In yesterday's Ontario Budget, the Liberal Government, in a effort to help the business community has heaped more taxes on Homeowners. After last year's City of Toronto Land Transfer Tax(doubling the existing Tax but only in the 416 Region), there will now be further new taxes when you buy and sell homes. Previously, services such as Lawyer's fees, Home Inspection and Realtor's Commission were only subject to the Federal GST but now the Province in "Harmonizing" taxes has decided that these fees should also be subject to the Provincial 8% as well making the new HST, as it is called, 13% by the beginning of 2010. The Province may call it Harmonizing but it looks more like another tax increase to me, especially when by adding taxes to services that were never taxed before and lessening th... 03/28/2009

CMHC Launches Campaign to Help Homeowners Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) launched a consumer outreach campaign to help borrowers understand the importance of working with lenders to find manageable solutions if they are facing financial difficulties in repaying their mortgage loans. "CMHC has a long tradition of offering mortgage default management tools to lenders to help them assist homeowners whose financial circumstances have changed. We want to remind people that the best course of action is to speak to their lenders at the first sign of financial difficulty. With early intervention, cooperation and a well executed plan, you can work together with your lender to find a solution." stated Mark McInnis, CMHC Vice-President of Insurance Underwriting, Servicing and Polic... 03/28/2009

If Ontario’s new Green Energy Act passes, Bill 150, You will be paying $300 for a home energy audit. This will be a tax only if you wait until you sell your home. The system will work in your favour if you do your audit now and make energy improvements. The home energy audit could be a good investment. Once your home energy audit is complete (up to 18 months), you will be on record and won’t need to pay for another audit when you eventually sell; probably years from now. The audit visit and blower-door test takes a few hours and the energy consultants are knowledgable. The resulting 13-page report details where and why your home is not energy efficient, makes suggestions for improvement and educates you about grants. That in itself is a lot of value for $300. The province will match the... 03/28/2009

The McGuinty governments plan to harmonize the GST and PST will add over $2,000 to the cost of a real estate transaction, hurting the resale home market and prolonging the housing industry's recovery from the current economic downturn. "Now is not the time to be erecting barriers to home ownership," said Pauline Aunger, President of the Ontario Real Estate Association. "We need consumers to invest in housing to help get our economy going again." According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, home sales in the province of Ontario were down 29 per cent in February, compared to 2008. Under a harmonized sales tax (HST), home buyers and sellers will have to pay extra tax on a range of services associated with real estate transactions such as legal fees, moving costs, real estate commissi... 03/27/2009

Well, it seems to be official. The Ontario Government has decided to harmonize the Provincial and Federal Sales Taxes.  July 01st, 2010 the tax Kicks in. Stephen  Dupuis, president of the Building Industry and Land Development Association, pointed out that buyers of new homes would be hit particularly hard if Ontario harmonized the PST with the federal GST. See previous Posting  On a $350,000 new home, he wrote that the consumer would have to pay an additional $17,920. But it's not just buyers of new homes who would be affected by a merging of the two taxes. Buyers and sellers of resale homes would also be hurt because a harmonized tax would apply to many services that are currently exempt from PST - including legal fees, real estate agent commission, renovation services, land survey re... 03/26/2009

This story about the website of Toronto home stagers starts about a year and a half ago when I found out that my home staging website had been built on a Flash platform and that Search Engines only recognize one page because it is like a video.  At the time this concerned me but my website designer promised to (for a fee) get me onto the first page of web searches consistently. After all, what did I know about this stuff and how to do that?  This worked for a little while, but not very well.  When he asked for a monthly retainer to keep on doing this, I dropped him.  He would send me links to show where my site was located when doing searches with different keywords. But if I would do a search starting from scratch, my site was nowhere to be found. So, enough of that, spending money whe... 03/26/2009

I have been noticing a definite up-swing in the market. Listings are selling faster, and I'm evening seeing multiple offers. This spring market has shown a drastic improvement from the end of 2008, and I believe might be shifting in the sellers' favour. I believe a lot of has to do with the media reporting increased property values in the U.S., along with the American banks clearing some of their "toxic assets" of their balance sheets (credit card and mortgage loans that have gone into default). The DOW Index has shown a recent spike, along with an increase (3+%) in spending of large ticket items in American homes (i.e. appliances). I believe President Obama has been doing a great job in reassuring the American people that the economy is turning around, and it is ok to spend and put mon... 03/25/2009

People around the world will be turning off their lights for Earth Hour on Saturday, but what about the rest of the year?     The countdown is on until the lights around the world are turned off this Saturday, March 28 at 8:30pm, for Earth Hour. A total of 82 countries, included dear Oh Canada, and 2,140 cities, towns and municipalities have committed to a dark hour in efforts to combat global warming. While this is no small feat, it is only 60 minutes. So does one take that idea and stretch it out over the other 8759 hours of the year? By looking into long-term ways to save energy. * Check out this article, Curb Your Energy – Not Your Enthusiasm, which offers three useful energy conserving tips. * Take the time to casaGURU TV’s segment with the Office of Energy Efficiency. * And read t... 03/25/2009

Has the market bottomed out. Perhaps. Greater Toronto Homes Sales and prices are increasing over February. Looking over sales results for the 4 market segments, it appears that sales volume and prices are rising from February 27 to March 19. The increase overall in units sold is 22% and the increase in $ 2%   Region Area Sales Av. Price   East Feb    266 March  324 Feb    $288,863 March $297,790 Increase units   21% Increase $        3%  West Feb    406 March  543 Feb    $339,358 March  $341,925 Increase units    33% Increase $        $.007%  Central Feb     227 March  235 Feb     $459,170 March  $491,310   Increase units     3% Increase $            7%   North Feb     219 March  259 Feb     $392,305 March  $398,725 Increase units    18% Increase $         1%  Total Feb 1118 March 1,361... 03/25/2009

Region Area Sales Av. Price   East 324 $297,790   West 543 $341,925   Central 235 $491,310   North 259 $398,725   Total 1,361 $368,021 ********************************************************************************** I proudly server buyers and sellers in the Toronto Neighbourhoods of: Forest Hill, Cedarvale, North York, North Toronto, Summit Heights, Wilson Height, Bathurst Manor, Leaside, Bayview, Thornhill, Richmond Hill and all surrounding areas. Whether you're buying or selling and looking for a Toronto Realtor or feel free to e-mail or phone us and we will be happy to guide you through your real estate experience. Casa Loma Casa Loma is Toronto's most prominent historic residence, built from 1911 to 1914. Casa Loma is complete with decorated suites, secret passages, an 800-foot ... 03/25/2009

1. The largest city in Canada. 2. Toronto has the largest free standing structure in the world, the CN Tower. 3. An amazing array of sports teams: Toronto Argonauts - The official web site of Toronto's CFL football team, Toronto Blue Jays - The official web site of the 1992 & 1993 World Series Champions, Toronto Maple Leafs - The official web site of Toronto's NHL hockey team, and Toronto Raptors - The official web site of Toronto's NBA basketball team. 4. The 4th largest financial centre in North America with head offices of Canada's Big 5 banks. 5. The 5th largest city in North America with a population over 5 million. 6. Great Schools-There is lots of selection for schools with both public, catholic and private schools. 7. Public Transportation. Toronto boasts the largest subway syst... 03/24/2009

When you bought the home you've been living in for the past 10 years, you probably dreamed of owning a larger one, or one in another location, one day. Is this the right time for you to move up? Today's interest rates are the lowest they've been in over 30 years.  You may be surprised just how much you can afford these days.  You've also built up a lot of equity over the number of years you've been living in your home.  When and if you decide to move up, call your Realtor and go over your options.  He/she can help you figure out what your equity may be, and what it will cost you to move to your favourite neighbourhood, to a bigger house. Your Realtor can also help you figure out the price range you should consider.When is the best time to move?When is the best time to sell?When is the b... 03/24/2009

You're ready to take the leap and buy your first home. You know what your 'dream home' looks like; and it probably comes complete with a private driveway, a double car garage, at least 3 bedrooms; the master bedroom will have a great fireplace, the living room will have another .... maybe the home will also have an office, maybe a den or family room ... a swimming pool and a great yard for entertaining would be fabulous ... Ok.  Let's not get carried away and destroy your life, in the excitement of buying your dream home, when all you can afford is a 'fixer upper'. Let's talk about this for a minute ....You're a first time buyer and you don't have a lot of money saved up.You don't make a fortune, and you have a few recurring bills that won't be going away any time soon.Maybe you have a ... 03/24/2009

While hosting an open house, it is a standard question to ask prospects as they are viewing the home, "Are you under contract with an agent?" One of the newest responses is that the "agent" is providing financing for a purchase a full percentage point lower than the lowest quoted rate I am aware of. My first response was surprise.. That low?   How are they doing that? Having been around for two decades I am familiar with interest rate buy downs that were very prevelant in the late 80's and early 90's. So I decided I needed to investigate.  I contacted the TD Bank Mortgage advisor and made the same request of the Royal Bank Mortgage Advisor. Called an independant Mortgage Broker and No One could touch or even come close to the quoted interest rate. Maybe the consideration was blended mor... 03/24/2009

Chicago Home sellers will need to be finger printed   To help combat real estate fraud the city of Chicago is requiring starting June 1st that homesellers provide a fingerprint.With rampant fraud occurring in the city, this is not a bad idea. But being a libertarian, the idea of a government official taking my fingerprint disturbs me. I would like to see that these fingerprints be destroyed after a period of time.Fingerprinting is something we often associate with crime. So the fact that Cook County home sellers will soon have to provide a thumb print left some people shocked."I wouldn't like that at all. I don't think that's necessary," said Chicagoan Donald Hayes."I don't know what I think about that. Not very good, I think, said Jenny Armstrong of Lake Villa.The new law, which is set... 03/24/2009

It is so important to list your properties at a price that will attract a lot of buyers. I carefully reviewd the most recent sales in the building. They were taking over two and a half months to sell. The listings had been reduced. My sellers did not want the condo to sit that long vacant with all the expenses to pay out. After careful consideration I took a listing in Skymark 2 for slightly under the last sale. The last sale in the building was $211,000 asking $215,000. reduced from $220,000. That unit had been totally renovated. My listing was very clean, very presentable, but no improvements had been made. We decided to go under $200,000. to attract those buyers that were not $200,000. but many were over $200,000. I had non-stop showings which resulted in 3 offers. I was able to nego... 03/23/2009

The same as your car, or any other major piece of equipment, in order to ensure it keeps running smoothly, your home also needs that special attention. Cutting the grass and shovelling the snow is not all there is to keeping up a house (although a nice looking lawn and garden is also very important). The home may look good, but it also has to be ‘in good working order'.  It will make it more attractive and more comfortable, and it will also increase the value. If you plan on moving within a few years, don't ignore the home now.  Invest some time and money now but invest in those things that will pay back. Choose improvements that keep your home running smoothly and bring it up to the standards of all the other homes in the area. Easy/small repairsSimple things that don't cost a lot of m... 03/23/2009

I often get asked about what happens after the conditions are lifted and the Agreements are off to the Lawyers...from that point on, usually one week after the signing of the documents, the Buyer's lawyer busies themselves with searching the title for any glitches and the Seller's Lawyer prepares the transfers, gets ready to pay out any existing mortgages, leans or  deal with any encumbrances. The Realtor is out of the loop usually except for visits by the Buyer to the property for measurements and if problems arise at the lawyers office they may well not be aware of them, so try to keep them informed. It is important that the Buyer and Seller keep in contact with the Lawyer's office and that the Lawyer's secretary have all the client's phone numbers and emails etc. I wrote two posts pr... 03/23/2009

I thought readers would be especially interested in this recent article from the Globe and Mail   http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090320.REFLIP20/TPStory/   SMALL DEVELOPERS Infill builders out cold The teardowns and gut jobs used to be plentiful. Now, the strategy is hold on and sit tight. Carolyn Ireland reports CAROLYN IRELAND March 20, 2009 Last year Prishram Jain and Michael Krus stood atop a ridge in Toronto's west end and envisioned five luxury houses for five different buyers - each with more than $1-million to spend. The principals of Tact Development Inc. had acquired three large lots accommodating small bungalows that they planned to tear down. The partners had approvals in place and financing lined up for the new custom-built houses on Mossom Road. But the... 03/22/2009

HUGE, bright and airy - west-facing, 3 bedroom plus den, condo, just a short walk from the subway.24 Hr. TTC right at doorstep; parks, schools, places of worship, etc., all within walking distance.Major shopping 5 minutes away. Close to:  Fairview Mall, Ikea, Canadian Tire, Sheppard line, Peanut Plaza... Easy access to the 404 and 401 (just 2 minutes away)...             Located in North York (South of Sheppard, off of Don Mills), this well looked after, updated condo, is ready to move into.  It's the best value in the building/area, for this size/square footage.  The price includes 1 parking space. Call me directly or email me, for additional information.       Toronto Real Estate by Sylvie Conde, BrokerSutton Group-Associates Realty Inc., Brokerage   416-966-0300sconde@sutton.comwww.s... 03/21/2009