Jesse Fleming in Toronto Neighbourhoods. Bounded by Lawrence Avenue East, Snowden Avenue and Mount Pleasant Road, the neighbourhood of Wanless Park relies on the lay of the land to form its eastern border (check out Realosophy’s Neighbourhood profile for local housing and school stats).  A leafy ravine lies just outside this particular neighbourhood and contributes to what I have dubbed ‘controlled overgrowth’ of the ravine properties - gardens appear to be planned and maintained but do not... Read Full Story

Bob Aaron in Legal A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (see below)  provides a timely reminder that parents who want their cottages to remain in the family should consider a plan for orderly succession in ownership, and put those instructions in writing. The court ruling, released in January, concerns Margaret Sheldrake, who owns two cottages in Bancroft, Ont. Although they were in bad condition, she wanted them to remain in the family. Back in 2000, she made an... Read Full Story

Media Roundup Real Estate News Home prices slip for first time in nine years (Globe and Mail) Sizzlers and fizzlers (Toronto Star) Toronto: Hot or Not? (Your Home) Resale home listings increase, sales slip: real estate association (CBC) West leads drop as Canadian housing slumps (National Post) Home prices will rise 3.5%, Royal LePage says (Globe and Mail) Blame Alberta! Whether Prices go up or Down it's Our Fault! (Edmonton Real Estate Blog) First-time home buyers need old-time... Read Full Story

John Pasalis in Toronto Real Estate News Here are the latest numbers from the Toronto Real Estate Board: Moderate activity and strong prices continued to characterize the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) resale housing market during the first half of July, Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O’Neill announced today. “The average price in the GTA during the first half of July was $379,072, which is a one per cent increase from the $374,254 recorded in the first two weeks of July 2007 and... Read Full Story

Rachel in Condo Buying, Legal Buying a condo, especially pre-construction, can set you up for disappointment when your expectations aren’t met by what is delivered.  Recently, I have had several calls from concerned buyers with the same problem – the view they were expecting did not materialize. Delving further, I realized that these home buyers had purchased their units, usually on a higher floor of a building, exclusively for the sake of the view.  Of course, not everyone’s expectations... Read Full Story

Jesse Fleming in Toronto Neighbourhoods Hoggs Hollow has always been one of those neighbourhoods that I had heard of but never quite knew where it was or what to expect when I got there (check out Realosophy's Hoggs Hollow Neighbourhood Profile for local housing and school stats).  Conjuring up visions of a semi-visited slice of Toronto enshrouded in mist, I really was going into this neighbourhood blindly.  Originally settled by a Loyalist family in 1794 and then by namesake James Hogg... Read Full Story

John Pasalis in Toronto Real Estate News One of our reasons for launching realosophy.com was to educate consumers about some of the not so nice things that can go on in the real estate industry.  One of the things we have been educating consumers about is something called a fake or phantom offer. When there is more than one buyer putting in an offer on the same house, the buyers have to compete blindly against each other.  They know little if anything about the other party putting in an... Read Full Story

Bob Aaron in Legal Tarion Warranty Corporation has introduced a new set of rules for delayed condominium occupancies. The new delayed occupancy warranty came into effect July 1, 2008, and applies to every new condominium project as long as no unit in the project was sold before July 1. If any unit in the project was sold before that date, the old rules apply, but if the first unit in the project was sold after July 1, 2008, the new rules apply. Where the new warranty applies, every... Read Full Story

Media Roundup Reactions to the Government of Canada's changes to mortgage rules: Mortgage wisdom (Globe and Mail) Ottawa tightens mortgage insurance rules (CBC) Federal crackdown could spark housing sales (Globe and Mail) Ottawa tightens mortgage rules to avoid 'bubble' (Globe and Mail) New Canada mortgage rules won't deflate market (Reuters) Planning and Neighbourhoods Is This The Most Awesome House in Toronto? (Torontoist) The lure of Leslieville (Posted Toronto) Is Toronto... Read Full Story

Jesse Fleming in Toronto Neighbourhoods The neighbourhood of Regal Heights is situated just east of Corso Italia.  Due to this close proximity, I had assumed that the housing styles and general neighbourhood appearance would be somewhat homogenous throughout the two much like siblings of a common Toronto parent.  It was only after I spent time in Regal Heights that I was reminded that, like fraternal twins,  neighbourhoods can differ greatly from one to the next, even if they do sit... Read Full Story