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D4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday,December 29, 1999 Oakville Beaver - Real Estate Displaying the best in Envirohomes (NC)-Increasingly, buyers of new homes are looking for houses that are healthier to live in, more energy-effi cient and less harmful to the environ ment. Few homebuyers, however, are aware that these desirable features are already available on the market. The EnviroHom e is a great exam ple. The EnviroHome project is a nationw ide m arketing program designed to raise home buyers' aware ness o f the full range o f comfortable and environm entally friendly features of energy efficient houses. Canadian housing technology and the home building industry have taken long strides in the last twenty years. Initiatives such as Natural Resources Canada_s R-2000 HOM E Program, and demonstrations of energy effi cient Advanced Houses, as well as research by the Canada M ortgage and Housing_s _Healthy H ouse_ program have made Canada a world leader in energy efficiency for houses. The EnviroHome draws on all o f these ini tiatives allowing Canadian hom ebuy ers, coast to coast, to see them in one place. Co-ordinated by local project team s, EnviroH om es are built in Canadian communities by licensed R2000 builders. Each house is certified as meeting R-2000 standards. Upon com pletion, every EnviroHom e is highlighted in local news media cover age and builders offer open-house tours to demonstrate to home buyers first hand - the wide range of afford able, energy efficient environmentally friendly and healthy features now available in new houses. Each EnviroHome is eventually put on the m arket and sold. Partners in EnviroHom e projects include local home builders_ associations, Canada Trust, local and regional government officials, and local sponsors. For information about EnviroHome projects in your community, contact Mr. Gary Sharp, Canadian Homebuilders' Association (CHBA) by mail at 150 Laurier Avenue W, Suite 500, Ottawa, Ontario, K IP 5J4, by phone at (613)230-3060, or by fax at (613)232-8214. The importance o f the condition o f your home T G n tu if c Miller Real Estate Ltd. ONLY CENTURY 21 GIVES YOU AIR MILES! 467 Speers Rd. jjreat service (^ cen tury 21 m iller.com (905) 845-9180 FANTASTIC SEMI ON QUIET CRES., LARGE PIE SHAPED LOT! $169,900 Spacious 3 bdrm home in family neighbourhood, main floor family room open to kitchen with woodburning | fireplace & walkout to yard! MARY KAY MCCOY* VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO SEE ALE OAKY IEEE LISTINGS! www.century21miller.com he first five minutes are criti cal in selling your home! It has been said that buyers make up their minds in five minutes, then spend the rest of the time ratio nalizing their decision. The closer you can bring your home to impec cable move-in condition, the easier it will be to get the best price for your home. Home buyers inspect many houses, all within the same price range. They begin making value judgments from the moment they drive up to a house. Their first impressions begin with the yard, the driveway, and the front door. Once inside, buyers can feel the pride of ownership of an attractive, well maintained home, or its absence. If you are buying a car, and see two cars of equal perfor mance, equally mechanically sound, and both priced the same, yet one is impeccably clean, and the other has nicks and scratches, dirt on the doors, and a couple of missing floor mats, which one do you choose? How much does the dirtier one have to be reduced in price before you will consider buy ing? Quite a bit. A car is for a few years. How much more, then, a house? So showcase your house. Here are nine steps to make your house ready for viewing. Attending to them can make a difference of literally thousands of dollars in the market value of your property. 1. Start with the outside. Look at your front yard through the eyes of the buyer who is starting to make judgment from the moment they step out of their car. Is the front yard clear of toys, tools, building supplies? Are the lawn and the shrub bery's property cut and attended to? Are the flowers bloom ing? Are there oil stains in the driveway? Is the barbecue dull and rusty, or bright and black? 2. The exterior of the house. Is the paint fading or chip ping? Is there any mildew or mold? If the paint needs a new coat, the most important places to freshen up are the trim and front door. If the paint is new, then have the exterior o f the house, and the decks, pressure washed. 3. Inside the house. Go through your house room by room and pack up 30 per cent of the accessories. The family who wins the Housekeeping award probably sells their house first. The cardinal rule is: The way you live in a home and the way you sell a home are two different things. Remember you are in competition with all the other properties your prospec tive buyers are looking at. Look at it this way. You are going to move anyway, so just consider this advance packing! Remove as many items from your storage areas as you can, and hang clothes neatly and tidily. And any furniture which DAN COOPER Real Estate ..The Bottom Line might be a but too much for the room. 4. Take a look at the paint. If paint ing is required, use flat latex and neutral colours. Make sure wallpa per is clean and up to date. If walls are dirty, experiment to see if scrub bing them is easier than painting. Repair cracked plaster, loose door knobs, crooked light fixtures and faulty plumbing. 5. Now, make your house sparkle. If you do not have the time or the inclination, hire someone to thoroughly clean the house. Clean windows inside and out, curtains and drapes, and appliances. Have your bathrooms scrubbed to pass a white glove inspection. If tubs or sinks are discoloured, have them re-glazed. Re-caulk the tub and shower if necessary. And above all, make sure you get rid of all your kitchen odours. 6. Pets out of sight and out of smell. If you have pets, you need to get rid of pet odours. And the pets themselves should be kept out o f the way, and out of the house during showings. Make sure you hide away all litter boxes and feeding bowls every time there is a showing. 7. Now, tackle the basement. The basement is the catch all area where everything goes that has no place else to go, so it's usually a mess. Don't forget, buyers are liable to be just as interested in the basement as they are in the rest o f the house. So try and straighten it out and clean as much as you can. You might consider a coat of paint for the walls, or even the floors. 8. Finally, straighten out the garage. Empty as much as you can from the garage, hose down the floor, paint the walls if necessary. If your garage is neat, it reflects on the way you take care of your house. 9. When buyers come to visit. Open all the curtains and blinds (closed at night). Turn on the lights. If rooms are dark, or your lighting is dim, replace the bulbs with higher wattage. The television should be off, but a little soft back ground music helps to set the tone. Leave the house for the realtor to show it. Dan Cooper is an award winning associate broker with Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. Dan can be reached at (905) 338-3737. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy o f this article. However, the information is general in nature. Please seek professional advice relevant to your specific situation. Dan has written a guide fo r home sellers called How to Sell Your House For Top Dollar Fast! You can get a free copy by calling 1-800-414-5461 fo r a free recorded message. Veronica Koehler* Associate Broker R E A L T Y CORP. Mary Koehler Sales Representative RE/Affl£alxHiiba*e Trusted in Real Estate Since 1979 _ 100% Club REAL ESTATE UPDATE G O R D B R E N N A N Sales Representative Stage T w o Hom egrown Solutions winners ixteen local organiza tions and communities across Canada will be able to develop their innova tive ideas under the Homegrown Solutions initia tive thanks to the up to $20,000 each will receive through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Honourable Alfonso Gagliano, Minister responsi ble for CMHC announced recently. "The intent o f the Homegrown Solutions initia tive has always been to encourage the development of innovative solutions which enable local groups and com munities to find local solu tions to solve their housing issues," said Minister Gagliano. "The positive response that communities and organizations have shown to this initiative proves that people still care deeply about their communities." Participation in the Homegrown Solutions initia- S THROWAWAY THE WISHBONE Your Christmas wish is here. A beautiful 2 storey stunning home on a rare court in South East Oakville. This spacious home has everything from 2 fireplaces to new hardwood & broadloom to an inground pool and under ground sprinklers, every attention to detail! An entertainer dream. Call today as others may share your wish. $514,900 THAT BEAUTIFUL LEVERAGE Q U E S T IO N : W h at is m eant by the w ord " leverage" w hen used in c o n ju n c tio n w ith investing in real estate? AN SW ER: Leverage arises because ALL o f the income and ALL o f the appreciation belongs to the property holder regardless o f the am ount o f the loan. To illustrate, assume a $100,000 property was purchased for only $10,000 cash and a $90,000 mortgage loan. Five years later, the sam e property is sold for $150,000 (a 50% gain in value). After paying off the $90,000 mortgage, the investor would realize, not a 50% gain, but rather a 500% gain on his initial cash investm ent because he only invested $10,000 for the property. T hat's leverage LEVERAGE is th e key to m u ltip ly in g p ro fits fro m re a l estate. REALTY ENTERPRISES INC., REALTOR ( 905) 855-2200 RES: (905) 257-0971 FAX: (905) 855-2201 e-mail: abrennan@total.net dm to express thanks to frien ds, n d clients fo r m aking 1999a successful year. B est W ishes fo r a happy holiday and a healthy and prosperous Y2K. W riV k M five was open to individuals, organizations and communi ties, private or public, seeking affordable and practical solu tions to their housing needs. Submissions were reviewed by a national selec tion committee who based their decisions to fund the ideas on: innovation; poten tial to enhance housing affordability; transferability of ideas to other communities and high degree of communi ty involvement and support. Sharon Chisholm, Executive Director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA), said she was impressed by the high calibre of the applications. "It is apparent that communities are concerned enough to be motivated to find ways to address their housing needs." Minister Gagliano added that, "Several past proposals have gone from simply being ideas to actual construction thanks in large part to the funding, support and visibility they have received t h r o u g h f i j l L J 4HH'7 V ,y EXP A N SIV E B U N G A L O W O N M A JESTIC L O T Delightful bungalow on beautifully treed lot with mature trees & two ponds, decks & gazebo. Family room addition, updated kitchen andbaths. New windows. Excellent location. $529,000 Doiuj(W illiam s" Jiim Paxton' [Ruth JThuic {Winter'\ £aurie Hall Bringing you home for more than 50 years PENTHOUSE LIVIN G IN THE HEART OF DOW NTOW N OAKVILLE Luxury "Town Square" Penthouse condominium is located in the heart of downtown O akville and steps to the harbour, muse um and Lake O ntario. End unit with a southern exposure, freshly decorated in a neutral decor & features new high quality broadkxxu, w hite kitchen & master bedroom loft/retreat. Kelly Killingbeck S a le s R e p r e s e n ta tiv e [royal Lepage I Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd.. Broker I $295,000 Homegrown Solutions." Since the launch of the program in 1995, more than 185 applications have been received from all regions of the country on sub jects as diverse as: housing trust funds; recycling building materials to reduce construc tion costs and; using accumulated equity in housing as a source of funding for reno vating aging hous ing. Homegrown Solutions is a part nership initiative o f CMHC, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, the C a n a d i a n HHHMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII telephone 9 0 5 -8 4 5 -4 2 6 7 fax H o m e b u ild e rs ' Association, the Federation of C a n a d i a n 9 0 5 -8 4 4 -1 7 4 7 Municipalities and the Co-operative H o u s i n g a lo o fm te . REALTY CORP., REALTOR website www.rcaleslateoakville.com e-mail IAKEFRONT LIVING IN WEST OAKVILLE Beautiful lakefront property located on a quiet cul de sac backing onto Coronation Park. Lovely landscaped back garden with inground pool. W alk outs from kitchen and fam ily room to a large deck. Updated kitchen, new hardwood fkxxs in LR and DR, new broadloom. Incredible lake views and privacy. 338-9000 Merry Christmas Cole, Love Mommy l t winterwilliams(«*'cgocable.net \v*«» Biokt i S.ilt ' K k pii v uume $950,000 Federation of Canada. The initia tive is funded by CMHC and man aged on a day-today basis by the CHRA.