Drainage and Your Home

Logo of the National Association of Realtors. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It seems that the weather has finally turned the corner and we are well into spring and summer.

Have you checked your eave troughs lately? If you haven't you may be setting yourself up for and unwelcome cleaning project.

If you have lots of trees in your area or yard, it is a good habit to at the very least check your eave troughs at least once a year to clear all the dead leaves and debris from the system.

When I bought my present home, one of the the things that drew me to the house was the amount of trees in the yard and area. So, I got out the ladder and did a little "snooping". What I saw amazed me! The system was clogged with leaves. I then cleaned out all the old leaves and the again I was amazed by the amount of dirt that had collected over the years.

I went to the local hardware store and bought a hook shaped water nozzle that is designed to clean out the eaves troughs. With this set up I took to flushing out the gutters. It was more like mud coming out of the downspouts than anything else. And mixed in with the mud was granules off the shingles, normal wear, but never allowed to be flushed away by rain alone. In places even the downspouts were plugged!

I remember a number of years ago when a Building Engineer spoke to a meeting of REALTORS and told us that 99% of basement problems, whether, concrete, wood or block, was due to poor drainage.
During the dryer seasons, we forget to put the downspouts back on after mowing the grass and then when it rains, all that water runs down along the foundation of the house. Not only does the water try to get into the house, the wet soil goes through a freeze thaw cycle over the seasons and can cause untold damage.

Cleaning those gutters is not a hard task but, it is dirty and time consuming. If you want your home to last and hold it's value, this is just part of the normal maintenance of a home. Take the time to do it. You will be surprised by what you take out of the gutters.

Contact: Lachlan (locky) Cummine, REALTOR®,e-PRO® Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate - Signature Service. 3514-50 Avenue, Unit "A" Lloydminster AB T9V 1H5 Office Ph: 780-875-5581 Direct ph: 780-872-2270 email: locky.cummine@bhgress.ca

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A fair price?

So just what is Fair Market Value? Wikipedia defines it as follows:

Fair market value (FMV) is an estimate of the market value of a property, based on what a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured buyer would probably pay to a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured seller in the market. An estimate of fair market value may be founded either on precedent or extrapolation. Fair market value differs from the intrinsic value that an individual may place on the same asset based on their own preferences and circumstances.

     When a REALTOR is called on to do an evaluation of your home, just what price are they going to use?
     From Comparable Sales and making adjustments for various  factors as condition, location. function, etc., the REALTOR will arrive at a price. This is the price that you are presented with.
     As a homeowner, you may think the house worth more money than is quoted. The home owner may be correct in some ways but, emotional attachment does not equate into dollars for the buyer.         
     As the homeowner, you have the right to price the house where ever you like. More often than not though, the house ends up selling very close to what the REALTOR suggested at the outset.
     Your REALTOR may make suggestions on how to maximize the dollar return for you home and these are usually simple items. Replace burned out light bulbs, clean windows and give the house a general good cleaning. Repair damaged paint and if necessary repaint some rooms. Tidy the yard, clean up the flower beds and make the home somebodies dream home.
     First impressions are formed within seconds upon arrival at the property and if the exterior is in need of repair, you can be sure the potential buyer will have a very critical view of the house when they get inside.
     Upon arrival at a house a REALTOR can read the expectation on the faces of the buyers and if the house is not up to "par" with other houses, I have noticed the shoulders droop and the potential buyer has already moved on, in their mind. The REALTOR will try and present the house in the best possible manner but, when the house is in poor condition all around it is hard to get the buyers back to the house you are viewing.
     Your REALTOR will make suggestions, make sure you follow through, you will reap the rewards.


Contact: Lachlan (locky) Cummine, REALTOR®,e-PRO® Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate - Signature Service. 3514-50 Avenue, Unit "A" Lloydminster AB T9V 1H5 Office Ph: 780-875-5581 Direct ph: 780-872-2270 email: locky.cummine@bhgress.ca

Life??

   It seems that as parents we never really appreciate our kids until they have left home and are on their own and I think, "why didn't I tell l them this or that?”

     I have also come to realize that it doesn't matter. You see, they will have to learn on their own and make their own mistakes, just as I have done and many before have done.
     There is no more humbling time than sitting with your wife at the kitchen table going over the cheque book and trying to get life to balance.
     This is where the "little" people shine. They teach us that there are more important things in life that need dealing with. If you are fortunate enough to have grandchildren, you are granted a very precious view of the world. I am one of the privileged few that have grandchildren and what they teach me is that life is simple if we let it be. Some people will want to say, "Ignorance is Bliss", but the little people teach that they don't ignore, they just "roll" with it and move on.
     I was at a funeral this week and the Pastor mentioned a passage in the Bible to the effect, "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

      I received an email this morning with this little tidbit attached to it and thought it worth passing along.

GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats...
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food...
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair...
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandma's lap.
 

     These are the important things...the rest is just...life.

Contact: Lachlan (locky) Cummine, REALTOR®,e-PRO® Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate - Signature Service. 3514-50 Avenue, Unit "A" Lloydminster AB T9V 1H5 Office Ph: 780-875-5581 Direct ph: 780-872-2270 email: locky.cummine@bhgress.ca

What time of day do you go to work?

      Back before dirt, I started work after school, and then at the age of 13 years it was off to Fort McMurray, AB to work for my father putting in street lights on Franklin Avenue.

     We got paid to work from 8 – 5 with a 1 hour lunch break. That meant we were on the job at 8:00am and working. You were on your own time going to work, even if some travel was involved. The crew would load up and head out well before 8:00am to be sure to be on the job at 8:00am. If not, your pay started to get docked!

     I have tried to instill this work ethic into my children and it seems to have worked. I have heard my kids and several occasions express concern about fellow employees not showing up on time for work, and just how frustrating that is. With excuses like. “long line up at Tim’s”, “stuck at the train crossing”. None of these are acceptable in my mind. The train has been across the road about the same time every day; the line up at Tim’s is always long.

     Being in the service industry, I find it very hard to be in the proper frame of mind when I hit the floor running. Some people thrive on it but, I can’t do it. I need time to settle in, answer emails from overnight, update facebook, write my blog, etc.. I will arrive at the office usually between 7:30 and 8:00am, even though the office does not officially open until 9:00am, put the coffee on and  settle in for the day’s work, (I’ve been to Tim’s for my usual caucus meeting at 6:30am)

     Others will ask, “Why so early?” The real estate industry is like a flower, in that it opens slowly for the day and either I can watch it open gracefully or jump in when it is wide open.

     My Father once told me that, “you can be open 24 hours a day and somebody will call in the middle of the night because they know you are there, and you have to achieve a balance.” After 18 years in the business, I think this is my balance. Stop by some morning for a “cup-a-joe” and a laid back start to the day.

Contact: Lachlan (locky) Cummine, REALTOR®,e-PRO® Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate - Signature Service. 3514-50 Avenue, Unit "A" Lloydminster AB T9V 1H5 Office Ph: 780-875-5581 Direct ph: 780-872-2270 email: locky.cummine@bhgress.ca

What is the price of gasoline doing to you?

     Within the limits of my mind I have been studying the price of gasoline. I have come to two conclusions.

     Firstly, the price of oil and refining has no bearing whatsoever on the price of gasoline. The oil companies charge whatever the “traffic” will stand, for a liter of gasoline. There have been government committees that study the price of gasoline. Consumer and Corporate Affairs say they are watching to make sure there is no collusion amongst the gasoline retailers. The trouble is the Good Lord himself cannot tell you what it costs to make a litre of gasoline from the raw product. So how is a government watchdog going to figure it out?

     Secondly, the price of gasoline is not as bad as we all put it out to be. Just about every morning I go to a local coffee shop and watch the vehicles that are in the drive-thru lanes or parked at the coffee shop. There are very few fuel efficient vehicles in use. People want “big”.  It is Suburbans, Excursions, Yukons, Durangos, Explorers and Escalades just to name a few. V-8 engines with 4 x 4 capabilities and on and on. Sure, the newer engines are more fuel efficient, but not efficient enough to offer any saving with one person in a 5 – 9 passenger vehicle! Then they take them out on the highway and travel 120kph or faster and complain about the poor fuel mileage.

     I live fairly close to 44^th street and nightly I hear large engines roaring away from   intersections and traffic lights. If the price of gas was that bad, people would change their driving styles. It is a self-defeating exercise to burn more fuel and expect the price of fuel to go down. As soon as you create a demand for something the prices start to climb. This applies to houses, cars, groceries, gasoline, etc.

     A concerted effort by everyone to reduce the amount of fuel used is the only way the price will come down.

     So, in summation, the price of gas obviously isn’t as bad as we all let on to be. Who would have thought we would be “okay” with gasoline at 118.9 per litre!

Contact: Lachlan (locky) Cummine, REALTOR®,e-PRO® Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate - Signature Service. 3514-50 Avenue, Unit "A" Lloydminster AB T9V 1H5 Office Ph: 780-875-5581 Direct ph: 780-872-2270 email: locky.cummine@bhgress.ca