As humans, we devote a large chunk of time, money and energy on food.

From the money we earn to buy groceries, to planning menus, shopping, preparing, cooking and eating, food is an all-encompassing portion of our lives. And as such, it’s incumbent on home cooks to look for more eco friendly ways of feeding your family. Let’s explore some options:

Tools & Equipment:

• Did you know it’s best to cover your pots and pans when cooking? That simple step adds up to less cooking time which conserves energy. It also means less clean-up with water as spattering is reduced.
• Try to grill outdoors as much as possible. This reduces indoor gas or electric usage as your food is cooked by propane gas or charcoal. With this method, you get the added bonus of not heating up your home on hot days and needing to turn up the air conditioning.
• Play it smart with foil. Use it to line baking dishes as that will help you with clean-up, meaning you will use less water. Foil can be recycled, too. Simply wash off and use to wrap leftovers.
• Be fridge friendly. These energy guzzlers consume the most in your kitchen so don’t buy ones that come with ice makers and water dispensers as that will only hike hydro consumption. Also if your fridge has exposed coils in the back try to vacuum them twice yearly as that will help the appliance run more efficiently.
• Run your dishwasher in the evening or early morning hours to save energy. Make sure it’s full and use biogradable soap. Let your dishes air dry as opposed to heat dry.

Produce & Groceries:

• Try to buy local as much as possible. Not only does this support local growers, but you are also getting food at its peak flavour and sparing the planet by preventing oil-fuelled trucks, planes and trains from delivering food from afar.
• Look for organic products. Organic farming practices do not depend on chemicals. Organic foods not only taste better but provide you with more nutrients than food from factory or commercial farms.
• Don’t dismiss leftovers. These kitchen miracles are often tastier the next day or a whole new dish once you transform Tuesday’s leftover meatloaf into a pasta dish for Wednesday. Think of the money, time and energy you will save with a little pre-planning. Keep kitchen scraps to make soup stock or toss them in your composter.
• Try cooking with smaller portions. Cutting meats and vegetables into smaller chunks allows your food to cook much faster which requires less energy.

Sources: www.fluxmagazine.com, www.earthbuddies.net, www.howstuffworks.com

As much as humans say they love animals, and house pets in particular, they probably don’t love yours and the accompanying clutter, damage and dirt our pets naturally create.

That’s why it’s so important when selling your home to try to remove all signs of animals in the home. Potential buyers don’t want to see scratched up flooring or mounds of dog poo in the yard. They want to envision themselves living there and those unsightly reminders get in the way.

Here are a few suggestions you might want to try when trying to sell your animal-friendly home:

Relocate your critter 

This may be one of the most difficult ideas but it will likely be the most effective. If you have family members or friends who have taken Fluffy previously, perhaps you could call on them again to look after your pet.  This will make the sale of your home much easier as keeping it clean will be a breeze with your pets out of the way.

Go for a walk with your pet 

Removing you, your pets and the rest of your household members during a showing and/or open house is ideal. While you’re at it be sure to clean up all signs of pet ownership. That means make sure the yard is free of animal waste, clean and cover kitty litter boxes, pickup pet toys that are strewn around your home and yard and remove food and water bowls.

Try to avoid moving pets outdoors during showings and open houses. Some buyers want to explore the outdoors as closely as the indoors so banishing your pets to the yard can be a hindrance. With people coming and going from your yard, there’s also a risk your pet might get out. Don’t forget that all pets pose a potential liability hazard with the possibility of biting and scratching.

If finding a home outside of their home is impossible during the showing, try to keep your animals restrained to a cage or container of some kind.

Spit & polish 

This can mean a little or a lot. Did your Doberman chew your wainscoting? Or maybe he liked to pee on a certain corner of carpet? Any which way, damage done to walls, floors, carpets, lawns and even furniture should be repaired before you even think of letting potential buyers in your home.

When it comes to pet smells, only a really devoted animal owner can tolerate the odors that accompany their beloved pets. Get carpets cleaned and treated professionally for urine odors and for stains. If that cannot be done, you may need to replace the carpet or rug.

Yard clean-up 

Just as you’ve done a comprehensive clean inside your home, you need to do the same outside. Pick up any and all mess from the yard that relates to your animals. You will also want to replace damaged sod or fill holes that have been dug.

Sources: www.maxrealestateexposure.com,

October and November may feel like something of a break before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. This period is a good time to take stock of our homes, our properties and whether or not our endeavours are environmentally kind to the planet.

Here’s a checklist of a few fall maintenance items that will add some green not just to your wallet but also add to your sense of pride about doing the right thing.

The furnace

These heat sources get a big workout in Canada so be kind to them by cleaning — yes cleaning — them regularly. Furnaces are often stored away in a dark and dingy portion of the basement so they tend to collect dust and dirt. Don’t let that accumulate as a build-up of grime can affect its performance or worse, cause a fire. Clean and replace your furnace filters. Consider having yours serviced by a heating professional or if you’re so inclined do it yourself. Online would be a good source to see how it’s done.

Turn down the heat 

Water heaters have a default setting of 140 degrees, a temperature that can easily scald and burn energy unnecessarily. Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees. To save more consider purchasing a blanket for your water heater. While you’re at it, throw on a sweater and turn down your furnace, too.

Leave the leaves 

Believe it or not, leaves offer our lawns and gardens many benefits. Collect and place them on flower beds or at the base of trees, shrubs and bushes. The leaves will eventually decompose and their nutrients will be passed on to your vegetation. Also there’s good reason not to toss your leaves and to delay your garden clean-up till spring. Decaying plants and curled leaves provide a home for many insects. Bees, butterflies and many other bugs depend on our garden debris to overwinter. If it helps, think of your yard as a sanctuary for insects, birds, amphibians and animals.

Start composting 

The fall season is a great time to start a compost pile in your yard. Compost helps enrich your soil and reduced the need for water and pesticides. A compost pile can also hold your grass clippings and leaves in addition to food scraps.

Kick your tires 

Since colder temperatures can result in lower tire pressure on your vehicles, be sure to inspect your tire pressure on occasion as outdoor temperatures start declining. The reason? Under inflated tires can result in reduced fuel efficiency for your vehicle.

Farmer’s Market 

Many farmers markets continue into the fall season so be sure to check out their offerings. Remember, when you purchase apples, carrots and potatoes there you are supporting local growers and helping to trim down our collective carbon emissions.

Sources: www.earth911.com, www.eponline.com, www.gerberlife.com, www.greenerideal.com

With each passing year, our technology becomes more and more sophisticated and the same goes for the over-the-top decorations we use to adorn our front doors and lawns during certain observances and holidays.

Halloween is perhaps the most exciting time of year to adorn the outdoors. The assortment of fun and frightening decorations is endless with fake-blood spattered doors, lawns turned to cemeteries and dead bodies or ghosts hanging from trees.

While you may find the notion of frightening folks all very amusing, home buyers may not see it that way at all.  Here are some pointers to help subdue your frightening decor this Halloween:

Don’t over-ghoul it:

The simplicity of planting a few colorful mums and rolling out a carved pumpkin during the Thanksgiving and Halloween season has been replaced by extreme décor. Decorations now comprise 10-feet-tall inflatable ghosts, creepy clowns, dead children and zombies. And that list does not include the blood and gore some homeowners enjoy putting on display for Halloween.

Remember that it may be families with little ones coming to view your home. You don’t want to frighten away kids or adults for that matter. Go ahead and decorate but make it more pleasing as opposed to a hell house kind of vibe.

There’s a very practical reasons to scrap those large inflatable yard decorations as their presence may block the for sale sign on your lawn.

Keep it tasteful:

Try for more neutral and aesthetically pleasing types of décor such as pumpkins, bales of hay, scarecrows and corn stalks. Even an attractive fall wreath or front-door display with pops of fall colours and Halloween themes can be fun and, most importantly, not off-putting.

In keeping it tasteful, you will want to avoid references to blood, death and gore. No nods to your favourite Walking Dead zombies or scary movie and TV clowns. Also, tone down the quantity of decorations you put out.  There’s no need to turn your home into an out-of-control haunted house. Remember, less is more.

Be safe:

Don’t block sidewalks, walkways and stairs with your Halloween décor.  Though pumpkins and potted mums look especially pretty situated to the left or right on each of your front entry steps make sure you have plenty of room to navigate the steps. If it seems too tight move your décor to your porch or at the base of your steps on the lawn.

Light it up:

Now is the time to get to that burnt-out porch light you’ve been meaning to replace. It’s important to illuminate your outside especially around your main entryway since that’s how strangers will be coming into your home. A nicely lighted home is also particularly welcoming and cozy. Remember, you want to invite home buyers in, not scare them away.

Be sure to clean up:

It’s easy to ignore those rotting gourds and pumpkins on your porch. Don’t. The stench may be a big turn off for buyers and you don’t want to draw vermin to your home.

Bette Davis was spot on when she said growing old is not for sissies.

The legendary movie star was, of course, referring to the physical frailties we face as we age. How do we manage to maintain our independence and dignity as our body weakens? How do we look after ourselves and, by extension, the homes in which we live?

Reducing your home’s maintenance is a big trend that is slowly gaining traction as a large segment of Canada’s population ages. In 2012, about 21 per cent of Canadians were over the age of 60. By 2030, that number is projected to rise to about 28.5 per cent. By 2050, 31 per cent — or almost one third of all Canadians — will be seniors.

According to a Health Canada study, most Canadians over 65 live at home, either alone or with a spouse.

Even though our summers are relatively short in Canada, lawn and garden care can become all consuming and that’s why many are turning to artificial turf, the easy-care, non-growing lawn that looks and feels just like the real thing.

Imagine never cutting your grass again. Imagine also its impact on the environment as your water usage is reduced along with the gas emissions from lawn mowers.

Other ways to lower your home’s maintenance:

• Consider roofing your home in metal instead of the usual asphalt shingles. Steel roofs are highly durable, weather and sun resistant and can last as long as 50 years.
• Don’t install wood decks. Use wood composite materials that have the beauty of wood without all the splitting, cracking and rotting that typically goes along with the real deal.
• Laminate floors are much lower maintenance than their wood cousins. And cleaning is a breeze, just sweep or vacuum and wipe them up with water.
• Use quartz for your countertops. It’s stain and scratch resistant and very easy to maintain.
• Clad your home in vinyl siding, an inexpensive, low-maintenance substitute for traditional wood. The material is resistant to water and insects as well.
• While you’re at it, replace wood windows, which rot and warp, with fibreglass. Fibreglass windows are not affected by extreme temperatures and they hold paint really well, too.
• Install an automatic thermostat and automatic lighting. These steps are sure to minimize your work as light bulbs will burn out less thanks to sparing usage. Keeping your thermostat preset means less maintenance on your heating and cooling system.
• Using a timer for lawn and garden irrigation saves you money, time and effort.

It’s difficult to breathe easy if you know your home has asbestos lurking in the attic or basement. But it’s understandable that you might feel anxious knowing your house contains a substance that’s currently thought of as public enemy number one.

Don’t fret or buy into the hype. Vermiculite-containing asbestos has gotten an undeservedly bad rap. It’s true that some Canadian homes have it. It’s true that a mine in Montana is responsible for supplying most of it to North America. But here’s the catch. As long as you don’t touch it, it’s fine.

Vermiculite-containing asbestos will only pose a threat if you are breathing in its fibres. According to Health Canada, as long as asbestos fibres are enclosed or tightly bound in a product such as asbestos siding or floor tiles, there are no significant health risks. However, if
you think otherwise, your level of exposure is what you need to watch.

Look for:
 The concentration of asbestos fibres in the air
 How long you were exposed
 How often
 The size of the asbestos fibres inhaled
 The amount of time since the initial exposure

Commonly found as insulation on basement boilers and pipes and in attics, asbestos was also used in vinyl floor tiles, some glues and linoleum, window caulking, roofing materials, siding material and plaster.

If you learn that your home has asbestos, leave it alone if it’s in good condition. You don’t want to disturb it and cause its fibres to freefall throughout your home. If you find asbestos that is torn or damaged curtail access to that area of your house and keep an eye on its deterioration.
Never try to remove asbestos products yourself. Speak to a trained and qualified asbestos removal or abatement professional. If you are planning to remodel your home and the renovation would disturb the asbestos-containing building material contact a qualified asbestos removal professional first.

The price for laboratory analysis may be worth the peace of mind before any project begins. A quick internet search shows the average cost for an air test is $500.There is plenty of professionals available to choose from.

Typically, an assessment includes a visual inspection of the building for evidence of asbestos, substance samples to identify the type and concentration of asbestos, airborne asbestos analysis to identify asbestos fibres that are in the air and a detailed report on the findings plus a
plan on how to remediate the situation.

For more information visit the Health Canada website 

With more Canadians hitting record levels when it comes to household debt, there’s probably no better time than now to tackle the topic of credit and how you can improve yours.

Credit scores are determined by a complex formula that looks at your income, your debt repayment history, your total approved credit limits, your credit usage levels. The information is crunched into a scoring system that assigns a number of between 300 and 900. This is known as your FICO score. The higher you are on the scale, the less risky you are to a lender. Generally, 680 and higher is good.

Mortgage and credit experts recommend getting a sneak peek at your credit rating yearly or every two years. The main reasons for this are to ensure that the information the credit bureau has is accurate and to make sure you’re not the victim of fraud. Credit rating agencies such as Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada are typically used to determine scores.

Here’s how you can improve your credit score if you’ve been a little negligent paying your credit cards on time:

1. Pay your bills by their due date, even if it’s the minimum amount. Try setting up automatic payments so you don’t miss a date.
2. Keep your spending well below your credit limit. Even if you pay off your balance every month, maxing out your credit looks bad. Get your limit raised if you’re spending is too high.
3. Make sure you use your credit. An active history is what lenders look for so pull out your plastic every so often.
4. Don’t carry tons of credit cards. Most card holders are unaware that your credit is negatively affected every time a company checks your credit rating in order to issue you new credit.
5. Be wary of having too many credit lines. A number of loans may worry some lenders that you’re desperately seeking credit everywhere and that you won’t be able to pay the debt off.
6. People with exceptionally poor credit need to re-establish their credit by getting a secured credit card. These cards are similar to gift cards as you pay the credit company upfront and then make purchases on it until the balance depletes.

There are a number of online resources that assist Canadians with resolving their financial challenges, better managing their cash flow and improving their credit rating. Try BDO’s online quiz to determine your financial health.

1. Are you financially stable? Have you been working in the same industry for one year? Have you been self-employed for more than two years? Do you have some savings for your down payment
2. Ready to shoulder the costs of home ownership? Remember that in addition to mortgage payments there are repairs, maintenance and unexpected costs. Do you have the time and money to devote to home maintenance? What if your furnace dies? How much is a typical water and sewer bill? What do you mean, there’s dry rot in the attic?
3. How much is too much? Add your debt payments to your household expenses. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recommend your monthly housing costs should not exceed 32 per cent of your gross income.
4. Your credit rating. Before getting a mortgage, lenders will want to see how well you’ve paid past debts and bills. If you have no credit rating, start building one. Apply for a credit card with a good interest rate, make small purchases and pay the bill in full when it comes in.
5. Get pre-approved for a mortgage.
6. Understand your terms. It’s a good idea to research mortgage terminology prior to meeting with a mortgage specialist so you understand commonly used words and phrases such as variable rates and amortization. Ask friends or family for help or go online.
7. Find a realtor. Ask trusted friends or family members. The other option is to select a realtor who specializes in a certain area or type of real estate such as first-time home buyers or condos. If that’s not doable, take notice of the for sale signs in the neighbourhood you want to live. Whose name continues to pop up again and again?
8. Figure out where you want to live. Do you want to be near Go Transit, highways, schools or are you looking to live near restaurants and nightlife?
9. What kind of a house are you looking for? Know the difference between a stacked townhouse, a semi-detached house and a duplex. Bone up on the language of buying.
10. Speak to a lawyer. Know your closing costs. Get a quote from two or three lawyers on what fee they charge and what they bill for disbursements. Closing costs can also include land transfer tax, mortgage insurance and a home inspection. Budget 3 to 4 per cent of the purchase price for closing costs.

You’ve likely seen a sign that advertises exclusive real estate offerings in your neighbourhood and wondered how is that type of sale different than any regular old listing?

An exclusive listing means a seller is giving the agent and their brokerage firm exclusive or special access to find a buyer for their home. With this type of arrangement only the listing agent or agents with the brokerage firm can present offers on your home because only the listing agent is entitled to the commission.

When you sign such an agreement with the listing realtor, it usually outlines a time frame in which the realtor has to sell your home. Once the time has passed, the seller can list their home on the Multiple Listings Service (MLS), which is the real estate listing service that is open to all real estate agents.

So why would a seller want an exclusive listing if it sets limits on the number of people who would potentially see your home? Isn’t the point of a sale to advertise the offering far and wide with the hope of generating a high level of interest, which in turn drives up the price of the home?

That depends. While listing your home on the MLS increases the number of eyeballs who will see your home, the point of an exclusive listing for many is staging a more private sale. For a multitude of reasons – divorce, job loss or perhaps sellers who are high profile members of the community – some sellers don’t want it widely broadcasted that they are planning to make a move.

It’s also believed that exclusive listings can elicit better quality offers as often realtors who contract exclusive listings do so because they have select buyers in mind.

Finally, in some cases, commissions on these types of sales are sometimes lower as the real estate professional does not have to pay the MLS fees. This can bode well for both the seller and buyer.

Toronto might be the city of neighbourhoods, but how much of being neighbourly actually goes into your day-to-day routine?

Two women looking over fence

Sure, you wave hello or offer a nod to your next-door neighbour but how much do you really know about them? At the same time, how much do you really want to know about them? Either way, it’s considerate and kind to be there for your neighbours in times of crisis, for minor emergencies or simply to help another human being out.

Remember when folks went out of their way to welcome new families to the neighbourhood? A couple might drop by with a bottle of wine or a plant to greet their newest neighbour or mom might drop off a home-baked apple pie or oatmeal cookies.

While taking a token gift to meet a new neighbour may still occur in some areas, it’s very much a rare occurrence today. Why is that?  Are we too busy? Do we care less than we used to?  Whatever happened to the notion of being neighbourly?

While spending hours over a hot stove may be too much for some, let’s look at ways we can be neighbourly without being too nosy:

• A day or two after the big move pop by to introduce your family and answer any questions they may have. Don’t overstay your welcome.
• Consider hosting a casual dinner party or barbecue with old neighbours and the new ones.
• Given modern concerns around allergies and special diets, if you’re giving consumables, it’s best to give baked goods, a basket of apples or other fruit or specialty coffees and teas.
• If the new neighbours have pets or kids, introduce them to other neighbours with pets or kids. Better yet, offer to let their kids play with yours or watch TV at your house so that they can move in uninterrupted.
• Don’t overstep your bounds. Be nice and not nosy. That’s a fine line to tread but know when their eyeballs bulge that you may have stepped over the line.
• Always greet your new neighbour, even once they’re an old one. Wave, say hi or smile. And remember that even though you may not see eye-to-eye on most things, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be civil. Being neighbourly makes for a friendly, hospitable neighbourhood and those are the best in which to live.