Ontario Renovation Program

The majority of us know that Home Ownership can be a difficult duty. The cost of living today is high and with so many responsibilities to your family and not enough hours in the day, projects around the house can fall to the bottom of the list.  Well I have a solution for you! The program below is like winning a home renovation lottery. Dufferin County has become a part of the Ontario Renovates Program. What this Program provides is financial assistance to home owners or renters to make necessary upgrades to their home to make it more livable. However, this offer doesn’t come without a catch…or at least criteria.

To enter yourself into this program, you must:

-Be eighteen or over

-(when renting) obtain permission from Landlord

-be making a gross income of $82,600 or less

The home also has to be valued at $366,655 or less and the maximum grant given is $3,500.

We all need a helping hand once in a while and this is what the ORP is here for. If it is yourself or someone you know that needs this kind of help, you can contact Juli Griffin, who is the head of Dufferin’s ORP at these contacts:

County of Dufferin

Community Services – Housing

229 Broadway, Unit 4

Orangeville, ON

Email: jgriffin@dufferincounty.on.ca

Phone: (519) 941-6991, ext 2404

 

Remember that enrolling in the Program is confidential and you are entitled to that confidentiality. The people of ORP are here to work out an opportunity for you so go for it! This is your chance to make your house more welcoming than ever before.

Just Around the Bend

When buying a home, you want to make sure you’re searching in ideal areas. An average family, for example, will look for areas that have short commutes, parks, and schools that are in the area of the home that they are touring. An average older person, however, would be looking for places that are nearby places of worship or recreational centers for their quieter lives. Things like these make all the difference in your home buying choice that can also add on to the price of the homes. Making small sacrifices will most likely be a part of your overall decision but will be completely worth your while, assuming that they would only be small sacrifices.

There are also certain things that you should avoid when buying. Areas that surround water treatment plants aren’t too great, the smell can be too overwhelming some days. Being too close to train stations and yards including subway underpasses can be noisy and dangerous for anyone. You’ll probably want to avoid Fire Houses, Hospitals, and Police Stations as well. Even though they are keeping us all safe, it’s not very appealing to live where sirens will be sounding. Busy highways and streets are a huge factor when you’re making a home buying decision. If it makes you’re commute a little less dreadful then that’s ok, but you really shouldn’t live near them when you have smaller children. The streets are not regulated with “Watch For Children” signs and they’re bad news for many accidents. Searching in slummier areas should be something else for everyone to avoid, too. You never know what types of people are lurking in alleyways and on quiet streets so avoid being near clinics and bars.

Another factor is weather. Does it rain a lot? Are there worse storms that blow through this area? Do Tornados come through here? Depending on the lifestyle and home that you are looking for, weather can be very important to avoid or strive for in an area. You could be looking at a very nice home with a really ideal price but did you ever stop and think that weather might hit this area very hard? Lots of rain can affect your basement and sewage. If the home floods too much due to weather conditions, it’s not really worth the buy.

You will also want to avoid looking in places that make you go over budget, staying at least $10,000 under your budget should allow a little wiggle room for any possible changes that might need to be made. Looking in newly renovated homes will not please you in price so look at home that could have the carpet torn up to reveal a rustic hardwood or kitchen cabinets that could be painted over easily.

I found a checklist the other day that will be useful when looking at homes. You can print it off or you can hire me as your agent to get as many as you need and as you tour homes, you can write down what applies to the homes.

You’ll want to make several copies of this checklist and fill one out for each home you tour. Then, comparing your ratings later will be easy: http://www.sarahlunn.com/account/3fb6b08b597d28e4/pdfs/checklist.pdf

A Chill In The Air

This Fall season looks like a cold one. This reminds me to tell you to not get sick! Catching a cold or the flu can lead to having less motivation and also a raging headache. Take care of yourself and others this season by using disinfectants like Purell every time you use a door handle, get into the habit of sneezing into your arm and not your hands, and most importantly, get the flu shot if it is necessary.

When I go to meet my clients, I love to see them happy and cheery. I also like to know that they are healthy enough to be up to the challenge of selling, buying and moving. The more you take care of yourself, the more immune you become against viruses and illnesses and I would rather you having better days than not.

Also, try not to go to the doctor’s office or a hospital if you don’t need to; which I really hope you don’t. During this season, people go to clinics and hospitals if they have become very ill and you don’t want to be in a place full of contagious germs. The best thing you can do for yourself is trying to be isolated from public transport or rest rooms. They have thousands of germs as it is and when the flu season is added on top of that, it is certain that there will be a week needed to be spent laying in your bed sometime in the near future.

If public places like these are your only options, disinfect and wash your hands as much and as good as possible. And if you’re already sick, avoid these public places, too. Going out just to feel better might not make someone else feel better. If you’re going to pass your germs on, pass it into a Tissue or a garbage can.

Let’s all have a good season and not become ill! Stay vigilant of germs and public places and we should be alright!

-Sarah