Is Your Kitchen Ready For The Holidays?

Most of us spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and not always just cooking. Traditionally the kitchen has always been the heart of a home, and more and more these days is a great spot for entertaining. The holidays is no exception to the rule and it is the place to be when you have a house packed full of family and friends. Is your kitchen ready for the holidays?

Whether you have a larger, open concept kitchen, or a smaller more convenient kitchen, here are some simple tips that can help you inexpensively bring it back to life.

• REFRIGERATOR - Get rid of the magnets! - Unless you have artwork done by the family, remove everything from the fridge to have a nice clean look.


• WALLS AND CEILING - To quickly brighten up the space and bring everything to life, try a fresh coat of paint. This will immediately change the whole feel of the kitchen.


• ACCESSORIES - Provide some accent colors through the selection of brightly colored floor mats and dish towels.


• CABINETRY - If those cabinets look like they have seen better days, paint them. Even if you have a nice neutral wood.


• HARDWARE - Now time to add your own personal style through some new hardward(knobs, handles, hinges) for the cabinets and doors. This is a great way to liven up old cabinetry and distracts onlookers from the cabinets themselves. This is probably the easiest do it yourself kitchen project and often overlooked when preparing a home for sale.


• FLOORING - If you don't have tile in your kitchen, perhaps it's now time to consider? If ceramic or slate tiling is not really in the budget, there are many varieties of linoleum available that are very inexpensive. Many times I have buyers that are even fooled into thinking the floor is tiled with very deceptive lower cost flooring.


• WINDOWS - Line the window sill with some potted herbs grown from seed, and maybe hang a valence to tie everything together

Since the kitchen is thought to be the most important room of the house, this should be the first spot that you are working on renovating whether you are looking to stay in the home for years, or are preparing to sell in a few months.

If you would like anymore information or tips on improving the feel, look, and worth of your home, please feel free to contact me at anytime. amiller@kwottawa.ca

Think of Buying a home?

Have you been thinking of purchasing a home but just unsure of where to start? Browsing online or in your neighbourhood and looking at homes, thinking of what would be perfect for you? Scared to take the next step or just unsure? Well keep on reading then!

Lots of people looking to buy a new home find the financial part of the process a bit confusing, and sometimes even intimidating. You may have even started reading up on what you should be doing, well obviously because you are reading this right!? There are a lot of things to take into consideration, so here are a few basic concepts to keep your head on straight and your eyes on the prize:

GET PRE-APPROVED

This will help you to determine what you can afford to purchase. If you can't afford something right away, at least you can build a game plan to get to where you need to be. No sense looking at homes you can't afford either, because you may fall in love with one and then can't afford it after all. Also, most home sellers will work with pre-approved buyers over those who are not pre-approved because they may feel more confident that the purchase will go through.

DON'T CHANGE A THING!

While you are looking for a home try not to make any sudden changes to your finances. Don't go buy that porche you wanted, and don't quit your government job to go flip burgers at Wendy's. Banks like stability in the people they are shelling out all their money too.

PAY OFF YOUR DEBT!!!

If you owe a ton of money for student loans, and on your car, do you really think the bank is going to give you another 200k for a home? Know your current debt level and work to lower it as much as possible between now and when you purchase a home.

CREDIT SCORE?

Don't have a ton of cash to pay the credit card completely off? That's ok. Just make sure you at the least pay the minimum payment to keep your credit score good. Payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score. Check with credit bureaus to find your score and fix any errors.

KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING!

The basic mortgage types are fixed-rate, adjustable-rate and hybrid. There are a variety of other types of loans as well though and you should seek the help of a professional to find out what is right for your circumstances. Everyone is different, and therefore everyone needs a different type of loan that fits their needs.

SHOP AROUND!!!

Talk to a mortgage broker. A broker can search out many different lenders, and get many different rates. I'm not saying don't go to your bank that you trust, but perhaps talk to a mortgage specialist first and see what else is out there for you.

Your financial picture is a crucial part of the home purchase process. If you’d like to know more about home loans, please call or email any time.