A reliable mover should have excellent client reviews

According to the U.S.-based Better Business Bureau, which helps consumers determine if businesses are legitimate and good to deal with, the firm receives loads of complaints from homeowners who have been scammed by movers. To help people determine what movers are for real, the BBB and American Moving and Storage Association has a few pointers.

For instance, the organizations say homeowners should research the company thoroughly by reviewing its website and consulting with outside groups. They may also want to get at least three estimates about what the costs will be to move, as the organizations say legitimate movers will fulfill this request in person rather than over the phone or online.

Testimonials are another good indicator a mover is reliable. Jiffy Self Storage has an array of positive reviews from satisfied customers at its website. What’s more, the company has consistently received an A+ rating from the BBB.

Fortunately, a U.S.-based media source recently published some ways people can find more room to house their belongings in the bedroom.

You'll need less self storage if you organize your storage stuff

For instance, the Seattle Times recommends using the space that’s beneath the bed, as a standard king-size mattress takes up 42 square-feet of living space. Thin portable storage containers would fit nicely.

The paper says homeowners should also look to make the area that’s made for storage more efficient – namely, the closet. This can be accomplished by taking everything out and then rearranging the rods in a more space-efficient manner, according to what will be on shelves and what will hang from rods.

Another way to save space, according to the paper, is to remove bedside tables and replace them by installing a headboard equipped with cabinets.

If these space-saving steps don’t make enough of a difference, a storage unit is always available.

Consumer Choice Award Toronto breakfast was a big success. Allan Barkin, President of Jiffy Self Storage, a 15 year veteran of the award, made his remarks about the award and the effect it had on Toronto consumers that decided to store at Jiffy Storage Toronto facilities.

Principals of the Consumer Choice Award (CCA), Jack McFadden and Marcel Sborlini, explained how the new business listings in the Consumer Choice Award website will help Toronto consumers find a business to purchase products or services that are highly rated in their field by Toronto consumers. Smart Toronto shoppers should be on the lookout for CCA fliers to get first crack at finding Consumer Choice business winners when 100,000 fliers will be distributed to Toronto residents.

Established in 1987 for promoting and recognizing business excellence, Consumer Choice Award is the only organization of its kind in Canada determining the best companies in their areas of expertise. Polls are conducted by Leger Marketing, an independent polling organization whose results are statistically accurate.

Rental activity at Toronto’s Jiffy Self Storage follows on the heals of this trend as Toronto real estate market shows signs of heating up again.

Vacant storage units in Toronto are going to be scarce this this spring and summer and occupancies in self storage may reach an all time high. Businesses and families contemplating self storage should reserve early to get the right size for their storage needs. Due to increased occupancies forecasted this year, self storage pricing in Toronto GTA will definitely increase as we get closer to summer.

This is the season when most people move seasonal car tires into and out of storage.  Toronto car dealers charge as much as $150.00 to store tires for six months. But at Jiffy Self-Storage, we  have the smarter solution for thrifty Toronto consumers looking for a cheap Toronto solution for storing seasonal tires.

Rent a 25 sq ft (5ft x 5ft x 9ft high) unit from Jiffy Toronto to store your winter tires plus other seasonal stuff inside one of our climate controlled storage spaces.  When you store your tires in your garage, your summer tires could be exposed to extremes of cold in winter and in the dead of summer, winter tires could be exposed to extreme heat.

The worst thing a car enthusiast can do is store tires standing up with no support. Tire experts agree that an unsupported tire could develop flat spots. At home, this happens often when storing tires in tight spaces. Often to save space, tires are stored upright with no position change for six months or more. When you store at a self storage facility like Jiffy Self Storage, one of our standard storage lockers is large enough to store tires flat and on top of each other. Since there is no weight on a specific portion of the tire, you do not create a condition for potential flat spots.

Besides storing tires that free up space in you home or garage, many of our Toronto storage clients use their storage space to store seasonal items. In summer, our Toronto storage clients use their Jiffy Self Storage space to not only store their winter tires, but store leisure items like toboggans, roof racks and roof storage, snow skis, snow boards, snow shoes, snow mobile jackets, helmets, snow-blowers and any other winter seasonal stuff in their Jiffy Toronto Storage locker. Sorry, no snow men allowed!

In winter, seasonal things that will take up room in our storage clients garage storage spaces are moved into their Toronto storage locker. Items that for sure would clog up a garage or a balcony do a lot better in a climate controlled storage space. Take the example of an active family that likes to hike, camp, water ski and more. Naturally, they can store their stuff at Jiffy, as well as storing their boat in our gated and fenced in lot as well.

So for just a few bucks a day, a lot of stuff that clutters a home or a garage can be stored at a self storage company like Jiffy Self Storage.

More families are starting to realize that using a home for storage is a very expensive proposition, especially in Toronto GTA where the average home sells for $450,000. Therefore, if a home space being used for storing  is the equivalent of 100 sq ft, that means that the space that is being used is worth $25,000. Why would anyone want to store this stuff in such valuable space?

Start taking back your Toronto storage space and let your family enjoy their new found space to the max. Let Jiffy Self Storage look after your stuff for just about $3.00 per day. That type of logic is making a lot of sense to more Toronto families living in expensive Toronto GTA homes, apartments and condos.

Green Valley Landscaping Inc. is located in Etobicoke and specializes in providing professional Toronto summer landscape maintenance services, landscape design & build, waterfalls & water features for luxury homes in Etobicoke and North York. Joe’s motto is, “NO LANDSCAPE JOB IS TOO SMALL FOR GREEN VALLEY LANDSCAPING INC.” Joe and Irene are looking forward to a banner landscape design year helping clients plan new outdoor projects and integrating natural waterfalls, outdoor lighting but early bookings are key to ensure that time will be available for this year’s projects.

They rent an economical Jiffy workplace office where their bookkeeper does their books and payroll. Jiffy Office Workspaces have heating/air conditioning and are hard wired for Internet. Having conveniences like this at Jiffy Storage Toronto allows them  more time to enjoy their home garden and greenhouse filled with annuals, perennial flora and tropical flowering trees. They have taken back their privacy and have more time to enjoy their Toronto garden and year round greenhouse since renting their small Jiffy office for their business.

Jiffy accepts deliveries for them that is much more than a convenience. It opens time for them to deal with more important business issues like prospecting for new commercial  customers in North York, Toronto and residential landscaping and snow removal clients in Toronto GTA. How many times did Irene used to sit around for an important delivery only to be told that it will be delivered tomorrow? She doesn’t sit any more. Not only do Joe and Irene have more time to better service their landscape and snow removal customers, they have more quality time to spend together now that their entire landscaping business operates efficiently from Jiffy Storage Toronto.

Judging by the rate at which office space is being snapped up in the Greater Toronto area, business appears to be picking up in the Toronto local commercial real estate market.

According to Avison Young’s office market report, the Greater Toronto area West market saw a steady decline in office vacancies in the fourth quarter as more and more businesses took advantage of office vacancies.

“Induced by attractive rental rates and new product opportunities, tenants in the GTA West office market are definitely creating increased velocity,” said Martin Dockrill, principal and managing director for Avison Young’s Mississauga office.

While the vacancy rates are higher this year compared to last year, officials at Avison Young say the downward trend of vacancy rates bodes well for Toronto’s commercial real estate market. It’s helped by the fact that rental rates have held steady at $14.24 per square foot, leaving renters with enough money to take advantage of storage units instead of cluttering their offices with excess files.

According to a report from CB Richard Ellis, the commercial real estate market was up throughout Canada in 2010, but Toronto took the most significant strides forward, as transactions rose 93 percent compared to 2009.

The number of people moving to the Greater Toronto area last month may be slightly off the pace when compared to January 2010, but the city’s real estate market continues to move forward.

According to the Toronto Real Estate Board, there were 4,337 transactions for resold houses in January. That’s 13 percent lower compared to this same time last year, but January 2010 was a record month for housing and demand for storage units in Toronto.

“While off the record pace experience a year ago, the GTA resale market has started the year on a solid footing,” said Bill Johnston, president of the Toronto Real Estate Board. “Home buyers in Toronto and surrounding areas continue to benefit from a diversity of housing types for sale at many different price points.”

The report says that the average selling price for a Toronto home in January was $427,037, approximately 4 percent higher than the average price in January 2010.

The high rate of moving likely won’t let up. According to Statistics Canada, projections indicate that Ontario’s population is expected to grow in the coming years at an annual rate that’s higher than the national average.

At more than 33 million, Canada’s population has been on a steady increase for more than 50 years. And last year, there was a significant jump in economic migrants.

Approximately 280,600 legal immigrants became permanent residents of Canada in 2010. The number is 6 percent higher than immigration officials predicted and the most the country has seen since 1957.

While the report considers all residents that move to Canada, the biggest portion was economic migrants who made up two-thirds of new legal residents.

In a news conference, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the country wants to bring more skilled immigrants to the country to stimulate the economy. By adjusting Ottawa’s points grid, the people accepted for the country’s skilled work program will possess the skills that are in high demand.

Economic migrants are people that move from one part of the world to another seeking employment. And while they’re seeking employment and a place to settle down, they’ll likely need a place to store their belongings. Toronto storage can help them with those needs as they adjust to the Canadian way of life.

Take the example of a middle class retired couple that rented a Toronto storage locker for more than 15 years. When the children of the deceased couple opened their parents’ storage locker for the first time, they were taken back with items that they found.

What greeted them were two 25 year old IBM XT computers with matching monitors, a Betamax video player and matching Betamax camera, 8 track tape player and a variety of tapes of the era prior to storing; old infant furniture; a Zenith 21 inch color TV, sofa, side tables, coffee table, lamps, books and accessories from the room that they all used to enjoy watching Bonanza and My Little Genie; and a few personal pieces of costume jewelery. In its day, these were all valuable items, worth their weight in gold, but over time, this valuable treasure tarnished and magically morphed itself into Fool’s Gold. This is not an isolated incident but a true story that happens frequently in the business of Toronto self storage.

Can you imagine the look on the siblings’ faces when they saw what Mother and Father had been saving for them? These items were to be their parents’ legacy, or so they were told. Naturally, this nostalgic moment caused a few laughs and some tears, but in the end the only items that could be salvaged were the 8 track player and tapes that were sold to a collector. They received about $150 in total and the rest of the heavy metal went to a scrap dealer and the furniture went out in the trash.

So the moral of the story is that before you decide to save personal items for the next generation, first decide if the cost of the long term storage will be worth the intrinsic value. Rule of thumb: If the value of items stored will be worth less than the cost of 2 year’s storage, sell the items today. Take your loss now; forget about saving for a rainy day. By the way the value of the estate was reduced by $36,000 or the cost of storing over 15 years.