Here are some interesting facts and figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association. Windsor / Essex boast’s most affordable residential real estate, while homes in Vancouver and Victoria are the priciest. These stats are from January 2010 and show the average price year over year and the % change.

Windsor - $153,352 up 1.2%

Toronto - $409,058 up 19.0%

Ottawa - $323,762 up 11.3%

Victoria - $509,514 up 18.1%

Greater Vancouver - $637,637 up 18.9%

Calgary - $382,009 up 5.5%

Edmonton - $314,783 down 0.7%

Regina - $240,274 up 12.5%

Winnipeg - $213,134 up 15.9%

Montreal - $283,890 up 10.7%

Quebec - $229,875 up 13.3%

St. John - $168,439 up 18.4%

Halifax-Dartmouth - $241,968 down 0.4%

Newfoundland and Labrador - $235,741 up 22.5%

If you are wondering what your home is worth in today’s market, please contact me and let me put my expertise to work for you!

Did you know that your home can sparkle this spring without using any chemicals? Choose from a wide array of eco friendly cleaners on the market or simply make your own with household ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice. Here are a few tips to help you become a natural when it comes to spring cleaning:

The Bathroom
Want to bring out a natural shine to your sinks, toilets, and tubs? Create a gentle scouring paste by mixing 4 tbsp baking soda with 1 tbsp water. Generously sprinkle either table salt or baking soda into the sink or tub and use the cut end of half a fresh lemon as a scrubby-pad. Rinse with hot water and your ceramics will be gleaming! Undiluted lemon juice can also be used to dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits.

The Kitchen
Vinegar, a natural antibacterial, has a high acid content which makes it an effective alternative to caustic cleaners for the kitchen. Mix together 1 part water to 1 part vinegar in a new spray bottle and you have a natural solution that will clean stovetops, appliances, countertops (except marble), and floors. For troublesome stains, add a touch of baking soda to the mix.

To help remove finger marks from stainless steel appliances use a microfibre cloth or try a dab of baby oil on a clean cloth. For microwaves, put a few slices of fresh lemon in an uncovered bowl of water and cook on high for about three minutes. Grease and dirt should wipe away easily.

Windows
Let the sunshine in by washing away winter's grime. Fill a bucket with 25 per cent vinegar and 75 per cent warm water. Put on rubber gloves and soak an old cotton towel in the solution. Rub on windows, and then scrunch up some old newspaper to buff up a shine. If there are any streaks, simply finish off with a dry cloth.

Fabrics and Carpets
Have a stubborn fabric stain? Dab white vinegar onto the stain followed by a mild soap solution such as all natural dishwashing liquid and water. Rinse with a clean damp cloth and blot with a dry towel. Salt can also be used to soak up fresh carpet stains such as red wine, coffee or ink. Simply pour salt on the wet stain, let dry, and then vacuum. Natural ingredients can not only get rid of stains, they'll help eliminate odours from fabrics too!

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.
Robert Louis Stevenson

The most effective way to do it, is to do it.
Amelia Earhart

Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them....
Matthew 7:12

No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted.
Aesop

When you have to make a choice and you don't make it, that itself is a choice.
William James

Aspire to decency. Practice civility toward one another. Admire and emulate ethical behavior wherever you find it. Apply a rigid standard of morality to your lives; and if, periodically, you fail--as you surely will--adjust your lives, not the standards.
Ted Koppel

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving.
Albert Einstein