Inside This Issue :

Wire Your Home to Sell Written by: Broderick PerkinsBroderick PerkinsBroderick PerkinsBroderick Perkins

Home buyers are ga-ga over gadgets.

A survey by the Consumer Electronics Asso-ciation (CEA) says home security systems, home theatre-wired systems, home automa-tion management systems and energy man-agement systems are hot selling points. "There is a strong relationship between home technologies and the real estate market. While the market needs to recover before home technologies play a more important role in home sales, the industry can help pre-pare real estate agents to be comfortable in discussing these types of systems with their clients," said CEA's Rhonda Daniel. CEA said the vast majority of real estate agents have encountered homes with in-stalled technologies. In the past 24 months, nine in 10 real estate agents have been involved in buying, selling or showing a plugged-in home equipped with technology ranging from more established systems such as monitored security (93 per-cent) and home theatre or home theatre-wired systems (89 percent) to newer tech-nologies like home automation and manage-ment systems (54 percent) and energy man-agement systems (51 percent). More than half of real estate agents said they are excited by these homes and believe their clients' enthusiasm for technology mirrors their own. Nearly two-thirds of real estate

agents said their clients are excited to see technologies in homes. That's no surprise. The soft economy is bringing more and more entertainment home as a cost-saving factor. That means current home owners looking to sell should consider upgrading their home with at least one home technology system. The recent survey of 1,793 real estate agents, members of the National Association of Real-tors, sought to understand real estate agents' experiences with homes outfitted with installed technologies as well as their perception of the technology. "The ideal goal for the consumer electronics industry is to have knowledgeable real estate agents who are excited and open to promoting technology as a selling feature of homes," Daniel said. Half of surveyed agents expressed interest in learning more about installed home technolo-gies, according to the CEA. "Manufacturers and electronic systems con-tractors (ESCs) should be laying the ground work now to take advantage of the eventual upswing in the real estate market. Educating real estate agents on the benefits, value and functionalities of installed technologies now will demonstrate that the consumer electronics industry can be a trusted partner to equip them with the knowledge they are lacking," Daniel said.

Wire Your Home to Sell

Devoe Stacey

The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA.

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10 year term – 4.79%

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Fall Fixes for the Home

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The influx of Chinese buyers in Canada's major cities has given the housing market a boost, but created a controversy over street addresses. A University of British Columbia study says that in neighbourhoods with a high percentage of Chinese residents, houses with street numbers ending in four are sold at a 2.2 per cent discount and houses with street numbers ending in eight are sold at a 2.5 per cent premium in comparison to houses with street numbers ending with any other digits. "We provide the first solid evidence that supersti-tious beliefs can have significant and sizable ef-fects on house prices in a North American market with a large immigrant population," say authors Nichole M. Fortin, Andrew J. Hill and Jeff Huang of the Department of Economics, UBC. The fear of the number four, or tetraphobia, is be-cause the pronunciation of the word for four is similar to the word for death in Mandarin, Canton-ese and several Chinese dialects, say the authors. "On the other hand, the word for eight is phoneti-cally similar to the word for prosperity or wealth." The study concludes that "with a mean nominal house price of about $400,000 over the sample period, we have found that in neighbourhoods where the percentage of ethnic Chinese residents is above 18 per cent, houses with street numbers ending with the 'death'-ridden four are sold at a $8,000 discount and those ending with the 'wealth'-laden eight are sold with a $10,000 premium in comparison to houses with street numbers ending in any other digit." The CBC reported that 135 people in Vancouver applied to have their street addresses changed last year, for a fee of $636. Similar requests have been documented in Edmonton and the Greater Toronto Area communities. In British Commonwealth coun-tries, the north and west sides of streets generally have even numbers, while the south and west sides have odd numbers. Municipalities are reluc-tant to change numbers because of planning crite-ria and to avoid confusion for emergency services.

A survey in the U.K. by Onepoll found that one in four people would rather not live in a house numbered 13. Many office and condo-

minium towers do not have a 13th floor, skipping from 12 to 14. "In Las Vegas, where superstitious beliefs are rampant, many large casino hotels (such as MGM, Wynn and Palms Place) omit floor numbers 4, 14, 24, 34 and 40 to 49," says the UBC study. However, the study authors say the number 13 is not considered unlucky in the Chinese tradition. While eight is a good number for a home-owner in a Canadian city, it's not so great to live in a house in the U.K. that has 88 in the street address. It's the address that's most likely to be burglarized, according to re-search by global insurance firm AXA Per-

sonal Lines. The top 10 unluckiest U.K. house numbers in 2011 are 88, 80, 68, 91, 96, 13, 73, 79, 77, 78, 83, 87 and 98, the company says. Although "unlucky" 13 is in that top 10, a house with that address is only half as likely as 88 to be the target of a break-in, says AXA. The company also says houses with purple doors are the "top targets" for thieves. On the positive side, those living at numbers 70 or 99 are most likely to win money on the lottery. "We do monitor all sorts of statistics but at the moment have no plans to start weighting premiums according to the number on your door or its colour," says James Barclay, home insurance underwriting partner for AXA Personal Lines. "We suggest that eve-ryone, no matter what number they live at, takes the time to check they're not creating their own bad luck through poor security maintenance around the home. Many claims we see are not so much bad luck as bad risk management by the homeowner." Milton Black, described as "Australia's lead-ing astrologer and psychic" on his website, has a calculation on the site where you can "see whether or not you are suited to your present address." Using the calculation to get your address down to a single digit, you can then look up your number and see how it relates to your house. This writer's house turned out to be a seven, which means it "usually has a history of skeletons in the cupboard, haunting, appari-tions or some such mystery and rumour about the family that live, or have lived there in the past. Sometimes this house number can be haunted or strange events happen at this address." Yikes! I haven't seen any ghosts in the house yet, but maybe that's because its street number is 808.

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What’s Your Lucky House Number? Written by: Jim Adair

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Fall is a welcome reprieve from the op-pressive heat of Summer. It also offers homeowners all across the country a chance to ready their homes for cold weather, hard rains, and all that cold seasons have to offer. As the seasons change, once again it's time to perform some home mainte-nance. Here are 10 yearly tasks that will help keep your household in working order when the temperatures drop. 1. Clean Gutters: Do so frequently. Clogged gutters can result in standing water and roof damage. Plus, if you clean them frequently, you're less likely to have to deal with decomposing leaves. 2. Mow and trim: It seems counter in-tuitive, but Fall is a wonderful time to both fertilize and reseed your lawn. A maintained lawn improves a home's value and saleability. Use this time to trim shrubs and grass one last time so

that your yard stands out, even in a dor-mant season. 3. Prune trees: With Winter comes ice. With ice comes broken limbs. Take ad-vantage of nice weather and cut back or remove precarious limbs. It only takes one heavy snow or ice to weigh down a limb and damage property. 4. Powerwash: Driveways, sidewalks, decks, and patios can get quite grimy during the summer months. Invest in a powerwasher and you'll be surprised how clean you can get them! 5. Outdoor Living: Some furniture is made to be stored during rainy or snowy seasons. Clear a place in your garage or shed for the items. Consider covering them with a tarp and storing cushion in vacuum seal bags. 6. Heating Systems: Check furnaces and change filters. Not only will it boost efficiency, but it will also save you

Fall Fixes for the Home Written by: Carla Hill

money in the process. 7. Check for Leaks: Recaulk around windows and doors to help prevent heat from escaping. 8. Fireplace: You don't want a chimney fire. Be sure to have your chimney swept or cleaned each year. 9. Exterior Walkways and Steps: Check walkways for cracks and ensure steps are secured. Make the necessary repairs to avoid accidents. 10. Piping: Check pipes for insulation to prevent freezing and bursting. Every season holds different responsibili-ties for a homeowner. Be sure to stay on top of tasks each season to maintain y o u r h o m e ' s v a l u e !

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