KWO Training Department Helps Bailey!

In Hopes of finding a way to tie Mary-Anne Gillespie’s passion for training and giving back to the community together. The Training Department led by Mary-Anne at KWO has found a wonderful way to do both through training! One of their recent guest speakers, Ben Kinney happily agreed to auction off a dinner combined with a coaching session. They raised $1200 for that dinner; The Rushforth Team was the winning bid just barely outbidding the Pilon Hamilton Team. The training department gave $600.00 to KWCares and the other $600.00 to a charity close to Mary-Anne’s heart; The Ottawa Humane Society. Through their Buddy and Belle fundraising initiatives you are able to actually donate the funds to a specific cause and animal. On behalf of KWO, Mary-Anne selected a wonderful little dog called Bailey to help with his surgeries. Below you will see his story, the amount they donated on behalf of KWOttawa and of course......he is up for adoption so maybe we can find this little puppy a home for Christmas.

http://bit.ly/2HnxyG Here is Baileys Link and the donation.

The Ottawa Humane Society thanks the wonderful agents of KWO for giving not only in our community but for thinking of them with such a wonderful donation!
Thank you to everyone who supports these training events. Being able to do this creates a wonderful new purpose to training that we will carry into 2010. Feel free to share the link with your clients, friends, families and peers! It is a wonderful way to spread the word that we truly Care in our Community.

Olympic Torch Relay Coming to Ottawa!!!

This weekend, Saturday December 12th the Olympic Torch Relay will be making its way through our Nation’s Capital. This has been a long awaited journey for a lot of us and we cannot wait to take part in all of the festivities! The torch will arrive at noon on the 12th and depart the morning of the 14th. It will travel around the city covering roughly 75km, with more than 220 torchbearers.

On Saturday at 2:16pm, Mayor Larry O’Brien will host a ceremony at Ottawa City Hall to officially welcome the Olympic Torch Relay to Ottawa. Nineteen year old Ottawa resident, Melissa Brunet, has been selected as the City’s official Torchbearer.

The arrival of the flame will coincide with the 25th edition of Christmas Lights across Canada will be launched with an illumination ceremony on Parliament Hill. The festivities on Parliament Hill will begin at 5:45pm. Everyone is welcome at Parliament Hill to join the celebration for this special moment in the countdown to the 2010 Winter Games.

Here is a full schedule of where in Ottawa the torch will be visiting throughout its visit:

Saturday, December 12:
12:12pm : Arrive via Alexandra Bridge, Sussex Drive
12:48pm: Rockcliffe, Vanier
1:47pm: Byward Market
2:16pm Official Welcome to City Hall
3pm: Downtown
3:58pm: Queen Elizabeth Drive, Carling Avenue
5:36pm: Westboro, Wellington Street
7pm: Parliament Hill Festivities

Sunday, December 13:
7:30am: Ben Franklin Place, Centerpointe Drive, Baseline Road, Greenbank Road to Queensway
8:05am: Kanata via Eagleson Road, Hazeldean road, Terry Fox Drive and Palladium Drive
8:54am: Departure for Pembroke via Carleton Place, Arnprior and Petawawa

Monday, December 14:
6:50am: Capital Infocentre, Wellington Street
6:59am: Sandy Hill, University of Ottawa campus
7:15am: departure via Queensway for Orleans
7:25am: Orleans, Jeanne D’arc Blvd and St Joseph Blvd
8:01am: departure for Kingston via Rockland, Cornwall

...Another Buyer Picking Up a New Condo Downtown

Buying ahead of the market...2years ahead, was no problem for my client.

She is in a great location with excellent rent. So she viewed this as a wonderful investment opportunity. With continued growth and increase in costs of condos in downtown Ottawa, it’s almost a sure thing that the value will be substantially more 2 years from now. She went green and did not buy a parking spot. With Central condo’s this is more common than ever. Not to mention a parking spot costing onwards of $25,000.

The builder has a financial agreement to lock down today’s rates until she closes, that’s an opportunity even I couldn’t pass up. The ladies selling the Condo’s at Central in Ottawa with Urban Capital made this such a fabulous experience as well. They were high energy, non pressure and very much into making sure it’s all about the purchaser. Often as a Realtor we walk in and feel somewhat like a third wheel in new home developments. This was not the case. These ladies are the type that you know will be there helping your client until the end and then some more.

My client got to put her own red dot on the new condo she purchased and she will be part of a great experience, even though it’s years away. Having a happy client is all you can ask for in this business!!

Call me if you have any questions!

Your Real Estate Professional,
Mary-Anne

KWO Brings Holiday Cheer to Orleans Parade of Lights!!

On Saturday November 28th over 120,000 people came out to watch the Orleans Parade of Lights put on by the Ottawa Firefighter’s Association. This is the 12th year that the parade has been going strong and every year it continues to grow with more and more participants.

This year the Keller Williams team decided to build a float of our own. It was an incredible experience shared by our Agents, Staff and children. Our float had over 1500 lights on it, Xmas music, tree and a fireplace at the back. Most items were donated including the flat bed, driver and truck. It is a fabulous way to pick up food, toys and money for the needy with over 120,000 people watching and 81 floats.

Nothing feels more like Christmas than seeing the smiles on all the children lined along the streets waving and dancing to the music. We were truly honoured to represent KWO and be a part of something so amazing!

Mark Your Calendars Ottawa! Don't Miss the Olympic Torch Relay!

2010 is the year that millions of people have been awaiting! Finally the Winter Olympics are making its way back to Canada! As the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver get underway there is of course the traditional torch relay through Canada. The relay reaches over 1,000 communities and places of interest where the 12,000 torchbearers will carry the Olympic Flame. How amazing that almost 90% of Canada’s population will be within a one-hour drive of experiencing the Olympic Flame as over 45,000 km will be travelled!

The relay began on October 30th in Victoria and will be coming through Ottawa on Day 44, December 12th at 7pm.

The arrival of the flame will coincide with the 25th edition of Christmas Lights Across Canada will be launched with an illumination ceremony on Parliament Hill. The festivities on Parliament Hill will begin at 5:45pm. Everyone is welcome at Parliament Hill to join the celebration for this special moment in the countdown to the 2010 Winter Games.

This is truly a once in a lifetime experience for many people! Come on out to Parliament Hill on December 12th to share the magic with our Nation’s Capital!

Looking for a Simple Way to Transform Your Bathroom? D-I-Y!

A Simple Way to Transform Your Bathroom

Often, all you need to do to update your bathroom is to install a new vanity and repaint. The choice in colour and style for your new vanity is wide – you can go traditional or thoroughly modern. It's a good idea to look for something that is similar in size to your existing unit. With the addition of a matching sink and beautiful new faucet, your space will be transformed.

Before you get started the tools and materials that are required for this do-it-yourself project are; a pencil, tape measure, adjustable wrench, screw gun, vanity, braided line, and a chrome p-trap.

Now YOU can get started!

Step 1: Remove Baseboard
Carefully remove existing baseboard and set aside for reuse once vanity is in place.

Step 2:Vanity Placement
Measure to determine where your vanity will be placed relative to the existing plumbing.

Step 3: Install Vanity
Install the vanity using screws through the cabinet into a wall stud. Then place the counter and sink

Step 4:Attach Braided Lines
Using an adjustable wrench, attach the braided lines on the tap leads under the sink. Then attach the opposite end of the braided lines onto the shut off valve coming from the wall. Gently tighten.

Step 5: Install the P-Trap
Measure the distance to the wall from the centre of the tailpiece and cut the wall extension portion of the P-trap so that it fits into the PVC wall adaptor. Put the other end over the tailpiece at the bottom of the sink and adjust to ensure that everything is in line, then tighten both nuts.

Step 6:Test Water
Slowly turn the water back on with the taps open and check for leaks in the supply lines and P-trap. Re-tighten if necessary.

All it takes is 6 easy steps and your bathroom looks brand new!

Courtesy of Home Depot

October Stats Are In.. Another Fabulous Month

WOW... It continues to be an amazing month for the Ottawa Resale Market. Sales have been booming in past months with record breaking numbers! This is terrific for the Ottawa market and it looks as if it's just going to keep going and going.

Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,202 residential properties in October through the Board's Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 964 in October 2008, an increase of 24.7 per cent.

Of those sales, 270 were in the condominium property class, while 932 were in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, stacked etc.) which is registered as a condominium, as well as properties which are co-operatives, life leases and timeshares. The residential property class includes all other residential properties.

"Once again we saw record-setting sales numbers for the month of October. This brings our sales year-to-date to four percentage points higher than the same period last year. Ottawa's resale market has been buoyed by buyers taking advantage of low interest rates," said Board President Rick Snell. "Listing inventory remains at a low level, and combined with brisk sales, indicates that we are still in a strong sellers' market here in the capital," he added.

The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in October in the Ottawa area was $318,655, an increase of 13.6 per cent over October 2008. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $232,046, an increase of 14.6 per cent over October 2008. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $343,745, an increase of 13.3 per cent over October 2008. The Board cautions that average sale price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average sale price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

We cannot stress how happy we are to see such progress in our own market. These "tough" economical times are not affecting OUR market.. buyers are taking advantage of very low interest rates as seller's are getting top dollar for their properties.

NOW really is the time to BUY or SELL.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to call us.

Your Real Estate Professional,
Mary-Anne