London, ON

Have you ever run into an environmentalist who has an 'all or none' attitude? They are obsessed with perfection and often paralyzed by the same thing! I take a different approach - if a 30% improvement can be gained easily, using readily available technology without a huge investment and I can also convince 10 other people to take the same actions I think I'm doing a better service for the planet. We always need idealists, but physical progress in mass numbers is what we actually need to happen for things to move quickly.

Here are some very basic steps you can take to lessen your impact on the environment and probably save yourself a chunk of money on the way!

1) Replace your lightbulbs.Get energy efficient bulbs. It seems to me LED is the trend that's gathering a lot of traction right now. I'm having a hard time recommending anything with Mercury (CFL's in many cases). Should you swap out CFL's for LED? I can't say this is a great idea, the CFL's are going to end up in the landfill either way, so you may as well use them. The other option is to bring all your old Compact Fluorescents to a family member who still has a pile of incandescent bulbs burning.

2) Insulate. An easy, inexpensive way to conserve is to add insulation. Even if you built new chances are the level of insulation in the attic could be improved. Do some reading for your climate in particular and find out what is recommended for maximum efficiency. The other place to consider insulating is the siding of your house. I recently had my house resided with a shelter wrap type product underneath. The cost was about 10% more, but the gain in efficiency is substantial.

3) Fix leaky water sources. Check your outside taps, baths, sinks, utility areas and toilets. A resolved drip can make a huge impact.

4) Get out the caulking! Sealing air leaks around doors, windows and other openings can go a long way toward decreasing the amount of air leakage.

5) Plan your trips. Gas money is not the best way to spend. Limit your trips to the store, plan when you can and attend errands in the same general part of the city while there for other reasons.

6) Open your curtains. If you find yourself leaving lights on during the day, maybe it's because you have too many curtains closed. Natural light is a better and free alternative during the day.

7) Get an electric mower.I know the cord can be a pain, but there are effective ways to manage this concern. You'll be glad you didn't buy a polluting 2 stroke gas mower when you notice you aren't pouring gasoline all over your shoes and waking up the neighbours with the eardrum breaking noise!

8) Avoid lawn sprays.Many municipalities are now banning certain types of lawn sprays. You know when the goverment finally gets around to banning a product that it must be bad! Save your money and enjoy the status of being the 'new cool'... you can only be 'new cool' with imperfect lawn!

9) Exercise for real.I remember clearly one day I was about to get on my treadmill while training for a marathon. I started it rolling as the lights dimmed due to the strain these machines take on the electrical system. Then I looked outside - it was a beautiful sunny day. Why was I running inside? Get outside and exercise! Another thing to do is pair up your exercise with errands - take your bike shopping, ride to your Mom's place to drop off those photos - you get the idea.

10) Adjust the furnace / AC. A couple degrees up or down can reduce the amount of energy used substantially. Get a programmable thermostat - you have different needs when awake and when sleeping - when you're home and when you're not home.

I've seen a drastic increase in the number of listings with Wells Fargo, HomeTrust, TD Canda Trust or some other financial institution in the Seller's description. Obviously someone wasn't able to pay the bills anymore; It comes with the territory in an economic slowdown. This is just a quick entry with some tips on purchasing these properties.

Buying as-is - Frequently you will see the description include all kinds of words and phrases that seem to be the opposite of selling points. Comments like "no guarantees implied", "purchased as is - no warranties", "UFFI cannot be verified". Due diligence is always important - do a home inspection, follow up any possible issues and also have some room in the budget for unknown problems. This is not neccesarily an indicator of a home that has problems. A bank will throw every disclaimer at the buyer possible to relieve as much responsibility from the property as they can.

What if there's a problem - Recently a client made an offer on a bank sale property. On home inspection there was obvious water problems in the basement (sometimes it pays to do inspections on a soggy day!). We took what I feel is a good course of action - had a contractor give us a formal estimate on what it would cost to rectify the problem and made the bank aware of this information. We ended up negotiating a price that included a full subsidy for the basement issue.

How low is too low? Generally I work off common sense - at what point does it make sense for the seller to reduce the price and remarket the property versus accepting your offer? Say you had a house listed at $280,000 - I would say anything under $250,000 probably is out of the question. The reason is that is if the bank reduced the price by $15,000, re-marketed the property and sold for $260,000 after 2 months, they are still ahead of the game. Keep in mind that a bank will almost often want more than your inital offer. I had one circumstance where they specifically said they would not sign back - just accept or reject.

It is quite easy to pull off a list of bank sales. These houses all have a value - maybe the banks aren't doing the best job at pointing out the benefits, but they sometimes are no the bargain most people would think the are. Do your homework and be sure the value is there.

Looking at the sales activity though the first half of February, it's not all doom and gloom - homes are selling. From what I can see, homes sales for the month are on pace to be around the 500 mark. This would be less then the previous 5 years for February - which would average in the 600's. Yes, sales numbers are down, put there is nothing to suggest the market is falling apart. Buyer's are taking advantage of historically low interest rates and great selection of homes to purchase. A buyers market it is, and talking to potential home purchasers they are going to be ready to purchase come spring.

If you would like a free list of Bank Foreclosed properties or other distressed homes, follow the link below:

These homes need work. Distress Sales, Estate Sales, Bank Sales available in London, Ontario. Receive a FREE list of weekly updates in London area:

LondonDistressedHomes.info

Ryan Hodgson
Coldwell Banker 1st London, Sales Representative
London, Ontario
Phone: 519-685-4190
FAX: 519-685-7497
Ryan@RyanHodgson.com
www.ryanhodgson.com

The numbers are in for January and they are down from January 2008 - which everyone knew was coming considering the current economic environment and strong sales last year. The month isn't broken down, but from what I saw home sales were very slow in the first half of January and picked up in the last half. (Picked up meaning what would be considered normal sales numbers for a buyers market in January)


There were, and still are, a lot of buyers who are waiting a bit for things to settle out. The buyers are out there - particularly with historically low interest rates at 4.49% 5 year term mortgage - what will be buying. Once the weather warms up (don't discount this factor, it's not an excuse. Weather has always been a factor in any year and our very cold and snowy start the year effects home sales and holds back buyers a bit).

Like in my previous post, we are in a buyers market, and buyers have the leverage and will have an easier time finding a home and negotiating a good price. With the low interest rates, homebuyers will be able to take advantage of a good opportunity.


Here's the press release:

Last month, 305 homes exchanged hands in the jurisdiction of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), including 245 detached homes (down 35% from January 2008) and 60 condos (down 31% from January 2008).

"The decline in home sales last month is directly attributable to two factors: a drop in consumer confidence due to the downturn in the stock market, not to mention a government in apparent crisis and whole heck of a lot of snow and cold weather," says Joe Hough, LSTAR President, "A bad month does not mean a bad year and our January 2008 numbers are only the third lowest for January in a decade where real estate sales broke record after record. When the dust on the global economic crisis settles . . . and the snow stops flying what we're going to see in London is a more balanced market, with more opportunities for buyers than here have been over the last several years."

"Moderating home prices in Canada should not be confused with the downturn in the U.S. housing market," says Canadian Real Estate Association President Calvin Lindberg. "But any local real estate market is not immune to global economic challenges, and that is what we face today. Low prices are not the concern as much as the perception of doom and gloom. Buyers are waiting to see if the real estate market has hit bottom, and that is a very complex thing to try and calculate. Most of us will only be affected by the market correction psychologically, because the majority of Canadians will not buy or sell property in the coming year."

"Average prices will remain under downward pressure during the Canadian economic recession," says CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. "Shaky financial market confidence is pulling down business and consumer confidence. The consensus economic forecast predicts the economy will rebound in the second half of 2009, so housing market trends should strengthen next year ...

There has been a fundamental shift in consumer confidence, with job insecurities prevailing in every region of Canada," he added. "That is unlikely to change until the worst of the recession is behind us."

Thinking of Buying a Home?
London Home Buyer's Seminar.
Wednesday March 4th, 2009
7:00PM
Westmount Library
3200 Wonderland Rd. S, London

This is an interactive event; please bring your questions.
Professionals available for you are:
Realtor, Mortgage Specialist, Lawyer, Home Inspector

Donations to the Women's Community House are being collected;
Paper products, pasta and dish soap are needed