7 minute read
House & Home
Say Yes to the Address
5 best Kept Secrets to Selling your Home
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BY CHRIS LOW AND SAM MEHDI
For Realtors Sam Mehdi and Chris Low, real estate is an opportunity to help people plant roots, build successful businesses and add value to the community. Selling a home can be stressful and inconvenient but if you are thinking of selling, there are some essential secrets you need to know.
SELLING SECRET #1: PRICING IT RIGHT
Price your home too low and you’ll miss out on money yet price your house too high and you’ll miss out on offers which in turn will leave your property on the market. Once your property has been on the market for some time, people will begin to wonder whether there is something wrong with it. Your Realtors understand the market and can help guide you in the right pricing direction.
SELLING SECRET #2 HALF-EMPTY CLOSETS
Storage is something every buyer is looking for and can never have enough of. Take half the stuff out of your closets then neatly organize what’s left in there. Buyers will snoop, so be sure to keep all your closets and cabinets clean and tidy.
SELLING SECRET #3: LIGHT IT UP
Maximize the light in your home. After location, good light is the one thing that every buyer cites that they want in a home. Take down the drapes, clean the windows, change the lampshades, increase the wattage of your light bulbs and cut the bushes outside to let in sunshine. Do what you have to do make your house bright and cheery – it will make it more sellable.
SELLING SECRET #4: DON’T OVER-UPGRADE
Quick fixes before selling always pay off. Mammoth makeovers, not so much. You probably won’t get your money back if you do a huge improvement project before you put your house on the market.
L-R CHRIS LOW, SAM MEHDI
Instead, do updates that will pay off and get you top dollar. Get a new fresh coat of paint on the walls. Clean the curtains or go buy some inexpensive new ones. Replace door handles, cabinet hardware, make sure closet doors are on track, fix leaky faucets and clean the grout.
SELLING SECRET #5: THE KITCHEN COMES FIRST
You’re not actually selling your house, you’re selling your kitchen – that’s how important it is. The benefits of remodeling your kitchen are endless, and the best part of it is that you’ll probably get 85% of your money back. It may be a few thousand dollars to replace countertops where a buyer may knock $10,000 off the asking price if your kitchen looks dated. The fastest, most inexpensive kitchen updates include painting and new cabinet hardware. Use a neutral-color paint so you can present buyers with a blank canvas where they can start envisioning their own style.
RE/MAX Valleyview Realty Chris Low chrislow@remax.net 204-573-5699
Sam Mehdi smehdi@remax.net 204-730-5786
The Importance of Move In & Move out Cleaning You move, we handle the rest.
BY NIKKI’S CLEANING
If you are moving into a new home, one of the biggest challenges is knowing that you have a lot of cleaning when you arrive. Combined with work life, family time and the process of unpacking, you may not have the energy – or desire – to do a comprehensive cleaning of the walls, cabinets, floors and more. Move-in and move out cleaning is here to help you make sure a clean property is ready for you.
Move-out Cleaning for Apartment Renters or Landlords
When renting, move-out cleaning services can help ensure that you get your deposit back from the landlord. Often, these rental contracts require that you leave in ideal condition, ready for the new renters to move-in. As you may not have the time to dedicate days to cleaning, a move-out cleaning can ensure that you abide by the terms of your lease.
For landlords, a move-in cleaning can help to remove the dirt and grime that past tenants have left behind and ensure that you rent the property out to new tenants within a consolidated timeframe.
Move-in Cleaning Offers a Clean Start
Working with a move-in cleaning company allows you to sit back and enjoy your new property and the surroundings of the area without having to focus on the cleaning as you unpack and settle in. You’ll be able to relax a little more knowing professionals took over the cleaning process.
Typical move-in and move-out cleaning requirements include:
• Vacuuming and mopping floors • Wiping down baseboards
• Dusting all surfaces and fixtures • Cleaning kitchen appliances and cabinets inside and out
• Cleaning sinks, toilets, showers, and countertops
For more information about move-in or move-out cleaning services, reach out to Nikki’s Cleaning today at 204-441-5676 or info@nikkiscleaning.ca.
Nikki’s Cleaning 399 Park Ave. East, Brandon (204) 441-5676 info@nikkiscleaning.ca www.nikkiscleaning.ca
JORDAN AND NIKKI CHUBATY
Nikki’s Cleaning
399 Park Ave East, Brandon, MB | Phone: 204-441-5676 | Text: 204-400-3676 info@nikkiscleaning.ca | nikkiscleaning.ca |
5 Essential tips for moving your houseplants indoors for the winter
After a summer of basking in the sun, it’s time for your leafy loves to come indoors for the winter. Before you bring them and plunk them on the floor, there is more to moving your plants indoors.
Just like you gradually acclimate your plants bringing them outdoors in the spring, giving them extra care during their transition in the fall will help them cope better with the changes. Bringing plants inside for winter isn’t as easy as simply moving their pots from one place to another; there are a few precautions you need to take when acclimating plants from outdoors to indoors to prevent sending your plant into shock. Let’s look at how to prepare your plants for their winter vacation indoors. 1 – GIVE THEM TIME TO ADJUST
Slowly acclimate your plants to lower light levels by putting them in a shaded spot for a couple of weeks before moving them inside. If your plants have gotten a little overgrown, now is a great time to trim them back a little and remove any dead leaves so you can keep the mess outside.
2 - KEEP AN EYE ON THE TEMPERATURE
While our fall days are warm and the evening temperatures dip, it’s a little trickier to figure out the best time to bring them in full time. It depends on the nighttime temperature, as you want to make sure to move them inside before the night temperature start to dip below 8-10°C. Any colder and you’re likely to see damage, especially on tender leaves and stem tips. 3 . GET RID OF PESTS
Before you transition your houseplants indoors, inspect them for signs of pests. When troublemakers, such as mealy bugs, enter a warm, protected indoor environment, they multiply rapidly and can quickly devour your indoor garden. Check them carefully for pest problems, make sure to turn over leaves to check the undersides and look closely along the stems. Even if you don’t spot any bugs, wash off your plants with an insecticide spray just in case. 4. CUT BACK ON WATER AND FERTILIZER
Once your plants are back inside, they won’t need as much water as they did during the hot summer months. While they don’t go completely dormant, many houseplants naturally slow their growth during the colder months. This means they don’t need as much fertilizer either as they did during the warm growing season. Instead, hold the nutrients until spring and keep your plants watered just enough so they don’t dry out completely.
5. PROVIDE LIGHT AND HUMIDITY
If you plan to place your plants next to a window, take the time to clean any nearby windows to allow the maximum amount of light to get through. To avoid sunburn on leaves, place plants a couple feet away from the windows, rather than right next to them. A good rule of thumb is, a plant that likes full sun will prefer a south-facing window, while plants that prefer partial sun may be happier in a east- or west-facing window. North-facing windows provide the lowest light and are usually not suitable lighting on their own.
