905-937-6000 (Office)
1-866-999-9497 (Office)
dollar@royallepage.ca
www.SallyDollar.com

Royal LePage Niagara R.E. Centre, Brokerage
www.SallyDollar.com
101 LAKEPORT RD
ST. CATHARINES, ON L2N7L7

This a great opportunity to have 4 above grade bedrooms on a nice deep lot close to the heart of the city. Try my mortgage calculator at www.sallydollar.com to see that your mortgage payment could be $592.55 with 0% down on a variable rate mortgage ... ask me how to get this 4.125 % rate. View the virtual tour at http://www.sallydollar.com/Listing/VirtualTour.aspx?ListingID=1749945

Lots of people are taking advantage of a good Spring market right now and trying to sell their homes without using a realtor. Whatever the reason (most commonly to save money), make sure that you do your research and use the power of the internet to learn everything you need to know about protecting yourself in a transaction. If you are not using a licensed realtor to sell or buy your home, make sure that you have a lawyer look over any documents before you sign them and get EVERYTHING in writing.
Use common sense and make sure you have a plan for personal safety in place as well. Dont be afraid to ask questions of potential buyers or sellers and ask them for proof of their pre-qualifications, financial information, ability to buy or sell that house. If in doubt, consult a professional.

Get a REALTOR® on your team when buying or selling
Thinking of buying or selling a home? If so you'll want to enlist the services of a REALTOR® to help you navigate through this complicated business transaction from start to finish.
Your REALTOR® has what it takes to help you every step of the way to achieving your home ownership dreams. And, he or she will be the top player on a team of experts who will protect your interests and ensure your real estate transaction goes smoothly.
The team
Depending on your needs, the other experts on your team will likely include a lender, a lawyer, and insurance agent and a home inspector. Your REALTOR® will offer guidance as to how to proceed with your purchase or sale and when it's time to bring in the other experts and professionals on your team.
REALTORS® role
A REALTOR® has vast amounts of real estate knowledge and the experience required to stay cool, even in a hot real estate market. In Ontario, a REALTOR® is a licensed real estate professional who is a member of a local real estate board as well as the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). When you work with a REALTOR®, you can expect strict adherence to provincial law as well as to a code of ethics ensuring you'll receive the highest level of service, honesty and integrity.
If you are buying a home, your REALTOR® can help you determine how much house you can afford, offer advice on choosing the right neighbourhood and ensure your interests are best served during negotiations.
If you are selling a home, your REALTOR® will help you determine a fair and accurate asking price for your home, develop a marketing plan, offer advice to help make your home more "saleable," screen potential buyers, show your home and, of course, negotiate on your behalf.
Lender
As you and your REALTOR® begin looking for a home, it is wise to also begin looking for a mortgage lender. Your REALTOR® can help you review various mortgage options to ensure you get the best rates and terms available. Although most buyers will start their search with their own bank or financial institution, it pays to shop around for more competitive rates. Often, your bank will match or beat a competitor's rate to keep you as a customer.
Lawyer
It is recommended that you have a lawyer waiting in the wings, preferably one who specializes in real estate transactions, to review complicated documents such as the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. If you are selling, it's wise to have a lawyer review an offer to purchase before you sign it. As a buyer, your lawyer will also ensure you receive clear title to the property and calculate the amount of land transfer tax you will be required to pay.
Home inspector
Having a home professionally inspected before you seal the deal to buy can help you avoid costly surprises after you move in. A home inspector will report any minor problems as well as major ones such as structural deficiencies that could affect your decision to buy at all or at what price.
Insurance broker
In order to secure financing, mortgage lenders require insurance on the home. Just like when you shopped for your mortgage, do your homework with insurance companies too. Insurance coverage and rates vary and you will want to be sure you get the coverage you want at a fair price.
Your MVP
Having the right team of experts on your side can mean the difference between a successful real estate transaction and a personal and financial nightmare. When you select your team, start with a REALTOR®- she will be your Most Valuable Player.

Especially pertinent to buyers who are not using a Professional Realtor® - a person selling a home privately does not have to disclose to you that a home was a former grow house - a Realtor® absolutely does have to disclose it to you. With the last few months of record busts in Niagara, this information is good for everyone to know.

Have you ever wondered why your neighbours never surface from their home, rarely have any garbage to pick up, always have the blinds down or windows covered, come and go at unusual hours? If this is the case, there is a possibility you are living beside a grow house. With an estimated 50,000 grow houses in Canada, there is growing concern about health, fire, safety, and structural implications for home buyers. But what risk is there in owning a grow home?
What is a grow house?
A grow house is a home that has been converted into a marijuana operation. Larger homes in quiet areas with unfinished basements are preferred, although grow houses can exist in any neighbourhood.
What are the signs and the risks?
There must be ideal greenhouse conditions for these operations. The electrical system is usually altered to power the hydroponic equipment. Operators may also steal electricity by tapping into the electrical service before it enters the electrical meter, and bring power into the house through a hole in the foundation. Additional circuitry is usually added inside the home to bring electrical power to the equipment, and operators rarely make sure that these alterations meet electrical codes. While these modifications can create a hazardous electrical situation, improvements can be made to ensure the electrical system remains safe for a potential homebuyer.Holes cut in the foundation wall can be repaired as well, but if not done properly, the potential for water leakage remains.
Plants require light, ideal temperature, water and nutrients in order to thrive, and with the heat generated by hydroponic lighting, a significant amount of humidity is produced in the process. While humans, animals, and plants need humidity, too much can cause mould, mildew, and rot to form in the home, especially in or on exterior surfaces. Often, modifications are made to the home to help vent the excess humidity to the outdoors and bring in fresh air from the outside. Fireplaces and chimneys can be used as channels for removing excess moisture. Structural members such as floor and ceiling joists are sometimes cut to accommodate additional ductwork. The structural integrity of the home may be compromised by the combination of cut framing members and high humidity. Signs of high humidity are usually most visible in attic spaces, where the moist air is often dumped. Darkening of attic surfaces is generally a good indicator that mould and mildew are present.
Mould comes in many colours and may be visible and distinct. It can also be very subtle. Surface mould may be the tip of an iceberg, with considerable mould concealed behind the wall. In other cases, the mould is only on the surface. The toughest situation occurs when the mould is not visible. Home inspectors pay particular attention to intersecting walls and ceilings where air circulation is poor or areas that have been chronically damp or wet. The good news is that many grow houses are in operation for less than a year, which may not be enough time for mould to thrive and cause serious structural damage.
Other clues
Look for painted concrete floors in the basement, and walls that have been painted white to reflect light. Screw holes and patches are often visible in the foundation wall where equipment was mounted above the floor level to avoid any water on the floor. Multiple splices in the plumbing system may be present to nourish the crop. Chemical odours, including fertilizers and pesticides are also used, which can create health hazards through poor indoor air quality.
Conclusion
While it is expected that realtors who are representing sellers or landlords of these properties should make every effort to ensure that all parties are notified of the potential issues, a home inspection can help quantify the severity of these issues. In some cases, with proper clean-up and repair, these homes can be lived in with concern. Unfortunately, insurance companies are also being very cautious & focusing on reducing loss ratios, not on acquiring business, making it more difficult to get insurance on high risk homes such as grow homes.

Mistaken Identity
Carpenter Ants should not be confused with termites. Termites are white in colour and are smaller than a grain of rice. Carpenter ants look like regular black ants, except a little bigger. Adult carpenter ants grow to be as much as one-half inch long. Queens are often twice that size.
If you get really intimate with a carpenter ant you will notice that they have bent or "elbowed"
antennae. They only have one Node or bump on the joint between their thorax and abdomen (the thorax is the middle section and the abdomen is the rear section), and the thorax on some carpenter ants is burnt orange or chestnut red in colour. They also have hairy abdomens.
You will never see a termite unless you break open a piece of infested wood or a shelter tube (tunnels that termites use to get from the soil, where they live, to the wood they are eating). Carpenter ants, on the other hand, roam around looking for food the same way ordinary ants do.
Termites eat wood. Carpenter ants do not. Instead, they burrow into wood to make a nest and they push the wood and other debris (called frass) out of their colonies. The inside of the infested wood is spotlessly clean and consists of smooth galleries through the wood.
Finding A Home
Most carpenter ant nests are outdoors in tree stumps, fence posts, and unfortunately, sometimes in porches. But these ants will also nest indoors in rotten or damp wood or sound wood adjacent to a source of moisture such as a sweaty pipe, washing machines, dishwashers or baseboards in damp areas. Although they normally excavate their colonies, they sometimes live in hollow doors, window frames, etc.
Carpenter ants are omnivorous meaning they eat all different types of food. Outdoors they eat plants, insects, (their favourite are aphids), fruit, etc. Indoors they eat household foodstuff, especially syrup, honey, sugar, fat and grease.
On their way back to the colony, they rarely take the same route twice, which can make it difficult to locate the nest. Even though the colony may be indoors, most of the ants will go outdoors to feed. This also reduces the likelihood of detection. To make matters worse, the ants are more active at night than in the daytime and some colonies go dormant during the winter. (The colony is most active during the spring and summer.)
Coming Out of the Closet
In the summer months, swarms of winged carpenter ants (both male and female) leave the
colony. They mate on the fly, return to earth and shed their wings. The female (queen) then finds a suitable place to lay her eggs which hatch into larvae. The larvae develop into adults in 2 to 10 months depending on the temperature. These adults are workers and at this stage the colony is only a queen plus 10 to 20 workers. The colony takes 3 to 6 years to develop, during which time the queen lays eggs and the workers care for the young. A queen has a life expectancy of 8 to 12 years while workers can live 4 or 5 years. When the colony has developed, winged males and females form. They remain in the colony over the winter and take flight the next summer to begin the process again. A developed colony may contain thousands of ants. Needless to say, the damage to wooden components can be significant to make a home for this many ants.
Kissing Your Ants Goodbye
We have to find the colony to get rid of the ants. This can be tricky. Sawdust at entrances to the colony is one method. Listening for the ants is another. At quiet times, a dry rustling sound can be heard from the colony (some specialists use stethoscopes to listen for them). If you bang on the wood, it disturbs them and the noise level from the colony will increase. Finding and eliminating the colony is best left to a pest control specialist.
Your best defence against carpenter ants is elimination of damp environments and rotted wood within the home. Storing firewood adjacent to the house or in the basement is not wise. While chemical treatment can kill the colony, they'll be back next year if suitable conditions exist.