4 New Year’s Resolutions for Your Home

Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions yet? Here are 4 commitments we should all be making to our homes this year.

 

 

Have you made your 2015 New Year’s Resolutions yet?  If you have, we hope you’re already off to a great start.

According to research conducted by the University of Scranton, 47% of people who make New Year’s resolutions make commitments to self-improvement or education related resolutions.  But, what about home improvement?  Home is so intrinsically tied to our self identity, so shouldn’t we make a few resolutions for our home, too?  Before 2015 gets away from us, here are 4 New Year’s Resolutions to make this year for your home.



1. Implement a “one in, one out” rule. A cluttered home can sometimes translate to a cluttered life. To start the year off fresh, take some time to sort through the items you’ve added to your home and vow to only hold on to those that are useful or have sentimental value. Then going forward, for each new item you add to your home, vow to donate or toss another. This will teach you to only collect items that have use or purpose.



2. Learn to be grateful for home. Answer this question: what does home mean to you? Is it a blessing? A refuge? A shelter? A place to gather? No matter the answer, home is a place that should never be taken for granted. This year, commit to remembering the true value of a home. One of the best ways to do this is to look for opportunities to share the gift of home with others. Take in a shelter pet, participate in a home build for those less fortunate, or simply share family traditions with your children.



3. Make a fix it calendar. Life gets busy. A winter project gets put off until the warmer weather arrives. And then the spring comes and we don’t want to spend the warmer days doing home projects. Take time this January to identify things around the house that could use a little TLC. Add one to-do to each month of your fix-it calendar and commit to focusing on that one project for 30 days. It’s easy to put off those home projects, but with a structured plan those honey-dos seem a little more manageable.



4. Make happiness your map. Finding a new home is a big move. Literally! Packing up and moving to a new home can sometimes be intimidating, but if a little extra room, a bigger backyard or a better neighborhood will add to your happiness at home, it’s worth revisiting the big picture. Real estate professionals are there to help throughout the home buying or selling process and with more modern home search tools at your fingertips, searching for the right home for you has never been easier.

Update of the Light Rail Transit (ION) Construction Progress in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridgge.

ION construction   ION construction continues on Caroline   In Waterloo, a base layer of asphalt was placed on Caroline, from William to Allen, on Friday, December 5. This means that construction to upgrade and replace the underground services in this area is now nearly complete. In the new year, work crews will tie-in the remaining utilities. This work may require periodic closures of Caroline and the William/Caroline intersection. Construction to upgrade underground services (i.e., water and wastewater) continues on Caroline, from William to just past Father David Bauer. A temporary asphalt base was poured in this section before Christmas. In the new year, crews will return to this section to continue work to upgrade the underground services. When work resumes, local access to businesses (for employees, customers and deliveries) and residents will be maintained, along with access for fire, police and EMS.   Work to remove vegetation along the CN railway tracks and to build the railway embankment, from Northfield to King South, in Waterloo is on-going. GrandLinq Contractors' crews are now working on the section from Columbia to Seagram. Crews are using the Columbia, University and Seagram crossings as temporary access points.   Weather permitting, in early January, crews will continue to build the embankment along the CN railway. During this time, GrandLinq will also build the Cedar Creek Culvert, which will run under the LRT tracks. In the spring, work to complete the remaining ION infrastructure (i.e., LRT trackway, poles, and overhead wires that power the train) will begin.    Work at the ION Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility at 518 Dutton Drive in Waterloo continues. This facility will be home to the Region's LRT vehicles. Grading at the site is on-going and work required to install underground servicing is scheduled to begin this month. A tower crane is now in place to facilitate the next phase of construction.   In Kitchener, construction to relocate and upgrade underground services on Borden, from Charles to Nyberg continued until late-December, before pausing for a Christmas break. During this time, access to businesses and residences continued to be maintained.   Weather permitting, crews will return to this area early this month to tie-in the remaining services on Borden, from Charles to the CN railway. Later in 2015, work to complete the remaining ION infrastructure (i.e., final curbs and LRT trackway, poles, and overhead wires that power the train) will begin. Work to remove vegetation and build embankments along the CN railway tracks, from Borden to Hayward, in Kitchener continues. Crews are using the Hayward, Hanson, Ottawa South, Borden and Overland crossings as temporary access points.   Weather permitting, in January, GrandLinq Contractors will continue to build the embankment along the CN railway and start work on the new railway bridge over Schneider Creek. The foundation work and placement of the bridge will be performed using a crawler crane. Later in 2015, work to complete the rest of the ION infrastructure will begin (i.e., LRT trackway, poles, and overhead wires that power the train). In Cambridge, ION adapted bus rapid transit (aBRT) construction continues along Hespeler and is almost complete at the Ainslie Street transit terminal.

 

Hydro One construction update   Hydro One's work to relocate and bury a section of existing overhead transmission infrastructure is continuing along the Hydro One right-of-way in Kitchener, between Fairview Park Mall and Courtland East. In recent months, Hydro One completed construction of the duct bank system west of Wilson, which will house the new underground cables and allow them to be accessed for required repairs.   Crews have also installed additional new steel tower structures in the west end around Courtland and at the new junction in the Fairview Park Mall parking lot.   In December, crews began installing the underground cables and will be continuing this work into the new year. Hydro One is still on target to complete construction by December 2015.

 

LRT construction in 2015   All areas along the 19 kilometre ION LRT route will see some construction in 2015. With large projects such as ION, exact schedules evolve according to weather conditions and construction approvals.  Throughout 2015, ION staff will continue to meet with stakeholders, including residents, businesses and community groups, to keep them informed of construction and how road restrictions and/or road closures will impact them. Once construction details are finalized, each resident and business owner within 125 metres of ION construction will receive a written notification before work begins. Road signage, including detour information and way-finding for businesses (how customers can access stores), will go up before construction commences. Advertisements will be also placed in local newspapers and detailed information will continue to be available at www.rideION.ca as well as on the ION social media channels. Residents can also sign-up for on-going construction updates through the construction website.

 

Stay in touch: construction website       Dedicated to ION construction, www.rideION.ca features an interactive ION route map, information on ION stops as well as an opportunity to sign-up for regular construction updates.   A link to Grand River Transit (GRT) is also included in construction updates.     The latest ION Construction Updates are available at: http://bit.ly/1tpNcko   Sign-up to have the latest Construction Updates emailed directly to you at: http://www.rideion.ca/sign-up-for-updates.html

Tips at a Glance for First-Time Home Buyers

 

Contact me today for a free Home-Buyer's Toolkit

KITCHENER-WATERLOO HOME SALES FINISH STRONG IN 2014 - Average Home Sale Value Up: How does your home compare?

 

The end of 2014 brought with it a 7-year high for home sales in the Region with 6,564 residential sales processed through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR), an increase of 3.0 percent compared to 2013.

Things got off to a sluggish start early in 2014, with sales lagging behind home sales in 2013 for the first five months of the year. However, home sales did ramp up again with a delayed spring market which took off in June of 2014. The year ended strong with 314 residential sales in December compared 283 the same time last year resulting in an 11.0 percent increase.

"With ice storms and polar vortexes in early 2014 the spring market started much later than usual but once it got going, home sales ramped up making last year one of the best on record" said Mark Wolle, President of the KWAR.

A total of 6,564 residential properties were sold compared to 6,371 at the end of 2013. Total residential sales in 2014 included 4,384 single detached homes (up 3.3% from 2013), 470 semi-detached (down 6.9%), 444 townhomes (up 11.3%) and 1,206 condominium units (up 4.7%).

Hot markets like Toronto and Vancouver got everyone talking about housing bubbles this past year, but real estate is very local. Locally, Waterloo Region remains a strong and stable housing market and a desirable place to live and invest.

The dollar volume of sales in 2014 increased 7.2 percent over the previous year, totalling $2,207,485,532 surpassing the "2 billion" dollar mark for only the second time in the KWAR’s history.

The average sale price of all residential sales in 2014 increased 4.0 percent to $336,302 in comparison to 2013. Single detached homes sold for an average price of $382,798 (up 4.3%), semi-detached for $256,606 (up 2.9%), townhomes for $287,951 (up to 3.4%) and condominiums sold for an average of $222,359 (up 2.5%).

Contact me today for a complimentary Home Value Report!

New Kitchener Home Listed in Prestigious Deer Ridge - 4 bed/4 bath Premium Home UNDER $800,000!

If you happened to miss this beautiful, custom-built home by Castlebrook Homes, now is your chance.

With luxurious, premium upgrades on a 60 foot lot, this home is sure to impress.

Check out the multi-media here and contact me for a private showing!

Also, open houses every Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 4 PM in January.

Check out the link HERE

Top Factors Influencing Your Credit Score

At this time of year, especially if we were extra generous with our gift giving, it’s important to review the top factors that can lower our credit scores.  Please also see “Tips to Improve Your Credit Rating” on the left in this issue of the Mortgage Financing Journal.   1.     There are too many consumer finance company accounts on your credit report.  Having too much available credit can hurt your score. If you have several consumer accounts try to consolidate those balances and close the accounts.   2.     Your account balances are too high. As a rule of thumb keep your credit card balances below 35% of the available limit. High balances ongoing will negatively affect your credit score.   3.     There is not enough recent revolving account information on your credit report. Using your credit cards regularly is an important part of building healthy credit.   4.     There have been multiple lending institutions pulling credit reports on you.  This is part of the advantage of using a Mortgage Broker; we pull one credit report and then go to several lenders vs. having several lenders each pulling your credit bureau.

Carbon Monoxide Safety

 

Know the Signs

It is important to understand what carbon monoxide is and how you can keep your home and family safe.

• Know the signs
• If detected - Call 911
• Have appliances maintained and inspected annually
• Install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors

What Carbon Monoxide (CO) is

Carbon Monoxide is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, toxic gas that enters the body through the lungs during the normal breathing process.  It replaces oxygen in the blood and prevents the flow of oxygen to the heart, brain and other vital organs. Low levels over long periods of time are dangerous, and high levels can cause unconsciousness and even death. To keep your indoor air clean and healthy, be sure that fuel-burning devices are well ventilated, maintained and inspected frequently.

What Causes CO Poisoning

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a gas that is produced when carbon-based fuels are incompletely burned such as: wood, propane, natural gas, heating oil, coal, kerosene, charcoal, and gasoline. Regular maintenance and inspection of your appliances can help reduce the risk of carbon monoxide in your home by making sure they are safe and working efficiently.  You can read more about Carbon Monoxide by visiting http://www.cosafety.ca/

How to Detect it

A Carbon Monoxide detector is the best way to detect carbon monoxide in your home. The detector will beep loudly and quickly to let you know that carbon monoxide is present and that you should evacuate the home immediately and call 911. There are also several physical and environmental signs that suggest carbon monoxide presence.

Signs of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Symptoms

• Headache, nausea, burning eyes, fainting, confusion, drowsiness.
• Often mistaken for common ailments like the flu
• Symptoms improve when away from the home for a period of time
• Symptoms are experienced by more than one member of the household.
• Continued exposure to higher levels may result in unconscious, brain damage and death.
• The elderly, children and people with heart or respiratory conditions may be particularly sensitive to carbon monoxide.

Environment

• Air feels stale/stuffy
• Excessive moisture on windows or walls
• Sharp penetrating odour or smell of gas when furnace or other fuel burning appliance turns on
• Burning and pilot light flames are yellow/orange, not blue
• Pilot light on the furnace or water heater goes out
• Chalky white powder or soot build up occurs around exhaust vent or chimney

What to do when a leak is detected

ALWAYS REACT TO A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR THAT HAS ALARMED! IMMEDIATELY LEAVE THE BUILDING AND CALL 911.

Prevent Carbon Monoxide in Your Home

How Can I protect myself and my Family?

• Install certified carbon monoxide detectors in your home, close to sleeping areas
• Have natural gas appliances maintained and inspected annually
•  Keep furnaces, vents, and chimneys clear of snow, ice, birds and nests
•  Never use outdoor appliances indoors

Your natural gas appliances should be inspected annually by a TSSA certified technician to ensure they are operating safely and efficiently.

Working carbon monoxide detectors save lives!

Recent changes to provincial legislation affect carbon monoxide regulations for homeowners, making CO detectors mandatory in most homes.  Many residents are wondering how the regulations affect them, when they need to act, and what they need to do.  To learn more about these new regulations visit Kitchener Fire Department.