The Importance of Getting Your House Prepared for the Market

Once you have made the choice to sell your home, do not just assume it’s ready to be put on the real estate market. The first thing you need to do is take a step back and look at your house from a buyer’s point of view. Ask yourself if the house is looking the best it absolutely can be. Ask yourself what changes need to be made before it goes to the market. Let’s admit that you do want the best dollar value for your house.

Even if you think your house is in decent condition, you still need to look for anything – even the small things- that could use repairs or renovations. You have to remember that a potential buyer will can notice anything. The smallest flaw could stop someone from making an offer on your house. First impressions are vital and renovations that are well planned out will help increase the selling price of your house.

A place to start is painting any room that is looking a little dull. A fresh coat of paint can really bring any room to life.  Rooms like typically need makeovers are kitchens and washrooms. Consider new flooring as well. This is all about curb appeal.

De-cluttering is also recommended. By simply removing unneeded items will make your house seem much bigger.  Some things you need to ask yourself before you start to de-clutter are: Do I really need this stuff? Do I have duplicates of any of these items? Are these items useful? Are they up-of-date?

Some other key tips for getting your house ready for the market include are taking your pets away from the house during potential buyer showings and make sure your attic, basement and garage are clutter free, just like any other room in your house.

If you are looking to sell your house in the Brampton area, feel free to call me at 905-456-1000 ext. 3411 or email me at info@sandykennedy.com.

Creative Ways to Staying Cool on Hot Summer Days

Hot. Hot. Hot.

For many people, the summer season is always a welcomed season during the year. There are always lots to do during the summer, but the summer days in Brampton and in Peel Region are getting hotter and hotter. 30 plus temperatures with high humidity. Little wind and sizzling, sticky air. There are many ways people keep cool on these days, such as drinking lots of water, wearing loose clothing and staying in the shade. To help keep your cool, I have a few other ways.

1) Cooler showers
Instead taking a typical hot shower, to keep your body cool, take a lukewarm shower instead. Just make it warm enough.

2) No cooking with the stove
This may seem silly, yes, but if you want to cook hot food during hot summer days, use a BBQ. Why? A kitchen stove is in an area of your home that is smaller  (thus building up heat) than where you would be cooking with a BBQ, which is normally outdoors.

3) Freezing sheets
A few minutes before you head to bed, stick your bed sheets in a plastic bag and then place them in your fridge or freezer. Please note that this will not keep you cool all night long, however, it will keep you cool long enough to fall asleep.

4) Go low
If you have a basement in your home, spend some time down there as basement level rooms are normally cooler.

5) Don’t move around
During extremely hot days, doing things like exercising or playing sports isn’t a great idea. Wait until the evening air rolls around when it will be cooler.

Bonus! If you are in Brampton, a great place to cool down is Wild Water Kingdom. Tons of fun for the whole family!

http://www.wildwaterkingdom.com/

How to Keep the Bathroom Clean Longer

No one enjoys cleaning the bathroom, (if you do feel free to come on over and take care of mine whenever you like!) but it is something that requires a lot of hard work and needs to be done often. I am all for cleaning the bathroom less often than I have to, as long as it stays clean in the meantime.

Here are a few ways you can keep your bathroom clean longer:

1)  Moisture is the enemy! 

Make sure the shower walls, tub, and door are dry before after your shower. Keep a squeegee in or near the shower to remind everyone to wipe it down after each use.

2) Water repellant is your best friend! 

To make wiping down and cleaning your shower even easier, spray it with a water repellant. It stops things from sticking and drying to the surface which makes cleaning a breeze!

3)  Get rid of that bar of soap

Use liquid soap instead of a bar to keep your sink and surrounding area cleaner longer.

There are plenty more suggestions on how to keep your bathroom cleaner longer here, I highly recommended you check it out! Do you have any tricks or suggestions for keeping a bathroom clean?

Source: http://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/cleaning-tips/a3887/bathroom-cleaner-longer/

4 Tips to Organize Your Garage this Summer

Summer is practically here! Which means you’ll probably be outside every chance you get because we Canadian’s don’t waste a second indoors while the weather is above 0, am I right? Thought so. A great project to get done before the beautiful summer weather arrives is to organize your garage. It makes doing outdoor projects and activities so much easier and more enjoyable when you don’t have to go searching through a pile of dirty stuff to get what you’re looking for. Not only that, the garage can be yet another room for prospective home buyers to fall in love with. Who doesn’t like a beautiful, clean, and organized garage? 

Here are a few tips to get a perfectly organized garage this summer:

1) Hooks, hooks, hooks!

Hooks are so useful when organizing a garage. You can use them to hang bikes, ladders, gardening equipment, shovels, hoses, brooms, the list is endless! 

2) Muffin tins

Huh? Muffin tins in the garage? Weird, right? Maybe, but they can definitely be useful for storing small things like nails and screws. Such a clever idea!

3) Pegboards

No garage is complete with out a handy dandy pegboard. Perfect for storing small gardening tools as well as hand tools. 

4) Take advantage of overhead storage

Attach some hooks, or PVC pipes to the ceiling of your garage for even more storage space!

So there are just a few ways to organize your garage. Click here for the whole article (or copy and paste the link below) with even more great tips. I highly recommend checking it out. Happy organizing!

http://www.familyhandyman.com/garage/storage/reclaim-your-garage-organize-it

4 Tips to Organize Your Garage this Summer

Summer is practically here! Which means you’ll probably be outside every chance you get because we Canadian’s don’t waste a second indoors while the weather is above 0, am I right? Thought so. A great project to get done before the beautiful summer weather arrives is to organize your garage. It makes doing outdoor projects and activities so much easier and more enjoyable when you don’t have to go searching through a pile of dirty stuff to get what you’re looking for. Not only that, the garage can be yet another room for prospective home buyers to fall in love with. Who doesn’t like a beautiful, clean, and organized garage? 

Here are a few tips to get a perfectly organized garage this summer:

1) Hooks, hooks, hooks!

Hooks are so useful when organizing a garage. You can use them to hang bikes, ladders, gardening equipment, shovels, hoses, brooms, the list is endless! 

2) Muffin tins

Huh? Muffin tins in the garage? Weird, right? Maybe, but they can definitely be useful for storing small things like nails and screws. Such a clever idea!

3) Pegboards

No garage is complete with out a handy dandy pegboard. Perfect for storing small gardening tools as well as hand tools. 

4) Take advantage of overhead storage

Attach some hooks, or PVC pipes to the ceiling of your garage for even more storage space!

So there are just a few ways to organize your garage. Click here for the whole article (or copy and paste the link below) with even more great tips. I highly recommend checking it out. Happy organizing!

http://www.familyhandyman.com/garage/storage/reclaim-your-garage-organize-it

MS Walk in Brampton a HUGE success!

According to medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, multiple sclerosis is defined as ‘a chronic autoimmune disorder affecting movement, ensation, and bodily functions. It is caused by destruction of the myelin insulationcovering nerve fibers (neurons) in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).’

MS is a disease that affects millions of people around the world. A disease needs a cure. In fact, Canada has the highest rate of MS in the world. Every year I enjoy – like many others – participating in the annual MS Walk. This event happens in many communities. This year, more than 14,000 Ontario residents put on their shoes for the walk. The MS Walk in Brampton happened at the Heart Lake Secondary School in the north end of the Flower City. Participants were able to do the 4K, 7K and 10 K walk. I was lucky enough to have my wonderful wife, Tamara and my kids join me for the event. In the end, more than $92,000 was raised!

A worthy cause to fight a terrible disease.

Want to paint like a pro? Here are some great tips!

As a real estate agent who has been in the realty industry for close to 30 years now, when someone or a couple or a whole family is looking sell their home, I have recommended that if the walls need sprucing up, a fresh job is a good idea.

On a diynetwork.com article, there is a list of great painting tips that I would like to share with all of you:

2. Paint like a pro.
Painting is your chance to show off your skills. Use an edge pad for clean lines around doorframes, ceiling edges and corners so your walls look great — down to every last detail.

6. Put your sandwich bags to work.
Slip a small plastic bag over your doorknobs and tape the edge to avoid getting paint in places it wasn’t meant to go. You’re so resourceful.

12. Take away the shine.
Paint doesn’t always adhere to glossy surfaces. We recommend using a light grade sandpaper to take the gloss off the surface so your new paint sticks like it should.

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/skills-and-know-how/painting/15-painting-tips-to-paint-like-a-pro

Springtime in Brampton

We FINALLY have the warmer weather we have been waiting for in my city of Brampton, Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area and all over Canada. I’ve seen so many Brampton residents and neighbours loving the sunshine, the parks, walking trails and much more. From Chinguacousy Park to the Heart Lake Conservation Area, springtime in Brampton is pretty great.

For a visual look at how great it can be, take a look at this short video of mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1mTrxunpaI&feature=youtu.be

Do you have allergies? Here is how you allergy-proof your house!

Well, spring is finally here. The warmer weather, the grass is growing in and all that fantastic sunshine. But with spring here, like so many people, allergies start to pop up. The sneezing, the runny noses, the shortness of breath – ugh! What if you could allergy-proof your home so that your springtime allergies aren’t hitting you so hard?

In a great thisoldhouse.com article there are 13 recommended ways to allergy-proof your home. Take a moment to read this article:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20391382,00.html

The steps to stage your home

Looking to sell your home? Good! First, I suggest you call Sandy and start packin’ (I had to throw that in there. :P) and second, you should start staging your home. The truth is, if you want sell your home quicker, you have to do some work on your home. It’s time to make your house look from average to awesome!

An online article from hgtv.ca posted 9 fantastic steps to staging your home so you can sell it faster. Here are a few of those steps:

1) De-Clutter

The first step in getting ready to sell is de-clutter, de-clutter, de-clutter so potential buyers aren’t overwhelmed by your stuff, but rather impressed by your home. Counters and other surfaces should be kept clear and any furniture that isn’t needed stored away. The good news about this tedious task is packing and purging will make moving day that much easier.

4) But Don’t Touch the Nursery!

Although the nursery and childrens’ rooms should be de-cluttered and tidied as well, personal effects can remain as they are. There’s something reassuring and touching about seeing a baby’s room that can mean all the difference to a potential buyer (especially ones that are starting a family).

8) Draw Attention to Selling Features

As a general rule closet doors should be kept closed, but if there’s a walk-in that should be noticed, a small note to alert potential buyers is ok.

Here is the whole article. Recommended! 🙂

http://www.hgtv.ca/realestate/article/how-to-stage-a-home/