A little used tool by Agents is the Buyers Registration System. This permits me to enter the search criteria for your perfect home by details and location, then we will have agents calling us with their best pricing and most motivated Sellers Contacting US! What a Buyer's Advantage/ Have Sellers Bidding on you!   Contact David Pylyp at 647 218 2414 to schedule an interview about where you would like to live. 02/15/2009

Attention:  The National Home Show is being held two months early. Order your tickets now.The National Home Show will be held on:- February 20 to March 1, at the National Trade Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto. The International Home and Garden Show will be held on: - March 19-22, at the Toronto International Centre, in Mississauga.   I will provide my clients with tickets - free of charge - (regular price $15.00) -  you just have to hurry up and call me, before the tickets are sold out. :)Don't miss what promises to be a great Home Show, with some amazing celebrity guests.For additional information you can call me, or 416-263-3000.       Toronto Real Estate by Sylvie Conde - BrokerSutton Group-Associates Realty Inc., Brokerage 416-966-0300sconde@sutton.comwww.sylvieconde.com ~~~~~~~~~... 02/13/2009

I so hope that the Municipal and Provincial levels of government can finally get together and improve the Lake Shore Humber Bay shore area with the Proposed LRT.This Humber Bay Shore area encompasses approximately 7,000 condo units plus the SFD.This will provide economic stimulus, improved neighbourhood pride, and make the west end envied by the "other" boroughs.If someone could guide these wise politicians to see their way to JOINING the Mississauga Lakeshore into the Communities of Lakeview, Port Credit, and even as far as Walden Spinney at Erin Mills / Southdown Road, the sigh of relief will be felt to generations.Slide Show about Lake Shore LRT Additional Information and Mapping of proposed routesAs part of the Transit City initiative, the TTC is studying the idea of replacing the ... 02/13/2009

02/11/2009

Video Interview with Mississauga lawyer Stan Gelman by David Pylyp regarding condominium Insurance. Feel free to contact Stanley Gelman at 905 270 5110 or check his website at http://wiselawyer.ca/ for any real estate, divorce or family related matter. 02/11/2009

Below is the latest press release from the Canadian Real Estate Association. It has a similar tone to the recent opening statement by Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada. The transcript of his latest speech to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance can be found by clicking here. MLS® home sales to decline further in 2009, rebound in 2010 National MLS® home sales activity is expected to decline in 2009 before rebounding in 2010, according to a new residential housing forecast prepared by The Canadian Real Estate Association. National MLS® home sales activity declined 17.1 per cent in 2008, and MLS® sales activity is forecast to fall an additional 16.9 per cent to 360,900 units in 2009. This would be the lowest level for national sales activity since the year 2000. Sal... 02/11/2009

Allison Hanes of Posted Toronto (the National Post Web Site) has an article about the City of Toronto's Recession Budget...I thought in a recession we were supposed to curtail our spending? Everyone I know has, except Toronto City Hall... Check out the list of the interesting numbers at the bottom of her post. It is time for the citizens to challenge some of the Miller Camps thinking, beginning with the user fees (garbage) which push David Miller's figures way past 4%, plus last year's Land Transfer Tax and Vehicle Registration. How much has the City increased your budget since Miller took over in 2004? Why were Developers given a pass? City unveils recession budget Mayor David Miller this morning unveiled an $8.7 billion operating budget for 2009, which includes a 4% property tax hike ... 02/11/2009

Did you know that TREB (Toronto Real Estate Board) awards TWO (@) $5,000 essay-based annual scholarships, on behalf of Realtors, to two graduating high school seniors, to pursue their education? The Board has already contacted high schools, to make students aware of these awards, but if your high school has not mentioned this to you/your child, you should get information directly from the Board. In order to be considered, the applicants must have their applications submitted by April 17th, 2009.   The applicants must submit their essay on one of the following: 1 - "What initiaves would you like to see embraced by the government and real estate developers to help create environmentally conscious communities in the GTA?" 2 - "How will GTA real estate be impacted by rising energy costs and... 02/08/2009

                      Yesterday was Professional Trade Day at the Toronto Interior Design Show (IDS 09).  The IDS is Canada's largest contemporary design event.  I thought I'd just post a few photos of some of what I saw while there.  I was like a kid in a candy store - "I'll take one of everything please!"  [Oh well, it's nice to dream.] There was everything there you could imagine.  If you're into luxury streetwear designer Christian Audigier, believe it or not, the line can even be found in the way of furniture now - skulls and all.  While there might be a more limited target market for this, I must admit it was pretty cool - although definitely not a piece you want to keep around when staging your home for sale.  If money is not an issue and you've got some serious coin to drop, why... 02/07/2009

There is a great post out the by BlogTO. It is all about the launch on February 3rd of a Development Update Site by the City of Toronto. It gives you the Deveopment Status of projects around the City and is a great resource, long needed, for citizens to keep up with what is happening, or not, in their neighborhood. The City Site is quite cumbersome and does not have a lot of the bells and whistles that we are used to these days but, it is a big move to more transparency and less "he said/she said" in the neighborhood rumour mill. Check out the Blog and also the City web site. Feel free to comment below.   Reposted from: BlogTO Post about the new City of Toronto Development Status Site 02/07/2009

FEBRUARY 2009. TORONTO REAL ESTATE AND TORONTO HOMES FOR SALE. Welcome to the stable marketplace! [column width="67%" padding="6%"] I am frequently asked a version of "how much farther do you think the market will fall" or any number of variations on "when do you think we will hit the bottom?" I think it's exceptionally important to underline one major point: the market isn't falling, it has fallen. While that risks being interpreted as a word game, my point is that Toronto experienced a sudden and significant fall in house prices virtually at once. We "turned on a dime". Since then, prices have remained quite stable. So when did this all happen? Starting in September, the local market experienced a decline of roughly 10% in the year-over-year prices. That decline has been repeated, wi... 02/06/2009

Here in the GTA and other parts of Ontario, water consumption is a metered utility.  The occupant or owner may be billed quarterly by the city, regional municipality, or the local utility company.  Like other utilities (e.g., natural gas & electricity), the seller is responsible for any consumption up to the date of closing. However, unlike other utilities, water bill arrears can be carried forward and billed to the new owner.  And from what I've seen, solicitors can overlook this in the closing adjustments. One of my clients received a notice from the utility company for water bill arrears owed by the property's previous owner.  Knowing that my client had title insurance, I contacted the insurer and confirmed that his policy covered the water bill arrears and that the deadline to file ... 02/06/2009

There is a call for entries for February 18th for next falls (October 3, 2009) Nuit Blanche. I was out of town last year but heard that it was a great evening even though it went way past my bedtime!! For more information visit their web site . Call for Entries Cabbagetown Nuit Blanche proposals: Noon Wed. Feb 18th art installation proposals for one all night long Oct. 3rd Nuit Blanche event in Cabbagetown. Please forward this on to everyone you think might be interested. http://www.cabbagetownnuitblanche.ca/ Reposted from Call for Entries Cabbagetown Nuit Blanche Proposals: February 18th, 2009 02/05/2009

Recently I was at the Inman (Real Estate and Technology) Conference in New York and had the pleasure of listening to Gary Vaynerchuk. He is known for his 5 times a week, 20 minute video posts on wine library tv, watched by over 90,000 people a shot. He is a mesmerizing speaker and I am attaching a link to a Video that was shot at the Conference. Take a look at it, don't mind the jumpy quality but listen to the message about branding, social media, Real Estate and transparency on the web. Watch it to the end if you are interested in some great insights and ideas. Check out the Video here. Reposted from: Gary Vaynerchuk at Inman Connect NYC 2009 02/04/2009

There is a great post on John Pasalis' Move Smartly which connects to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. It allows you to go online and make comments to the Ministry about the City of Toronto Act 2006. The Ministry is involved in reviewing the Act. If you have strong feelings about the Municipal Land Transfer Tax, Automobile Licensing Tax or the further discussions of more powers for the Mayor, make your case known online. Make your thoughts known here. Reposted from: It's Your Chance to Voice Your Opinion on the City of Toronto Act, 2006. 02/04/2009

I have a friend who is a  committed conspiracy theorist. Every time I see him I ask him what the latest theory is and I am always amazed at the creativity of the committed. However, this morning when I read the Globe and Mail article (February 2, 2009, Page A7)  about Mayor Miller supporting a freeze on development levies, I had to ask myself a few obvious questions. Is this the Mayor Miller who supported a Land Transfer Tax, which because of its effects, slowed the market in the 416 region in comparison to the 905 region? Is the same group of developers benefiting who reversed their support, at the last minute, of an Anti-Land Transfer Tax Campaign, led by the Toronto Home Builders Association (they are members) and the Toronto Real Estate Board? Was the "fix in" and the "Miller Crew" ... 02/04/2009

The Toronto Real Estate Board had a great post on the MLS System that is important for all homeowners in the City with Boulevard or Front Yard Parking. At last, The City of Toronto has made information on properties that are licensed for "Front Pad" parking on its web site. However, please note that "The City has advised that a license for boulevard parking does not follow the property, and that new property owners need to apply to have the license agreement transferred."  That information is available to all on their web site at www.toronto.ca/transportation. On that site go to "parking", then "off-street Parking", then "licensed locations". There is a list of properties, whether they are licensed and if they are licensed for one or two cars. Please visit this list and make sure it is ... 02/04/2009

In Toronto Real Estate Buyers Market you should be buying on the Slide of the Market and Not the Bottom of the Market.Let me explain;Everyone was running to buy when the market was on the way up. But who had the advantage?The Seller!They had the Listing and you were running to give them whatever THEY wanted to buy their house. Now, the Shoe is on the other foot.With a Buyer's Market, The proportion of Listings to the Number of homes sold has changedSee Table Using the statistics from the Toronto Real Estate board for the west end of Toronto, Etobicoke and Mississauga. at year end December '08, there were 7,398 listings available with 993 homes sold. This results in a ratio of 13.42 . That translates into a 7.4 month supply of homes available for sale vs Buyers. This is the time to be in... 02/04/2009

The City of Toronto is revising/updating their website, in order to better provide information to the public and to real estate agents, about properties that have LICENSED boulevard/front yard parking. The public should be aware that when buying a property that NOW has front yard parking, that license does not automatically transfer to the new owner. The new owner must apply again to the City of Toronto, in order to be able to park their car on that front yard/boulevard space.  In other words, an application has to be submitted to the City, to transfer ownership of the license.   If you are thinking of selling your home and you have front yard parking, you can ask your realtor to request a letter from the City of Toronto, stating that you have a license for that parking space.  The fee ... 02/03/2009

So, I'm new at this whole blogging thing. Are there any newbies there? I'm trying to get my head around why it is so important?? I know it is, but I just don't know how to get started. This is a long video but he gives a good explanation of the importance of the blog. Does anyone have any tips for the new blogger? 02/03/2009