Real Estate Toronto Canada

Lovely 1.5 Storey 3-bedroom Near Jane & Wilson

As predicted last month, the May preliminary sales numbers show that we’ll have approx 9,330 Toronto houses and condos sales for the month. 

This is the lowest number of sales for the month of May since 2005… remember the 11,146 sales we had in May of 2007?

The listing inventory climbed about 13% to 25,490 homes available in May on the MLS market.  The market-predicting ratio of sales-to-listings dropped to a more reasonable 36.6% – down from almost 56% in the month of March. 

It’s still a ’seller’s market’ (anything above 28%), but it’s certainly not as strong as it was earlier this year and during much of 2009, with many more listing choices available for a buyer.  A neutral market is between 24-28%!

Keep watching this blog for the full May Toronto Real Estate Report coming out shortly!

Toronto Real Estate Market Peaked In April is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Have you been hearing a bunch of hubbub around the web lately about the upcoming release of WordPress version 3.0? I know I have, and it’s always fun to hear what people are saying when we get close to a release over at WordPress.org. Here on WordPress.com, though, you never have to wait! We merge in the new features as they’re ready, so every one of you gets early access to features that only beta testers are using out in the rest of the world. Yay, right?

This new update to WordPress has a lot of under-the-hood things that you won’t really notice, but I wanted to take a minute to tell you about the new custom menu system, which is pretty exciting. Have you ever wanted to have a different title for one of your pages than the label displayed in your site’s navigation? Ever wanted to change the order of the list of pages to an order you chose yourself? Ever wanted to be able to mix pages, categories, and random links in your navigation instead of your theme deciding for you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re in luck! The new custom menus feature will do all those things.

Go to Appearance → Menus in your dashboard to get started, and follow the directions there. Note: Since this feature is so new, not all themes support it yet. Right now, these themes have the custom menu feature built in: Twenty Ten, Structure, Vostok, Bueno, Enterprise, and Notepad. If you’re using a different theme, don’t fret. We’ll be adding support to more themes, but in the meantime you can still play with custom menus by using the new widget called, amazingly enough, Custom Menu. This widget will let you add any of the custom menus you create to one of your sidebars/widget areas.

Menus are the big new feature for you guys, but there are a couple of other things worth noting:

• Have you noticed the lighter color scheme for your dashboard? Now more than ever, being in your WordPress administration tool is about focusing on your content without being distracted by the tool itself.
• If you turn on privacy controls, you’ll see a little reminder note next to your site title in the dashboard, so that when you’re ready for search engines to crawl your site again, you won’t forget to change the setting.

I hope you guys enjoy the new features!

When Neil Pasricha started his WordPress.com blog, 1,000 Awesome Things, he decided to highlight one awesome thing each weekday to help him keep a positive outlook.

That was three years ago, and now, the awesomeness just keep rolling on in for Neil: He has not only become a successful blogger and earned three Webby awards, he also can consider himself a critically acclaimed author.  “The Book of Awesome” went on sale last month and was warmly received by reviewers.

“Now I’m writing a page-a-day calendar, meeting with TV producers, and basically trying to catch my completely spinning head,” Neil says of his success.

All this and Neil has still got 505 more awesome things to blog about!

Congrats, Neil, and we wish similarly awesome success to all our WordPress.com bloggers.

The model suite is built and designed to entice the senses and ignite the imagination. Developers know that they only have a few seconds to grab a potential buyer’s attention and make them feel like they want to move into the condo immediately. In order to achieve this result, developers have long been using several ‘tricks of the trade’ to make their model suites appear as appealing as possible. Here are 5 things every buyer should know about model suites before walking into any condo sales centre:

1. Ceiling Height. Often model suites are in loft or commercial space where the ceiling heights are far higher than what you will actually receive. Side note, The Berczy’s model suite has 8′ ceilings whereas the suites will have a minimum of 9′ ceilings – first time I’ve actually seen this!
2. Doors. Many model suites don’t have doors between rooms, this creates the illusion of more space.
3. Upgrades. Every model suite has some sort of upgrade. Counter tops, appliances, hardwood in the bedrooms, the type of hardwood used, bathroom tiles used, etc. Ask yourself why is this? It can only mean that the standard finishes will not effectively ’sell’ the building which means you will likely be paying more for your unit than you originally planned to! Quick tip: if a sales person can’t tell you exactly what is an upgrade and what isn’t an upgrade in the model suite – RUN the other way!
4. Custom wood work. I’m seeing this more and more in model suites – custom mill work on walls, built-in storage, built-in desks, etc. This is a design trend that developers are adopting in their model suites but remember, when you move it it’s nothing but concrete and drywall painted in “Egg Shell White”!
5. Furniture and Lighting. The furniture and light fixtures being used in most sales centres are top of the line, high-end pieces.  The average person would be shocked to hear how much money was spent on the furniture and lighting in a typical model suite. Look past the $10,000 couch and $2,500 chandelier and see if you still fall in love with the unit itself before signing on the dotted line.

If you are thinking about buying a pre-construction condo, educate yourself first and never register with a developer without representation. Questions or comments? Contact me.

The other day I got a call from a Realtor who was working with some home buyers I had pre-approved for their mortgage. They found the home they wanted to buy and they were ready to submit an offer, but there was just one problem. They were approved for an FHA loan, and the seller (or the listing Realtor) of the home they were interested in, specifically noted that only conventional offers would be considered. This is fairly common, but it is often the wrong advice. So I asked why they wouldn’t consider FHA, and the answer was because the home wouldn’t meet the FHA property guidelines. It turns out that the home is what might be considered a fixer-upper and the home was being sold “as is”. The owner was older and didn’t keep up with the maintenance, so there were a number of issues that would be red flags for an FHA appraisal, including a bad roof, water damage and mold. It is true that the FHA appraiser has to make sure that the property meets its minimum standards. At one time this was a very nit-picky process, but now it is mostly checking for health and safety related items that need to be fixed prior to closing. But the idea that these issues would be okay for a conventional loan is a myth. Conventional appraisers are now holding the property to a similar standard, and physical problems with the property are grounds for rejecting the loan. So getting a conventional loan on this property was not an option either.

If you look back a few years, conventional appraisals were more lenient. With home prices going up, the appraisal was pretty close to automatic, and as long as the value came in fine, a variety of sins were often overlooked. But the world has shifted, and appraisers are now making sure their backsides are covered on everything, and if there are any defects in the property they will be noted. The other big change is that underwriters are treating the appraisal as a key to part of the loan approval (that wasn’t the case when the market was booming and drive-by appraisals were the norm), so if the property condition will add to the risk of the loan, this is a big problem.

Fortunately, there is a solution for this problem – the FHA 203k rehab loan. This program allows buyers to purchase a home which doesn’t meet the property guidelines, and builds the costs of any repairs or improvements into the loan. In many cases this is the only way to finance properties with more serious problems, but it can also be a way to upgrade and build the costs of remodeling into the loan (so you are only putting 3.5% down on the entire amount, not running up your credit cards or taking on another loan after closing).

Here is a quick overview of the FHA 203k rehab loan and how it works:

FHA 203k mortgages are available for owner occupants only – I get calls all the time from investors who want to buy a home and add the costs of repair into the loan. This isn’t going to work for their situation. The idea behind the FHA 203k is that this is a way to improve the housing stock and stabilize neighborhoods. The best way to do this is through home owners who have a vested interest in their own homes.

FHA 203k rehab loans are eligible for most residential property types and can be used for a variety of purposes – This loan can be used to buy and improve 1-4 unit properties, condos, town homes and even qualified mixed use properties. You can use the loan for a whole variety of uses, including:

· Health and safety repairs including any work necessary to meet FHA property compliance

· Work needed to bring the property into compliance with the building codes

· Correcting structural problems and structural alterations and additions

· Remodeling kitchens and baths

· Buying appliances

· Modernize the plumbing, heating, AC and electrical systems

· To put on a new roof, gutters, downspouts

· Painting and redecorating

· Flooring, carpeting and tile

· Anything to enhance energy efficiency

· Luxury items like a new pool are not eligible.

There are 2 types of FHA 203k rehab loans – The Streamlined program is for more minor, non-structural repairs and remodels. This is available for projects under $35,000 (this amount includes a 10% contingency reserve) and can be used for anything that doesn’t change the structure of the property. You can do a lot of work with this limit, and this is the most popular program. The other type of FHA 203k rehab loan is the consultant or full 203k. This can be used for major improvements, including changing the structure of the home, and you can use this for a complete gut rehab. You will need to have an approved HUD consultant to help you with this.

FHA 203ks use the same qualifying guidelines as any other FHA loan – this means 3.5% minimum down payment, more common sense credit qualifying guidelines and all the other consumer friendly features of FHA loans. The pricing on a 203k loan is a little higher than on the regular loans, but much cheaper than any other type of construction financing.

The FHA 203k loan is a single close loan – with conventional construction financing, you need to get two loans, one short term loan to pay or the construction, and an end loan when the project is complete. This means 2 closings and extra fees at each step. With this method you won’t know what your interest rate is until you are finished with the project and ready for the end loan. The FHA 203k is a single close loan, so The FHA 203k is a single close loan, so you know exactly where you are upfront. When you close on an FHA 203k loan, your loan amount is the purchase price plus the cost of improvements. With a streamlined 203k you usually will get half of the rehab money up-front (enough to buy materials and get the job started) and the second draw once all the work has been completed. The full 203k allows up to 4 draws.

The key to success with an FHA 203k is to get a good contractor who understands the program – with most loans we have to approve the borrower and approve the property. With the FHA 203k rehab we also have to approve the contractor and the work that is being done. This is usually where problems show up, when borrowers try to save money by going through someone who might not have the best credentials, but promises to do the work cheap. With the FHA 203k rehab loan, the first step is to pick the contractor and to have him turn in a detailed bid of what work will be done. This bid needs to be detailed, and specific, and break it down by both labor and materials. The appraiser uses this bid to determine what the value of the home will be once the work is completed. The contractor needs to be licensed and insured and be able to offer references showing he has completed similar projects before. If you find someone off of Craigslist who tells you he will do it cheap, but submits the bid on the back of a napkin (I’m not exaggerating, I’ve seen this), it isn’t going to be acceptable and will just draw out the time it takes to get the project together.

FHA 203k loans are available for purchase and refinance – most of these loans are used for purchasing a new home, but with the drop in home prices over the last few years, there are a lot of home owners who can’t sell under the present conditions, but need more room for their growing families. This won’t work for everyone, but in a lot of cases the 203k will be a way to expand their current home and improve the value.

With so many homes foreclosed, short sales, or like the one my clients were looking at, just not maintained well over the years, the FHA 203k mortgage is the best solution. It works for not only homes that need work in order to be able to get financing, but also for homes that need updating or if you want to build the costs of improvements and additions into the cost of the loan.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company

On WordPress.com, you start with a standard WordPress.com domain name for your blog which looks something like this – example.wordpress.com. You then have the option of upgrading to a custom mapped domain such as example.com.

The good news is by setting example.com as your primary domain, all your visitors who try to access your old example.wordpress.com links automatically get redirected to the new domain.

But what about search engines and other services that access the old example.wordpress.com links ? Up until now, WordPress.com would send those services a 302 redirect which would tell them that a link had a new temporary home, and to go index that new link, but to not forget about the original one.

Today we have changed 302 redirects to 301 redirects. A 301 redirect tells search engines the new link has moved permanently, and they can discard the old links.

Why does this matter ? This change should help maintain traffic levels from search engines when changing or upgrading to custom domains, and makes things more flexible for you if you ever want to move from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress.

As with anything search engine related, your mileage may vary, and the timing on when search engines such as Google, Bing, and others update their index is not something anyone can predict. We have a short support document explaining some of the complexities involved with search engines that is worth a read if you have any questions.

Today we are pleased to introduce Paperpunch, a clean and versatile theme featuring a subtle, textured background and hand-crafted icons.

To go along with a widget-ready sidebar, Paperpunch offers no fewer than four columns at the bottom of the page to display many more widgets.

If you want to customize the look a bit, use the Custom Background option found in your Dashboard under Appearance → Background to change the background color or add your own background image.

To dress up the design even more, you can easily enable gorgeous typography for Paperpunch with two Typekit fonts: Chunk for the site title in the header and Junction for the titles and headings.

Since the correct CSS selectors are already in place for both fonts in the theme stylesheet, you can simply sign up for Typekit, enable Chunk and Junction, refresh, and enjoy! (Learn more about using Typekit with Paperpunch.)

For a working demo of Paperpunch with the optional Typekit typography, visit paperpunchdemo.wordpress.com.

Paperpunch was designed by The Theme Foundry and is now available for your WordPress.com blog and, for self-hosted WordPress.org blogs, from the WordPress.org Themes Directory.

Do you use a contact form on your site? If so, you’ll enjoy today’s update. Our [contact-form] shortcode has always been boring. It never had any configuration options and didn’t work in widgets. Today we’re giving the shortcode a makeover.

The old shortcode would send an e-mail message to the author of the post or page. Now you can send the message to any e-mail address you wish. You can even send to multiple e-mail addresses.

[contact-form to="you@me.com"]
[contact-form to="you@me.com,me@you.com,us@them.com"]

Maybe you never liked the [Blog Title] Post Title style subjects on the e-mail messages. Set your own default subject.

[contact-form subject="My Contact Form"]

You can even let the visitor set the subject by showing a subject field on the contact form.

[contact-form show_subject="yes"]

Use as many or as few of the options as you need. The old [contact-form] without any options will still work as it has in the past, but you now have the flexibility to do something like:

[contact-form to="mom@wordpress.com,dad@wordpress.com,billy@wordpress.com" show_subject="yes" subject="Contact WordPress Family"]

These changes allow us to improve the consistency of the built-in contact form from the following themes: Blix, Flower Power, MistyLook, and Sweet Blossoms. The contact page template in those four themes allowed your visitors to send you a message, but didn’t work in the same way as our shortcode. With today’s update, the contact page template in those themes will work just like using [contact-form] with any other theme.

For more details on how to use the contact form feature, head over to the Contact Form page on our Support site.

Mortgage rates dropped this week to their lowest point in the last year. The last several weeks have seen mortgages trending lower, but this week mortgage bonds (which are the basis of mortgage rates) broke through resistance and into a range that was considered almost impossible a few months back. The conventional wisdom then was that mortgage rates had to rise. Rates were artificially low because the government was subsidizing low rates by buying $1.25 trillion in mortgage backed securities. That program ended almost two months ago. The government is still borrowing at a fevered pace, which would normally fuel fears of inflation, but inflation is tame as can be (the rate is the lowest it has been since 1961). So what brought about this huge shift in the conventional wisdom? The short answer is Greece. The longer answer is that there is a growing realization that despite signs of improvement in the economy, we aren’t through the woods yet.

Let’s start with Greece. It turns out that Greece had a lot more debt than previously disclosed, and is a basket case financially. But the problem isn’t really Greece, but the real state of the European Union and their currency, the Euro. Taking on the Euro is now looking like a grand experiment, and maybe another example of bubble thinking. Ten years ago when the Euro was established, it looked like a worthy competitor to the dollar as a universal measurement of value. But having a currency span across so many different countries, where you have a mixed bag of economies from the strong (Germany) to those with too much debt and weak finances (Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland included) was a weak fit. Now that Greece has crashed (and been propped up through a huge rescue plan) the question is which domino will fall next. The rescue plan calmed the markets for a few days, but the trend lines are drawn, and it’s already clear that the rescue plan that was supposed to show shock and awe, is already being seen as inadequate. Now the focus is on who will be next. It seems a lot like what was happening not so long back as the sub- prime mortgage companies imploded, setting off a chain that spread throughout the industry and rocked the whole economy.

The global economies are interlinked and as the dominos start to fall, stocks get hurt too. This all feeds the flight to safety and money flows out of riskier investments into what is still seen as the safest investment around, US treasury bonds. Mortgage bonds closely track the movement in treasuries, so as treasury yields dropped, mortgage rates fell too. The market worsened a little on Friday, but we are still seeing the lowest mortgage rates in the last year. With the hint of a double dip recession is now in the air, higher rates aren’t likely to come in the near future.

Here are the current Chicago Illinois Home mortgage rates for an A+ (740 Fico or above), full doc single family home purchase or rate/term refinance on a 45 day rate lock, with 0 points, and no origination fee, best FHA rates assume a 660 Fico score, but loans are available with credit scores as low as 620. Mortgage rates in other states may be slightly different, give me a call and I will give you an accurate quote for your particular situation. The conventional and FHA rates are based on the highest conforming loan amounts, which give the best pricing. Again, there are many factors which affect mortgage rates and your ability to be approved for a loan. These rates may not fit your situation and this is just a sample of the programs that are out there. If you would like a quote for your personal situation, or to get pre-approved for a mortgage, give me a call or contact me (Illinois mortgage company) and I will take the time to find the rate and program that is best for you:

Conventional loans up to $417,000

For Jumbo loans over $417,000

*(Another option is to break your Jumbo loan into 2 parts a conventional to the limit of $417,000 and a HELOC or fixed second mortgage for the rest. The blended rate is usually much better than a single loan would be.)

** (5-5 ARM is fixed for first 5 years, with 2/6 caps it can’t go more than 2% above the statr rate for the next 5 years. )

2% cap for next 5 years

FHA LOANS 3.5% down payment FHA Maximum varies by County

FHA APR reflects 3.5% down payment and the effect of mortgage insurance on the loan. Call for information on no-cost FHA streamlined Refinances

FHA 203K Rehab Loans

Call for Quote

VA Veterans Administration 0 Down Loans

Call for information on no-cost VA Streamlined Refinances

These are just a few of the mortgage programs and mortgage rates available. Which option is best for you depends on your own specific goals and needs. If you have any questions or want to go over your situation in depth, let me know how I can help.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company

Today’s new theme is Notepad. A richly styled and beautiful, personal theme inspired by iPhone’s Notes application.

The Notepad Theme

With Notepad you have the option of displaying expertly designed icons that link to your profile on Twitter, Facebook or Flickr. Simply add the appropriate URL in Appearance > Theme Options. There’s even an optional RSS feed icon that fits in perfectly.

The optional Notepad header icons

I really like the Notepad theme’s bubbly drop-down menus—great for keeping all your pages neatly organized—and I think you’ll like them too.

The Notepad theme drop-down menus

I hope you’ll find the Notepad theme’s visual flourishes and careful focus on graphical detail as exciting as I do. Check it out. It just might be the perfect theme for your blog.

The Notepad theme is available in your WordPress.com dashboard under Appearance > Themes and, for WordPress.org users, in the WordPress.org themes directory.

Downtown Toronto CityPlace Condo With Fabulous Birds-Eye View Of The Rogers Centre Field

This lovely 35th floor 1-bedroom plus den suite in the Optima building at CityPlace has a spectacular view of the field when the dome is open.

Take a look at the photos, suite and building video, floor plans and feature sheet for you or a friend.

Are You A Blue Jays Or Toronto Sports Fan? is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

We need your help… the success of our yard sale in collecting funds for breast cancer research depends on you!

Our Yard Sale for the Cure is being held on Saturday May 29th at our Team offices from 9 am to 2 pm.

All the proceeds earned from the yard sale will go to the Search for the Cure for Breast Cancer – so far in 3 years we’ve raised an average of $1,000 each Saturday ($3,000 total) and we’d like to beat that this year with YOUR help.

Support Yard Sale For The Cure On Saturday May 29th

Our Team office location is ideal for this… situated at the busy corner of Kingston Road and Brookside just 2 lights east of Woodbine. We’ve got lots of traffic going by and last year we had people lined up and down the street.

Without your contributions of items to sell though, we’re out of luck. Even if you were planning to have a yard sale yourself sometime this year, consider giving us some of your left-over items that you’re not using any more.

This is important breast cancer research we’re supporting and we all have to pitch in to make it happen.

Please give us a call at 416-691-8118 and let us know when you could drop items off. Ideally it would be Friday or first thing Saturday morning but we do have some garage space if an earlier-in-the-week dropoff time is better for you.

You never know who could be thanking you sometime in the future for your assistance in this important research.

Yard Sale Drop-Off Location

Please drop off your donations to our Real Estate Viewing Centre @ 450 Kingston Road (2 lights east of Woodbine on the northeast corner of Brookside).

Yard Sale For The Cure Being Held At Toronto’s Real Estate Team Offices On Saturday May 29th is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably noticed that it has been pretty quiet here lately. I normally post something two to three times each week, and now it has been about 2 weeks since my last post. I want to assure you that I am alive and well, and that this is a temporary situation and I will be back to my normal schedule in short order. I’ve recently moved to a new company, Prospect Mortgage (I’ll have more on that soon), and between navigating the learning curve with new systems, and dealing with epic volume of new purchase loans, there hasn’t been much free time to post (there’s barely been time to sleep). Now I have my support systems back in place, and I feel comfortable with my new surroundings, so I can breathe again.

Over the next few weeks I will have plenty to talk about. This industry and market is changing constantly, and these changes have a big impact on anyone who is even thinking of buying a new home or refinancing what they have. My goal is to be a valued source of information for anything relating to mortgages and home financing, the housing market and especially how this impacts us here in the Chicago area. There has been a lot of news recently. Here are some of the issues I will be addressing soon:

Mortgage rates are near the lowest rates of the year after everyone, myself included, said that rates were sure to go up.

The first time home buyer credit has expired, and home sales are still strong – this is anecdotal and we won’t know the real trend for months, but it is a positive step.

Distressed homes are still driving the housing market – what effect will the new short sale guidelines have on cleaning up this mess?

How the FHA 203k loan is becoming more mainstream and is now a major benefit for cleaning up the inventory of foreclosed properties.

How the new FHA condo approval process is working, and how condo buyers and sellers can use this to their advantage.

There is a lot to talk about, and I appreciate your patience. Stay tuned, there is plenty more to come.

Peter Thompson

(630) 479-6424

When it comes to this condo project, I think the photo above says it all. 12 Degrees Condominiums is attempting to personify the so-hip-it-hurts vibe of Queen Street West and with a rooftop pool and cabana area like this, I think they just might acheive it.

The VIP sales event for 12 Degrees is on now. For floor plans and pricing, please contact me. Pricing is about $600 PSF, similar to Berczy, FIVE, Nicholas etc.

Queen and Beverly is TRUE Queen West. The area has already arrived and is one of the best spots in Toronto to live. You won’t find any mega towers around here, and probably never will, but the area is already home to some immensely popular boutique sized resale buildings like The Phoebe. The building features a very unique design that gives a sort of off-kilter Rubik’s Cube visual effect. If they are actually able to build this project as it is currently designed, it will be very impressive and probably an architectural gem for the area.

Features include an ultra-modern design aesthetic with 9′ ceilings, hardwood throughout, streamlined kitchens with integrated european style appliances. But really, it’s all about the rooftop pool and cabana area! Can you imagine enjoying the hot summer nights in Queen West on that rooftop overlooking the downtown core? Incredible! And you only have to share it with a total of 90 unit owners unlike some of the mega towers where you are sharing amenities with literally hundreds of other people!

The X-Factor here is obviously the developer who is a bit of an unknown commodity here in Toronto.

To book a unit at 12 Degrees NOW, contact me.

Description Coming Soon!

Have you been listening to the reports on the European economy? It appears that they have bought themselves some time from those vicious currency and bond speculators (for a small some of one trillion dollars!). And this has all reflected by making individuals a little more relieved about their finances. Investors were lulled into a false sense of security during April as volatility fell to the lowest level since July, 2007, and May brought a spike in volatility that really shocked most people.

For now, most are over the shock and are returning their interests to thier own pocketbooks and investments. What does the job and income situation look like? Are financial plans still intact? What about that mortgage coming due next month?

Do you dread your mortgage decision? Despite the signs of an impending rise in the general level of interest rates and warning from government officials, there still seem to be a lack of conviction among Canadians as to whether they should lock in their mortgages at prevailing rates, versus holding on to a floating rate mortgage.  So what are the facts?

Despite the recent jump in rates, we still look to be in the middle of a downward trend in mortgage rates since 1981. Do you remember that year and its five year term that was in excess of 22%? It came at the same time that North America fell victim to a painful double-dip recession. Inflation was sitting around 12% at the time. Many families lost their homes, but today we are in just as precarious a situation as households are holding a much higher debt ratio than we were in the past and that makes us more susceptible to disaster.

The prime rate hasn’t budged from 2.25%, set in April, 2009, so your variable rate mortgage is still an attractive option. Many lenders are offering a variable rate that is tied directly to the prime rate, thereby saving homeowners choosing this route to really take advantage and pay down their mortgages early. The five year rate, however, has been a different story. Conventional five-year rates (posted rate) fell to a low on 5.25% in April, 2009, only to increase to 5.85% throughout the summer, then we saw a reprieve in the early months of this year. That all changed toward the end of the first quarter as the economy was looking better and inflation fears began to creep back in to the market. The mortgage rates went from a low of 5.35% in March to a high of 6.25% by late April. There has now been a 15 basis point reprieve to 6.1%.

So what is the point of all this? Whether you choose a fixed or variable rate (or a combination of the two) mortgage, there are plenty of options out there for you. And with the real estate market in the Durham Region strong, very strong; 819 sales in February, 1,110 in March and 1,185 in April, you might want to consider a move, whether it be into your first home or into your perfect retirement place. I have access to mortgage rates much lower than the posted rates. The variable rate is 1.65% and the five year fixed rate is 4.25%. Very attractive considering the current posted and discounted rates! Contact me to find out more details.

Whenever a development launches in a prime A1 location like The Berczy, it is sure to garner a lot of attention. This is true no matter what the economic climate or how hot the real estate market is. The Berczy had many investors and first time buyers salivating at the prospects of owning in a beautiful building in one of the best spots in the city, but unfortunately many of them went home disappointed after sales started this past weekend. The situation reminds me a lot of a previous post I wrote last year – Prepare to be Disappointed. Some of my observations from the weekend:

• As early as Saturday afternoon I had already received several calls from agents or would-be clients from other Realtors who were lamenting the fact that there were no small suites to buy
• On both sales days – Saturday and Sunday, it seemed there were no small suites available by the time the clock struck 10:30am.
• There seemed to be an allocated amount of suites to each day of sales, so if you had an appointment at 10:00am Sunday you were better off than an appointment at 2:00pm Saturday.
• On Saturday there was a huge crowd of agents outside the sales centre trying to get in without an appointment. Presumably by Sunday they had gotten the message as they were turning people away if they did not have an appointment.
• No detailed price list was ever released so it’s hard to know if the developer was raising prices at the last minute or not since there was nothing to compare the stated prices to.
• The sales reps said they were NOT holding back units for future events
• The rescission rate for this event could be high because buyers were buying 2nd, 3rd or 4th choice of suite since their 1st choice was not available.
• Even the larger 1000 sq ft + suites were selling briskly over the weekend. This suggests that while investors went away disappointed, end-user buyers with means did mostly get what they wanted.
• My clients managed to get a 2 storey unit with 11′ ceilings for $491 per square foot.
• City view suites on higher floors were going into the mid $600s per square foot – still reasonable.
• Kitchen and Bathroom finishes were above average – especially nice were the integrated appliances and forward thinking design colour palattes
• Sales centre and model suite was very well designed and presented.
• Bottom line, this is not an investor-driven building and will likely be a fantastic piece of real estate when it is built in a few years.

Questions about The Berczy? Still want to buy a suite in the building? Contact me for up to date availability and pricing.

View from our current listing at 81 Navy Wharf Suite 3502

April was another record sales month for the Toronto Real Estate Board but I think we’ve hit the peak right now.  The listing inventory across Toronto and the GTA has increased by almost 25% in the last 45 days and should peak by the end of June.

Hopefully the days of multiple offers on every listing will fade away to a distant memory.  A lot of buyers are fed up with those listing agents who practice that tactic, almost to the point of withdrawing from the market entirely.

The strategy of holding off offers (and listing a home $50,000 or more below market value) has started to backfire on sellers.  Sometimes NO offers come in OR the ones that do are too low for the seller.  The listing agent and seller end up with egg on their face and they have to cancel their listing and relist at the correct market value.

A recent survey showed that just 3.4% of Canadians have firm plans to buy a home in 2010.  Hopefully that number will increase as the market moderates in the coming months!

Remember, housing has been 50% of the driving force to lead the Canadian economy out of the 2008-2009 recession.  With every home sale there are tremendous spin-offs to many local businesses.  Bottom line… the media and other naysayers shouldn’t be so quick to disparage the real estate market, and Realtors… we’re continually playing a vital role in our economic well-being.

A bit of good news came out of CMHC recently – just 0.45% of Canadian mortgages are in arrears now… a very small fraction of those in the same situation south of the border.

So here’s what you’ve been waiting for… the Toronto Real Estate Market Report for April 2010.  Please enjoy!!

Toronto Real Estate Board Market Report For April 2010 is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Is your Media Library feeling crowded? I’m betting our new space upgrade levels might help.

Based on feedback we received from our users, we decided to add two new space upgrade options: 50GB and 100GB.

To access either of these upgrade levels, go to your blog’s dashboard and click on Upgrades. Select the space upgrade that you want to purchase. It’s super simple. Price information is included on this page, too.

After your purchase is complete, go to your Media Library. You will see that the upload space remaining for your blog has been increased. Enjoy!

You might be asking yourself “Why do I need a space upgrade?”
Our space upgrades support page can explain it better, but space upgrades allow you to upload music in addition to images. You cannot upload audio files or music without the space upgrade.

Meet our newest super-clean theme, Enterprise—perfect for bloggers wanting a more corporate look for their blog.

The Enterprise Theme

One of my favorite Enterprise features is the prominent two-level navigation with drop-down menus and, in the second level, up to 10 of your most-used categories.

The two-level Enterprise menu

And for enterprising folks that want the extra room, this theme includes 3 bonus widget areas in the footer.

Enterprise's footer widgets

Topping things off, Enterprise also features Custom Header and Background options that let you really make this theme your own.

Enterprise is available today in your dashboard in Appearance → Themes and will soon be available, from Enterprise designers StudioPress, in the WordPress Themes Directory, for self-hosted WordPress.org users.