Winter will soon be upon us and with the change in season we will be re-introduced to our good friend - The Canadian Heating Bill! Here are 8 Ways to Save Money this Winter here in the Great White North. 1.)Add an area rug to a tile or hardwood floor. The rug will add comfort and retain heat. 2.)If you have a wood burning fireplace, close the flu! We often forget it's open and heat will escape up and out the chimney. 3.)Keep the thermostat at 68-70 degrees during the day and 65 degrees at night. You'll sleep better when it's cooler too! For each degree you will save about 5% more on your heating bill. If the kids complain, tell them to "put on a sweater!". (You can also add how you walked to school, uphill both ways, in 8 feet of snow.) 4.)Limit your use of portable heaters. They are great in a pinch, but very costly for extended use. 5.)Make sure your heat vents aren't blocked by furniture or drapes! 6.)Change your air filter every month or two. This will not only reduce your heating costs (more then the cost of the filter) but will add to the longevity of your furnace, a costly replacement item. 7.)Leave your window shades, curtains or blinds open during the day. The sun will then happily heat your home for free. Thank you Mr. Sun! 8.)If you're like many of us and take a trip during the winter, reduce your thermostat to 60, BUT DON'T TURN THE HEAT OFF! Canadian winter's can be a fridgid affair, but they are what make us uniquely Canadian. It also doesn't mean we have to break the bank. Hopefully some of these tips will help you save some money this winter.

8 Ways to Save Money This Winter

Q) What is a reserve fund? Is it the same as a reserve fund study?A) A reserve fund is a fund that is used for the purpose of major repair and replacement of the common elements and assets of the corporation. It is not the same as a reserve fund study. A reserve fund study is a periodic review (every 3 years by law) to determine whether the amount of money in the reserve fund and the amount of contributions collected by the corporation are adequate to provide for the expected costs of major repairs and replacement of the common elements and assets of the corporation. Q) My friend said he just received notice of a special assessment that he HAS to pay! What is a special assessment?A) Special assessments occur because the condominium corporation incurred unexpected or unbudgeted expenses (that the Reserve Fund can't cover) that the corporation does not have the money to pay for. It is each owner's responsibility to pay their proportionate amount to cover these expenses. Q) But does he HAVE to pay?A) Yes. Q) He said he's going to refuse. They can't make him.A) The condo corporation will collect what he owes. If an owner refuses to pay their common expenses or a special assessment, the condo corporation is within their right to place a lien on his property. This lien can then be enforced the same way as a mortgage, by sale of the property. Further, the condo corporation can collect all interest owing and all reasonable legal costs and reasonable expenses that the corporation incurs in connection with the collection or attempted collection of the amounts. Q) But he doesn't have the money! What can he do?A) Often times, in the case of a special assessment, the owners are given the option to pay in a lump sum OR make monthly payments. He should contact the Property Management company, or a member of the Board of Directors in the case of a self managed corporation, and discuss his options. Q) When I have a problem, I contact a "Property Management" company. Who are they?A) Most condominium corporations will "outsource" the day to day maintenance and administration of the corporation to a Property Management company. Often times, these companies will be responsible for collecting the condo fees, maintaining the property, handling unit owner complaints, having the Reserve Fund Study completed and scheduling Board meetings. Some (often smaller corporations) will be "self managed". The Board of Directors will handle all of the day to day business. Q) What is a "status certificate"?A) A Status Certificate is a 3 -4 page "snap shot" of the financial and legal status of the condo corporation ON THE DAY IT WAS ISSUED. When you request a "Status Certificate" during the course of a purchase you will receive a complete "condo package". The condo package is a collection of the condominium's by-laws, the rules and regulations, the financial statements (financial health of the corporation) and other legal documents and declarations. The Status Certificate should be reviewed by your lawyer before finalizing any purchase of a re-sale condo. They will be able to indicate if the condo is in good financial shape (do they have any large un-budgeted expenses currently on the books or about to take place), or if the by-laws prohibit what you plan to do, or how you plan to live within the condo (for example no home based businesses or a prohibition against pets). Q) Who is in charge of a condo corporation?A) The Board of Directors carry out the day to day operations of the corporation. They are other owners who are elected by the owners of all the units. Q) How do I become a Director?A) When a position on the Board of Directors becomes available (due to someone leaving, the term is up, etc.) the condo corporation will let the unit owners know. You would then inform the corporation of your intent to run for election. The condo corporation will then have a meeting at which votes will be cast and the new Board members will be announced. Q) How do you know all this?A) Two decades of selling Real Estate including HUNDREDS of condominiums of all types, previous owning a condo, being a board member and several courses on condos and condo law.

F.A.Q. - Condominiums - {Part 2}

Q) What exactly is a "condominium" in Ontario?A) Often times when discussing the word "condominium" with clients, they immediately think of a 30 floor sky scraper, the kind that often dots the skyline of cities like Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal. The reality though, is that the word "condominium" doesn't describe a type of home, but instead a type of "ownership" in real property (Real Estate). Q) So what kind of home can be condominium?A) Since the term condominium (a.k.a condo) is a type of ownership, virtually ANY type of home can be a condo. The most common, is obviously, the high rise buildings we immediately think of. However, condos can also be low-rise buildings (say 4 or 8 floors), townhomes or even detached homes. Q) Ok, so if I bought a condo, do I actually own "Real Estate"?A) Yes. According to the Condominium Act, a condo owner means "a person who owns a freehold interest in a unit and its appurtenant (Def'n: pertaining to something that attaches) common interest and who is shown as the owner in the records of the land registry office in which the description of the corporation is registered". Q) So what's a co-op?A) In Ontario, a co-operative, is again, a type of ownership. However, with a co-op, you own shares in a corporation (the corporation subsequently owns the building you live in) not a direct interest in Real Estate. Q) How does a condo corporation make money?A) First, a condo corporation doesn't, in the strictest sense, "make money". They collect condo fee's from the owners to pay for the expenses incurred by the corporation for use and maintenance of the corporation. For example the cost of landscaping (grass cutting, snow removal, flower beds). Another example is the cost of electricity used by the common elements (parking lights, hallway lights), etc. The condo corporation will collect enough money throughout the fiscal year to pay for the common expenses and to place money into the Reserve Fund. Q) Do condo fee's go up each year? How much? I was told they can't go up more then 2.5% each year.Condo fees are used to pay the expenses of the corporation. If the expenses increase (i.e. hydro prices, gas prices, maintenance fees) then it's likely your condo fees will as well. If the condo corporation is able to reduce expenses, then your condo fees would decrease. Your fees will increase (or decrease) proportionate with the increase (or decrease) of the expenses and your share of the common expenses. 2.5% is the maximum allowable RENT increase in Ontario and has nothing to do with condo fees.

F.A.Q. - Condominiums - {Part 1}

Type "decluttering your home" into Google and it will return no less than 1.3 million hits. Sure doesn't make decluttering seem easy, does it? After sifting through some of the blog clutter I have hopefully found the easiest, simplest and quickest ideas for you to purge your home. 1. Designate a spot for incoming papers - Create an 'inbox' and put all mail, school papers, receipts, notices, bills, etc, into it. It will cut down on clutter on various counters and tabletops.2. Tackle messes one room at a time - one area of the room at a time (ie. the shirts in your closet, one drawer of the nightstand, one shelf of the bookshelf). Work in short spurts - .5 hr to an hour at a time then come back to it. Resist the urge to start in another room in the meantime! 3. Sort using 4 boxes - They are: "put in another place", "donate", "throw away", "storage". Whatever you do, don't let go of an item until the decision is made!! At the end of the session, spend 10-15 minutes emptying the boxes. do it immediately, especially with the 'throw away' box so you don't start changing your mind!4. Use banker boxes for storage. Label them with numbers on the outside and put a list on your computer as to what is in each. Buy stick on numbers for an easy fix.5. Unsubscribe to all the magazines you are not reading. As your life situation and interests change, cancel the subscriptions to magazines that are not being read. It will save money and clutter! If not willing to unsubscribe, when the new issue comes in, the old one goes out - finished or not!6. Do a rapid mini-declutter! Move quickly through your medicine cabinet, makeup drawer and kitchen to throw out anything that has expired or that you have not used in awhile. This process will move rapidly and may inspire you to move onto something that may take a little more time.7. Never leave a room empty-handed. Take something with you that needs to go to the garbage or to another room / floor of your house.8. Hang / sort clothes according to colour. Start with lightest on left, going to darkest on right. Do this with shirts, then with jackets, then pants, etc. Fold and roll T-shirts with fronts facing out and colour code. 9. Be honest with yourself! As you sort, ask yourself "Do I really need this item?" If you hesitate, you probably don't so throw it out! 10. Create a 30-day list. The problem with decluttering is that we can declutter our butts off (don’t actually try that — it’s painful) but never win the battle because we buy more stuff! Fight that tendency by nipping it in the bud: don’t buy the stuff in the first place. Take a minute (yep, do it now!) to create a 30-day list, and every time you want to buy something that’s not absolutely necessary put it on the list with the date beside it. Make a rule never to buy any unnecessary items unless they’ve been on the list for 30 days. Often you’ll lose the urge to buy the stuff and you’ll save yourself a lot of money and clutter!Remember, beating clutter requires building new habits, applying new organizational methods, and creating new household routines. The clutter cure takes time, and can't be short-cut. For more tips and trips, check out the website www.organizedhome.com “We don’t need to increase our goods nearly as much as we need to scale down our wants. Not wanting something is as good as possessing it.” - Donald Horban

10 Simple Decluttering Tips!

6. Wanting to see every home on the market in their price range.Eek! That's a lot of work. It's also a lot of your time, wasted. Do you watch every movie that comes out? No, because a lot of them are terrible. If there are 50 homes in your price range, maybe 5-10 are the real "blockbusters". How do you know which are which? Fortunately, you have access to your very own "Home Review Critic". That's your agent. Their job is not just to show you homes, but also to look at homes when you can't. To determine if that house is what you are looking for and meets your criteria. Odds are, that if your agent is active, they have already viewed it anyways.POWER STRATEGY : Look at the gems, not the junk. 5. Using several agents at once.I'm going to be brutally honest with you here. Real Estate Sales is 100% commission based. If agents don't sell, they don't eat (or pay their brokerages and expenses, mortgage, taxes, car loans, kids college ... you get the point). Further, time is finite. Most agents will do their utmost to "win you over" to them exclusively. However, most agents will also only give minimal service if they think you're "dating all the other agents too". POWER STRATEGY : Find your real estate "soul mate". Someone who you feel comfortable working with AND is competent to do the job. That agent should give you 110% when they know you consider them your "go to person". 4. Continuing to use the wrong agent.The agent is a long time friend of the family, maybe a relative. But one thing becomes apparent after trying them out for several weeks. They don't listen. They show you homes outside of your price range. They don't answer emails or return phone calls. They blow you off, saying they are too busy. They pressure you to buy a home you aren't really sure about. In the end, they just aren't a good fit. POWER STRATEGY : This is a huge purchase and a VERY big deal. Do what's best for you. Find the right agent. 3. Thinking they can find the "best deal" by going direct to the listing agent.I can't remember how many times I've shown a house to someone who has called from seeing the For Sale sign and been told they called direct because they can get "the best deal possible". This is usually because the buyer believes they will "save the commission".Interesting, and almost always a bad choice.First, in the case where there are competing offers from multiple agents the concept of "cutting their commission" to make the deal happen is virtually moot. Ontario law says that if there are competing offers and the Listing Agent is going to reduce their commission, it MUST be disclosed in writing to EVERYONE making an offer. So usually the Listing Agent just won't do it, or if they do, all the other agents will make the same concession, negating any "advantage". The other scenario is usually with a house that hasn't sold for several months and the Buyer hopes to save thousands by going direct. My question: Why would you want to buy a house that nobody else wants to buy? Nobody else is interested in the property at the current price point. How much could you possibly save to make this house a good deal?POWER STRATEGY : Look for well priced properties and develop a relationship with a skilled and trusted agent. Someone who will tell you the truth about the home's value and then negotiate the best deal for you. You'll get a great house AND a great deal. 2. Listening to bad advice or advice that is out of date."That house is WAY overpriced!""Don't ever offer what they are asking.""Lowball them. See what they say.""That's a horrible area."Today's Real Estate Market, much like many other industries is rapidly changing. Today's market is much different then it was 5 years ago, and it's DRASTICALLY different then it was 20 years ago. Each home and each negotiation is unique. The home you just looked at might be a GREAT value, and receive multiple offers causing it to sell for higher then asking price. Neighbourhoods are always changing. A neighbourhood that was undesirable 10 years ago, might be the up and coming neighbourhood of today. POWER STRATEGY : Approach each home you look at individually. Take all market factors into consideration. Then develop the best approach for that specific home, in that specific neighbourhood, at your specific time, determined by your specific budget. 1. Trying to do it on their own.Real Estate is dynamic and complex. I am not saying don't do your own research. Nor am I saying not to become an educated consumer. (Personally, I love questions ... I love complex questions even more.) However, much like you can't become a doctor by reading WebMD or an engineer by watching YouTube, neither can you gain the skills needed to obtain the best possible outcome FOR YOU, by trying to do it alone.A good Realtor brings to the table a variety of skills that have been refined over years and years of experience. They will make the stressful and complex processing of buying and selling seem easy. Some of us will even make it fun ;)POWER STRATEGY : Before you start looking, find your agent. Talk to several to see if they are a fit. Sit down, have a coffee, and ask them TOUGH questions. In the end, pick the agent that you feel COMFORTABLE with and CONFIDENT about.

Top 6 Mistakes First Time Home Buyers Make

Those of us who have furry little friends, know what great companions they are. We also know the state they can leave our house in, which can often include leaving behind foul smelling odours. It’s easy to grow accustomed to these smells, so next time you walk through your front door, take a good whiff and see if you’ve become “nose blind” to the odours your pet leaves behind. Just because you have a pet, doesn’t mean your house needs to smell like it! Here are four tips on how to eliminate pet odours.<ol>
<li>
Clean Often: Many pet odours come from the hair the leave behind. Vacuum your furniture, floors, and pet beds consistently to keep the hair from building up. Be sure to spend extra time on your pet’s favourite hangout spots.</li>
<li>
Bathe your pet frequently and have them groomed: Many animals have a lot of fur which can trap bad smells and hold onto dirt. Keeping them well groomed and clean means that your house has a better chance of staying clean and smelling wonderful.</li>
<li>
Keep your house full of nice smells: Candles, air fresheners, and diffusers are all great ways to have your house smelling great, especially if you’re expecting guests!</li>
<li>
Fresh air works wonders: While keeping the windows open isn’t always an option due to safety and climate, opening the windows when possible will help circulate the air, making it harder for odours to stay in a confined space. Keep in mind your house may get dusty faster with the windows open.</li>
<li>
Remove stubborn odours: If all else fails, deodorizing sprays work well on furniture, carpet, curtains, and other fabrics. For a more natural approach, sprinkle baking soda onto the areas that are holding onto the odours. The longer you leave the baking soda on, the greater the absorption. Vacuum the baking soda from the carpet or furniture when you think you have lifted most or all of the odour. Leaving out a few shallow bowls of fresh coffee grounds over night traps the odours, and if you drink coffee, is a FREE alternative. Throw out the coffee grounds the next morning, and repeat as often as necessary.</li>
</ol> <h3>Some things to keep in mind:</h3><ul>
<li>Remember to use cleaning products that are pet safe to avoid your pet becoming sick.</li>
<li>The more consistently you vacuum and clean, the less chance there is of pet odours becoming trapped in your furniture, curtains, carpets, etc.</li>
<li>Baking soda and vinegar can really help cut down odours. Try making your own cleaning products with these two ingredients that are free of harsh chemicals AND effective.</li>
</ul>

How to Eliminate Pet Odours Without Eliminating The Pet!

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Andrew Caton