About Oxford County, ON

John Wolfe, Broker of Record, and Bettianne Hedges, Director of Realtor Development and Marketing, are pleased to announce that Sheila Thorne has joined our growing sales team at our Woodstock office.



Sheila comes to RE/MAX with her business partner and sister-in-law Jennifer Webb. Jennifer and Sheila make a dynamic team that is well-liked and respected throughout the real estate community. Both women were influenced by Sheila's mother, Henrietta Webb who is now retired after selling residential and rural real estate throughout Oxford County for twenty-five years.


Sheila is a graduate of Mohawk College's three year marketing and advertising program. She became licensed to sell real estate three years ago after working in both local newspaper and radio advertising. She brings a strong understanding of strategic marketing to her team and is excited about the RE/MAX dynamic and looks forward to utilizing progressive industry tools.

A life-long resident of Oxford County, she grew up on a small farm in the Embro area and attended Woodstock Collegiate Institute. She now lives in Woodstock. Sheila is a committed mom and enjoys time with her two children. She can often be found chauffeuring them to school and to the families' many community activities. Sheila enjoys playing on a local ball team and is always ready to lend a helping hand!


Sheila likes the challenge of helping her clients through the process of finding that perfect home, town or country, and her rural background helps her additionally with the unique challenge of marketing rural properties.


Sheila is available at 519-788-0014 or sthorne@oxfordcountyhomes.ca.

John Wolfe, Broker of Record, and Bettianne Hedges, Director of Realtor Development and Marketing, are pleased to announce that Jennifer Webb has joined our growing sales team at our Woodstock office.



Jennifer is joined by her business partner, and sister-in- law, Sheila Thorne. Both Jennifer and Sheila were inspired to become licensed to sell real estate by their mother (and Mother- in-Law). Henrietta Webb, now retired, worked in the industry in Oxford County for twenty-five years. She encouraged both women to ensure that they always put their client first. Jennifer and Sheila apply this advice by pursuing additional training, exploring new marketing ideas and now aligning themselves with RE/MAX to ensure their clients receive the most professional service possible and their homes are very effectively marketed. This approach has helped Jennifer build a successful real estate business over the last six years.


Born and raised in Embro, Jennifer later moved to Woodstock and attended College Avenue Secondary School. Jennifer and her husband, Walter returned to Embro to raise their family in that beautiful country setting. She began her career working with youth in custody, treatment facilities and in schools. Her education and experience in social work is an asset to her career in real estate.


Jennifer volunteers in a number of different capacities- in school with her children and at their church, Embro Knox United Church. She enjoys photography, sewing, canning and cheerleading at her children's events. Jennifer has always loved architecture and design. She enjoys the creativity required to make a house a home- an enthusiasm she shares with her clients.


Jennifer is excited about her move to RE/MAX and encourages previous clients of her own and of Henrietta's to contact her at the office, direct to her cell phone at 519-705 6635, or jwebb@oxfordcountyhomes.ca .

Remember the 80's and stucco ceilings?

Remember the 80's and stucco ceilings? Some people call it popcorn ceiling. It seems every home that was renovated or built in the 80's has a stucco ceiling these days it seems rather dates and stale. But it can be changed.

First, know this. It is a mess, dirty job. There is no way around this. It is messy!! Hopefully it has not been painted as this makes it very difficult to remove. In fact if your stucco ceiling also has many layers of paint it may be easier to re-drywall the ceiling.

To get started removing the stucco, empty the room. Remember the part where I said it is mess, you will want your furniture out of room.

Next cover the floor and walls with plastic or drop clothes. It will make clean up much easier.

Using a spray bottle or small garden sprayer, filled with water, wet the ceiling slightly, don't soak the ceiling just get the stucco wet. Work a small area at time and using a wide metal scrapper scrap the ceiling. Be sure to hold the scrapper blade almost parallel to the ceiling to avoid gauging drywall.

Once fully scrapped let it dry over night and than repair any marks or bad areas that need finishing. It is common to find the drywall underneath the stucco not finished as well as the walls. Stucco can hide some faults in the drywall that will now need to be repaired.

Now that the repairs are completed, sand the entire ceiling using 100 grit paper, prime and than paint the colour of your choice.

Home : Blogs : RE/MAX Stratford, St. Marys & Woodstock offices : RE/MAX's Blog

My 6 Fearless Predictions

I'm going out on a limb and share my predictions for the real estate market in the next few months of 2010. Now these predictions are for my area in southern Ontario so they may not apply to your area. But it is always fun to compare one market to another.

Here are my 6 predictions:

* Over the next few months well priced homes will sell

* Over priced homes will sit on the market unsold

* First time Buyers will continue to buy unless they stop

* A Sellers house is alway worth more than their neighbours, no matter how much smaller

* Some Seniors will be looking to downsize

* Most homebuyers will mortgage their new home

So there they are, feel free to check back in a few months to see if I'm right. If not than I guess I should change jobs, maybe a weather man or an economist.

Jamie Woodend
Sales Representative
Remax a-b Realty Ltd Brokerage
88 Wellington Street
Stratford, Ontario, N5A 2L2
519-273-2821 ext 229 Office
519-949-0345 Cell