SOLD! 47 Coady Avenue
Huge congrats to our amazing buyer clients who acted fast and bought this beautiful home with a bully offer! We’re so happy that we could help and look forward to seeing you around the neighbourhood!
SOLD! 43 Austin Avenue – Leslieville
43 Austin Ave sold over asking price in 1 day!
Congratulations to our sellers on the quick sale of their beautifully renovated Leslieville home. 43 Austin Avenue received multiple offers and sold over asking in just 1 day!
JUST SOLD! 80 Hastings Avenue
SOLD! We’re so happy for our awesome clients who just sold their detached home in Leslieville. Thinking about buying or selling? Let’s chat!
www.80Hastings.com
#thurstonolsen #TorontoRealEstate
SOLD! 110 Jones Avenue – Leslieville
Sold within three days! 110 Jones Avenue, Toronto
Congratulations to our clients of 110 Jones Avenue on the quick sale of their two unit semi-detached home in Leslieville.
This wonderful home is situated in the heart of Leslieville and features 2 separate units with amazing income potential! Steps to great restaurants, transit, parks, and everything that Leslieville has to offer, this home has it all.
The impressive 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom main unit is well appointed and has plenty of functional space to live and entertain. The main floor provides an open concept layout as well as an eat-in kitchen and a walk out to a newly built back deck to enjoy the afternoon sun. The second floor features 3 bright and spacious bedrooms, including a large master with a bay window and ample closet space. This floor also has a lovely 4 piece bathroom. Plenty of windows and a hallway skylight provide an open and airy feel.
The charming 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom lower unit features a practical living space and offers sizable rooms and a walk out to the back yard to enjoy year round.
This functional turn-key property is perfect for any investor or for anyone looking to supplement their mortgage payments. Live in one unit and rent out the other or rent them both out to maximize your cash flow.
How laneway houses could help solve Toronto’s real-estate woes
The GTA housing market has been operating within a policy of intensification for more than a decade now. This has caused a shift away from ground-oriented homes and moved the market toward higher-density housing, such as condominiums.
Our real-estate market has seen consistent increases in the cost of housing, with the average price of a detached home in Toronto increasing by over 32 per cent this past November from the same month last year, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board.
While those who prefer urban living have embraced higher-density housing, folks looking for traditional ground-oriented housing must move farther and farther away from the city to find it.
So what if there was a way to introduce new ground-oriented housing in the heart of Toronto that could accommodate up to 100,000 people, and the solution was literally in our backyard all along? That is, if your backyard is along a laneway.
Laneway housing is an innovative concept first introduced in Toronto back in 2006. And while it ultimately went nowhere here, it did inspire Vancouver, Ottawa and other cities to introduce policies that embraced it.
The original concept a decade ago contemplated a separate dwelling being legally severed and requiring new municipal services, resulting in the digging up of laneways.
The new groundswell of interest in laneway housing (call it laneway housing 2.0) is focused on taking a different approach, where the new structures will be treated as secondary dwellings on the existing property.
That means the garage at the rear of the property could be rebuilt by the owner to include a secondary dwelling unit, potentially serviced through the existing municipal connections, limiting neighbourhood disruption and creating new appropriately sized, ground-oriented housing units that could range in size from 700 to 1,500 square feet.
This could represent one of the most innovative solutions to a wide range of the city‘s housing needs, including multi-generational households where the owner can provide accommodation for parents or children or introduce much needed rental housing stock and help generate new income from their property. And it would be creating new ground-oriented housing in areas close to transit and existing community amenities, with minimal neighbourhood disruption.
There is no silver bullet solution to solve all of our housing challenges in the GTA, but with approximately 300 kilometres of laneways in the City of Toronto, laneway housing could be a good start.
But this innovation will require that everyone works together: citizens, government and industry. And community consultations are underway. If you’re interested, you can participate by going online to: lanescape.ca/survey to learn more about the initiative and provide your input.
Remember: The best way to predict the future is to help create it.
Knock, Knock. How to Avoid Door-to-Door Scams
It’s early in the evening and there’s a knock on the door. You answer and are greeted by an official-looking man who claims he needs to see your utility bill to confirm you’re getting your energy rebate.
Do you let him in?
While he may be legitimate, he may also be using deception to sell you something you don’t want. Here are some suggestions for finding out:
• Ask for a business card. Then, check if it has an address, phone
number and website. If the salesperson refuses or just shows you his
ID card (which anyone can fake), that’s a red flag.
• Ask for the name of his employer. Sometimes salespeople will say
they “represent the phone company”. That doesn’t mean they
actually work for it.
• Ask if you can call his company to confirm details before buying. If he
refuses, or says the office is closed, shut the door.
• Ask if you can consider the offer and call the office the next day to
place your order.
• If you’re really suspicious, ask him to come back later. Then, call the
non-emergency police number. Police are aware of common scams
in the area.
Most importantly, use your common sense. Door-to-door salespeople can
be pretty persuasive, but if something doesn’t seem right to you, trust your
gut. Say, “No thanks.”
Of course, if everything checks out with the salesperson, and the offer is a
good one, consider taking advantage of it.
Getting Ready To Sell This Spring? Here Are Some Household Cleaning Tips!
1. To clean bathroom tiles and grout naturally, try a solution of 1/2 cup of baking soda in 2 gallons (approx. 8 litres) of warm water. Apply with a clean rag or soft toothbrush.
2. To scrub out or blot a stain on a cushion with a slip-cover, put a sheet of plastic between the cushion and the fabric, to prevent the stain from becoming absorbed by the cushion.
3. Most shower curtains are machine washable. Wash yours with some water, detergent and a bit of bleach (for disinfecting), plus add a few towels for abrasion.
4. To clean your dishwasher, consult your dishwasher manual for cleaning instructions, as the methodology may differ based on the interior finish of your machine. Most recommend running the machine with either vinegar, a light bleach-in-water solution, or a brand-name cleaner recommended by the manufacturer.
TOP 5 LOFTS IN LESLIEVILLE
Working in the Leslieville/Riverside area, we often have clients ask us which condos and lofts we think are the coolest in the neighbourhood. After a recent meeting with a new client who asked us this same question, we decided it would be a good idea to write a list of our Top 5 Lofts In Leslieville. It wasn’t easy because there are a lot of great ones to choose from but here’s our top 5!
68 Broadview was built in 1914 and the building originally served as a Rexall Warehouse. In 2007, The Sorbara Group converted this building in to true hard lofts that are absolutely stunning! They salvaged several of the building’s original fixtures and hardware, and redistributed them within the building.
What makes The Broadview Lofts so cool?
• Tongue and groove wood ceilings
• Exposed brick walls
• Fantastic management with current maintenance fees around $0.39 per square foot
• Roof top terrace and large party room with unobstructed views of the Toronto skyline
# of units: 154
# of storeys: 6
Walk Score: 86
The Wrigley building dates back to the early 1900s and was once home to a Wrigley’s chewing gum factory. The building was converted to hard lofts in 1998 and maintains its authenticity from top to bottom. As soon as you step inside the front entrance and onto the original elevator, you feel like you’ve gone back in time. The Wrigley Lofts have been known to attract photographers, fashion designers and entrepreneurs to name a few.
What makes Wrigley so cool?
• Massive warehouse windows
• Concrete mushroom columns
• A wide array of different sized units with different finishes
• Open concept living
• 14 foot ceilings
• Live/Work building
# of units: 79
# of storeys: 5
Walk Score: 95
The Garment Factory was converted into residential units in 2008. Atria Developments did a phenomenal job of integrating the old and new parts of the building seamlessly with a combination of traditional old brick and modern additions of steel and glass on the upper levels.
What makes The Garment Factory so cool?
• Exposed concrete ceilings
• Restored concrete floors
• Large terraces and balconies
• Strong community feel
• Extremely pet friendly
• Live/Work building
# of units: 150
# of storeys: 8
Walk Score: 95
The Sync Lofts were completed in 2013 by Streetcar Developments. The exterior of the building is an esthetically appealing mixture of brick and glass and the interior is sophisticated and chic with modern advancements including built-in iPod docking stations and pre-wired speakers. You can’t beat this location with so many great shops, restaurants and bars just minutes away as well as Dark Horse Espresso Bar conveniently located on the main floor of the building.
What makes The Sync Lofts so cool?
• Great layouts that maximize usable space
• A dog wash on the main level
• High-tech modern finishes
• Private rooftop terraces
• Large communal rooftop terrace with views of the iconic Riverside Bridge and the downtown skyline
# of units: 98
# of storeys: 8
Walk Score: 97
The IZone lofts were converted to residential units in 2002 by Atria. They are a cultural hub to artists, tech professionals and entrepreneurs. As you walk down the halls, you immediately look up to the industrial style lighting and exposed ducts that compliment the industrial and raw feel of the building.
What makes IZone so cool?
• Ceilings ranging from 16 to 30 feet
• Skylights in many units
• Roof top decks on some of the units
• Large industrial double doors
• Open concept floors plans
• Live/Work Building
# of units: 104
# of storeys: 2
Walk Score: 95
Two Decades Of Steady Price Appreciation In The GTA
Steady average price appreciation over close to two decades makes GTA housing market a global anomaly, says RE/MAX Hallmark
214 per cent increase in real estate values since 1996
Toronto, ON (January 12, 2016) – Low interest rates, coupled with population growth and solid economic fundamentals, contributed to a 214 per cent increase in average residential housing values in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) over almost two--decades, according to RE/MAX Hallmark Ltd., one of country’s largest real estate franchises.
The GTA housing market is now entering its 20th year of consecutive price appreciation, on the heels of a record--breaking 2015. The market has reported a steady increase in values since 1996, when the cost of an average home in the GTA hovered at $198,150. Average price broke through the $600,000 benchmark in 2015, settling at $622,217 – an increase of 6.21 per cent when compounded annually over the 19--year period.
“The overall strength and stability of Toronto’s housing market is a global anomaly,” says Ken McLachlan, Broker--Owner, RE/MAX Hallmark Ltd. “Very few large residential housing markets can compete with the GTA’s performance over the past two decades”
When analyzing the level of growth in the Greater Toronto Area, population played a serious role. In 2014, the Toronto CMA topped six million (6,055,724), a figure eight per cent higher than the 2011 Census population of 5,583,064 and a substantial 42 per cent uptick over the 1996 Census figure of 4,263,757.
The low interest rate environment has also influenced home buying activity in the GTA. While the average residential mortgage--lending rate for a five--year term hovered at approximately eight per cent in 1996, the same product can be had for under three per cent in today’s competitive market.
Homeownership rates have also steadily increased in the GTA, in spite of rising values. Between 1996 and 2006, the level of ownership jumped approximately 10 per cent in the GTA (58.4 per cent to 67.6 per cent). The most recent available rates for the province of Ontario sat at 71.4 per cent in 2011.
Given the turbulence the GTA market has withstood –recessions, 9/11, and SARS, just to name a few – the performance is “nothing short of remarkable”, explains McLachlan.
“Moving forward, there is no reason to expect the upward trend to end,” says McLachlan. “In light of recent volatility in the stock market and overall economic uncertainty, we anticipate an upswing in home buying activity as investors look to tangible assets like bricks and mortar to ride out the storm. The strength of the US dollar will also contribute, serving as an impetus for greater investment in the Greater Toronto Area throughout 2016.”
WHAT TO CHECK ON YOUR FINAL PURCHASER VISIT
When you purchase a home in Toronto, your Realtor will likely include at least 2 purchaser visits in the agreement of purchase and sale to occur before you close on the property. These visits can be used to make sure furniture fits, bring your family to see your new home, select paint colours, etc. You should plan to do your final purchaser visit a day or two before the closing date to ensure that everything is in order. Your Realtor will attend the purchaser visits with you and can help to answer any questions you might have. Now remember, you don’t own the home yet so there is a good chance that you will see moving boxes scattered around and the place might seem to be in disarray. This is normal (within reason). If your final purchaser visit takes place a day before closing and the house is full of garbage, no furniture has been moved and there is a car in the driveway with no tires on it, your realtor should definitely investigate further as it’s not likely that all of this will be resolved in one night.
Here is a list of things to look for during your final purchaser visit:
• Inspect ceilings, walls and floors for any damage that did not exist at the time you made your offer
• Turn on and off every light switch
• Test heating and air conditioning
• Test any exhaust fans
• Test all appliances
• Open and close all windows
• Test all of the outlets
• Check around all visible piping for leaks
• Run sink and tub water. Flush toilets
• Test the garage door opener
• Check for things that you thought would be included (appliances, light fixtures, etc)