Four of Canada biggest real estate companies to share listings.

-- Canada’s four biggest real estate companies are close to an agreement to share their listings, the National Post reported.

Century 21, Royal LePage, Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada and Coldwell Banker have met “several times” in the past year to work on an accord under which they could take sales listings from each other’s Web sites and post them to their own, the Post said. Re/Max of Western Canada and Re/Max Quebec aren’t part of the proposed deal, the newspaper said.

The companies say the proposed agreement is unrelated to an inquiry by Canada’s Competition Bureau into a restricted-access system called Multiple Listing Service, which is controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association, the Post said. The pact could provide realtors with an alternative to the MLS system if it’s modified as a result of the two-year-old investigation, the newspaper said.

For now, only licensed real estate agents who are members of local real-estate boards can post listings on MLS, the Post said. The Competition Bureau has requested the real estate association remove all rules that prohibit or impede the posting of property information on MLS systems, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter for this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net.

Fabienne Malenfant

Relationist

http://agentsbysector.com

How to Remodel Your Kitchen Cabinets

Tips to Remodel Your Kitchen Cabinets Economically

If you are willing to put in extra hard work, remodel your kitchen cabinets yourself. This will not only give your kitchen a personal look but also save money. But before doing this, it is of paramount importance to know to what extent you want to remodel the kitchen cabinets. If your kitchen cabinetry is deteriorating very fast, there are 2 ways to remodel or change its look, either refinish the doors or replace the whole cabinetry.

If you think only refurnishing kitchen cabinet doors is enough, go for it as it is a cheaper way to remodel cabinets. First decide on the paint color; if you are interested in doing this yourself, visit the hardware store to get the supplies. Most of the time, people in hardware stores are very supportive help to choose cabinet paint. Also, there are plenty of websites that offer a wide range of kitchen supplies at discounted rates. You can save plenty of dollars by buying material from these websites for kitchen remodeling.

While repainting your cabinet doors, try to match the color of the paint with the overall color theme of the kitchen. Thanks to wide variety of colors available in the market, you will not face any problem in finding a color to match the kitchen theme. This will greatly help to add a new look to your kitchen at economical rates.

However, if repainting is not the solution for your worn-out kitchen cabinetry, you need to replace them. For buying new kitchen cabinets economically, search discount stores and sales shops. You will get kitchen cabinets at low prices there. Also check out online furniture stores where they sell kitchen furniture at discount rates.

Another way to buy cheap kitchen cabinet is RTA or Ready-to-Assemble cabinets. These cabinets are ready to assemble with everything packed including cabinet doors, frames, hinges and drawers. As they are easy to assemble they don’t need any professional help for installation too thus making them an economic deal. They not only help you save money on cabinets but on shipping too.

We are always searching for new ideas for you on the Web

For mor info www.AboutCabinets.net

Fabienne Malenfant

Relationist

http://agentsbysector.com

You want to paint your home yourself ? Here is how

So you are ready to do some home improvement and paint some rooms in your home. Here are a few steps that hopefully will help make the painting process a little easier. First of all what tools and equipment do you need?

• Paint and paint brushes, of course; use the size of paint brush that is easiest for you to hold

• A step ladder if there is any high work to be done

Roller bucket, roller frame, roller knap, roller grid

• Cut pot (for the cut in work around trim etc)

• Drop cloths or other material to cover floors and furniture or other items in the room

• Caulk, caulk gun, wet rag (make certain the caulk is a paintable kind)

• Painter’s tape - the preparation is probably the most important step of a paint job.

• Caulk all cracks and holes making sure to wipe off excess with your finger or a wet rag; remove all nails and hooks from the walls and caulk the holes

• Sand the caulk until it is good and smooth but do not sand it completely off

• Tape around all door frames, door knobs, trim, and any other fixture or item that is not to be removed from the wall or walls

• Put drop clothes or other material on the floor and furniture; make sure to never use plastic on the floor since this is so slick and can cause you to slip and fall

• Once you are certain the caulk is dry you can begin painting; for a lot of people doing the cut in first makes it easier; this simply means that you use a brush to cut in around all trim work, fixtures, and anything you have to get close to

• You are then ready to paint the walls; most people find painting goes quicker and easier if they roll instead of brush; if you do brush, make certain to always look for brush strokes you might leave; either brushing or rolling, it is easier to go from top to bottom

• Make absolutely certain that you go either left to right or right to left; do not start in the middle; and always make certain that you keep your paint bucket on the side of the hand that you use; you never want to have to pull the roller or brush across your body

• If changing colors you will more than likely need two coats; always, always make certain that the first coat is completely dry before beginning the second coat; after the first coat make sure to look at your work and try to "spot" anything you might have missed

• Apply the second coat and look again at the work, looking for anything that might have been overlooked or missed

• Then step back and enjoy your work

But you are not finished. There is the job of cleaning up.

• Unless you use cheap brushes (not recommended unless using oil-based paint), always make sure to clean the brush out with warm water; if you are using oil-based paint it is best to get a brush made for oil paint; you will need paint thinner or mineral spirits to clean a brush used in oil paint

• If you would like to re-use your roller knap (which is really not recommended but can be done; it is best to get cheap roller knaps and throw them away) make certain to clean it also

• There is not really much use to cleaning the buckets since most of the time the paint will dry in them and you can simply peel it out

• Be sure to put the lid back on, very tightly, on any leftover paint and store it in a cool dry place where it will not freeze or get extremely hot (either of these conditions will ruin paint)

Once you are finished with your cleaning process you can simply enjoy your new paint job that you did all by yourself.