It's hard to believe we are coming to the end of January already...Where many people are thinking of getting their home's ready to sell.

One of the most important things you can do to get your home ready is to ensure you not only stage your home for potential Buyers to fall in love with, but to set the curb appeal for the very best first impressions. 

I came across a great article with a lot of really good tips on how to stage your home and boost your curb appeal. From curb appeal, to having a clean and de-cluttered home...every little bit helps to get your home SOLD fast and for a good price.

Click on the following link to read the article:

Curb Appeal and Staging

If you would like a home evaluation where we can help to make suggestions on how to stage your home, give us a call today...we'd be happy to help!

Once again another reason we are proud to be Fraser Valley Realtors...Our Fraser Valley Real Estate Board has donated on behalf of all it's members, $18,500 to the local food banks divided between all of the communities that our board supports.

To read more click on the following link:

It's important to support our local food banks year round and not just during the holidays. Unfortunately there is and always will be a need and every little bit that we can do to help will make a difference.

Fraser Valley Food Banks

 

Recently I noticed the air in my tire was a bit low. It had been a long time since I had to deal with putting air in my tire and I had forgotten that most gas stations now charge a fee to use the air and water pumps. It is totally absurd that this has become the norm. I absolutely despise this and think the use of air and water should be a complementary service at gas stations. That being said if I must pay I would rather it go to a good cause then into the pockets of big oil corporations. I may be a little extreme in my thinking but this is truly how I feel. So you will appreciate my surprise and willingness to pay when I tell you about this super awesome partnership Husky Energy has with Habitat for Humanity. When I pulled up to the pump behind the Cloverdale Husky Mohawk gas station on 176th and #10 Hwy and jumped out to see what ridiculous fee they were charging I noticed the sign on the pump that said ....

Husky Energy Proudly Supports Habitat for Humanity. I think every gas station should be doing something like this. It made feeding the machine my money easier knowing it was going to a good cause.

Tells us what you think about gas stations charging a fee for water and air. Also how do you feel about Husky partnering up with this worthy cause?... 

You can check out more info at http://www.habitatwk.ca/news_husky.html

Kara

Today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year...Blue Monday.

Believe it or not a Doctor actually created this Blue Monday by working out a formula. His formula was based on 6 factors - weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing new year's resolutions, low motivation the need to take action.

Dr. Cliff Arnall calculated Blue Monday to happen in the 3rd week of January.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1317762--today-is-blue-monday-its-creator-offers-three-keys-to-happiness

I don't tend to get down too often...but I know I could use some heat and sunshine just about now! :) How about you?

A couple days ago I blogged about Dine out Vancouver starting their festival yesterday and completely forgot about White Rock's very own food festival "Bite of the Rock". 

It's another great opportunity for people living south of the Fraser in the Valley, instead of heading to Vancouver they can try some of the fabulous restaurants in White Rock. The festival started this past Monday January 14th and runs through February 10th, there will be select White Rock restaurants offering 3 course meals for $15, $25, $35 or $45. Many of which are also offering entertainment.

This is the 7th annual Bite of the Rock and promises to be an excellent opportunity to try a new restaurant or an old favourite for very reasonable prices. 

For details on participating restaurants and their menus visit Bite of the Rock's website.

Even though communication has drastically changed around the world in the last few years, snail mail still holds a necessary place in our society. Perhaps instead of getting that letter from a loved one you get an email or facebook message. But for some reason it's still exciting when you do get something personally addressed to you other than bills or junk.... There's just something to be said about actually holding a note in your hand that can be cherished forever and not just seeing it somewhere on cyber space to be lost and forgotten.

I remember how much I looked forward to letters from loved ones and friends when I was growing up, when it was too costly to keep in touch by phone. A time when you could pour your heart out on paper and someone at the other end would really enjoy reading whatever it was that you had to say....

As of Monday January 14th Canadians will have to pay another 2 cents on top of the 61 cents that a regular stamp already costs us. 

For standard letters under 30 grams the domestic rate will go from 61 cents to 63 cents. 
For letters weighing between 30-50 grams the domestic rate goes up 5 cents from $1.05 to $1.10.

For standard letters, cards and postcards under 30 grams destined to the US the rate goes up 5 cents from $1.05 to $1.10
For standard letters, cards and postcards under 30 grams destined to foreign countries, the rate goes up 5 cents from $1.05 to $1.10

Registered mail rates have gone up as well.

For more details visit Canada Post's website in the following link:

Canada Post

No matter what the cost I don't imagine we will ever truly be able to do away with snail mail...and that's a good thing!

Well by now everyone knows the NHL is back and hockey lovers across North America are rejoicing...or are they?

The 1st games will be next Saturday January 19th. Even though I'm not a hockey fan, my husband was born a Habs fan and when he woke up Sunday morning to find out they had come to an agreement and there was going to be a season..it was like Christmas morning all over again for him. 

He would never give up hockey and looks forward to having the NHL back, but all over the media and social networking sites you hear of people who intend to boycott the NHL games. I have to agree with my husband boycotting won't hurt the NHL it will hurt all the people that have already been hurt by being out of work. The thousands of employees that work in the arenas around North America.

Will you be watching your favourite team?

By now just about everyone in British Columbia should have gotten their BC Tax assessments in the mail. If you still haven't received yours in the next few days you may want to contact the BC assessment office at 1-866-valueBC (1-866-825-8322). You can also check online at BC assessment where you can find your own BC assessment as well as compare to your neighbours or other homes in the area.

An interesting fact is   Over 98 per cent of property owners accept their property assessment without proceeding  to a formal, independent review of their assessment. that over 98 per cent of property owners accept their property assessment without proceeding to a formal, independent review of their assessment.

For more information on your BC assessment and how to file a complaint visit the following link:

http://www.bcassessment.ca/Pages/default.aspx

I wrote about this last January and shared some advice I had received from a colleague that used to work for BC assessments, if you are concerned about your tax assessment it might be worth a read:

BC tax assessments blog January 2012 

Just remember if you are considering an appeal you must file your appeal by January 31st, 2013.Over 98 per cent of property owners accept their property assessment without proceeding to a formal, independent review of their assessment.Over 98 per cent of property owners accept their property assessment without proceeding to a formal, independent review of their assessment.

A BIG Thanks to my cousin for today's blog idea....

One of my all time favourite movies was "Pay It Forward" with Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment and Helen Hunt which came out in 2000.

As I had a few minutes this afternoon to see what people were up to on facebook my cousin wrote about Paying-It-Forward....I loved his idea and figured I would join in on the fun. I've always been a big believer in Paying-It-Forward and thought what better way to start off 2013.

The 1st - 5 people to comment on my cousin's Facebook status will receive something special (a book, a meal, a gift of some sort) and unexpected at some point in 2013. He's calling it 2013 Creative Pay-It-Forward, the idea is that it will be a surprise with no warning and the only catch is that those 5 people must make the same offer in their Facebook status. 

So here is our offer the 1st 5 people to comment on our facebook business page will receive something special from us...sometime throughout the year, out of the blue. In order to participate if we don't already know you personally then we are going to need you to send us a message with your contact details: name, address, email and phone number. Then show us that you have indeed shared the same post on your wall.

Last year a fellow colleague in Vancouver did something similar except he called it Karma week where he did 7 random acts of kindness to total strangers for 7 days straight. Knowing him I don't imagine he only did those 7 days, I am sure he practices that throughout the year. Ian planned on making this an annual event. 

To read last year's blog click the following link:

Karma Week by Ian Watt