REALTORS® comments were in response to a recent City Finance staff report indicating that the Toronto Land Transfer Tax is expected to generate higher revenue than what was budgeted for 2011.

“What goes up, also comes down. For years, REALTORS® have been warning the City that the Land Transfer Tax is an unpredictable revenue stream because it is based on the number, and value, of real estate transactions, which are very difficult to predict in any given year,” said Richard Silver, President of the Toronto Real Estate Board. “City staff’s recent budget variance report proves how difficult it is to budget based on unpredictable revenue like the Land Transfer Tax. The unpredictability of the Land Transfer Tax might not be a problem when times are good, but what will the City do if real estate markets cool in the middle of its budget cycle and the tax brings in less than expected?”

REALTORS® believe that responsible fiscal management is the only long-term solution to the City’s financial challenges.

“The Toronto Land Transfer Tax is not part of the solution; it is part of the problem. It is a crutch that has delayed the true solutions to the City’s financial challenges, which are a combination of reducing costs and using fair revenue sources, like property taxes and user fees” said Silver

REALTORS® believe that the Land Transfer Tax is an unfair tax because it targets one segment of Torontonians, those purchasing a home or business property, to pay for services provided to all citizens. The Toronto Land Transfer Tax costs the average Toronto home buyer about $6,000 up front. When added to the provincial version of this tax, average Toronto home buyers face over $12,000 in land transfer taxes.

“The first requirement for any tax should be that it is fair. The Land Transfer Tax is far from fair. It forces someone buying a home or business property to pay thousands of dollars more to receive the same services that others receive without paying this tax. That is simply unfair,” said Silver. “On the other hand, property taxes and user fees are much fairer because they are paid by everyone who benefits from, or uses, City services. Property tax and user fee revenue is also predictable and reliable, unlike Land Transfer Tax revenue. Toronto residents also enjoy a very low property tax rate.”

REALTORS® are urging City Council to continue to move forward with reviewing all fair options for getting the City’s finances in order including cost reductions, user fees, property taxes, and efforts to grow its assessment base.

“One of the best ways for City Council to address its budget challenges is to grow the City’s property tax base. Toronto is the only GTA municipality with a second land transfer tax, which puts the City at a competitive disadvantage. Furthermore, the City’s business tax rates, which are much higher than the City’s residential tax rates, are uncompetitive compared to other GTA municipalities. The Toronto Land Transfer Tax and high business property taxes create a double whammy that discourages growth in the City’s property assessment base. Eliminating the Land Transfer Tax and making business property taxes competitive will help to attract new development and keep businesses in the City. Maintaining and growing the City’s property tax assessment base provides long-term, sustainable and reliable tax revenue.”

Home renovations undertaken by Ontario’s 3.2 million home owners produced over $20.3 billion in economic activity last year. Unfortunately, a large amount of home renovation work in this province is conducted via the ‘cash deal’ or through the underground economy. According to housing experts at Altus Group, 37 per cent or $5.2 billion of the output from the provincial home renovation industry in 2010 was conducted through the underground economy.

Unlicensed workers hurt the reputations and competitiveness of legitimate renovation contractors and cheat governments out of billions of dollars. The Ontario Home Builders Association (OHBA) estimates that the underground home renovation economy causes the loss of up to $298 million in HST revenue annually, $1.6 billion in income tax revenue annually and $767 million in other revenues such as CPP, WSIB, Employer Health Tax and Employment Insurance Premiums.

In addition, the underground home renovation industry poses a number of serious risks to home owners. Underground contractors often do not meet health and safety standards, carry no liability insurance and do not offer warranties. Moreover, home owners have little to no recourse in the event of shoddy or unsafe workmanship. If a worker falls on your property, you, as the property owner, may be held liable.

REALTORS® and home builders believe that the best way to mitigate the growth of the underground home renovation economy is to give home owners a financial incentive to use professional contractors. Professional contractors have HST numbers, maintain insurance and pay taxes.

Specifically, REALTORS® are urging all candidates running in the 2011 Ontario election to support the creation of a permanent Ontario Home Renovation Tax Rebate. If the provincial government were to institute a renovation rebate, payable to the homeowner, homeowners would be far more likely to insist on a receipt creating a paper trail that would deter underground economic activity.

The payment to the homeowner provides the incentive for written contracts which is good for everybody, particularly governments losing billions of dollars in tax revenue to the underground economy and at the same time it can go a long way to stimulating the provincial economy

REALTORS® look forward to continuing to deliver this and other messages important to home buyers and owners during and after the provincial election campaign.

With all that comes rising property values and expensive rentals. Restaurants struggle with high rents. Clubs fight to hold onto fickle late-night partiers.

Expect to see more chain restaurants and stores and less “mom and pop” or “pop and pop” retail. Expect to see more condominium high rises due to the great success of Radio City and some of the other buildings on Carlton Street. That means that some of the Victorian stock may dwindle especially as Ryerson University keeps expanding.

THE GOOD NEWS
If you sit at the corner of Church and Wellesley, you will see your life and old friends walk by… just try your hardest to look your best at all times. Everything is available there and I mean everything.

THE BAD NEWS
If you sit at the corner of Church and Wellesley, you will see your life and old friends walk by… but after a certain age, it gets much harder to stop traffic or even a pedestrian… unless you should fall.

BEST OF ALL
Location , location, location. You are within easy access to subways, shopping, eating and partying. Just remember, as you age, what used to be cool music becomes a lot of noise. Nothing you can do about it. It is just generational. It just happens.

Reprinted from INToronto Magazine.

Rick McCarthy www.rickmccarthytheartist.com

Rick McCarthy has lived on Wellesley Street for years and here is your chance to collect some great art from a famous neighborhood artist. See you at the JetFuel!

Make sure you ask him for his C.V. or visit his web site. You will be impressed!

Beach, The Beaches or The Beach?

To locals in the Queen and Woodbine area, it is The Beach. Only the uninitiated call it The Beaches. And that is only a part of the east-end snobbery that other Torontonians can only dream of.

Among locals, one MUST live west of Woodbine. And God forbid if you live north of Gerrard.

Shorts and T-shirts on fabulous bodies abound but so do beer bellies and strollers. The old watering holes and pubs are being replaced by chic bakeries, Starbucks, all-day breakfasts and Laura Ashley-like gift stores.

Negatives: During the hot summer weather, your space will be taken over by throngs of tourists; while in winter, breezes off Lake Ontario are merciless.
Positives: No need to travel to beach destinations, you will be living there.
Imperatives: Dogs are a must, especially ones that can read signs — leash, no leash, leash, no leash.

If you are not exhausted or intimidated by all this posturing and want to live in a great area that feels like another country, one that has access to loads of parks, beaches, restaurants, bluffs, boating, swimming, canoeing, a thriving outdoor lifestyle at a casual pace, then The Beach is for you. However, be prepared to pay top dollar to be able to enjoy this carefree but simultaneously somewhat structured lifestyle.

Townhouses, lofts and apartments abound, but the community would not make it without the great watering holes and meeting places like The Academy of Spherical Arts  (1 Snooker St) and The Liberty Village Market  (65 Jefferson Ave) to name but two. Check out the Liberty Village BIA  site at lvbia.com.

Not only a great place to live but should be a great investment.

POINTS TO CONSIDER There’s an attitude here. You might feel pressured to be “cool.” And the neighbourhood is very, very urban; not that many parks and areas to just chill.

RIGHT FIT Young techno-savvy arts types who want to live close to where they work and play. ■

Reprinted from INToronto Magazine.

Then Realtors began speaking of a hot new area they liked to call “Cabbagetown II ,” with Victorian homes in poor repair being gentrified. If you could not afford the real thing, then number two was not too bad.

Leslieville’s  old factories and warehouses have now been reborn as lofts; there are new restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, infill housing and stylish renovations everywhere. It’s certainly popular with gay and lesbian homeowners. But what used to be a bargain is now slipping out of reach.

The odd bargain (non-real estate) still exists among the antique shops, stores like Here and Now Clothing Co  and Carbon Computing  and cafés like Bonjour Brioche  — my personal favourites. However, walk along Queen and it won’t take long to damage your credit card with some excellent retail therapy.

Benefits: Close proximity to downtown, great shopping and restaurants, 24-hour streetcars and easy access to the Beach.

Disadvantages: Mixed housing, concerns over tainted soil because of the number of factories originally in the area, and termites (always a concern south of St Clair Ave).

Leslieville has not taken second place for years.

Reprinted from INTorontomag.ca

More Neighborhoods at http://torontoism.com/2010/07/02/toronto-neighborhoods-kensington-market/

Tour the alleys,dim sum restaurants and the incredible cultural diversity that has existed in Kensington Market  for years. You cannot beat the prices for clothes, food and those soon-to-be “family heirlooms” that you may be selling at next year’s yard sale.

If you have visitors in from out of town stop dragging them to the CN Tower  and spend the afternoon walking Kensington Market. The market area is open seven days a week including holidays (www.kensington-market.ca). If it catches your interest, there are tons of housing options close by. It is really the beating heart of Toronto.

Converted buildings like the Kensington Market Lofts  are usually more reasonable per square foot than new condos (but keep an eye on those maintenance fees). Multiple-generation living abounds on nearby streets, perennial centre of new immigrant communities of Jews, Italians, Portuguese and Chinese. Many homes have summer kitchens in the basement and parents’ flats on the second and third floors. Houses here are valued in terms of the number of bedrooms rather than the amount of renovations.

Streets to the north of College  have got some narrow but cheaper Victorian semis and attached homes. For the growing number of same-sex “kiddy couples” the area schools and diversity are huge bonuses.

If order and cleanliness is your thing, Kensington Market is not for you. Confusion reigns and a good sense of humour is a must.

Reprinted from INToronto Magazine 

More Neighborhoods at http://torontoism.com/2010/07/02/downtown-toronto-neighborhoods-leslieville/

It has been a while since I drove the length of St. Clair Avenue West from Yonge Street to Christie Avenue without construction…and now we could truly experience the finished product of the past three years, including special lanes for the TTC Trolleys….

Sadly, on a Saturday night at 6:30 PM (early eaters are we)…the street was vacant of any life. The St. Clair Avenue West BIA or Toronto City Council that proposed the rebuild of this vibrant area have really blown it. There used to be life on the Street, people sitting in sidewalk Cafes, shopping, strolling, etc.

I really hope that life will come back to the St. Clair Avenue West shopping area and it is just a timing issue for the neighborhood, especially since it seems that Eglinton Avenue West is next on the political  agenda…

Your thoughts on this are appreciated. Check out the changes on the street and at the same time…check out Acquolina Ristorante…

Produced by the Riverdale Farm Advisory Council, the Riverdale Farm 2010 Calendar features fabulous photographs of the Farm’s buildings, gardens and animals throughout the year and includes not-to-be-missed dates of events in the community.

The Council is very grateful to all the local merchants who kindly sponsored the calendar and to all the visitors to the Farm who allowed us to use their photos.  Joel Rotstein and Associates Inc. volunteered their great design and layout services and added some extra colour and whimsy this year.

Calendars are NOW on sale for only $10 at the Riverdale Farm Shop and the Meeting House, the Riverdale Farm Farmers’ Market every Tuesday from 3 – 7 p.m. until October and also at the Cabbagetown BIA Office, 237 Carlton Street.  Look for the calendar on sale at various locations during the Cabbagetown Festival on September 12 and 13. This is a great gift or souvenir for your friends, family, neighbours, guests and hosts.  All proceeds from this fundraising activity will be used to enhance the Farm.