The Riz Team Blog

We all know the “location, location, location” adage.  Its part of what buying real estate is all about.  But, what actually makes a location great?

According to Jay Walljasper, author of The Great Neighborhood Book, a great neighbourhood is about community.  It’s about knowing your neighbours, feeling safe, and having pleasant spaces to be together.

Walljasper’s book offers lots of ideas for making your neighbourhood a better place to live and for building a stronger community:

Know thy neighbours.  Sit on your front steps and say hello as people walk by.  Have a chat with the person who pumps your gas or the retired lady down the street.  You’d be amazed at how people open up to a little friendliness.

Create a great gathering spot.  A nice playground with benches and shaded areas is a natural place for residents to gather.  Communities across Canada have worked together to raise money via personal and corporate donations to build spaces kids and adults love.

Make it an event.  Whether it’s a neighbourhood barbecue, a Saturday street sale, or an organized trick-or-treating event for the kids, getting your neighbours together to do something fun builds friendship and community.

Walk more, drive less.  Get out and enjoy the neighbourhood instead of sealing yourself off in a car.  Encourage walking by lobbying the city to widen sidewalks, add crosswalks, and traffic calming zones.

Be neighbourly.  Shovel your neighbour’s walk when they are out of town, offer an afternoon of babysitting to the single parent down the street, or welcome a new neighbour with an invitation to coffee.

Take back the streets.  If you live in an area where crime is a problem, organize a neighbourhood watch and walk around.  If you see anything suspicious, notify the police.  Criminals are deterred when there are too many people around.

Shop local.  Supporting your local merchants will ensure they succeed along with the distinctive flavour they add to your neighbourhood.  If you don’t have shops in your area, it may be due to zoning restrictions.  Lobby your city council to change zoning so that retailers can set up shop.

Take pride.  Take care of your neighbourhood the way you take care of your own property.  When you go for a walk, bring a bag to pick up litter.  Plant flowers in public places.  Spruce up the park swings with some fresh paint.

Take advantage.  Enjoy what your neighbourhood has to offer.  Hang out at the coffee shop, go for a walk or bike ride, relax in the park.  A great neighbourhood is only great if you take time to enjoy it.

It takes work to make things better, but everything you do will pay off through your enjoyment of your community – and increased property values.  For more ideas, consult The Great Neighborhood Book.  It’s an excellent resource that could spark some greatness is your neighbourhood.

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!

Get your kids and your home ready for the hectic back to school season with these easy organizing tips.

By Kelly Potter ¦ Style at Home Magazine

As the summer comes to an end, the fall brings a season filled with packed lunches, rushed mornings and a house in disarray. It’s that time of year again, when the kids head back to school.

Wendy Hollick is a proud recipient of the 2011 Professional Organizers in Canada Ambassador Award and owner of Neat Spaces where she offers clients professional organizing help. Wendy is also a mom of three kids, so she knows a thing or two about the back to school rush!

Keeping the house organized once the kids are back in school can be difficult. According to Wendy, keeping things simple, getting the kids involved and organizing one room at time are helpful approaches to organizing during the back to school months. “Rooms that need the most attention are the bedrooms, bathrooms, homework area and the kitchen,” says Wendy. Here are some practical back to school organizing tips for each of these rooms:

Back to school organizing tips

Kids’ bedrooms

Wendy says the bedroom is a place of rest and that toys should be limited here. “Getting the kids involved and giving them the tools to become responsible is essential to keeping their rooms organized, “ she says. Large hooks on the back of the bedroom doors are a great idea for the kids to easily throw their hoodies, baseball caps, etc. Having shelves is another simple way for the kids to store their belongings. Wendy suggests big open shelves so that they can put their books, trophies and pictures on display, while staying organized. “Once the stuff is off the floor, it’s not clutter,” she says.

According to Wendy, clothing tends to be the biggest issue in the kids’ bedrooms once they go back to school. She suggests purchasing an affordable clothing organizer or getting a customized one put in. Keeping the clothes off the floor by having ample hanging space is essential. It’s also important to keep the hangers all one colour to bring a sense of simplicity and organization to the room, she says.

Bathrooms

If more than one child needs to use the bathroom in the morning, things can be hectic. Wendy suggests making a schedule for the kids to have their showers/baths to avoid fighting over time in the bathroom. “Older children prefer to have their showers in the morning, so the younger children can be scheduled before bedtime,” Wendy says. “Schedule a time that makes sense.” Assigning a specific colour of towel to each child will also eliminate bickering over whose towel is whose and reduce laundry loads.

In order to have clutter-free counters, Wendy suggests installing pullout drawers in the cabinets for an easy storage idea and to help the kids see what is in the back of the cabinets. According to Wendy, using the wall space is essential. She says using small decorative shelves and wall organizers for towels, shampoo, soap, etc. will provide extra space. Hooks on the back of the bathroom doors are a great solution for hanging towels and housecoats.

Wendy says that Mom should get the kids involved in organizing the bathroom by assigning the children plastic caddies for their personal items. They can bring their stuff back to their rooms and back again when needed. Having small, colour-coded bins for their stuff in the bathroom also helps each child be responsible for their own items and keeps the counters clear.

Homework area

Setting up a homework area will help the kids  stay organized and keep school papers confined to one area. Wendy  suggests setting up a small area in the kitchen. “Kids tend to  gravitate towards the kitchen after school, so setting up an area for  them to do their homework there is ideal. They don’t need fancy, they  just need practical,” she says. Having everything they need at their  workstation, such as pens, pencils, magazine files and calculators will  eliminate wandering and help them focus.

Kitchen

According to Wendy, organizing the kitchen  means removing anything that doesn’t belong there. You must remove  anything that doesn’t serve a purpose in the kitchen (e.g. paperwork,  exercise equipment). To keep the counters clear in the kitchen, Wendy  suggests using decorative bins and baskets. “If things are  ‘containerized’, they tend to stay organized,” says Wendy. Labeling the  bins is also helpful. If something is labeled, the kids are less likely  to stash the item somewhere else when they go to put something away,  says Wendy.

Wendy suggests making the kids’ lunches the night  before. “You don’t want to stress yourself out in the morning,” she  says. Having plastic Tupperware that is colour coded for each child will  help the kids know whose lunch is whose in the morning. Colour coding  each Tupperware that contains a different type of food item also helps  Mom know who ate what, and what to look for if the container goes  missing, says Wendy.

Donation bins, garbage and recycling bins  for easy disposal are also helpful for organizing the kitchen (and other  rooms), says Wendy. Separate bins make it an easy and efficient way to  sort items that you are getting rid of.
In order to maintain an  organized home during the back to school months, Wendy suggests taking  15 minutes to clean and organize at the end of each day. “Go into any  room and picture what the space looks like when it’s organized, and then  work clockwise and remove anything that does not belong within the  vision of that space,” she says.

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Q. We are thinking about selling our house on our own, without using a Realtor, to save money. Do you have any advice?

A. If you are thinking of selling your home without a Realtor, there are many things to consider.

• Do you have a background in real estate? Do you know what your house appraises for? Do you know the value of your home compared to other homes in your area? How does your house show compared to other homes in the same price range? How well do you understand real estate contracts? What will it cost you to have your attorney view the offer and other documents?
• What have you budgeted for advertising? How do you intend for others to find out that your home is for sale? Have you checked into the cost of running ads?
• Do you have a plan for showing your home to potential buyers? Are you able to put your life on hold every time someone wants to tour your home? How frustrated will you get if they make multiple appointments to view your home but never show up? Have you considered yours and your family’s safety when letting strangers in to view your home?
• Will your feelings towards potential buyers be affected if they criticize your decorating style, cleanliness or landscaping?
• How are your negotiating skills? Just as you, the seller, want a good deal, so too does the buyer.

Do you have the time to research the answers to the above questions so that you’re well prepared to sell your home yourself?

Sellers may believe that if they sell their home themselves, they’ll get more money for their house. At the same time, the buyer often believes he or she is entitled to a lower price if a Realtor isn’t involved in the transaction. Without a Realtor, when a buyer and seller try to agree on a price, there’s no one to negotiate the deal. The sellers are on one side and the buyer is on another, so the deal falls apart.

Buying and selling a home is a complicated process. Unless you have a background in real estate, you should reconsider selling your own home on your own. Because your home is your most valuable asset, wouldn’t you want professional help so you get the best deal possible when you sell it?

Realtors have all kinds of resources and experience that you may not. They have access to multiple listing services, or the MLS. This is a site many potential homebuyers visit. Many Realtors also have their own websites. Even if you took the time to create your own website about your home, how would potential homebuyers learn about the site to visit it?

There are so many reasons to seek out a professional to help you sell your house. I’ve seen too many deals fall through because sellers try to sell their own home but lack the necessary expertise, and they won’t negotiate with the buyer.

Good luck as you make a decision about selling your home

That’s why I say……Don’t put it on HOLD….call RIZ to get it SOLD!!! ™

More and more often, couples are turning to backyard weddings as a romantic and intimate way to tie the knot, but it’s the type of in-house celebration that takes some foresight. When it comes to budget, the cost of a backyard wedding can be a shocker. The total tally can be as much or more than the average wedding, which nowadays hovers around $25,000+. Whatever your budget, the idea is to host a soiree you and your guests will enjoy. So before you exchange those vows near your childhood swing set, read the following tips.

Home Improvement

The first thing to consider is whether your home is suited for the wedding, says wedding planner Donna Stasko of R.S.V.P. Party Planners, based in Mississauga, Ontario. That means you must determine early on how many people you’ll invite, as well as suss out the layout of your home and garden. Is your backyard level or is sloping? Is your backyard big enough to comfortably seat your guests for dinner, or will you have to adjust your plans to a cocktail affair? “You’ve got to know your numbers. That will dictate what we can and cannot do,” says Stasko.

Cost Conscious

It’s the golden rule: “Anything can be done if you want to pay the money,” says Stasko. Decide what fits best within your budget, and in your home. Will it be a full dinner or finger foods affair? A casual or a fancy barbeque? Luncheons or afternoon tea parties are popular too, and will certainly bring the price down. You’ll save on liquor and venue prices, but if you envision an elegant, fairy tale wedding it could be very pricey. “It can turn out to be just as much as a banquet facility,” says Stasko. Tents are a must for any outdoor affair, she adds. If you have to cut costs, keep the tent, and cut elsewhere.

Parking Problems

Don’t make your guests walk miles to get to the ceremony. Consider parking issues. Depending on the number of guests, scout your neighbourhood to determine whether there are enough parking spots outside, or near the house. “It depends on the area,” says Stasko. “If it’s normal residential then people can park on the street. We can set up a valet service.” If parking becomes an issue talk to your neighbours and find out if you can negotiate using their spots. The same applies for noise, says Stasko. Advise neighbours of your party plans.

Floral Fun

Depending on when you plan to have your backyard wedding, consider what flowers will be blooming in your garden at the time, if any. Flowers are always a beautiful way to embellish the day of, but with a garden at your disposal the possibilities are endless. “I’ve done it a lot of different ways,” Stasko says of co-ordinating floral arrangements. “A lot of people have baskets on each table with different and brilliant colours.” Not everyone wants the décor to be rustic, though. You might consider simple glass vases with classic flowers such as roses and lilacs. “We can colour scheme anything to the garden,” says Stasko.

Let Caterers Cater to You

Depending on the type of party you’re hosting, plan your menu well in advance. Not just what your guests will be eating, but exactly how the food will be cooked, delivered and stored. If you choose to have a caterer, make sure it’s a reputable one. “A good caterer should always do the rentals because they know what they need,” says Stasko. “And they have their own staff!”

Sinking Heels?

Backyard carpets are available but most couples don’t rent them, says Stasko. “They say guests know it’s an outside wedding, so they won’t wear stiletto heels,” she says. However, a lot of couples go for the dance floors, which are easily accessible. It might be a good idea to remind the style mavens on your wedding guest list that it’s a backyard party! But if it’s really swanky then seriously consider renting carpets.