong guy messing around with your electrical wiring—someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing—and you’re in trouble,” says Jim Abbott, owner of Handyman Matters in Toronto, Ontario.

The mistakes, which can be dangerous, are hidden behind walls or within electrical panels. Look for red flags, such as light switches and outlets in strange places.
“I’ve seen it,” Abbott says. “A guy runs out of wire and puts a switch at eye level or an outlet halfway up the wall.”

Ask your handyman for a guarantee

“A lot of handymen give their customers the tailgate warranty,” says Jim Abbott. “They drive away in their pickup truck with your cash in pocket, and all you see is their tailgate disappearing. That’s it. That’s your warranty.”

Instead, ask them if they’ll guarantee their work for up to a year. If they will, get it in writing. If they won’t, take their reluctance as a red flag.

Shorten that repair visit

Any repairperson who is paid by the hour will happily lounge around your house chatting up a storm or watching you get organized. The clock is ticking, after all, and that kind of work is oh-so-easy. With a little forethought, however, you can make sure that every minute of a repairperson’s visit is nose-to-the-grindstone productive.

1. Discuss all of the details of the job over the telephone—while the clock isn’t ticking. This also ensures that the worker will arrive with all of the necessary tools and materials.
2. Clear away any obstructions in advance of the repairperson’s arrival, and make sure there’s proper light for the worker to see by.
3. Check the house over for all tasks that this particular repairperson could handle—thus saving you service charges in the future.
4. Tell the worker not to bother cleaning up. Cleanup is never done to your specifications anyway, is it? The worker will be out your door in a minimum of time—and your bill will be the minimum as well.

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