Courtesy of Chuck Farrauto

YOUR HOME GUIDE

Chuck Farrauto Sales Representative Office: 905-389-3737 chuckfarrauto@realtynetwork.biz Taking Care of Business

431 Concession St Hamilton, ON L9A 1C1

2025 | ISSUE 8

Adding art to the walls of your home allows you to showcase your personality and add colour, dimension and conversation to your life. Choosing the right artwork in the right size can really help your pieces stand out and your room look complete. Experts suggest using art to fill up to two-thirds or even three-quarters of the empty wall space in your rooms. In most cases a large piece will work, but play around with different arrangements of smaller pieces as well. Smaller pieces grouped for a gallery wall should be spaced out from each other by an inch or two for a cohesive look. When hanging frames over a piece of furniture, choose art that’s narrower than what it’s sitting over and place it slightly above the top of the furniture as well; up to a foot above to allow for some visual breathing space. For art going on a wall where it will be the focal point, it’s suggested to hang the center of the piece at eye level, which is about 57” from the floor. You may want to adjust this height if you have higher ceilings though. Of course these are guidelines for art placement and sometimes breaking the rules is more appealing than following them, so do what feels right in your home. RULES FOR HANGING ART

Best Lentil Soup • ¾ cup dry green lentils, rinsed • 1 (14-oz.) can diced tomatoes • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar • 12 fresh thyme sprigs, bundled • 6 cups vegetable broth

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil • 1 medium onion, chopped • 4 medium carrots, chopped

• 2 celery stalks, chopped • 8 cups kale chopped (keep leaves & stems separated) • Heaping ½ teaspoon ground cumin • 4 garlic cloves, grated

• Sea salt & black pepper (to taste) • Option garnish: ½ cup chopped fresh parsley, red pepper flakes, grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, kale stems, cumin, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften. 2. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, lentils, vinegar, thyme, and broth. Cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Add the kale leaves and cook for 5 minutes, or until wilted. 3. Remove the thyme bundle and season to taste. Serve topped with the parsley, red pepper flakes and Parmesan, if desired.

NEVER REGRET A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. GOOD DAYS GIVE YOU HAPPINESS AND BAD DAYS GIVE YOU EXPERIENCE.”

UNKNOWN

WORD WHEEL How many words can you make out of the letters in the word wheel? All words must include the letter in the center of the circle. There is one nine-letter word!

2 N MATH RIDDLES What do the numbers 11, 69 and 88 all have in common? T E O R I add 5 to 9 and get 2. The answer is correct, so what am I? A clock. When it is 9 a.m., adding 5 hours would make it 2 p.m. T What three numbers give the same result when multiplied and added together? 1, 2, and 3 (1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 1 x 2 x 3 = 6). F They all read the same way when placed upside down. O G

1

V

I

T

C

E

I

E

N

N

What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat and 2/4 goat?

Chicago!

The 9-letter word answer is “Incentive”

CLEANING OUT YOUR WARDROBE

Organizing your wardrobe can be fun when you find pieces you haven’t seen in a while and decide to incorporate them back into your regular rotation. However, some of those long-lost pieces were lost for a reason and are taking up unnecessary space and should really be donated. There are a few tricks you can try as you cycle through your wardrobe if devoting an extended period of time to go through your wardrobe isn’t realistic. The most popular method is to turn all your hangers backwards so the open part of the hanger is facing you. Then, as you wear and return your clothes back to the closet, put the hanger on the other way. After a few months, you will be able to visually spot the pieces you don’t wear frequently and can easily pull them from your closet. For items that aren’t hung in the closet, you can try designating a “worn” and “unworn” side of your drawers. As you wear things, move them from one side to the other and as time passes, you’ll be able to see what you keep bypassing. If space in your drawers is limited, put a piece of low-tack tape (painter’s tape or washi tape) on everything, as you wear and replace pieces in the drawer remove the tape. Again, over time you’ll see what is taking up space and what you regularly wear. Finally, organizers suggest for every new item you bring into your wardrobe, remove a piece that no longer suits you. Going through your wardrobe can be done at any point throughout the year, but is often more effective at the end of a season like when summer transitions into fall.

PAINT FINISHES EXPLAINED Walking down the paint aisle can be confusing when you look at not only all the colour choices, but the paint finishes too. Finding the paint you need will depend on where you’re painting, how many coats you want to apply and how durable you need the paint to be. Take a look at these popular finishes to help you find your perfect paint. • Flat or Matte - Non-reflective with a low sheen. Easy to touch up and hides minor wall imperfections but shows scuffs and wear and tear. Great in no or low-traffic areas like ceilings. • Eggshell - One of the most popular paint finishes with a low sheen. Washable and resistant to scuffing but more difficult to touch up. Use in low- to mid-traffic areas like living rooms, hallways, entrances, etc. • Satin - Most versatile paint finish with a soft sheen. Easy to clean and durable. Use in busy areas like bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. • Semigloss - Durable and shiny, will show most imperfections, but easy to clean and works well in high humidity rooms like bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms. • High Gloss - Very reflective, durable and stain resistant. This finish is great for doors, cabinets, trim and other smaller surfaces.

EXCESS SUPPLY IN THE RESALE MARKET CONTINUES TO WEIGH ON HOME PRICES

$504,047 apartment DOWN 12.2% year-to-year

$950,930 detached DOWN 1.9% year-to-year

AVERAGE SALE PRICES

$697,553 rowhouse DOWN 3.5% year-to-year

886

SOLD LISTINGS

1,945 NEW LISTINGS

detached 1,240

359 258 rowhouse apartment

45.5% SALES TO NEW LISTING RATIO

38 DAYS ON MARKET

4.4 MONTHS OF INVENTORY

3,912 ACTIVE LISTINGS

hopeful signal of market recovery as buyers enter the market at lower home prices.” The number of new listings also slowed in July, which led to a small rise in the sales-to-new listings ratio at 46 percent. The months of supply decreased slightly but remained elevated at 4.4 months. The unadjusted benchmark price in the region was $763,700, down from the previous month and over nine per cent lower than last July. Statistics reflect market activity in July 2025 | Source: Cornerstone Association of REALTORS ® | Market values stated are of the average of Hamilton and surrounding region. Hamilton includes: Hamilton West, Hamilton East, Hamilton Centre, Hamilton Mountain, Flamborough, Dundas, Ancaster, Waterdown, Stoney Creek and Glanbrook. Individual home market values will vary and are affected by factors such as location, size, interior and exterior condition. Please call to get an up-to-date evaluation of your home.

Hamilton, ON (August 6, 2025) – In July, there were 886 sales across Hamilton, Burlington, Haldimand County, and Niagara North. Sales were up over the previous month and were 5.5 per cent higher than the same period last year, marking the first year-over-year increase since the end of 2024. Year-to-date, 5,408 units were sold, 16 per cent lower than last year, and 36 per cent below the 10-year average. “Despite the increase in sales in July, the Hamilton-Burlington area is still experiencing lower overall sales for the year, leading to downward pressure on home sale prices,” says Nicolas von Bredow, Cornerstone spokesperson for the Hamilton-Burlington market area. “While the Bank of Canada maintained the policy rate in July, the uptick in sales during the same month is a

COMPLIMENTARY MARKET EVALUATION

We now have access to 22 Real Estate Boards in Ontario including Toronto, the largest Real Estate Board on the planet. It only takes a few minutes to do a computer generated ballpark value of your property, or to research valuations in all of these areas. Further, I’m working with associates in the East Coast and British Columbia. If you would like to get an idea of what your property would fetch in this market, don’t hesitate to give us a call. Office: 905-389-3737

Chuck Farrauto Sales Representative chuckfarrauto@realtynetwork.biz

Samantha Lefebvre Sales Representative info@samanthalefebvre.com

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