Real Estate in Kitchener Waterloo

We spend lots of time, energy and money making our lawns beautiful and user-friendly. Our climate and soil conditions in the Kitchener-Waterloo area are excellent for beautiful green lawns. Here are some tips for making them environmentally friendly as well.

1. Mulch Your Grass Clippings when possible - Grass clippings contain valuable nutrients taken right out of your soil. So isn’t it odd that we gather our grass clippings in bags and ship them off to a land fill somewhere on the other side of the county?

Did you know that mulching your grass and leaves can save you as many as two fertilizer applications every year? Most lawn mowers come with a mulching blade that chops grass and leaves into small pieces and deposits them right back into the lawn.

Mulched leaves - especially sugar and red maple leaves - provide a degree of natural weed control when mulched into the lawn. Sometimes it is not practical to mulch your leaves because you have too many of them. But often it is - and it helps your lawn too!

2. Plant trees, shrubs and flowers - You know that trees are good for the environment. They help clean the air, return moisture to the air and provide shade from the hot sun. Shrubs, flowers and bushes also have many benefits other than just adding beauty. They help stimulate the soil, add bio-diversity to your yard, and attract birds and other wildlife.

3. Use Fertilizer Wisely - Synthetic fertilizers almost always contain nitrogen and phosphorous. In most areas of Canada, including the Kitchener-Waterloo area, nitrogen is what your grass needs for healthy growth. Much of your lawn’s nitrogen requirements can be supplied by mulching your grass each time you mow it.

Phosphorous (the second number) is usually unnecessary for healthy lawns, and it has some negative effects on the environment. Phosphorous that ends up in our rivers, lakes and ponds stimulates plant growth which disrupts the habitat of fish and other water life. Look for a fertilizer than has “0″ phosphorous.

Organic fertilizers may actually contain more phosphorus than synthetic ones, so read the label carefully.

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Everyone needs to save money these days. Did you know that hot water costs represent 25% of the total energy costs for your home? Here are some advantages for changing your hot water heater to a tankless system - and they are not only about saving money.

1. A tankless water heater will save you around $50 a month. Traditional water heaters store the hot water at a pre-set temperature, meaning that they are continually turning on and off to maintain that temperature. A tankless system only uses power when a hot water faucet is turned on. Singles and couples will notice an even bigger saving.

ADVANTAGE 2: Tankless water heaters provide an endless flow of hot water. They never run out of hot water because they heat it on demand. Some can even run two hot showers at the same time.

(Read the article)

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We’ve all seen it on one of those renovation shows. The reno guys start pulling out drywall or ceilings from bathrooms, basement rooms or kitchens and they discover tons of ugly mold inside the walls.

This has to be one of your worst nightmares when you’re doing a renovation project. Before you get in and have a close look it is almost impossible to know how extensive the mold is. And usually you can’t just wipe it off or ignore it. Mold is a sign of other problems - usually too much moisture and poor ventilation. If you don’t fix the problem it will just come back.

As this article called Renovating? Be Mindful of Mold points out, mold is a potentially serious health issue:

Mold can reduce the air quality in your home. That’s because mold reproduces by launching spores into the air – sort of like a dandelion does. Those spores act as allergens and irritants, particularly to infants, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, and can result in a host of respiratory ailments.

For some helpful tips on how to deal with mold - and more important - how to prevent it, check out Renovating? Be Mindful of Mold.

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If you are (or were) a first time home buyer in Ontario you may be eligible for a refund on the land transfer tax paid on your purchase. This can be a sizeable amount. For example, on the purchase of a $200,000 home the land transfer tax would be roughly $1725 - all of which you can claim as a refund.

Get the details and see how to apply here Ontario Land Transfer Tax Refund.

Land transfer tax applies to all conveyances of land in Ontario, Canada. First-time homebuyers may be eligible for a refund of all or part of the tax payable, up to a maximum of $2000.

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For Sale By Owner has been a fairly popular choice over the last few years for people wanting to save money when selling their home. Here is a short article that explains why trying to sell your home yourself is not all it’s cracked up to be. This article, called “FSBO or Real Estate Agent?” explains why using a real estate agent has several major advantages over trying to sell your home yourself.

The bottom line is that listing with a Real Estate Agent will give you access to expertise and resources you simply will not have if you go the FSBO route - not to mention the inconvenience of showing your home night after night to people who are “just looking”.

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Linknet Real Estate - In neighborhoods all over the world, houses are a reflection of the unique personalities of the people who live inside them. Whether it’s a villa in Spain, a stone flat in Scotland, a bungalow in a small town, or a condo in Kitchener-Waterloo, our homes are our castles.

In this day and age it’s easy to let your pride of ownership shine. Even if you’re a complete novice, having never so much as hung a picture, you can sign up for a how-to seminar at your nearest home improvement store. Pick a project you’d like to tackle, and get started. It could be the installation of a new front door, building a retaining wall, or creating a patio for entertaining your guests.

Pay special attention to your front entrance. Create a warm and welcoming look with natural materials such as potted plants, paving stones and statuary. Here’s a unique and charming idea for dressing up your front door - use a distinctive door knocker or bell ringer - See some samples and ideas here - http://www.doorknockers.com/index.html

You may not realize it, but in the process of feathering your nest, you will also be doing something else. You’ll be creating a rare commodity called curb appeal. So go ahead, trust yourself and indulge your creativity. It will stand you in good stead down the road when you decide to fly the coop.

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The Kitchener-Waterloo area has one of the hottest real estate markets in all of Canada right now, so buying Kitchener-Waterloo real estate is a wise investment decision. Unlike the greater Toronto area where home prices have shot through the roof in recent years, Kitchener-Waterloo real estate prices have remained more reasonable, with steady increases in value year after year.

This steady trend reflects the character of the Kitchener-Waterloo area: industrious, hard-working, prosperous, and diversified to a degree that most other communities can only dream of. The Kitchener-Waterloo area boasts two world class universities, a well-educated population and a diversified economic base with local industries in everything from automobile manufacturing to insurance to high tech. It is hard to imagine a place with a brighter future.

Let us help you find a home in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. We have the pulse of all the new developments going up in the area, and will keep you informed of the hot new listings coming onto the market just as soon as they enter the MLS listing service.

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You get to see new listings just as soon as they come on the market - even before they make it into the MLS listings! Specializing in Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate listings.

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When it comes time to sell your Kitchener-Waterloo home, it is important to pick the right real estate agent. We know from our experience in the Kitchener-Waterloo real estate market that setting the right price is very important.

You should never list with an agent who promises he or she can get you an unreasonably high price for your home. It won’t take long to discover that the market dictates the price. After a few weeks of getting very little traffic at the high price you will be forced to lower the price in order to generate traffic. Unfortunately, you will have lost what is usually the most critical time period in selling a home - the first weeks immediately after it’s listed.

It is also very important to prepare your home properly for selling. Taking care of some simple basics can make a big difference to the attractiveness of your home — and to the price your prospective buyers are willing to pay. We know what people are looking for and what turns them off. Our experience can be invaluable for you when it comes time to prepare your home for selling.

We offer FREE HOME EVALUATIONS and can advise you on how to get the highest price for your home.

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