Toronto Real Estate Report

Seniors on the Move

The Sandwich Generation, caught between raising our children and taking care of our elderly parents. Rewarding and exhausting, all at the same time.  When one of your parents dies, you step in to take care of the other.  They raised and nurtured you, now it's your turn.

I am often called to sell the family home so that they can move into a smaller home or retirement facility.  Often the home has too many memories, is too big and too much to take care of for one person.  It's a big undertaking that needs to be handled very delicately.

When I am preparing their home for sale, I am sensitive to the fact that the process doesn't require fancy home staging and glossy feature sheets.  What they need is someone to help sort out what should stay, what needs to be cleared out, what & where should it all go?  A supply of boxes, packing paper and tape. A list of services that can assist with all the pieces that need to go together and be there to co-ordinate a smooth transition.

There are a couple of companies that specialize in providing this kind of support:

1. Smart Seniors - Website Tel: 416-245-9445

2. The Downsizing Diva - Tel: 416-253-1642

When it's all done, they have moved and the house is sold I enjoy going to visit them in their new home.  Often, if they have moved into a great retirement facility, they are happily enjoying a new social life and are keen to show me around. 

So, from what initially is a difficult and often sad time, we have another happy ending.

I am a Crew Leader

I am attending Habitat for Humanity University and training to be a Crew Leader for the Woman Build Blitz scheduled to begin on May 1st that is building 16 homes.

Just imagine hundreds of women, swinging hammers and running power tools to build homes for families in need, to help eradicate poverty, one family at a time.

In our first week we learned about some of the basics. The motto to live by on a build site is "Safety, Quality & Fun" Safety comes first of course, we must wear a hard hat and steel toed boots at all times, tie your hair back and avoid clothing with strings and scarfs.

Quality - all the materials are donated so the old adage, measure twice cut once, ensure that all the precious resources are used wisely. We learned how to read a measuring tape, seems basic, but an essential skill when building.

Fun - we learned the cheer "Oh Yea!" Which apparently means "We can do it" in some African dialect. The cheer is accompanied by a fist pump into the air, and the cheer is used throughout the day to keep our spirits high.

We learned the proper way to swing a hammer to ensure the head of the hammer was doing the work rather than wearing out our arm muscles and tiring too quickly. I can imagine how a long day of driving nails into wood could get physically draining, but the technique can make all the difference. We measured and put 2 x 6's together "positioning the nail to toe nail the rim board", which required driving the nail in at approximately 30 degree angle, so that the 2 nails on either side would cross. Our first attempt ended up in the waste pile, oops!

Then it was on to the power tools. I must admit I was a bit scared of the power saw. It's noisy, heavy and has a very large blade turning rapidly and eats through wood. We were given instructions and then took turns teaching each other and cutting pieces of wood. My first attempt was good, the second one not so good, but I have weeks of practice ahead of me.

To learn more about the organization click:Habitat for Humanity

To get involved in the Woman Build, click:Woman Build

The Toronto chapter has built 100 homes in the last 19 years.  The goal is to build 100 homes in the next 19 months!  They need all the help they can get, please consider how you can get involved?

Charity begins at Home

A familiar saying that suggests you should try to help your family and friends before you help others.

Fortunately my family and friends don’t need too much help and my association with RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd. provides many opportunities to help others.

• Children's Miracle Network: I make a donation with every home I sell.  The company collectively contributes over $100,000.00 each year for the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Each and every dollar has gone directly to the needs of the children. Children's Miracle Netwokr
• Children's Breakfast Program: Everyday many children are going to school hungry without breakfast and in some cases without dinner the night before. I provide a monthly donation to this program along with many other agents at our company, helping to serve the communites most in need. Children's Breakfast Program
• Yard Sale for the Cure:  Yard Sale for the Cure is an organization that raises money for Breast Cancer research and treatment by holding a massive series of Yard Sales in neighbourhoods across Canada.  This years event will take place Saturday May 31st, and we will be hosting a yard sale outside the office at 697 Mt. Pleasant Rd. starting at 8 am. Yard Sale for the Cure

I think charity begins at RE/MAX Hallmark.