From Drab To Fab!

After several years of working from home I decided it would be a nice change of pace to take an office...

For those who know me well it will come as no surprise that the first order of business was a little makeover!  Picture me rubbing my hands together and squealing "Project!!" (a la Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, lol)

The lovely green faux finished paint job and flowered border had to go and unfortunately I only remembered to snap a picture after the top layer of the flower border was pulled off...

Before:

So I lined up some good friends (who I bribed with the promise of dinner when we were done) and we all met up at the office after it closed for the day! Fast forward through some pesky details like setting off the alarm, a slight problem I created with the phone system and my broker/owners having to come to my rescue, lol and straight to a picture of us about halfway done...

During (with the lovely Karen, Deb and April):

And finally the beauty shot......drum roll, please!

 My New Digs!

It looks even better in person so stop in and say hi! :)

Until Next Time…

Kelly

Dress for Success!

There are 3 major factors in selling a home; location, price and condition.  Condition is really the only one that a seller can influence! Dress your home for success and you're maximizing its saleability which in turn could translate into a quicker sale and higher selling price.

I recently previewed 4 homes, 3 of which were staged to varying degrees and 1 that was not.  All were clean and appeared to be well maintained but I must confess that the unstaged home was a bit of a shock to the system! They were all comparable properties but I might leave it off the list when working with a client because it doesn't show as well...who know?

Now some of you may be thinking that staging is just fluff, that home buyers are buying the house and not the furniture and accessories; but home staging or the lack thereof, can at best, invoke powerful emotions in a potential buyer or at worst, disinterest!  What are the emotions you want buyers to feel when they walk into your home?

With so much television programming today dedicated to decorating, renovating and preparing a home to sell that walking into a home that's not staged can be a big disappointment!  This type of programming has raised the bar and buyers are looking to be wowed!

I really like this quote... "the cost to stage your home will be considerably less than your first price reduction".

I'd love to hear some other opinions on home staging, your personal experience, both good and bad...whatever ya got, please share it! :)

Until Next Time…

Kelly

Finding Childcare in Your New Neighbourhood

When I first looked for childcare many moons ago, my options were newspaper ads and postings left at the local grocery store.  Life was so hard before the internet, lol!

If you've moved into a new neighbourhood and need to find childcare, the best place to start is with your local elementary school.  They will be able to tell you what the school zone boundaries are to ensure that when you are calling local home daycares and daycare centres that they are within those boundaries or service that school through private transportation.

Once you know your boundaries it's time to contact the local childcare facilities.  If you're looking for centre-based care it's as easy as a google search but if you're looking for home daycare it can often be more difficult to find unless they are all grouped together (see below).

Here are a few resources to get you started in the Durham Region:

• Your local elementary school may have what is sometimes referred to as a "babysitting" list or a bulletin board where local providers can post their contact information.

• The following are free-to-search online directories of local childcare providers, daycare centres and nannies:
• durhamregiondaycare.com 
• daycareavailable.com
• daycarebear.ca
• godaycare.com

• Of course there's always kijiji.ca and craigslist.ca  and nothing beats a personal recommendation from a friend!

Until Next Time…

Kelly

www.daycareavailable.com  is a free-to-search online directory of  local childcare providers, centres and nannies

www.durhamregiondaycare.com  is a free-to-search online directory of local childcare providers, centres and nannies