Sight For Sore Eyes Optical is having their 2nd annual Celebration. If you are in need of new glasses stop by on April 9th from 11am-5pm at 1187 Johnston Rd. Enjoy some appies and refreshments while you browse their new spring 2011 collection. Save 25% off selected styles of frames and sunglasses. You will not be disappointed they not only have trendy styles to choose from but great service to help you find what you are looking for! Rita Herman is the owner of Sight For Sore Eyes and a fabulous lady...she helped every member of my family find the right glasses to suit their style. I have 2 teenage girls and most parents know how hard it can be to get their kids to where glasses of any kind. My girls where them with pride...thanks to Rita! If you haven't checked out her store, stop by Sight For Sore Eyes Optical at five corners in White Rock. Take a peak at my video blogs for a little bit about Rita and her shop!

For all the movie lovers out there, Netflix Canada just got better. Netflix only recently came to Canada and I know many people that subscribed to their service. Then not long after cancelled because most of the movies were older outdated movies and not even the box office hits. Netflix made a deal with Paramount and will finally offer new movies and will soon be offering newer tv series.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20110330/netflix-tv-110330/

Intro - A little about me ( Kara Berman)

A quick hello to the cyber world. This video is a little info about myself (Kara Berman) and what it is that I do. One thing I forgot to mention is generally working with a buyers agent you don't pay a commission, it usually comes from the seller. Important to know if you are on the fence about using a realtor this may help aid in your choice.

I hope you enjoy the video and I plan on making more with Real Estate related topics.

So please feel free to send topic ideas or questions to kberman@homelifebc.com and remember to visit our website https://www.balancerealestategroup.com/


Cheers!


Kara

Looks like BC residents will be at the polls more than once this year with our upcoming referendum on the HST and possibly a provincial election, now we will be going to the polls for a federal election. It's definitely going to be an interesting year in politics for Canadians.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/960565--conservatives-government-falls-in-non-confidence-vote?bn=1

  Spring has sprung and I know this because I can't stop sneezing! If you are looking for fun things to do check out these two sites


http://www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/things_to_do/spring_in_vancouver
http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2011/03/18/top-10-things-to-do-for-spring-break-in-vancouver/


Great ideas for families, couples or even groups of friends. Check it out and enjoy! - Kara

It was about time that Surrey put in legislation allowing secondary suites. With the price of homes today most buyers cannot afford a larger home without the help of renters to pay their mortgage. Since implemented on Dec 13, 2010 it seems they have only been selectively targeting homes with multiple suites. Now it sounds like Surrey will be gradually cracking down on all suites not yet brought up to code by the end of April, as they hire a new bylaw clerk and a couple new bylaw officers. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for this process to take affect.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/peacearchnews/news/118439854.html

If you are thinking of purchasing a home you have got a great selection of inventory to choose from. The pricing is reasonable and being out in the field I get to see what's on the market first hand, I can honestly say there are some really nice places at affordable prices from Abbotsford to Coquitlam and everything in between. You can contact Bettina or Myself if you would like more information on homes in your area or the area you are looking to move to.  Enjoy the article. - Kara


http://www.fvreb.bc.ca/blog/index.php/2011/02/02/increase-in-listings-advantageous-for-fraser-valley-buyers

I came across this excellent article about the odours in ones home when trying to sell. I've shown many houses that instantly put off my buyers the second they entered the home and were greeted by an unpleasant odour. 

Most people think they keep a fairly clean home. I know myself I feel my home is relatively clean. But whenever I steam clean my carpets, it's amazing to see what gets drawn out of them. No matter how many times you clean your carpets you will find you can extract a fair amount of what seems like an endless amount of dust and dirt.

With that in mind you can imagine what odours can be hard to get out of your home. Odours can set in to not only the carpeting and draperies, but even the walls, cupboards and vents. Even the nicest of homes can offend people if their first impression is hindered by unpleasant odours.

That is why it is important to hire a professional that will help you in preparing your home for sale. It is our job to let you know what our first impression is and help you to make any changes that might be necessary. Sometimes all it takes is to have your carpets cleaned and walls painted. Other times you may need to hire professionals to come in and shock the air quality within the home. Worse case scenario, you may have to do all of the above and perhaps remove any carpeting or draperies in order to eliminate the unpleasant odour. When you are looking at selling your biggest asset a few thousand dollars spent may mean saving you the loss of tens of thousands when negotiating with interested buyers. The last thing you would want is to have to knock the price of your home down because of something you could have avoided, or worse yet have people walk away uninterested from the home because they cannot see past the smell!

I came across this article this morning and it was one of those that immediately caught my eye. When my daughter was born we didn't even have a computer (not that they weren't around we just couldn't afford one) and now people are buying domain names and saving email accounts for their kids. It will be interesting to see what transpires over the next 15-20 yrs and whether those kids will even make use of such technology. Or, if the domain names and email accounts that their parents are reserving for them will be like an LP or cassette is to our generation....

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/newsfeatures/article/951701--a-domain-name-for-baby

It's incredible what a little bit of kindness and customer service will do to brighten ones day!

Just a reminder that you have 5 days left to contribute to your RRSP's for the 2010 taxation year. You have until the end of business day on March 1, 2011. Many banking institutions are staying open later to help you make your RRSP contributions.