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Things to look for in House Hunting

When you decide to buy a new house, there are multiple factors which you should keep in mind while house hunting. Some factors might be based on personal preference but some must be kept in mind in all scenarios.

Location of House
The most important factor when it comes to buy a house is to see where it is located. Importance of the location can’t be much emphasized upon because you can always change everything about a house, but not its location. Things to look out in the location of a house are traffic, your proximity to work or school, noise from neighbors and public transportation. Another things that can also be helpful around the location of the house are shopping malls and parks.

Neighborhood
Another important factor to look for while you are house hunting is to check whether the neighborhood is suited to your lifestyle. It’s a saying you should buy a small home in the nicest neighborhood which is affordable but there are some things you should keep in mind, like is the neighborhood safe enough for you and your children to walk, play in the yards or even bike. Also you should see if the neighbors keep the yards clean and there should not be trash around.

Bedrooms and Bathrooms
You should look for the house that has the right amount of bedrooms and bathrooms according to your need. An extra bedroom is always nice which you can turn into a studio, home office or a guest house. The bathrooms should be clean and without any repair work.

Kitchen
A well maintained kitchen is something you should always look for when you are house hunting and should accord to your needs because remodeling can cost you a lot or if you think an inexpensive makeover will do, you should not worry about anything else.

Lighting and Windows
Everyone loves a bright and sunny room, so while looking for your perfect house, you should see if the house has enough windows for the sunshine to pass in and enough bulbs, lamps or even a chandelier in the dining room. Apart from the windows, the rest you can add yourself later but it’s always good to have them in the first place.

There might be other things like a good view, a basement, a fireplace or a garden and if you into these things then you should look for them in house hunting.…

Some of the craziest houses ever built in Canada and the USA

Some houses are just built to stand out amongst the crowd with their bold breath-taking designs and or old-world charm.

Then there are those that you look at with the head-tilt look when you cannot quite decide what is up with the design!  Or they occupants have given their property some unique, weird but truly worth a mention and if you are near them – a look!

 

Here are a few weird and wonderfully crazy houses in Canada that are worth a look:

  1. There is a house on Bertmount avenues in Leslieville that the other residents of the street know well. It is called “The Doll House” and with good reason.
    The house is pretty normal, but the garden gets a creep factor that puts it into the more macabre section of crazy homes.
    The front yard has a constantly changing and growing display of toys which all face the street giving the passerby that cold feeling of being watched.
    https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6634076,-79.3353785,3a,75y,83.56h,84.86t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssTJX-aDVbo-YYYu289bvBQ!2e0!5s20090401T000000!7i13312!8i6656
  2. A tiny house said to have been squeezed onto a piece of ground meant for a lane access road is the smallest and cutest little house on Day Avenue in Toronto. It so small it only covers 29 square meters and consists of a kitchen, bedroom, lounge.
    http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/04/this_is_the_smallest_house_in_toronto/
  3. This weird looking house on Sumach Street in Toronto is based on the “Cubic Houses” in Rotterdam by the Dutch architect Piet Blom,
    This house, currently for sale and under threat of being removed.
    As it is a “landmark” it is also a private listing, so you will not be the properties details on any of the property websites.
    http://www.blogto.com/city/2017/03/toronto-cube-house-sumach/
  4. A house in Ransom Canyon, Texas was designed by Robert Bruno and built with one hundred and ten tons of steel.
    The house was started in 1973 and grew over the years into the iron structure it is today.
    https://pacific-homes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/The-Steel-House1.jpg

 

  1. Indianapolis has a twisted house made out of cedar wood and looks like a tall thin house that has been twisted and bent over to the side with the roof stuck in the ground.
    https://pacific-homes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/twisted_house1.jpg

 …

Can I turn my Swimming Pool into an Ice-rink?

Living in Canada and having a backyard pool there must have been times when you looked and thought “I wonder if I could turn my pool into an ice-rink for the winter?” and what a perfect ice-rink it would make as most people with pools have an entertainment area with outdoor BBQ and bar areas, some even have awesome fire-pits, so it would be amazing for winter fun and entertainment.

 

There are varied and mixed opinions on this, but the consensus is that you can, but it depends on a lot on the location of the pool in your garden, the type of pool, what it is made up of, its liner and if you have the spare cash for the initial outlay then you may just have your very own ice-rink!

There are all sorts of ways to do this by building up a stage type platform of wooden specially cut beams and then placing a structure to house the actual section of ice over your covered pool or using your actual pool with special covers and you can even now get plastic ice or “Glice” that really resembles the real thing only there is less freezing to do with less chance of the ice cracking or melting.

There are companies that offer portable refrigerated rinks that do not cost an arm or leg, are maintained and setup by the company too and can be rented for various business functions, set up and delivered.

So yes, with some research, having a pool expert and someone with experience in converting your pool into a rink – it is possible.  Mostly an initial cost outlay but if you can afford it, it may be well worth it to get the most out of a structure you otherwise only use for about three months out of the year.…

Extravagant Houseboats and who lives on them

With the threat of global warming and ice caps melting as the oceans warm up, it would only stand to reason that the real estate market for houseboats is on the rise.

Although they are still pretty much a thing, the day of the traditional houseboat that much resembled a sort of flat yacht has taken a turn to look more like a space-age floating house than a boat.

 

Here is a list of a few of these rather extravagant houseboats:

  • Built by a group now known as Friday and comprises of engineers, designers and naval architects this houseboat called “the Floatwing” with its designers located in Coimbra Portugal.
    The group build personal sub-marines and made-to-order prefabricated houseboats varying in length as to the specific order placed for them. They are standard to deluxe models of Floatwing packages which include solar power-motors the more standard of which will last up to a week.
    http://www.gofriday.eu/
  • Built by Robert Harvey Oshatz, the Fennell Residence in Portland, Oregon is truly an amazing spectacle of a houseboat to behold.
    Situated on the Willamette River the house posed a construction challenge in that it has to be designed to create a spiritual ebb and flow in perfect harmony with the elements around it.
    The with its beautifully designed windows to capture the view around it on the river are outlined by curved, glued laminated beams in a really unique looking floating structure.
    http://www.oshatz.com/text/fennel.htm
  • Prague’s Port X houseboats are fronted for a view of the River Vltava by glass face, whilst the roof and walls resemble a flat c-shape. And although it cannot run on its own it can be towed down the river!
    http://www.portx.cz/en
  • Leave it to the UAE to design one of the most extravagant houseboats of all, called “The Floating Seahorse”. This luxury and fully customizable to the buyer’s individual style has beautiful finishes and lavish designs ensuring no two are exactly alike
    http://www.thoe.com/en/investment-opportunities/the-floating-seahorse-signature-edition.