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There is nothing new on this list that hasn't been emphasized in a number of earlier blog posts but good advice is always worthy of restating. Here are 11 tips to help you sell your home faster:
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Curb appeal – Keep falling leaves and dead shrubs out of the yard! You don’t want a potential buyer’s first vision of your home to be negative (“look how much work it’s going to be to keep up this yard”).
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Front door – At the very least, make sure it’s clean. You may want to replace or paint the front door as this is your potential buyer’s first up close look at the property. Make sure storm doors are clean and that all locks and door handles are tight and functioning. A loose or broken lock gives the wrong impression from the get-go.
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Light – Make sure you home looks spacious and light. If you have darker areas in the house, buy additional lamps for those spaces. Put in full wattage bulbs (check the tag on the lamp neck for maximum allowable wattage) and make sure all bulbs in the house work. When the house is being shown, have ALL lights on, even closet lights and the one over the stove. Light and bright makes your home much more desirable.
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Windows – Open drapes and blinds to let in as much natural light as possible. Take down all worn, torn or broken blinds or drapes. Bare windows look far better than windows with torn or dirty treatments. And make sure windows are clean. Clean windows let in more light, improve the view on the other side, and make the rest of the house feel cleaner.
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De-personalize – You want buyers to see themselves and their family living in the house. It’s important to take down family photos, trophies, collectibles, anything that makes them see this as your home, not theirs.
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Smell / fragrance / odor? – This will be the first thing prospects notice when they walk in. You certainly don’t want the house to smell musty or like last night’s dinner. Scrub well and you may want to consider lemon scented cleaning products and/or burn vanilla scented candles.
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Clutter – No. None. Clean out, throw away and store everything that you can. Now’s the time to get rid of things you don’t want, but don’t replace them! Much better to have your home look open and spacious. You don’t want it to feel crowded or your buyer gets the impression that there won’t be enough space for their things. If you have a lot and can’t get rid of the excess, rent a storage building and take out more than you think you should. You may find you actually enjoy the extra space.
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Bathrooms – Remove everything you use – yes, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrushes and combs, razor, shampoo, bar soaps, make-up, everything out of the shower and off the vanities. The bathroom should be so clean it sparkles. Hang a new shower curtain – clear or white – and leave it open so the bathroom looks larger. Make sure all light bulbs are working and the highest wattage possible. No one likes a dingy or dirty bathroom.. It’s best to install new toilet seats (very inexpensive) and, if necessary, new faucets and shower-heads. Clean all grout. Great grout cleaners can be found at home improvement stores.
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Kitchen – Remove everything from counter-tops to make the space look as large as possible. Scrub all appliances until they shine. Take everything off the refrigerator – notes, photos, magnets, everything. Make sure cabinets and doors are free from fingerprints. Dated hardware? You can really spruce up your cabinets by replacing the knobs. Check out Habitat for Humanity stores for great deals on cabinet hardware.
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Bedrooms – Neat, clean, beds made, and eliminate clutter. Removing an extra nightstand or dresser may do wonders for increasing the visual space of the room.
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Closets – In every room of the house, clean out closets by throwing out or passing on anything not still being used. Make closets look as large as possible by leaving at least 30% of the space vacant. If necessary, pack up and store what you don’t need now. When buyers open doors, you want them to see plenty of closet space in the home.
Friday I was invited to meet with City staff at the Allandale Train Station. Myself and a few local Realtors were given a tour of the three conjoined buildings that make up this under restoration historic Barrie landmark. We were invited to share our thoughts on what, from a Realtor's perspective would be some of the better and more likely uses for these facilities.
I had previously toured part of the north most brick building with Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman in January of last year on a similarly cold day. At that time the task of restoring the integrity of the foundation was well underway and virtually all of the exterior was hiden from street view by scaffolding and tarpaulins.
Over the course of the past year the exteriors of the three buildings have been given a complete ground up face-lift including the restoring of original exterior colours and the installation of a Terracotta roof to replace the tired green asphalt shingle roof that had adorned it for the past half century. Most if not all living Barrie residents would be too young to have had the opportunity to view the Station in its former glory until now.
Reminders of its history take the form of old hand stenciled painted station signs previously hidden under a century's worth of paint layers on the timber bulkheads above the covered platform areas that announced "Allandale Station" to those arriving or passing through along with plaster column moldings stamped with the GTR logo of the Grand Trunk Railway which later became the Canadian National Railway (CNR). The general manager of the Grand Trunk Railway who oversaw the station's construction, Charles Melville Hays, died just a few years later on the maiden voyage of the Titanic on April 15th, 1912.
 Between the south and central building is the covered station platform that I see as being a seasonal patio onto itself or perhaps as a feature of the center building. The centre building sports 20ft plus ceilings that round seamlessly onto the walls. The exterior windows on ether side light up the interior and standing at the centre of this great hall one can envision a 5 star dining experience people would travel from afar to partake in. You must stand in this space to appreciate this in the full sense.
The north most Brick building would in my estimation be ideally suited for the offices of a company who wants their name to be synonymous with Barrie. Without doubt there isn't another building in Barrie that has as many eyes deliberately gazing upon it over the course of a day.
Grand marble front steps have been added to the north building entranceway to enhance the character of the interiors which have fireplaces (originally as the only heating source) at each corner of the main and upper levels and ceilings rising up over ten feet in each of the rooms on both levels.
The south end building consists of a main area and a smaller area that finishes in a windowed half circle where a century ago people would have kept a watch out for the giant steam plumes of the arriving trains. The tower which has been replaced to its original specifications serves as a giant skylight from within the interior. I can see how a cafe/coffeehouse in conjunction with a news and book stand such as one can find at an international airport would do a thriving business from this location serving the GO commuters, tourists, the local population and visitors to the south side of our bay. This could become an informal meeting place where I would be proud to meet with clients on their arrival to Barrie.
There is still work left to do to complete the existing building phase of the Allandale Train Station project but for the first time I could clearly envision the end results on Friday.
Beyond what is taking place here I can see the value pride and efforts of this restoration spilling over to the South Essa road and Bradford street commercial areas.
Rental housing has traditionally been built in Ontario when there is financial incentive to do so. When there isn't, demand continues to increase but availability shrinks. If you go back to the 60's and early 70's there were allot of new apartment buildings going up all over Ontario. At that time there were  many tax incentives and capitol cost write-offs along with assistance programs from CMHC for developer/landlords that disappeared around 1972 and when they did, apartment construction levels nose dived and have never recovered.
As rental demands in the seventies climbed as a result of little new construction and a growing population, so did the rents landlords could command. This created financial pressures on individual renters but is to be expected in an industry whose existence rises and falls with supply-and-demand and return-on-investment. Rather than revive those government incentives to encourage new building and accommodate the increasing demand for rental housing, the government of the day decided to implement rent control regulations.
The net effect of that over time has been a further decrease in new rental construction and unit availability as purchase and operating costs climbed at greater rates than could be compensated through the annual rent increases the government would allow. Landlords increasingly began converting rental buildings to condos and rental homes when sold off were more likely to become owner occupied as ROI numbers diminished.
At the municipal level, a window opened up for just a couple years in the early nineties under the NDP government that allowed second suites to be created in Ontario homes. The power to allow second suites was passed back to the municipalities in 1994 and Barrie has not granted permits for second suites in existing homes since that time. A grandfathering clause allowed second suites that were registered during that short time to continue . Most of those exist in older areas of Barrie as more than half the residential areas in Barrie today did not exist yet in 94.
One topic our municipal council would rather avoid but is forced to face again and again is whether to allow second suites in residential homes. A number of homeowners do not want to see them allowed for fear of their neighbourhoods deteriorating as a worst case result. Abiding by the wish of those constituents is the safe road politically for a Councillor or Mayor to stay on.
At the same time the number of unregistered second suites in Barrie grows and is many times greater than the number of registered ones. The combination of a rising population and strained economy will insure these numbers continue to escalate with time.
The City is obligated to respond if a complaint is lodged about a suspected illegal apartment in Barrie but there is no "illegal apartment squad" working out of city hall trying to shut them all down. If such an undertaking were ever to occur, the reality the City is well aware of is that there would suddenly be many thousands of new homeless people and hundreds if not thousands of people who currently rely on a second suite income who would be forced to sell.
If the City were to step off of the safe path of least resistance and face the reality head on by finding a manageable solution whereby qualifying property owners in Barrie could provide second suites that comply with current fire and safety regulations, far more good than grief would come if it.
There would be less of a gray market housing economy and fewer people living in apartments that don't meet with building code/safety requirements in Barrie. Instead the city would begin to generate much needed revenue which benefits us all. As suites were registered they would be required to meet with fire and safety regulations which benefits us all and saves on City resources.
As demand and availability of rentals in Barrie stabilized so too would rents. Increased competition and availability tends to keep market values in check.
A larger segment of the population, particularly young families starting out would find themselves in the financial position of being able to purchase a home if they knew they could offset the month to month costs by renting out an upper level or basement suite.
That in itself stimulates the local economy. If a family renting locally today purchased a home and added a legal second suite this would create a vacancy when they move and another in the home they buy.
The Mayor and Council are vying to have Laurentian University come to Barrie. Many of the 2500 - 3000 students and up to 300 faculty are going to require rental accommodations. If the city wants a university, they are going to have to show in a very significant way that they are willing to make the tough but responsible decisions that will allow it to meet the increased housing demands that come along with it.
Something else that we won't be able to ignore for much longer is a population that is aging faster than we are creating living spaces suited to accommodate them. Seniors housing is sparse and costs two, three or more times what an apartment in a home costs.
Many people have the space and the desire to create an independent in-law suite for a parent, family member or a senior age family friend rather than have them go into retirement homes. This is a convenience the City of Barrie should be allowing not denying families living in the community.
Barrie needs to look to the future. It isn't an all or nothing scenario. There are ways to moderate the number of units so we don't ever see the worst case scenarios that some existing home owners fear. To do nothing wont serve the growing demand and is only going to fuel the growing gray market apartment economy in Barrie while our community as a whole suffers for it.
Less than a week into 2012 many are maintaining the enthusiasm behind their New Year resolutions.
Here is a NOT to do list I found online this morning that might help you reach your goals.
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Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.
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Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.
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Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled
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Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.
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Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.
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Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
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Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.
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Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
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Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
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Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness
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Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.
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Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
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Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
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Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
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Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
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Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”
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Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, and it may be tough. But reflect back on those negative curveballs thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.
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Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time.
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Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
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Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.
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Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. – The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
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Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.
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Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. Read Getting Things Done
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Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.
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Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.
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Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.
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Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But making one person smile CAN change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world. So narrow your focus.
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Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth worrying about.
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Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
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Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.
September a strong month for home sales in the Barrie region
Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District  Association of REALTORS® Inc. came in well above year-ago levels for the third consecutive month in September 2011, and stood on par with some of the strongest September sales figures on record.
Home sales numbered 387 units in September 2011, an increase of 17 per cent compared to the same month last year. Within the city of Barrie, gains were in line with the overall trend for the region. The city of Barrie saw 243 residential sales in September, up 19 per cent from one year earlier.
“Demand in September came in only slightly below the record month of September set in 2009, and stood on par with the second best ever September sales figure, so it was a very good month for home sales in the region,” said Catherine Garbe, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “As a result of recent sales gains, activity for the year-to-date pulled ahead of last year’s levels for the first time this year, and remained above levels in the first nine months of 2009 as well.”
The year-to-date average price for all homes sold via the Association’s MLS® System in the first nine months of 2011 was $289,254, up two per cent from the same period last year.
The year-to-date average price figure for homes sold within the City of Barrie was $269,258. This was also a two per cent increase compared to September 2010.
The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® cautions that over a period of time, the use of average price information can be useful in establishing trends, but it does not indicate actual prices in widely divergent areas or account for price differentials between geographical areas.
The dollar value of all home sales in September 2011 was $113 million, up eight per cent from year-ago levels.
New residential listings edged down two per cent from a year earlier to 655 units in September. The number of active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System was 1,693 at the end of September 2011, down 12 per cent on a year-over-year basis.
There were 4.3 months of inventory at the end of September 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 4.8 months in August. This was the tightest balance between supply and demand since March 2010. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
Sales of all types of properties in the Barrie region numbered 397 units in September, up 17 per cent compared to September 2010. The total value of all properties sold in September 2011 was $115 million, up seven per cent from September 2010.
The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview.
Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie &
District Association of REALTORS® Inc. were up strongly from year-ago levels for the second consecutive month in August 2011.
Home sales numbered 401 units in August 2011, an increase of 22 per cent compared to the same month last year. The large year-over-year increase reflects not only weak demand last summer, but also the current strength of home sales in the region.
“Demand continues to run at healthy levels, with the August sales figure marking just the fourth time in history that home sales in the month of August have topped the 400 mark,” said Catherine Garb
e, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “As of the end of August, activity for the year-to-date had caught up with last year’s levels, and was also running ahead of the first eight months of 2009.”
Within the city of Barrie, gains were even stronger, with home sales jumping 51 per cent from year-ago levels to 269 units in August.
The year-to-date average price for all homes sold via the Association’s MLS® System in the first eight months of 2011 was $288,882, up three per cent from the same period last year.
The year-to-date average price figure for homes sold within the City of Barrie was $268,455. This was up one per cent on a year-over-year basis.
The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® cautions that over a period of time, the use of average price information can be useful in establishing trends, but it does not indicate actual prices in widely divergent areas or account for price differentials between geographical areas.
The total dollar value of all home sales in August 2011 amounted to $120.3 million, a 24 per cent increase from year-ago levels.
New residential listings edged up one per cent from a year earlier to 655 units in August. The number of active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System was 1,876 at the end of August 2011, up two per cent on a year-over-year basis.
There were 4.9 months of inventory at the end of August 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, which was unchanged compared to July. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
Total sales activity in the Barrie region numbered 416 units in August, up 23 per cent compared to August 2010. The total value of all properties sold in August 2011 was $124.2 million, up 25 per cent from August 2010.
The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview.
AFFORDABLE HOME IN BARRIE'S EVOLVING DOWNTOWN CORE. WALK TO LAKE, SHOPS, RESTAURANTS, LIBRARY, THEATERS. COVERED FRONT PORCH, BASEMENT WALK OUT TO DEEP YARD WITH MATURE TREES, LARGE KITCHEN, LOFTED CEILINGS. NEW ROOF IN 04, NEW FURNACE IN 09. WITH SOME ATTENTION FROM A CREATIVE BUYER THIS PLACE COULD BE TRANSFORMED INTO A CONTEMPORARY RESIDENCE WITHIN BARRIE'S LEGAL DISTRICT. INVESTORS TAKE NOTE.
List price: $165000
Taxes $1385
2 bedrooms
160 ft deep lot
Barrie's downtown has some significant projects in the works and also being proposed that will see it continue to evolve into a happening place. Among the may recent and upcoming projects is a condo development which will contain a Sobys grocery store and professional offices on the main level on the National Grocers site just a block away. That coupled with a shift in focus for The City of Barrie from playing catchup with overzealous expansion over the past couple decades to concentrating on and investing in intensification and improvements to the quality of the city's core will see a surge in property values and rents in conjunction with improvement to the quality of living in the down town.
I have no nuggets of real estate wisdom to impart in this post, instead after my trip to Costco Wednesday I feel like a good old  fashion Andy Rooney style rant so here goes.
For the past few months on my dresser has sat a $100 Costco gift card a fellow Realtor generously gave me in appreciation of my overseeing his business when he and his lovely partner slipped away to Vegas for a few days this past winter. (No paid vacations for Realtors, we pay others for the privilege of some rare downtime)
I have had a Costco membership every year for the past two decades even though I have shopped there maybe 3 times in each of the past few, mainly for electronics or last minute Christmas gifts.
Usually around the fourth visit, when I get to the check out, I am told my membership is expired and I am summoned to give over another $60 that gives me the privilege of my next three annual visits. During the hold up of the line I can always feel the piercing stairs on my back from frustrated people in line leaning against Hummer sized Costco style carts over flowing with 5 gallon pails of peanut butter, pillow case sized bags of M&M's and trays of muffins that in a perfect word would come with their own set of fold out car roof racks.
On Wednesday I was there specifically to buy a little black box LG makes which I had read a review on. A techno gismo that when plugged into the TV will wirelessly sync with my laptop allowing me to stream the hundred or so movies I have digitally collected strait to the big LCD TV. Best of all this little black box was $99 at Costco so off I went with my gift card.
I arrived and began the up and down row by row hunt for a parking spot in a lot that prior to being covered in acres of ashphault, probably produced enough corn to feed the entire Maritimes. On the trip up the third fully packed isle of parked cars in the lot I saw a trunk lid opened in the distance and a family to one side watching as the father strategically stuffed 4 cubic meters of meat and munchies into a 3 cubic meter trunk.
I pulled up and with hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, I watched and waited for them to depart. A few minutes passed by until a car coming in the other direction stopped and the turn signal came on. I could see the older couple inside, their eyes focused on the soon to vacate family, occasionaly darting to me then back to them as they piled into the car.
Suddenly the Costco parking lot took on the feel of the OK corral. I was quick to the draw and before the departing car had gone from reverse to drive I was nudging ahead, claiming victory over the parking space. I heard a horn beep from over my shoulder. I couldn't tell if it was a hi hello beep or a you little bastard beep.
A football stadium length walk later I was at the majestic front gates to consumer Mecca where I was accosted to show my COSTCO membership in order to be granted entry. I obliged with a quick flash of plastic and a nod and continued my way directly to the electronics section. There at the end of the isle was my little techno toy. This gizmo is roughly the size of a package of cheese slices but was contained in a bag, within a box, suspended by cardboard supports on all sides within a second box big enough to put a soccer ball in. Environmental consciousness has no place in the world of modern day home electronics.
I made my way quickly to the front with my single item in what was proving thus far to be record time for a Costco visit and decided the furthest of a half dozen or so check out lines of overflowing carts would likey get me back out into the real world faster than the others.
I got in place and waited, entertaining myself for the next 20 minutes by asking myself questions that only in a Costco check out line would ever enter the mind at all like, who really needs a 24 pack of smoked oysters? and why is a $50 package of 4 sirloin steaks more attractive to buyers than the $18 pack of 2 I bought last week at Zehrs? Is it really necessary for mankind to make a brie cheese wheel or a toblerone bar large enough to use also as a weapon?
If there are common attributes amongst regular Costco shoppers, math skills can't be one of them. Costco's marketing phylosophy is designed around appealing to our inner belief that more is always better and taking full advantage of eyes bigger than the stomach shoppers.
Like crack dealers who offer a free taste to get you hooked, so too does Costco by tempting you with little food samples at strategic points through out the store offered up from smiling grandmothers strait out of Grimm's fairy tales.
When I finally advanced to the front of the line, just as I had expected, the cashier told me my card had expired and I needed to renew my membership. Unbenounced to him I had done a little homework while online the previous evening checking out the details on my purchase item earlier and learned that while you need a Costco membership card to purchase a gift card you do not have to be a member to use it. I reminded the cashier of this. Without a word he immediately stepped back from the register and turned, thrust his arm high into the air and with my expired card in his fingers yelled loudly to a woman two check-outs over.
"I have someone here with an expired card who does not want to renew but he has a gift card". He then yelled it a second time to be sure everyone within 100 feet did hear. I looked around and then to those in line behind me, all none too happy eyes were fixed on me like I had just keyed their car or kicked their dog. I smiled and shrugged back at them with the best helpless victim look I could muster.
This seasoned Costco crowd wasn't buying it from me, their steely gazes remained fixed. "Void the transaction and enter code bla bla bla" came the shouted response. With a frustrated sigh and a shake of the head he re-entered the transaction and as he was reaching to hand me my receipt this spectacled high school grad paused and said condescendingly "without a card you will need to keep this receipt if you want to return the item." "Yes, just like all the other stores" I quipped back snatching my receipt in a manor Jack Nicholson might even give a thumbs up to.
I turned my gaze to the airplane hangar roll up doors at the far corner of the building from which I enterd 30 minutes earlier. The next revelation was the single file train of 20 or so carts lined up between myself and freedom, At the door beyond the line up stood the woman who's job it is to glance for a split second at carts heaped with dozens of items, simultaneously draw a ritualistic line across each patron's receipt and say aloud "K" which is Costconian for "you are now free to go."
I walked past the long lineup strait towards the exit pretending not to  notice and as I started to pass, held up my receipt and said "just the one item". "Hold on sir, you will have to get in line just like everyone else" she replied, once more in that loud authoritarian Costco employee voice.
I skulked back to the end of the line past the others who were looking at me like a freshly convicted criminal on his long perp walk from the court room. A woman at the back of the line felt it her duty to remind me in a once more condescending tone "you have to line up, you can't just leave, its a security thing" to which my reply skipped passed that filter between my brain and tongue, "you know, this is how all grocery stores would be today had the Nazi's won the war." My comment was loud enough for a few to hear I'm sure, but lingered without any acknowledgment.
I lost an hour of my life and Costco sized portions of my patience and dignity Wednesday and after spending more than $1000 over the past 20 years on Costco memberships to share in the experience of over indulging and being treated like livestock, I am going to have to give a little more thought as to where I'll spend my next 20 years worth of shopping dollars. There are quality family run retail and food establishments in my community that I know are grateful for the chance at my business and without stripping me of my identity or charging me a fee for the privilege of over-purchasing.
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We know, you don't want a mortgage...
you want a home!
Did you know that you may save thousands of dollars renegotiating your mortgage even if it is mid term? Call to book your review appointment and get saving!!! Did you know that I have been nominated as Barrie's Favourite Mortgage Broker? For a chance to win a $300.00 gift card, please go to www.barrieadvance.com and complete the survey. Thanks for your support! You will recognize a lot of exceptional business people - show them your support! (705) 727-9992 sblack@mortgagealliance.com
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| TERM |
POSTED |
OUR RATES* |
| 6 Month |
4.45% |
4.45% |
| 1 Year |
3.60% |
2.75% |
| 2 Year |
3.95% |
3.30% |
| 3 Year |
4.35% |
3.29% |
| 4 Year |
5.04% |
3.34% |
| 5 Year |
5.54% |
3.39% |
| 7 Year |
6.44% |
4.69% |
| 10 Year |
6.80% |
4.89% |
| Variable Rate |
2.20% |
| Prime Rate |
3.00% |
| BenchMark Rate |
5.39% |
| Cost per $1000 |
$4.93 |
* Cost per $1000 based on 5yr fixed term rate compounded semi-annually.
* Rates may vary provincially and are subject to change without notice OAC.
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To stay up to date with Mortgage Rates and Information checkout my /mobile/'>mobile website
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Rates courtesy of:
Shelley Black
Phone: (705)727-9992
Fax: (705)727-0945
Email: sblack@mortgagealliance.com
Web: www.mortgagealliance.com/ShelleyBlack
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An independently owned and operated franchise of the Mortgage Alliance Network License# 11922 |
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Mike Montague
Barrie,
ON
More about me…
sales representative : Sutton Group Incentive Realty Inc.
Address: 241 Minet's Point Road, Barrie, ON, L4N 4C4
Office Phone: (705) 739-1300
Cell Phone: (705) 718-6119
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