Richard Silver

Around TORONTO Category

Greater Toronto REALTORS® Report Mid-Month Sales Figures

TORONTO, December 16, 2010 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 2,509 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) during the first two weeks of December2010. This represented a 19 per cent decrease compared to the 3,079 sales recorded during the same period in December 2009. Year-to-date sales amounted to 84,316 – down one per cent from the 2009 total of 84,888. “While off the 2009 record, the level of December transactions remains strong from a historic perspective. The number of transactions in 2010...Continue Reading...

Toronto Neighbourhood in focus: Rosedale

Rosedale… what’s in a name? A few years ago we bought a house on a great Toronto street south of Bloor that I refer to as Cabbagetown  North. But some call it Rosedale . There, I said it! It took me a long time to say Rosedale because it comes with a lot of preconceived baggage, when in reality it is just a place where some people have bigger mortgages and a lot of house to maintain. I do miss my Carlton/Church condo...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate: The Difference Between Retrofit and Legal Status

Toronto apartments and especially Toronto basement apartments are always a big discussion when working with Buyers or Sellers. About 90% of the apartments that I have shown in either single-family homes with basement apartments or multiple family homes, the question is asked: "Is this a legal basement apartment? Does legal mean that it is retrofit?" In both cases the answer, for the most part is "no". The number of Toronto apartments that are both Legal and have Retrofit Status  would at a...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate Board’s Jason Mercer on the November 2010 Market Watch.

Jason Mercer, the Senior Market Analyst at the Toronto Real Estate Board gives us the scoop from the Market Watch in November 2010. Have a look and let me know your thoughts. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIf-vSnUG-A[/youtube]Continue Reading...

Our Bathroom Renovations and the HST….

Over the past three months we have gutted and renovated two bathrooms, replaced doors and windows, dealt with a leaking basement and spent a lot more time, energy and money on our home. Like a lot of people who live in their houses while they are being renovated, we are happy to see the back end of our contractor and happy to have our house back. We are also kicking ourselves for not having all of this done years ago...mostly...Continue Reading...

The Ontario Real Estate Association hosts Political Action Days at Ontario’s Queen’s Park.

Yesterday was a great first day of Political Action with members of  the Ontario Real Estate Association . Annually the association holds a two-day session close to the Queen's Park  Parliament buildings and then meetings are held where Provincial and local issues are brought forward by OREA  to MPP's. This year the topics were Brownfield's  development (reuse of previously used property that has been contaminated in the past), the Harmonized Sales Tax  and it's effect on the Ontario Consumer, and the upcoming Provincial Election(11 months from now)....Continue Reading...

REAL ESTATE: The long-promised reworking of the original Cabbagetown

For years Cabbagetown residents awaited the long-promised reworking of the original Cabbagetown — reborn in the 1940s as Canada’s largest and oldest social housing project, Regent Park. It had a controversial history due in part to the design. The lack of through streets isolated the 69-acre neighourbood, creating a ghetto.  In the past 10 years it has become home for many new Canadians and their families making for a lively and diverse neighbourhood as well as bringing lots more street traffic...Continue Reading...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Toronto Housing Outlook

Yearly the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation releases a Greater Toronto Housing Outlook. It is a great resource as it mashes together information form different sources of data including sales data from The Toronto Real Estate Board. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Toronto Housing OutlookView more documents from Richard Silver.Check out their web site and sign up to receive these regularly.Continue Reading...

Real Estate Council of Ontario’s Web Site

In Ontario, those of us who are registrants are regulated by a body called the Real Estate Council of Ontario. It is this body that deals with complaints from the Public, Code of Ethics violations, etc. On their web site at www.reco.on.ca they state that "The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) regulates the activity of trading in real estate in the public interest". They do so munder the auspices of the provincial government and they administer the Real Estate...Continue Reading...

Toronto Area REALTORS® Report October Resale Figures

Here is the latest market update from the Toronto Real Estate Board . Of note is the percentage of Condominiums in resale housing figures within the Toronto Area. TORONTO, November 3, 2010 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 6,681 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®)  in October 2010. This represented a 21 per cent decrease compared to the 8,476 sales recorded in October 2009. Through the first ten months of the year, sales amounted to 75,582 – up one per cent compared...Continue Reading...