The prospect of mold growing in our homes is enough to send many of us on a mission to seek and destroy, often spending a fortune on remediation, not to mention the mental and physical distress it inflicts.

Before we hire the first available mold removal company, it’s important to take stock, calm down and evaluate your situation.

Likely the biggest concern with mold inside your home is how it affects the quality of air. Mold releases chemicals and spores that can be damaging to certain people. Health Canada says mold can cause “allergic reactions such as asthma or allergic rhinitis, non-allergic reactions such as headaches, and other symptoms [including] lung and breathing infections.”

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), you need to pay attention to the amount of mold your home contains, how long it’s been there and the health of those living in your house. Pregnant women, children, the elderly and those who suffer from respiratory ailments or a weakened immune system are at higher risk.

Moisture and nutrients cause mold growth. It’s fairly clever and can grow on everyday building materials such as wood and drywall. Mold can also grow behind wallpaper; in areas where water may have seeped, like wall cavities, basement subfloors, crawl spaces, and so on; under wall-to-wall carpeting and in areas near to mold that has been discovered before.

Continued mold growth means that there is too much moisture in the home. In Canada, basements, crawl spaces, bathrooms and cold exterior walls are where most mold growth is found.

According to the CMHC, small amounts of mold in your home are relatively easy to treat. Simply use warm water and an unscented dishwashing detergent. And do not use bleach, even though it is commonly believed to help in mold clean-ups. The CMHC says bleach does not prevent mold from coming back and it produces harmful fumes so it’s best to avoid. Be sure to wear protective items such as rubber gloves, goggles and a mask. The CMHC recommends leaving large areas of mold (1 m x 3 m or a standard piece of 4 ft. x 8 ft. plywood) to professionals to cleanup.

Stains and discolouration are often signs of mold. Mold growth usually looks fuzzy or powdery and is very often light green to brown or black in colour. It can also be white, red, orange, yellow, blue or violet. The other way to detect it is through scent. A musty smell often means mold.

How to prevent mold and moisture indoors?

• Keep your house dry
• Prevent and repair leaks
• Control moisture that is produced within your house
• Use bathroom fans
• Use range hood fans
• Store firewood outside
• Regularly check your house for signs of mold
• Act quickly to keep small problems from getting bigger

For more information go to https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/maintaining-and-managing/managing-first-nation-properties/maintenance-solutions/mould-in-housing

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.

Buying a home with even a wee bit of remorse is about as certain as death and taxes. It happens to us all unless, of course, you have money to burn and you acquire homes like the rest of us buy coffee.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case for most people. We invariably suffer some level of doubt, fear and worry once we’ve signed on the dotted line. Is the house too big or small for our needs? Did we pay too much? Is something major wrong with it? Will we get along with the neighbours? Will the house be a happy home? What if we see something we like better?

Our anxieties and fears emanate from the fact that purchasing a house is a large and life-changing event. But there are ways to calm your concerns.

Before you buy do your homework. Ensure that the property and neighbourhood meet your needs. Hire the right realtor. Ask questions and don’t be afraid to air your concerns with your agent. Determine your price and stick to it. Think about the home’s resale value.

So let’s say you’ve done all that and now you’re simply waiting till you get possession. And still buyer’s remorse haunts you. Put down the Xanax because there are healthier ways to deal with your angst. Here are some suggestions:

Check Your List

Before setting out to purchase your home you probably made up a list, either in your mind or on paper, of wants and needs. Review this list now. How does your house stack up? What attributes made you select this home? Did finding this home take a lot of showings? It’s important that you analyze the facts as this may help you discover why you’re now feeling remorseful. Perhaps you’d feel this way regardless of the house.

Stop Talking About It

Initially you were pumped so you told anyone who’d listen and that, of course, means friends, family and neighbours. But often your closest allies will be your harshest critics, questioning how much you paid for the house or the neighbourhood you selected or even the style of home you picked. You’re best to stop telling people about the house. And if you can, tune out the questions and criticism that comes your way.

At the same time, you may have moved to a certain neighbourhood because it’s near family and good friends. Seek out those individuals who will support and encourage your decision. Ask them to remind you about the positive things you had to say just after buying the house.

Freeze Further House Hunting

Do this immediately. This will only cause you more self-doubt and pain.

Your Realtor Can Help

It’s normal for questions, doubts and fears to crop up that you don’t have the answers to. Unanswered questions, especially for first-time home buyers, can turn a mole hill into a mountain, prompting more worry and anxiety. Your realtor can help ease your panic. Remember, it’s their job to help you through the anxiety-provoking process of buying a home.

Make It Your Own

Once you’re in the house, put your own stamp on it by painting, renovating and decorating in your inimitable style. Your remorse is more likely to fade after you’ve transformed your new home in colours and ways that suit only you.

Don’t Obsess

The stress of purchasing a home that you now regret can be all-encompassing. Try to remember that life is more than your house. Maintain your exercise and fitness routines, your time with friends and family, your leisure activities. Hang out with the kids and remember that a move affects them too. How are your children doing? Do they like their new school? Take time to travel or get away for a weekend. Don’t let the house overwhelm you.

As homeowners or wannabe homeowners, we’re always looking at ways to save a few dollars here and there.

Did you know the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) offers up to 25 per cent back on the CMHC mortgage loan insurance premium when you purchase a green home or make energy-saving improvements to an already existing home?

And that’s a good thing because not only do you save on your insurance but you also end up saving in the long run with lower energy bills. In Canada, running our homes is an expensive proposition, accounting for more than 16 per cent of the total energy consumed. Not only are energy-efficient homes comfier and healthier, they also serve to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of running your home. Depending on the level of energy efficiency achieved, you could be entitled to a premium refund of either 15 or 25 per cent.

Most new homes qualify for the top refund as they’re generally built under a CMHC-eligible, green building standard. All other homes are assessed using the NRCan EnerGuide Rating System (ERS).

If you are purchasing a condo know that units built to the LEED Canada New Construction standard automatically qualify for a 15 per cent refund. If the building is designed to be either 20 per cent more energy efficient than compliance with the applicable building code, you may be eligible for a 15 per cent refund. If the building is 40 per cent more efficient, you could get a 25 per cent refund.

If you decide to buy and renovate your home, it must be assessed by a Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) qualified energy advisor prior to and after your green home improvements are made. The partial premium refund is based on the level of energy efficiency achieved.

Applications must be submitted within 24 months of the closing date of the mortgage and the supporting energy efficiency documentation must be no more than five years old. NRCan is introducing updates to the EnerGuide rating scale.

For details about the program, including a list of eligible building standards and specifics on the required EnerGuide rating, check out CMHC’s website at www.cmhc.ca/greenhome.

Source: www.cmhc.ca