Container plants are an easy way to give immediate visual impact to your home, creating that important curb appeal – the "wow" factor as potential buyers pull up outside. Here are some important tips to make sure you use containers effectively.

Use big containers

Don't be afraid of using big, bold containers. They will have much more impact and will be easier to care for because they won't dry out so easily. Smaller containers tend to get lost in the landscaping, so you'll lose the visual impact you're trying to achieve.

Use quality containers

Avoid plastic containers, as these can look cheap. Terracotta, wrought iron, or zinc containers look great. Choose a container that complements your house and the rest of your landscaping. For example, if you have iron detailing, find a matching container; if you have brick paving, a terracotta pot might look good next to it.

Fill them with plants

For immediate results, fill your containers with more plants than you normally would. Otherwise, you will be forced to wait for the plants to grow before your container will look lush and healthy.

Feed your plants

Make sure you keep your containers well maintained by watering and feeding the plants regularly. You want buyers to think the containers are always there, not just a quick fix.

If you go to the market, it's time to buy some good fresh strawberries. I suggest you try our delicious and so easy to do recipe: Mama Betty's Strawberry Jam

Buying a home is one of the most important – and expensive – purchases you will make! GIVE YOURSELF PEACE OF MIND – GET A PROFESSIONAL HOME INSPECTION!

KEEP THESE IMPORTANT ‘HOME INSPECTION’ POINTS IN MIND:
•    Think of a Home Inspection as a ‘fact-finding mission’!
•    It’s a big step towards telling you everything you need to know about the property
•    Choose a Building Inspector who works in the area where you are buying
•    Make sure he/she is a member of ‘The Quebec Association of Building Inspectors’ (AIBQ) – a designation recognized in the industry as the authority in building inspections throughout Quebec
•    Verify he/she has valid insurance
•    A Home Inspection is the best investment you can make when purchasing a new home or other property
•    Check out this helpful Website:  http://www.aibq.qc.ca/eng/association.php

Summer is coming! Okay, so maybe the economy is lagging, but there's no reason why WE have to be!   

HERE ARE 3 GREAT RECESSION BUSTERS!

1/  REORGANIZE YOUR HOME!

• It's a fact: when your surroundings are calm and organized, your mind is calm and organized!
• Get rid of 10 things you don't wear/use/need! – give them to charity
• Make paper your slave – not your master! Use coloured folders for important papers and a shredder for the rest!
• Decrease dust-collecting knickknacks and magazines
• Putting your home in good order makes it easier to list – and sell!

2/ REVITALIZE YOUR MIND!

• Cleanse your mind of negativity – life will feel more harmonious!
• Make time for ‘Laughter' – that wonderful cure-all; rent a funny movie
• Skip the tv news before bedtime – read something uplifting; listen to music
• Join a Library/Book Club; learn a new craft/language!

3/ ENJOY GETTING HEALTHY!

• Feel energized and look great – walk/exercise 20-30 minutes/day
• Enhance your immune system – Omega 3 supplements, nutritious foods, water

‘Kale' — the new superstar! – try our delicious recipe, at McGuiganPepin.com/recipes

Here is an invitation for the last concert of our season – and the final CEM concert directed by Iwan Edwards.
Hope to see you there!

May 24th 2009, at 4 p.m.

Eglise Moutainside, Westmount

687, av. Roslyn (corner Roslyn and The boulevard)

Voici une invitation pour notre dernier concert de la saison – et le dernier concert du CEM dirigé par Iwan Edwards.
On espère vous y voir!
 

Simon Payn is talking about our newsletter in his blog…

Here are his comments on it:

Another Great Example of a Customized Real Estate Newsletter

It makes me smile from ear to ear when one of my clients takes the real estate newsletter I offer and really  makes it theirs.

Here's another example (click here for a previous one), this one from Marianne Derjean, who is with broker McGuigan Pepin, in Quebec,  Canada.

Here's what I love about it.

1. A "Message from the Presidents". Not just any message, but a report from a recent trip to a real estate conference in Paris, France. Not only is this an interesting article full of useful facts, but the "meta" message here is that these brokers are plugged into the international luxury real estate market. You'd want to hire people like that, wouldn't you? (The article mixes news about real estate, fractional ownership and the economy with a paragraph about how they spent their leisure time in Paris. A great way to make the tale more personal, strengthening their relationship with their clients by sharing what they did in their free time.)
2. A story about the company's trademark yellow golf flag, which is part of its logo and which flies outside its open houses. A neat little story that gives some insight into the company, while mentioning that one of the owners was a champion golfer. (I bet lots of their clients golf – great way to make a connection!) The golf flag is, of course, a great way to brand the brokerage- stands out from the regular lawn signs. (Plus: they also encourage reader feedback with a little competition to create a catchy phrase about the brokerage and the flag.)
3. An informative column on the current market focusing on pricing. Plus, another on why now is a good time to do renovations. Both are great up-to-date topics.
4. An article by a mortgage banker. This is a great way to get extra content for your newsletter – partner with a relevant, non-competing provider.
5. On their winter newsletter, not only do they wish people happy holidays, but there's a notice on the front page about the agency's Open Door Day. The position of the notice, on the bottom right corner of the page, is great for catching people's attention – and the freebie shopping bags they give away are a valuable (and timely) incentive.
6. Recognition to winners of a recent contest they held.

So, in summary, what this broker has done is take a ready-made newsletter and then personalize it with their own content to create a much stronger bond with their clients and a fraction of the price of doing

 the entire newsletter themselves.

That's why I'm smiling!

In the Gazette, today I found an interesting article from MIKE BOONE, and I thought it might interest you too…

The city’s first Jane’s Walks are happening on Saturday and Sunday.

Jane Jacobs, who died nine days short of her 90th birthday in 2006, had no training as an urban planner. But The Life and Death of American Cities, which Jacobs wrote in 1961, is considered a classic treatise on how urban environments should and should not work.

Jacobs looked at cities as ecosystems that would change and evolve according to how they were used. She believed in higher population densities, shorter city blocks, mixed-use neighbourhoods.

Her work has influenced generations of architects, activists and forward-thinking urban planners and politicians. A Pennsylvanian by birth, Jacobs studied at Columbia University, lived in Greenwich Village and moved to Toronto in 1968.

Jacobs did not like cars and was active in the campaign that stopped construction of the Spadina Expressway. She believed in studying urban life at ground level and, in Downtown is for People, wrote: “No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at … suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities.

“You’ve got to get out and walk.”

Jacobs’ enduring legacy inspired Toronto’s Centre for City Ecology to organize neighbourhood walking tours in 2007. Jane’s Walks have spread to New York, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, Guelph, Charlottetown, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Boston, New Orleans and, organized by the Centre for Urban Ecology, Montreal.

The list of neighbourhoods to be Jane’s-walked includes N.D.G., the Plateau, Mile End, Little Burgundy, Point St. Charles, Shaugnessy Village, Mercier-Est, Park Extension and Outremont. On each tour, Jane’s Walks are led by people who know the turf and have stories to tell.

For details for Montreal’s walk: Clic-clic

As I write this note the world markets have been continuing their positive weekly advances over the last 6 weeks. Although we ended the quarter still down from beginning of year, today we have Canada's stock market positive for the year and U.S. and world indexes have also gained considerable ground.

 You may be aware; the stock market is a leading indicator. This means that they change before the economy has changed, providing clues of whether we are in for an upswing or decline. A market rebound is typically associated with the early expansion phase of the economic cycle, or with expectations that the cycle is about to turn positive. Unfortunately as you know, market performance occurs in fits and starts and it is often only in hindsight that the larger trend lines become discernable.

 Governments worldwide have taken unprecedented and coordinated action to stabilize financial markets and economies around the world. Thru Fiscal Policy with the Stimulus packages to monetary policy of easing of the lending rates all countries are focused to lessen the turmoil of the world's recession and the length of it.

The Lagging indicators such as employment, GDP, consumer spending and housing starts tend to attract more attention than the leading indicators. At their bleakest or most negative, lagging indicators, despite their focus on the past, may also say something about the future. This is because as numbers hit their bleakest or most negative – in confirmation of a slowdown or recession-  is also often when you'll see the leading indicators kick into effect and start heading up.

In previous economic slowdowns, job creation typically found a footing well after equities bottomed and the recession was over.  This is because equities often rebound as lagging economic fundamentals continue to decline.

As we continue on in '09 we will hear positive news and some negative news. Remember that Financial Planning and a long term perspective remain key to achieving financial goals.