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Canada’s largest home hits the market It’s a Canadian fixer-upper but, if you want a home to grow into, it might just be what you are looking for – provided you don’t mind the thought of dusting 65,000 square feet or its $25-million price tag. Would you call this thing a “home” ? Image Source   Believed to be the largest home in Canada, it’s also a little off the beaten path. You won’t find it Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary. To see it, you’ll need to go to Haileybury, Ont., about 140 kilometres north of North Bay. The house sits on 40 acres along the shores of Lake Temiskaming and it’s about the same size as Bill Gates’s property near Seattle.That makes it as big as the White House, which is about 55,000 sq. ft., and 24 Sussex Dr., home to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which is approximately 11,000 sq. ft., put together.Until now, the largest home sold in Canada was a 48,000-sq.-ft. house in Oakville, Ont., which wen...

MaRS bailout could cost up to $477 million PCs say Wynne hid $317M bailout of MaRS developer The Kathleen Wynne government is quietly moving to buy a potential white elephant of a downtown building for $317 million and stuff it with government bureaucrats, Ontario Tories alleged Thursday. Newmarket-Aurora PC MPP Frank Klees, who is not seeking re-election, released a number of confidential cabinet documents Thursday that point to a taxpayer-funded rescue of the 20-storey MaRS Phase 2 project. Completed this year at the corner of College St. and University Ave., those behind the project are struggling to attract tenants. The documents state that since the Ontario government guaranteed a $234 million loan to construct the building — and the project is in danger of defaulting due to a lack of tenants — the recommended course of action is to purchase it outright in part to avoid damaging the MaRS brand. What do we know ?

It’s a condo! It’s a house! It’s a condo in a house! And quite possibly the condo with the smallest condo board ever … Condo of the Week: $1.3 million for a condo in a house, near Trinity-Bellwoods Address:   170 Markham Street , Unit A Neighbourhood:   Trinity-Bellwoods Price:  $1,279,000 The Place:  A three-bedroom, three-bathroom condo in Little Italy. The building is split into two units: Unit A faces east onto Markham Street and Unit B faces west over the yard. Bragging Rights:  The vibe is decidedly more house than condo. Because portions of the units overlap one another, the owner felt that registering the building as a condominium corporation was the most practical way to create two distinct spaces for private ownership. Big Selling Point:  Both units have their own (very streamlined) backyards, brand-new garages, and separate entrances off of Markham Street. Possible Deal Breaker:  Maintenance fees have yet to be confirmed, but the realtor estimates they...

 (Thank Goodness for Canada) [Source: Time, click to expand] This is an amazing graphic on the progression of real estate TV shows.

Yet another report says Toronto’s real-estate prices are headed for a soft landing Some say thanks in part to a booming condo-construction sector that for years, according to analysts, has threatened to outstrip demand. At the same time, a different group of analysts is saying that all those overbuilding fears are overblown. According to the Canadian Press, a new report from the Conference Board of Canda argues that low mortgage costs are likely to keep demand for housing strong, even in condo-happy Toronto. Supposing mortgage rates start rising, the group predicts only a modest real-estate price correction, rather than the rapid crash some observers have predicted. Reports from other organizations have reached more or less the same conclusion, but some analysts foresee bigger price fluctuations in the near future. TD Economics, for instance, has said that Toronto condo prices are likely to drop by four per cent in 2014 and 2015—which wouldn’t constitute a crash, exactly, though it wou...

Waterfront condo building to include affordable rentals for starving artists Groundbreaking project in the new Bayside neighbourhood will include 80 units to be managed by Artscape, which has a long waiting list. Image Source

Is a privatized CMHC a good idea? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) thinks so. IMF advises Ottawa to trim CMHC’s mortgage activities, then maybe phase it out  The International Monetary Fund says the Canadian government should look for ways to clip the wings of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and eventually get out of the mortgage insurance business altogether. The Washington-based financial organization says in a working paper that government actions to cool Canada’s hot housing have had some impact, but the market remains the single most important domestic risk to the economy. Furthermore, it notes that if there is a crash, taxpayers would be left holding the bag because CMHC guarantees high-risk mortgage debt through government backing. Ottawa should impose the same oversight on CMHC as it does private mortgage insurers and try to increase the private sector’s participation in the market from the current level of about 25 per cent, the paper says. Longer term,...

Quote Of The Day Every single real estate agent billboard says that they’re #1 in Canada. Apparently, real estate agents welcome the idea for Canada to annex tiny islands in the Caribbean ? “How cool would it be to have Turks and Caicos as Canada’s 11th province? Would be nice to get some real estate … ” And this is coming out from the mouth of a real estate agent. Turks and Caicos premier ‘not closing the door’ on Canadians’ Caribbean dreams Omar Sachedina has more on a round of high level meeting between Ottawa and the Turks and Caicos reviving talk of a connection. The premier of Turks and Caicos is promoting tourism and economics with Canada. The premier of the Turks and Caicos says he’s “not closing the door completely” on the idea of his island nation becoming Canada’s 11th province, but says such a move would only happen if it is the will of his country’s residents.Premier Rufus Ewing was on Parliament Hill Monday to meet Prime Mini...

Divorced House As part of this business, I’ve become very skilled at handling all types of situations. Estate sales & divorces are always infused with emotions and memories that can often cloud the process of selling the house involved. I will say that some lawyers are excellent at getting this done quickly and some will take years to finish the job. Those years can often mean all of your hard earned home equity down the drain. As proof of this, I have remained the agent of choice for many couples while they were together and as each partner moved along to other relationships. I hope you never need me to help you get through this….but understand that I am experienced in keeping this difficult process free of unnecessary slowdowns due to inexperience. Once the separation agreement is decided on, it could mean that one party is keeping the home and you will need to refinance OR you both decide its best to sell the home and move on. The key to this process going well is to have lawyer...

Just tiny … 1. Toronto’s Detached Studio With NO ROOM Price: $520,000 With the number of bedrooms in this house listed as “zero,” it’s pretty clear this former dental clinic in Toronto’s East York is a pretty small house. The realtor boasts of “easy access” to highways (it’s near the Don Valley Parkway) and transit. This one is better … It got two bedrooms. I wonder what is that ? 2. Toronto Detached Villa: $519,000 It may be super narrow, but this house in north Toronto actually has two stories and three bedrooms. It has a walk score of 90, so if avoiding traffic jams is your thing this could actually be something of a decent bargain… The Little House 128 Day Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada The Little House is a 2.2m wide and 14.3m long house in Toronto. It was built in 1912 by Arthur Weeden. During the street’s development, Lot 128 was conceived as a laneway for the neighbouring home. However, the curb was never ...

For houses priced in the ‘sweet spot,’ bully bids proliferate When a semi-detached house in the central Toronto neighbourhood of Davisville hit the market last week, the bullies immediately began to circle. “We didn’t even make it to offer day,” says Patrick Rocca of Bosley Real Estate Ltd., who listed the house with an asking price of $699,000. Four bullies signalled interest before the day and time scheduled for reviewing offers. Mr. Rocca says the house is move-in ready, with parking, on a good street. In some cases, homeowners turn the bully offers away but this time the sellers decided one offer was too good to pass up. The house sold for $911,000, or $212,000 over asking. Elsewhere, Houses above that level sometimes receive more than one offer but the contests are less fraught. A detached house on a coveted street in Leaside sold for $1.5-million, or $230,000 above asking, last week after Mr. Rocca listed it for $1.299-million. “People do crazy things on that street.” Downtown, a...

Rising real estate prices and low interest rates keep Canadian households upbeat The share of Canadians who are predicting higher home prices in their neighborhood remained above 40% for a fifth week in the latest weekly polling by Bloomberg and Nanos Research. Real estate gains keep Canadian consumer sentiment near highs Improving views on housing follow a recent acceleration in the real estate market in recent months that reflects a shift by policy makers at the Bank of Canada to dim expectations for rate increases as it plays down concerns over rising household debt … Rising real estate prices and low interest rates are keeping Canadian households upbeat. The share of Canadians who are predicting higher home prices in their neighborhood remained above 40 percent for a fifth week in the latest weekly polling by Bloomberg and Nanos Research. That’s kept consumer confidence levels at near the highest in four years, the data show. Well, jolly good. What are you waiting for ? Buy th...

China’s Fractures Widen: Real Estate Bailouts Begin In Six Cities by Simon Black of  Sovereign Man blog , According to the Chinese financial publication Securities Daily, emergency real estate rescue packages have been launched in large cities such as Wuxi, Nanning, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Tongling and Zhengzhou in the last month alone. “Zhengzhou created a mortgage guarantee policy to win back banks’ confidence” according to the story. Further, “if a borrower does not fulfill the loan repayment obligations as agreed in the contract, the guarantee institutions will have to repay the housing loans…” What a surprise– a government guarantee. The market is imploding and defaults are going through the roof. Property vacancy rates in Zhengzhou are an astounding 23%. So the government is putting taxpayers on the hook. The article goes on: “A legislative affairs official of Zhengzhou revealed to the media that this was the first time for Zhengzhou to carry out such individual housing loans guarante...

A Better Way to Bet on Canada’s Real Estate Market By  Benjamin Sinclair Canada’s housing market is one of the country’s most polarizing issues; everyone seems to have a strong opinion one way or the other. So far the bulls have been right, although one could easily argue that the price surge has made Canada’s houses that much more overvalued. If you think that our housing market will continue its upward trajectory, there are numerous ways to make that bet. The first one that comes to mind is simple — buy a house. But that is a big financial decision, and should be made based on your personal situation. Many people are not ready, willing, or able to make that step. Another way is to invest in a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). But REITs have their own problems. First of all, they can have very levered balance sheets, making them quite risky. Secondly, they typically trade at full value, because dividend-focused investors covet REITs just for the payout. There are some companies who...

Toronto tops for speedy home sales: How does your city measure up? Calgary might have the hottest housing market in the country right now, and Vancouver’s might be the priciest, but Toronto is tops when it comes to the speed with which homes are selling. The homes that sold in the Toronto area last month were on the market for an average of 20 days. Homes that sold in and around Calgary, in contrast, were on the market for an average of 34 days before they sold. In other markets homes generally take longer to sell. The average number of days on the market for homes in Greater Vancouver that sold in April was 43. Homes in Ottawa are taking an average of 45 days to sell. Edmonton homes were on the market an average of 42 days, in Regina 34 days. In Montreal, single family homes were taking a whopping 91 days to sell, while condos were taking an average of 113 days. Read More @  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Real estate investment hits record but now it’s office buildings and malls It’s not just the residential real estate market that continues to sizzle, the commercial property market continued its red hot pace in the last quarter. “Those expecting the Canadian commercial real estate investment market to come off the boil will continue to wait,” says a new report from CBRE. The real estate company said Friday investment volume reached a new first quarter record in 2014 and pension funds are leading the charge. Investors bought $6.8-billion of Canadian commercial real estate in the first quarter, up 12.2% from the same period a year earlier. Some of the increase can be attributed to larger transactions that were finalized in the first quarter of 2014, including the approximate $500-million purchase of Toronto’s upscale Bayview Village mall which was first reported by The Financial Post. “Each distinct investment cycle is unique and this current cycle stands out...

This must be a lie because it’s reported by HuffPost, an “American spy media” based on some “sadist” reports coming from a “Voodoo” economist called David Madani who must have bet everything, including short-selling his own mother-in-law for Canada’s Real Estate to die … Yeah, right. Canada’s Real Estate Market Is ‘Fraying’: Report Canada’s real estate market may look healthy, but it’s showing signs of fraying in certain regions and prices could fall by 25 per cent in the long term. So says a report by Capital Economics, a consulting firm that is holding fast to an ominous prediction it made for home prices in 2012 and 2013. Economist David Madani says that the market is “surviving for the time being on rapidly rising prices” in overvalued and thinly-traded markets, but regional sales indicate that it’s unraveling. Housing activity and prices are falling in Halifax, while a slowdown is ...

Home prices moving at ‘uncomfortably hot pace’ in big markets Calls for a soft landing for the housing market appear on the mark this year, with sales and price gains this spring “comfortably cool” across much of the country, experts at TD Economics and others say. But there are some big exceptions. Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, already Canada’s priciest markets, are seeing home prices leap higher still as limited supply of some housing types and ultra low interest rates fuel bidding wars, particularly for single family homes. Teranet house price data shows average 4.9% annual rise   CBC.ca Hot Calgary housing market sets all-time price records Calgary house price growth leading the nation  Calgary Herald What They Got $1.2 million in Bayview Village, $632,000 in The Danforth neighbourhood Bayview Village Location:  36 Bayberry Cres., Burbank and Citation Drives Asking price:  $1,199,000 Selling price:  $1,210,000 Previous selling price:  $671,000 (2006) Size:  about 1,200...

REAL ESTATE PRICES UP IN APRIL The first full month of Spring and a warmer weather brought more buzz to the real estate market – comparing both to the last month and the last year. Toronto REALTORS® reported a 1.8 per cent year-over-year increase in sales. TorontoMLS system recorded total of 9,706 transactions in April 2014, compared to 9,535 sales in the last year. 2014 APRIL 1 Meanwhile, someone paid $3M for a house just to tear it down in Vancouver …

Toronto condo builders complain they get as little respect as Rob Ford because market misjudged Builders of Toronto condominiums get as little respect these days as the embattled mayor, according to one of the city’s largest high-rise developers. “I almost know what Rob Ford feels some days because people are always taking runs at the guy,” Barry Fenton, chief executive officer of Lanterra Developments, said at the Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit Tuesday. “The truth of it is we’re good, the market is really healthy still and we have a long ways to go on the upside.” Toronto, whose mayor entered a rehabilitation center after admitting smoking crack cocaine, is in the midst of a building boom. The city of 2.8 million people has more condo towers under construction than any other North American city, according to industry researcher Emporis GmbH, fuelling speculation the market is in a bubble. Deutsche Bank AG said in a December 2013 report that Canadian real estate is 60% overvalued, wi...

Tips and tricks when looking and dealing with home inspectors 1. Choose Before you search. Just like pre-approved mortgages, you should always have a home inspector ready just in case you come across a home you want to make an offer on. 2. Not all inspectors are created equally. Or trained to the same standard for the matter. Interview home inspectors like you would interview real estate agents. Are you familiar with home styles in the area? What’s your track record? 3. Always get one. With today’s housing prices, a home inspection is about .09 per cent of the cost of your home’s value. It appears silly not to get one when an identified issue could potentially save you thousands of dollars. Even if you’ve won a home with no conditions and didn’t have the chance to do an inspection, add a provision that allows you the ability to do one before closing. Better to be prepared than surprised. 4. Pre-delivery inspection. Even when buying pre-delivery units, inspection walkthroughs...

Housing Prices in Real Terms: Canada vs the G7. Canada leads all. Overheated housing market will hold Canada back, report says Once a growth leader among big industrialized nations, Canada’s reign at or near the top may be coming to an end, says a new forecast from Capital Economics. The projection, issued Tuesday, calls for the economy to advance by 1.5 per cent, followed by an even softer 1.0 per cent in 2014, as the country’s over-built housing market moves from soft to crash landing. That would likely put Canada behind the U.S., Japan and possibly Germany — among the G7 countries — in terms of growth in at least one of the years. Capital Economics analyst David Madani, who wrote the report says, given the under-performance, he expects the Bank of Canada will keep interest rates at current super-low levels until late 2015. The new outlook runs directly contrary to how the Bank of Canada — and many private sector bank economists — view the economy and housing unfolding. Wh...

The Race of the Commodity Exporting Country #RealEstate Hype-fests! Canada Compared with Australia Population — Wages — Prices — Cost of Living — Tax Burden — House Prices   Canada and Australia are the two largest countries that select potential skilled immigrants using a points system. Both countries have an enviable reputation as places where people enjoy a high quality of life and a high standard of living. Both also withstood the financial turmoil of the last few years better than most. Each has large reserves of minerals and, in Canada’s case oil. As worldwide demand for commodities has risen, so have the economic prospects of Australia and Canada. We put these countries head-to-head, to see how they measure up on a number of measures including wages, house prices, taxes, unemployment, net inward migration rate, and climate. Canada vs Australia Canada Australia Area 9.98 million sq km 7.69 million sq km Estimated Population  2012 34.3 million 22 million Largest City Toronto (...

Vancouver realtor  Jay McInnes  tells us about shopping for homes in Vancouver to match your lifestyle and budget:       Map diagram source:  https://flic.kr/p/5rsq9Y Vancouver is a city of neighbourhoods and if you’re looking to invest in real estate in Vancouver, there will definitely be one that suits your lifestyle. There are over twenty neighbourhoods to pick from, each with its own character, some more unique than others. But regardless of whether you’re looking for high end real estate on the West Side, a luxury townhome in Kitsilano, or a loft in the trendy and eclectic Mt. Pleasant area, all Vancouver neighbourhoods are great places to live. Affordable Kitsilano real estate Source:  https://flic.kr/p/5URBMk

But do they even have the what it takes to purchase a 300 square feet cookie cutter condo ? Young Canadians to put their money where their house is: RBC poll Young Canadians feel that housing remains a very good investment, according to the 21 st  Annual RBC Home Ownership Poll. Nearly nine-in-ten (86 per cent) of those aged 25-34 believe that owning a house or condo is a very good investment, up from less than eight-in-ten (78 per cent) in 2013. This sentiment has echoed into buying intention, as likelihood to purchase has increased in nearly every region in the country. Interest from the 25-34 age group has increased significantly from one-in-four (25 per cent) in 2013 to nearly half (41 per cent) of respondents in 2014. This change in buying intention points to a renewed confidence in young buyers who may have felt that buying wasn’t an option last year. “The increase in the number of those who feel the housing market is a good investment, as well as the number of those w...

Canada’s next housing bubble: real estate agents Recent Realtor Reality … Realtors filmed having sex in client’s home There are a few ways you can mess up as a real estate agent. … case of two New Jersey agents – you can have sex all over your client’s house. Canada’s next housing bubble: real estate agents The housing boom has not only resulted in record real estate prices, it has spawned an unprecedented number of realtors. The number of people selling real estate reached 108,706 during the first quarter of the year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. To put it another way, that’s one realtor for every 245 Canadians over the age of 19. Toronto is on the verge of becoming the second Canadian city where the average price of a detached home hits the $1-million mark. No where is the bubble in agents more apparent than Toronto, perhaps the hottest market in the country for property. The Toronto Real Estate Board wouldn’t provided an exact numbe...

Bubble? What bubble? Toronto condo sales booming once again The overall resale market was blazingly hot in the opening months of 2014. In the 416 area code, the average price for a detached house in April hit $965,670 for a 13.2-per-cent jump from April, 2013. The average semi jumped an even more eye-popping 18 per cent in the same period to $702,332 from April of 2013. The average price for a resale condo unit in April was $384,758, which was a slim 1.8-per-cent increase from April of 2013. Anecdotally, we’ve been hearing how strongly sales of condo units in Toronto bounced back in the first quarter of 2014. Investors swarmed some condo sales centres as soon as new projects were launched. In the resale market, some sellers were choosing among competing buyers for the first time in a long while. Data this week from Urbanation Inc. puts some numbers to the rebound: The market research firm says sales of new condo units soared 88 per cent to 5,140 in the first quarter, compared with the ...

Toronto’s Smart House Micro-Condo Wins Design Awards The age of micro-condos is dawning on Toronto, and the city’s developer community likes what it sees. Smart House Toronto, the city’s first development to feature micro-condos, won two prizes at last weekend’s BILD Awards for the real estate industry, including best design under 750 square feet. With suites starting at 300 square feet, the units seem preposterously small at first blush, but developers Malibu Investments and Urban Capital used innovative design solutions to make the space work. Suites feature multipurpose furniture like desks that convert into beds, and retractable countertops. Check out what happens to this “smart kitchen” when you close all the drawers and cabinets: More at  http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/

Don’t believe what you see below. The truth is it will cost you half a million to own a decent condo in an okay area. Similarly, it will take at least $1.5 millions for a decent detached home. Anything less means it’s either in a ghetto or an area with some negative attributes. Else, it’s a fixer upper … like this one. Average sale price for GTA homes in April 2014 Detached: $730,328 (up 11.3 per cent compared to last April) Semi-detached: $536,023 (up 11.6 per cent) Townhouse: $430,963 (up 10.6 per cent) Condo: $358,944 (up 2.9 per cent) Shortage of home listings in GTA boosts prices more than 10%: report A shortage of homes for sale across the Greater Toronto Area helped push up prices by an average of more than 10 per cent in April, a new housing report shows. According to figures released Tuesday by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), the average selling price of a home in April hit $577,898 — up 10.1 per cent compared to the same period last year. TR...

Including craps … Yes, inhibitable rotten craps that may require another half a million to make it a palace of some sort. Average price of single home in Toronto shoots up 13% to $965,000 Shortage of listings continues to plague market, drive high price growth. Leading the real estate pack in terms of price growth were semi-detached houses, with the average Toronto semi selling for $702,000. The average price of a detached home in the City of Toronto hit close to $1 million in April as the GTA continues to be plagued by a shortage of new listings. That shortage of homes for sale helped pushed prices up an average of more than 10 per cent from April of 2013. The average sale price of a home (including all home types) across the GTA hit $577,898 last month, according to figures released Tuesday by the Toronto Real Estate Board. Sales were up just 1.8 per cent, year over year. Leading the real estate pack in terms of price growth were semi-detached houses. The average sale price acro...

Why do Ontario lawyers who steal rarely go to jail? They treat  client trust accounts as their personal piggy banks, facilitate multi-million-dollar frauds and drain retirement savings of the elderly. So are corruptions among city officials and developers with deep pockets? No. We have no clue in this respect, merely asking a question of public interest. While most lawyers caught stealing from their clients are reprimanded, suspended or disbarred by the profession’s regulator, the vast majority avoid criminal charges, a Star investigation reveals. Torstar News Service found that more than 230 lawyers sanctioned for criminal-like activity by the Law Society of Upper Canada in the last decade, stole, defrauded or diverted some $61 million held in trust funds for clients. Fewer than one in five were charged criminally. Most avoided jail. “I truly believe there are two laws — a set of rules and regulations for lawyers and a different set for everyone else,” said Richard Bikowski, who was f...