Glick and Glick: Home is where you hang your hat

by Murray and Seth Glick 

(Edmonton) – Home is where you hang your hat, and it’s where you feel safe. These days that means a little extra cleaning and sanitizing to ensure all is well and good. Luckily, Spring is here and with it comes many of our favourite past times, including small and large home renovations like working in the yard, painting the fence and making everything look fresh. Whether it is just to make your nest look and feel better or to prepare to enter the Real Estate Market there are many ‘do it yourself’ projects you can consider, especially if you now find yourself with some extra time around the house (and some extra helpers too).

Some of the most basic home chores can be simple to accomplish, and also greatly satisfying. For example, raking the lawn and trimming trees and bushes will go a long way to getting things ready for growing season. Prepping flower beds and deciding what plants you will sow or buy as seedlings. One new lawn idea I am trying this year is to over seed the lawn with micro clover. Micro clover is much hardier, requires less watering and maintenance once established, and actually feeds the lawn with nitrogen to keep it green all season. Keeping that lawn green is an accomplishment in it of itself. Local stores and greenhouses allow for online ordering and curbside pickup so you can easily get the supplies you need with a minimum of fuss and muss.

Every home is different, and requires a different level of upkeep. Maybe the wood trim needs a paint touch up? Are your windows getting dusty? Clean the windows to let all the sun in. Also, as April showers bring May flowers it is a good time to make sure the eaves troughs are clean and flowing right. Now remember, if you are going to use a ladder be extra careful and if you are not comfortable climbing there are lots of companies that can do that for you.

Have a look at your driveway, and sidewalks. Check to see if any cracks need to be sealed or caulked to look nicer and to keep water from eroding the soil under the cement. Also, pressure washing vinyl siding and cement work can quickly improve the look of your home, with minimal effort and cost.

One area of home maintenance we often take for granted is the air conditioning. Spray your air conditioner to remove fuzz and dust, to allow for efficient operation as the temperatures climb. And when was the last time you had the ducts cleaned? Keeping the air inside your home fresh and dust free is a smart and healthy decision that is sure to make everyone breathe easier.

Most outside upkeep is not expensive and when done routinely each spring can keep much costlier replacements at bay.

Upkeep is also essential when putting your house on the market. The classic saying “if we can’t see it, we can’t sell it” rings very true, so cut the trees up and the shrubs down.

Lighting outside is as important as inside so switch bulbs to daylight LED so they are pennies to run and enhance the look of your house. As a bonus they can be left on through the evening hours to deter any nocturnal shenanigans.

It is not necessary to spend a lot to make your home look like the castle it is. “Yes Virginia, there really is a Spring Market,” says Murray. And with the Spring Real Estate Market upon us, feel free to call with any questions you might have and to hear how we can make sure you can be comfortable selling in this time of Social Distancing and Sanitizing. Video tours, great photos and more to get the home exposed to the market with minimum exposure to you.

Seth and Murray Glick can be contacted at Remax Excellence in Edmonton. Click here for related articles.