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As a responsible homeowner, making your property safe for young trick-or-treaters is essential.
Everyone wants an accident-free Halloween in the neighborhood, so these few tips will ensure the local kids have a scary and super-fun night.
Clear paths
Little trick-or-treaters are excited and ususally run from house to house. Tidy up the front yard, removing any garden tools or toys that might be left out to avoid tripping hazards.
Light it up
Turn on your exterior lights, especially if you have illuminated the edges of your garden path.
Flame-free
If you plan to decorate your home, it's a cool idea not to use anything flammable.
Animal Friendly Decor
Avoid using the faux spider web decor. These cobwebs are hard to remove after Halloween and birds often try to use it in nesting material come spring. Although it's cozy, it's actually dangerous as it often tangles around the beaks and feet of both parents and babies in the nest.
Cable danger
If your Halloween installation needs electricity, please tape down extension cords and cables from where trick-or-treaters will walk.
Sweet treat
If you're in the “treat brigade”, consider giving kids candy in reflective bags. Or offer gifts that are reflective, as these will help drivers see them as they move down your street.
Allergies
Don't include nuts or chocolate with nut content in your stash of treats.
Check the candy
Sometimes treat wrappers aren't properly sealed when coming out of the box. It's a great idea to go through your candy stash to ensure everything is edible. Where wrappers are even slightly opened, discard the candy.
Be blunt
Many folks will use items like swords and wands to help dress the house so it's super-spooky. Please ensure these items are soft, and there's no possible way kids could come to any harm from them.
Brief neighbours
If you're planning a big Halloween party, it's a great idea to let the neighbors know.
Maintaining a garden makes a substantial difference to the value and desirability of your home when the time comes to sell.
Gardens can sway buyers, especially when reducing their short list of desirable properties.
These six tips will prime your garden for next spring and summer.
Trees and shrubs
Only prune after they've dropped their leaves. It will be an excellent opportunity to reshape the plant if it has become a little unruly. Avoid heavy pruning as this may encourage growth just when it should be falling into dormancy for winter.
Fruit Trees
All pip trees, including apples and pears, should be pruned right now. Try to cut into the trees to open up the centers to improve the amount of air and sunlight that can penetrate. Remove dead and diseased branches.
Lavender
A wonderful shrub that's everyone's favorite. But it's so easy to kill it when pruning. Only cut the new growth. Never cut it back to the wood. If you're too brutal with lavender, it will not survive.
Roses
A light prune is ideal at this time of year for hybrid tea roses. Again, look for dead or diseased canes. Remove canes that have grown in the wrong direction and will limit sunlight penetrating the plant.
Perennials
Wait until these have died back before getting out your secateurs. Resist the temptation to cut them back too hard, but it is an excellent opportunity to reshape the appearance of many of your flowerbeds.
Evergreens
A light pruning will be ideal for evergreens, and you should remove dead and damaged branches. If you want to cut hard, wait until spring so they have a chance to bounce back in the warmer weather.
Remember that the City Of Calgary encourages composting your yard waste:
Put all yard waste into your green cart for composting, including:
Fill your green cart first. If your green cart is full:
In many real estate advertisements you see the claim “close to good schools”, but does the proximity to education centers really affect a property's value?
The adage “location, location, location” is well known and refers to how a property's value benefits or suffers from the surrounding neighborhood.
Families looking to buy often prioritize the proximity to schools and the ease of access to transport systems.
Naturally, sellers want to put a premium on such benefits.
Research from the National Bureau of Economic Research has recently linked property value to schools in a study: Using Market Valuation to Assess Public School Spending.
It claims that for every dollar spent on a local public school, the value of a home goes up $20.
If you assume that funding is the determining factor of a good school, then property prices benefit from having well-financed education facilities nearby.
A 2016 study by property site realtor.com claimed property values were on average higher in top-performing school districts than the median real estate price. It used Duke University as an example, noting homes achieved an average of 52c per square foot more than homes outside the area.
While there is no dispute about the impact of location on value, quantifying that benefit is not a perfect science. Each buyer will see different benefits to the location of a home.
These are some of the essential local amenities that today's buyers want nearby. When you decide to sell, ensure you maximize every location benefit you offer.
Essentials
Folks want to be near some of the most fundamental public services such as schools, universities, hospitals, transport systems and shopping centers.
Lifestyle
Sellers can place a premium on their property for amenities that make life fun, such as parks, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and theaters.
Safety
Low crime rates, well-maintained neighborhoods and a strong community are seen as highly desirable by buyers, especially families and senior buyers.
Nature
If you have great views, either of surf crashing onto the beach or rolling hills, you'll be able to demand a premium.
Jobs
Being close to centers of employment, or a CBD, is a significant tick-in-the-box for buyers who dread wasting hours every day on a long commute. Areas with strong employment growth play well, too.
History
Many folks love living in areas of cultural significance because these areas are so unique. Where you can, emphasize this benefit of “unique living”.
Future
Savvy sellers will also investigate the future plans for their neighborhood and emphasize these benefits. Additional infrastructure, such as a new hospital or train station, will bolster local prices.
Home-hunting can be a deeply frustrating experience if you approach the challenge without a plan.
As America confronts a shortage of homes for sale with sellers waiting out the recent spate of mortgage cost rises, you've got to be on your game as a buyer.
Finding the right property, negotiating successfully or being able to pick yourself back up when you miss out has never been more important.
These tried-and-tested methods have enabled buyers to find their dream homes in the toughest markets.
Be efficient
The first rule is to conserve your energy. Be selective about the properties you wish to view. You'll exhaust yourself if you try to walk through every house, apartment, duplex or condo that catches your eye.
Drive-by viewing
Before committing yourself to spending time inspecting an apartment or house, do a quick drive-by. Check out the exterior and get a first impression of the general maintenance of the property.
Quick spin
Then, take a spin around the neighborhood to see if this is the type of area for you. Avoid wasting time making an inspection to then decide you don't like the area. Do it the other way around.
Limit inspections
Admittedly, this is a tough goal to set, especially as we're seeing fewer properties on the market than usual, a situation that's bound to change in the next few months. However, try to limit yourself to eight to 10 properties. So, choose carefully.
Prioritize preferences
Selecting the homes to walk through will be easier if you have a clear idea of what you want. The attitude, “I'll know it when I see it”, is fine but it will take up your time. Only inspect a property if you like the price, location, condition and floorplan.
With all the excitement of purchasing your first property, you can be excused for feeling a little intimidated by the prospect of furnishing it to complete your dream of home ownership.
Naturally, you want everything to be perfect.
Whether an apartment or house, this is your sanctuary. It's where you'll find respite from the pressures of daily life and invite friends and families over for social occasions.
So, choosing the right furniture is not a small deal.
It's easy to be overwhelmed by the array of styles, such as Scandinavian, rustic, coastal or even minimalist. Or you just want to choose furniture you love, and ignore the principles of a particular style. These tips will help.
Find inspiration
Go online and devour the wide range of home-styling magazines to find your perfect approach. Creating a mood board to capture furniture and layouts you love works a treat.
Color question
Choosing furniture isn't just about size and comfort. Color is a significant factor. Decide on your color scheme before hitting the furniture shops. Consider the color of the walls and your flooring before deciding how to proceed.
Measure up
You should measure each of your rooms. One of the biggest mistakes to make is purchasing furniture that is too large for the intended room or living area. Mapping out your home will ensure you don't make this error.
Stay focused
Pick your preferred styles and then research the approaches you can take within each style. If you adopt a scatter-gun approach, you'll likely end up with a mess of options.
Energy flow
Your furniture will create a kind of “energy”. It's a great idea to use your mapping approach to decide the size of the furnishings and where they should be positioned. You want to ensure each room has a simple but efficient traffic flow.
Eastern promise
Feng shui is the Chinese art of creating positive energy in your home. Its principles make a lot of sense. You may find it worthwhile checking out Feng shui and how it might help you.
The bottom line
It's common to gravitate towards furniture that we “absolutely must have” but is probably beyond our spending limit. It's fun to dream, but you need to keep your feet on the ground. Make a budget for each room to help pay attention to the dollars.
If you're watching mortgage trends moving weekly around, and feeling anxious about the cost of a new apartment or house, that's perfectly okay.
Buying real estate is an emotional business. You're about to make one of the biggest financial decisions of your life
These are some of the typical feelings buyers are likely to experience
Uncertainty
This is common when you're poised to make a big decision. Crunch the numbers to help ease this anxiety. If the math makes sense, then so does your decision.
Nervous
Many folks worry about talking to a bank loan officer or mortgage broker. Mostly, they're worried about hearing the word “no” and having plans derail. So, prepare thoroughly for the encounter. Get your down payment savings as high as possible and ensure your credit score is in good shape. Avoid job-hopping and pay off as much debt as possible.
Super-excited
It's hard to not become excited when you find a perfect property that's in your price range. However, try not to fall too deeply in love until you've bought it. You'll find plenty of buyers just as excited and willing to outbid you.
Disappointment
This feeling can be almost overwhelming when you can't negotiate a deal, or someone has snatched victory from you. Don't be too disheartened if this happens. Honestly, it's okay. There are other homes out there just as good. We'll find one.
Exhaustion
If you've been home-hunting every weekend for the past six months, burn-out could set in. It's at this moment you can make a bad decision. If you're feeling drained, restrict yourself to open houses or take a break for a couple of weeks.
Anxiety
After your offer is accepted, it's natural to be anxious that nothing goes wrong with a building inspection or your loan application. Again, this is normal. Don't be afraid to discuss any fears with your agent or mortgage broker, as they will be able to ease your anxiety.
Happy
You've got the keys! You should be happy! It's this emotion that makes everything else totally worth it.
As we recover from the Holidays, it's hard to believe we need to start thinking about preparing our home for sale if we want to maximize its value in the spring selling season.
To capture the imagination of buyers who'll emerge from their hibernation this spring, you should start working now.
Your efforts will return dividends: pristine properties are always the fastest to sell, no matter the market's mood.
As an experienced agent in our neighborhood, I believe buyer confidence is likely to return as the winter chill gives way to the warmth and optimism of spring.
It will be a new beginning, especially if the Federal Reserve eases back on the past 12 months of rate rises, as it has indicated.
For buyers, this could be an optimal time if they have an income to sustain the current mortgage costs. And as a seller, you know it only takes two competing buyers to push your sales price higher.
Below are seven great ideas for preparing your home for a spring sale.
Plan early
Make a realistic assessment of improvements required to get your property in tip-top condition. An agent should guide you on upgrades that attract buyer interest and those that won't. Don't waste money on work that buyers won't care about.
To-do list
Itemize each repair your home requires. You'll undoubtedly be able to do some of the jobs, but hire a contractor to undertake those requiring a certain skill level. Don't let amateur finishing undermine the value of your home at a critical time.
Major upgrades
Discuss with your agent whether it's worth investing in a new kitchen or remodeling your bathroom. While such renovations may push the price higher, will you get a return on investment? Your agent should help answer that question.
Deep clean
A significant undertaking, you may want to hire professional cleaners to go through your home from top to bottom. If you favor that course of action, book them so they'll complete the task just a few days before your property goes on the market. If you DIY, give yourself plenty of time.
Do a declutter
Ahead of the cleaning project, you should declutter like crazy. Buyers are looking for spacious living areas and bedrooms, and lots of storage space. If your home is full to the gills, now you have your excuse for a big throw-out.
Flower power
Remember, you're selling in spring, so make your garden a picture. Feed and mulch the flowerbeds to ensure your plants look their best. Consider buying colourful spring blooms to brighten the outside. Put your initial focus on the front yard to create a fabulous first impression.
The interior design style known as Bauhaus is guided by the belief that materials should not be hidden behind upholstery but exposed to show the honesty of each piece.
This sparse, austere style can be recognised by its steel tubing designs of chairs, sofas and tables. It still looks incredible in modern houses and apartments, yet it rose out of a war-ravaged Germany from the 1920s.
Bauhaus elevated the skills of architecture, design and machinery and its design philosophy is around simplicity, economic logic and mass production
When you select Bauhaus as your interior design, you are embracing German history and culture that championed the beauty of industrialised, mass-produced furniture of light materials, geometric form and functionality.
Here are some tips for introducing a Bauhaus aesthetic to your home
The most fundamental of Bauhaus principles is that form follows function. Practically, this means that what looks good takes second place to practical use. For example, chairs with no discernible purpose are avoided even if one might look good in the corner of the room. This means no knick-knacks and ornaments.
Bauhaus deals faithfully with the materials of the furniture. Nothing should be hidden for the sake of aesthetics. Your home should expose the beams in the roof and make it integral to the furnishings, where the steel-tubing of chairs and tables is exposed as part of the ‘truth in materials’ philosophy.
Your entire approach must embrace the minimalist, industrial philosophy with the placement of furniture being linear. Avoid curves. Color, line and shape of furniture are the primary, almost the only, consideration in true Bauhaus design.
Bauhaus interior design inspired a new wave of German art in the early 1920s that can still be found today. The founder of the Bauhaus movement, Walter Gropius, warned against creating an empty carcass of a home and he encouraged the installation of select and powerful artwork. Everything you put in your house should embrace the overall concept of Bauhaus.
It may be the smallest room in the house, but the bathroom makes a big impact, especially with so many stunning options now available in tiling, baths and vanities.
A bathroom remodeling project can add thousands of dollars to a property and, at the same time, enhance family life. But some of the new luxury options can be a little impractical when they’re used regularly by kids.
It’s important to make great decisions that are affordable and add value to your home.
Here’s our guide to remodeling for a family-friendly bathroom that’s beautiful and practical.
A bath is essential, as every parent knows. It’s a great place to calm down the kids and get them ready for the evening and bedtime. Acrylic baths offer the best value and safer option than say, an iron bath. The new freestanding baths are the height of luxury, but with kids splashing everywhere, mess can quickly build up in hard-to-access corners. Get the best of both worlds by choosing the styles that look like they’re freestanding but actually fit flush to the wall.
Select an adjustable, detachable showerhead and hand shower to cater for every age group. It’s especially practical for washing hair and will allow you to ‘hose down’ kids on the occasions when they need it, like after a muddy sports day. Hand-helds also makes cleaning the shower easier because you can get into the corners and rinse off tiles properly.
No one enjoys scrubbing the bathroom. Reduce dust and mess build up around the S bend and awkward spots by choosing a unit that runs flush to the wall, or hangs from the wall. It will make cleaning so much easier. Also, choose a soft-closing seat to prevent it slamming down.
Make sure your vanity doesn’t have sharp edges. Avoid protruding basins as this reduces the risk of children bumping their heads. If you have space, consider installing a double vanity so there’s no fighting over the tap at teeth-brushing time. Vanity tops can be stained or scratched easily if you choose the wrong materials. Quartz and stone are high-end materials that are scratch-resistant and come in a variety of designs and colors. They’re better for high traffic and splash areas than say, timber. Glass for your shower recess and glossy porcelain tiles will maintain their original luster even with punishing usage.
Avoid the temptation to choose a white tiled floor. It will show dust, dirt and hair minutes after you’ve cleaned it. Go for a more beige or sandy color, or consider a texture that will make regular wear less noticeable. Make sure the floor tiling is non-slip. A good choice is mosaic tiling because its many grout lines offer greater grip. Tile to the ceiling if this is practical, especially behind the bath. That way the kids can splash to their hearts’ content, and you don’t have to worry about the paintwork.
Ask your bathroom designer about new devices that stop children from being scalded by hot water. A temperature-control feature in the bathroom will keep the children safe and be an asset if you wish to sell your home in the future. Easy-grip lever-handle taps can help avoid accidents, too, and they’re easier for kids to manage.