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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 13 ,2 01 8 | 46464 Need directions to your financial destination? Marc Nutford . Member - Canadian Investor Protection Fund www.edwardjones.com/marc-nutford Marc Nutford Financial Advisor . 2387 Trafalgar Road Unit E2 Oakville, ON L6H 6K7 905-844-4043 Dreaming about retiring is your job. Let us do ours. http://www.facebook.com/ejadvisormarcnutford FOAM4U.ca Discover the Many Applications of FOAM • Quality Mattresses • Custom Cut Foam • Many Grades of Foam Custom Cut • Patio Furniture • Headboards • RV & Boat Cushions • Acoustic Foam • ATV & Motorcycle • Dining Room Foam4U Work Shoppe Custom Upholstery 2-5205 Harvester Road, Burlington foam4uworkshop@gmail.com 905-319-8801 Get Your Snowmobile, ATV and Motorcycle Seats Reupholstered! QEW Appleby Line Burloak Drive Harvester Rd.Harvester Rd. Rustic | Exceptional | Gourmet Where old European charmmeets International cuisine in the heart of Oakville's LakeshoreWoods. For lunch or dinner reservations, please contact: T 905-825-8466 | E info@vinooakville.com |W www.vinooakville.com 3420 Rebecca St, Oakville, ON L6K 6W2 Just 90 minutes from greater Toronto area, 20 minutes from Niagara Falls, and 20 minutes from the Buffalo border. At prices you simply won't find lakeside elsewhere, located on 560 acres and over two miles of beautiful Lake Erie beachfront, Sherkston Shores is no ordinary community. Chooseyour cottage, pick your floor-plan, and design a lifestyle you've always dreamed of, but never thought possible. You'll find so much to love; from the sun-soaked beaches, waterpark, tennis/pickleball courts, endless events and activities exclusive to owners, to the joy that cottage living brings. Join us to start living the beach life today... creating family memories to last a lifetime. WWW.LIVESHERKSTON.COM | 1-844-894-7300 SStop dreaming, Start LivingStop dreaming,Start Living NIAGARA REGION | LAKE ERIE, ON BEDS 3 | SQ.FT. 714 | BATHS 1 $205,000 BEDS 3 | SQ.FT. 504 | BATHS 1 $95,995 BEDS 1 | SQ.FT. 630 | BATHS 1 $166,500 BEDS 2 | SQ.FT. 546 | BATHS 1 $159,900 You're selling your home.You're selling your home.Y You need to downsize. What'sYou need to downsize. What'sY the first step toward less is more? If the answer is selling stuff you have to be prepared for a reality check. for a reality check. f Let's pick two random items: a dining room table and an antique collectible "XYZ." Before you sell something find out if family wants it. Sur-find out if family wants it. Sur-f prisingly, they may be looking at your stuff as their inheri-at your stuff as their inheri-a tance. Better check. Sibling battles may also ensue. Even if a family member expressesif a family member expressesi interest it doesn't mean they'll come get it. They may claim "spacelessness" and lean on you to keep on being the reli-you to keep on being the reli-y able storage unit manager. Your hard job is to set inYour hard job is to set inY motion a timetable for pick up. If they balk, move on, sell it. Next, find out if what you have to sell is in demand. Ask an expert. It may surprise you to learn the market is soft for dining room sets. Consign- ment stores routinely turn them away now. So don't ex- pect an easy sale or top dollar there. And the collectible, an- tique "XYZ"? When it comes to antiques it's even more im- portant to elicit the honest help of someone like Bill Kime, a senior decorative arts specialist with Waddington's Auction House and Apprais- ers in Toronto. I run things by Kime quite often and he is wonderfully blunt. "It's the same old story," he says. "There continues to be a good strong market for good things and absolutely no market at all for the rubbish ... "There are very few 'new' collectors in any area these days and a seemingly endless supply of stuff means that the established collectors have become extremely discern- ing; they all want the same 'cherry on the cake' for their collection and they're pre- pared to be very competitive in acquiring it." In short, less collecting by younger people and tons ofyounger people and tons ofy stuff hitting the market by older Canadians. That's not to say you haven't got a gem or two. Best to ask. Stay tuned for selling by classifieds. And let's bring a little therapy to your home. Stephen Ilott is a profes- sional home organizer with Decluttering.ca. For more information, visit www.de- cluttering.ca or contact him at info@decluttering.ca or 416-460-8098. GET EXPERT ADVICE BEFORE SELLING YOUR STUFF OPINION YOUROPINIONS SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM DOWNSIZING, SELLING ITEMS REQUIRES A REALITY CHECK - NOT WISHFUL THINKING, WRITES ILOTT STEPHEN ILOTT Column