Richard Silver

Toronto Real Estate: A Home Inspection Story Part 4

Years ago a consumer bought one of my listings, and after living there for 10 years and having children, he decided to finish the basement as a bedroom and playroom for his children. A few years later he decided to sell it and a pre-listing inspection was done and then the new buyer decided to do another one as part of the Purchase. After the sale was completed it was found that there was dampness in the basement and the...Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate: The Reality of Home Inspections Part 1

After years of attending Home Inspections, some of them my own, I have learned a few lessons that I thought would be good to share with you: No Home Inspection is perfect: Even if you were to buy a brand new Home today, the Home Inspector would find some issues that need to be dealt with. That is their job. Manage your expectations: In reality, Houses are ongoing projects, costly and full of surprises. The job of the Home Inspector is to minimize some...Continue Reading...

Some Great Home ecoEnergy News from “Carson Dunlop and Associates”.

Here is some great news from Andra Wooley of Carson Dunlop and Associates. It showcases some of the existing energy options that are available through the both the Federal and Provincial Governments. Hopefully this will serve to clarify some of the confusion on what is available at present to Homeowners: "Richard, as mentioned, we are excited to share this IMPORTANT news for all home owners.   NRCan’s ecoENERGY Retrofit program now offers more ways to access valuable rebates.  NOW, 25% MORE GRANT...Continue Reading...

For Real Estate, This Year’s Colour is “GREEN”.

It seems as if every time I open my mail, emails, newspaper, TV, radio etc. there is more movement on "GREEN" issues. I do support the GREEN movement even though I own an SUV (remember I work from home and my commute is from my bedroom to my office...also small cars look funny with the For Sale Signs hanging out the back window). When we bought our new house, we upgraded the perfectly good 60% efficiency Furnace, washer and dryer, (more...)Continue Reading...