Ah, moving. It is the worst. Moving is hard, stressful and expensive. If it weren’t because we had to look forward to a better place to live, it would be pretty much intolerable.

Yet, many of us might scoff at the idea of hiring a moving company. We prefer to do it ourselves with the help of unsuspecting volunteers who can be bribed with “free” food and drinks. Now all you need is a good friend with a pickup truck, and you have everything you need to start your DIY moving plan, right?

If only it were that easy. Though it is true you can save some money if you go the DIY route, it will still be an expensive process. Add to that the planning and stress of the whole experience, you might find yourself regretting your decision. 

Other things to consider before opting to DYI your moving plan are safety and insurance. Picking up huge boxes and moving furniture might be too strenuous on your body, especially if you are not used to that kind of work. It would be troublesome if you or one of your volunteers injured themselves. Insurance is also an important thing to consider. If something happens to any of your property or the truck, it will be insured if you decided on a reputable mover. (Regarding insurance, customers need to discuss the details with the mover of their choice beforehand.)

The good news is there you can hire a moving company for a multitude of things. You can pick and choose the services you need and decide on a moving company that best fits your moving plan. 

Different types of mover services include:

• Van lines: These are the traditional movers. They will load your stuff in the trailer and drive to their destination.

• Moving Containers: They will leave a trailer in your house so you can load all your stuff. Later, you can call them and they will take the trailer to the destination of your choice. 

• Full-service movers: They will do everything for you, including packing, loading, moving, and reassemble furniture.

• Moving helpers: If your issue is not transportation, you might reach out to a team to help load all your stuff.

With all the options available, we are sure you will find the services you need. And, hopefully, make your moving experience a lot more enjoyable. For more information and tips on moving and how to choose moving companies, click here. 

How Seniors Can Find the Perfect Home for Aging in Place

More and more seniors are choosing to age in place - growing old in their homes as opposed to an assisted living community. Modern technology and higher standards of in-home care are making this an option for more people. However, some seniors can’t age in place in their current homes for a variety of reasons. Here is a great link to why many shouldn't stay in their homes alone: Should a Senior live alone. Here are some great tips on how to find the perfect new home in which to age in place.

Choose a home in a friendly neighborhood

One thing that an assisted living facility does provide seniors is built-in socialization. Many seniors struggle with isolation and loneliness, and living in a special community can often alleviate this. If you want to age in place in your own home, however, it’s vital that you move to a neighborhood that gives you the most options to be social. Talk to the neighbors around any potential home buy. Are they friendly? Ask them if the neighborhood is tight-knit, and if there are any neighborhood associations that sponsor parties, cookouts, and other get-togethers. Try to find a neighborhood where you will find new friends and activities to keep you occupied. 

Choose a home that will require minimal modifications

As a senior, there are plenty of specific house features that you may require for comfortable, independent living. It depends on your level of mobility, but you could want anything from a walk-in, no-ledge shower, to non-slip flooring like textured tiles in bathrooms and kitchens, to low or adjustable level countertops, or even reinforced grips and railings throughout the home. You want a home that you can live in for the rest of your life, so it should not only be accommodating for you now but for you in the future as well. You can save money on modifications if you focus on finding a home that will require as few as possible. 

Choose a home that requires little upkeep

The answer to the question Why not just age in place in your current home? is almost always because it’s too large/requires too much upkeep. Seniors moving to a new home are most certainly downsizing, as this helps streamline their entire existence and gets rid of superfluous possessions and space that only serves to tie them down and prevents true independent living. Start downsizing as soon as possible so that you will have a better idea of home much space you’ll need in your new home. Refusing to downsize is a major pitfall for seniors looking to age in place. 

Also, it’s probably not wise to choose a new home with a ton of outdoor upkeep either. Many seniors love to garden, and having enough space for a modest garden is likely all you’ll want. Otherwise you will be working too hard to maintain a large yard - and you’ll most likely have to pay someone to do it as you age. Find a home with a modest yard or work to create one yourself. 

Buy within your means

The perfect home for you is the one you can afford. If you’re a senior living on a fixed or tight income, make sure your mortgage payment doesn’t overextend you. Always be wary of “hidden costs” of homeownership like insurance costs, taxes, maintenance and repair fees, and neighborhood association costs. 

The perfect home for a senior looking to age in place is one they can afford, that accommodates their mobility issues (both present and future), and is in a location where they can be social with friends and neighbors. 

May in Cloverdale means its time for the Cloverdale Rodeo which runs from today - May 17 to May 20. Each year our team has had so much fun participating in the Chilli Cook Off one of the warm up events for the annual Cloverdale Rodeo ...this year will be no exception. We are looking forward to defending our 1st place Chilli and kicking it up a notch as we do each year. 

Make sure to come by today May 17th and try our "Chilli Squad" Chilli from 4:30pm -6:30pm during the 22nd annual Chilli Cook Off Be sure to come early so you get to try everyone's Chilli. 

And of course, don't forget to vote our Chilli and help us keep our 1st place title. 

We want to THANK everyone that came out to participate in this year's Chilli Cook Off, without such amazing support we wouldn't have made #1 for the 3rd year in a row. Technically 4 years in a row. 2016 we were MLA's 1st choice. 

Thank you to our clients, friends and family that made it out as well. We appreciate the support. 

As always, we have so much fun making the chilli and then serving the community our delicious Chilli. 

Everyone was there for the cooking and most of the event, but Kara and Rachael missed the official part. Susanne and Bettina accepted the plaque in honour of all of us at Balance Real Estate Group. We look forward to seeing everyone out again next year! 

Happy Rodeo long weekend to everyone!

We want to thank everyone for entering and sharing pictures of the Mom's in your lives. We hope Mother's Day was a special one for all the Moms out there. 

Please keep your eye on our Facebook page and website for upcoming contests throughout the year. The next one will be for Father's Day in June. 

Congratulations to Carina Jansen - Styner for winning the Mother's Day basket, generously donated by Tracy LaChance from Verico Dreyer Group Mortgages . Please contact us to arrange for picking up your gift.

Mother's Day is fast approaching, only a few days away and we wanted to do another giveaway in honour of all the Moms out there. 

A very big Thank you to one of the mortgage brokers our team has worked with for generously donating this beautiful gift for the Mom in your life. Tracy LaChance is a mortgage professional with Verico Dreyer Group mortgages. Be sure to follow Tracy LaChance on Facebook for great mortgage tips. 

Tracy has been in the Financial, Mortgage and Real Estate industries for 27 years offering a diverse range of financing and investment advice.

Living in the White Rock/South Surrey area for 14 years, Tracy is very familiar with the local markets and community and is enthusiastically involved in many charities and events.  Previous to being an independent mortgage professional with Dreyer Group, Tracy worked in the Northern BC area in which she continues to maintain her personal and business relationships offering mortgage services and keeping up to date on those community changes and growth. 

Tracy believes in going above and beyond for her clients and this is demonstrated in her long lasting client relationships.  Tracy will guide you through the Mortgage process from beginning to end to make your experience an enjoyable one. 

We invite you to contact her anytime for a personal mortgage evaluation, call her directly at 604.218.8364

We are proud to be sponsors for this year's Clayton Community Farmers Market which opens this Sunday May 5th at 10am - 3pm.  

This year is even bigger than last years event with over 50 great vendors. Our team is looking forward to seeing the community at various  Clayton Community Farmers Market days. Be sure to stop by and enter our contests with a canned food donation in support of local food banks. 

Located at Clayton Heights Secondary in the parking lot! 7003 188 Street.

Here are the upcoming market days which will be held from 10am - 3pm 

May 5 -- May 19 -- Jun 2 -- Jun 16 -- Jun 30 -- Jul 14

Jul 28 -- Aug 11 -- Aug 25 -- Sep 8 -- Sep 22 -- Oct 6

Visit the following link for more details: Clayton Community Farmers Market

Why Should You Install a Pergola in Your Backyard?

Are you wondering the benefits of installing a pergola in your backyard? Perhaps you’ve seen a pergola at a friends house or heard they can be a way to make your home more saleable. There are many benefits to a pergola, and we are exploring them in this article. As well as providing shelter and making your garden look better, a pergola can even boost the value of your property.

Increasing Home Value

One of the main benefits of installing a pergola, gazebo or other outside structure or feature has the potential to make a big impact on the perceived price of your home. Check out this well-researched guide that includes value-boosting maintenance tips. It has a whole section dedicated to building garden structures. The guide mentions an ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) survey in which pergolas ranked number two on the list of most desirable outdoor structures.

If the home value is boosted by the pergola being in place, it can mean that it is an investment, not just an expense. 
If you spend money on a pergola and invest wisely, or do the work yourself, you can make the money back when it comes to time to sell your property. This doesn’t mean that you have to install one while you are thinking of selling. There is no reason you can’t take advantage of owning the pergola and the benefits it brings to your garden first.

Sheltered Seating Areas

Having a sheltered area in your backyard is always very beneficial. You may live in a space where it is hot and sunny a lot of the time and you are looking for a cooler area with shade from the sun (and potential sunburn). Alternatively, if you are in an area prone to showers then this can be a way to stay dry. An example such as this home, where there is a pergola area with seats, a table, and even a fire pit just under the shelter it provides. This is a perfect place to sit and have food and drink or to entertain guests. Gazebos can do a similar job, but a pergola can provide a more permanent structure with a higher perceived value.

A Design Feature

Sometimes the pergolas are in place for design purposes more than anything else. This beautiful home is an example of a pergola which is in place as it has a quirky design and brilliantly sets apart an outdoor dining area. A pergola allows you to do so much in terms of design.  You can choose from a number of different woods and other materials, and decide whether you want full coverage or just a partially sheltered area.

One of the most popular uses of a pergola is to grow vines and other climbing plants around them.  Sprucing up your yard with plants is one of the top tips for selling your home. This can give a really luxurious feel to your backyard and create a classy ambiance. If you are green-fingered, a pergola can be another place for your gardening experiments.

Privacy

A lot of people don’t spend a huge amount of time in their backyards as they are worried about privacy. If you have other homes nearby which overlook your yard then it can often be the case that you don’t feel as comfortable with your privacy as you would in your own home.

Your backyard should feel like an extension of your home in terms of being another private area when you can relax, safe from prying eyes. A pergola can help you to create that. Whether you have prying neighbors or not, it is good to feel like you are relaxing in an area where nobody can see you.

An Outdoor Room

A pergola can give the illusion of four walls, and the fact that it provides a roof area means that you can treat it as another room. There are examples of people using their outdoor space for all sorts of things. Some people have installed outdoor grills and cooking areas with pizza ovens, BBQ grills, smokers and of course seating areas.

If you are a serial entertainer, you could think about using your pergola ‘room’ as a bar and having space for your friends to gather.  Other people have even installed televisions outside and made outdoor tv theatre areas in their pergolas or gazebos. If you are confident with electronics then this can be a good, fun reason to install a pergola. 

Other creative uses we’ve seen including shelter for a hot tub or just as a beautiful dining space.

Conclusion

Have you enjoyed our post on installing pergolas? Can you think of other benefits? Here are more great tips on How to Increase the Value of your Home as well here are some great tips on modernizing your home. How To Modernize Your Home

Feel free to share your thoughts by emailing us at info@BalanceRealEstateGroup.com, or share our article with your friends if you think it can be helpful for them.

It is hard to believe after such a long and unusual winter here in the lower mainland and Fraser valley that Spring has finally arrived and with it spring temperatures. Hopefully it won't be a teaser and that winter truly is over. Although it was just over a week ago that we had a little bit of snow come down. 

The picture of those beautiful crocuses was from many years ago when I had a garden at our old house in Cloverdale. They were so beautiful and one of the first signs that spring was on its way when the crocuses started to come up. I drove past the other day and the bulbs are still coming up. Looking forward to seeing all the cherry blossoms soon.

Today is International Women's Day and how a propos is it that this year's theme #BalanceforBetter seemed to have been made for our team the way it is today and who we are in general - Balance Real Estate Group. We are a team of women, of all ages...even though we haven't always been a team of women and we may not always be a team of women. We are proud to work together and want to recognize International Women's Day to celebrate working together as women. 

This year's theme is #BalanceforBetter with a goal to build a better working world...a gender balanced world.

The following excerpt is taken from the International Women's Day website....something my husband and I strongly believe in. So much so, my husband proudly works for a very forward thinking company in Vancity Credit Union. Where their CEO is a strong woman, his immmediate boss is a strong woman and the company in general believes strongly in the equality of women in the workplace. 

"Let's build a gender-balanced world

Balance is not a women's issue, it's a business issue. The race is on for the gender-balanced boardroom, a gender-balanced government, gender-balanced media coverage, a gender-balance of employees, more gender-balance in wealth, gender-balanced sports coverage ...

Gender balance is essential for economies and communities to thrive."

Happy International Women's Day! To all the amazing women on our team, we wouldn’t be successful without them. To the women we are raising that will one day change the world! To all the amazing women in our lives! Mothers, Grandmothers, Sisters, Aunts, Cousins, Friends any and all the women that have touched our lives.

Bettina

Ok, so today's blog is going to be a little rant. 

I don't think I ever truly appreciated a real laundry room more, than when I had to pull out my stacker washer/dryer yesterday to re-attach the dryer vent. We noticed on the weekend that there was a little too much lint accumulating around the machine. Since we didn't get time to deal with it over the weekend, I figured since I had some time on my hands before work that I would tackle it. It couldn't be that difficult right? 

WRONG! I do not know how anyone is even able to repair these machines jammed into these little closets. I pulled out the machines and of course in the process the hose in the drain came out...Now there are a couple things wrong in this picture. Not sure why in a building that is less than 10 years old that the water hoses are rubber and not metal braided hoses. Especially when if they fail it can affect our neighbours below...so we are going to get those changed. But how does it make sense that the drain is half way up the wall (the area I have circled below) and of course the hose that comes from the machine is not a long one.....

So now, I not only have to re-attach the dryer vent hose, but now I somehow have to figure out how to direct this short hose down the drain. The only way to get in behind was to pull the machines out and squeeze between the door frame and machines because there is not only very little room to pull them out, but with all the cords and hoses you can only pull it out so far. I managed to get the lint cleaned up and re-attach the hose...but then I had to figure out how to get that drain hose into the drain....That is where the real fun began...at this point I am starting to build up a sweat as I realize I have to push the machines back in somewhat and climb up on top of the machine. Of course, I decide to do this while my husband is at work...I mean come on I should have been able to do this no problem right. Again wrong, and of course he calls as I am in the middle of it all and laughs when I explain what I need to do in order to get it working. Needless to say I kept my phone close in case I got stuck in behind the machines that I climbed up and over. (Not that I would have liked to make that call..."PLEASE HELP I"M STUCK BEHIND MY LAUNDRY MACHINES....") I could have waited for him to come home, but by this point I was determined to get this fixed. Crazy I know. 

As I climb up on the machines, I realize it is a long way down in behind....so I decide to climb down and then hoist a step stool over and lower it behind. Which worked out perfect...until I had to get it back out. I had pushed the machines back enough to get the hose in and fit the stool back there, but hadn't really thought about how I was going to get the stool back out. So I climb out and end up taking my house coat strap and an hanger to help me hook the stool (thank goodness it was a 2 step stool with a handle). I must have been a sight to see, a grown ass woman lying on top of stacking laundry machines reaching down behind to try and rig a housecoat strap in order to lift up a stool. All while praying I don't end up head first falling behind the machines. 6' from the top down is a long way when you are upside down. 

I won't be repeating this anytime soon, going to call in the experts next time. I will gladly defer to them in the future, that is for sure. Let them figure out how to deal with these situations. They deserve the money they charge for a service call. But as a realtor I truly get it when people look at these tiny closets and dread having their laundry in a closet. I might even know more than them why they shoudln't like having a laundry closet. 

Bettina

Watch any TV cooking show, and you’ll notice that a chef’s kitchen looks quite a bit different than what you’d find in most homes. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t have one just like it in your home! With a little remodeling, and splurging on some new items, you too can have a kitchen worthy of Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver, or Rachel Ray.

Chefs love counter space. So, when remodeling, plan to create as much as possible. If you have an existing island, for example, you can replace the countertop with a larger one. Just adding eight inches in both directions will make a big difference.

Most chefs have more than one oven. If that’s impractical for you, consider buying a double-oven stove. Also, chefs prefer gas burners for quicker heat- up times and exacting control of cooking temperature.

One thing you’ll notice about chefs is they love stainless steel.
That’s because it’s easy-to-clean, hygienic and durable (assuming you take care of it).

Finally, because chefs spend so much time in the kitchen, they want the space to be attractive and comfortable. So, when remodeling, keep decor in mind.

Even if you’re just an amateur chef, creating a chef-worthy kitchen will make the foodie in you smile.