Uxbridge, ON

Are you tired of the high cost of Gasoline?

Are you old enough to remember when Gasoline was $0.25 a Gallon or about 5 and 1/2 cents a litre. The year was 1966 and there was an ongoing gas price war just outside of Toronto in a little town called Markham. My husband (boyfriend at the time) used to drive to Markham from his home in Scarbourough to fill up his 1966 Volkswagen beetle and you could cruise all night on couple of bucks worth of gas. He remembers laughing at a hitchhiker he picked up who told him he would see gasoline at $4.00 a gallon and more in his lifetime.

Fast forward to today and gasoline is currently selling for just under the $1.00 litre mark (over $4.50 a gallon) here in Uxbridge while in other parts of the Province it is as high as high as $1.13. Just a few years ago it was only 65 to 70 cents a litre here in Uxbridge.

Become a GasBuddy member, and help everyone save on fuel purchases by informing all the price of gas in your area or on your drive to and from work each day.

I was drawn to this web site by several posts here on active|rain. The site has an amazing amount of information on gas prices across North America. It also provides other useful information and surveys. One survey with over 1800 respondents indicated that 26% of the respondents keep their vehicles for between 160,000 km and 240,000 km.

With the price of oil on the rise and predictions of $1.40 a litre (Over $6.00 a gallon) by summer for gasoline one has to wonder how long will it be before people start to make changes in their lifestyle as a result? How long before a lot more people start to use public transit and leave their cars at home, start to carpool more frequently or start to practice any other form of fuel savings they can think of? Out here in the country I think the best I could do is ride a bicycle to work, 10 miles one way, it would certainly limit the amount of appointments I could accommodate in a day, and showing are a complete other question.  Some of us will have to keep the old jalopy going and pay whatever price is going.

Everything changes, in 1966 when gas was 25 cents a gallon, a house could be bought for under $30,000 fast forward to 2008 and that same house is worth over $350,000, and gasoline is over $4.50 a gallon

So I leave you to do the math, are house prices still a bargain or are gas increases far exceeding the cost of inflation.

As the word spreads about Home Staging , more and more people are choosing to have their homes staged by Professional Home Stagers before putting them on the market. Is this something you have thought about? If not, why ? Did your Realtor advise you about staging your home before listing it?

Some savvy Real Estate Agents know the importance of properly presenting your home in it's best light and that is why you will see more and more agents working with Home Stagers or Staging homes as part of their marketing package. What does this mean for you? It means that your home will be assessed by a Professional Home Stager who has trained to prepare your property with the 'eye of the buyer' in mind. If your agent doesn't suggest hiring a home stager, ask why? It is in your best interest as a home owner to market your home in the most innovative way that you can. Shouldn't this be something that your agent informs you about? Don't wait until your agent suggests a price drop. Staging your home in Durham Region can cost as little as 1% of the asking price or less depending on what needs to be done.

A Professional Home Stager will make an appointment with you to do a walk through of your entire home. At this consultation appointment the Stager will give tips on things you can do to make your home more appealing to a wider variety of buyers.She may make recommendations for paint, furniture placement, and even refer trades people to help with your project. You can choose to do these tasks yourself or have the Home Stager complete some or all of the project. Before having an open house, the Home Stager can come and put the finishing touches on everything from ~ placing decorative items in the rooms, to dressing the bed. The choice is yours.

Staging is already a Hot marketing tool in the City. Can you afford not to be one of the first in your neighbourhood to stage your home before putting it on the market? Think of the edge this will give you on the competition!! If you live in the Uxbridge or surrounding area, call Kathryn for a chat about how staging your home will give you an advance on the competition!! Make your home stand out from the crowd! Stage it First!

Kathryn can be reached at 905-852-0383 or by email at kathy@stageitfirst.ca

We hope you are enjoying Old Man Winters’ days of January. As Canadians, we certainly know how to cope with the frigid temperatures, but bring on spring please.

The Toronto Real Estate Board has just released it’s annual report of the real estate activity for 2007. From our neck of the woods, we have some interesting numbers we would like to share with you.

Sales in December propelled 2007 statistics to a record setting 93,193 homes sold. That is the first time in TREB’s history that over 90,000 sales were recorded.

In the North District, 771 sales were reported with an average sale price of $420,508.(month of December 2007) .

Annual figures for the Uxbridge area are: 592 Homes Listed, 322 Homes Sold, $395,813 Average Price, selling for an average of 97% of asking price.

We look forward to another brisk year of helping people find their dream home ….either moving up or scaling down there is a home out there to suit your needs. If you are thinking of selling your home this spring...remember, in our market spring starts in February… get a head start on the competition.

Kathy Clulow

Sales Representative

We’re never too busy for your referrals.

We want you to be our “Customer for Life”

As always, for up to the minute real estate information visit us on the web at
www.myuxbridge.info

* all figures from the Toronto Real Estate Board ‘Market Watch’ Jan 08

When - August 18 & 19, 2007…….10am - 5pm
Where - Elgin Park, Uxbridge
Parking - FREE
Admission - FREE

Once again the Art Community in Uxbridge will display their talent at Art In The Park along with some of the finest artists in Ontario.

This is the twelfth year local artists and artisans have participated in this festival sponsored by the Uxbridge Lions.

Come and stroll through the park, Watch some of the artists at work, talk to the Artists, or sit and watch the kids play in the play area. Enjoy our country fresh air and local refreshment vendors.

Elgin Park is situated in the south central part of Uxbridge in Durham Region just 45 minutes north east of toronto. According to wikipedia Uxbridge's Elgin Park was named after Lord Elgin, and was the site of a picnic held by John A. Macdonald in a re-election bid.

Inquiries,

please contact
Bob Armitage
(905) 852-4648
E-Mail:
lions@uxbridge.com

Uxbridge Lions Club c/o Lions Art
Box 1082
Uxbridge, Ontario
L9P 1N4

Other Upcoming Events by the local Art Community