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E EXAMS » PRESCRIPTION SAFETY GLASSES + DISPENSING OF PRESCRIPTION EYEGLASSES « LOW VISION AIDS » FITTING OF ALL TYPES OF CONTACT LENSES MAPLE GROVE VILLAGE, OAKVILLE, TEL. 338â€"6633 EVENINGS AND SATURDAYS AVAILABLE When faced _ with the â€" prospect of purchasing a home, particularly for the first time, the entire experience can, at once, emotionally _ exciting _ and _ draining, exhilarating and confusing. In light of the myriad of conditions and options facing the prospective home buyer, I would like to offer a few TNT‘s (tips ‘n techniques) with the intent to make home buying as pleasant an experience as pqssible. ied ces en 1 ho l ues i0 m b) Having done that to exhaustion, separate that list into two new lists: MUST HAVE and WANT TO HAVE. You will soon find that your choice of home will depend more and more on the MUST HAVE list. ME es 1) Once you have decided to purchase a new home, there are still a few more decisions to make before you go any further. a) Compile a list of all the features you think should be in your new home. Part of the criteria for this list should be whether you are willing to undertake any minor improvements to the home. c) Decide where you would even consider living. Close to work, school, church, recreation, downtown, out of town, big home, litle home. If you don‘t know approximately where you‘re going, how will you ever know you‘ve even come close to arriving? 2) OK, your "preâ€"hunt" preparation is done, now it‘s time to take that first positive step towards purchasing. Enlist the services of a professionally trained representative in the real estate profession. Too many people have "paid the price" for trying to reinvent the wheel. By buying directly from the owner and trying to save the same dollars the owner is trving to keep, more often than not, the purchasers have found they probably could have fared financially better had they been professionally represented. 3) If you are already a home owner, and you have wisely chosen a professional representative, take this opportunity to obtain advice on whether you should sell your present home first, or buy the new one first, and then sell quickly, At the same time insist on a market analysis being completed on your home before you list. That way when you do offer your home for sale on the professional market, you won‘t make the costly mistake of over pricing your home "out of the market". Real Estate Report TIPS FOR THE PURCHASER 4) Once you do start looking in earnest for your new home, commit your loyalty to that representative who is working hard for you. If you feel you can trust that person, you like Service Selection t Satisfaction ( Amity Gooduwill Industries Retail Store â€" Donation Centre Wednesday, March Oth at 10:00 a.m. 407A Speers Road, Oakville (west of Dorval) Join us for refreshments as Value Friced Fashions come to Oakville DR. S. SEBESTYEN ANNOUNCES NEW OPTOMETRIST OFFICE OPENING IN YOUR COMMUNITY rand penl ADVERTISEMENT them, and you are comfortable that they are working with your best interests in mind, you can only gain by receiving top notch service from a person who understands all your needs and wants. 5) After having looked at potentially large number of homes, you may find the choices available to you beginning to blur together. Try this as a means of simplification: Bring an _ instant _ camera _ along with you, photograph something that will remind you of the house, and make some notes about the points you did and didn‘t like about each property. Try the process of elimination as you‘re viewing, rather than cataloguing a large selection and trying to sort them later. It‘s â€"usually _ almost â€" immediately â€" evident whether or not a house is going to make the "short list". 6) Once you‘ve chosen the home that fits most of your needs as closely as possible, even if you happen to find it at an open house, or you‘ve seen an ad for a private sale that intrigues you, protect your best interests by having your representative negotiate on your behalf for the purchase of that home. Remember, a real estate sales representative is a trained, skilled, unemotionally involved negotiator in the proceedings; you and the homeowner are not. The real estate sales representative you choose is licensed to practice the profession anywhere in the Province of Ontario, and is strictly regulated by a Code of Ethics and Provincial Legislation. As such, when dealing with an individual who is a member of the profession, you can rest assured you are receiving 100% commitment to your needs, and all you have to do is give your complete and loyal support. Have fun. This is an experience to be enjoyed and looked forward to. not endured. That‘s why we‘re here. Dan Cooper is an awardâ€"winning associate broker with Countrywide Town Centre Realty Inc. and can be reached at 338â€"6550. diamond, then you need a copy of Ralph Srigley‘s new brochure, "DIAMONDS: If you‘re thinking of buying a TELLING IT LIKE IT IS". Ralph Srigley â€" of Srigley‘s Fine Jewellery in downtown Oakville â€" has created an innovaâ€" tive new guide for the retail diaâ€" mond market. Among other things, the brochure includes a Diamond Price Indication Guide, which will help you find your way through the often murky waters of today‘s retail diamond market. On the cover of the guide is the familiar Latin coinage, Caveat Emptor (in English, Buyer Beware). According to Srigley, the phrase is particularly apt for his guide for the simple reason that diamonds are a commodity about which most people know very litâ€" tle. He claims that there have been, are, and always will be those in this trade who misrepresent what they sell. Srigley says that this misrepreâ€" sentation can assume one of two forms: it can be unintentional, as when a merchant is simply mistakâ€" en or uninformed about his prodâ€" uct; or intentional, as when a diaâ€" mond is overgraded or when a merchant elects not to mention certain important factors that bear on the price of a diamond, for example, the cut of a diamond. During his thirteen years in business, Srigley has seen it all â€" from people not getting what they paid for â€" to people paying too much for what they did get. He, finally, decided to do something about it. His first response was to pubâ€" lish a number of feature articles on diamonds, gemstones, and gold 2 fine jewellery hJ 312 Lakeshore E., Oalville 844â€"7220 jewellery. Most of these have appeared in the Oakville Beaver. During the latter part of 1993, Srigley decided on a different approach. He set to work on creatâ€" ing a comprehensive guide on how to buy a diamond. The initial draft of the guide included easy to understand information about the 4Cs â€" Clarity, Color, Caratâ€" Weight, and Cut â€" and a brief hisâ€" tory about how and why they were established as the standards for diamond grading. Srigley also recognized the value of pictorial images, so he included in his guide numerous illustrations demonstrating the visual differences between various Cut and Clarity grades. Though the text and illustraâ€" tions were almost complete, Srigley still felt that his guide lacked something. It then occurred to him that Ralph Srigley Advertising Feature what would fill this gap was a comprehensive diamond price guide. The question, however, was how to create such a guide. For example, an index for diamonds ranging in weight from .30ct to 2.00ct in all cut, color, and clarity grades would alone require a list of over 18,000 different prices. A daunting task, indeed. Well, after much thought and a laying to rest of several calculators, Srigley finally came up with his Diamond Price Indication Guide. Srigley says that â€" as far as he is aware â€" this is the first time a guide of this type has been made available to the public by a retail jeweller, and as far as he‘s conâ€" cerned, it‘s been too long in comâ€" ing. It is his firm belief that people should have as much information as possible when making a diaâ€" mond purchase, especially given today‘s economic environment. It is his sincere hope that this guide will diminish somewhat the anxiâ€" ety that so often accompanies such a purchase, by clearly indicating the relationship between diamond quality and price. As Srigley says, "A diamond may be chosen with the heart, but is ultimately paid for with the pocketâ€"book." Srigley has restructured the diaâ€" mond prices in his own store according to his guide. In relation to other stores, he claims that the guide will serve as a valuable tool and should be considered as mereâ€" ly a source of additional market information along with the 4Cs. For your complimentary copy of "DIAMONDS: TELLING IT LIKE IT IS", please call or visit Srigley‘s Fine Jewellery, 312 Lakeshore Road East, Downtown Oakville, 844â€"7220.