Home Automation Ideas

Make Life Easier

Get Everything at Your Fingertips with Home Automation
In these busy and often stressful times, having a little help around the house can be handy. Home Automation (HA) tools are a great way to make things run more quickly and efficiently around the house. Here's a list of just some of the great HA tools you can use to make your life a little easier.
Plug and Use Home Automation
Just plug a wire-free HA module into an electrical outlet and you have instant control of lighting, heating, and curtains. A wire-free HA module is a great tool when you are away and want your home to look occupied.
Biometric Fingerprint Locks
Always losing your keys? If you've ever had to go to the expense and bother of changing all your locks, you may want to consider one of the new biometric locks. This is a fingerprint recognition door lock that makes house keys obsolete. Once you scan your fingerprint into memory it will be recognized on the sensor. Up to 99 fingerprints can be stored to ensure frequent visitors (such as family members and cleaners) can gain access to your home. No more having to leave keys under the doormat. 
To read the full article click here.

Joanne Hardy
OakvilleProperty.com

What do you know about HST?

Hello Everyone, I have written in my blog about this subject before and I have come across a lot of people that still aren't sure about how it effects their home purchase.

This is going to affect all of us, so the more participation we get the better the outcome will be!!

Earlier this week, the Government of Ontario formally launched its latest on homeowners, purchasers and sellers with the introduction of legislation to harmonize the provincial sales tax and goods and services tax.

What is the HST?

The Harmonized Sales Tax will blend the PST with the GST. For consumers such as you and I, it will mean higher costs for items that were previously PST-exempt. For business, taxes will be lower. The government believes that lower business taxes will ultimately lead to lower prices for goods.

HOW IS THE TA X BURDEN LOWERED?

It involves changing the rules surrounding how the taxes are applied. Under the current system, businesses pay sales tax when they buy office supplies, machinery and other goods. These costs are eventually passed along to consumers. However, companies receive tax credits to cover the GST paid during the production of their goods and services. Harmonization extends these tax credits to the provincial part of the tax. The end result is lower production costs and more money to spend on machinery and equipment.

Homebuyers and sellers in Oakville and Ontario will pay 8 per cent more on legal fees, appraisals, real estate commissions, home inspection fees, and moving costs, adding about $1,500 in new taxes to the average residential real estate transaction in Ontario.

For homeowners the HST will also add hundreds of dollars in additional tax on utility bills (gas, electricity and home heating fuel), on home renovation labour, the cost of lawn upkeep or landscaping and the cost of snow removal.

Please help Oakville and Ontario REALTORS® fight this tax. In less than 30 seconds you can send an email to your MPP asking them to vote against sales tax harmonization legislation, by clicking here: http://bit.ly/stopthehst

Oakville community information

Article from: oakville.com
How well do you know the community in Oakville?
If you are looking to have some fun, there are lots of things to do from events & festivals, museums, galleries, historic homes and more. There are many great parks, swimming pools and recreation centres in Oakville to choose from.

If you want to get involved in the community, consider joining some of the community organizations and residents & business associations or participating in volunteering programs at local charities.
Below, we have provided a handy list with links to many of the community services that Oakville has to offer.
read more click here.

For more information Contact Joanne Hardy jo@oakvilleproperty.com

 "Oakville Property"

Oakville, what a great place to live

Oakville, Ontario is a wonderful family oriented town to live in. It is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. It is one of the most affluent as well as desirable towns in Canada to live in. It is about a 45 minute drive to Toronto and has excellent go transit service to Toronto and surrounding areas.

Oakville has a lot to offer. Downtown Oakville’s Main street has exqusite shopping and restaurants. Downtown Oakville has a fine collection of retail boutiques including art galleries, restaurants, gourmet food shops, high fashion and design houses, health, wealth and wellness centres. As a modern, fun, and happening place there is always something to do in downtown Oakville such as the ever-popular ‘Midnight Madness’, the legendary Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival, and ‘A Taste of Downtown Oakville’.

There is historic sites and museums in Oakville which include Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Museum, Oakville Galleries, Spruce Lane Farmhouse, Oakville Museum. Since Oakville has such a wonderful waterfront, there is a waterfront festival in the summer which has proven to be a wonderful town event.

There is lots of beautiful parks and greenspace to enjoy such as Bronte Creek Provincial Park. For Golfer’s there is Glen Abbey Golf Course, site of several Canadian Open professional golf championships and many other amateur tournaments. There are also sports associations and recreational facilities in Oakville.
To Read more Click Here

Why Stage Your Oakville Home

Many people think that staging thier Oakville home is too costly and time consuming. They are just interested in getting the whole selling thing over with fast. BUT what they do not realize is that staging thier Oakville home will benefit them in many ways including getting the property sold quickly at the best price the market can bare. A staged home will attract both buyers and their sales representatives and it has been proven that a staged home will fetch a better price and sell quicker than the home that was not staged in the same market conditions. Also many purchasers furnish a home similar to the way it was furnished when they purchased it. Remember, a home that is staged has removed all personal elements of the individuals currently living in the home leaving room for an buyer to visualize themselves in the home. In other words the staged home represented a lifestyle and look they could call home. A good guide to staging your Oakville Home is to use the 10 Staging tips which include cleaning painting creating a pleasant mood with lighting and music.

Jo Hardy
http://www.oakvilleproperty.com

Oakville Property for sale

Are you looking for a great place to purchase a home, raise a family, or start a small business? If so, there is no place better than Oakville, Ontario. This small thriving community is located less than thirty minutes from Toronto, Ontario and offers access to the QEW, 407, and 403, and it has a fantastic go train service, which gets you where you need to be in record time. Sit back and leave the driving to them.

One of the great things about this community is the neighborhoods. To buy from the many available houses for sale in Oakville, means to buy into a small suburb that feels more like an small village than a big city, as the people in each neighborhood are outgoing, friendly, and welcoming, plus enjoy all the amenities that a big city offers, while finding them close to home. To purchase houses for sale in Oakville means to buy into the idea of city living in a small town. Every area offers its own unique set of shops and stores, and many areas have individual recreational facilities that the whole family will enjoy.

For more information and to view my listings visit me at www.oakvilleproperty.com

Staging your Kitchen to Attract Potential Buyers

If your kitchen is messy or cluttered with years of accumulated knick-knacks and appliances, potential buyers cannot envision themselves living in your kitchen. They want to see that the area has been lived in, but they don't need to see every single utensil you've ever purchased laying out on the counter. Homes with staged kitchens usually sell 3 to 5 times faster than other homes, so try some of these practical ideas for staging your kitchen for sale.
Get it Clean.
To read the full article click here. 
Jo Hardy
http://www.oakvilleproperty.com