Spring maintenance is a great time to spruce up your home and ensure it looks new for a long time. Springtime means living in a warm climate and beautiful gardens with colourful blooms, but it also means taking some time for outdoor maintenance. This article outlines the most important things to take care of when preparing your property for the spring season.

Clean Your Gutters
When cleaning your gutters is neglected from year to year, significant damage and expense can be incurred. As snow and ice thaw in the spring, water runoff can overwhelm an unclean gutter system causing flooding or water drainage issues around your house. Removing unwanted debris, such as leaves, sticks, and dirt, before spring rain will help move water away from your home and foundation.

Clear Out Debris Around Your Home & Property
Raking up leaves and twigs are simple steps towards outdoor maintenance that will help keep pests out of your garden while boosting its natural beauty. Be sure to pay special attention to areas within wooded areas near trees; fallen branches are especially inviting homes for particular types of pests.

Check Your Sprinkler System
Ensure all sprinklers operate properly - outdated ones may need replacement or repair when exposed to adverse weather conditions during the winter, which could lead to higher costs. In addition, checking lawns for signs of wilting might indicate a breakdown in either sprinkler systems or require a change in their settings due to seasonal environmental changes.

Maintain Fence Lines & Other Structures
Good fences make great neighbours; during seasonal maintenance, ensure it doesn't require additional attention. Security gates should also remain up-to-date throughout yearly maintenance cycles since you and your guests will use them regularly.

Check Roofs & Exterior Walls For Damage
Given standard wear-and-tear over time, it's essential to inspect the home's exterior, including roofs and walls. It can be as simple as pressure washing the siding to replacing critical exterior parts. Staying on top of this will ensure your home has a tight environmental envelope and lessen the chance of water penetrating your home.

Are you looking for ways to give your home an excellent seasonal makeover? Spring cleaning is the perfect way to get into the new season's spirit and prepare yourself for more days spent in the comfort of your home. It can also help keep common allergens at bay, like dust mites and pet dander. To help you create your spring cleaning checklist, here are some tips to get started.

Clean Out the Closets: This is one of the most daunting tasks with spring cleaning, but it's essential if you want your storage areas to be orderly and squeaky clean. Start with smaller spaces first and focus on closets last.

Dust off Surfaces: When cleaning out dusty shelves or cabinets, start with a cloth lightly dampened with water. Afterward, go over them with dry microfiber cloths to pick up any extra dirt or debris. Remember ceilings and blinds!

Wash Windows & Mirrors: Use non-streaking glass cleaners to wash these surfaces thoroughly. Make sure to keep a grocery bag handy for paper towels that don't come off clean from glass surfaces; you need those as well as rags and buckets for basic window cleaning supplies.

Sanitize Floors: Spring cleanings would only be complete with adequately sanitizing hard floors such as tiles, wood floors, linoleum, and even laminates. Using a steam cleaner may help in deep-cleaning carpets but be careful not to over-wet the carpet fibres. Deep vacuum all types of floor coverings along baseboards when finished too!

Clean Behind Appliances: Get behind washers, dryers, refrigerators, ovens and dishwashers to remove dirt buildup accumulated throughout the winter season. You might also want to remove drawers/ trays from ovens/ fridges for thorough cleansing using abrasive scrubbing pads (non-steel) covered sponges combined with mild detergents like liquid soap/ baking soda solution along grain structures facing outwardly towards faced pictures (on their bottom side).

Polish Furniture: Having polished furniture will make your daily cleaning routine more manageable, so buff up wooden table tops/ frames using wax coatings after lightly sweeping them down from grime buildups and returning them to their newly cleaned state, making rooms look brand new again. Wipe stainless steel kitchen furniture down using appropriate cleansers if applicable.

Vacuum Upholstery: Vacuuming different upholstery pieces helps release embedded dirt before washing or spot-treating fabric couch covers. Be sure to give your upholstery a strong vacuum before any fabric treatments. Doing so will help your furniture look rejuvenated.

If you follow this checklist diligently every year, it'll become second nature! 

Unlike last year, interest rates are terrifying; they can turn your mortgage payment from a molehill into a mountain. But what if I told you now is a great time to buy a house. No, I'm not crazy; let me lay it out.

Interest rates were increased to help slow down the housing market to keep housing prices under control. This has worked; we are still seeing houses go over asking but not to the extent we were in 2022. This comes from the borrowing cost being more expensive in 2023 vs 2022. The Bank of Canada's plan is working, and houses are selling closer to the list price. And here's the rub.

When you purchase your house, you're locked into that price. If you bought it for that amount, you don't get to go back and renegotiate that price. But you know what does change throughout owning your home? Your mortgage rate every term, you get to renegotiate your interest rate. Remember the total duration of your mortgage has multiple terms within it. Let's say you have a 25-year mortgage, meaning you agree to pay back the money your lender lent you in 25 years, but within that agreement, you have these little terms. These terms are little chunks of time that you agree to an interest rate to pay for borrowing the money (variable rate is a bit different but still a similar idea). At the end of these terms, the lender will ask if you want to renew; remember, they want your business, and you're the customer. Ask them if they have a better product for you. Or even shop it around to other lenders; the savings in interest might be more than the penalty to change lenders.

With all that said, if you can handle a few years of higher mortgage payments, you'll get yourself more houses for your dollar. When it comes time to renew your mortgage, interest rates might be closer to the pre-pandemic levels, well ahead of the game, and on your way to your dream home.

You've decided to sell your home, maybe you're moving up to something bigger, maybe you have a new job, and you want a shorter commute; there are countless reasons someone may look to sell their home. And many people decide to sell it themselves, and that's great. Below are some tips I've learned along the way that will help your house shine above the rest and get you top dollar.

Be sure you're up for the job; Potential buyers will want to see your home before making an offer; you'll be shocked when people sometimes need to see a home. I've shown homes at 7:00 am and as late as 10:30 pm. Ensure you offer as much flexibility for viewing times as possible. It would be horrible to lose a buyer because they couldn't get off work to see your home.

Price it right; Setting your price isn't just about thinking this is what I want for my house. Look at what has sold recently in your area and how they shape up compared to your home. Remember to remove the home from the house. Try to look at your house objectively. Pricing your house too high can scare away potential buyers; if your home has lots of value, you want to ensure you have as many viewings as possible; all it takes is someone to fall in love with it. 

Declutter and clean up; now is the time to clean everything. Scrub the toilets, vacuum, scrub every corner, and when you're done, do it again. Your home must be clean. Go through your closets and take everything you don't need for the next few weeks. Storage space is a great selling feature; make your closets look as big as possible. 

Use online tools for advertising; you need to get the word out. Let the world know your beautiful home is for sale. Use tools like Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace to help reach as many people as possible.

Make sure to have a sign; let the neighbourhood know your house is for sale, and get a sign on your yard. Be sure it's big enough so that traffic is driving by notice. Many buyers are looking for an area to buy a home, and having a big sign out front may lead to a phone call that sells your home.

Show like a pro; you're trying to sell a product, and you want to have your product shine and look the best. Consider making feature sheets or having a pre-home inspection to show potential buyers and help them feel confident in their purchase. 

Look for committed buyers; tire kickers exist, and you will quickly become an expert at identifying those just window shopping. It happens, it's not the end of the world, but you need to be aware of how committed to buying someone is. Ask the right questions to ensure the potential buyers you call back are worth your time and energy.

Hire a real estate attorney; you'll need a lawyer to do some paperwork, be sure to find someone who you think can get the transaction across the finish line in a timely, cost-effective manner. 

These are a few things I do to help my clients sell their homes. Please reach out and ask any questions you may have about selling your home.