For me, selling a home is more about the client than it is about the business of the transaction.

Late last year, I worked on an Estate sale, that was very close to my heart. It didn’t start out the way most Estates do. I actually met with the lady twice before she passed away. She knew it was coming, and she wanted to be involved in the process. She wanted to know how her home sale would be handled. She wanted to supervise the staging. She wanted to leave a good legacy for her three daughters. She had a plan.

This lady also happened to be the Mother of one of my oldest and bestest friends.

My job is to guide my clients through the legalities, the strategies, the market, the money, and often most importantly, the mental process involved in making that move. It’s an honour, a privilege, and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.

In this case though, instead of ME guiding HER, SHE guided ME through my own emotional process, and she did it with amazing grace.

Not only will I cherish this extra special experience, but, she gifted me with one of her beautiful paintings that will forever remind me of her creative free spirit, in life, and in death.

I know you've all heard that here in our area, the real estate market is heavily favouring sellers right now, and, we do expect that to continue for most, if not all of 2021.

Traditionally, the first week of January is a bit slow for new listings, as people get their new year started, but, throw in a lockdown order, and, things really slow down! As of this morning, there are a total of 208 active MLS listings in the City of London. That's extremely low for a City with a population of roughly a half million.

As you can imagine, that means that it's pretty easy to sell a house right now.

Given the current SUPER low mortgage rates, it's also pretty easy for buyers to afford to get into the market. The difficulty for them comes with the competition ~ there are more buyers than inventory.

But, having said that, as a seller, you still want to present your home in it's best light! That's going to translate into the highest dollar possible, and, given your home is likely your biggest asset, isn't that the goal?

If you have no plans to sell, the fact is, we are all spending WAY more time at home than ever before. "Home" has become the centre of our lives, literally. So, it stands to reason that we want it to be the most comfortable place in the world, especially right now.

In light of all this, and, after the chaos of this first week of January 2021, I thought we could all use a bit of an escape. Why not check out the latest design trends? It's interesting how our wish lists have changed over this past year!
​
Whether you're selling or not, there's some great ideas in this video ~ either to prepare for market, or to prepare to snuggle up at home this winter. Enjoy!

www.houzz.com/houzz-tv/see-a-houzz-editor-discuss-key-design-trends-emerging-in-2021-stshtvvw-vt~143785575?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u15328&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery3_3&newsletterId=15328

Welcome to 2021!

We made it through what was probably the strangest year any of us have ever experienced. I think we can pat ourselves on the back for that.

I've spent some time over the past week checking in with friends, and one of them said something that's had me in stitches. She told me she's been "practicing procrastination", and that 2020 made that so easy! Remember back when everyone was so excited to use our extra time to clean out the closets? Ya, that didn't happen for some of us, lol.

I think we all felt a bit frozen last year, but, I'll bet if you really think about it, you accomplished quite a lot. It was a year where EVERYTHING became bigger. Every problem seemed amplified. Hell, even going to the grocery store was a huge deal! But, we did it. We figured ways around the challenges, and have adjusted to new ways of doing almost everything.

Those are great accomplishments my friends!

And now, as we head into a fresh calendar, we are forced to notice that time is passing, and we can't just wait it out. We need to do something with it.

We have good reasons to be optimistic and hopeful. And, we have the experience to make our New Year plans fit into the circumstances. So, let's do it!
​
Bring it on 2021! We've got this!