If you’ve decided on moving to another section of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and the Edmonton region in the springtime, you’ve first got to sell your old home. While selling your home can be difficult, whether it’s Stony Plain real estate or not, it can be made easier with some helpful tips. Selling a home in the springtime is definitely different from selling it at any other time of the year. In the spring, there are certain factors that you can work to your advantage. Here are some of the best tips to boost the appeal of your home.

Make Sure Your Yard Is Immaculate

Selling in the springtime means that you have a lot of people who will be looking at your yard because of the better weather. Spruce Grove real estate agents believe that you have to de-clutter your yard and make it extremely presentable to all the people filing in during an open house. If you can, you’ll want to start preparing in the winter by sprucing it up one season early. Focusing on the yard involves the basics, such as making sure the lawn is cut and looking nice, the fence is painted, and the area is free of debris.

Get Rid of Junk Inside the Home

Parkland County real estate agents agree that less is more when it comes to showing your home in the spring. This means that it is in your best interest to get rid of junk inside your home. When people are walking through your house, whether it’s Edmonton real estate or not, the last thing they want to see is your junk. This can be everything from dirty clothes and unused pieces of furniture to older stuff that you’re just hoarding in a corner somewhere. It’s a good idea to clean out your bookshelves and closets, and send old stuff to storage.

Compare What Other Houses For Sale Are Doing

When selling your home, it’s a good idea to check out Parkland County acreages or Edmonton acreages, or other homes for sale in your municipality, just to get a feel for what the other homes are going for and what they’re including in their offers. For instance, if you see things that are popular in your neck of the woods, you might be inspired to make the same changes to your own home when selling it. Popular items in homes could be anything from hardwood floors to new light fixtures to upgraded appliances. If there’s something that people in your neighbourhood like, then you may want to consider including it in your home when you sell it.

These are the most effective tips for selling your home in the spring. Thanks to these tips, you’ll be attracting more people than ever to your open house events. Any time you’re selling a property, it is always important to give homebuyers precisely what they’re expecting.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me for any home-related questions you have. Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here.

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Some time ago I had a house listed in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and Edmonton region whose owners were enthusiastic antique collectors.  Every room in their home was filled with furniture, knick-knacks and treasures from multiple eras and design influences.  Nothing really matched, nor was there a unifying theme tying things together.  The overall effect was of too much miscellaneous stuff crammed into too little space.  This is exactly the impression a seller does not want to give a potential buyer! 

Getting this place sold needed the removal of large numbers of objects so as to showcase the space rather than the possessions in the space.  Items not removed were those essential for daily living that were both nice to look at and anonymous.  Many sellers learn the hard way that living in a home is very different from selling a house, and items cherished by the sellers may actually deter potential buyers from making an offer.

Ask yourself what you are selling.  If it’s the house and not the stuff in it, how can you show off the house to its best advantage?  You can do this by staging your home to make it look as spacious, clean, tidy and organized, fresh and up-to-date, attractive and functional as possible.  Did I mention spacious?!

Please read my other articles on home staging:  “Home Staging Starts with De-cluttering”  and “Be Your Own Home Stager”  Let’s assume that you’ve already thrown away the trash, sold or given away unneeded or unwanted items, and packed up stuff you’re not currently using (e.g. winter equipment and clothing if it’s summer) but which you’ll be taking with you when you leave your current home.  What else needs to go before you put your home on the market? 

“Identity” items: 

• All items with your name on them:  utility bills, diplomas, certificates and awards, sports jerseys, personal documents such as passports, medications, etc.
• All family pictures
• All collections:  spoons, ball caps, dolls, model cars, sports memorabilia, coins, cookbooks, DVDs, etc., as well as valuables such as jewelry.
• All ethnic, cultural and religious items
• All evidence of hunting:  guns, clothing, stuffed game, antlers, etc.
• All work-related items, such as computer or office-related binders, books and manuals, cords, CDs, phone books, etc.
•  Any items that might distract or offend potential buyers, such as smoking materials, pet paraphernalia, lewd artwork and the like

Stuff in general: 

• Dated and dusty decorative items, such as old dried flower arrangements
• All broken items, and things you’ve been “saving”
• All excess furniture and accessories in every room.  Don’t forget outbuildings and outdoor spaces as well.  Keep just the essentials, and set up each room or space according to its intended purpose.  This may mean turning an office back into a bedroom while your home is on the market.
• All extra items from porches, decks and entryways (such as loose pieces of carpet, boot racks and the like), and all items from stairwells and hallways.
• Large appliances, like a freezer or extra fridge, that won’t be sold with the house
• All items off window ledges, and open the window coverings
• All old paint, chemicals and hazardous waste, as well as renovation and building materials that are not relevant to the house’s current upgrades

Tips for Specific areas

Shelves:

• Remove everything.  Replace just a few display items, leaving lots of space between them:  some hardcover books with attractive covers, a couple of unusual knick-knacks, neutral photos such as landscapes, small plants

Closets:

• Remove about 75% of closet contents, keeping just the items you absolutely have to have while your home is on the market!  Leave as much space between items on hangers as possible, and clear closet shelves and floors as much as possible.  Arrange everything neatly.

Other storage spaces:

• Stockpiles of everything have to go from basement storage areas, garage, storage shed and the like.  Keep only the items you need to maintain yourself and the home while it is on the market.  For example, if it’s summer, you’ll need lawn mowing and gardening tools but not winter items like snow shovels and brushes.  Pack up the tools, hobby items, sports gear, etc.

Kids’ rooms:

• Remove all but your children’s favorite toys, clothing they will be wearing on a day to day basis, and necessary equipment (e.g. changing table and related items for infants).
• Remove all stickers and posters from walls and doors
  

Kitchen:

• All items off the tops of cabinets and the fridge, including magnets, children’s artwork, calendars, etc.
• Everything off kitchen counters except bare necessities, such as coffee pot, kettle and toaster.
• Purge plastic container collection.
• Pack up all extra cookware, dishes, utensils, specialty items you won’t be using while your home is on the market.
• Reduce stored food items as much as possible so that cupboards and pantry appear as spacious as possible.
• Knives off counters and stored under a cabinet (for safety).
• Clean out all cabinets and drawers and replace only the essentials in a tidy and organized fashion.

Bathrooms:

• Out with all old and half-used toiletries.
• Bare minimum of personal care products, in attractive containers, if possible.  However, do NOT leave out in view things like razors, hairbrushes, toothbrushes, medications and the like.
• Reduce quantity of cleaning products to just what needs to be used on a daily basis.
• Clear out cabinets; put back only essential items.

Laundry area:

• Clear off all shelves and leave only items you have to have.  Nothing on the floor!

Home exterior:

• Please read my blog article “Drive-by Delight or Disaster?”

During this process, you’ll probably come to realize that:

• Potential buyers will be looking everywhere in your home.
• It will take time and energy to repair, clean, de-clutter, de-personalize and stage your home so it looks spotless, spacious and inviting.
• You may have to rent space in a storage facility to store your belongings.
• It’s going to be a little painful to have to camp in your own home for the period of time before your home is sold and you move out completely.

But I hope you’ll believe me when I tell you:

• The focus will no longer be on the home you’ve created and your stuff, but the space, the flooring, upgrades, fresh paint, the yard, and all the other features that buyers are looking for.
• By clearing out the clutter and packing up as much as possible before your home goes on the market, you will have much less to do when it comes time to move to your new home.
• Your home WILL sell faster and it WILL earn you more money – in some cases, 1000s of dollars more.
• You may even find that you can get along just fine without so much stuff!

Remember the phrase from the movie Field of Dreams “Build it and they will come”?  Stage your house so it becomes a Home of Dreams and the buyers will come!

Comments or questions about this article?  Call or text me 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.

Does your Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton-area home have a special dedicated room or home office that functions as the “business hub” of your family’s activities?  Where the kids do their homework, mom and dad pay the bills, family members update schedules, store keys, phones, laptops and other important items that need to be grabbed before leaving the house?  No?  Well, you’re not alone in wishing for a magic solution to the problem of keeping everybody organized and the house clutter-free!  With today’s busy lifestyles, it’s no wonder that many people can’t find their dining room tables and kitchen counters under the daily avalanche of school papers, mail, newspapers and magazines, electronic devices and much more.

An article in the January 26, 2013 edition of the Edmonton Journal entitled “Building the perfect family hub” addresses the questions of what is needed to create a family organization center, how to find the space, and how to make it all work in even the smallest of homes. 

According to the article, the most important items needed in the center are a calendar for keeping track of everybody’s schedules, a message board (dry erase or corkboard) for posting and sharing information, a bin or section of corkboard for each family member’s own current information needs (such as school permission slips), and a power strip and shelf for charging electronic devices.  A work surface for homework and the like is also ideal, as well as a laptop or computer for checking email, doing research, etc. 

But where to put this?  A room such as the bonus room found in many of today’s newer homes or a mudroom would be great, but not necessary according to the authors of the article.  Instead, there are numerous other options, such as converting a pantry cupboard or small closet into a desktop with storage above, seating below.  Even a single kitchen cabinet can serve when space is really tight.  For some excellent visuals, take a look at my Pinterest board “Great Little Spaces”.  The key is defining the purpose for the space chosen as the family hub. 

If you are lucky enough to have a room-size space available, you can furnish it lavishly with a built-in desk and storage, or more economically with items from around the house or from garage sales – whatever will fit the budget and the needs of your family.   

This leads to the final aspect of such a center, making it work.  Again, let your own family’s needs be your guide.  Bright colors and an attractive space along with a firm commitment to use this area as THE spot for family business go a long way to keeping the rest of the house tidy and organized!  Check out the article for more details and ideas. 

Looking for just the right home to meet your family’s needs?  Call or text me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

A guest blog article from one of my clients who refers to herself as Ms. Cranky Pants:

So, Barry took me to see your house in the region of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, and Edmonton, and I just wanted to mention the things that made me go Ewww.

Odors

I know you think all those little room deodorizer thingies will hide the fact that you’re a smoker, but you can’t fool me.  I wish I didn’t know that you had fried fish with onions and garlic for dinner.  And seriously people, do you ever clean that stinky litter box?  Open a window, for crying out loud!

Dirt

Disgusting grime in the tub, sticky spots on the kitchen counter, dirty dishes in the sink, mystery stains on the carpet, something brown and nasty in the corners…  Yuck!  I’d hate to have the CSI folks go through here with their ultra-violet lights.  I’m not a clean freak but no way do I want to wallow in anybody else’s crud, thank you.  Soap and water and elbow grease are cheap – get busy!

Stuff everywhere

When I view homes, I try to imagine living in the rooms with all my belongings in place.  Kind of hard to do when your junk is clogging up the space, making the place feel smaller than it really is.  Plus, it’s a real turn-off to see personal things like your toothbrush, razor and soggy towels cluttering up the bathroom, for example.  You need to get rid of at least half the stuff in your house — and I don’t mean hide it in the closets or the garage because I’m looking in there!  Here’s a tip:  Visualize a nice hotel room before you move in and unpack – sparkly clean, neat and tidy, room to move around.  That’s what your home should look like for showings.

Damp basement and water stains

Oh boy, is this one a red flag.  If I can see the results of water leakage, I just know I’d be buying a boatload of trouble to take on this baby.  Maybe you’ve got a bad foundation, but it’s more likely that water from spring runoff or summer rains is getting in because 1) your landscaping and grading isn’t sloped adequately away from the house; 2) your eavestroughing needs some work, with rain gutters cleaned out and downspouts aimed well away from the house; 3) your underground drains are clogged; or 4) your sump pump, if you have one, isn’t working properly.

Evident lack of maintenance or upgrading, or unfinished or poorly done reno projects

Yeah, I know your house isn’t brand new so you don’t have all the latest fixtures and decorative doo-dads.  I don’t mind a house that’s used.  What I object to is a house that’s used up.  If you’ve lived in your house for longer than 10 years, then it’s time to fix it up.  That could mean repairing broken windows, tightening loose hinges, or replacing cabinet handles, switches and plug-ins, faucets and shower heads.  It might also mean fresh paint inside and outside (neutral colors, please!).  Maybe what’s needed is a new roof, new furnace and hot water heater, new flooring or new appliances.  It could even mean a professional renovation of kitchen and bathrooms.  Notice I said professional renovation.  Do it yourself only if you have the skills and tools to do it right.  Oh, and don’t wait till just before it’s time to sell to do those things.  Maintain and renovate on a yearly basis so you get to enjoy your investment.

Weird decorating

I counted 5 different wallpaper patterns and 4 different types of carpet and lino just on the main level, but the real clincher was the purple living room, black bedroom and the mustard yellow dining room with its psychedelic wall mural!  This may be what you like to live with, but I want my house to be a frame for my life, not a Halloween horror show.

Lack of light

Hard to see if there are great features in this house because it’s like a cave in here.  I respect people trying to save money and energy, but up the wattage on the light bulbs so prospective buyers can actually see what you’re selling.  Open those drapes and blinds.  Trim the shrubbery from in front of the windows.  Clean those dirty, foggy windows.

Poor curb appeal and unattractive yard

I don’t know about you but I make a little effort when I show my face in public.  Same thing applies to houses.  Like it or not, first impressions count.  If your front door is askew and the paint’s peeling, if your driveway and sidewalks are cracked, plants overgrown, lawn brown and patchy, and there’s trash everywhere, this tells me you don’t care.  So why should I even bother to enter the front door if what I’ll see on the inside is more of the same?  Show a little pride, folks!

Pets on the loose

Hey, I love animals but your big snarly pooch scared the whatsits out of me.  I came to see your house, not get mauled by Cujo.

Price too high

Of course I’d like a bargain, but I’m willing to pay what’s fair for a decent house.  If your house needs a little work… well, I can forgive quite a lot if the price is right.  But there’s plenty I won’t pay for.  I don’t care that you spent $20,000 on a fancy new hot tub and deck, or that you owe too much on your mortgage to reduce the price to what’s reasonable, or that you have to have a certain amount so you can move into a bigger and more expensive house.  Price your house right based on factors such as its location, age, condition, size and what similar homes in your area have sold for, and I just might make you an offer.

Barry has some great articles in this blog on home staging and getting your house ready to sell.  Take a look at these:

Be Your Own Home Stager

Thinking of Selling Your Home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain or Parkland County? 

Home Staging Starts With De-cluttering

Barry can help you find a great house, or sell your current one.  Call or text him at 780-910-9669, email him at barry@barryt.ca, or contact him here. 

Whether we live in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or elsewhere, how often as parents have we said those words?   And how often have we been less than satisfied with the clean-up efforts of our offspring?

An article published in the April 3, 2012 edition of the Edmonton Journal offers a few tips that might make the next tidying up incident a little more productive.  “Teaching kids to cut clutter” suggests the way to make kids’ too small rooms a little bigger is to get rid of some of the stuff in them.  Even better would be to never have some of the stuff, such as the junk contents of many birthday party loot bags (who dreams up these things anyway?), enter the rooms in the first place.

The article profiles two moms and writers, Debby Waldman and Rita Feutl, who co-wrote a book for children entitled Room Enough for Daisy based on their personal experiences trying to corral the belongings of their own children.  “Feutl says she hopes it prompts thoughtful parents to ask their kids to think about where the material for these things comes from, where they are put together, who puts them together and what they’re paid, how they’re packaged and how they get to the village, town or city where the kids live.”  The women hope their book will make kids more aware of their stuff and to take responsibility for it, as well as realize that some things are worth keeping more than others, and that less can be more.

A few of the tips from the article for helping kids cut clutter:

• Use the one-in-one-out rule.  When a new item comes into a kid’s room, something else must be removed.  But let your child decide.
• Sorting items and keeping like items together in containers and on shelves may go a long way to solving the problem of a messy room.
• If a child doesn’t appear to be using certain items, gather them up and put them away for 6 months.  If the child doesn’t ask for the items during that time, consider giving the stuff away.
• If kids want something new, have them contribute to the purchase.
• Be specific when you ask kids to clean their room.  Do you want them to clean, as in vacuum and dust, or do you want them to organize, as in pick up those blocks and arrange them in this box?
• Make sorting, arranging and tidying into a time-limited game.

Read the full article for even more good ideas.

If we can teach our kids to be more aware of the difference between wants and needs, and that more and more stuff doesn’t necessarily mean a better life, maybe their generation can do a better job of decluttering the planet!

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

Where do you go to get information for renovation projects?  The television set in your home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County and the Edmonton area is probably not your first choice, but flipping through the channels these days reveals something surprising:  Among the many sports, movie and mainstream networks, there are a large number of worthwhile programs and even whole networks offering valuable information to homeowners.  Check out some of these offered in the Spruce Grove/Stony Plain/Edmonton area by Shaw Cable and TELUS Optik TV.  A little disclosure:  After you’ve checked them out, let me know what you think because I admit I haven’t seen most of them myself!

A & E

(Shaw 25, HD 233; Telus 170, HD 670)

$100 Makeover, Disaster Guy, Drill Team, Fix This Kitchen, Fix This Yard, Flipping Vegas, Flip This House, Hoarders, Sell This House

CBC  (Click on Find a Program)

(Shaw 4, HD 209; Telus 4, HD 618)

All for One With Debbie Travis, Steven and Chris

Discovery Channel  

(Shaw 32; Telus 200)

Canada’s Worst Handyman

DIY Network  (Click on Shows A-Z)

(Shaw 136; Telus 144)

A whole network of house-related programming, such as:  Decked Out, The Dirt on Gardening, Disaster DIY, DIY Hot List Kitchens & Baths, Dream House, Garage Mahal, Holmes on Homes, House Crashers, I Hate My Kitchen, Man Caves, Rehab Addict, Turf War, Wasted Spaces, Weekend Handyman, Yard Crashers, and many, many more.

HGTV 

(Shaw 19, HD 231; Telus 142, HD 680)

Too many shows to list them all here!  A few of the more popular:  Colin & Justin’s Home Heist, Debbie Travis’ Painted House, Gardening by the Yard, Holmes on Homes, Holmes Inspection, House Hunters, Property Virgins, Real Renos, Sarah’s House.  Many more.

OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)

(Shaw 92; Telus 202, HD 651)

Divine Design, Home Takeover with Simon & Tomas

PBS

(PBS Spokane on Shaw 22, HD 204; Telus 23, HD 607 Seattle

PBS Detroit on Shaw 81

PBS Boston on Telus 54, HD 629)

HandyMa’am with Beverly DeJulio, The Perennial Gardener with Karen Strohbeen, The Router Workshop, This Old House, The Woodwright’s Shop

Slice  (Click on Shows)

(Shaw 33; Telus 141)

Family Renovation, House Poor, Shotgun Reno, Till Debt Do Us Part

TLC The Learning Channel

(Shaw 35, HD 236; Telus 140, HD 671)

Hoarding: Buried Alive, Home Made Simple, Kitchen Boss, Spouse vs. House

W Network

(Shaw 34; Telus 146)

The Agents, All for Nothing, Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag, Building Bryks, Candice Tells All, Colour Confidential, Divine Design, Grin and Build It, Help My House is Falling Down, Home Wreckers, Inside the Box, Love It Or List It, Making House, Million Dollar Decorators, My House Your Money, Property Brothers, Take This House and Sell It

Not strictly related to houses and real estate but still very much related to home, so we have to give an Honorable Mention to:

The Food Network 

(Shaw 29; Telus 143)

Ace of Cakes, Barefoot Contessa, Chef at Home, Eat Shrink and Be Merry, Family Restaurant, French Food at Home, Iron Chef America, Jamie’s Meals in Minutes, Restaurant Makeover, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Tough Cookies, and much more!

This list isn’t intended to be comprehensive, but if I’ve missed anything that really should be on it, please let me know!

I’d love to help you find a house to turn into a home.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

Do you have too much stuff?  In our consumer-oriented society, whether we live in the city of Spruce Grove, a smaller community like Stony Plain, or on an acreage or country estate in the County of Parkland, it’s easy to accumulate “stuff”.  We might not even notice just how much stuff we’ve accumulated until it’s time to sell our homes.  But what if we could train ourselves to be more mindful of everything we bring into our homes so that moving to a new house is not such a chore?

An article in the Grove Examiner, published August 12, 2011, suggests some questions to ask ourselves before we commit to buying anything.  Paying attention to what we buy will save us money, save the environment, and maybe even do away with the need to move to a bigger house!  Thanks to Craig and Layla Baird, “The Green Couple”, for allowing their article to be posted here in its entirety.

Things to consider prior to your next consumer purchase

Craig and Layla Baird, The Green Couple

Every time you go out to buy something, what you buy has an impact on the environment.

That purchase has an impact by the waste it produces when it is manufactured, and the waste that is produced when you use it and when you are done with it.  In addition, the environmental impact of the production, transportation and consumption of the product has an effect on our planet.

This is why it is important to ask yourself the “Purchase Questions”.  These questions are:

1.     Does the cost of the item warrant the benefit we may receive from it?

This means that if the benefit is just an immediate gratification (such as a new pair of shoes that we really don’t need), then it is not worth the long-term cost.

2.     How much will this product be used after its initial ‘neatness’ wears off?

Buying one of those dancing electric animals is a perfect example of this.  It may seem neat now, but it will end up in the closet soon enough and likely long before you recoup the expense in enjoyment.

3.     Can it be recycled or given away later?

If it can, it makes buying it easier because someone else can get use out of it after we no longer use it.

4.     Where could this money be better spent?

If it could go to bills, mortgage, charity or anything else instead of the product, maybe it should be directed that way. 

5.     Why are we buying this product?

If the only reason is because we just saw it, then it is not a good buy.  Impulse buys are not something we want to do.  As well, if we buy it because we saw it on television, then perhaps again it is not a good buy.

Asking yourself those questions can not only save you money, but they can help you save the environment as well.

Need help finding homes for extra stuff?  See my blog article “Getting Rid of Stuff”. 

I’m happy to help with all your real estate needs.  Call me at 780-910-9669, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or contact me here. 

So, you’ve de-cluttered your home in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or the Edmonton area.  You’ve thrown out the real trash, and the things you’re keeping are neatly stored away in an appropriate place.  But what do you do with the stuff that’s left, the items that are too good to just throw away but no longer needed or wanted in your home?  Here are a few suggestions beyond giving things to friends and family members, or holding a garage sale:

 Recycle:

• City of Spruce Grove :  A wealth of information about Spruce Grove’s Blue Bag program , the EcoCentre  (which accepts electronic waste, appliances, tires and scrap metal, in addition to regular Blue Bag items), and information about the disposal of all kinds of other goods.
• Stony Plain’s Wipe Out Waste program, recycling services, etc.
• Parkland County Solid Waste and Recycling

Donate:

If you have anything in good condition (clean, undamaged, meeting current safety standards, etc.), chances are there’s a person or an organization that will accept it.  Be sure to educate yourself about an organization’s guidelines for accepting gifts, however, since not all items will be welcomed by everybody.  Google “donate goods in Edmonton”,  and a very long list of charity websites comes up.  Here are just a few possibilities for passing on your unneeded items to someone who can use them:

• Freecycle  is a concept born of the Internet. Advertise what you have to give away (or what you’d like to receive for free), and watch what happens! Visit the Spruce Grove group’s website.
• Check out “Thrift Stores” and “Youth Services” in Spruce Grove’s Green Book Community Resource Directory.
• See the City of Edmonton’s Reuse Directory for a long list of organizations that accept all kinds of goods.
• See also the list of charities at DonationTown.
• St. Andrew’s United Church Bargain Basement, Spruce Grove, accepts clothing, household goods:
• Cerebral Palsy Association of Alberta  accepts donations of gently used clothing and small household items, including books. Even better, they will pick up items from your home.
• The Canadian Diabetes Association is another group that will pick up items such as clothing, footwear, books, kitchen wares, toys, small appliances, etc. via their Clothesline program.  Arrangements for pick-up can be made online or by calling 1-800-505-5525.
• Goodwill Industries of Alberta does not pick up items from your home but there are drop-off locations in Edmonton and one in Spruce Grove.
• Salvation Army.  Drop off only for clothing, furniture and household goods.
• Alberta Association for Community Living  will pick up clothing and household items; see their website for what they will accept.
• Computers for Schools
• Electronic Recycling Association can arrange pick up of all kinds of electronics.
• ReBOOT Canada  will pick up donations of computer equipment.
• Bicycles for Humanity
• Habitat for Humanity ReStores:  Donate (or buy!) all kinds of reusable building supplies at the two Edmonton locations (addresses available at the website). Pick up and drop off possible.
• Shelter organizations in Edmonton: Most have an ongoing wish list of personal care items, household goods, clothing, food items and the like. A few to contact include: Mustard Seed Edmonton; Homeward Trust; Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters; Bissell Centre; Elizabeth Fry Society; WIN House.
• Eyeglasses: Most optometrists and opticians, such as LensCrafters, will accept old eyeglasses for recycling, as will Lions Club International and Goodwill.

Sell:

You can still pay for advertising in the local paper, or put up notices around town about things you have to sell or give away, but there are easier and cheaper ways!

• Kijiji  Edmonton will advertise for free almost any item that people want to sell, give away or trade.
• Craigslist Edmonton will do likewise.
• EBay

What Other People Have to Say About the Subject:

Moving and Packing – Get Rid of Unwanted Stuff Before You Move

Where to Donate All Your Unwanted Stuff – The Good Human

Questions or comments about this article or anything else to do with homes and real estate?  Contact me here, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or phone me at 780-910-9669.

If you are one of those rare people who travels light through life, this article may not be for you.  But if you are like most people, and you’ve been in your home for a while, the thought of downsizing has probably crossed your mind, especially if your family and life circumstances have changed since you first moved into your home, whether in Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, Parkland County, the Edmonton area or elsewhere.

 There are many good reasons to downsize:

• saving money on home upkeep, insurance, taxes and utilities
• unloading some of the “stuff” most of us can’t help accumulating on our life’s journey but which we find we no longer need
• lessening our impact on the environment
• simplifying our daily routines to save time for more interesting and enriching activities
• preparing for a time when someone else may have to look after our affairs and possessions

Before you can downsize your home to a smaller place, you will probably need to downsize inside your home first, getting rid of many everyday objects found there.  This can be extraordinarily difficult.  The truth is that downsizing and de-cluttering often come with a huge pile of emotional baggage.  Making the decision to part with property and possessions you’ve used and loved for a long time, each item attached to memories, can be a wrenching experience.  Sometimes the sheer volume of physical and emotional “stuff” can be so overwhelming that it’s hard to even begin.

Most experts will tell you to start with a small space, like a closet or even a small room.  They suggest you remove everything from the area and sort items into several piles, with the ultimate goal being to throw away the trash, give away or sell things you no longer need or want but which still have some value, and keep only those items you really love and use.  Sounds sensible and simple enough, right?  Most of these experts will also provide you with all kinds of motivational prods to force you to get past your objections (“My grandmother made that old quilt!”  “I might have a use for that tool some day!”), along with questionnaires to help you decide what kind of hoarder you are and which pile something belongs in.

The fact is that none of this advice is going to be worth much until you are sure that you need or want to downsize in the first place.

A thought-provoking article published in the Montreal Gazette (“Boomers upsizing their downsizing plans”) suggests that maybe we shouldn’t be too hasty in automatically assuming that downsizing is for everybody.  Baby boomers once again are doing things a little differently from previous generations.  Some people when they reach a certain age are discovering that it actually makes sense to move into a bigger home, albeit one with a floor plan more geared to their current and future physical needs (for example, a bungalow with an open floor plan rather than a multi-level home), while others decide to keep the family home but renovate it to accommodate changing situations.  There are a number of reasons for this interesting trend:

• Family dynamics have changed. Children are taking longer to leave the nest, or are returning to the family home after relationship break-ups and the like. There are also many people in late middle age who find themselves raising their grandchildren.
• Work lives have changed. Some people realize they don’t want to retire in the way previous generations did. Instead they decide to modify their work so that more is done from home. This creates the need for a home work space.
• Many older adults have the money to continue to enjoy the quality of life that comes from living in a larger private space. This might include making room in the home for hobbies, exercise, more entertaining, etc.
• Keeping a house rather than moving to a condo or some other kind of communal living space may make good economic sense as equity in homes continues to rise.

So … to downsize or not?  Maybe our reluctance to part with possessions has less to do with procrastination and more to do with the need to make practical, realistic life choices.

If you’ve made the decision to downsize and you are interested in looking at smaller properties in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County or Edmonton area, please contact me here, email me at barry@barryt.ca, or phone 780-910-9669.