DIY Project to Add Value to Your Home

Add value to your home by increasing your curb appeal! Has your front door has seen better days? Your front door is often the first impression of your home, so make it count! ⁠
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If the colour is a little tired and dated, a fresh coat of paint ️can do wonders. In order to maintain (or increase) the value of your home, make sure the colour will complement the rest of your property.

#yyjre

#addvalue

#homeimprovements

January Home Maintenance

Home maintenance tasks aren't going to be any easier at the start of a new year than they were during the holiday bustle of December. You’ve buttoned up the house against the cold, and you're in the dead of winter without even a glimpse of spring in sight.

Still, homes must be maintained, even in January. Why? It’s always easier and cheaper to do home maintenance than to repair a home—sometimes to the tune of thousands of dollars.

Handle Holiday Cleanup

Task: You’ve had the fun, and now it’s time to get rid of the evidence. Take down holiday lights and wrap them around a hanger to prevent tangling; set the oven on self-clean, then wipe the interior with a vinegar-soaked cloth; chip your Christmas tree and throw it in the compost pile, or scatter it around garden beds and shrubs for a midwinter mulching.

Shortcut: Instead of pitching holiday cards or tucking them away never to be seen again, recycle them into gift tags for next year. Find a pretty part of the card that has no writing on the back, cut it into a small square, and punch a hole in the corner.

Seek and Destroy Hidden Dirt

Task: Yes, cleaning counts as home maintenance! Clean those filthy places that people don’t see but you know are there. They include the range hood and grilles, refrigerator coils, tops of ceiling fans, dusty light fixtures and bulbs (make sure lights are off before dusting), and HVAC vents.

Shortcut: Let your dishwasher clean metal parts such as vent grilles and range hood filters. You can pop dirty sponges and dishrags in the dishwasher, too.

Think Green

Task: If you can't deal with the January gloom, you can always look ahead to spring. Home maintenance extends beyond the actual home too: Grab those seed, bulb, and bare-root plant catalogs, and start planning your flower and vegetable gardens. If you’re starting seeds inside, plant them about six weeks before the last frost in your area.

Shortcut: You’d be amazed by how much produce you can grow in raised-bed or container gardens. There’s no hoeing, raking, or digging. Create your own weed-free soil by mixing one-third vermiculite, one-third peat moss, and one-third varied compost.

We're not sure about you, but we always love reading testimonials to get a feeling of whom we’ll be working with. ⠀⁠
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Today, we wanted to share a recent testimonial from one of our clients:

I can’t tell you how grateful we all are to you and your team for all your help in orchestrating all this and the value added services you provided.  Even in this strange world, it is reassuring that there are still businesses and individuals who put people first.

Once again, many thanks. 

-  M. B.

Thank you for trusting us and getting you the results you deserved. We are so happy that we had the opportunity to work with you! ♥️

- Rosemarie & Tom

Real Estate Stats for the Greater Victoria Area for the month of December 2020

Happy New Year! 

Please find below, as provided by the Victoria Real Estate Board, the 2020 Victoria real estate market year in review, including Greater Victoria's December housing statistics. 

As always, please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions, we'd love to hear from you.

The 2020 Victoria real estate market year in review:

A total of 631 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this December, 57 per cent more than the 402 properties sold in December 2019 and a 20.6 percent decrease from November 2020. Sales of condominiums were up 61.2 percent from December 2019 with 195 units sold. Sales of single family homes increased 58.6 percent from December 2019 with 314 sold.

A grand total of 8,497 properties sold over the course of 2020, 17.1 percent more than the 7,255 that sold in 2019. 2020 sales came in close to one thousand sales over the ten-year average of 7,329 properties.

“This has been an unexpected year on many levels,” says 2020 Victoria Real Estate Board President Sandi-Jo Ayers. “The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April quickly swept away any illusions that our normal seasonal market patterns would persist. Equally surprising was the resurgence of our market in early summer when restrictions lightened and pent-up demand began pushing sales beyond expectations. The combination of the ongoing pandemic, historically low interest rates and a shift in consumer priorities towards properties that cater to a more home-based work / life / retirement balance resulted in record setting sales for the last several months of 2020.”

There were 1,279 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of December 2020, a decrease of 29.5 percent compared to the previous month of November and a 34.5 percent decrease from the 1,952 active listings for sale at the end of December 2019. This represents the lowest inventory of active listings at month-end in at least the last 25 years.

“The other side of our local story was the inventory,” adds Ayers. “We ended the year on a record low of properties available in Greater Victoria. This means that the huge demand we see for homes in our area is not being met by supply and prices are being pushed upwards as buyers vie for homes. Even historically lower-priced markets like the Highlands and the Westshore are seeing pressure as buyers adjust what suits their needs and focus on home ownership. What remains consistent is that in this complex market, your REALTOR® can help to navigate one of the biggest purchases most will make in their lifetime." 

The Multiple Listing Service® Home Price Index benchmark value for a single family home in the Victoria Core in December 2019 was $857,200. The benchmark value for the same home in December 2020 increased by 6.8 per cent to $915,100, slightly more than November’s value of $903,100. The MLS® HPI benchmark value for a condominium in the Victoria Core area in December 2019 was $520,100, while the benchmark value for the same condominium in December 2020 decreased by 0.9 per cent to $515,600, slightly less than the November value of $516,600.

Review the complete stats package here

Give us a call; we would be happy to answer any questions you may have!

2020, An Extraordinary Year:

None of us knew what we were looking at back in April as this pandemic settled in over our lives. We figured that this would be a short lived, passing thing, as other such events – SARS for instance – had been. During this Covid ‘honeymoon’ we staked out our ‘pods’, banged pots for our front line workers, learned to Zoom , and waited for ‘normal’ to make it’s inevitable and expected return.

And things did seem to improve; summer weather eased life under the Covid cloud as we embraced eating on patios and socializing in our yards. But too soon our summer relief was washed away with rainy days. Then the second wave set in. And now, though the vaccine is coming, it’s far from certain when this Covid cloud will pass.

We of course had to cancel our annual client party this year, but we never stopped thinking of you all! And when you needed us you called! In our surprisingly busy 2020 we were happy to have helped many of you with your home sales and purchases! It is remarkable how, in the midst of other disruptions, the Victoria Real Estate Market keeps going strong!

When you or someone dear to you wants or needs to move we are here to help this happen safely and successfully. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions; we’d ove to hear from you!

Wishing you a wonderful New Years Eve and all the best in 2021! ♥️

SEASON'S GREETINGS!

In these shorter days of December we have, in years past, looked forward to festive lights and warm gatherings to lift our hearts and ease our minds.

2020 has been a different year and each other's safety will have to be an important consideration in making our holiday plans. Still, our love for those dear to us remains strong even as we limit our gatherings. And surely we'll need each other's love all the more as we are obliged to keep our distance!

We send you our love and wish you inspiration in finding creative ways, new and traditional, to let your lights shine, your voices ring out, and your love for each other be felt. May blessed normalcy re-emerge in 2021, bringing us closer to embracing our dear families and friends!

Sincerely,

Rosemarie, Tom & Colleen

Aquafaba Whisky Sour

This recipe is great for vegans, those worried about salmonella, or really anyone who wants to try something new and delicious!

Trivia: Is it spelled whisky or whiskey?

One of Rosemarie’s favourite holiday cocktails is the whisky sour, however, since she switched to a plant-based diet, this seemed like something she would have had to give up as they traditionally include raw egg. Not so! Chickpea juice is called aquafaba and is an excellent egg replacer for vegan recipes, both in baking and in cocktails!

Simple syrup can be mixed by boiling one-part water with one-part sugar. Alternatively, you could use maple syrup instead. This recipe also works with vodka or gin instead of whisky.

https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/aquafaba-whiskey-sour

Answer: Both! Whisky is spelled without an 'e' before the 'y' when referring to the drink made in Canada, Scotland, or Japan, but if you are referring to the beverage made in the USA or Ireland, whiskey is spelled with the 'e'.

SHARING A FAMILY RECIPE

Would you rather try a New Recipe or use an Old Faithful Recipe? 

If you decided both, then great! This year, what with spending so much time at home, we have started to reminisce about the delicious food we ate in our childhood & the recipes we made for our children when they were growing up. Over this month, we would love to share a few of these nostalgic recipes with you! We will be making these dishes in our house with plant-based ingredients & will provide recipes to you with both options. We are excited to share our photos with you! Please, if you try these recipes let us know how they turned out and, of course, photos  are always welcome!

Traditional Popcorn Balls:

Did your mom or dad make these for you as you were growing up?

If you have some extra popcorn  left over after decorating the tree with popcorn streamers, this recipe is especially perfect for you!

Rosemarie’s mother, Corinne, made these balls every year for Rosemarie and her siblings. They were a huge treat in their household around the holidays! This is the original recipe that Corinne typed on her typewriter when she was a secretary in a legal office in Toronto in the 1960s. The back of this card is dated 1962!

We will make these this week and let you know how they go. We will likely make about one quarter batch, as this recipe is a large one. Please use this almost 60-year old recipe to make your own batch (adjust for size as desired) and let us know how it goes!

Note - in the 1960s margarine was often more popular in household cooking than butter (who remembers this?). Feel free to use either margarine or butter, or, like we will be doing, you can use vegan butter. Our favourite is the Earth Balance brand and can be found in most grocery stores.

Greater Victoria Market Update November 2020

Call or email us if you'd like to know more ❕ You are about to complete the biggest transaction of your life; let us help you to make sure this is done right! Whether buying or selling, we are dedicated to treating your transaction with the utmost of care and trust. ❤

Just Sold in Colwood, Victoria, BC!

We are thrilled for our clients who are upsizing to this beautiful home in Colwood! . We love helping our clients make their move ♥️ We can't wait to hand over the keys in January!

 #JUSTSOLD #yyjcommunity #community #colwoodbc #saanichpeninsula #victoriabccanada #lowermainland #royallepagesignature #royallepage #realestate #realtor #referrals #yyj #westcoastliving #westcoastlife #homewardbound