Category: Blog

Keeping Your Home in Top Shape Year-Round

Being a homeowner can be a big responsibility, but the joy and pride you will feel in your very own, brand-new (or new to you) home are unmatched. With the right set of tools and these simple seasonal tasks you’ll keep your home in tip-top shape, saving you from unexpected and costly repairs that can arise from neglect. Join us as we take you through each season, along with a manageable list of tasks you can feel comfortable taking on.

Summer

Summer is a favorite season for a lot of us, and for good reason! While it’s the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the heat while we can, it’s also a great time to get those at-home outdoor tasks done while it’s a comfortable temperature, as well as the indoor tasks that are easier to accomplish with the windows open.

Fall

While Fall may be the shortest season, it is one that is important to utilize and prepare for the winter months ahead!

Winter

Canadian winters can be frigid. Not only do we need to be sure we’re properly dressed for the cold climates, we need to make sure we stay on top of keeping our home running its best throughout these colder months, inside and out.

Spring

Spring marks the drastic change in seasons ahead as we transition from the cold winter months into the warm spring weather. While we all look forward to the warmth, this also means sloppy conditions as the snow melts and a lot of clean up to come. It is also a good time to assess your home for any damage that may have occurred from the cold.

Last but not least, don’t forget to re-install your sump pump hose and flip down your down spout extentions!

5 Reasons to Buy A Home Rather than Rent

Buying your home can be a daunting thought and of course, a lot of responsibility. However, there are many benefits to owning your own home rather than renting one from someone else. Among them is the pride you will feel when you can say you purchased your first home!

Join us as we take you through 5 reasons buying a home is more beneficial than renting.

Why A New Home Is More Eco-Friendly?

So, you’re looking at investing a home that’s more eco-friendly, and can’t decide whether you should buy a resale home, or a new home.

And while budget is always a consideration, the hands-down choice should be a new home.

Here’s why:

First, while budget is always a consideration, brand-new homes come loaded with cutting-edge technology built in. Hence, there will be no need to retrofit the home to modern specifications. This will make up for the price difference right off the hop.

Second, new homes come with tighter envelopes. 

At the same time, superior insulation, dual or tri-pane windows and high-efficient furnaces work together to reduce energy costs and create a more comfortable living environment. Due to their efficiency, windows are also larger, allowing for passive heating – and more natural light to enter the home.

Meanwhile, another built-in feature – a digital programmable thermostat – allows you to control heating costs by customizing settings whether you’re at home, at work or away from home for most of the day. 

This cuts down on energy costs and reduces your carbon footprint. If you really want to go eco-friendly, you can also opt for an electric or geothermal furnace!

Third, you can select eco-friendly materials and paints that make for a healthier environment.

Low VOC paints – which emit no toxic fumes – and natural flooring materials like hardwood floors, cork or bamboo are both healthier and more sustainable. Eco-friendly carpeting choices are also available.

Not only that, but you can also have your builder install low-flow fixtures and accessories in the kitchen and bathrooms – faucets, shower heads and toilets – that use less water, which reduces water consumption while lowering your water bill.

LED lighting can also be installed in key spaces to save money and add style, and you can also request that an electric fireplace be installed in your family room instead of a gas-fired model to forego the use of fossil fuel to heat your home.

In the final analysis, the choice is clear: a new home is far more eco-friendly than a 30-year-old home.

Right off the hop, modern home building specifications automatically mean that your home will be more eco-friendly.  Add in the advantage of working with your builder to build a home with the green features you want, and the result will be a fully-customized home with the green features you want and need to lead an exceptionally eco-friendly – and comfortable – lifestyle!

The Benefits of Buying a New Home

For years, homebuyers have debated the benefits of purchasing a new home versus a resale property. Today, the choice is clearer than ever: buying new.

Here are four reasons why you should buy a new home:

Perhaps the greatest benefit of buying new is that you’re in control.

When you get the home you want – one that meets your every need from how it looks, to how it functions and where it’s located – you’re bound to be much happier in the long run.

That means you’ll truly be able to experience the joy of home ownership each and every day in a functional, stylish new home that was built just for you!

10 Ways To Enjoy Your Savings In Bridgewater

Choosing a home in the suburban town of Clairmont offers not only financial savings on property taxes, but also space to breathe, taking you closer to nature, and opportunities to connect with your community.

In Bridgewater you pay 45% less in property taxes for the same $400,000 home you can buy in Grand Prairie. Imagine what you’d do with an extra $2,000 every year!

Consider 10 ways you could enjoy spending your savings:

1. Day Spa: A perfect way to destress! Nothing gets you more relaxed than a visit to the Ciao Bella Day Spa where you can sign up for a hot stone spa massage for you and your spouse. Live in Bridgewater and you can afford a spa day every month of the year!
   
2. Golf: Prefer to work on your golf swing? With a dozen golf courses within an hour’s drive, and Bear Creek Golf Club only fifteen minutes away, you can take out a membership and enjoy guilt-free golf all summer long!
   
3. Go Off-Roading: Pioneer Offroad Rentals offers a variety of off-road rentals. Or buy your own! Get active and go snowmobiling, take the family in a side-by-side along familiar trails, or learn how the Hagglund ATV arctic track vehicle can take you places you’ve never been before.
   
4. Restaurants: Divvy up your savings for a monthly night out at your family’s favourite restaurant. Padrino’s Italian Ristorante serves up a stellar linguini and to-die-for salmon in lemon-basil sauce. From young kids to the most discerning palate, Padrino’s won’t disappoint.
   
5. Camping: If a family adventure is more to your taste, put a down payment on a camper trailer and head north to the nearby Peace River where more than 30 campgrounds, RV parks and recreational areas await! Some of the province’s best camping happens along the shores of the mighty Peace River and neighbouring lakes.
   
6. Get Fit: Sign the family up for a membership at one of the 10 gyms conveniently located in Clairmont or Grande Prairie. Motion Fitness is just steps away and offers personal trainers, tailoring your workout for cardio and weight equipment. And, you can even use the tanning services to show off those abs, or to prepare for a winter getaway to the Caribbean!
   
7. Take A Trip: The Grande Prairie airport offers daily flights to Calgary and Edmonton. From there, you can be off to your favourite Caribbean resort or European adventure.
   
8. Walleye Wars: Get a boat and a new fish finder! Sign up for the Walleye Wars tournament and test your angling skills at fishing holes throughout the province.
   
9. Hunting Trips: From whitetail and mule deer, to black bear, moose and elk, the Peace River region offers up a multitude of hunting adventures. Bearpaw Outfitters boasts ethical hunting at its best. Stock the freezer and get up close and personal with nature.
   
10. Save for The Future: Whether you’re saving for your retirement or you’re hoping for a post-secondary education for your kids, RRSP, RESPs are available at all major banks.

5 Fun Summer Activities If You Live In Bridgewater

So you have decided to make Bridgewater your home! Congratulations!

Bridgewater is a relaxed and friendly community, offering the benefit of lower taxes while still enjoying the convenience of being close to city amenities. Not to mention, it offers you plenty of recreational opportunities to get involved with the community and enhance your living experience.

Here are 5 places in Clairmont you and your family could visit:

1. Bear Creek Golf Club

Grande Prairie golfers love playing Bear Creek because it’s great value and perfect location to enjoy an unforgettable round of golf! In fact, Bear Creek golfers like the course so much they’re playing it first in the early spring, and they’re last to leave late in the fall.” Bear Creek golfers keep coming back because they love playing a combination links and parkland golf course.

Enjoy all the perks of being a member at Bear Creek including unlimited golf, 18 hole championship course, RV park with full service and more!

2. Bear Lake Campground

Located on the north shore of Bear Lake, the campground offers overnight camping, group camping, and day use. Amenities include a day use shelter with a wood stove, outdoor restrooms, large playground, ball diamond, and a lovely waterfront for picnicking and daydreaming. Firewood is also included with camping fees.

Bear Lake is large and shallow, and small hand-launched watercraft can be launched from the Park’s boat launch. It’s the perfect place for you and your family to enjoy all that nature has to offer.

3. Crosslink County Sportsplex

The Crosslink County Sportsplex offers a state-of-the-art recreation complex as the home for arena sports, outdoor sports, indoor track athletics and other activities for users of all ages.

This multiplex offers baseball diamonds, indoor soccer pitch, exercise equipment and weight room, yoga studio, and a sports lounge overlooking the indoor ice rink. A variety of family programs are available year round, such as parent and tot programs, drop in shinny, family field days, and summer day camps.

4. Clairmont Adventure Park

Enjoy being active?

The Clairmont Adventure Park is a central hub for social meet ups where the kids can enjoy the skatepark, cool off in the splash pad, or get busy with outdoor fitness equipment. Plus, if you enjoy getting your hands dirty, consider working on the Clairmont Community Garden with other gardeners. The garden is a combination of a public garden that grows food for the community, and assigned spaces, where people can grow their own flower/food gardens.

5. Heritage Discovery Centre

The Heritage Discovery Centre (HDC) is an exciting interpretive museum that takes visitors through a geological and industrial time-line as portrayed from the Mesozoic Era, through the last Ice Age and into the development of local, natural resources. You can stroll through the galleries at your own pace and learn about our history through interactive displays and survivor games.

It also features an onsite dynamic art gallery, the Kin Gallery, which regularly features alternating exhibits from local artists in and around the Peace Region area!

HDC is open 7 days a week, year-round and admission is always FREE!