Real Estate Toronto Canada

Vermiculite is a mineral that is used in a variety of products, from potting soil to insulation. For 70 years, most of the vermiculite mined for insulation came from one Montana-based mine, which was later discovered to be tainted with asbestos. This vermiculite insulation is also tainted with asbestos, and over 35 million North American homes contain vermiculite insulation from this mine.

Photo of vermiculite insulation from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

If you are considering buying a home that may contain asbestos insulation or already own one that may contain vermiculite insulation, a home inspection may not find asbestos materials and a separate asbestos inspection may need to be conducted. If the home was built before 1990, there is a good chance it contains this dangerous insulation. There are a number of companies throughout the Greater Toronto Area that will remove asbestos and vermiculite insulation safely (without releasing the fibers into the air), as well as test for the presence of asbestos in your insulation, which usually costs only 100$ or so.

The problem with asbestos materials is when they are disturbed, otherwise they pose little risk. When they are moved, they release tiny fibers into the air that are then inhaled, causing lung cancer.

According to Health Canada,vermiculite or other asbestos materials should never be removed by homeowners, only certified asbestos abatement companies. These companies should be consulted before any remodeling or renovating, which can disturb the materials.

Vermiculite Insulation Removal In Toronto is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

In case you haven’t heard, the hottest real estate market in the world right now is in Australia. It’s like Calgary in 2006 down there! This recent Globe and Mail article outlines the situation with our Commonwealth cousins down under and is worth a read. Some interesting tidbits from the article if you don’t have time to read it:

• The Australian method of selling houses by live auction makes our Toronto practice of ‘bidding wars’ seem pretty tame and civilized.
• Australia has a population of 22 Million with the largest city being Sydney with 4.5 million in the metro area. Sounds very similar to Toronto’s relationship to Canada. The average home price in Sydney is $580K. The average home price in Toronto is about $450K.
• 5-year mortgage rates are at around 8% in Australia while this boom has been happening. Gives pause to those who say that the only thing driving our market here are the ultra low interest rates.
• Property values have increased by 18% in Melbourne over the past year. Prices in Toronto are up around 5% over the past year.

What is driving this real estate boom in Australia? Sounds like the same things as here: cheap pricing by global standards, immigration booming to the urban centres, shortage of new housing supply, strong overall economy with good jobs, and relatively low interest rates. The key difference is that a crash is a stronger possibility in Australia because values have increased so much, so fast, whereas in Toronto we are slowly and steadily rising as we have been for the better part of the last 15 years.

Questions or comments about the Downtown Toronto real estate market? Please contact me.

There is a saying among writers: to write more, write more. The hardest part of blogging isn’t the tools – it’s what goes on between your ears. Many people start blogs with excitement, but lose courage when facing the blank post page, or chicken out before hitting publish. Here at WordPress.com, we know. And we’re here to help.

Announcing DailyPost.WordPress.com

Starting today, you can go to dailypost.wordpress.com for inspiration, encouragement and advice about blogging. We’ll be posting every day so you can get regular boosts of motivation to blog more often.

The Post Every Day challenge

Daily habits are the best way to make change happen. If you can remember to do something every day, by the end of the year, you’ll have done that thing over 300 times! Simple and amazing.

As part of the DailyPost, we’re launching two campaigns:

• Post a Day 2011: Post something to your blog every single day through 2011
• Post a Week 2011: Post to your blog at least once a week through 2011

If you’re thinking big, sign up for PostADay. If you’re haven’t posted in ages, or have never posted at all, PostAWeek might be your speed. Still noble and bold, but perhaps more your style.

And of course, feel free to set your own goal – sign up as if you were doing PostAWeek, just so we can keep tabs on what you’re up to.

How to Join:

Signing up is simple – do the following:

1. Post on your blog, right now, that you’re participating
2. (You can grab a sample post from dailypost.wordpress.com)
3. Use the tag postaday2011 or postaweek2011 in your posts (tips on tagging here)
4. Go to dailypost.wordpress.com
5. Subscribe to dailypost.wordpress.com- you’ll get reminders and inspirations every day to help you bring your full potential to your WordPress blog!

If you need a new blog, go here first to get one fast.

That’s all for now. For more, check dailypost.wordpress.com real soon!

So you bought your significant other a sweater the week before Christmas to give as a gift on December 25th. Then while you were out at the same store this week you noticed that same sweater is now 50% less than what you paid for it! This is a perfect time of year to talk about buyer’s remorse!

Here are the top-5 things every buyer, seller, or investor should know about buyer’s remorse:

1. Everyone gets it. It does not matter if you are buying your first property for $200K, or your 10th property for $2M, everyone experiences buyer’s remorse when purchasing real estate. It’s a perfectly normal emotional state to be in, so if you are feeling it, relax! You’re normal.
2. It comes in waves. Buyer’s remorse usually isn’t just a one-time feeling the morning after you signed an agreement of purchase and sale. It comes in waves and hits you at different times and with different negative thoughts.
3. It goes away. Yes, it goes away in almost 100% of all cases! When buying for yourself, the simple act of moving into a property and making it your home is the most effective antidote to buyer’s remorse. When buying for investment, as time passes by and the property appreciates or the cash flow starts to come in, soon you will be looking for your next investment property to purchase.
4. Seller’s get it too! Yes, you are not alone in this weird mental state known as buyer’s remorse. You are thinking you bought the wrong property, or you are worried you overpaid for it, while the seller is worried they sold it to the wrong person or they didn’t get enough for it. Seller’s are not immune to this feeling, and the sheer amount of money involved in most real estate deals makes everyone involved lose a little sleep from time to time.
5. It’s almost always irrational and emotionally based. Buyer’s remorse is an instinctual process our minds take us through as a means of self-preservation when we make large (or sometimes very small) purchases. But almost always the thoughts our minds have are irrational and we try to illicit an internal emotional response to solidify the purchase as ‘good’.

The best advice I have for my buyer clients who are going through the ups and downs of buyer’s remorse is to trust their initial gut feeling. In my experience, your initial gut feel for a property (once you have been educated on the market in general and are ready to make a decision) is the most accurate measure of how you really feel about a property. As much as we try to rationalize the buying and selling of real estate, it will always be an emotional process to some extent! Questions or comments? Contact me or leave a comment below.

Are you ready for Toronto’s Winterlicious?

If you’re new to the city or are thinking of selling your home and moving to a different neighbourhood in Toronto, there’s no better way to get a feel for the offerings of any particular area than Winterlicious.

Winterlicious – along with its warm-weather counterpart Summerlicious – is an annual Toronto food festival that runs from January 28th to February 10th, or during what is normally the slowest time of year for many restaurants.

There are a total of 150 restaurants participating, and diners can get a taste of what each one offers at reduced prices for a specific menu. Currently, the prices are $15, $20 and $25 for lunch and $25, $35 or $45 for dinner, depending on the restaurant. These prices include a starter, entree and dessert.

Chain restaurants are usually not allowed, and participating restaurants are carefully selected by the city. The 2011 Toronto Winterlicious Restaurant list is available here.

Prices for the Toronto Winterlicious food festival and restaurant event.

Andrew Freeman, a restaurant and hotel marketing consultant based in San Fransisco, told CTV this week that some of his bigger predictions for this year’s foodie scene are “Meatless Mondays”, a growing public taste for yogurt and the different varieties offered, an abandonment of the traditional sauces in restaurant dishes to be replaced with futuristic freeze-dried and crumbled garnishes as well as more kumquats and less sugar. His top prediction is that pie will replace cupcakes as the reigning sweet treat across all food trends, including savory snacks or pie-flavoured items like milkshakes.

Head out during Toronto’s Winterlicious and experience some of the culture, food and up-and-coming trends the city’s restaurants have to offer!

Winterlicious in Toronto is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

“Shall not merge on completion”, “shall survive and not merge” or “not merge on closing” are common phrases found in clauses in many Toronto real estate transactions. They don’t make much sense by themselves (what legalese does?), so we’re going to explain what they mean and how they can protect buyers and sellers.

Is the phrase "shall not merge on completion" included in your Toronto real estate transaction?

This phrase applies to various items or appliances that are coming with the home in the transaction, such as washing machines, dishwashers or light fixtures. What the phrase actually means is that while the seller is promising these items are in good working order to the best of their knowledge, that promise is only good until the closing date.

Your Toronto real estate agent may decide to add a clause to go in one more time before closing and check all of the appliances. If not, buyers may have cause to sue the seller if it is found, within a reasonable time period after closing, that something is broken and the seller knew about it.

What to do with it:

Ensure one or the other (shall not, or shall survive) phrases is in your transaction, whether you are buying a home or selling a home. Also make sure that it is very clear to what the phrase applies to (which items or appliances).

For more information on the “shall not merge on completion” clause as well as some words of wisdom on the subject from Ontario Real Estate Association counsel Mervin Burgard, see our other Toronto Real Estate Blog posting here.

“Shall Not Merge On Completion”: In A Toronto Real Estate Transaction is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

The Canadian Real Estate Association is coming up with a new way to determine how healthy Canada’s real estate market is. For decades, the real estate organization has used the average sale price to determine how the real estate market is doing, but different factors can result in misleading statistics. The new method is set to debut sometime in the new year, according to the Globe and Mail.

The Canadian Real Estate Association is coming up with a better way to analyze market statistics.

For example, urban centers with higher prices like Toronto can result in statistics for the whole country being unreliable. The standard method is also very prone to short-term fluctuations.

There are three models for measuring the real estate market. Currently, the Canadian Real Estate Association posts the average national resale price on the 15th of every month for the prior month. Then CREA examines whether or not the price has gone up or down. There are two other methods, both of which are on a two-month delay:

Case-Shiller Index

The Case-Shiller Index is used in the United States, and examines the prices for homes that have sold more than once. The home’s new and old selling prices are then compared to see whether prices are going up or down. This index has a national data set and a data set for 20 major cities.

According to the Globe and Mail, CREA is teaming up with Toronto-based real estate research and data company Altus Group Ltd. to create its new model, and they are both considering the Case-Shiller index. Case-Shiller can provide a better view of market health, because it doesn’t focus on the type of property being sold, such as smaller properties with lower prices that would pull down the national average despite actual home prices not falling.

Teranet-National Bank House Price Index

The Teranet-National Bank House Price Index is the Canadian version of the Case-Shiller Index, and is used for real estate markets in Canada’s six major cities: Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax.

CREA To Premiere New Way To Measure Toronto Real Estate Market is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Toronto home sales tend to quiet down in December, as they do in pretty much every real estate market in North America. But there are still people who buy and sell homes in December, many of which are quite anxious to buy or sell within a certain time frame or by the end of the year.

Toronto homes do indeed exchange hands during the holidays.

Toronto Home Listings in December

An average of 4,500 Toronto homes are sold every December, making up around 5% of the total annual Toronto real estate sales: in other words, homes definitely do exchange hands during the holidays.

Sellers may want to scale back on their holiday decorating (or take any photos of the home before they decorate), but they can still enjoy their time off while the home is on the market. Keep your walkways shoveled and your home inviting, and be accommodating to buyers who want to see your home during this time.

Buying Toronto Homes in December

On the other side of the home sales coin, people selling during the holidays usually need to sell soon, otherwise they would probably wait until January. If you’re buying, there is generally less competition from other buyers and the rush to sell their homes sooner may result in some sellers being more open to entertaining different offers.

Those who are looking to buy or sell homes in December don’t need to hesitate just because the market tends to slow down towards the end of the year. There are still plenty Toronto home listings and Toronto homes changing hands.

Buying and Selling Toronto Homes in December is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

The holidays make for a crazy time of year. You’re spending time with family, traveling, maybe enjoying some winter weather. All of this can help you create wonderful blog posts.

Here are a couple tips on how to let your blog shine as you head into the new year.

Blogging made easy

Press This is a great way to simplify your blogging experience. It lets you grab content from any blog post, article, website, or photo you find on the web. If you can you see it in your browser, you can use Press This to blog about it on WordPress.com!

It will automatically insert an image, quote, video, or link on any website directly into your blog post as well as include a link back to the source. No more having to copy and paste 5 different things. With Press This you can share great content quickly.

Drag the bookmarklet (the link that says “Press This”) from the Tools page of your WordPress.com Dashboard into your browser’s bookmarks bar to get started. This adds a handy link you can use to post content.

The next time you want to share a link, photo, or video on another site just press the bookmarklet. You’ll see a window pop up where you can add photos, video, and quotes straight from the site.

The two icons next to “Add:” let you choose which photos or videos on the page you want to insert into your post.

Combine all of that with the mobile options we featured last month and you can really blog from anywhere on the web or anywhere in the world.

Let your photos shine

After many lovely days spent with family during the holidays you probably have dozens (hundreds? thousands?!) of photos from trips, meals, adventures, and lovely winter weather. WordPress.com makes it easy to showcase these right on your blog.

Using our built-in photo galleries or slideshows you can share the best moments from the holidays. Here’s a few from my trip to Yosemite National Park in the winter a few years ago.

Click to view slideshow.

Between Press This and showcasing your photos you have some great toys to play with as you make your blog even better in the new year. Enjoy the holidays!

The short version of this story is that the contact form on WordPress.com has been upgraded. But that leaves out so many of the juicy details

A couple of months ago we took a step back to look at what sort of things the contact form needed and what it could be. While this is still technically a contact form, it is now so much more.

First up, the new interface. Typing in the shortcode still works fine, but we wanted to provide a graphical way for people to manage the form. To do this you click on the ‘Add a custom form’ button:

Add a new form

That will bring up our new custom form builder:

Form Builder

The form builder gives you a simple, but powerful, set of controls on how your form will look and behave.  Common changes you can do that we think you’ll find handy:

• Add and remove fields
• Re-order the field list (drag and drop)
• Select from several types of fields (text, drop down, checkbox, radio button, textarea, etc.)
• Mark fields as required
• Enter a specific email address you want the form results sent to
• Custom subject line for the form results email

Clicking on the ‘Add this form to my post’ button will insert the shortcode for the form into your post.  If  you forgot something you can either edit the shortcode by hand, or simply click the ‘Add custom form’ button again and the form builder will re-load the form details and allow you to change them.

Now if we had stopped there, this would still be a great upgrade, but we decided to turn the volume up to 11.

In addition to emailing out the form results, they are now also stored in the WordPress database.  You’ll notice a new menu item called ‘Feedbacks’, just below ‘Comments’:

Feedbacks

The feedback management is patterned after the style of comment management.  Form submissions that Akismet marks as spam are under the ‘Spam’ section.  If for some reason Akismet made a mistake you can click the ‘Not Spam’ action and the details will be sent back to Akismet so that it can learn from the mistake.  And because you indicated that it wasn’t spam after all, the form results are emailed out again.  You can delete, restore, and permanently delete each entry as well.

For more details check out the updated support documentation on the contact form. For WordPress.org powered blogs we have released this as an update to the Grunion Contact Form plugin, version 2.0.

Last year we started a little tradition, commissioning an illustration to give away as desktop wallpaper during the holidays. This year, Spanish artist Gary Fernández has created a wintry forest scene filled with curious characters who have great taste in blogging platforms. Friends in the southern hemisphere, we love you too, but if you haven’t already noticed, we really have a thing for snow. We hope you enjoy — and happy holidays from all of us at Automattic!

• Large (2560×1440)
• Small (1280×720)
• For Smartphones (640×960)
• For Tablets (1024×1024)

A tip: Choose an image larger than your screen size, and set the position to “center” or “fill screen” (not “stretch”). For smartphones and tablets, we recommend only using the background image on your lock screen, so it doesn’t interfere with your icons.

Need help changing your wallpaper? Here’s instructions for Ubuntu, Mac OS X, and Windows.

If you were a fan of last year’s illustration, you can find it in this post.

“Fully-renovated” and “recently upgraded” are two phrases commonly seen in listings for homes and older condominiums. If this is the case, potential buyers should make sure that permits were obtained for whatever upgrades were made to the home or structure before they buy.

Buying a recently renovated home in Toronto? Think about title insurance.

According to the City of Toronto, building permits are required for installing fireplaces and woodburning stoves, new plumbing, a deck more than two feet above the ground, building garages or balconies as well as the catch-all phrase to “renovate, repair or add to a building”. Generally, building something on or around a home as well as changing walls and openings to the home all require a building permit in Toronto.

Without asking the seller, it’s difficult to find out if the renovation work was done in compliance with the law. The buyer can contact the City of Toronto and find out about any outstanding open permits on the property, but this will not shine any light on whether the work was done without one.

While any illegal renovations or additions may be completely safe, sound and not harm the structural integrity of the building in any way, there could be a problem when the new owner wants to make their own changes. For example, if a homeowner wants to build a balcony on top of a new addition that was built without the proper permit, they may have to rebuild the entire addition – even though it was there when they bought the property – with the proper permits once the city finds out about the illegal addition.

By taking out title insurance, home buyers can prevent against such unpleasant surprises. Title insurance protects against defects that may have been created in the past, so homeowners won’t have to run around looking to see if permits were taken out or not.

For more information on building permits, requirements, applying for a building permit in Toronto or other types of permits, click here.

Buying A Recently Renovated Home In Toronto is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Do you love WordPress.com themes? Have you ever wished you could view all the available themes without being logged into your dashboard? Curious how other WordPress.com sites use the theme you’re using? Want to be sure you’re using your theme to its full potential?

If you answered yes to any of those questions you’ll be happy to hear this news. I’m proud to introduce the official WordPress.com Theme Showcase.

Example of the Theme Showcase landing page.

The Theme Showcase exhibits the amazing collection of themes available on WordPress.com, documents theme features, and gives you a central place to explore themes outside of your dashboard. With colorful screenshots, detailed specifications, links to sites using the theme, and a list of suggested uses, I know you’ll be inspired to learn more about your current theme or try something new.

The Theme Showcase acts as both a tool for existing site owners to learn more about their theme, such as special features and quirks, and for new owners to explore all our themes and make an informed decision before signing up and choose a theme. Large-size screenshots and links to example content will demonstrate real-world usage of WordPress.com themes.

Example of a Theme Showcase inner page showcasing one theme.

To explore our themes you can browse by subject (Photography, Lifestream, Magazine, Holiday, Single Page, …), appearance (Color, Number of columns, Width, …), features (Menus, Background, Header Image, …), or style (Outdoorsy, Techy, Grungy, Girly, Colorful, Conservative, Simple, …). Or, search for a theme that matches any combination of criteria you choose.

Theme Showcase search and browse interface example.

The Theme Showcase should be your first stop when thinking about WordPress.com themes. If you are considering starting a blog, begin here to pick the perfect theme. If you’re a WordPress.com veteran, come explore WordPress.com themes and maybe learn something new about your favorite theme. Prepare to be inspired!

The Canadian Real Estate Association announced yesterday that statistics show national resale housing activity has returned to normal levels after rising for another fourth straight month in November. November’s sales in 2010 were slightly above the average for the last four years.

November real estate sales were above the average of the last 4 years.

Most of Canada’s major markets saw increases in activity, including Toronto, which was up 6 per cent.

“An increase in new listings is likely to return many sellers markets to balanced territory over the coming months,” said the Canadian Real Estate Association’s chief economist in a press release. “With sales activity having returned to better health and a firm floor under prices, sellers who previously shied away from putting their home on the market are expected to list their home in response to improved housing demand in recent months,” he said.

New listings have slowed down and sales activity has improved, resulting in an overall balanced market. Since July of this year, sales have been increasing steadily but when the sales are compared with this time last year, the numbers are skewed and the improving sales are hidden between a year-over-year decrease due to last year’s record highs.

“Following the chilling lows at the onset of the recent recession and the dizzying heights during the subsequent recovery, the national housing market appears to be returning to some semblance of normalcy,” said the Canadian Real Estate Association.

National Housing Market Returning To Normal: Canadian Real Estate Association is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Coming soon to Regent Park from Daniels: Paintbox Condominiums. Contact me today to register for this exciting new development.

After selling out One Cole in May 2009, then following that up with a near sell out of One Park West in September 2010, Daniels has already begun work on their next condo tower in the Regent Park neighbourhood. Paintbox will be larger and have more units than One Park West and will be the first development on the south side of Dundas Street. Presumably the name is derived from the fact that it will sit atop the brand new Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre. The Centre is yet another example of the millions of dollars (much of it is government money) that is being poured into this neighbourhood over the next decade or so (the others being the aquatic centre and the park).

For those of you who are still doubting the potential of this neighbourhood from an investment perspective, seriously, you need to give your head a shake! Those who bought in the early days of One Cole have already seen as much as a 20% appreciation on their initial purchase price! 2 recent examples:

• 2 bed/2 bath unit that could have been bought for ~$348K (including parking) in May 2009 was sold in November 2010 for $420K.
• 1+den unit that could have been bought for ~$253K (including parking) in May 2009 sold for $305K in September 2010.

One Park West sold out of virtually every suite (except a couple larger units) before it even made it to the general public sales event! All indications are buyers in One Park West will also see excellent ROI.

I have helped several clients buy units in both One Cole and One Park West and they were all very happy with their purchases.  Once again my membership in the Daniels’ “Platinum Producers Club” will grant my clients priority access to this project ahead of all the others. Register with me now for priority access and as always my services are FREE to you as a buyer.

Special note to all my clients: if you choose to register with Daniels and/or join their Inner Circle program via their website, in person, or on the phone, be 100% sure to indicate that you are working with me as your buyer’s agent! Some of my would-be clients were left out in the cold (could not get a unit) when One Park West launched simply because they failed to inform Daniels that they were working with me as their buyer’s agent. For more details, contact me and stay tuned to TrueCondos.com for updates on Paintbox Condominiums over the next few months.

Description Coming Soon!

Whether you are a first time home buyer or looking to move up, buying a home is a big decision, and not one to take lightly. One of my missions with this blog is to help people make the best decisions possible when buying a home or taking on a mortgage. I do this regularly through the information on this blog, and through my free Chicago home buyer’s guide – the Real World Home Buyers Guide (just click to download – it’s 55 pages of information and you don’t need to give up your email to get it). I get a lot of great comments about how helpful this is, and how knowing how the process works, and what to expect when buying a home or getting a mortgage, takes the stress out of buying a home and getting a mortgage at the best terms possible. We are now putting together a Chicago Area Video Home Buyer’s Guide which will break down this guide into short video segments.

The Chicago Video Home Buyers Guide will be released one segment at a time over the next few months. With this first installment we start at the beginning – Why would you want to own your own home? This is the first of three segment discussing the financial benefits of owning, and in this segment we cover equity build up, or how you can increase your equity or ownership interest just by paying down your mortgage. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks for watching, and I hope this is helpful.

Free- Home Buyer’s Guide

You can trust in us to get the job done right.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company            Chicago FHA Mortgages

The Government of Ontario has an energy conservation program called The Ontario Home Energy Savings Program. The program involves a Home Energy Audit showing you how your home uses energy and where that energy is being leaked. They’ll tell you about improvements you can make to your home’s heating, air conditioning, hot water heating and other energy uses that could save you hundreds of dollars each year.

Here are the three steps to get you saving money!

Step 1: Find an energy advisor in your area, book an appointment and save half on your audit, up to $150.

Find home energy advisor, get quotes from available organizations and schedule your Home Energy Audit with an energy advisor that’s right for you. In most cases you can schedule an appointment within a week or two. The Government of Ontario will pay half of your pre-retrofit audit, up to $150.

During your Home Energy Audit, the energy advisor will find your home’s energy leaks and show what you can do to plug them. Your energy advisor will provide you with your personalized Energy Efficiency Evaluation Report and a plan that can reduce your energy bills. Your report includes your home’s EnerGuide rating. This shows how energy efficient your home is and how efficient it could be with energy-saving improvements.

Step 2: Complete as many, or all of the recommended energy-saving upgrades.

Need a new furnace or water heater? Caulking around your windows and doors? Make some or all the upgrades suggested in your Energy Efficiency Report to improve your home’s energy efficiency. Your report will show you the most important changes to maximize your energy savings.

Step 3: Get up to $5,000 in Ontario rebates

After your first audit, you have until March 31, 2011 or within 18 months of the pre-retrofit evaluation report, whichever comes first, to complete some or all of the improvements suggested by your energy advisor to qualify for government rebates. Book your post-retrofit audit well in advance of your deadline. Your energy advisor will perform your audit and provide you with your home’s new EnerGuide rating that shows how much you have improved your home’s energy efficiency. A good EnerGuide rating can also increase the value of your home.

After your post-retrofit audit, the Government of Ontario will rebate up to $5,000 for your energy efficient upgrades. The more energy-saving upgrades you make, the more money you’ll get back.

Reminder: You have to obtain your post retrofit audit by March 31, 2011 (or within 18 months of your pre retrofit evaluation – whichever comes first) in order to be elegible. Be sure to schedule your final evaluation well in advance of your deadline. The government is handing out money; be sure to get your share of it!

TD Economics released its Resale Housing Outlook this month, titled “Canadian Housing Landing Safely”. It is the newest update on the Canadian real estate market from TD Economics since their Quarterly Economic Forecast in September.

Canada's national existing home sales from Toronto Dominion.

Sales are expected to remain strong as the Bank of Canada will keep its current low interest rates until mid-2011, according to the report. However once interest rates rise, sales are expected to taper off.

The general consensus is that Canada has and will continue to avoid housing market problems as seen in the United States and the stability in the Canadian housing market will continue to lessen any risks to the economy.

“In the midst of the global financial crisis which hit its apex in the fall of 2008, some worried that Canada might be in store for a U.S.-style housing crash. As we argued, that fear proved to be unfounded,” said the report. “The market experienced a severe downturn in 2008 during which time the average resale price dropped by 13%… but it rebounded in quick fashion. In July 2009, only six months after hitting bottom, the average price was already back to its pre-recession peak.”

For the full Resale Housing Outlook report, click here.

Canadian Real Estate Market Landing Safely is a post from: Toronto Real Estate Updates

Sometimes things just work out. When Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7, a complete remake of the Windows Phone platform, we all got very excited. The simplicity of the platform is unheard of, with the target being to “spend less time on your phone – and get to the things you want to do quicker”. A perfect platform for a WordPress app to enable blogging while on the move.

Today I’m very proud to introduce you to the latest addition in the WordPress app family, WordPress for Windows Phone 7:

The Actions Dashboard

In this, the first version of WordPress for Windows Phone 7, you will find most of what you’ve come to expect from WordPress apps. It’s easy to write and edit posts and pages on the move, you can upload photos, as well as check stats and moderate comments. It’s all easily accessible from an Actions dashboard. In future versions of the app we’re also hoping to implement video uploading – let us know what else you’d like to see!

To navigate through the app a Panorama view is used, something unique to the Windows Phone 7 platform that works really well for managing a blog or a website. You can get an idea of what it’s like using the app by clicking through the slideshow on the brand new WordPress for Windows Phone 7 website.

We couldn’t be more excited about this, and we’re hoping to take the app even further in the coming months. It’s a partnership between iSoftStone, Microsoft and us that’s made this possible, thank you for all your help and support!

WordPress for Windows Phone 7 is an Open Source app. To learn more and get involved, visit windowsphone.wordpress.org/development.

To get the latest news while they’re hot, be sure to subscribe to the WordPress for Windows Phone 7′s Twitter stream: @WPWindowsPhone. We’re also blogging about the app over at windowsphone.wordpress.org/blog. If you need help setting up or using the app, or if you have feedback, be sure to visit the forums.

WordPress for Windows Phone 7 is available now* for free in the Windows Mobile Marketplace.

* Available worldwide within the next few hours.