About Ottawa's Civic Hospital Area

On Wednesday I was walking home and saw the most wonderful coloured maple tree. Oh, there are going to be some that will be better but this is the first tree in the neighbourhood that has fully turned and is now dropping its leaves. The sky was overcast and the day was hot and humid. We were all hoping for rain. Of course, like most days this summer, it did not happen. This poor tree is likely very stressed from the hot dry summer we just had and the continuation of it into the fall. Well watered and really healthy trees have yet to change colours.

Today, September 23, is the first day of fall. It is difficult to believe as it is very warm and humid. Feels more like July. I hope you are experiencing wonderful weather and that the fall will be mild and comfortable for all of us.

If you don't have your good camera with you, use your cell phone camera on high resolution. I cropped out some of the street and wanted you to be attracted to the tree and the way the sun hit it.

The Autumn (Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them —
The summer flowers depart —
Sit still — as all transform’d to stone,
Except your musing heart.....

Photo credit: V. Zinger at the turnabour on Ruskin Road

As agents, we are often asked by friends and relatives to look up the price of the house for sale on their street, find out how much they could get if they sold, asked for staging tips (even when I say I have no taste) and generally comment on the housing market. I like doing these favours but they do get repetitive.

Sometimes friends ask for favours that have nothing to do with real estate - except by a very tenuous link.

I was never interested in photography until I started studying house photos and talking to the photographer that I hire for my listings. Eventually this got me interested enough to ask for a Nikon DSLR, a camera recommended to me by my very talented niece. Once I had the camera, I bought a couple of additional lenses, based upon the recommendations of the very talented salespeople at Henry's Camera Shop. So, one of the lenses has sat idle in the camera bag until yesterday. It is a short lens - used for close ups (macros).

Back to the favour. My friend is starting her own baking business, Mary Elizabeth Bakes. She needs a website and she needs some photos of her baking. I said that I have had NO experience with food photography. However, it is a favour and not a paying job so why not? She had made a carrot cake with lemon cream cheese frosting that she would like to feature, once she has a site. Here are a couple of the best photos that I took for her to use.

(BTW - when I came home I found that there are hundreds of sites that provide tips and hints on food photography. If she asks me again, I will have some new ideas to test and ways to improve these photos.)

At least this is what women and appliance sale people say. Before buying a new washer and dryer, check out the size of the new appliances and ensure that they will fit in the space you have available. If your washer and dryer are tucked into a closet on the second floor, you may be surprised to learn that the new front load washers and dryers are significantly deeper than the older top load washers. You may get them delivered and find out that there is no way that they will fit in the space you have available.

The same is true for refridgerators and stoves. Did you know that there are at least 4 standard sizes of stoves? So, you are going to replace some of your appliances before putting your house on the market or you are buying appliances for your new home BEFORE getting possession. STOP!!!!!!! Measure twice and buy those appliances for the size that you have available.

Don't have Buyers spinning out of control.

Photo credit: New Washer and Dryer

Do you remember the child's game where one child stands in the centre of a ring of children and a button is passed around the circle leaving the centre child to guess who has the button? Well, a version of this game is played occasionally by real estate agents and sellers.

I was out for breakfast with Mary, my friend, and her friend, Sally. In the course of the meal, Sally found out that I work in real estate. She asked me if she could get some advice and also unload a complaint. Well, the good news is that Sally doesn't live in Ottawa so this would not be about my colleagues.

Sally is selling her house. She contracted with a local agent to list and sell her home. A lock box was installed. One morning, while she was away and her daughter was at home, someone came in the house. No booking request from the agency, no doorbell or knocking, no youwho at the door. Instead, a stranger was walking through the house while the daughter was still in bed. Now, that is pretty bad BUT the stranger was not a real estate agent!!! Sally's agent had given the stranger the key to go through the house on his own. The agent lives across the street from the house!!! Needless to say, Sally canceled the listing with that agent forthwith.

Sally then contracted with another agent and this time told the agent that no lock box would be allowed on her home. She did not want strangers to have access to her house without an agent. Her instructions were that only the agent with buyers could come in her house. A couple of weeks into the second agency and Sally needed the key for a couple of days. She called her sales person, the assistant, the front desk and the broker and - yes you guessed it - the key has gone missing. Her key is marked with her address. Who has it? Sally wants the company to pay to have her locks redone and she wants to cancel this contract. Like the button - where the hell is Sally's key?

Sellers entrust their agents and the agents in the area to respect their home and their belongings. Letting unattended strangers in a home and losing the keys are serious breeches in the Seller - Agent relationship. Most agents have a long and full career without ever having lost a key or given it to a stranger. This would and should NEVER happen.

Sally doesn't trust our industry and, after hearing her story, I can see why. Her next agent now will have to overcome the incompetence of the previous agents.

Photo credit: Buttons

Depending upon your budget, getting your yard ready for a home sale can cost a little or a lot.

1. Assess where you live. Do people spend a little or a lot of time outside, year round or just a few months every summer. The more time people are outdoors, the more time, effort and money you need to consider to stage the yard.

2. How big is your lot? Can you locate a tennis court in the corner? Is the backyard just a pool and a deck? Are you in a tiny townhouse or apartment with a balcony sized exterior property. All of these spaces can be improved to sell.

3. Small budget? Clean, sweep, rake, hose down the dirt, wash the exterior windows. Don't forget to weed. Every Buyer I have taken out to look at houses notices the lawn and the flower beds. Care and time spent here will make a difference in how Buyers feel about your home.

4. Feeling generous? Give away the old play structure that no one in the family wants. Take away or give away that mish mash of deck furniture. Keep only the FEW pieces that look good together. Is the BBQ a designated antique? I am sure it will be find a happy home somewhere else and not in your backyard. Got a spiffy man BBQ with all the bells and whistles? Take off the cover and let the men Buyers drool over your toys.

5. Plant an idea. Chop through the jungle in the flowerbeds and give your neighbours cuttings and plants. Leave the good and healthy for the Buyers. Your legacy will live on in the neighbourhood. Never ever come back after the sale and take away all the greenery. Lord, I have seen this happen and it is not your home after it is sold.

6. Pink flamingos and gnomes everywhere. These tacky, yet loved, lawn ornmanets can best be served at your next home and not sitting in the yard of your house that is for sale.

7. Bit of money? Buy some new cushions for the chairs, Has the umbrella faded to grey? Buy a nice black umbrella. Remember, these go with you so spend some money on yourself. Wash the furniture and wipe off the table on a regular basis. Make it look like you love your yard and use it all the time - it is an extension of your home and who you are.

6. Lots of time and money? Fly to Italy. Talk to the Italian grounds keepers and think about bringing back a statement ornament to set right out in the middle of the yard. I personally like these two but they are a bit taste, location, country and age specific. Looks like the lion is ready for export (just in case you want it).

Anyone notice how I am slipping some of my travel photos into every post? Bit by bit you will all see my 300 photos, one or two at a time.