When you drive up to your home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or the Edmonton area, do you feel proud of the way it looks?  Or is your home looking a little shop-worn and tired compared to other homes in your neighborhood? 

If you are thinking of putting your home on the market, it’s time to do something about the state of its curb appeal.  In today’s market your home is in competition with every other home for sale and it needs to stand out from the rest with a good first impression.

Maybe you’ve got a long list of face-lift and landscaping projects you’ve been putting off because you don’t want to spend 1000s of dollars.  Is it possible to do a few fairly simple and inexpensive things to make your home look attractive to would-be buyers so they will at least slow down for a second look? 

One of the most noticeable and least expensive fix-ups, especially if you do it yourself, is new paint.  If your home has paintable siding, consider freshening up the look with a new fashionable color.  It’s possible to be trendy while still coordinating with other homes in your neighborhood.  If your home has vinyl or metal siding, give it a good cleaning and paint all the trim with a color that complements the color of your roof.   

As with the interior of your home, clean and tidy goes a long way to impressing potential buyers and luckily doesn’t cost much.  Here are a few things to consider:

• Clean and shine everything.  Windows should sparkle, metal trim such as house numbers and door hardware should be tarnish-free, front porch should be clear of dirt and debris, driveway oil spots need to be banished, brickwork should be freshened, and so on.
• Get rid of the clutter.  Kids’ bicycles tossed down next to the driveway, leftover building supplies at the side of the house, bundled up newspapers and bottles waiting to be recycled – all of this needs to go.
• Manicure your yard.  Trim your lawn neatly, dig up any stray weeds, use an edging tool and string trimmer (“weed whacker”) for tidy borders.  Give your shrubs a haircut and tidy up the flowerbeds.  Consider some colorful flowering plants in pots or planters to add a few spots of brightness and cheer to the yard.  In the fall, rake up fallen leaves, and in the winter, keep your sidewalks and driveway clear of snow and ice.
• Repair any visible shortcomings, such as broken light fixtures or windows, loose shingles, crooked downspouts, falling-down fences, driveway cracks, uneven sidewalk blocks, and the like. 

How welcoming is your front entryway?  Staging your front porch with a few accessories, just as you would your living room, is going to make homebuyers want to look inside.  Paint or replace your front door, or even just the door hardware, mailbox, light fixtures, etc., with something more modern (another fairly inexpensive change).  It may seem a little cliché but a welcome mat on the porch and a wreath or basket of flowers on the door really do click with many homebuyers.  If there is room on your porch, items such as a flower-filled planter or rocking chair can add a great deal of charm to an otherwise nondescript area.  Other things to consider:  attractive new railing, striped retractable awning, ivy-covered trellis, hanging floral baskets… 

While it may cost you a little money and time to improve the curb appeal of your home, it’s definitely worth it.  It’s been shown time and again that a home that looks well-maintained and cared for sells faster and for a higher price. 

For more ideas, take a look at my Curb Appeal Pinterest board. 

Comments or questions about this article?  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

We hear about it all the time but this time the devastation hit a little close to home, affecting the daughter of one of my clients in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton region.  On Thursday, May 9, 2013, 36 units of the Sonora Apartments in Stony Plain were destroyed by fire, leaving 50 people homeless and wondering how they’ll survive with all their possessions gone.  $4 million in damage is the estimate, and the probable cause of the fire is “improper disposal of smoking materials.” 

It’s hard to imagine the horror and hopelessness experienced by the victims of this tragedy.  What makes it worse is that most of the people living in the apartment complex did not have insurance which could have minimized a great deal of their suffering. 

If you are a renter, please give yourself the gift of property insurance known as Renters or Tenant Insurance.  The cost is small and the benefit is huge. 

What does Tenant’s Insurance cover?

An excellent pamphlet from the Insurance Bureau of Canada entitled “What is Tenant’s Insurance?” explains that Tenant’s Insurance covers 3 main areas:

• Replacement of personal belongings of all kinds, if stolen, damaged or destroyed by fire, water and the like.
• Costs for temporary accommodation, meals, transportation, moving costs, etc. while your home is being repaired.
• Liability coverage in the event that you cause damage to the property or to people visiting the building.

(Keep in mind that each policy will have its own rules, exceptions and limits as to what is covered and what compensation for damage there may be.) 

How much does Tenant’s Insurance cost?

When you hear how little Tenant’s Insurance costs, you’ll probably be shaking your head as I did, wondering how people could possibly think that not having this type of insurance makes sense.  Or maybe, as Dayle of The Co-operators Insurance Company in Spruce Grove suggests, they just don’t know it exists.  She says that for roughly $15,000 worth of coverage (and that includes some provision for living expenses and standard liability coverage) the cost is only $200 per year!  Surely one’s peace of mind is worth that much, and if you ever need to make a claim, there’s no question that getting your life back to normal quickly has to be worth putting that amount in your budget, right along with food, clothing and rent. 

For more information about property insurance, see my blog article ”Property Insurance: Are You Covered?”   

I welcome your comments or questions.  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

If the phrase “aging in place” is new to you, it probably won’t be for long!  I predict in the next few years, we’ll be hearing this phrase a lot.  How does it apply to those of us living in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton areas of Alberta?   

Aging in place means staying in our homes as we get older, and adapting the home to meet our needs as we age.  For most of us, aging will bring about certain predictable physical changes, such as diminished eyesight and hearing or decreased mobility.  Some people will elect to move to accommodate these changes, whether to a one-level apartment-style condo or to some kind of retirement lodging.  But most of us want to stay in the familiar surroundings of our well-loved homes as long as we possibly can.  And that may mean renovating our homes to make them as functional as possible.  Other terms often used for homes that have been modified to accommodate special needs are “universal design” and “barrier-free  homes”. 

Many of the features of a typical modern home (such as an open floor plan, especially one where the main living areas – kitchen, living room, master suite, laundry room – are on the main floor) work well with the concept of aging in place.  Other features, such as hardwood flooring instead of wall-to-wall carpeting, and venetian blinds instead of draperies, are less successful.  Those hard surfaces often don’t help a home’s acoustics, and a hard and slippery floor can be treacherous for people who are unsteady on their feet. 

When we think about accommodations for seniors, things such as grab bars in the bathroom, walk-in bathtubs, stair lifts or even elevators may come to mind.  But there are many other simpler and cheaper changes that can have a huge effect on our comfort and safety.    

Eyesight and Lighting.  Adding more lamps and upping the wattage of light bulbs throughout one’s home can make a big difference in improving visual perception.  The most important areas needing better lighting are hallways and stairs.  Consider also changing the contrast between light and dark areas in a room in order to make things easier to see.  A monochromatic bathroom may be artistically beautiful, but if there isn’t a clear demarcation between the white tub and the light-colored floor, someone might have trouble judging where one ends and the other begins, resulting in a nasty fall.   

Furniture.  Consider replacing hard-edged glass coffee tables with dual-purpose softer-edged ottomans.  Consider also replacing squishy upholstered pieces with those that provide more support, making them easier to get into and out of.  Rearrange furniture so that there is plenty of room to maneuver around individual pieces (especially if wheelchairs and walkers will be used), but also place furniture in such a way that people will be sitting closer together and/or directly facing each other to aid hearing. 

Flooring.  Carpet is easy to walk on and safer if falling may be an issue.  But carpet may not be the best choice if walkers or wheelchairs will be used.  The best multi-purpose flooring may be non-slip tile throughout the home.  If tripping isn’t a concern, area rugs can add soft support as well as visual interest and contrast between dark and light.  Just be sure that the edges are well taped down. 

Monitoring and Assistance.  If you live alone, you probably have a support network of people to call in an emergency and you no doubt have a telephone or cell phone in easy reach at all times.  You may have an arrangement with family, friends or neighbors to check on you each day.  Perhaps you’ve considered a service such as Lifeline that connects you to 24-hour emergency monitoring via a bracelet or necklace style communicator.  While none of these things relate directly to home modifications, all of them contribute to keeping you in your home. 

The website SeniorResource.com contains a wealth of information about aging in place.  Particularly helpful is a Home Assessment chart that matches home modifications with a specific physical infirmity.  Most of the suggestions below are from that chart: 

Limited vision:

• Edge of counters a different color than the top
• Edge of each step is a color that stands out
• Contrast colors between floor and walls
• Stairs are well-lit
• Increased wattage of light bulbs
• Lights in all closets
• Outside walkways and entrances are all well-lit
• Stove controls clearly marked and easy to see
• Stove has big numbers that can be seen from across the room
• Stove uses different colors to tell which parts are hot
• Under-cabinet lighting over kitchen counter

Hearing impairment:

• Increased volume on phones
• Smoke detectors have strobe lights
• Furniture arranged to facilitate hearing
• Soft surfaces to improve acoustics
• Ultra-quiet dishwasher to reduce background noise

Balance and coordination problems:

• Bath seat in tub or shower, or walk-in shower with pull-down seat
• Bath tub with transfer bench
• Temperature controlled shower and tub fixtures
• Rounded counter edges
• Grab bars near bath and toilet
• Handrails extend beyond top and bottom of stairs
• Stairway handrails on both sides
• No stairs to bedroom or bathroom
• Phone in bathroom

Limited reach:

• Hand-held shower in bathroom
• Electrical outlets are 27” above floor
• Light switches at 42” instead of 48”
• Cabinet shelves no more than 10” deep
• Closet organizer or Lazy Susan to reach belongings
• Closet rods pull down to comfortable level
• Kitchen and closets have pull-down or pull-out shelving
• Upper kitchen cabinets 48” from floor
• Cook top has easy-to-reach controls at front
• Microwave oven no higher than 48” above floor
• Oven doors swing to the side
• Side-by-side refrigerator
• Lowered kitchen counter tops
• Sink controls on the side
• Front-loading washer and dryer

Poor hand and arm strength:

• Automatic garage door opener
• Easy to open and lock doors and screens
• Cabinets and drawers have D-shape handles
• Doors have lever handles
• Counter tops smooth so heavy pans can slide across them
• Heat resistant counter near microwave oven
• Push button controls on appliances
• Garbage disposal or trash compactor to reduce trash
• Rocker light switches
• Sinks with lever faucet handles
• Special hardware to make drawers slide easily
• Spray hose to fill pots on the stove
• Dishwasher 8” from floor

Trouble bending:

• Elevated toilet or toilet seat
• Lower kitchen cabinets 6” above floor
• Sink no more than 6” deep
• Carpet is low pile and firm pad
• Clutter and electric cords are out of pathways
• Counter top that can be used while sitting
• Doors are wide enough for a walker to get through

Trouble walking and climbing stairs:

• Driveway smooth but not slippery
• Floors are smooth and slip-resistant
• Knee space under sinks; can sit while washing
• Knee space under stove; can sit while cooking
• No area rugs
• Ramp to front door with handrails on both sides
• Stairs have slip-resistant surface
• Thresholds on entry doors no higher than ¼ inch.

Uses wheelchair:

• Peep hole at low  height
• Lower window sills especially for windows on the street
• Hallways, doorways and closets wide enough for wheelchair.  Doorways 36″ wide with off-set hinges on doors
• Appliances have controls at the front
• Can use counters, sinks, stove top while sitting
• Can wheel from car to front door and then inside; no steps
• Ramp to front door with landings at top and bottom
• Can wheel to bedroom, bathroom, kitchen
• Pathways clutter-free
• Enough floor space near doors to move wheelchair
• Roll-in shower with multiple showerheads and/or way to transfer to tub
• Space to transfer from wheelchair to toilet
• See all above sections 

If you decide to remodel your current home, remember that you probably won’t have to make all of the modifications listed here.  Instead, focus on those of most benefit to your individual situation and make other changes as the need arises.  

Other resources:

• National Aging in Place Council
• “Home Modifications for the Elderly” 
• Home Modification and Aging in Place on Pinterest 

See also this article by Mike Holmes:  “Renovate now so that you can live well later“.

Are you looking for a “universal design” home that will allow you to age in place?  I would be happy to help you find such a home!  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

How protected from fire is your home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and the Edmonton area?  You have smoke detectors, carbon monoxide alarms and fire extinguishers but should you do more? 

I recently watched a disturbing YouTube video entitled The Co-operators and the Guelph Fire Department Sprinkler Demonstration sponsored by The Co-Operators Insurance company and the Guelph Fire Department.  In the video I learned that deaths from fire occur most often in the home and usually when people are sleeping.  Those most affected are likely to be small children under the age of 5 and adults over the age of 60.  It’s one thing to read in the video that fire departments typically respond in as little as 10 minutes but that conditions during a fire can become unsurvivable in under 2 minutes.   It’s a very different impression to watch the video and see the destruction and horror caused by a fire, how quickly it can spread, filling a home with toxic fumes and smoke, and how devastating the damage can be.   

The purpose of the video was to point out the difference sprinklers can make in saving lives and protecting property.  According to the video, damage in a sprinkler-protected home is generally 71% less.  Insurance claims in sprinkler-protected homes run around $1000 compared to $15,000 in those without.  Even more important than the decreased property damage is the life-saving aspect:  an 80% reduction in injury and death in a home with sprinklers. 

The Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition’s website  has similar information:  “Most people don’t realize that 8 out of 10 fire deaths occur in the home.  They usually happen at night when people are asleep.  People also do not understand how fast fires spread and how they can go from a tiny flame to total destruction in as little as three minutes.  Fire sprinklers can suppress and often extinguish a fire before the fire department arrives, giving people time to escape.” 

The Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, based in the US but with Canadian partners, reports statistics similar to those in the video.  The website also contains a wealth of other information and answers to questions people might have about home sprinkler systems:

• Fires kill more people in the US every year than all natural disasters combined.  And 80% of those fire deaths occur in the home.  When combined with smoke alarms, residential fire sprinklers cut the risk of dying by 82%.
• Fire sprinklers can save money for developers, builders, homeowners and communities.
• Only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate, spraying water directly on the fire.  Sprinklers cause much less water damage than fire hoses.
• Sprinklers are activated by high heat so sprinklers throughout a home are unlikely to go off.  The website notes that 90% of all home fires are contained with a single sprinkler.
• Accidental discharge of sprinklers due to defective equipment is extremely unlikely.
• Homeowners need not worry about the aesthetics of a sprinkler system as the hardware in a home system is small and easily concealed.
• If installed in a new home, the cost may be about the same as an upgraded carpet, or about 1 to 1.5% of the building cost.  This cost may be offset over a number of years through lower insurance premiums.
• Home fire sprinkler systems can be retrofitted into existing homes. 

In light of recent house fires in our province that caused tremendous damage and loss of life due to current new homes being built very close together and with flammable materials, the cost of installing a sprinkler system (running about $1.65 per square foot in the US for new home construction) seems well worth it.  I urge you to view the Co-Operators video  to get a feel for the true calamity of a fire in the home, and visit the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition website for more information about home sprinklers.  You can never be too safe! 

See also my blog article “Fire Safety in Your Home”.   

Comments or questions about this article?  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

If you are thinking of replacing the flooring in your Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton area home, you’re not alone!  Should you make the leap from your old wall-to-wall broadloom to the currently popular hardwood?  Should you replace all the carpeting or keep some in selected areas of your home?  Here are some points that might help you decide.

Carpet Pros

• Warm, comfortable and insulating
• Sound-absorbing (might therefore be a better choice in high-density living situations such as condos and the like)
• Easier on the feet
• Often less expensive to purchase, and easier, faster and cheaper to install
• Can be installed anywhere in the home.
• Many choices in colors, textures, fabrics

 Carpet Cons

• Feels “dated” to many people.  Home buyers today are looking for modern finishing.
• Carpet is seen as negative to indoor air quality.  Even frequent vacuuming doesn’t remove dust, dander, allergens. 
• Professional carpet cleaning and shampooing can be expensive and disruptive.
• Standard life is about 12 years before replacement needed.
• Generally less accessible for wheelchairs and walkers, if aging in place or disabled family members are a consideration.

Hardwood Pros

• Hard-surface flooring is currently popular and trendy.  Current thinking is that hardwood adds character and value to a home.  Seen as better for re-sale. 
• Good for the planet:  wood is natural, sustainable, renewable.
• When properly chosen, installed and maintained, will last a lifetime
• Easily cleaned and maintained with vacuum and dust mop.  With felt protectors on the bottom of furniture pieces, easy for one person to move furniture for cleaning.
• Excellent for those with allergies
• Versatile decorative option; goes with everything.
• Can be used “as is” or with an area rug on top to change the decorating or to add warmth and sound-absorption
• Future flexibility: easy to install carpet or tile on top of hardwood (although why on earth would you?!)

Hardwood Cons

• Noisy; not sound-deadening like carpet so sounds may echo.
• Chilly on the feet, especially in winter.
• New finishes do make hardwood more resistant to damage but not indestructible.  Care will still be required to prevent damage from dropped and dragged items, as well as from spilled liquids.  Most hardwoods can be re-finished and cost is comparable to replacing a carpet, but re-finishing usually takes longer than a carpet replacement.
• Humidity levels need to be closely monitored.  In high humidity, improperly installed wood can expand and buckle.  Low humidity can result in splintering and breakage.
• Can be expensive to purchase and install, especially if sub-floor required.
• Can be slippery and therefore less safe for small children and seniors
• Shows dirt readily.  Needs to be cleaned (vacuumed or swept and mopped) more often than carpet; at least every other day in high-use areas
• May not be suitable for below-grade installation

A good article that compares the characteristics of carpet and hardwood is “Carpet vs. Hardwood – The Great Showdown”. 

A few other things to consider:

• Many people are mixing up their flooring choices:  tile in kitchens and bathrooms for durability and ease of cleaning, hardwood in main-floor living areas for beauty, carpet in bedrooms for comfort.
• Think about your lifestyle and how you use the spaces in your home.  Are shoes removed at the door, food consumed only in non-carpeted areas, pets house-trained?  If no, then carpets, which tend to get dirty faster and hold on to the dirt, might not be the best option for you.  Highly visible, high-traffic areas benefit from flooring that is durable and easy to clean and maintain.
• Consider the kind of feel you want underfoot:  firm, glossy, sophisticated, or cozy, casual, barefoot-friendly.
• When you replace the flooring, do it for your own use and pleasure but keep in mind that eventually you will leave your home.  Be aware that every change you make to your home will have an impact on its ultimate resale value and ease of selling, even if that sale is years in the future.

Let me help!  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

My clients in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton area often ask me if “now” is a good time to buy a new home.  My answer to that question usually involves telling them that the best time to buy is when they feel ready to do so, no matter what the market is doing.  That may sound like a weasel answer but I believe people’s own finances and their needs and wants in housing are better for decision-making than any attempts to time or predict the market.

But “now” is an interesting time to be dealing in real estate in Alberta.  You’ve probably seen the gloomy news reports that the Canadian housing market is due for a major correction with house prices set to fall by about 20%.  That is not the case here!

In a recent article in the Edmonton Journal entitled “Alberta’s housing market still hot, whatever the media say”, Gary Lamphier reports on a conversation with Don Campbell, senior analyst and founding partner with the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN).  Mr. Campbell advises would-be sellers and buyers to “chill out”, suggesting that there is no such thing as a Canadian real estate market, but rather that each locality has its own unique market and conditions.  He goes even further when commenting about the Alberta market, saying that economic and demographic factors here are ripe for another housing boom, not bust.  He notes Alberta’s population continues to grow as workers come into the province while apartment vacancy rates shrink.  Many of these workers will decide to make Alberta their permanent home and that means they’ll be buying houses sometime in the next 2 to 7 years, fueling demand for houses and the subsequent rise in prices.

You may have heard or read that prices in Alberta have flat-lined so how can the dream of a new housing boom be true?  Mr. Campbell says Alberta’s boom-bust economy and the accompanying anxiety in people’s minds is to blame for this skepticism, along with tougher mortgage qualification rules and the negative national news.  He points out that Alberta’s population growth in 2012 was nearly triple the national average, putting a strain on housing capacity.  This situation tends to cause prices to rise.  While the average price of a house in Edmonton (about $401,000 in February) is still not as high as the peak prices in 2007, prices are definitely on the rise, according to another article entitled “Home prices flirt with record highs of ‘07”.

All of this suggests to me that now is indeed a good time to buy!

Let me help you find the home that’s just right for you.  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

As a realtor in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton region, I help people buy and sell property.  But I also own several revenue properties myself, and that experience has taught me a few things about dealing with people in rental situations.

Being a landlord in Alberta can be rewarding and daunting.  I recently took a 12-hour course from the Edmonton-area Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board.  (Call them at 780-496-5959 or visit their website where you will find lots of good information.  As well, tenancy forms are available for sale including tenancy application, tenancy agreement, inspection report and notices).  I am one of those people who try to focus on the most important points of such a course and keep them in the front of my mind.  No doubt you have heard the saying that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location.  What’s the most important thing to remember as a landlord?   At the end of this course, what I concluded as a landlord was:  Put all tenants on a “fixed-term lease”.

A fixed-term lease has a start date and an end date of the lease.  Unless the lease is extended beyond the end date, the tenant is expected to vacate the property on that date.  No notice is required; the lease IS the notice.  This is beneficial to a landlord in many ways.  It gives you an opportunity to see what a tenant is really like.  A bad tenant can be both financially and emotionally draining.  Initially, I put all my tenants on a 3-month lease.  That is usually enough time to figure out what you have.  If they appear to be good tenants, I may extend the lease period to perhaps 6 months or a year.

There is one technicality that you should remember.  If you have tenants on a fixed-term lease and the lease expires and you take the next month’s rent without signing them onto another fixed-term lease, then the lease converts by default to a month-to-month lease.  Then your hassle factor increases dramatically when you try to evict a bad tenant or sell the property. I advise everyone to put their tenants on fixed-term leases. 

I talked to three people this past week who were trying to get rid of bad tenants: chronically late rent, damage to the home, people living in the house who were not on the lease…. My first question is always:  Are the tenants on a fixed-term lease?  Guess what the answer was in all 3 instances?  Now the landlords have to go through a daunting process requiring them to give various notices in a proper and timely fashion (if not given properly, they are null and void), perhaps bringing their problems to a judge and maybe or maybe not getting an order to vacate, and so on.

My best advice to landlords?  Put your tenants on FIXED-TERM LEASES.

Comments or questions about this article?  Please call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

How do we go about changing the “For Sale” sign on your home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or the Edmonton area into “Sold”? 

Once you’ve signed the Listing Contract and your house is officially “on the market”, lots of things take place in my office to make sure that as many realtors and potential buyers as possible are aware of it. 

First of all, I post your listing (detailed description of your property, pictures and measurements I took during my visit, other particulars such as asking price, annual property taxes, neighborhood features and so on) to the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS®.  This powerful online service immediately makes your property’s information available to the thousands of realtors working in the Edmonton region.  They, in turn, can make this information available to their clients who might be looking for a property like yours.  Clients who create a customized search profile listing their desired property features can opt to receive automated “highlight sheets” showing properties available for sale that match what they are looking for.  Potential buyers can also search MLS listings directly by using their realtor’s website or by going to MLS.ca or Realtor.ca.

Back at the Realty Executives Leading office, a full-color printed “window ad” showing a picture of your home and a verbal description is posted in the front window of our building so that passers-by and visitors to the office can see the properties listed for sale by the realtors from our office.  Using a graphic designer, I may also create a glossy color highlight sheet featuring several photos of your home’s best features for potential buyers to pick up when they are viewing your home with a realtor. 

I advertise most of my listings every week in the local newspapers, the Grove Examiner in Spruce Grove and the Stony Plain Reporter in Stony Plain.  I also place ads in the Real Estate Weekly (circulation 60,000) published by the Realtors Association of Edmonton.  Printed copies of the Real Estate Weekly are inserted in home-delivered newspapers and sent out to newsstands selling the Edmonton Sun, as well as high traffic food stores, banks and real estate offices all around the Edmonton area.   Websites for all three of these publications mean an even greater possible audience for this advertising. 

I make extensive use of technology in marketing your property, featuring my listings on my website, my Facebook Business Page, my Activerain blog, and my Pinterest board of listings.  I also post ads on Kijiji and create special in-house virtual tours, using software called VisualTour, that are attached to my MLS listings.  

Special mention needs to be made of my website, www.barryt.ca.  Buyers searching for “Spruce Grove real estate”, “Stony Plain real estate” or “Parkland County real estate” will find my website consistently showing up in the top organic search results on Google.  The potential exists for your home to be viewed online by thousands of visitors every day. 

While we still put a For Sale sign on your front lawn and maybe stage an open house, you can see that today’s real estate marketing goes well beyond traditional sales methods! 

Looking to sell your home?  I can help!  Call me today at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

A few weeks ago I posted a blog article called “Family Central” about carving out a family organization center somewhere in the family home to round up all the paper and paraphernalia associated with day to day family life.  Our lives in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton region just keep getting busier, don’t they?  And it seems to get harder all the time to keep track of schedules and corral all the clutter. 

A great article in the February 23, 2013 edition of the Edmonton Journal entitled “Tiny, perfect pocket offices” confirms the need for such a space in a family home and contains lots of valuable information and good tips about how to create and use these small but mighty work spaces.   Check it out! 

Looking for a home with something special?  Maybe I can help.  Call or text me 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

At first, when I heard about the meteor that hit the Urals region of western Siberia in Russia a couple weeks ago, I thought it had to be a mistake.  That is, until I heard the news reports of the hundreds of people injured and the massive amounts of property damage.  And then I got to feeling pretty relieved that it hadn’t landed here, and wondering if that kind of destruction would hit people in their wallets.

An article in the Edmonton Journal reported that the meteor, which was the size of a bus and weighed about 7000 tons, exploded with the force of 20 atomic bombs.  Russia seems to be a bit of a magnet for massive meteorite strikes.  The last big one, in fact the largest impact of its type in recorded history, hit Siberia in 1908, wiping out an estimated 80 million trees with a blast greater than 1000 times that of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima.  

The Journal article quotes Jim Green, NASA’s director of planetary science: “These fireballs happen about once a day or so, but we just don’t see them because many of them fall over the ocean or in remote areas.”  Good to know for those of us who live in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or the Edmonton region! 

So, what happens if your home is hit by falling space debris?  Or, for that matter, items falling from airplanes, such as chunks of frozen sewage known as “blue ice”, tree limbs broken off in a wind storm, and the like?  Happily for homeowners, this is one less thing to worry about because insurance policies generally do cover such events. 

According to Angeni Jaipaul at Allstate Insurance in west Edmonton, a meteor event of this type would be part of the “Falling Objects” clause of Allstate’s VIP Homeowner Policy which states “This peril means a falling object which strikes the exterior of a building but not objects which strike the building due to earth movement”.  If your home is damaged in any way by junk falling out of the sky, your insurance will pay for repairs.

“5 things to know about home insurance”, an article published on the Toronto Star website,  offers a few more bits of insurance wisdom:

• Be aware of your responsibilities as a home owner.  Insurance will usually cover you for events that you could not have foreseen or prevented (stuff dropping from the sky that wrecks your roof), but you won’t be covered if damage is the result of your lack of maintenance.
• Read your policy carefully and be sure to ask questions of your agent.  Do you have a comprehensive all-perils policy, or a basic named-perils policy?  All-perils policies will protect you against most risks; a named-perils policy will cover specific risks, such as fire, lightning, wind.  (But be careful:  the term all-perils might be misleading because most of these policies don’t cover damage from floods or earthquakes unless you have specifically purchased that type of coverage.)
• Update your policy.  Let your insurance company know when you renovate your property or make substantial changes to the contents.  Keep an inventory of what you own.  One suggestion is to use your phone to make a video of the rooms and their contents.  

See also my other blog articles on the topic of home insurance:

 “Property Insurance: Are You Covered?”

“Home Inventory: Do You Have One?”

Comments or questions about this article?  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.