The Riz Team Blog

🎉🖍Enter Our Kids Colouring Contest to WIN a SKY ZONE PARTY FOR 10!!! 🖍🎉

🍫Easter is one of our favourite holidays because a) chocolate and b) it signals the beginning of spring! To help celebrate, we thought we’d get the kids involved with a colouring contest. Let your kids get creative with their crayons, and they could win a “Sky Zone Party for 10 guests” at Sky Zone Kitchener (150 Gateway Park Dr, Kitchener, ON N2P 2J4)!

🏅To Participate🏅
✔ Print Coloring Page Here: https://goo.gl/7LtmCj
✔ Fill in Name and Age of Artist
✔ Color it in!
✔ Take photo of finished page
✔ Post on Facebook or Instagram & Tag —> The Riz Team

Going green is great for the environment, but that’s not the only benefit. When you make green upgrades in your home, it can also lead to some major savings.

1. Solar panels: The upfront cost is big, but the long-term savings are huge. Solar panels will cost several thousand dollars to install, but ongoing maintenance costs are very low, and a typical system could save you hundreds of dollars per year. You can even sell your surplus electricity.
2. Wood furnace: Wood-burning furnaces are relatively inexpensive, and though the yearly savings aren’t as dramatic (about 10% on heating bills), it adds up over the long run.
3. Insulation: There’s a good chance your insulation isn’t very efficient, especially in older homes. Look into installing floor, cavity, wall, and loft insulation to reduce your heating bills.
4. Rain barrels: Rain barrels are extremely inexpensive, and provide gallons of free water to use when you wash your car or water your garden.
5. Geothermal system: OK, so the price tag is scary at first. A geothermal system uses the earth’s temperature to heat and cool your home, but can cost $30,000 to install. But tax credits allow you to get a lot of that money back, and the energy savings average about $1,900 per year. If you plan to be in your home for a decade or two, it’s a great investment.

A recent survey from the National Association of Realtors® revealed that 77 percent of buyers’ agents said staging a home makes it easier for potential buyers to visual it as their own. That’s why here at Breakthrough Broker, we believe staging is not to be overlooked! Here are our top tips.

1. Dress up your yard. First impressions count, and the first one your home gives comes from the exterior. Mow the lawn, clean up shrubbery, rake any leaves, clean the walkway and driveway, plant in-season flowers, and pull up any unsightly weeds.
2. Reduce personal items. Make it easier for buyers to imagine themselves making your house their home by removing personal photos and knick-knacks from shelves, walls, and counters. Instead replace them with clean, simple décor, such as abstract paintings, nature images, vases, plants, and more.
3. Organize your storage areas. Storage is a huge selling point. Tidy up and clear out the accessible closets and cupboards in the home and make sure to point them out during an open house or showing.
4. Appeal to the senses. Consider ways you can appeal to potential homebuyers’ other senses. During a viewing or open house, bake some fresh cookies or burn delicious smelling candles and play light, relaxing music in the background.
5. Consider turning to an expert. With their knowledge of current trends and great eye for design, professionally certified stagers can transform a home in a variety of ways and have a keen sense of what homebuyers want and expect in a home. Investing in hiring a pro may pay off in dividends.

KITCHENER WATERLOO HOME SALES RETURN TO MORE TYPICAL LEVELS IN 2018
Home Sales Dip in December, While Prices Increase

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (Jan 4, 2019) –– There were 5,823 residential homes sold through the Multiple Listing
System (MLS® System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® in 2018, a decline of 11.1 per cent
compared to 2017.

Click Here to Read FULL RELEASE!

NOVEMBER HOME SALES SECOND BEST ON RECORD

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (December 5, 2018) ––Last month a total of 483 residential properties sold in
Kitchener-Waterloo and area through the Multiple Listing System (MLS® System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo
Association of REALTORS® (KWAR). Home sales were up 14.2 per cent in November compared to the same
month last year, and up 19 per cent compared to the previous 10-year November average of 406 sales, making
it the second-best November on record.

Click to Read Full Release!

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (November 5, 2018) ––REALTORS® sold 514 homes through the Multiple Listing
System (MLS® System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) in October, an increase of
7.8 per cent compared to October of last year.

Read Full Release Here!

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (October 5, 2018) ––REALTORS® sold 448 homes through the Multiple Listing System (MLS®
System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) in September, a decrease of 4.7 per cent compared
to September of last year.

Read Full Release Here!

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (September 6, 2018) ––

August home sales through the Multiple Listing System (MLS®System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) were down 0.8 per cent compared to last month and up 4.8 per cent compared to August of last year. A total of 505 residential properties sold in August compared to 482 the same time last year.

Read Full Release Here!

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (August 2, 2018) ––

July home sales through the Multiple Listing System (MLS® System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) were down 16.8 per cent compared to last month and down 10.6 per cent compared to July of last year.  A total of 504 residential properties sold in July compared to 564 in the same month last year.

Read the Full Release Here! 

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (June 4, 2018) –– Last month home sales through the Multiple Listing System (MLS®System) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) were up 12.5 per cent compared to last month and down 15.3 per cent compared to last year’s record-setting May.

Read the Full Release Here!