New Season: New Beginnings

Transformation is in the air. Take advantage; sell now!

Summer is officially over. Today is the first day of Fall. The kids are all back to school and all the clubs and lessons have started their new seasons. New shoes and outfits have been bought. Maybe there's new project at work. People have switched gears and are ready for change and challenges.

Take advantage of this positive mindset and put your house on the market. You'll also be taking advantage of the beautiful fall colours and temperatures, not to mention the warm and homey decorations. It won't be hard to look good. Your house will look its best.

Give me a call or send me a message and I will help you make this big change, and I will make it as stress-free and positive as possible, and I will save you thousands of dollars.

Canada Day and Independence Day Decorating

Did you decorate for Canada Day?

Newmarket's Main Street always looks great for Canada Day, with lots of flags and gorgeous flowers, and the street fills with hundreds of people wearing red and white. Our Canada Day celebration is awesome!

Driving around town, I saw lots of flags flying, on flag posts, in flower beds and flower pots, on balconies, on cars, all over. Some homes were really beautifully decorated! I saw lots of red and white flower beds looking especially pretty with rows of flags framing them, and a red chair or a red door really pops when there's a Canada Day flower arrangement placed beside it.

I suspect that the homes with the most decorations were having parties for Canada Day. We don't tend to go all-out patriotic, we Canadians.

When you cross the border, it's different. Americans really fly their colours on Independence Day, and many more homes fly flags year-round. The "Stars and Stripes" appears not only on flagpoles but also on exterior and interior walls, floors, furniture, clothing, dishes, everywhere.

I think that Canadians do not love their country less than Americans love the USA. Indeed, we politely and humbly prefer Canada over every other place in the world.

Proudly Canadian, on July 1st and every day!

House Looking Good? Take a Picture!

Is your house looking really good right now? You've probably put some planters out front, and the grass is really green and lush. After our long winter, you're happy to spend time outside making the house look good again. Maybe you're having people over on the weekend and you're proud of how your house looks.

Take some pictures now!

Even if you're not thinking of selling this year, take some pictures of the exterior of your house now and throughout the summer, when your house looks good. Take a shot from across the street, get a good shot of the backyard, and be sure to show off your front door.

If you decide to sell when things are dry and droopy or covered in snow, you'll have pictures for your Realtor to post that show off your house at its best!

The spring market this year was slower than usual and one thing that was obvious was that almost every house on the market was pictured covered with snow. Buyers couldn't see the landscaping and many details were obscured. The odd house that had a summer picture looked fantastic, really outstanding!

Taking pictures of your house in every season also helps you with your own maintenance planning. You'll see issues on the house and in the garden that need attention. 

Gardening: Good for You and Your House

Gardening is good for you and for your house.

A beautifully landscaped property adds to the value of your home and improves your well-being.

Flowers make you feel happier, don't they?

There's a lot of talk lately about how we need to spend more time in nature. Just looking at nature has been shown to reduce stress and improve brain function. A beautiful garden is truly rewarding. Getting your hands dirty and doing the gardening yourself has even more benefits. You get outdoors and have some physical activity, and you feel connected to nature. You can plant fruits and vegetables to improve your diet. Here's an article from CNN Health that discusses the mental and physical benefits of gardening. You can practise Horticultural Therapy in your own backyard!

Not only is gardening good for body and soul, but it's also good for the bottom line. The value of your home depends on it. In fact, a study by Money Magazine has shown that good landscaping increases the value of a home and bad landscaping decreases the value of a home. Money spent on landscaping is very well spent indeed:  "landscaping can bring a recovery value of 100 to 200 per cent at selling time." Everyone talks about "curb appeal" and when they do, plants and flowers are always mentioned. Add a pot of flowers to the front step and you've got better curb appeal. Create a beautiful flower bed, and you get much, much more.

Your neighbours will benefit from your beautiful landscaping too. Their home value goes up with yours, and they will enjoy the increased natural elements in their lives.

Now is a great time to work on your landscaping. Garden Centres are full of plants and tools and most will even be open on the Victoria Day holiday so that you can take advantage of the perfect planting conditions.

Spring Home Maintenance

These warmer days remind us homeowners that it's time for some important Spring Home Maintenance, and I've got a checklist for you.

As soon as the snow melts, it's time to check on your real estate investment, to see how it survived the winter. Your house and property need your attention.

Furnaces and fireplaces will soon be out of commission for a while, and air conditioners will need to be put into service. They will need some attention. Look at the exterior of your house and around your property to see if anything needs to be repaired or replaced. Plan a project for a nice weekend or for the summer. Will you need a new deck or fence, should you add an awning or a gazebo for some shade? You'll want to do your Spring Garden Maintenance too.

Here's a checklist of things you can do for your house in the spring:

Spring  Home Maintenance

Taking Care of Your Investment

(adapted from CMHC by Harry Naghavi, Your Friendly Realtor)

 Have fireplace or wood stove and chimney cleaned and serviced as needed.

 Shut down, drain and clean furnace humidifier, and close the furnace humidifier damper on units with central air conditioning.

 Switch on power to air conditioning and check system. Have it serviced every two or three years.

 Clean or replace air-conditioning filter, if applicable.

 Check dehumidifier and drain — clean if necessary.

 Turn OFF gas furnace and fireplace pilot lights where possible.

 Have well water tested for quality. It is recommended that you test for bacteria every six months.

 Check smoke, carbon monoxide and security alarms, and replace batteries (when clocks “spring forward”).

 Clean windows, screens and hardware, and on older homes, replace storm windows with screens. 

 Open valve to outside hose connection after all danger of frost has passed.

 Examine the foundation walls for cracks, leaks or signs of moisture, and repair as required.

 Ensure sump pump is operating properly before the spring thaw sets in. Ensure discharge pipe is connected and allows water to drain away from the foundation.

 Re-level any exterior steps or decks that moved as a result of frost or settling.

 Check eavestroughs and downspouts for loose joints and secure attachment to your home, clear any obstructions, and ensure water flows away from your foundation.

 Clear all drainage ditches and culverts of debris.

 Repair and paint fences and decks as necessary — allow wood fences to dry adequately first.

 Undertake spring landscape maintenance and, if necessary, fertilize young trees.


You can find a version of this checklist and more helpful information on my website:  www.harrynaghavi.com


Harry Naghavi, Your Friendly Realtor, is one of the best Realtors in Newmarket, in York Region, and in the GTA.

Get Ready to Sell! Do Your Own "Staging"

You're thinking about moving. You're getting ready to sell your house.

First of all, call me, Harry, Your Friendly Realtor (416-716-3112).

I'll pop over to your place, give you a free evaluation, and we'll look at what you need to do to get the house ready to sell for the best price possible. Don't worry, you probably won't have to do much "staging".

There is a ton of information on the internet about staging homes to get the most money. There are companies who will do it for you. Get a quote and see what they'll do. Sometimes they do amazing things. But, you might not have the money to hire a staging company and you might not have the time and money to invest in a big DIY project either right now, and that's okay. You have to consider the cost to yourself in terms of time and money in relation to the effect on the selling time and price. Will it be worth it?

You might end up just doing a major cleaning and just change things around a bit. Maybe you'll have a weekend to do some painting. Even if you have a good-sized budget and a fair amount of time, I believe that you can do it yourself if you can think like a buyer. It's a bit difficult to look at your home and your stuff and think of it as someone else's. But, that's what you've got to try to do. And, I can help you with that.

Here's a link to a blog post that has some good common-sense ideas for things to do before inviting buyers in to your house. You won't have to spend too much time on the projects that they recommend. It's on a Blog called The Sweet Spot Blog.

The most important thing is also the easiest to do: declutter and clean. 

Have a yard sale to get rid of things you don't need, give things away, recycle, and then throw things out. Pack away stuff that you won't need until after your move. Store it, and maybe even a few pieces of furniture that are crowding your spaces, at someone else's house or rent a storage space.

Then, clean thoroughly. If you hate cleaning, then you can easily hire people to do it for you.

Don't forget the outside of your house! Curb appeal is actually a big deal. People do judge based on appearances, on first impressions.

The next blog post in the series on the Sweet Spot Blog is about getting the outside of your house ready for sale. I recommend that one too if you want to see some good tips.

I can also help you decide what you need to do to boost your curb appeal, if you need to do anything at all. 

You've been taking care of your investment all along, right? I'll tell you what it's worth "as is". You might be surprised at how little you really need to do.

I will help you make your move as stress-free as possible.

And, you'll save money: you'll get the best deal selling and buying with my help!

Mowing the lawn

Yesterday’s rain came just at the right moment. I had cut the grass the day before and it was looking a bit dry. Now it’s nice and green and it looks great.

That’s another thing I like about my neighbourhood in Newmarket. People show pride of ownership. They take care of their homes and properties.

So, I have to make sure my lawn doesn’t get too long and messy. My wife takes care of the flowers and bushes. The house has to look good. We’ve got to have curb appeal.

I’m glad it’s summer. I don’t like mowing the lawn, but it’s better than shovelling snow!!!

One good thing about running around behind a lawn mower: it’s good exercise. It keeps me looking good too (;-D