The Riz Team Blog

Fall is a feast for the eyes with red, gold and bronze hues. While enjoying the trees in their tawny splendour, consider these simple tips to prepare your garden for the upcoming winter.

Grass
Although a carpet of leaves is part of autumn’s glory, don’t let them sit too long. Rake them frequently as grass needs oxygen and sunlight for proper growth.  This is also the time to seed your grass for a thick lush lawn in the spring, and to keep pesky weeds out.

Leaves
Put leaves to work! Small leaves from birch, beech and silver maple trees (or shredded larger leaves) spread under shrubs and over soil will degrade into mineral nutrients and worms will turn them into fertilizer.

Pruning/Re-arranging Plants
Pruning in the fall is important. With leaves cleared you have a better view of your plants. Cut off dead and diseased branches. Remove diseased leaves from under roses (blackspot) and dispose of in the garbage (not your compost heap) or they’ll re-infect plants the following spring. If you decide to re-arrange plants or shrubs, move them while the earth is still warm so that the roots can take hold.  Protect delicate shrubs with burlap.

Bulbs
If you want to see crocus, tulips and daffodils peeping through the soil in spring, now is the time to start planting.  Buy the very best quality bulbs and you will be rewarded with showy blooms in the spring. Check with a local horticulturalist for native bulb options and ideal planting conditions.

Container Gardening
Fill your balcony or patio containers with fall flowers.  Picture a pot filled with Vanilla Butterfly (marguerite daisy), with a background of Orange Sedge – this olive green grass turns orange in cool weather, finally fading to bronze.  Want an instant conversation piece?  Plant ornamental Kale (winter cabbage) in your container:  its quirky look is an attention-getter.

Every season has its beauty, but a Canadian fall is spectacular – enjoy!

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By Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) admin •January 6th, 2014

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Our 20th Christmas Classic raised $17,500 and over 2500 pounds of food for the Foodbank of Waterloo Region. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported us and great job to all the RLP Wolle Realtors for helping make this event happen!

By Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) admin •October 3th, 2013

There were are total of 478 home sales through the Multiple Listing System (MLS®) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR) in September compared to 448 during the same period in 2012, an increase of 6.7 percent. Year-to-date 5,132 homes were sold, which is the highest number of units sold to the end of the third quarter since 2007’s record breaking year when sales had reached 5,443 to the end of September.

Single detached homes in September sold for an average price of $354,507 an increase of 1.8 percent compared to last year. The average sale price for a condominium was $221,810 a decrease of 1.4 percent compared to September of last year. The average sale price of all residential sales through the KWAR’s MLS® System increased 2.0 percent to $314,278 compared to September 2012.

“We’re continuing to see strong residential activity in the Region,” said Dietmar Sommerfeld, President of KWAR. “This reinforces the diversity of our economy and the appeal of the Region as a place to live and work.”

Residential sales in September included 310 single detached homes (up 6.9% from last September), 46 semi-detached (up 17.9%), 33 townhomes (up 13.8%) and 83 condominium units (down 2.4%). Dollar volumes for September and year-to-date sales were both at all-time highs with increases of 9.0 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.

The average price of all residential properties sold year-to-date was $324,837 representing a 4.2 percent increase. Single Detached homes increased 3.7 percent to the end of September, bringing up the year-to-date average price to $368,002.

The KWAR cautions that average sale price information can be useful in establishing long term trends, but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average sale price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold. Those requiring specific information on property values should contact a local REALTOR®.

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