Archive for November, 2007
Oakville Singer Kelita Releases New Christmas CD
November 28th, 2007 Categories: Food for Soul and Spirit, Oakville Events
It is past midnight on a blustery winter’s night. I’m glad to be back indoors after a drive up to Georgetown (half an hour north of Oakville) in blowing snow where I met a very nice client to list her house.
Now nestled in my favorite comfy chair, feet on matching ottoman, I’m typing away on my warm laptop and listening to the bluesy voice of Kelita and her newly released Christmas CD “Heavenly Night”.
A five time Juno nominee and Canadian Country Music Award winner, Kelita is a singer-songwriter who hails from Alberta and calls Oakville home. She composed the official song for the Calgary World Olympics in 1988 “Neighbours of the World”.
I first met Kelita and her family when we were part of a small bible study group together a few years ago. Only after attending one of her concerts did I realize her enormous talent and the international acclaim she has achieved as a recording artist and songwriter.
What stands out about Kelita as a person is her deep reliance on God and her heart for people that suffer. Having had a difficult childhood she especially has a desire to bring help and healing to hurt and abused children.
Last summer Kelita, her husband Gord, and son Keldon, travelled to Cambodia to see first hand the plight of children who have been sold to the sex trade in South East Asia. Read more about her journey and mission in this recent article from Oakville Today.
The experience profoundly impacted this Oakville gal and prompted her to write the very moving song “Not Just This Christmas”. She set a goal to personally raise $30,000 to help rehabilitate these young girls and boys.
All proceeds for Kelita’s benefit concert being held December 1, at The Meeting House Theatre, here in Oakville, will be donated to the Agape Restoration Centre in Cambodia, a school for rehabilitating children rescued from the sex trade.
Kelita will also be donating 100% of funds raised from the sale of her Heavenly Night CD to the Centre. This new recording contains perennial Christmas favorites as well as songs written by Kelita. I especlally like her original songs “Heavenly Night”, and “Christmas Always Brings You Home”.
This is a great gift to give yourself or a friend this Christmas while making a difference to a young girl’s future, half way across the world.
To order Hevenly Night online click here.
| Discussion: 5 Comments »
Buyers Buy with their Hearts First, Not their Heads
November 24th, 2007 Categories: Lighten Up, Real Estate News
Research confirms what I’d suspected: Buyers are highly irrational beings.
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An economist might assume buyers make logical decisions about features, benefits and reasons to buy. As an observer of home buyers’ reactions first-hand (as well as my own) I say ”Not so!”
This was confirmed lately when I read some new research on Buyer Psychology. A group of scientists from CalTech, Carnegie Mellon and MIT reviewed studies examining how people buy. Their conclusion:
“Buyers buy with their hearts first. When money changes hands, the primitive, emotional part of the brain calls the shots. Buyers buy with their heads second. Logic comes in afterwards as the brain justifies the decision it’s already made.”
Salespeople need to pay close attention to this as well as home sellers. A few things you should know:
1. Little details matter just as much as big things.
You need to tug at the emotional heartstrings. While a new roof might be an important factor, a master bedroom that has a well-dressed bed with luxurious towels in the ensuite might make more of a difference in the buying decision.
The first home my husband Wayne and I purchased as newlyweds expecting our first child illustrates this. (I was not a REALTOR at the time.)
When we entered “the home”, the right music was playing, the table was set for dinner with cloth napkins and dinnerware. I was “really feeling this home” and then I saw the white trellis on the back patio with a glorious red rose bush clambering up it. That did it! My heart had connected with this home emotionally, and the decision was made.
(Two winters later unseasonably low temperatures resulted in the demise of the rose bush. In our inexperience we had not even realized that we had overpaid and that the house was too small…..)
But just a few years ago when we purchased our current home a similar thing happened. My husband entered the house and saw the spectacular fall panorama of trees behind our property. He was instantly smitten and decided to put in an offer before viewing the upper level or the basement.
2. It’s a seduction process: “You need to have them at Hello”
Traditional selling approaches focus on logic and reason, features and benefits. But if you engage with homebuyers at that level alone, you could be wasting your time.
It’s all about the emotional feeling they get when they first enter the house.
Have the lights on, the music playing, the scented candles, create the atmosphere! Appeal to all five senses. Cookbook open on the counter, textured throw casually draped on the chesterfield, fresh flowers on the hall table, luxurious soaps and bath salts in little bottles in the master ensuite, crackling fire in the family room, urns filled with flowers on either side of the front door, seasonal touches where possible.
Remember, you’re not just selling a house, you’re selling a lifestyle.
I make sure all homes I sell are carefully staged. My stager Karen Kostyshyn of Home Interior Transformation is exceptional. She and I work together to put those extra dollars in your pocket.
3. Don’t give them a reason to say no!
Your home must be scrupulously clean, and preferably in move-in condition.
I was in a very nice, almost new home, the other day, which showed very well and was decorated in the latest designer colors. The buyer was smiling and nodding approvingly as she wandered through, until she entered the ensuite bathroom and saw a few traces of mould growing in the shower tiles. The spell was broken. One bottle of Tilex and that negative impression could have been avoided.
The sellers market we have been experiencing over the last few years, has given way in most areas in the GTA and surrounding areas to a “balanced market’ with more or less the same numbers of buyers and sellers.
Sellers, more than ever, you have to know how to woo your buyers. This starts even before they enter the home, with the photos you show on the internet. One home that we staged and marketed this year was so appealing that I received a call from the buyer’s agent saying they were bringing a signed offer at 9 p.m., without having seen the home on the inside. I use a top-notch professional photographer, who takes up to 70 photos, depending on the size of the home, which I post on my website, in addition to the MLS photos.
Call Hilary Shantz and her home-selling team at 905-599-3311, to advise you how to prepare and market your home to capture the buyers’ hearts and their pocketbooks!
| Discussion: 10 Comments »
Landmark Oakville Historic Home for Sale
November 14th, 2007 Categories: Client Stories and Testimonials, Downtown Oakville, Historical Oakville, Oakville Real Estate News, Real Estate News
Exceptional Restored Georgian. Asking Price $2,695,000. Ideal for Growing Family or Bed and Breakfast.
Like Being in a Trisha Romance Painting
This home has a wonderful sense of time and place. ”I feel like I just stepped into a Trisha Romance painting” I tell Francine as she pours me a cup of tea in her sunny kitchen. The house reflects the owner, who is gracious, warm and passionate about history.
“My husband and I love old houses. We fell in love with this one” says Francine Landry. ”We loved raising our kids here and entertaining all our family and friends. Now that the kids are grown, it’s time to pass it on so another family can enjoy it.”
Francine and her husband undertook a faithful restoration, with uncompromising historical integrity. They were careful to retain the classic Georgian look and feel, but incorporated new mechanicals, new bathrooms and a modern kitchen, family room and mudroom.
Understated Elegance, Yet Casual and Comfortable
The house has six bedrooms, five bathrooms, four fireplaces. I love the layout. Large well proportioned rooms and an open kitchen with breakfast bar, eat-in area with expansive windows and a “keeping room” with fireplace, create “the great room effect” popular with families today. The 5400 square feet includes an in-law suite on the third floor.
Unparalleled Location, Walk to Downtown, the Lake and Oakville Marina
Where else but Oakville can you be in the heart of the downtown core and still enjoy leafy neighborhoods and spectacular lakeviews from your balcony?
Lakeside Park is only a few feet away. The shops, boutiques and restaurants of Downtown Oakville, the Oakville Club and the Oakville Marina just a stone’s throw.
Ever Wanted to Have a Parterrre Garden?
This home boasts the finest formal gardens. Thoughtful planning by renowned landscape architect
Christopher Campbell has created privacy and garden rooms separated by stunning shrubs, mature trees, arbors and trellises. Several stone walkways and terraces enhance the natural landscape.
A Landmark Home in Old Oakville
Here`s a little bit of Oakville history for you.
The original home was built in 1839. In preparation for his marriage to Mary Jane Chisholm, daughter of William Chisholm (founding father of Oakville), Peter MacDougald purchased the original house and two adjoining lots in 1854.
He named it “Glenorchy” (his parents were Scottish immigrants) and he and Mary raised three children there.
MacDougald later became Mayor of Oakville. I did a little research into the life and times of Peter MacDougald. One source said “During his tenure of nine years as Mayor, the Citizen’s Band gave concerts on many occasions on the lawns of Glenorchy to which the townspeople were invited.”
I can hear the lilting sound of bagpipes somewhere off in the distance, as I finish my “spot of tea”.
(Did you know I was born in Edinburgh and lived there as a child?)
A few more photos of the living room, formal dining room, great room, original Mayor’s office, garden, renovated bathroom and master bedroom, with original coal-burning fireplace.
Want to find out more? There is so much more to say about this home.
Call me, I would be happy to send you more photos or show it to you in person.
| Discussion: 7 Comments »
What’s the Buzz in Oakville? Hilary Launches New Blogsite!
November 4th, 2007 Categories: Lighten Up, Oakville Events, Oakville Real Estate News, Oakville Town Planning & Development
When I opened the paper this morning, on the front page of the Life section was the word buzz in huge letters, with a picture of bees on a honeycomb! The article is about urban apiarists.
“What’s the sound behind the hedge?” says the subtitle.
“Renegade beekeepers are quietly tending their colonies in backyards, on porches and rooftops”, all across the GTA! Who would have thunk it?
Backyard beehives are illegal, but our good friends at the Globe and Mail have blown their cover.
I don’t have time to do honey-making, but this leads me to my vision for the blog.
People, not just bees, are talking together and interacting! They are socializing and working and playing. There most definitely is a “sound behind the hedge” in this community. Wherever people are, folks are jabbering! This creates a buzz.
So what’s The Oakville Buzz about?
Whatever Oakvillians are interested in talking about, especially as it relates to Oakville housing and living in Oakville.
I will be ‘buzzing” around town interviewing locals, taking photos of cool things and reporting on community goings-on, local people and real estate.
I’ d like to introduce Boris, my side-kick and muse. Don’t you love his toothy grin and bulging eyes, one bigger than the other?
Please do stop in regularly for a visit and leave me a comment.
By the way, oakvillebuzz.com is the site for our Oakville lacrosse team. My site is TheOakvilleBuzz.com.
| Discussion: 7 Comments »