Toronto Condos

Contemplating New Year's Resolutions? - Don't Forget About Your Home

It only feels like 2 minutes ago that we were welcoming the beginning of 2010 and now we have celebrated the end of it! Along with the fireworks, the parties and the cold weather, now is a prime time to seriously contemplate what , if any, New Year's resolutions you are going to do. Lots of people make resolutions related to themselves directly, such as: I will give up smoking/ I will be nicer/ I will start exercising and so on. What most of us don't think about is the place we live and making the resolutions concerning it. So along with the individual resolutions, how about considering some resolutions about the house you live in.

Here I have put together some resolutions which may be beneficial to you:

Think about the environment and come up with strategies to make your home more ecologically friendly Cut down on rubbish, re-use products such as bottles for storing items and separate rubbish and dispose of it properly. This is definitely a simple resolution to think about and do and helps look after our planet.

Smoke alarms and carbon detectors are important! Lots of us still do not have fire and CO2 alarms in our house; therefore this is a good time to purchase and install some. If you already have them, make sure they all contain new batteries and are functioning just fine. This resolutions is probably the most important resolution you could make, detectors have saved many lives, the next life it saves could be yours and your families.

Instead of being someone who decides at the last minute, plan for those house renovations. Think about all those improvements you would like to complete in your home and write a list. Next to each job, write down the materials you need then keep it handy when you are at the shops; this way you can buy items in the sales or you may find them cheaper at a different shop. It would without a doubt cost you much more if you purchased everything at once, at full price. If you make plans, you have time to browse around and find the best solution.

When paying for an appliance for your house think about what you want, the price you want to spend before researching thoroughly your options; avoid buying the first one you come across. Many appliances, even if more expensive, could save you a lot of energy; try to think your purchase though!

Look at energy saving tips you can do in the home. There are many ways you can save money and energy in the house. It's straightforward, here are few tips - don't leave the light on when it isn't essential, don't leave the windows open for too long (it take ages to heat the room in such a case) and turn off the TV/computer when you aren't using it.

'Your house is your castle'; pay attention to it! Keep on top of those little jobs that you may keep putting off, each house needs routine care. To keep your house in fantastic shape and avoid massive repair bills, make sure any repairs or redecoration is completed regularly.

As Toronto realtor, I understand resolutions related to home are difficult. As with any resolution, only you can choose what is best for you and what is practical based on your personal circumstances. Putting in a new kitchen may be one individual's choice, it doesn't have to be yours, but maybe repainting the master bedroom is. Set yourself a chore, a date you want to end it and do it! What resolution do YOU want to do?

Selling A Property At Xmas - Valuable Advice

The long expected holiday season seems to be advancing pretty fast. The public are starting to panic that they don't have presents yet, so the stores are filling up with consumers. Honestly, the pre-holiday season madness has commenced. Would you even think about selling your home at this time of year? You may not, but there are home owners that want to sell regardless of what time of year it is. Selling your home at this time of year does not actually have to be a poor decision.

Only determined home buyers are out looking for a new home at this time of year, which is a big plus in your favour. With everything there is to do getting sorted for the holidays, people just do not have the stamina, so would be a waste of what little time they do have spare. Those who are searching for a home in this period, are perhaps more inclined and indeed do want to find something.

Many home owners will take their property off the market in the run up to Xmas, so real estate agents have less properties on their books. So if buyers want a new house then they have less accessible to them, which in turn means less competition to sway them away from buying yours. Therefore it is often swifter process to buy and sell a home at this time of year and for a good price. With all the good will and feelings of family surrounding the holiday people could fall in love with your home easier than at any other time of year; in fact they may even be willing to pay a higher price for a quicker sale.

What most homes have at this time of year, that is not normal for other times is decorations; use decor to your advantage. Decorations make a home look homely, lived in and extremely pretty. Use the decorations to fluff your home, fluffing is quite normal at any time of year but more so at Xmas. Decorations both inside and outside make a home look fantastic. Don't forget though, do not over decorate as this can make the place look overcrowded and cramped. Try to be tasteful when you decorate, don't squash the maximum amount of decorations in the minuscule amount of space; less is more.

With the many advantages of Xmas time selling, don't put off putting your Condos in Toronto on the market, use the holiday season to your advantage. There are no ifs and buts about selling your property if there is a buyer for your home then you will sell it, regardless of the fact it is the holidays Some are extremely fortunate and happen upon a person who will want to buy their place as a Christmas gift. It may sound far fetched, but it has been known to take place in fact I know of a case where that happened. 

Toronto Real Estate - Some Vital Advice

• Just because the tenants were already resident when I bought my property, does that mean I'm stuck with them or can I evict them?

The easy answer is no - according to the Tenant Protection Act, the tenant must agree to go upon the agreed notice given to them. If they do not wish to move out, they do not have to, though a homeowner facing this problem should certainly seek legal advice. One anomaly: If the homeowner's immediate family is to use the currently tenanted rooms, a homeowner may give proper legal notice to vacate to the tenants, which must be complied with. • My property has a completed basement, is there anything I need to think about before renting it out?

As with hiring out any type of real estate there are things that must be complied with. There are many regulations covering rented space, such as Fire Codes, Zoning By-laws to name a couple, so it is in your interest to check on whether the space complies with all relevant legislations before advertising it. The finished basement, to be used as a secondary unit would need a second exit to name one regulations, so by finding out about these regulations you will be in a position to know what upgrades, if any, needed to be completed.

• There is a difference between my occupancy date and the registration date, I'm unsure why is this?

If you are buying a newly built condo or Lofts in Toronto, then occupancy fees become your responsibility from the occupancy date, even if you haven't moved in yet. It is the time at which the home is said to be completed, though all your finishes may not yet be complete. When the whole building is fully registered and has closed, the suite is legally completely yours to live in or dispose of as you please.

• Please explain what is a reserve fund and what is it set up for?

Repairs have to be completed to shared areas of a condo building from time to time, the reserve fund which is legally set aside, is for this purpose. You may see that you pay a monthly maintenance charge this fee from all the unit owners builds and is called the reserve fund, this is a requirement by law.

• Does the condo corporation or the reserve fund for the block take care of things that are broken inside my condo?

The apartment and all items inside of it belongs to you once you have purchased it. As a result if something breaks, then it is up to you to fix it. The shared parts of the condo building are the responsibility of the condo corporation and they will deal with any problems and maintenance of these areas.

Painting Your House

We all have that yearning from time to time to change how our property looks. As the owner you have probably lived with the same designs for many years and while it still looks great to others, to you its ready for a change. A swift way to transform the look of your property is by painting it, it doesn't cost a lot of money and the results are quickly seen.

So now you have determined you are going to repaint, there are one or two choices that need to be made. By far the most major decision is whether this redecoration is going to be on the interior, exterior and for the more adventurous, both! It's not just you who will observe the results of your hard work, if you paint the outside, individuals passing by will see that fresh new look. Painting the outside is not an option if you live in a building that is not owned by you, such as a flat Therefore if you live a flat, any redecorating will have to be done on the internal walls. It often is, and should be, painted more regularly, too.

Moreover, it is essential to choose who will do the painting itself. The cheaper option is to complete the painting yourself, with hopefully the help of family and friends. The only outlay will be the new paint colour, some tools and maybe a couple of beers and pizzas for your assistants. There is a negative side to completing the work yourself and that is the amount of time it will take and the disruption involved over a longer period of time. You could always pay a decorator to do the work for you, so you can go only with your daily life with little or no hassle to yourself.

Now you have decided what you are going to redecorated and what part of your property is to be painted, you need to decide on the colour. A small or dark area can be easily changed by painting the walls with either a pale light colour or a bright colour such as yellow. Take into consideration the existing furniture and flooring when you make your selection, you don't need the paint to be the same colour, but you definitely don't want it to clash either. When choosing a paint the external walls, you probably don't want it to look exactly the same as next door. Although, it is probably not a good idea to paint the outside of the property with overly bright colours, a colour that blends in with the neighbourhood is probably the best idea.

These are all decisions that only you can make, after all you know your property and you know what you want. In case you are arranging to paint your property anytime soon, good luck with it!

Delivered by Elli Davis and her team, awarded Toronto Condos real estate agents

picture by Barjack

Are There Advantages to Living in a Property with Lots of Generations?

Do you live in a house with your kids and your mother and father? For some cultures this is a very common scenario and in Canada it is becoming more common throughout every culture. You many think this is a very good thing or the thought of it may fill you with terror, but there are negatives and positives to living with extended family. I want to show you a couple of them in this feature. If moving in with extended family is something you are looking to do shortly, hopefully this article can give you an insight into what to expect.

Let's begin by looking at the positive side.

-sharing the financial burden of owning a property, is one of the good points of this type of living. With large homes, where families only meet in a couple of rooms, then it probably won't make as much financial sense.

-you are living with your whole family surrounding you. A warm family environment with good, close relationships is another benefit.

-the financial pressure of babysitters or childcare could be alleviated, when there is lots of individuals living under one roof there is bound to be someone who is available. The older generations are able to support or advise the younger generations, especially with regard to bringing up a kid.

-the older generations may have health problems, consequently the younger members of the home can support them to living independently as much as possible. On the flip side, the older members could cook while the younger generation is at work – reciprocal help is the key.

-the older individual can feel lonely, primarily if they are housebound or have lost their life partner. We all need a shoulder to lean on at times, living with your whole family can help assuage that loneliness of becoming older.

Let's now think about the bad side.

-some of you might feel like they have no real independent time, like they are never really alone.

-parents and grandparents could feel that you are intruding in their lives, or you may feel that they are intruding in yours all the time.

-disagreements about bringing up the children (the grandparents are treating them too much and so on).

worries of being compared to other family members is not a nice emotion to feel, primarily if it's your partners family you are living with and not your own.

-different generations see things in a different way, so this could be a hard adjustment to deal with. Naturally, it is important to live in a house, which is capable of accommodating more generations Forest Hill real estate is great for this.

Rules need to be set up before entering into this kind of situation, there are lots of other points to think about that I haven't covered, as a family it's up to you how you deal with it. Honesty is extremely important, though. If you know you could never dream living in such a property, do not do so just because your husband or wife wants you to. When all said and done, if you are miserable then other people are going to feel that, which makes for a very strained home and relationships could break down.

To buy, or to rent, that is the question!

Which dreams did you have as a youngster - occupation, holidays, children, house, marriage? Becoming an adult and have our own place to live in is a dream that is not so clear-cut nowadays. Living in your own house does not necessarily mean owning it, it could also be rented. You could buy your own property and what you are paying out goes towards owning a house, unlike renting. Whether buying your house or renting, they have their own its plus points as well as disadvantages.

Pay Rent to a Landlord

This is one of the more easier ways of moving into your own house. You browse around, like the look of it, you agree terms with a landlord, it's your new home. You move in and you live there for as long as you sign the tenancy for. Obviously you are going to have to hand over the rent each month and any security deposit straight away. Most agreements say the landlord is liable for repairs, so you don't even have to think about them. Even refurbishing the home is paid by the person who owns the property. The biggest downside, is probably the fact that the place is not your own and it is very likely that you will have to move out at the end of the day. Often you do not have the rights of when you have to vacate the property. Many individuals feel some kind of a bond to the property, get used to it and are sorry to leave. Certainly if you are one of those individuals that enjoying moving, then this would be an bonus point for you. In simple terms, if your rent period expires and you want to move, you just do, you do not have to sell the house and so on. But with any good thing, there is always a negative point, one of the big ones with renting is you can't do want you want with the property and would have to ask permission that could or could not be given.

Real Estate Purchase

To start off with it may be hard. One of the big hardships is that large loan you may have had to take out which could take years to pay off. Once you have bought the house it doesn't end there, what about decorating it to your own personal style? Including the mortgage charges, you have to pay fees for the house, all the improvement and running costs and also home insurance. Nevertheless at the end of the day you are now the title owner. You can decorate it or alter it in anyway, it's yours to do with as you please. You can do want you want to the building, within reason, you don't have to get consent to change it. Be wary, though, sometimes repairs may be very expensive even if they seem to be insignificant in the beginning. Moving properties is not going to be easy compared to moving from rented places. When you move house often you have to rent the home out or sell it. The property could take a while to sell or rent out, specially if the market conditions are not very good. However, as a realtor, who specializes in one of the most astonishing areas in Toronto - Bridle Path - I believe with home ownership comes a special feeling!

Renting accommodation is potentially the best option for you if you like to wander and don't intend to stay in one place very long. The financial outlay of buying a house takes at minimum a couple of years to start paying off. In the beginning, it seems like you only have to pay out with no benefits.

Are You Leasing a House or Are You Leasing a House Out?

Almost everybody has been either in a position of a landlord or of a tenant, at some point during their life. Only a couple of lucky people have always been owners of their property and never had to experience living in someone's property. On the other hand, there are people who own an extra property for rent. Not everything in life is perfect and it is not unexpected for occasional arguments or disagreements between the tenant and landlord taking place. So whether you are a landlord or a tenant, here are some ideas on making it run a little bit better:

Settling your rent on time is one of the first important rules of being a good tenant. Nothing is this life is free, so if a landlord is providing you with a property then you should not make them wait for payment Try and keep the property in decent condition, this means keeping it clean and tidy, including the backyard Even though it is not your house so you are not abusing your own property, try to take care of the house just like it was your own. If you are thinking about sharing the house with other individuals make sure you read the agreement and only share it with as many people as the agreement allows.

As a landlord you have a duty of care to the renter, so make sure the house is in good condition. Any services to the house should be safe as not to cause a problem to a new tenant; also make sure that bits such as windows are not broken. Try to pay for gas, water or electricity (if you are liable for these) on time so that there will be no awful surprises for the tenants – it won’t be acceptable if suddenly there isn't running water. Do not keep the spare keys, a tenant is not going to be happy if you turn up without notice and let yourself it, it is now their home. You need to honour the tenants right to privacy, even if it is your house , they are paying you for the right to live there.

As a Forest Hill Houses expert I believe the most important thing to think about is put everything the tenant and the landlord settle on, on tenancy agreements. For an idea, I write down who is going to deal with the repairs or paying for the electricity. Make a decision on pets To avoid issues in the future, it is important that these details are sorted out before the tenancy starts and make sure you stick to them.

Tips on Selling Your House Successfully

Experts are there to help you sell your home, but if you want to do it without their help you could make several mistakes. Rather than fall into the pitfalls when selling your home, I hope that by reading this report it will give you an insight into avoiding common issues.

In other articles I have mentioned the exterior of your home, this is the first impact a possible buyer is going to have and could determine whether or not they want to invest in it. The inside of the home is what buyers are coming to see, but that doesn't mean the exterior is not important. The garden, shed, patio and general state of the exterior of the home is crucial. So if you don't want to sell, just leave the outside in a mess with the grass uncut and paint peeling off the property.

While you may love your animals, a probable purchaser may be wary of them. First of all, it is not acceptable for viewers if a dog keeps jumping all over them as soon as they step inside the house. As well, some animals may smell really disgusting. Pet cages need to be cleaned just before the viewer turns up. Make sure you dispose of the waste in an exterior bin and air the room so it smells clean and fresh. Nasty smells can be really discouraging to possible viewers.

Dirt is another thing that will put people off buying your home. Leaving, for example, dirty pots on the table or your clothes all over the chair are not a brilliant idea if you are looking to find a buyer. Of course, you may think the visitors did not come to look at your clothes and they do not care your home is not quite clean, but trust me, they do. Consider what you wouldn't want to see when looking around for a new house and then decide whether you would buy a property in this state. I would be out of that home quickly and would never look back!

Make sure personal items such a shoes and jackets or newspapers and magazines are hidden away. Family photo's and the kid's painting masterpieces need to be kept to a minimum. Let the purchaser envision the family house, their family home, rather than yours. It is hard to envision yourself living in a house that is filled with personal possessions belonging to someone else. Your potential purchaser could look in drawers, so avoid stuffing your personal possessions inside them, as doing this can be as harmful to a possible sale as leaving them out.

Is there anything else you can think of to help individuals sell their house? Have you viewed a house and disliked something so didn't get it? Let me know if there is anything else that could be beneficial to include in this piece.

If you have any question concerning selling a home, contact Elli Davis from Toronto Luxury Homes

Another great source for Toronto market news

Investing in a Property - Single Females

A Few years or decades ago the idea of a (single) woman purchasing a house herself would have been absolutely unimaginable. Today there are many women out there that can now afford to purchase their own property by themselves Looking at the statistics, there is a steady growth and increase in popularity for single professional women to invest in their house.

The difference over the years has moved women away from the stereotype, uneducated, stay at home wife and mother. There may always be more men than women that go to university and have lucrative professional jobs, but the gap is slowly closing.

Rather than just take my word for it, let's have a look at a few recent polls. There were 44% of women who think that financial security and house ownership go hand in hand, subject to the 3rd annual TD Canada Trust Women and Home Ownership Poll, at the end of 2009. Since 2008 that signifies a 21% jump. Not paying rent to live in a house was the 2nd most popular answer to the question about benefits of property ownership. 38 percent of females voted for this option. With a rise from 13 to 38% this is quite a telling change amongst the women asked.

The general age of a first time property buyer is said to be 29, of which over 80% are single women, according to the IPSOS-Reid poll. Looking at the figures in more detail, we also see that 80% of those women have no children and half have got university degrees.

As a (female) Toronto realtor I see This will probably be positive, but there is unsatisfactory news as well. In spite of this very amiable trend, men, even in the same jobs usually earn slightly more than women, no matter whether they are better or worse. Statistics still show that women buying properties by themselves have more chance of running into problems, such as paying off a mortgage, than their male counterparts or if they were part of a married couple.

picture by Tizzie

Home Improvement Market Fiddle

Let's have a look at the home improvement scams that are going on - this feature is going to focus on one of them. My Toronto real estate team will describe simple but dangerous practice of home improvement scam.

Scams Involving Chimneys

These chimney stack scams are very frequent. You know your chimney is about ready of cleaning out, so you look around at the ads and find one at a acceptable price. You didn't expect when the sweeper came to your home to give you the horrible news that your chimney is in such a state of decay that it needs repairing or even replacing! Now is the time for you to take a grasp of the situation and not to jump in feet first. Before taking the word of this sweeper, make sure you search around for a second or even a third recommendation.

Quality usually comes at a higher price, but often this is the better alternative. While it is great to search for good buys, just be cautious that you are not letting cost overrule common sense. I'm not saying that all low cost contractors are poor, you can get bargains. But as soon as they mention your chimney needs mending, watch out and ask someone else before forking out for the repair. Particularly, if you find their advertisement on some coupons in a magazine or some advertisement directly in your mailbox. Even more dangerous is just randomly offering you their services saying they are doing jobs in your neighbourhood or something along those lines. Although I have said this earlier, I will say it again - BE WARY!

Some More Home Improvement Scams

In a typical situation, be wary if a repairman, sweeper - simply your trades-person:

-just unexpectedly turns up offering you their services saying they are just working next to your house or just passing by and want to help you (attracting you on good prices)

-they can do a great price for the job because they have extra material and wouldn't need to travel to transport it to you.

-as they are working in your house they can do this work or that job all at a reduced price - you may end up having your whole home unnecessarily repaired.

-wants their payment before the job is completed they might never finish it or just provide poor quality work, if you pay them before they even do something

If a tiny voice in your head says be wary; pay attention to it! With these scams in your head and your own trustworthy instincts you can't go far astray.