Are you feeling overwhelmed by the clutter in your home? If so, you’re not alone. Clutter can be more than just an eyesore. It can actually make you feel stressed and overwhelmed, leading to decreased productivity and even health problems. If you’re looking for ways to declutter your home, check out these 10 tips!
1. Purge your home of unnecessary items – Start by going through your home room by room and getting rid of anything you no longer need or use. This can be a difficult task, but it’s important to be honest with yourself about what you really need and don’t need.
2. Store food in sealed jars – One way to gain additional cupboard and counter space in your kitchen is by storing certain foods in sealed jars instead of leaving them in the bags and boxes that they come packaged in. This will allow you to keep your kitchen more organized. Foods to consider storing in jars include pasta, rice, oats, cookies etc.
3. Create a donation pile for things you no longer want or need – If you have items that are in good condition but you no longer want or need them, consider donating them to a local charity. This is a great way to declutter your home and help others in the process.
4. Set aside a space for things you want to sell – If you have items that are still in good condition and are valuable but you no longer want or need them, consider selling them. This is a great way to declutter your home and make some extra money in the process.
5. Pack away seasonal items to free up storage space – If you have seasonal items that you only use a few times a year, consider packing them away until you need them. This will declutter your home and give you more storage space.
6. Organize the remaining items in your home – Once you’ve decluttered your home, it’s important to organize the remaining items. This will help you keep your home decluttered and make it easier to find things when you need them.
7. Find creative ways to store unused items – If you have items that you don’t use often but can’t bear to get rid of, find creative ways to store them. This will declutter your home and give you peace of mind knowing that your belongings are safe. If you have a garage, maybe you can add shelving to provide additional storage space, if you have room in your yard, building a shed can be a good option as well. Alternatively, you can rent storage unit.
8. Make a plan to keep your home decluttered in the future – Once you’ve decluttered your home, it’s important to make a plan to keep it that way. This may require you to change your habits or the way you organize your belongings. But, if you make a plan and stick to it, you can keep your home decluttered for good.
9. Get help from friends, family members or a service if needed – If you’re struggling to declutter your home on your own, ask for help from friends and family members. They can offer support and advice on how to declutter your home. If you don’t have any friends or family that may be helpful with this subject, you may want to consider hiring a decluttering service to help you organize your home.
10. Celebrate your accomplishments – Once you’ve decluttered your home, take a moment to celebrate your accomplishment! This is a big task and it’s important to congratulate yourself on a job well done.
Decluttering your home will not only provide you and your family with a healthier living space it will also make certain daily household chores such as cleaning easier. For all you parents out there, as a parent myself of two little ones, I understand how hard it can be to keep things organized. You may not be able to keep your home in a picture perfect state on a daily basis but decluttering will provide you with additional space to store certain items such as toys out of the way so you no longer need to worry about stepping on them.
Hopefully the above tips have been helpful to you and have given you some ideas as to how you can declutter your home.
Are you thinking of making a move or have questions about the current Toronto real estate market? Contact me any time with your questions, I’m always happy to help.
Understanding the difference between appraised value vs market value is extremely important when buying and selling real estate in Toronto. With rising interest rates and the market shifting (as of the time this blog post is being written), we are now seeing more appraisals being required by lenders. If you are buying a home or condo in Toronto and your lender requires an appraisal but you didn’t include a financing clause, you better hope that the appraisal comes in close to the amount you have offered, I will explain in further detail later.
The first thing to understand is the difference between appraised value vs market value. I’ve included a description of each type of value below in order to help you understand the difference.
What is An Appraisal and Appraised Value:
The appraisal/appraised value of a home is based on the opinion of a professional appraiser. Your lender may require an official appraisal to ensure that they don’t lend you more than the property is worth. Should your lender require an appraisal for a property you have purchased, the appraiser will likely arrange a time to visit the property in order to complete the appraisal. During the visit, the appraiser will take measurements, make notes and may ask questions about the property such as the age of the home, age of certain aspects of the home such as the roof, electrical system, HVAC system etc. The appraised value is the value that the appraiser determines based on their calculation. It’s common for the appraised value to come in lower than the market value (how much the home could potentially sell for when listed for sale). Should you receive an appraisal that you feel is unrealistic, you should request a second opinion. I once helped clients with the purchase of a home which required an appraisal and the appraised value came in at an amount that just didn’t make sense. We requested a second appraisal which came in at $150,000 more than the original one. Lesson learned, don’t always accept the first appraisal if you feel something is off.
It was less common for lenders to request appraisals prior to the pandemic and the recent interest rate increases when the Toronto real estate market was rising month after month with no sign of any change on the horizon. The pandemic and recently increased rates has changed that as we are now seeing more appraisals.
Appraisals are not only used for every day home purchases but also for other purposes as well. Below are some of the reasons why a home appraisal may be needed:
What if Your Appraisal Comes In Low:
When buying a home in a market that is experiencing an increased number of appraisals, it is important to avoid overpaying for a property as you could find yourself in a costly dilemma. Should you over pay for a property and your appraisal come in substantially lower than what you offered on the property, you could be required to pay the difference. As an example, if you purchased a home for $1,200,000 but the appraisal comes in at $1,000,000, you could be required to come up with $200,000 to make up the difference out of pocket.
What is Market Value:
The market value of a property is determined by how much buyers are willing to pay for a property. The market value of your home will fluctuate based on the condition of your local real estate market. During a seller’s market (more demand than available supply), the market value of your home will likely rise. In addition to a lack of supply, if rates are considerably low, this will create more demand and drive up the market value even more. Conversely, if rates are high and supply outweighs demand, the market value of your home will decrease. Regardless of which state your current local real estate market is in, there are ways to increase the value of your home which you can view HERE.
Hopefully the above information has been able to answer any questions you may have had about appraised values vs market values. Feel free to contact me should you have any additional questions that weren’t answered above.
Are you thinking about making a move or have questions about the current market? Contact me any time, I’m always happy to answer your questions.
If you are fortunate enough to live in Toronto’s Distillery District or if you frequently visit this popular neighbourhood, you may have noticed some new developments taking place in the area and you may have wondered what is being built.
As a full-time Toronto real estate agent who works in Toronto’s Distillery District and who has several clients who live in the Distillery District, I figured it would be helpful to provide some information as to what is currently being built as well as what may be built in the near future. Whether you live in 70 Distillery Lane, 390 Cherry Street, 33, 70 or 80 Mill Street and are wondering how these developments may soon affect your view and community or you are looking to purchase a property in the area and are curious as to what the area will have to offer in the near future, the information below may be helpful to know. Below is a list of the current developments that are already under construction as well as other developments that are in the pre-construction phase.
Currently Under Construction:
At the south-west corner of the Distillery District, you will find a pie-shaped lot located at 31 Parliament Street. What was once strictly a commercial space not being used to its full potential, will soon become a 41 storey mixed-use building. This development will add 428 residential condominium units to the neighbourhood along with additional retail space.
Developer: Lanterra Developments & Westdale Properties
Project address: 31 Parliament Street, Toronto
Learn more about this development and view additional photos HERE
Photos:
Just to the north of the No. 31 Condos will be Good Condos which will be a 32 storey mixed-use building that will include both residential condos as well as retail space. This project will add an additional 540 new condo units to the Distillery District neighbourhood.
Developer: Graywood Developments
Project Address: 33 Parliament Street, Toronto
Learn more about this development and view additional photos HERE
Photos:
West Don Lands Block 3, 4 & 7
On the north-west corner of Cherry Street and Mill Street you will soon find a 13, 13 and 13 storey affordable rental and commercial/retail building. This project will add an additional 855 residential condo units to the Distillery District neighbourhood.
Developer: Dream Unlimited, Kilmer Group & Tricon Residential
Project address: 90 Mill Street, Toronto
Completion date: To be determined
Photos:
Pre-Construction Phase:
60 Mill Street
60 Mill Street, located on the northeast corner of Mill Street and Trinity Street, could soon become the first hotel in Toronto’s Distillery District neighbourhood. The developer Gupta Group has proposed to build a 31 storey hotel that will include 392 hotel suites. Gupta Group plans to revitalize the existing Rack House that currently stands on the property in order to maintain the historical character on the street level.
Developer: Gupta Group
Project address: 60 Mill Street, Toronto, ON, M5A 3R6
Completion: To be determined
Learn more about this development and view additional photos HERE
31R Parliament Street
At the rear of the new condo building being constructed at 31 Parliament (No. 31 Condos) is proposed to be a 49 storey mixed-use building along with a low-rise 4 storey “ribbon building”. This project will include both residential condominiums and commercial office space.
Developers: Cityscape Development Corp & Dream Unlimited
Completion: To be determined
Project address: 31 Parliament Street, Toronto, ON, M5A 4R2
Additional Development Info
West Don Lands Block 20
Although this property technically isn’t situated in the Distillery District, this development will affect the views of those who currently live on the east side of both 390 Cherry Street and 70 Distillery Lane. This development is currently in the construction phase and, once completed, will include 46 & 32 mixed-use buildings that will include residential market-rate rental condos, commercial office and retail space as well as park space.
Developers: Dream Unlimited, Kilmer Group & Tricon Residential
Completion date: To be determined
Project address: 125R Mill Street, Toronto, ON
With so much development taking place in the Distillery District, this area is sure to become an even better neighbourhood than it already is.
Are you looking to make a move to or from the Distillery District?
As a local full-time Distillery District real estate agent who has assisted clients with both buying and selling condos in the area, I know the Distillery District neighbourhood and condo buildings extremely well. Whether you are looking to make a move now or in the future or you simply have questions about real estate in the Distillery District, feel free contact me any time. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have and to discuss how I can help you achieve your specific Distillery District real estate objectives.
