St. Lawrence Market has been named the world’s best food market by National Geographic.

The famous Toronto market beat out well-known food markets like the Union Square Greenmarket in New York and Cours Saleya in Nice. Take that world! St. Lawrence is numero uno…

Here’s what the magazine had to say about every Torontonians go-to place for fresh fish, produce and peameal bacon sandwiches:

“This farmers market emporium has operated since 1803, when it cohabited with Toronto’s city hall. Redeveloped between the 1970s and 1990s after long neglect, the area’s mix of homes and businesses showcases urban regeneration. More than 120 retailers dispense everything from seafood to coffee.”

A little international recognition goes a long way and we think this is a pretty great selling point for all the awesome toronto condo projects that are currently under construction or in preconstruction in the area.

We compiled a short list of our favourite new condominium developments that are only a short walk away from the St. Lawrence Market…

• Backstage by Castlepoint Realty, Cityzen and Fernbrook Homes
• 88 Scott Street Condos by Concert
• Sixty 60 Colborne Street, Toronto
• Post House by Alterra
• Berczy

Obviously there are many benefits of having the Market right at your doorstep, but the one we think we’d appreciate most is not having to wake up absurdly early on Saturday to get the freshest of the fresh produce and meat.

Just gimme that countryside! It’s one place where “flipping” still works – in fact, where it increasingly works, according to a new report, charting bidding wars for Canadian farmland. Buy agriculture, since it is on the rise!

“Competition has become a market reality, with traditional growers and cattle ranchers now vying for land with hobby/gentleman farmers,” reads the farm edition of the 2012 Re/Max Market Trends report, referencing B.C.’s Peace River North and other agricultural hotspots. “Even unused, the land is viewed as smart investment.”

While the report is particularly bullish on western agri-lands, that rosy picture extends across much of the rest of the country, according to real estate analysts tracking supply and demand. Some of those areas have seen as much as a 50-per-cent value grow over the last year, as agricultural lands dwindle and both large scale as well as mom-and-pop operations jockey for arable land.

That battle is only compounded by urban encroachment. It means developers are just as anxious to get their hands on land for subdivisions, further encouraging bidding wars to buy agriculture.

Still, for investors buying and then selling as a group, the customers are just as likely to find farmers willing to pay top dollar for the land, as crop prices push skyward, fuelled by similar gains in the cost of wheat, corn and barley. The push to biofuels has also played a part, say analysts anticipating further price growth as interest rates remain low.
—- November, 2012 Toronto, ON Canada.

When looking at buying vs renting, let’s take an example of a property on Bay Street in Toronto. A junior one- bedroom with locker and no parking on is sold for $270,000 in July of 2012; or it can be rented for $1600. Buyer put down 5% ($13,500) and has a five year fixed rate mortgage of $256,500 at 3.09%.

So why do the experts recommend renting over buying right now? That’s because renting does have a lower monthly cash outlay. In order to own this property, it requires a mortgage payment of $1259 which includes mortgage insurance + condo fees of $375 (higher than most because all utilities are included) + property taxes of $121, which equals to $1755/month; or $155 more per month than if you were to rent!

Now let’s study what happens after five years. The Renter invests the difference (they never do, but let’s believe they will) every month and earns an interest rate of 2% after tax (probably high). After five years, the Renter would have accumulated just under $10,000!

Now let’s look at what happens to the Buyer? After five years, the home Buyer would have repaid $30,850 of principal on the mortgage. If you assume that the property increased in value by 3% per year (the historical average for real estate), the property would then be worth $313,000. The Buyer would then have increased their net worth by $73,850. If in case the Buyer had borrowed the down payment of $13,500 from family and repaid it, the net gain would still be $60,350. Even if the property never increases in value, the Home Buyer is still the clear winner!

The buying vs renting answer is thus answered! Where would YOU want to be? Have a possible saving of $10,000 from being the Renter or a ‘tax free’ $60,000 in assets from being the Home Buyer !!

Calculator : Do your easy math here to find out whether to Buy or Rent in Toronto – Mississauga area market.

There are many misunderstandings about credit scores out there. Some people believe that they don’t have a credit score and many people think their credit scores don’t really matter. These sorts of misunderstandings can hurt your chances at getting some jobs, at good interest rates, and even your chances of getting an apartment or a house.
So, if you have a bank account and bills, then you have a credit score, and your credit score matters more than you might think. Your credit score can be called by multiple names, including a credit risk rating, a FICO score, a credit rating, a FICO rating, or a credit risk score. All of these terms mean the same thing, it’s the three-digit number that lets the lenders get an idea of how likely you will be able to repay your bills.
Every time you apply for credit, a job that requires you to handle money, or even apply for some more exclusive types of apartment living, your credit score will be checked.
Your credit score is grounded on your past financial responsibilities, past payments and credit, and it offers potential lenders with a quick snapshot of your current financial state and your past repayment habits.
Your credit score basically lets the lenders know quickly how much of a credit risk you are! Based on your credit score, lenders decide whether to trust you financially – and give you better rates for a loan or not.
Now moving on to the topic of weather your credit rating goes down when its checked multiple times or if the affect is very marginal.
When your credit is pulled or looked at by a lender to extend a line of credit, they perform a “hard pull” (regular inquiry) which shows them your full credit report, and in most cases, your credit score. An inquiry entry is placed on your credit file, from the bureau(s) they pull from.

Your score can be affected by these hard pulls, but by a very marginal amount. There is NO set amount of points that it goes down and it does not get too affected.

When you’re shopping for an auto loan, and more importantly for a home loan, you are granted a grace period of time to apply for multiple lines of credit/offers from numerous lenders, and only getting docked for one (1) hard pull against your overall score. However, each inquiry will still show on your credit report. This reason alone, allows you to ‘shop around’ for the best deal without affecting your credit rating too much.

For a home mortgage in Ontario, Canada, you have a 30-day period from the time of your first inquiry from a financial lender, to apply for as many home loans as you would like, and it to have an overall combined effect of one(1) pull towards your score. The inquiries will show up on your report, and (possibly) lower your score regardless of if you’re extended a line of credit or not.

Let me repeat, there is NO set amount of points that any single hard pull takes. It is all part of a very large and a conditional formula to each credit reporting bureau. What they are likely pulling, is your FICO score, which bases its number off your Equifax credit report.
What you should take away from this article is, pay your bills on time and be financially responsible so that lenders are able to trust you which will help you purchase your next Dream Home in Ontario, Canada.

Toronto’s real estate market continues to confuse the people trying to predict what it will do next. The rebound in sales in the first half of September was even more eye-popping than the jump in August. The Toronto Real Estate Board reported this week that sales increased 29 % in the first 14 days of September, 2013. What’s more, the already large condo apartment market led the way.

Over all, new listings slipped 2 per cent while prices rose by 4 per cent on an annual basis.
Toronto Real Estate Board’s senior manager of market analysis, says, “the only argument that makes sense is for continued home price growth in the Greater Toronto Area for the remainder of 2013.”

All segments of the market had a bump, but sales of the condo apartment market in the Toronto core increased by a whopping 42.6 %.
The market during last August and September was  in terminal decline that it’s easy to look good in comparison.
Sales in cities across Canada were no doubt juiced by potential buyers who were jumping in with their pre-approved mortgages before rates move higher.

No one predicted a big mid-year bounce in home sales at the start of 2013 and in fact most media reports forecasted a considerable decline in prices, which all proved totally wrong. While the sales figures have been up and down like a yo-yo over the past year, prices just keep quietly churning ahead.

This mortgage news article was taken with a Credit to : National Post , Canada’s business voice, Tuesday, January 21,2014

TORONTO • Falling bonds yields could push mortgage rates lower in coming weeks as banks compete in the spring housing market, traditionally the strongest real estate period of the year.

Rob McLister, editor of Canadian Mortgage Trends, reported on his website Monday that Royal Bank of Canada had dropped its deep discounted rate on its fixed, closed five year mortgage to 3.69%. It was just a 10 basis-point cut, but with the way bond yields have started to drop since the beginning of the year, the question is whether there is more to come.

Royal Bank acknowledged it did lower rates 10 basis points on two-, three- and five year fixed rate terms. “Rates were lowered to match competitor pricing. Competitors have been pricing at lower rates for several weeks, and this rate change now puts us in line,” said a spokesperson.

“The big banks like to cut only enough to maximize their profits,” said Mr. McLister, who is also the founder of ratespy.com. “The fact is when a big bank changes course like this and cuts it advertised rates generally speaking it’s evidence of further change to come in the short-term.”

TORONTO– Canadian existing home sales rose 0.3% in February from January as real-estate activity rebounded in some Canadian cities that were hit by harsh winter weather, the country’s real-estate trade group said in its monthly report Monday. This is impacting the home price Canada wide.

Compared with a year earlier, home sales were up 1.3% in February, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. The Multiple Listing Home Price Index, which is weighted to compensate for fluctuations in the composition of sales, rose 5.1% year-over-year in February, CREA said.

CREA said the number of newly listed homes rose 0.6% month-over-month in February. The number of regional housing markets where February sales were up was roughly even with the areas where sales declined, reflecting little change in activity among most of Canada’s large urban markets, CREA said.

“Sales in February rebounded in some of the smaller local markets where activity was impacted by harsh winter weather in January,” Laura Leyser, CREA president, said in a statement. The average, the non-seasonally adjusted home price in Canada rose 10.1% year-over-year in February, CREA said, to 406,372 Canadian dollars ($367,424).

CREA said the price gain reflects strong sales activity in some of Canada’s most active and expensive markets, including the Greater Vancouver area, which posted the biggest year-over-year increase in sales activity by a large margin.

The real-estate trade group also updated its forecast for home sales activity for 2014 and 2015. CREA now expects home sales to reach 463,700 units in 2014, an increase of 1.3% from 2013 but down from the 475,000 sales the trade group had forecast back in December.

Home sales are forecast to rise 1.2% in 2015 to 469,400 units as affordability is expected to restrain activity in Canada’s most expensive markets. CREA forecasts the national average home price to rise by 3.8% to C$397,000 in 2014, slightly higher from its December forecast of C$391,100. Prices should rise by a further 1.1%, to C$401,400, in the following year.

“Marginally higher mortgage rates are likely to counterbalance the lift provided by stronger economic and continuing job growth, and restrain the momentum for sales activity,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist at CREA, said in a statement.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140317-705778.html

Most residential tenants are long term tenants who pay their rent on time and properly look after a landlord’s property. The trick is to do the proper research and rental check in advance so that you do not end up with the tenant from hell. Here are some tips to follow:

1. Do a rental check when you advertise for tenants, whether on Kijiji, Viewit or gottarent.com. State “we do background and credit checks.” You will receive a greater percentage of qualified tenants.

2. Do a proper credit check using Equifax or TransUnion. The cost is approximately $20.  Or join a group such as the Ontario Landlord Association where after becoming a member, you can do a credit check for as low as $10, and receive use of all of their supporting materials to assist you.

3. Call all references, especially prior landlords. Remember that the current landlord may be lying just to get rid of them. Start with the previous landlord.

4. Check social media. Google the tenant to make sure the information checks out with their rental application. In addition, if you are concerned about possible pets, check Facebook. If the tenant has a pet, there will likely be a picture of them with the pet on Facebook.

5. In a face to face interview, there are signs that may indicate that the tenant is not being truthful. This can include one or more of the following: incomplete answers, not looking at you when they speak, changing the subject, fidgeting, dropping names of important people, or volunteering to do odd jobs for you.

6. Ask open ended questions such as “Tell me about yourself or why are you leaving your current apartment?” You will be surprised how much you can learn about someone with such simple questions.

7. Interview the tenant where they currently live. You will see first-hand how they treat someone else’s property. It is also hard to hide the smell of a pet, if you are concerned about that.

8. After your rental check, its not a bad idea to give the tenant a good deal. It should not be about charging the highest rent possible.  When tenants think they overpaid, they will almost immediately start looking for another place to live. Give tenants a break and they will be happier, and stay longer.

9. Give tenants incentives. Why not a $10 gift card if the rent is paid on time? Or a Christmas present, just to show that you appreciate your tenant. Treating a tenant with respect often results in the tenant not only paying the rent on time, but they will also take care of your property better.

10. Consider rent to own. In a rent to own, you give the tenant the option to buy your property at a set price two to three years from now. In this way, you can guarantee your profit if the tenant exercises the option and the tenant has extra motivation to look after the property even more carefully, since they may end up buying it later.

By doing the right research in advance and treating your tenants with respect, you can ensure that your real estate investment continues to increase in value.

Credit for this article goes to Toronto Real Estate Lawyer : Mark Weisleder, https://www.constantcontact.com/ca/index.jsp

The doom and gloom stories have started again about the Canadian real estate market. Here are some signs

• Canadians debt to income ratio is at 160 per cent, which means $1.60 or debt for every $1 of income;
• Canadian real estate is 20 per cent overvalued
• In Toronto, too many condominium units are coming onto the real estate market. If there are no buyers or renters, prices will fall.
• If interest rates rise 1 percentage point, many of those with a mortgage will be in trouble.

Canada is not creating jobs as quickly as the U.S. I see it another way. If you look at the market fundamentals, you can conclude the real estate market is extremely healthy.

I spoke to Brad Lamb, one of Canada’s leading real estate brokerages, who has developed projects in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton.  You would expect him to put a positive face on things, but here are his arguments why things aren’t what they seem.

1. No place to build low rise homes anymore in today’s Real Estate Market

In 2001, 30,000 new homes were built in the GTA, of which 22,000 were low rise homes and the rest were condominiums. Buyers were able to find new detached homes in the GTA in areas such as Mississauga, Oakville, Oshawa and Milton. However, as land became more expensive and more greenbelts established across Ontario, the result is not enough land available to build that many low rise homes. As such, for the last few years, we have seen the opposite;  22,000 new condominium units every year and 8,000 detached homes being built. But we still have the same number of buyers coming into the GTA, who need to find a home to work or raise a family.

2. There are few apartment buildings being built anymore.

Due to the rent control laws, it has made more sense for years for developers to build condominiums instead of rental apartments. Yet young people entering the workforce still need a place to live. That is why the vacancy rate for new condominiums in Toronto is still close to 1%. If the units are filled with tenants or owners, prices cannot crash.

3. Will interest rates go up at all?

For the past 4 years, banks have been saying that rates should begin to rise within 18 months. Same story today. Although it is true that governments cannot by themselves influence interest rate policy, the fact is that most of the countries in the world have so much debt that they would likely go broke if interest rates rose, so this is the number 1 reason why this will not happen. In addition, rising rates go along with an overheated economy. Canada is very far from being over-heated, with growth averaging about 2% the last few years and likely to remain the same.

4. The debt to income ratio is a misleading statistic.

When analysts comment on the 160% ratio between debt and equity, they do not distinguish between credit card debt, which Brad likes to refer to as “stupid debt” and mortgage interest debt, which is the interest you pay on your home or on investment properties.

With interest rates at historic lows, most Canadians are able to carry the cost of their own mortgage debt and the rental income from their investment properties in most cases pays for all of the property expenses. If these analysts would do the right thing and separate out the good debt of Canadians from the bad debt, we would be nowhere near any dangerous debt levels in Canada. Do the math. Canadian real estate remains one of the best investments out there.

Credit for this article goes to Toronto Real Estate Lawyer : Mark Weisleder, http://www.markweisleder.com

There is a lot of confusion out there by buyers and real estate salespeople as to what insurance is required when buying a condominium. The mistake is thinking that the insurance policy for the building will always cover your situation. In most cases, the buyer will still have to pay for part of the damages, even if they have done nothing wrong.

Here’s why:

Condominium buildings do have an insurance policy that insures the building and the units. However, it will not cover any improvements to the unit made by the owners or the owners’ contents, should damage occur, whether by water leakage, fire or smoke damage. In addition, if someone you invite into your unit gets hurt, they can sue the owner personally for liability. As a result, most condominium buyers purchase a policy that provides coverage for their contents, any upgrades that they do to their unit and liability insurance to protect them if someone gets hurt visiting their unit.

What is confusing to most buyers is that just about every condominium insurance policy has deductibles, which become the owner’s responsibility should any damage occur, even if it is not the owner’s fault. The deductibles are usually $5,000 but I have seen many policies that have $10,000 deductibles. What this means is that let’s say you leave the bathtub overflowing and water damages the unit below you. You are responsible to pay the deductible, and the condominium will pay for any damage above the deductible. This will also be the case if you are responsible for the HVAC equipment in your unit and any malfunction causes damages to the building or to other units.

Let’s say the pipes in the wall burst, your unit was damaged and you did nothing wrong. Although the pipes may be the responsibility of the condominium corporation, you will still have to pay the deductible before the condominium pays anything extra to repair the damages. The only way to fight this is if you could prove that the condominium corporation was negligent in conducting repairs and should have known that the damage could occur. In my experience, you will pay more in legal fees to fight this than the deductible, so it is just preferable to have the proper insurance instead.

In every condominium status certificate, there is a summary given of the insurance policy for the building, including any deductibles. One way to protect yourself is to send this certificate to your own insurance company and tell them that you wish to buy extra coverage for the deductibles noted on the policy.

A better idea, in my opinion, is to use the same insurance company that your building is using for your own insurance package. This company likely understands the deductibles better than anyone and will make sure that your package covers any gap that may exist in the building insurance policy.

If you are buying a condominium as an investment, you still need to make sure that you have this type of insurance protection. Most tenants purchase insurance for their belongings and to cover liability. If you want the tenant to also pay for insurance for the deductibles, you need to say so in your lease agreement and make sure that the tenant provides proof that they have obtained all required insurance coverage before you give them the keys to the unit.

When you understand the insurance you need before you move into a condominium unit, you will be prepared should anything occur later.

Credit for this article goes to Toronto Real Estate Lawyer : Mark Weisleder, http://www.markweisleder.com