Team Davidson, Ghada and Sean's blog

Why is making a big change in life often so difficult?
According to psychologists, maintaining the "status quo" is one of the
most powerful motivations we have. If things are "okay", even making a
change for the better can be difficult. Our brains resist.
You may have experienced this if you’ve thought about selling your
current property and finding your next dream home. Your house may
be "good enough" for you now and the neighbourhood might be "okay"

As you may know, curb appeal refers to how your property looks from the
street, where potential buyers first see it. Your home’s curb appeal can have
a big impact on the sale of your property. In fact, it's not uncommon for a
buyer to drive by a listing, rather than stop, because they don't like what they
see.
So, how can you improve your home's curb appeal quickly? One way is to do
some outside cleaning.
Start with the main entryway. Wash down the front door and sweep (or power

Imagine you have a major project at work, you have to deal with home
schooling and you still need to deal with groceries, laundry and dinner. Whoa!
That's a busy life.
Can you still find and buy a new home with such a tight schedule? The good
news is, you can. In fact, there's plenty you can do to save time.
Consider these tips:
• Get specific about the home you want to buy. Think about property
type (for example, "two story, detached"), number of bedrooms and
bathrooms, special features, etc.

There's a reason why there are "kitchen and bath" stores, and even design
magazines devoted to these rooms. A well-staged kitchen and bathroom can
make the entire home look better. So, it's no surprise that professional home
stagers pay particular attention to these spaces.
What do these pros have to say about bathrooms?
Professional stagers advise that you start by taking a picture of the room.
Looking at that picture will give you a better sense of how others see your
bathroom and reveal what needs to be changed.

If you're thinking of listing your property, one thing that might be holding you
back is concern about preparing your home for sale. You may be wondering
how much work there will be. Is it going to take a couple of months? A couple
of weeks? A few days?
That, of course, depends on the state of your property.
However, regardless of how close your home is to “show time” ready, there is
plenty you can do to reduce how long that preparation takes. Consider these
ideas:

Let's face it. Planning events, even exciting ones like an overseas vacation, can be stressful. So, it's not surprising that some homeowners — even those thrilled about moving — can slip into "worry mode" when putting their property up for sale.

Unfortunately, this anxiety can make the process of selling an unpleasant experience. Who wants that? So here are some things you can do to reduce selling stress and enjoy the adventure.

Imagine you're looking for a new home. You have a list of all the features you want, just like you would have a grocery shopping list. However, when you explore the homes currently on the market, none meets all your criteria.

What do you do? You have a few good options.

First, you can take a second look at your list. Does your new home need every single feature on it? Are there one or two features you can do without? For example, can you settle for a smaller kitchen assuming the property has everything else you want?

As you can probably guess, when you're preparing to move, you'll need boxes and tape — and, perhaps some bubble-wrap or old newspapers to use as protective wrapping for delicate items.

But that may not be all you need. Take a look at this list and see if you'll want any of these on hand while you’re packing or on moving day.

When buyers come to see your home, the first thing they notice is how your property looks on the outside. That first impression is powerful and lingering. If buyers don't like what they see, it can influence how they judge the rest of your property, regardless of how great it looks on the inside.

You definitely want to do whatever you can to boost curb appeal. Here are six affordable ideas to consider:

There are many storage options for your household items. For example, receipts and other paper records can be stored in a file box. Seasonal items, such as winter clothing, can be put in the basement. You can even rent a local storage unit to help with decluttering.

But what about stuff that exists electronically? These days, many important records -- vacation pictures, tax receipts, home videos, school documents, etc. -- are in the form of PDFs, JPEGs, and other electronic formats. Having those reside entirely on your computer is risky. What if your computer crashes?