Your Home, Your Investment: Low Maintenance Gardening

Your Home, Your Investment: Low Maintenance Gardening

So you want a nice garden or yard where you can relax and entertain your family and friends but you don’t want to be a slave to keeping it looking up.  While there is no such thing as a no maintenance garden, you can look at a low maintenance landscaping plan that requires minimal effort to maintain. 

What is low maintenance landscaping?

A low maintenance landscape reduces the amount and frequency gardening activities.  The type and number of features and plants will determine the amount and frequency of watering, weeding, pruning, deadheading and dividing you will need to invest. The best plan will move the frequency of maintenance activities from daily or weekly to monthly or seasonally. As you plan a low maintenance garden, you will want to consider landscaping design features, plant selection and ongoing maintenance requirements. 

Landscaping Design Features

What design features will reduce the gardening activities I need to do weekly or daily?  As you plan and continuously improve your garden, consider the following design features:

1)   Outdoor Living Areas:  Add outdoor living areas such as patios and porches, to reduce the amount of green space that needs to be maintained.  It is critical that patios and walkways be built on a solid foundation and in a proper manner.  Otherwise, you will have unwanted weeds and ultimately increase your maintenance.

2)   Plant Areas/Flowerbeds: Establish plant areas or flowerbeds with edging, landscape fabric and mulch or river stone.  Avoid over-planting flowerbeds.  Plan for the mature width and height of plants. Over-crowding can negatively impact the appearance of your garden.

3)   Ground Cover:  Do not overlook a grass lawn as part of your design as ground cover.  It takes a lot of plants to cover the same space as a grass lawn. Gardens without grasses tend to be warmer. 

Plant Selection

As you establish your garden, it will be important to understand the lot conditions and select plants are compatible with those conditions and easy to maintain. Study the information on specific plants online or on labels attached to plants. Consider the following points.

1)   Light and Soil Conditions: Consider what areas are shady, sunny or partially shady or sunny and select plants accordingly. Know whether your soil is sandy or clay-like and select plants accordingly. 

2)   Drought-Resistant Plants: Select drought-resistant plants to reduce the need to water.  Here are some to consider: Grasses, Marigolds, Portulaca, Sedum, Cricks & Hens, Daylilies, Lavender, etc.  Please note that new plants will require more water until they are established. 

3)   Slow-Growing Foundation Plants: Select slow-growing foundation plants to reduce the need to prune and trim plants.  Limit pruning to 1-2 times per year.  Here are some plants to consider: Green Mountain Boxwood, Peonies, Draft Norway Spruce, Blue Fescue Grass, etc.

4)   Perennials: Select more perennials than annuals.  Perennials are planted once and come back year after year.  Perennials, once established, will have roots deep into the soil, reducing the need to water and the need to deadhead. Annuals need to be planted each year and will require more watering. 

Ongoing Maintenance Requirements 

Once you have designed your garden to fit your taste and burden level, you will want to look at preventative maintenance as a key part of your plan.  Here are some suggestions to help make the garden maintenance so much easier.

1)   Interlocking Stone: Apply polymer sand to the crevices of interlocking patios and walkway blocks to reduce the growth of weeds. 

2)   Flowerbed Mulch or Stone:  Replenish flowerbed mulch or stone annually, as needed.  This will prevent the growth of weeds and improve moisture retention of the soil.

3)   Pruning:  Plan to prune or trim your slow-growing foundation plants in the spring and/or fall according to their specific care. 

4)   Weeds and Moss:  Spray weeds and moss with vinegar.  This will not only look after the menace but also prevent future issues.

5)   Gardening Tools: Invest in the proper gardening tools to do the minimal work you need to do.  There is an L-shaped weeding tool you could not live without.

 Happy Gardening!

David Gharat

www.housecondopro.com

Your Home, Your Investment: Toronto's Unwanted Guest

Your Home, Your Investment: Toronto's Unwanted Guest

What threat causes more damage than tornadoes; hailstorms, windstorms, and hurricanes combined and is not covered by home insurance? It’s Toronto’s Unwanted Guest: Termites.

What are termites and when did they arrive in Toronto?

Termites are small insects that eat wood.  This leaves Toronto homes constructed from wood vulnerable to the damage termites can create if left untreated.   The damage can range from triggering the need for minor repairs to causing significant structural damage. 

Termites are usually found where there is wood to soil contact in sheds or garages, in damp basements and in badly constructed crawlspaces. Termites will not eat concrete, stone, varnish or paint. Termites live in colonies and do not like open air so they can be difficult to spot. To survive, they hide in mud tunnels, wood or soil and build their nests in the ground.

Termites were first found on Cherry Street in 1938, likely coming from the US.  From there, termites have spread into several of Toronto’s neighbourhoods, mostly south of Bloor/Danforth Avenues at this point.

What should homeowners know about termites?

Homeowners should be aware that damage caused by termites is NOT covered by most home insurance policies, so homeowners need to detect, treat and prevent termite infestations. Once you know termites are near your home, the sooner you act the better.

How can termites be detected?

Getting a professional termite inspection is the best way to detect a termite infestation.   Working from the ground up anywhere wood contacts soil, inspect for the following signs inside and outside of your home:

·      Mud tubes that are brown and clay-like may appear on walls.

·      Termite droppings that look like sawdust piles may appear on the floors near a site.

·      Damage may occur such as peeling paint, rotting wood and sagging floors.

·      After shining a flashlight or banging on a wall, termites themselves may appear.

How are termites treated?

Professional treatment of a termite infestation is recommended. Treatment generally involves safe, odour-free pesticides being sprayed and injected 4 feet into the soil along all exterior walls, the foundation walls and the interior basement floors and walls as well as outside property.  Post treatment, you can buy a warranty that can usually be transferred to any future owners. These warranties typically allow for additional treatments, as needed, and also assert that the infestation has been managed.

How is a termite infestation prevented?

After the initial treatment, you will want to look at preventing another infestation.  You will want to assess your home and property to identify all areas, big or small, where wood contacts soil. If you have a wood structure that has contact with soil, you will want to place concrete or stone between the structure and the soil.  Any cracks in concrete foundations should be repaired as termites can enter your home in this way.  These home renovations can go a long way in preventing future problems.

What should potential buyers and investors know about termites?

If you are considering buying a home in a termite-affected area, you should consider doing a termite inspection prior to making an offer. Additionally, if the home has untreated termite damage or has been treated for termites, the seller and the selling real estate agent should disclose this fact.  It may not eliminate the home from your list but it is important to be aware of the situation and take into account all factors during the negotiation phase of your purchase.

So remember to treat and prevent unwanted guests, act sooner rather than later and never have any wood contact with soil! Good Luck!

David Gharat

www.housecondopro.com

Summer in Toronto: Sensational Strawberry Shortcake!

Summer in Toronto:  Sensational Strawberry Shortcake!

What is there not to love about Strawberry Shortcake?  During summer in Toronto, we indulge in a perfectly balanced sweet but not too sweet combination of fresh, red strawberries, sweet whipped heavy cream and light and flaky shortcake. It is red and white, the colours of the Canadian flag. 

This dessert evokes memories in me.  When I taste the cream it takes me back to memories of my first home: India.  I fondly remember drinking fresh cream on my grandfather’s farm near Alibag, a coastal town south of Mumbai in the Raigad district.  When I taste the cream, I think of him and the trips my family made when I was young.  The strawberries trigger memories of summer in my second home: Canada. It brings back the fun of trips to U-Picks across Southern Ontario and the start of the Canadian summer on sunny June days. 

I am told recipes for shortcake either Team Biscuit or Team Cake.  Here is the recipe from The Canadian Living Cookbook we use every time we enjoy this delightful summer dessert!

Classic Shortcake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp      granulated sugar

1 tbsp      baking powder

½ tsp       baking soda

¼ tsp       salt

½ cup       cold butter, cubed

½ cup       sour cream

¼ cup       milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Cut in butter finely.  Combine sour cream and milk, add to dry ingredients all at once, stirring with a fork to make a slightly sticky dough.

Gather into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface, knead gently 8 times until smooth.  Roll or pat out as an 8-inch round about ¾ inch thick or cut into 6 individual rounds with a 3-inch cutter.  Place on a baking sheet.  Brush tops lightly with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in 425-degree oven for 20-25 for minutes for large shortcake or 15-20 minutes for individual shortcakes or until baked through in center and golden brown.

To serve, split in half while warm.  Spoon lightly-sweetened strawberries over bottom half .  

Top with whipped cream and then top with other half.  

Top with whipped cream and more fruit.  Makes 6 servings.

Summer in Toronto.  Enjoy!
www.housecondopro.com

Install Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors: Be Prepared and Be Safe!

Do you have the proper number of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home to protect your family?  This question became a priority at our home when the carbon monoxide detectors sounded on a Sunday morning.  Wow! Are those things ever loud! After some frazzled nerves, a 911 call and a visit from Toronto’s finest firefighters, we been reminded about the importance of these detectors and learned more about the requirements.

How many smoke detectors do you need and where should they be placed?  Smoke detectors sense smoke from typically a fire.  Ionization sensing smoke detectors will even detect smolders from the beginning of a fire.  We have even had a smoke detector detect a leak in our roof but that is another story entirely! 

Every home in Ontario must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas. As smoke rises, smoke detectors should be installed on the ceiling or, if necessary with a slopped ceiling, on the top 1 foot of the wall.  Also, avoiding installing smoke detectors near the kitchen or bathroom where smoke or steam can trigger a false alarm. Are you all set from a smoke detector perspective?

How many carbon monoxide detectors do you need and where should they be placed? A carbon monoxide detector is a device that detects carbon monoxide gas in order to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.  Carbon monoxide is a colourless, tasteless and odorless gas.  Carbon monoxide exposure at certain levels and lengths can lead to deadly poisoning.  Initial symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches and stomach sickness. As you sleep, you would not be aware of these symptoms. It is known as the “silent killer” as it is undetectable without technology.  Consequently, it is important to have fully functioning detectors installed.

In Ontario, carbon monoxide detectors must be installed outside bedrooms on each level where you sleep.  Having one carbon monoxide detector in a furnace room is not sufficient to wake people in the night.  Is your household protected from the “silent killer”?

Once you have your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed, how do you maintain them?  There are five key steps to maintaining your detectors:

1. Test the units and know how they work. 
2. Replace the batteries at least once a year, less frequently for lithium batteries than can last the lifetime of the alarm.
3. Replace units every 10 years, sooner if it isn’t working. 
4. Regularly dust or vacuum the units. 
5. Keep the unit free of paint, stickers, or other decorations that may prevent it from working properly.

What do you do should an alarm sound?

First, have a fire escape plan that you practice.  Identify two ways out of each room and an outdoor meeting point away from the home. In the case of a fire, once you are out of the house, call 911. For carbon monoxide alarms, if you are not feeling ill first check the battery.  If you are feeling ill and the battery is fine, leave the home and from your meeting point, call 911.  Although you want to avoid false alarms, do not hesitate to contact emergency services. Better safe than sorry.

Be prepared and Be Safe.
David Gharat www.housecondopro.com

Cleaning Your Eaves trough

Now that the weather is warm, there are a few things you should do to maintain your home.  Cleaning your eaves troughs is one important task.  With the rain we have seen this spring, this is even more important.

What is eaves trough? Eavestroph is the gutter that is fixed underneath your roof. As rainwater falls, it is collected in the gutters from your roof and is drained from the gutters to the ground through downspouts.  To best protect your home’s foundation, it is best that your downspouts be disconnected.   If your downspouts are connected to your drainage system, you should have them disconnected.  Over several months, debris such as leaves and twigs will accumulate in the eaves troughs.  As this builds up in the gutter or downspouts, it will prevent proper drainage and will need to be cleaned out.  The amount of debris depends on how many deciduous trees surround your home. 

How do I clean my eaves troughs?  Cleaning eaves trough for single-storey houses is fairly easy.  If you clean them regularly in the fall and in the spring, each cleaning will be easier. To get started you will need some simple tools.  You will need a sturdy ladder, heavy-duty work gloves, a garden trowel, two buckets, a yard waste bag and a garden hose. 

There are 3 steps:

1) Setup your ladder with 2 buckets, one for your tools and one in which to collect debris.  Remember to never use the top two steps on the ladder and to not over-reach when on a ladder,

2) Remove debris from the eaves troughs and downspouts using your trowel into your debris bucket,

3) Pass water through the eaves troughs using a hose to clean remaining debris and make sure your downspouts are properly draining.  

To make completing the job easier, you may want to look at some eaves troughs or gutter cleaning tools.  You can get gutter extensions for a leaf blower or for a water pressure to help with job.  You can also find special gutter cleaning trowels. 

If you are uncomfortable climbing ladders and your home has more than a single-storey, it may be in your best interest to hire this cleaning out at a cost of approximately $100-200, depending on the size of your home.  

David Gharat www.housecondopro.com

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Best Season To Sell/List Home??

Best season to Sell-List your home

A home is a valuable asset. Unlike depreciating assets, real estate is an appreciating asset. This means that its value increases overtime. In some cases, the increase in value may be phenomenal. Most home owners buy their homes for the long haul. However, most homeowners do sell their home at some point. Usually it is to upgrade to a bigger home. As a home is a big ticket investment in the first place, ideally a homeowner should get the best possible price for their home. One of the tips to get the best price for a house is to list it at the ‘right time’. As uncanny as it may sound, there really are specific seasons or periods when the real estate market picks up. So what is the best season to list or sell a house? Sources that one can respect and trust point to spring and fall as the best seasons for listing or selling homes.

Spring and Fall - Best time to list property

Toronto real estate market always looks to peak during the spring season. According to much research, May is the peak month for selling homes. Fall is also a favorable period to list a property. So for homeowners who are decided on selling their property, the best time to list would be in spring followed by fall and then summer. This would ensure that the seller has a better chance of selling the property at the optimum price.

Why Spring and Fall?

For those who are skeptical about there being a right season to sell property, there are some reasonable and logical explanations for the premise. Spring is the season of renewal and change. This also affects buyer sentiments and behavior. For pragmatic buyers, spring makes perfect sense to move into a new house because it is just before summer holidays. This means that for families with children, there will not be a hassle of switching schools mid-term.

Spring and fall are also comfortable for moving purposes as the weather is quite fine in Toronto at this time. Winter is too cold for moving and setting up a new home. Summer is too hot and uncomfortable. Spring and fall are perfect seasons for moving and setting up a new home.

Another reason why spring is a favorable time for buying a house is that it is a great time to show off a new home to its best advantage. Winter too gloomy and summer is too hot. In spring, everything is in full bloom from the grass to the flowers. The new home looks better and house warming parties are more pleasurable.

All said and done - List when the time is right

Irrespective of spring being the best time to list a property, it may not be the best time for everyone. So sometimes a homeowner has to decide when to list based upon factors that may be peculiar to them. For instance, for some home owners, the best time to list a property may be in winter. This may be so because they may want to buy another property, for which the sale proceeds will come in handy. So all said and done, listing should be done when the time is right.

Cheers

David Gharat

RE/MAX

416-729-2333

www.housecondopro.com

www.findhomeevaluation.com

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Federal Government all set to spend $500000 to collect Data about Properties bought By Foreign Buyers

Ottawa has decided on spending more than $500,000 for the purpose of deciphering the role of foreign home buyers in the housing market of the country. Spending's in the federal budget are going to Statistics Canada, for the purpose of helping develop methods for getting all the data on the home purchases by foreign buyers.

The government also said that a very comprehensive and reliable information for the total number of homes that were sold to the foreign buyers do not exist as of now. The sole plan involves collaborating with all the provinces which will include British Columbia that recently announced all home buyers disclose if they are permanent resident or citizen of Canada or are from any other country.

Most of the experts believe that Vancouver housing market has seen a lot of change in recent times because it’s been on the radar of many wealthy foreign buyers. The kind of growth in the prices of houses has pushed the price of all the detached houses that are over $1 million in the city of Vancouver and has raised the question about sustainability and affordability of the market. 

This has been the first time in the history such a high funding has been provided just to collect all the data about the international investment in the Canadian Real Estate. Government has set all the rules clear as they are only looking for the data whose real estate amount is less than the down payment that we find on the average detached house in Vancouver. It is believed that in spite a very expensive housing market, steady investments are coming in from the foreign buyers.

Many experts believe that the funding which has been provided is a very welcome call as it would provide sufficient data for the economists to analyse the scenario.  Many are stating this as a welcome change to address the issue which has seen a lot of uproar in the country about having a coupled economy and immigration system. 

Cheers

David Gharat (Dedication-Trust-Value)
Sales Representative
RE/MAX All-Stars Realty Inc. Brokerage

Most Productive Agents In Canada
Cell: 416-729-2333

off: 416-265-2000

email: david@dygna.com

website: www.housecondopro.com

website: www.alltorontohomesforsale.com

website: www.torontogtahomesforsale.com

website: www.davidgharathomes.com

website: www.findhomeevaluation.com

David Gharat (RE/MAX) For Sale 3 Bedroom/2 Bathroom- Bathurst/Centre St

For Sale - Investors-Buyers (Bathurst/Centre St) 3 Bedroom/2 Bathrooms

Location-Location (Bathurst / Centre St) 

For Sale 3 Bed/2 Baths Purchase To Live-In (Child Safe) Or Rent Out Income (Investment) 

Gorgeous Home In Quiet-High Demand-Safest Neighborhood, Fully Finished Basement Rec Room 
Beautiful Large Backyard W/Shade Trees 
Granite Counter Top (2013), Sinks/Faucets (2013), 
Entire Washroom Refurbished (2013), Newer Fans/Fixtures In Kitchen (2013), Near Schools, 
Short Walk To Promenade Mall, Public Transport.
Pdr Shows (Link).
See It First.
Call: David Gharat (RE/MAX All Stars Realty, Inc.)
Direct: 416-729-2333
david@dygna.com