It seems like the dog days of summer are just around the corner. If you haven’t gotten to your Spring cleaning, you might want to get started. The sunny beautiful days provide us a chance to get outside and take care of the yard and improvements around the outside of the house.

In my experience showing homes, I am always taken by how effective curb appeal, cleanliness and presentation can be. Most Buyers will see 4-5 homes consecutively in the same day and the home that is clean and well presented can really set itself apart from other comparable homes. A first impression is so important. Most Buyers have made up their mind within minutes of previewing a home, sometimes seconds. A well maintained home that shows pride of ownership (all the time, not just one week before you sell) will always attract more buyers and ultimately get you the most money when you Sell. The Spring can be a great time to Spruce up your place a little bit, move some things to storage, power wash the patio, give some old clothes to big brothers or Salvation Army.

Maybe you’ve been considering home renovations? My network is your network and I have numerous contacts in many trades that I would be happy to recommend. One that comes to mind is my good friends over at “Best Quality Roofing” My brother and sister just gave their website a makeover. These guys are reliable, they give fair prices and they get the job done on time.  Click here to check out the website.

I hope you’ve had a great Spring and I hope I’ve inspired you to do some “de-cluttering”. I’m off to power wash the patio…..

The energy in Vancouver last was like I’ve never seen it before. It seemed everyone had a smile on their face. The night was pretty much perfect (minus the hydraulic problems at BC Place).

After enjoying the ceremony for a couple of hours at Moxies on Georgia, Wayne Gretzky proceeded to carry the Olympic flame out of BC Place and into the streets of Vancouver. My friends and I thought we’d head outside and see if we could catch him. Our first thought was that he was at least one block over, but sure enough, as soon as we step out the door…. BOOM there’s Wayne Gretzky about 10 feet away. As I struggled to pull my camera out of my bag, I proceeded to chase him and the entourage up the street. When I finally stopped to snap a photo, it was way too blurry, so there I was running again. A few blocks later and just short of losing the beers from Moxies, I was able to get a quick bumpy video of Canada’s hero with the flame. The video is not that great, but I can say I was there and I could have literally reached out and touched Wayne had I been looking to be arrested.

Did you enjoy the Opening Ceremony? My favorite parts were the big spirit bear and the Avatar like whale swimming around BC Place.

My mom was lucky enough to carry the Olympic flame this week and my brother put together a great video of it. Our whole family was out to enjoy and the share the experience together. I’m very proud of her and happy to share the video with you. I hope you like it.

Barbara Behan – 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, Powell River, BC from Jordan Behan on Vimeo.

You can add one more to the list of residential burnaby condo projects near Brentwood. Pre-registration is now on for the Affinity project by Bosa located just a few blocks east of Brentwood Mall and just 20 minutes by skytrain from downtown Vancouver. Bosa is one of the most reputable and sought after developers in the lower mainland and their projects are always successful.

Affinity will offer homes starting around $300K and are sure to be finished with the highest quality. The high-rise tower will offer numerous floor plans and sweeping views in all directions.

To find out about registering for this great project, please contact me via the contact page, or you can visit the Facebook fan page