I recently did a survey among 14 prospects who are first time buyers. Other than price, location, amenities, convenience, security, layout, they were ask to rate the importance of the following eco-friendly features if they were to be taken into consideration. Rated from 1 out of 5 points for each question (with 5 being the most important in what they want to get most out of a green home)[4]      State of Art Technology: leading edge energy and mechanical systems technology, rain water collector, solar water heating[5]      Cost Savings: greater energy efficiency in the long run, lower operation cost[4]      Sustainable and recycled products and finishes: low emission from toxic chemicals from glues, paints, stains, to  improve indoor air quality and save your lungs[3]      New innovati... 05/10/2007

As recorded in my PodCast at www.TuneInRealEstate.com and www.CondosinDowntownToronto.com:Hi, my name is Jarrett Hunter and I am a downtown Toronto realtor with Royal LePage.  This is the market information for April 2007 for my area which is downtown Toronto - best defined as the area south of Bloor Street to the lake, west of the Don Valley Parkway and east of Dufferin Street. - I like to refer to it as "the Core." Toronto Real Estate Board Members reported 9452 sales of single family dwellings in the GTA in April, a 13% increase over April of last year and makes it the biggest selling month of all time in the boards history! The downtown area had a total of 833 active listings with a total sales volume of 520. 406 of these were condominiums.In spite of the large sales numbers for Apr... 05/10/2007

The Revitalization of the Art and Design District of Toronto has been the hotbed for discussion for the last 9 years.  The City of Toronto has proposed to redevelop the area, which includes the tearing down of a converted historical industrial building known as 48 Abell currently accomodating 200 artists studio, to be replaced by an affordable, high density tower aimed at - guess what - the arts community. The local community is trying to understand the concept of "Tear down an artisits community to build an artists community?" The developer's interest rose out of "wanting to create an artist environment" from an already existing flourished arts community. However, the existing building home to 80 live/work studio spaces is exactly what the artists need.  Some spaces were formally used ... 05/07/2007

This just blows me away ... I grew up very close to this neighborhood, passing through often to get to the subway station, doctors office etc.  Row upon row of miniature bungalows that always reminded me of doll houses.  No doubt this two bedroom will be bulldozed to make way for something which looks totally out of place.http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/210639  05/06/2007

I was born and raised in Toronto and lived there for most of my 40+ years before moving to Brampton.  Toronto is such a beautiful, pedestrian city with so much to offer.  I wish had time to play tourist for a day.  I have just posted a few photos on Localism for those who would like to "visit".The photos were all taken by my sister, a professional photographer.  If you'd like to see more of her work featuring Toronto landmarks, communities, etc. ... (and if you have about 10,000 hours to spare) go ahead and browse:http://www.annedehaas.com/http://www.annedehaas.blogspot.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/annedehaas/ 05/05/2007

On Saturday May 5th, a number of prominent Torontonians will be leading walks around the city's neighbourhoods to celebrate the life and work of the late Jane Jacobs.  Each walk will highlight the people, places, and public spaces that make that particular community interesting and unique. This is also a great opportunity for those that visiting the city of Toronto, or are planning to purchase a home in these selected neighborhoods to learn about the unique characteristics. I will be participating in the Queen West Art Galleries walk and participating in the discussion on the latest development in the area. Jane's Walk is a great opportunity for Torontonians to discover their own city; both the places they think they know well and the places they want to explore. Visit http://www.janesw... 05/02/2007

Corktown, one of Toronto's most historic areas is poised for massive redevelopment.  Corktown is a historic Old Town neighbourhood in downtown Toronto is located just south of Regent Park and north of the Gardiner Expressway, between Berkeley Street to the west and the Don River to the east. The southern part of this area borders, but is not part of, the Distillery District and contains many vacated industrial buildings, some in use by production and movie studios. The proposed "West Donlands" urban re-development project, slated to be built over the next few years, will encompass the south-east corner of this area. This area is central to the history of Toronto. Upper Canada's first Parliament Buildings were at the corner of Front and Parliament streets until being torched during the w... 05/01/2007

Toronto builders could face mandatory green standards by the end of the year. Toronto has had a voluntary standard for a year. To date one highly efficient office building has been constructed and couple more are planned. City of Toronto officials are now looking at all the issues involved in a shifting to mandatory rules.  City of Boston recently imposed standards on all new buildings larger than 50000 squre feet.Green buildings are more expensive to design and build than conventional buildings. Nalliah Thayabharan, Registered Home Inspector, Member of CAHPI-Ontario and Certified By ASHI, Expert Building Inspections Ltd., Markham ON 905 940 0811 www.expertinspector.com 05/01/2007

During my recent trip to Hong Kong, I came across this familiar household product as a giant 3D display at the entry/ exit point of the Cross Harbour Tunnel, this format being installed at one of the heaviest traffic location and busiest tunnel in Hong Kong to capture the attention of different mix of consumers from over 120,000 vehicles and buses daily from both sides of the traffic. This advertising company targets the busiest SmarTunnels network in Hong Kong. Medium is the message? How effective do you think this form of green advertising is, compared to web and print advertising to capture consumer awareness? Not all street ads get noticed. I think it's brilliant.  Anne Lokwww.urburbia.cawww.annelok.com 04/28/2007

Many first time buyers are too worried about being able to find a home they can afford, and are neglecting the cost savings options they have in the green real estate market. Sourcing an energy efficient home can lower energy bill and benefit from cost savings in the long run. I recently contributed to a real estate article for the Globe and Mail titled " How much inefficient house can you afford?" for first time buyers. This article along with the supplement of the green buyers guide are good general information for buyers.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070411.re-inefficient-0411/BNStory/RealEstate/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/templates/hub?searchText=kathy+flaxman&hub=Search&searchType=Quick  Anne Lokwww.urburbia.ca 04/28/2007

This Toronto Star article by Christian Cotroneo (April 17/07) gives us a glimpse into one of the smallest homes around.  "Toronto contractor Arthur Weeden built the house in 1912, essentially taking shrewd advantage of the city forgetting to turn the space into a proper driveway. He and his wife lived there for 20 years." http://www.thestar.com/News/article/203781  04/22/2007

Location * Location * Location High Park is a beautiful old part of Toronto West, but this is not exactly what I would imagine a home to look like in that price range.  Only 1900 square feet, it sold for $46,000 over the asking price in just 10 days.http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/202960There are other homes shown for North York and Thornhilll areas. (Source Toronto Star, April 14/07) 04/22/2007

Stock market fluctuations have many people turning an eye to real estate as their investment option.  Toronto condo property can most assuredly be a worthy real estate investment.  With the construction of a growing number of upscale condominiums, the Toronto core now boosts a selection of gorgeous city condos that offer such features as fourteen foot ceilings, granite countertops, hardwood floors and lots of windows for sunny exposures. Some are so open and spacious you feel like you are living in a house.  Changing demographics, lifestyles and social patterns are creating a whole new market for condo investment.  People are looking for convenience, style, comfort and the security amenities offered by many of the condo developments.For many people real estate is the chosen investment o... 04/17/2007

Buying a piece of industrial property means considerations above and beyond those entailed when considering a piece of residential real estate. Some important things to think about when it comes to purchasing industrial property, are tax issues, zoning, and some business basics.TaxesProperty taxes on industrial properties are quite high, and the rates increase the deeper one gets into the business centre of a major city. As Canada's largest metropolis, the greater Toronto area's industrial property taxes are anywhere from double to triple the rates paid by residential property owners.  Determining which piece of property in the Toronto area is right for your operation must take this cost into account.ZoningWhen it comes to industrial properties, zoning considerations are always a prime ... 04/17/2007

I much prefer reading the newspaper online because the ink stays on the screen and my Blue Box stays empty !  So here are a few clippings from my weekend reading ... and I didn't even have to use the scissors."Garden room fad sprouting new roots" - http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/202202"Website helps avoid shoddy contractors" - http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/202185"Let your foyer create good first impression" - http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/202198"Natural influences" - http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/202248 (Source, Toronto Star, April 14, 2007) 04/16/2007

Don't forget the National Home Show starts today (April 13) in Toronto.  It takes place at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place through to April 22.  Here's a link to the Show site for ticket information - http://www.nationalhomeshow.com/ME2/Sites/Default.asp?SiteID=80EA9EABB89F4FAFA51E00279F3D0AC4 There was also a good article in the Toronto Star today, about the "Dream Home" that will be on display at the Home Show - http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/199664   04/13/2007

I stumbled upon this document quite by accident while searching for something totally unrelated on the Internet ... funny how that works.It is a Canada wide market outlook for 2007, which I thought would be of interest to my fellow stagers.  I do apologize if it has already been posted somewhere on ActiveRain by one of the Realtors.http://www.remax-oa.com/MarketReports_PDF/Oct06-MarketOutlook/MarketOutlook-RPT-Oct06.pdfThe report states that "Double-digit increases in housing prices were reported in Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Halifax while more modest gains occurred in Saskatoon, Regina, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, Montreal, Saint John, and Charlottetown." And in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) "Over 45,000 homes sold during the firs... 04/12/2007

This article from today's Toronto Star (April 9/07) reports that more Toronto neighborhoods now have homes selling for $1 million."Homes in some Toronto neighbourhoods are going for more than $1 million for the very first time, according to Royal LePage Real Estate Services."The article further states that:"Ironically, the reason these neighbourhoods are becoming more desirable is that other communities are just too expensive ..."http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/199728  04/09/2007

Of interest, perhaps ...http://www.thestar.com/Athome/article/199726Toronto Star, April 9/07 ~~~By contrast, a first quarter report released by Royal LePage indicates that Canada's housing marketing is off to a strong start.(For more information, see my other entry re "Million Dollar Homes")~~~Right in the middle of this posting, I was interrupted by the telephone, the dog or some other such nonsense (how dare life get in the way) ... what I wanted to add was:  I don't think it's possible for there ever to be a housing slump - as long as there are people, we'll need houses won't we? 04/09/2007

APRIL 2007. Prices increased moderately in March, with the average up three per cent over 2006 to $365,285. "Prices are rising above the rate of inflation (currently about two per cent), but not so rapidly that first-time buyers will be pushed out of the market," said TREB President Dorothy Mason. During last month, TREB Members reported 8,518 sales of single-family dwellings across the GTA. "While down modestly (two per cent) over last year's total of 8,707, any result over 8,000 must be considered a strong performance," noted the President, "We expect a similarly robust showing from the remainder of the spring market." Breaking down the total, 3,233 sales were reported in TREB's 28 West districts and averaged $343,475; 1,521 sales were reported in the 14 Central districts and averaged... 04/09/2007