Gail's Blog

Burlington is a very progressive city and this in part is due to a very proactive City Council and involved members of our community.  Part of this forward looking council is the encorsement of the City's first community energy plan.  The plan has three main goals.   The plan's first goal is to ...

Many homeowners are now remodeling their homes.  If you are considering hiring a contractor to do the work there are some things to watch out for to prevent contractor fraud. If they are not listed in the phone book they may not be legitimate and could disappear after they receive your money. The...

  Many people would like to start building equity in their own home, but are held back by concerns about cost.  Your first step should be to approach your bank or mortgage broker.  They will give you a realistic idea of what your can afford.  A mortgage broker is a good way to start.  They can ge...

My husband and I recently attended Dinner and a Movie night at Trius Winery Hillerband in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  It was a wonderful evening.  This was the last of four.  The dinner was delicious, prepared by the winery's chef.  A different wine with each course. There were 20 people at each table ...

Did you know you can now get closing insurance when you sell your home. For as low as $99 you can be insured for up to $25,000 in the event that the buyers don't close. This will cover the cost of mortgage payments and other costs that you may have if you have to carry 2 homes. There seems to be ...

We took the grandchildren to the Electric Radial Railway Museum last week.  It is a great treat for the children and also the adults.  You can rid on two different streetcars.  One is and open car and was built in the late 1800's and the other one was built around 1925.  They were originally from...

Ixact Contact is a great program to help Realtors keep track of their contacts and keep in touch.  You can run letters that have already been pre loaded into the program, sent out e-newsletters that go out automatically, run off postcard etc.  It is a fabulous marketing tool.   Ixact Contact has ...

We had quite a storm in Ontario last night.  It whipped through Burlington in about 5 minutes and did a lot of damage to trees.  It is amazing how many roads in our Burlington neighbourhood that are blocked by fallen tree branches.    A tree fell in the park near us and took down a transformer ca...

Moving can be a very stressful experience.  So many things can go wrong.  When I last moved, my husband told me the basement was all packed up.  Silly me, I didn't check.  When the movers arrived they told me everything had to be in boxes in the basement.  Surprise, it hadn't all been packed.  My...

This weekend from Thursday June 20 until Sunday June 23 is the Burlington Sound of Music Festival.    The Sound of Music Festival won 10 awards last year and is one of the best in the world.  Various bands play Thursday and Friday evenings, and all day Saturday and Sunday.  There is a midway and ...