Monthly Archives: June 2010

Government still facing criticism over cancellation of green home programs

Posted on June 18, 2010 | 1 Comment

The federal government is still receiving plenty of criticism over its choice to cancel one of its green home programs almost one year early.

In March, the government suddenly and surprisingly cancelled the ecoEnergy home rebate program at the end of March, while most homeowners were under the impression they had until March 2011 to complete the required energy audit that would qualify them for $5,000 in rebates and grants for green home renovations and the replacement of older energy-sucking appliances.

The program also created countless jobs and plenty of work for contractors who were scrambling to keep up with the demand for renovations.

One company that manufactures various forms of insulation, NAIMA Canada, told Canwest News Service in June that, “At a time when the economy is just beginning to recover from a major recession, the government has threatened to put an entire industry out of work,” they said. “This was a wonderful program that did exactly what it was supposed to do and more. It was one of the government’s most impactful programs to deal with climate change.”

According to the president of the Canadian Energy Alliance, the program saved the entire country of Canada over $300 million in energy costs thanks to all of the energy saving renovations.

The government said the program was only “suspended for further review” when it made the announcement, but there has been no news since.

The city of Ottawa has also just recently announced that they are scrapping their low-flow toilet rebate program because of changes to the Ontario Building Codes that would make them mandatory anyway, something that will eventually effect Toronto.

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Posted in Green Energy

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Toronto Landmarks: Art Gallery of Ontario

Posted on June 17, 2010 | Leave a comment

The Art Gallery of Ontario is the 10th largest art gallery of its kind in all of North America. It features art by famous international artists like Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol as well as famous Canadian artists like Tom Thomson.

The Art Gallery of Ontario (or AGO) was established over 100 years ago in 1900 as the Art Museum of Toronto, officially becoming the AGO in 1966. Currently, it holds over 68,000 works and includes artwork from as long ago as the first century.

This summer, the AGO will be holding a selection of different and exciting exhibits. It’s not your average stuffy art gallery, and instead features things that can entice nearly everyone. The facility also has four cafes and restaurants along with a banquet hall suitable for any event.

This summer, see:

Contact 2010 (until August 1st): The world’s largest photography festival plays out not only at art galleries but billboards, sidewalks, walls and bus stops throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Catch American Photographer Barbara Kruger’s graphic photographic artwork along the front facade of the AGO building.

American Prints of the Great Depression (Until June 27): From the stock market crash that started it all to throughout the 1930s, see how the American government chose to use art as a starting point to help stimulate the economy by hiring artists to capture the ideal America and inspire the rest of the country.

Playing with Pictures – The Art of Victorian Photocollage (June 5 to September 5): They’re strange, intriguing and very little-known – Victorian paintings and photographs mashed together to create vibrant and colourful social commentary on the times.

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Posted in Neighbourhood Information

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Muddy York Quick Tip: Where can I find a Land Transfer Tax Calculator for Toronto Properties

Posted on June 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

If you are interested in finding out the combined Ontario and Toronto land transfer for your next purchase of Toronto Real Estate, just use the handy calculator located at www.torontorealestateboard.com/LTT_splash/ltt_calculator.htm

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Is the Toronto Real Estate Market Changing?

Posted on June 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

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Posted in Market Information

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RECO: Preparing for an Open House

Posted on June 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

The sale of a home can be a stressful and busy time for any homeowner which is why it is important to work closely with your registered real estate professional if you are planning an open house.

Your best approach is to ask as many questions as possible about what you need to do to prepare as well as making sure you understand what occurs during an open house.

While not exhaustive, below are some examples of questions you might want to ask your registered salesperson*:

  • Will your salesperson be present during the open house?
  • Will attendees of the open house be asked for identification?
  • Will all attendees be escorted throughout the home and will your salesperson limit the number of individuals in your home at any one time to ensure they are personally escorted?
  • Will your salesperson check all doors, windows and other access points prior to locking your home at the end of the open house?
  • Ask your salesperson for advice on whether you should allow photographs of your home to be taken by buyers or anyone else.

Below are some steps you can take to prepare for an open house:

  • Remove small valuables from view.
  • Remove medications from all rooms in the home including your medicine cabinet.
  • Keep your bills, credit card receipts, and bank statements out of view. You may want to store them with your other valuables.
  • Take inventory/pictures of your property and what was stored so you will know quickly if anything is missing.
  • Consider removing personal photographs that may be on display.

Log on to www.reco.on.ca and take advantage of the registrant search feature to ensure you are working with someone who is registered to trade in real estate in Ontario.

SOURCE:  RECO:  www.reco.on.ca

NOTE:  *For the purpose of this document, a salesperson refers to both registered salespersons and registered brokers.
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

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Posted in General Information

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Home renovation spending increased by $4.5 billion in 2009

Posted on June 13, 2010 | 1 Comment

The renovation hysteria that hit Canada in 2009 increased renovation spending by $4.5 billion according to survey data released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The CMHC’s Renovation and Home Purchase Survey was released at the beginning of June and found that the average cost of each household’s renovations was around $12,000.

“More than $25.8 billion was spend on renovations in 2009 across the 10 major surveyed centres, and increase of about $4.5 billion compared to 2008,” said the senior economist at the CMHC. “As well, when Canadian homeowners were asked about their renovations for this year, 43 per cent indicated that they intend to spend $1,000 or more by the end of 2010.”

Toronto was one of those major urban centres, where the lowest number of respondents (five per cent) said that they had purchased a home in 2009. The same number of respondents across the board said they were intending to buy a home in 2010.

A total of 76 per cent of the households in major urban centres that underwent the renovations used their savings as opposed to credit, and a whopping 52 per cent renovated in order to sell their homes or add value.

The top three renovations across the country in were remodeling rooms, painting or wallpapering and new flooring, either hard wood or carpeting. St. John’s led the renovations with the highest number of households renovating for more than $1,000 at 59 per cent, while Montreal was the lowest number at only 45 per cent.

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Posted in renovations

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Toronto Island House and History Tour

Posted on June 12, 2010 | Leave a comment

Toronto Island House and History Tour
Sunday, June 13, 2010                 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Tickets: www.torontoislandhousetour.eventbrite.com or call 416-203-0942

On June 13, 2010, Toronto Island Grannies in Spirit will host a tour of distinctive homes and community buildings on Toronto Island, each with its own story to tell. The tour will feature a selection of historic, renovated, original and new homes. Ticket holders will have the opportunity to meet Island residents and view historic photographs and memorabilia.

The Toronto Island community started as a “tent city” in the early 1900s. It is now a unique, year-round — and car-free — neighbourhood, with more than 650 residents living in 262 homes. There are no stores, banks, or ATMs. Some of the houses were purchased out of the Simpson’s catalogue in the 1930s. Others were floated from Hanlan’s Point when the Island Airport was built. And still others have been renovated or designed by architects to make optimal use of small spaces. The community is part of the urban landscape, yet magically removed from the city by a fifteen minute ferry ride.
Grannies in Spirit is one of over 230 grandmother groups across Canada in the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, one of the great grassroots movements in Canada. In the four years since it was initiated by the Stephen Lewis Foundation, the campaign has raised more than $7 million for projects in Sub-Saharan Africa that support African grandmothers and their grandchildren orphaned by AIDS. All proceeds from the House and History Tour will go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
Date:                Sunday, June 13, 2010
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $40, children 13 and under $15 www.torontoislandhousetour.eventbrite.com  or call 416-203-0942
Location: Wards Island. Take Toronto Island Ferry (foot of Bay Street, west side of Westin Harbour Castle Hotel) to Wards Island (every half hour in June; adults $6.50 return)

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Household wind turbines becoming more compatible with cities like Toronto

Posted on June 11, 2010 | Leave a comment

Harnessing wind power might be one of the most ideal ways to use green energy. The only problem is that the wind turbines themselves tend to be rather problematic. Large wind turbines are noisy, unsightly and take up a lot of space, making few people want to have them in their own backyards. Small turbines, while useful for summer cottages, couldn’t provide enough energy in the winter or handle the volatile city winds – until now.

A Canadian company called Wind Simplicity has created the Windancer, a small, convenient rooftop wind turbine that suits the city’s winds and spins slower than average to present less of a safety hazard.

The Windancer has already won the National Energy Globe Award and the Gold Design Exchange Award in engineering, but most importantly, it makes wind energy accessible for homeowners who are serious about going green on their own and don’t want to wait for a wind farm to be built nearby.

Wind is a free, pollutant-free sustainable resource. It’s a lot more reliable than most might think, as unlike the sun and solar energy, the wind tends to be more dense during the seasons where the most energy is required – such as the winter months.

The Windancer itself comes in customizable colours, doesn’t interfere with television or radio signals and is highly visible to flying wildlife like birds. It also doesn’t run very loudly and produces negligible vibrations, making it perfectly-suited for Toronto homes.

Previously, turbines like these have been far too small, expensive or difficult to install. But now, a variety of smaller-sized turbines are popping up, available for homeowners who can either go with their own affordable wind turbine or an award-winning design, such as the Windancer.

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Posted in General Information, Green Energy

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Toronto condominium projects are still going strong

Posted on June 10, 2010 | Leave a comment

At the beginning of last year, many of the giant condominium projects that were underway at the time were suffering delays, going over budget and falling prey to the recession.

This year, the last six weeks alone have seen 18 or so condominium projects about to be launched in Toronto that will serve a large variety of buyers – from retirees to first-time buyers to those looking for a luxury property in the sky.

One of the prime differences with some of these condominiums is the way that these suites are advertised. Instead of a gigantic, expensive public launch party and media campaign to gain interested buyers in order to get enough suites sold to begin building, soft launches seem to be a better option.

A soft launch is when a developer might have a more closed-doors meeting with investors, industry contacts or people who’ve mentioned they’d like to live in one of the developer’s projects but previously passed in order to drum up enough interest. This way, higher unprecedented costs aren’t passed on to the end buyer of the condo suites and the buyers can have their properties at a more standard rate.

The soft launches provide more necessary up-front sales that gets the project completed faster with fewer delays, and is much cheaper than a media campaign that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Meanwhile, the new condo sales already hit a record in the Greater Toronto Area at the beginning of this year, up 491 per cent over the beginning of 2009 when the industry was hit the hardest. Price per square foot is also up almost $100 from last year, and an estimated 30 new large condominium projects are estimated to be getting their start in this quarter.

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