Real Estate Toronto Canada

According to the latest information from the Canadian Real Estate Association, Canada-wide, real estate markets will head into 2012 while slightly balanced, but will lean slightly towards being seller’s markets.

Post-2011 holidays, the Canadian real estate market will slightly favour sellers.

According to Gary Morse, the president of the Canadian Real Estate Association:

“The Canadian housing market is proving resilient in the face of ongoing global economic and financial uncertainty, to the benefit of Canadian economic growth. That said, some housing markets are picking up, while others are holding steady or consolidating.”

Last year, sales activity increased just before the end of the year. And this year, we’re seeing the same thing albeit slightly smaller.

According to Gregory Klump, the chief economist for the Canadian Real Estate Association:

“With interest rates expected to remain low for longer, the housing sector will no doubt be closely watched for signs of excess. That said, current trends for resale housing and new home constructions suggest that tightened mortgage regulations are working as intended and fostering economic stability in Canada.”

If you’re planning on selling your home early next year or in the coming months, now is the time to speak to a Toronto real estate agent.

Canadian Real Estate Market Will Favour Sellers Heading Into 2012 is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

If you were going to blog about one thing for an entire year, what would you choose?

Would you post photographs of your favorite place? Interview different people from your hometown? Create a new piece of art each day?

Here are eight unique blog projects (some are updated every single day) to inspire you to kick off 2012 with your own Project 365:

Blog Radstone

RichardRadstoneBlog.com

The goal, every day for the next year, approach one stranger, photograph them and promptly blog the experience. Rain or shine, hot or cold, healthy or ill, no days missed. I’ll do my best to create interesting photos, and for the sake of entertainment, work to get myself into a sticky situation from time to time. It’s a huge commitment. I’m sure there will be some hero photographs and some not so magnificent ones. Let’s see what happens!

The Creative Panic

TheCreativePanic.com

The project right at this moment is to illustrate something (anything!) as quickly as possible every day.

36ixty5

36ixty5.WordPress.com

Each day a new image will be uploaded with a small caption, phrase, quote, poem or whatever.

Everything Burger

EverythingBurger.WordPress.com

I created 365 pieces of burger artwork for a year from May 17, 2010 until May 16, 2011.

An Afternoon With

AnAfternoonWith.com

This is a project about people. It is a project about our space and the things we keep and the things we don’t throw away. It is a project about looking for and finding connections we all have. It is about seeing yourself in these spaces. Every picture is a portrait of the owner – be it a room, an object or a view. Every portrait in the end becomes a self-portrait. So in the end this is a project about me.

Footballists

Footballists.WordPress.com

I often walk around the city in my beloved Liverpool FC jersey. I never miss to notice every other person wearing a soccer shirt, no matter how big the crowd. I’ve decided to approach and meet them, and photograph. Here are my brief encounters, far away from the pitch.

A Drink with Chicago

ADrinkWithChicago.com

Since making Chicago our home, we have found that all it takes is one great conversation over one drink to create a long lasting friendship, change your outlook or learn something new. We have had so many of these experiences that we thought we’d start to share them as we continue getting to know the many fascinating people around our city. Join us as we sit down and have a drink with local entrepreneurs, chefs, celebrities, socialites, artists and athletes who all love Chicago as much as we do.

{365} Breakfasts

OneBreakfastADay.WordPress.com

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A blog to celebrate this is worth it.

So, do you have any ideas for your own Project 365?

For tips on choosing a topic, check out the Learn WordPress.com tutorial on Getting Focused. You can also find writing ideas, blogging tips, and photo challenges at The Daily Post.

Happy New Year from all of us at Automattic!

Earlier this week we posted the top three home buying errors that buyers make that can easily be avoided. The list comes from the Ontario Real Estate Association, and here are the other two mistakes on the list as well as one of our own.

Don't make the common first-time Toronto home buyer mistake of not getting a home inspection.

#4: Not knowing what you can afford

While there are plenty of calculators and homebuying budgeting tips available online, they may not give you a clear idea of what you can actually afford. Before you begin looking at houses that are outside of your price range, speak to a real estate agent or lender to find out your Gross Debt Service Ratio, which is a number that lenders use to determine your creditworthiness for a mortgage. In addition, being pre-approved for a mortgage is a great way to know what you can afford when it comes to home buying.

#5: Not getting a home inspection

A home inspection is definitely a necessity when it comes to buying a home, and when you neglect to have one conducted you are putting yourself at risk for costly repairs later. A new home inspection should be conducted even if the seller can provide evidence of a previous home inspection.

We’d also like to add one of our own that is not on the list:

#6: Not hiring a buyer’s agent

When hiring a a Toronto real estate buyer’s agent, you will have someone on your side, working solely for you during the homebuying process. If you use the listing (seller’s) agent when gearing up to buy a home, that agent is working on behalf of the seller and is not working for you to get you the best home for your desired price. Best of all, in most cases, the seller is on the hook for the buyer’s agent’s fees.

For the full press release from the Ontario Real Estate Association visit here.

More Of The Top Home Buying Errors From The Ontario Real Estate Association is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

If you’ve been itching to turn your blog into an online newspaper or magazine, Nuntius could be your perfect companion. Based on the highly-popular News theme designed by Justin Tadlock, Nuntius contains many smart features that help your readers to stay on top of all your latest scoop.

Upon activation, Nuntius displays your posts in a traditional blog format on the front page. If you’re happy with this, you can use it as is. If you’d like to showcase your content newspaper-style, then you can use the special News Page template. The News Page template includes a slider for your sticky posts, a featured widget area, and featured categories that display posts in nifty blocks.

That’s not all — Nuntius lets you customize the link color and the background color of the header and main menu from the Theme Options page, in addition to the Custom Background and Custom Header features.

I’ll stop raving long enough so that you can head on over to the Theme Showcase to get all of the details on Nuntius and its features. We look forward to seeing what you do with this one.

After hovering near all time lows for the last month or so, mortgage rates dipped another notch lower and are again at all time lows. The best rates dropped below 4.00% on Friday for the first time since October. When it happened then, the best rates only lasted a couple of days before heading back to their prior range. This dip in rates is of course a reaction to the European situation. Europe now has a plan going forward to prop up the Euro and keep all the weaker economies in line. This week the Union will be meeting to provide extra funding for the region’s troubled economies. The problem is, the markets don’t have a lot of faith that the plan will work in the long run. The rating agencies last week threatened credit rating down grades of France, as well as Belgium, Spain, Italy and several other countries. The question is whether the European Union can stay together, and right now it is being held together by the equivalent of duct tape and chewing gum. The weaker economies have to be considering their options, and deciding which way will be the most painful, sticking with the plan and going with the forced austerity, which will mean job losses and political pressure, or charting their own course which means re-inflating their own currency and trying to make it on their own. Neither option is good, and this pressure will likely keep mortgage rates low.

Meanwhile, the US economy continues to chug along better than expected. Initial weekly unemployment claims were better again, declining to 366,000 initial claims, and the 4-week average is now at the lowest level since July 2008. This means that the job market is gradually picking up. Fed manufacturing surveys for Empire State and Philly regions showed growth. The CPI (Consumer Price Index) increased at an annual basis of 1.1% last month, which is right in line with Fed projections and shows no sign of inflation increasing. Oil prices are also trending lower, which should eventually find its way to the gas pump as lower prices. On the down side, retail sales were lower than expected, and as we hit the last week of Christmas shopping, retailers need bigger numbers. Over all, the economy is soft, but much has strengthened over the year.

Another development that will push the uncertainty and fear level higher, is the news that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack Sunday night. Jong-Il who was famous for being erratic and building nuclear weapons while his people starved, will be succeeded by his third son, Kim Jong-Un. The Asian markets fell overnight on concern for how this new untested leader will react. South Korea, one of the largest Asian economies, reacted to the news by placing its troops on alert. No one knows how this will play out in the long term, and it is possible that the son will take a new direction, moving toward engagement with the rest of the world, which will mean a more prosperous future for his people. But markets move up and down based on the shift between fear and optimism. For now fear is ascendant.

We are coming close to Christmas and most people are starting to wind down for the year. But if you are in the market for a new home, or in a position where you can save money by refinancing your current mortgage, it might make sense to gather up your paper work. With mortgage rates as low as they arte this is an opportunity to save money.

 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 640 Fico score, but loans are available with credit scores as low as 580. 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, including credit scores, property type, amount of down payment and a number of other factors. 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 start rate for the next 5 years. 2% cap for next 5 years – so a blended rate over 10 years is no more than 1% over the start rate. Super Jumbos available.

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 Current Quote – FHA 203k Rehab and Renovation loans are now available as 30 year fixed or 5-1 ARMs.

VA Veterans Administration 0 Down Loans

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.

Free Home Buyers Guide

You can trust in us to get the job done.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company            Chicago FHA Mortgages

I wrote about the HST issue a couple months ago, calling it the “Elephant in the Room” with respect to the pre-construction condo market. I wanted to follow up this post with my own personal experience with dealing with the HST rebates (New Residential Rental Property Rebate-NRRP) when buying a new condo for investment. In short, it was a surprisingly quick and painless process to get back my rebate money once I figured out all the forms and the calculations.

The photo above is of One Park West, or 260 Sackville Street. The building was recently registered and I own a unit in the building which happens to be the Smallest Condo in Toronto. I recently closed on the unit and as an investor-owner had to pay an additional amount for HST on final closing. Here is my story for getting that money back from Revenue Canada:

In order to qualify for the rebate, I had to have a tenant in the property and a signed lease for a minimum 1 year (which I did). All in all it only took just 40 days from the time I sent in my application to the time I received my rebate monies back in full. Quite contrary to some of the reports I have heard of it taking as long as a year to get your money back. If you have your paperwork in order and you complete the forms properly this seems to be the result you get. I even was paid some interest on my rebate amount (presumably taking into the account the time I paid it until the time I was paid it back).

Some additional things that I learned when going through this process:

• Provincial tax (PST) is the biggest portion of the rebate by far
• Federal tax (GST) is the smaller one
• Provincial rebate is 100% until Fair Market Value (FMV) hits $450K, then is zero after that
• Federal rebate is 100% until FMV hits 350K, then reduces down to zero when you hit $450K
• Therefore if your FMV is less than $350K you should receive 100% of your HST monies back. If your FMV is between $350K-$450K you will receive most of it back. If your FMV is greater than $450K you will receive zero back.

The Problems I see with the New Residential Rental Property Rebate:

• If the FMV of your condo is $450K you will receive back more than $20K. If the FMV is $451K you will receive zero. What policy maker in Ottawa came up with this scheme??
• FMV is still a conundrum to me. Who determines it? How is it determined? What happens if the government doesn’t agree with your FMV number?
• FMV of  your unit does not take into account what you will actually ‘net’ on your unit if you sold it at FMV (it does not take into account selling costs).
• A better system might be to simply add an additional tax on investors who flip their unit after final closing as a percentage of their actual profit. Under the current system, you might both lose money on your sale (due to closing costs when buying and selling), and also have to pay tens of thousands extra in HST just for the ‘right’ to lose money on the transaction. Doesn’t make sense.
• Is the government in the business of discouraging people from investing in real estate unless that real estate is priced below an arbitrary figure of $450K??
• FMV is the crux of the calculations used to figure out if you qualify for the rebate. FMV is determined at the time that the HST is paid (at final closing in Ontario). The higher the FMV, the lower the rebate amount. Therefore I observed that it might be better for investors to actually pay the HST amount UP FRONT when buying a pre-construction condo, because this will result in a lower FMV and therefore a higher rebate amount!

Questions about the New Residential Rental Property Rebate (HST rebate)? Wondering if you qualify for the rebate or need help completing the application process with Revenue Canada? Contact me or leave a comment.

Illustration by Caroline Hadilaksono

We’ve got a little year-end tradition here at WordPress.com. Every year, we commission an artist to spread some WordPress-themed holiday cheer. For 2011, Caroline Hadilaksono has created a warm and joyful scene that’s sure to get you in the mood for the holidays (and some blogging). We’ve made some desktop backgrounds from her illustration that we’d like to share with you. Here’s to a safe and happy holiday season for all of you, from all of us at Automattic.

• Large (2560×1830 · 6.4 MB)
• Small (1280×915 · 1.8 MB)
• For tablets (1024×1024 · 1.6 MB)
• For smartphones (640×960 · 971 KB)

Need help changing your wallpaper? Here’s instructions for iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Windows, and Ubuntu. A tip: Choose an image larger than your screen size, and set the position to “center” or “fill screen” (not “stretch”).

If you missed them last time around, be sure to check out our illustrations from 2010 and 2009.

The Ontario Real Estate recently published a list of the top five home buying errors that people make, all of which can easily be prevented. Here are the top three:

Not getting pre-approved for a mortgage is a huge mistake.

#1: Not getting pre-approved for a mortgage

Not being pre-approved for a mortgage before you start shopping around is the biggest mistake that home buyers make. Not only does being pre-approved for a mortgage by your lender give you a clear idea of how much you can spend, it will let the seller and their agent know you are serious.

Read this anecdote on our Toronto Real Estate Blog detailing why being pre-approved can save everyone involved a lot of frustration.

#2: Not knowing what you must have in a home

Once you’ve moved into your new home, it is too late to discover that features you thought you merely wanted in a new home are things that you really must have. Before you begin looking at homes, draw up a list of your must-haves and separate them from your “wants”, whether these include a swimming pool, a third bedroom, a spacious kitchen or a large driveway.

#3: Getting emotional during the homebuying process

Buyers can get emotionally involved when it comes to selling their own home and buying a new one. For example, when selling a home you may be assigning higher perceived value to your home because of the memories attached to it, but the buyer has no sense of this value and that needs to be taken into consideration.

The full Ontario Real Estate Association press release is available here.

Top 3 Home Buying Errors From The Ontario Real Estate Association is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

It’s Android blogging, re-imagined. Today we’re announcing the release of WordPress for Android 2.0, a major update that focuses on a new UI and enhanced post editor features. Check the video:

So what’s new?

Brand New Look

The Dashboard

We’ve completely redesigned the look and feel of the app, now placing the actions you want to make with your blog all in one place: The Dashboard. You have one-tap access to create new posts and pages, upload media, view your stats, read blogs and more! There’s also now a beautiful comment count ribbon to show you how many comments you have in your moderation queue.

The Action Bar up top allows you to quickly get to other areas of the app as fast as possible. You can tap the blog name to switch blogs, refresh your content, and call up the dashboard from wherever you are in the app at the time.

New Editor

The post editor has been enhanced with many great new features.  A formatting toolbar has been added that displays above the keyboard as you type, allowing you to easily format text and add links and media. The post editor also goes full screen, giving you as much room as possible to create your posts while on the go.

Media attachments have received an awesome boost as well. You can now insert images among the post text wherever you’d like. Tapping on an image will bring up many new options you can set per image, including Title, Caption, Placement and Size.

Tablet Support

We paid special attention to tablets for this release, adding special layouts just for Android Tablets. From Galaxy Tab to Xoom, we’ve got you covered.

Download and More Info

You can get the app for free in the Android Market.

If you’re hungry for more details on WordPress for Android 2.0, check out the launch post over at the WordPress for Android blog and follow @WPAndroid on twitter.

What do you think of the update?

In Toronto, detached homes can be very highly sought-after in certain neighbourhoods. It’s no surprise that when a detached home is on the market, it is clearly listed as being a detached home.

When are detached homes in Toronto not technically detached?

Toronto Real Estate Lawyer Bob Aaron has taken a look at link-semi homes in his latest column. Link-semi homes look completely detached from the street, but technically are not fully detached homes because of a concrete attachment below the ground.

According to Mr. Aaron, these concrete attachments are no more than a couple concrete blocks that merely exist and serve no purpose, and builders only put them there when they built two detached homes on a lot meant for semi-detached homes. Most of these homes were built in the 1970s and 1980s.

In fact, one could easily dig them up and remove them. But in one case several years ago, an agent got into trouble by listing such a house as detached.

“Prior to closing, neither the listing agent nor the buyer’s agent disclosed that the property was a link house, although it could easily have been verified by calling the city’s zoning department or reviewing the R-plan. Had the buyers seen the plan, they would have noticed the dotted lines indicating that the foundations were connected.
More than 18 months later, the buyers complained to RECO about the listing agent, saying that the house was misrepresented as being detached, and that had they known it was technically a link house, their purchase decision might have been affected. (Hindsight is always 20-20.)”

To read the rest of the column, visit Mr. Aaron’s website here.

Toronto Real Estate Lawyer Bob Aaron: Not All Detached Homes Are As They Appear is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Well, 2011 is almost at an end, and with that comes the 2012 REMAX Housing Market Outlook. The report contains predictions for the 2012 Housing Market, as well as highlights from the 2011 Housing Market, including that home sales is expected to be 90,500 units, which is five per cent over last year and the resulting in the second-best year on record.

“Greater Toronto’s residential real estate market continued to make headlines in 2011, defying expectations and posting an increase in both sales and average price… strong demand and limited supply set the stage for a year of multiple offers – with sellers firmly in the driver’s seat – from entry-level housing to the upper-end of the market,” said the report.

Click the link to the left to read through the REMAX 2012 Housing Market Outlook.

“Demand was especially brisk for resale condominiums located in the downtown core, where bidding wars were commonplace,” continued the report. “Blue-chip neighbourhoods in Toronto proper – the Beach, Riversale, Bloor West Village, High Park, Leaside, Lytton Park, Cricket Club and Allenby – saw tremendous activity.”

“The upper-end – the coveted Rosedale, Forest Hill, Lawrence Park, Hogg’s Hollow, Bridle Path, Kingsway, Lorne Park, and Oakville areas – soared, with sales of homes priced in excess of $1.5 million up approximately 32 per cent over one year ago.”
For 2012, home sales in Toronto are expected to hit 93,000, which is similar to 2007, and low interest rates will help boost home buying into 2012.

Read the REMAX 2012 Housing Market Outlook Report here.

REMAX Report: 2011 Toronto Real Estate Market “Defied Expectations” is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

For months we’ve been studying how, when and why people publish their posts, and what the common tasks are people perform afterwards. We know many of you immediately want to see what your post looks like, check for typos, and then share your post to social networks.

Starting today you’ll see a much improved design for giving you feedback and supporting how you work.

The first thing you’ll see, after your browser finishes telling WordPress.com you have a new post, is positive feedback your post was successful. We now notify you as soon as possible that everything went smoothly. At the same time, we’re loading your actual post to show you.

Once the post loads, which can take a few seconds, you can confirm it looks as you expected. If you find a typo in your post (which can be easier to spot in the published post, than on the edit screen), you can quickly click Edit and switch back into edit mode to fix it.

If everything in your post looks good, you’ll notice some smart things we’ve done to both help improve your post, and to inspire you for the future.

The progress bar: we now show a simple progress indicator that helps direct your efforts at a specific target. The goal is automatically set to increments of 5 posts (yes, we are considering allowing this to be customized). An inspiring quotation appears under the bar, as a reward and as motivation for next time. When you reach the goal, you get a nice surprise, and the bar will be reset for next time. Of course posting quality matters as much, or more, than quantity, but research shows having clear goals helps both.

Sharing: if you have the Publicize feature turned on, we show how many people were notified through social networks like Twitter and Facebook, with some of their Gravatars so you can learn more about them. If you don’t have Publicize active, you’ll see easy to use buttons for manually sharing your post on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

Tagging: we also know adding tags to your post can make it easier for people to find your work. Based on the content of your post, we use an algorithm to recommend a few tags to add, which you can do with a single click.

We’ll continue to study how you post and improve what we do to support how you work. Happy posting.

If you’d prefer the classic experience, you can turn Instant Post Feedback off from your Dashboard, at Settings, Users, Personal Settings.

The European soap opera is still the center of attention for the economic world. Last Monday the European Union announced that they had come to an agreement that would solve the crisis, but by the end of the week it was clear that nothing had really changed. As has been the case all along, the problem is that the EU is a group forced together by their currency, but each country has their own economy and their situations and needs are different. Germany, the strongest of the group, wants the weaker more debt ridden countries to take on the austerity regime, cut their spending drastically and work their way out of this. While the leaders of these countries are going along with this, for now, this causes political crisis’s for them as austerity and high unemployment is never a popular option. The big fly in the ointment last week was that the United Kingdom, Great Britain, has decided to chart their own course. London is a true financial powerhouse and the center of much of the markets and trading activity. Agreeing to the new pact would have meant their giving up this power. It’s hard to see this agreement sticking when one of the main players refuses to go along.

Last week was a slow week for economic reports here, but what was released showed relative strength. The weekly unemployment report dipped again, showing that the job market is gradually strengthening. Some of this could be temporary hiring for the Christmas season, but this is still better than expected news. The consumer confidence index also came in with a nice boost, which means that people are starting to feel better about their own financial prospects. These numbers are moving higher from extremely low levels, so it’s not like anyone thinks we are back where we were before and the economy is booming again, but better than expected is still positive movement. The surprising thing now is that the US is slowly moving up while the rest of the world is starting to stall. Everything is global now, so what happens in Europe and China will affect us here, but for now this is a positive sign.

Mortgage rates were volatile last week, and prices were all over the board. The week ended on a down note, but we are still in the same range we have been in, that is, mortgage rates are at all time lows. This is just about the time that the housing market slows down for the holidays, but for home buyers who are out there, this can also be the time to pick up a bargain. The combination of low home prices and low mortgage rates makes home affordability a real positive. If I can help in any way, let me know.

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 640 Fico score, but loans are available with credit scores as low as 580. 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, including credit scores, property type, amount of down payment and a number of other factors. 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 start rate for the next 5 years. 2% cap for next 5 years – so a blended rate over 10 years is no more than 1% over the start rate. Super Jumbos available.

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 Current Quote – FHA 203k Rehab and Renovation loans are now available as 30 year fixed or 5-1 ARMs.

VA Veterans Administration 0 Down Loans

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.

Free Home Buyers Guide

You can trust in us to get the job done.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company            Chicago FHA Mortgages

2 Rean Dr. #1908, Toronto, Ontario

$346,800
1 Bedroom
2 Full Bathrooms

The breakfast bar at 2 Rean Drive.

Our latest Toronto Real Estate Team Listing is a south-facing, open concept one bedroom condo with a den and solarium, but the den is easily large enough to become a second bedroom and can be made more secluded thanks to its French doors.

The kitchen is spacious and comes with a beautiful granite counter top and breakfast bar.

The building’s amenities include a pool gym, virtual golf, movie theatre, billiards and more.

Comes with the following extras:
Elfs, Fridge, Stove, Microwave, Dishwasher, Washer, Dryer.

Available for sale:
Both wardrobes, Computer desk in solarium, Buffet table and Surround sound speakers (already mounted).
For more photos, visit this Toronto Real Estate Listing here.

Hot New Toronto Real Estate Listing: 2 Rean Dr. is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

November MLS sales totalled 7,092 houses and condominiums in all the districts.  This sales number was barely changed from October and came in as the 3rd best November in TREB history.

Sales for the first eleven months of this year totalled just over 87,000 homes… on track to have an annual sales result of over 91,000.  That would make 2011 clearly the 2nd best year for sales in the Toronto Real Estate Board’s history after 2007.

Take a look at the November Toronto real estate market report and see what’s happening in our local real estate market!

Toronto Home Sales Expected To Be Second Best Ever is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Last month congress passed a bill which restored the temporary high loan limits for FHA mortgages. The news at the time was for the higher cost areas, but last week week HUD made it official and the higher temporary loan limits are now in place across the country and these higher limits  will be set until the end of 2012. This is good news for home buyers who are buying larger homes or smaller apartment buildings (2 to 4 unit buildings), since it allows these buyers to purchase with just a low 3.5% down payment, and it the more lenient qualifying standards FHA offers. It is also good for the housing market in general because more qualified buyers means a stronger and more robust market.

These loan limits were originally put in as part of the economic stimulus bill as a way to increase financing options and help stabilize the housing market. The higher FHA Max loan limits were extended beyond what they were originally called for, but expired earlier this year due in part to concern over the budget deficit. With the housing sector still soft, industry groups pushed hard for this extension.The max FHA loan amount here in the 6 county Chicago metropolitan area (Cook, Dupage, Lake, Kane, Will and Grundy Counties) is now back to $410,000 for a single family home.

Here is the table for the Chicago Metro Area:

The FHA max mortgage is determined on a county wide basis based on the areas median home values. In higher priced areas (mostly California) the max limit extends up to a high of $729,750. The floor in counties where higher limits don’t apply, is $271,050.

This applies not only to all FHA purchase loans, but also FHA 203k rehab loans and FHA refinances.

Here is a link to the HUD search tool which gives the FHA loan limits by County.

Free Home Buyers Guide

You can trust in us to get the job done

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company            Chicago FHA Mortgages

Would you like some more Twitter in your WordPress? We got ya. As an update to our ever-popular Tweet embedding functionality we’re supporting Twitter’s new embed API to enable richer, better looking, and more functional Tweets inside your blog posts. To embed a Tweet just put a permalink to it on its own line or use our new shortcode that allows for extra formatting.

But wait, there’s more! Have you ever wished that when you’re on Twitter and come across a link to someone’s blog post, like this one, you could see a preview of the post without having to click on the link? Now you can, our friends at Twitter have made it so that all wp.me links can be previewed, including snippets of posts and photos, directly on Twitter.com. In addition to this being something I’ve personally wanted for a while, we think it’ll get a lot more people visiting your blog.

Finally, if you link your Twitter account on your Gravatar profile we’ve made it so it’s easy to follow you right from that page.

Now go forth and tweetify.

P.S. You can follow me on Twitter here, and WordPress.com here.

The Long and Short of It wp.me/pf2B5-2pL

—
WordPress.com (@wordpressdotcom) December 08, 2011

As 2011 comes to end, we thought it’d be interesting to look back at the events that made headlines this year, and a few of the bloggers who were there in person (or closely connected to the events) to document history in the making. Here’s a recap of some of the biggest news stories of the year, as blogged by WordPress.com users.

January 25: Tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities to demand an end to the rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

Cairo-based journalist Max Strasser reported on the events from Istanbul. Marilyn Gardner posted updates on the situation after speaking with her daughter, who was living in Egypt for school.

Flickr.com/photos/sarahcarr

March 11: Japan is hit with an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the strongest in its history.

The author of Amblerangel.WordPress.com was at a grocery store in Shibuya-ku when it happened. She recounted the experience in We’re Being Shaken and Stirred in Japan. According to Liz Tagami, who was at Narita International Airport when the quake hit, “It started as a silent rolling wave.“

Amblerangel.WordPress.com

June 24: New York legalizes same-sex marriage, becoming the largest state in the U.S. to pass the law. It goes into effect thirty days later on July 24, 2011.

TalkAboutEquality.WordPress.com was on site at the New York City Clerk’s office to chat with the couples who lined up for marriage licenses, as documented in the post Thousands of New Yorkers Put a Ring on It. In August, Jacob Murphy shared photographs of a pop-up chapel ceremony in New York City’s Columbus Circle.

TalkAboutEquality.WordPress.com

July 9: South Sudan becomes the world’s newest nation after seceding from Sudan.

Uganda-based photographer Will Boase was there to capture the celebration, which he blogged about in Happy Birthday South Sudan.

TheMzunguDiaries.WordPress.com

July 20: WordPress.com blogger discovers a fake Apple store in Kunming, China.

The author of BirdAbroad.WordPress.com published pictures of the store in a post titled Are You Listening, Steve Jobs?, which quickly caught the attention of major news outlets around the world.

BirdAbroad.WordPress.com

September 11: Americans remember 9/11, ten years later.

In the post 3,652 Days Later, Dale Roe of Project 2,996 declared, “Take this day, not to remember mass murder, but to remember the 2,996 people who are loved and missed.” The project uses WordPress.com to organize tributes to the victims of 9/11. Amalie Flynn was just blocks away from the Twin Towers on 9/11. She started SeptemberEleventh.WordPress.com on 9/11/2010 and posted every day last year.

Project2996.WordPress.com

October: The Occupy Wall Street movement gains momentum.

Terrell Starr visited New York’s Financial District to document the demonstration. Many Occupy movements like Occupy Oakland, Occupy London, Occupy Albany, and Occupy Together use the WordPress open source software or WordPress.com to power their web sites.

HiddenNewYorkers.com

November 18: UC Davis campus police pepper spray nonviolent protestors, sparking outrage.

The next day, Nathan Brown, an Assistant Professor at UC Davis, wrote an Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, demanding that the school’s chancellor resign.

BicycleBarricade.WordPress.com

Will you be the next blogger to break or cover news live from the field?

Download WordPress for your mobile device and you’ll always be prepared to share your perspective with the world! To make your posts easy for others to find, be sure to include relevant tags that indicate the city, venue, or event that you blog about.

What did we miss?

Did you live blog any major news events this year? Leave a comment with a link to the post!

A very recent survey conducted on behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association has found that few home buyers or home sellers in Ontario realize the full extent of the services their real estate agent is able to provide. Real estate agents might surprise you with some of the different aspects of home buying, home selling and home ownership that are covered in their education.

Don't hesitate to ask your Toronto real estate agent any questions you may have.

For example, only six per cent of those surveyed were aware that their real estate agent has been educated in family law matters pertaining to home ownership, and only 10 per cent realized their real estate agent was trained in environmental issues. In addition, only half of those surveyed realized their real estate agent undergoes continuing education, and only 70 per cent knew about the code of ethics that real estate agents have to abide by.

The Ontario Real Estate Association recommends asking your real estate agent questions that are specific to your situation and not hesitating – they should be able to answer them. Situation-specific questions can include questions about needing a spouse’s approval to sell if a divorce may be on the horizon, whether a permit is needed to cut down trees on the property or what can legally be done with a parent’s home if they are in a care facility.

In addition to questions specific to your own situation, there are plenty of other questions you should feel free to ask your real estate agent according to OREA, including:

• How long have you been in the business?
• How will your marketing plan meet my needs?
• What separates you from your competition?
• What haven’t I asked you that I need to know?

What Does A Toronto Real Estate Agent Bring To The Table? is a post from: Toronto Real Estate | Toronto MLS Listings | Toronto Homes For Sale

Today we are absolutely thrilled to warm your creative hearts with the announcement of three new themes: AutoFocus, Imbalance 2, and Reddle.

AutoFocus is an elegant, minimal theme designed for artists, photographers, and other creatives seeking a simple but beautiful way to showcase their talents online. Designed by Allan Cole, this oft-requested theme simultaneously boasts impressive featured images throughout and a clean, unobtrusive design that gets out of the way of what truly matters—your creativity.

AutoFocus Home Page

If you publish single-serving images on a daily photoblog, AutoFocus will accommodate you with ease. If you insert large galleries into your blog posts with the intention of writing assignment recaps, AutoFocus will also elegantly serve up your photo sets and stories. Wordsmiths will also enjoy the sleek and readable aesthetic that AutoFocus delivers.

Point is, AutoFocus works on so many levels for so many different types of creators that it’s simply a perfect fit here. Read more about its features on the Theme Showcase or dive right into previewing it on your blog from Appearance → Themes.

Imbalance 2, designed by WPShower, is yet another gorgeous theme that strikes a perfect balance between functionality and minimalism. Combine that with its modern style and your choices of use with this theme are quite varied.

Photo-heavy blogs, online portfolios, and online magazines are all intelligently handled by Imbalance 2. One of the first cool things you’ll notice about this theme is how everything on its home page automagically snaps into place regardless of whether you have a habit of publishing lengthy blog posts or tighter, short-form entries.

Imbalance 2 Home Page

Along with a full-width layout template Imbalance 2 comes with several theme options: a site-wide theme color selector, which affects links, background hovers, and borders; sticky post handling; and the option to make your image and post grid fluid or fixed.

Read more about Imbalance 2′s features on the Theme Showcase or dive right into previewing it on your blog from Appearance → Themes.

Our final theme for you today is Reddle, a deceptively minimal, multi-purpose theme that impresses upon its user both versatility and simplicity.

The elements of Reddle’s layout were inspired by an older theme called Rubric but there’s really nothing basic about its minimal layout. Everything about the design adapts to how you want to use your blog and what you want to use it for.

Want to you use your blog for a simple one-column link blog? A two-column business site with a custom header and no posts? Reddle can do that. It even adapts its layout to visitors reading your blog from a device like an iPhone.

Reddle Home Page

Reddle also provides support for two additional Post Formats: Image Posts and Aside Posts. Aside Posts are ultra-minimal. They don’t have a title or tags. Image Posts will highlight the first image in your post along with a short excerpt.

You can see both post formats, as well as many other of the theme’s features, by visiting Reddle’s Theme Showcase page or dive right into previewing it on your blog from Appearance → Themes.