The move announced last week by RBC (and followed by other banks) that it would lower interest rates in 5 year fixed mortgages to 2.99% seems to have galvanized buyers.  My open house on the weekend was busy with first time buyers just starting to look...at many of them were talking about wanting to take advantage of that rate.  I don't blame them!  And if you add into the mix a plan to make your monthly payments at a higher interest rate... you'll be giving yourself extra benefit: you'll get used to higher rates if it comes to that eventually...so they won't be a shock to the financial system AND you'll be attacking that principle with gusto.  So have at it folks, it's a pretty amazing opportunity!

So the battle...er...conversation is on over the development of Dundas West of Bathurst.  ML Lumber folks want to develop their current Lumber store site at Manning and Dundas.  Community members are concerned, citing the developer's plans to build an 8 storey structure plus penthouse plus mechanica will dwarf everything for blocks.  After collecting over 200 signatures, the community group met with the City and the developers and councillor Mike Layton.  Discussions continue, but it's a hot button issue in the area because the development is seen as a trendsetter.  Stay tuned for more!

Toronto houses have so many stories to tell, when we take the time to look at them.  For example, a house I visited for a client recently has got me interested in finding out its history, if I can.

The place looked pretty uninteresting in the picture on mls.  Lots of brick. Not much in the way of form or design.  Kind of ugly, actually.  However, when  drove up to the house, I realized it was the end of a row of three.  The other two houses appeared to have much more of the original detail.  And they looked quite old.

They both had full porches low to the ground with large white columns supporting overhead what was probably the front bedroom on the second floor.  Their accent windows looked original, made up of strips of glass pointed at one end, and bound together by moulding.  Some of the panels were stained glass.

The house that was on the market had the porch completely bricked in, so it lost that unique character-full design apparent in other two.  I decided to check out the address to see if they had any history I could access, once i got back to my computer.

Which is why I'm writing now...to tell you about a website the city of Toronto has that lists the buildings in the city that are declared heritage buildings.  Check it out:  http://app.toronto.ca/HeritagePreservation/setup.do?action=init

I discovered this site in 2004 after I noticed a wonderful house in the neighbourhood I'd just moved into, Trinity Bellwoods.  The house is on the west side of Euclid, just north of Queen behind the T-D Bank.  If you go by there, note the iron fence, the wonderful hanging porch lantern and the stain glass window over the front door.  When I found the above site (which was actually better then, I find it more cumbersome now), I discovered the house was the home of a doctor.  I googled the name and found out more about him, a medical doctor at the turn of the century, well known in the area.  In 2008, author Andrew Pyper used the house in his book, The Killing Circle.  He found out a lot more about the good doctor.

"In the 1910s and 1920s the house at 10 Euclid was home to Dr. Albert Watson, one of Toronto's earliest media "personalites" who was a practising physician, poet, astronomer and spiritualist (eccentrics and Queen West have gone together for at least 100 years). What I find particularly interesting about Dr. Watson's activities is that, for the last decade of his life, his home hosted a number of widely documented séances. During these sessions, countless voices of the dead made themselves heard in the good doctor's front parlour." (Toronto Star, Aug 2008)

All that wonderful history from noticing some unusual features to a house...and a handy city website.  The original website actual mentionned why properties were declared heritage.  Now you'll have to go a little deeper to find out the 'why'...but even finding out the 'what' is fantastic.  So have fun listening to the buildings in Toronto.  You'll discover many, many stories of the city and its occupants.  And if I find anything interesting about the houses I mentionned at the beginning, I let you know.

January 24, 2011 -- The federal and provincial governments provide grants to homeowners who undertake renovations that improve the energy efficiency of their homes.  These programs are coming to a close as of March 31, 2011.  See deadlines for eligibility below.

Details

• Before undertaking any renovations, homeowners must first have an energy audit of their home performed by a licensed service organization (list of auditors provided at government web site address provided below).  The evaluation report provides customized recommendations for renovations to improve the energy efficiency of the home.  Once the homeowner has completed the renovations, a second audit must be undertaken within 18 months of the first one to determine the change in the home’s energy efficiency.
  
  
• Deadlines for eligibility:  Home energy retrofit grants are provided by both the federal and provincial governments.  Both programs are ending as of March 31, 2011.  To be eligible for federal grants, homeowners must have booked a pre-retrofit audit BEFORE March 31, 2010 and have the post-retrofit audit completed by March 31, 2011, or within 18 months of the date of the pre-retrofit evaluation (whichever comes first).   Homeowners who booked a pre-retrofit audit AFTER March 31, 2010 can only access grants from the provincial government, but must also complete their post-retrofit audit completed by March 31, 2011.
  
  
• For more information visit:
  • http://www.mei.gov.on.ca/en/energy/conservation/ohesp2/
  • http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/grants.cfm?attr=0

As my buyers know, I have always provided free energy audits with GreenSavers, on the purchase of a new home with me.  This will impact this offer, altho' the provincial government in Ontario is picking up some of the slack. 

One of the condo conveniences that's the toughest to find in Toronto is a building that has direct access to The Path or the Subway.   You'll find this out very quickly once you start looking for such a place.  You can count them on one hand.  Wild eh?  In a downtown core like Toronto has with all that activity happening underground and all those condo buildings above ground, so very few are designed with "avoiding the cold" in mind.  My prediction?  As a critical mass of boomers sweeps its way into retirement, it'll become more and more of an issue.  I have a list, by the way, short tho' it is.