I found a great Article on getting your home ready for the spring!  I for one can't wait for the warmer weather of spring, but with that comes lots of work that the winter months left behind.  

A certified home inspector shares 10 home-maintenance tips for spring.

• By Dwight Barnett, Scripps Howard News Service

After a long, dark winter, spring's bright sun and warm winds are, well, a breath of fresh air. The only downside? All that sunshine spotlights your leaf-filled gutters, cracked sidewalks and the dead plants in last year's flower beds. Dwight Barnett, a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors, shared this checklist to help you target the areas that need maintenance so you can get your chores done quickly, leaving you time to go outside and play in the sunshine.

• Check for loose or leaky gutters. Improper drainage can lead to water in the basement or crawl space. Make sure downspouts drain away from the foundation and are clear...

Local housing sales and inventory up in stable market

Edmonton, February 4, 2014:

The residential home inventory on the Edmonton Multiple Listing Service® (MLS® System) rose 16% in January. Typically just over 1,800 homes in the Edmonton CMA (census metropolitan area) come onto the market in January. Last month’s listings of 1,842 were higher than the 783 listed in December. Sales figures (adjusted) of 885 properties (820 reported) were higher than a typical January and higher than sales in December and January 2013. The increased inventory of 3,537 (up from 3,049 in December), kept prices stable in all housing categories.

Compared to December, the all-residential average3 price of $347,847 was down just $1,226 or 
-0.16%. Single family detached (SFD) home prices were down 1.5% at $416,344. Condominiums were priced on average3 at $230,463 (down 1.5%) and duplex/rowhouses showed the biggest movement and were down 5.3% at $336,220.

“Price stability...