When rainwater and melting snow leaks through the foundation walls, basements may become damp. There may be water on the floor.

Homebuyers think that the house is defective. They may believe that the foundation is damaged. They worry that the situation is permanent and calculate that they will have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to get the problem fixed.

What a wet basement really means is that the house is typical. Most basements are wet at some point. It is a nuisance, but not usually a structural problem. The problem usually  occurs when water accumulates on the outside of the house. When this happens, it will almost always leak through the foundation.

What can you do about it? Stop the water from accumulating outside. Solve the problem at the source by fix the gutters and downspouts. Slope the ground outside to drain water away. You likely don’t have to build a last line of defense (digging down along the foundation wall and installing a membrane). 90% of the problems are fixed with proper draining.

What will a wet basement cost me? Fixing the gutters and downspouts might cost a few hundred dollars. Improving the ground slope can often be done by the homeowner.

Related posts:

What the home inspector told me about your roof

What the home inspector told me about your venting pipes

What the home inspector told me about your furnace

What the home inspector told me about vermiculite.

Filed under: advice, Buying Real Estate, home owners by Keith Marshall
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1. Notify the post office of change of address
2. Notify utilities when to discontinue service
3. Make arrangements in advance for all services at your new home
4. Make moving arrangements in as far as advance as possible
5. If moving in cold weather, articles subject of freezing should not be shipped via moving van.
6. Carry with you jewelry and valuable papers. Movers will not accept responsibility for articles of extraordinary value
7. Arrange to have your stove disconnected. Your washer and dryer should be disconnected and serviced before moving
8. Arrange your television and internet cable service to be disconnected
9. Unless credit has been arranged, your mover will require certified check or cash on delivery
10. Be sure to notify the Ministry of Transportation of your change of address
11. Notify your doctor, dentist and vet
12. Let your kid’s schools know where to forward your children’s school records
13. Dispose of old articles that you no longer require.
14. If possible, try to move at other times than the beginning and the end of the month when all movers are the busiest
15. Make sure to have all items being cleaned repaired or stored returned before moving
16. Notify the newspaper and other subscriptions
17. Arrange the transfer your bank account to your new location
18. If you’re moving into a new home in a new subdivision, check to see that the driveway and roads are accessible to the moving van
19. Remove trays, food and other things loose in the refrigerator and stove
20. It is not necessary to empty dresser drawers but remove all fragile and heavy items and all liquids
21. Power tools such as lathes, saws, and grinders should be dismantled for safe moving
22. Defrost refrigerator the day before moving
23. Be sure to drain such items as outboard motors and lawnmowers
24. Any fixture fastened by screw or track etc. should be taken down for the movers
25. Hire reliable movers 

Filed under: advice by Keith Marshall
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Alasdair Douglas and me were out delivering post cards in a neighborhood where we just sold a house. We do postcards for new listings, open houses, just sold and welcome to the neighborhood.

It’s where the rubber hits the road, where we are out walking the walk and talking the talk. We don’t believe that a realtor can be successful just by sitting in an office.

Life of a realtor – part one – flyers, postcard and feature sheets

(Why I need a new printer)

Filed under: About me, life of a realtor, video by Keith Marshall
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Question: What is a duplex and can I convert my family home into a duplex?

Answer:  “Duplex dwelling” means a building containing two dwelling units but not including a semi-detached dwelling.

“Dwelling unit” means a room or suite of habitable rooms which is located in a building, is occupied or designed to be occupied by a household as single independent and separate housekeeping establishment contains both a kitchen and a bathroom for the exclusive or common use of the occupants thereof and has a private entrance leading directly from outside the building or from a common hallway or stairway inside the building.

There are parking requirements:

Duplex requires two parking spaces (one space per dwelling unit).

One space must be set back a minimum of 20 feet from the front lot line

parking for duplexes may be in tandem (one behind another)

Minimum size for a parking space is 8.5′ x 18′

Relative to zoning, a single-family dwelling, semi-detached dwelling or street townhouse dwelling may be converted to duplex dwelling in the R-2 TO R-8, CR-1, CR-2 and MU-1 to MU-3 zones provided all regulations of the bylaw are met such as parking and setback.

A building permit is required to convert a DWELLING to a duplex use. This ensures that the requirements of the building code are met. Some regulations are; fire separation, smoke alarms, exits, minimum window sizes, minimum ceiling heights and minimum room sizes.

The city of Kitchener has a complete set of rules and regulations available.

Questions about Vermiculite?

Questions about window replacement?

Filed under: investing in real estate, Q&A, real estate by Keith Marshall
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Most commonly used in real estate regarding permission by the zoning authority to an owner permitting a minor violation of the zoning requirements for specific property, For example: setback requirements, use, or size of structure.

Variance is also used in statistical analysis to measure the amount of variability that exists in a set of numbers (formerly referred to as a frequency distribution). Variance is one of many statistical techniques gradually being introduced into real estate investment analysis decision strategies regarding acquisition and disposition of investment-grade property.

Past vocabulary words: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T  U

Keith Marshall is a real estate agent with Prudential Grand Valley Realty, serving Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. If you’re thinking of buying or selling your home, please give me a call. I aim to take the stress and mystery out of the home buying and selling process.

Filed under: real estate vocabualry by Keith Marshall
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