Wednesday 16 November 2011

Be careful when you Shovel Snow!

With the white stuff coming down today, we at The Tony Marino Team of Royal LePage Top Producers Real Estate thought we take a couple minutes and tell everybody to be careful when you shovel snow.

In the 18 years in real estate I have had to shovel out a few sidewalks, driveways, and  front steps to get homes ready to be shown. Let me tell you, it's not always fun.

When you stop and think about it, you can be pushing a couple hundred pounds of snow sometimes depending how large the driveway, front walk and steps are.  The simple way of moving all that snow safely is to take small manageable sized shovel fulls of snow and pace yourself.  Take your time, don't rush!  Every year you hear the stories on the news of someone having a heart attack from shovelling snow.

Pick a shovel that is light, plastic is the best, and one with a scoop.  You want to push the snow if you can, as mentioned above in small manageable loads, if you have to lift, bend at the knees and lift with your legs and not your back.

If the time has come that you can't shovel your own snow,  hire a service to do it for you,  there is nothing wrong with doing that.

Enjoy yourselves this winter and be safe!



      

Thursday 3 November 2011

What to do.... To Renovate or Not?

 The other day while I was just about to step out to an appointment my phone rang and a very polite lady was on the other end of the line.  She had phoned to ask if her and her husband should update their electrical in their 100 year old home.  The cost would be roughly $17,000.  They knew they wouldn't get that money back, but wanted to know what to do!? 

The answer was simple. Do it.  The fact of the matter is, it is getting harder for buyers to get insurance on homes that have tube and knob wiring. The $17,000 dollar touch is painful and the simple truth is you are not going to get your money back on that, but can offset some of the cost by adding renos or updates that look rich but are inexpensive!

I suggest you go to www.TonyMarino.ca and click on the "Selling" link, in there is a chart that points out to you which updates to pick that will give you a good bang for the buck.

Redoing older hardwood floors is much less expensive then replacing them but the impact could be priceless, paint your wall some nice warm earth tones that give richness, declutter your home,  especially the closets, kitchen cabinets, counters and such.  The list when you look at it is mostly costs a lot of elbow grease.

If you don't know where to start, call or email The Tony Marino Team of Royal LePage Top Producers Real Estate, we would be glad to sit down and go over a marketing plan that has a easy to follow chart.  Please remember "Helping you is what we do".  We can be reached at 942-2583 or houses@mts.net.