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Cottage Season Is Fast Approaching – Thinking Of Buying A Cottage Near The GTA?
The weather in the Greater Toronto Area is finally warming up, making spending a weekend at the cottage an extremely attractive option for many.
If you’re planning on buying or selling a cottage this year, there are several things to take into consideration, as cottage real estate can be different than regular homes in Toronto.
If you plan on buying a cottage soon, make sure you know what additional information you need.
Toronto Real Estate Lawyer Bob Aaron’s latest column offers a great overview of all that potential cottage buyers need to take into consideration, such as:
“The critical need for a land survey is often overlooked. A survey will disclose whether the cottage is built entirely on the owner’s land underneath it, whether there is a shore road allowance, and whether the water frontage has decreased due to erosion or increased as a result of land fill.”
“Making sure the deed describes the entire property the purchaser intends to buy is another big issue. Septic beds, wells and even all or part of the cottage itself may be located on a neighbour’s land due to historical sloppiness in marking property boundaries.”
The entire column can be found here.
It is definitely worth a read if you’re looking into buying or selling cottage real estate!
Landlords and Tenants, Be Careful with Social Media
The daughter of a friend of mine is in her first year at college. She’s living in a dorm room, but she and her parents are already talking about her living arrangements for next year, when she will most likely move into an apartment.
Checking out potential tenants online can get you into trouble.
As with probably most college-aged kids, the young lady has a Facebook account. Recently, her mother told me, she began deleting some posts and pictures from her account and sharing less information. She had done the same thing a year ago, when she was applying to colleges – worried that schools are paying close attention to applicants’ social media presence – and now she’s concerned that content on her page might hurt her chances with respect to securing an apartment lease next year.
Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time I heard of this concern recently. There was an article I saw online about a woman with good income and credit and stellar record as a tenant who was turned down for an apartment. She was pretty sure the landlord had looked at her Facebook page, where people can see that she is a political activist and practices Buddhism.
Those things aren’t the same as my friend’s daughter’s concerns over pictures of college parties or foul language on her page, but the idea is the same. In a society in which it’s estimated that nearly 20 percent of companies research job applicants on social media sites, you can bet that landlords and property managers are checking out prospective tenants online, too.
If you’re a tenant, that might be bad. For example, you might not want to reveal via your social media pages that you have seven cats. You probably don’t want pictures up that show loud, wild parties going on. You shouldn’t list “How to Make Pipe Bombs in Your Kitchen,” among your favorite books.
The flip side of the situation, however, is that landlords cannot discriminate against prospective tenants. And social media sites that might reveal religious or political views, as well as things such as race are being looked at by landlords, but if they are basing decisions not to rent to tenants based on any of those criteria, they are breaking the law.
The problem is, you’d have a tough time proving it. You’d have to have proof that the landlord saw your social media page, as well as proof that what he or she found on the page was the reason you were discriminated against.
Of course, the best way to avoid the situation entirely is to be aware that landlords look online as part of their research, so don’t post things you wouldn’t want any potential landlords – or employers, loan officers, schools, etc. – to see.
And what about the landlords and social media? Well, although it seems really tempting to use social media sites as ways to investigate an applicant, it’s probably better that you don’t.
As you know, there are things you can and can’t ask on housing application. You can determine not to rent to someone based on their credit history, income, criminal past, etc., but, as it says above, you can’t turn someone down because of their race, religious beliefs, gender, disabilities, etc. Questions about those things are, of course, left off rental applications.
But the answers to those questions might very obviously show up on Facebook. And what might happen if you go to an applicant’s social media page and see their race, religion, political views or even sexual orientation? Those are not things you ask in an application, but in viewing the page, you just made that information available to yourself. As it says above, a turned-down tenant would have a difficult case to prove, but if you get the right lawyer you will at least have a major inconvenience on your hands for a while.
So as tempting as it is to use social media sites to research prospective tenants, it’s probably best if landlords steer clear of them. Whatever you want to know, ask on the application. The rest is better left not knowing.
Schedule Everything, Even Your Down Time
I recently read two different articles that focused on time management and maximizing the time we have in our busy lives, and I had to share something that was a major point in both articles.
Schedule in your down time to make the most of it.
One article, on Mashable.com, was about how one very busy entrepreneur manages to be so productive despite a hectic schedule. The entrepreneur is Elon Musk, who owns Tesla Motors and also runs a privatized space program. He splits his workdays between the companies, and he credited strictly keeping to a schedule as a means to get things done more efficiently.
One of the things he does is schedule weekend time for family activities. His schedule includes no work on weekends.
The other article focused on scheduling as a necessity for productivity, too. This article went even a step further than the interview with Musk. It said that not only is scheduling down time – as Musk does – important, but it’s also important to sometimes schedule out what that down time will be.
Think about it. We all schedule things like vacations and weekend get-aways, sometimes following an itinerary down to the last letter. Most of the time, it’s because we want to get the most out of our vacation time.
But how many hours out of the year do we spend on vacation? Most of our down time is NOT spent on vacation. The overwhelming majority of the time we spend away from work is just regular old time off – evenings, weekends, holidays, etc. But aside from a list of to-do’s, perhaps, a day off is usually not planned out, is it?
I think this is probably a mistake. Sure, it’s nice every now and then to have a lazy day, when nothing is planned and we just let the time take us where it takes us. But just like you have things you want to accomplish with your work, you probably have things you want to accomplish outside of work, too. If you use a schedule to get done the work-related things, why wouldn’t you use a schedule to help yourself get done the non-work things?
You hear things from time to time about nobody being on their death bed and regretting not working more. You instead might guess that things such as not traveling enough or not spending enough time reading or doing family activities are the things that come as regrets.
If you want to avoid that, then those things have to go on your schedule. You want to spend more time with your spouse and kids? Well, then pencil in it in. Don’t just assume because you have some down time and they have some down time that you will end up spending quality time together. If that is a goal you want to accomplish, then put it on a schedule.
If you want to read more but find yourself never to getting around to whatever book it is you keep meaning to get to, then schedule it. If you keep meaning to pick that hobby of yours back up but never seem to get around to it, then schedule it. It’s sometimes amazing to think that we all seem to schedule the things we HAVE to do, but most of us don’t schedule the things we WANT to do. We’re slaves to our calendars for so many hours of every day, but when we have time to do what we want, we don’t manage that time as well as we do the time that’s not ours.
Don’t misunderstand; there are plenty of people who try to be better at this. It’s great, for example, if you make it a policy to not check your work email on weekends or ignore your cell phone after 6 p.m. But what are you doing with that time? You’ve made it so that work doesn’t encroach on that time, which means it’s at least somewhat valuable to you, but do you plan it out?
Most people don’t. And what ends up happening is you waste valuable time. Actually, the MOST valuable time if you buy that death-bed notion of not regretting that you didn’t work more. You wouldn’t thing of going through a work week without a calendar and list of tasks to be accomplished, but you trust yourself enough to manage this valuable personal time without those tools.
Maybe the easiest way to do this is to treat regular time off like you would a vacation. Just like you might follow an itinerary on vacation, make and follow an itinerary for, say, your Saturday afternoon. Play a game with your kids from 1 to 1:30. Take a walk from 2 to 3. Get that nap at 3. Planning these sort of things will make it far more likely you will do them, rather than allowing the day to just get away from you.
Also, don’t plan the “have-tos” into the down time schedule. Going to the grocery store or doing yard work might be things you do on a day off, but they are not part of your down time. They are things that must be done, so you’re likely to schedule them anyway. Just schedule them separately from the things you WANT to do, and you will get more out of your down time.
When it comes to schedules, that should be everybody’s goal!
Toronto Real Estate Board Releases Mid-Month Resale Housing Stats
According to the Toronto Real Estate Board, 4,557 transactions occurred in the first two weeks of April through the Toronto MLS Listings, which is an increase of about seven per cent over the same time last year.
Toronto Real Estate Board Mid-Month Stats For April. Click for full size.
The president of the Toronto Real Estate Board, Richard Silver, said, “Competition between buyers remained strong in many parts of the Greater Toronto Area during the first half of April, with many listings attracting a lot of attention. Strong competition meant that, on average, sellers priced within market value range received offers that matched their asking prices within three weeks.”
New listings also increased, but only slightly compared to sales. The average sales price during the first half of April was $506,954, which is an increase of five per cent over the same time last year.
“Growth in listings has not kept up with growth in sales,” said Jason Mercer, the Toronto Real Estate Board’s senior manager of market analysis. “In the City of Toronto, new listings for low-rise home types during the first half of April were actually down compared to last year. This helps explain why some of the tightest market conditions in the GTA can be found within the 416 area code,” he said.
Click here for the full press release.
HOT Toronto Real Estate Listing: 93 Amberjack Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario
Three Bedroom Family Home In Desirable Neighbourhood
$469,800
Style: Bungalow
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 2
Square Feet: 1226
This bright, sunny home is located on a quiet street, with friendly neighbours, in the desirable Markham and Lawrence neighbourhood. You are close to Highway 401 and both the Scarborough RT and Go Transit. Also within a short drive is the Scarborough Golf and Country Club for the golfers in the family. For some peaceful leisure time, there are plenty of parks nearby. Take the kids and the dog for a nice long hike or take the frisbee and play! Basically, this home is close to everything … public school, public transit, hospital, parks, library and a short distance to the Cedarbrae Mall shopping plaza (the Scarborough Town Centre is a short drive away).
This is a beautiful, large family home, very clean and well-kept. A detached brick bungalow with three-plus bedrooms and lots of light. The living room and dining room are open concept, spacious and bright, with gorgeous hardwood floors. The living room has a fabulous large west-facing bow window and a wood fireplace with stone surround and hearth. A great place to entertain, but equally nice for comfortable family living.
The eat-in size kitchen is bright and sunny, with two south-facing windows. Cabinets are plentiful and the counter extends to a peninsula for added work space. There is ceramic tile floor and backsplash and sleek stainless steel appliances. The breakfast area off the kitchen is perfect for casual family meals and a great place for the kids to do homework while you cook dinner.
Down the hall, you’ll find three nice-size bedrooms, all with lovely hardwood floors and big bright windows. The master bedroom has mirrored closet doors. The spacious four-piece family bath has a Jacuzzi tub and new ceramic tile.
Walk out to the raised deck and back garden from the separate side entrance door across from the kitchen – great for summertime meals out here. The fully fenced yard has gardens around the perimeter, and has some lovely flowering shrubs and trees as well as some nice evergreens at the back for added privacy. This is a large sunny backyard to enjoy and a great place to lounge around in warm weather. The kids and family dog have more than enough room to play on the grass. At the back is a handy storage shed for all your gardening needs. The private side entrance here could provide access to an inlaw suite.
Moving downstairs to the finished basement, you find a terrific space to enjoy with your family, or use as an in-law suite if you choose. There is a large living room or play area for the kids as well as two bedrooms (or use one as a home office), all carpeted, with pot lights in the living room. There is a large eat-in size kitchen here with a spacious dining area, ceramic floor, lots of cabinets and full-size fridge and stove. The three-piece bathroom with shower and pedestal sink is clean and bright.
The laundry room is located down here as well – outside the suite handy to both upper and lower levels. It’s very spacious and has a bonus large cold cellar for storage at the back. It’s very handy having the extra space in the basement with it’s own kitchen and bathroom for when in-laws/friends visit! There are above-ground windows and a separate side entrance from the private backyard.
Features include: Mid-efficiency furnace (2009), central air, wood fireplace, two full finished levels with separate entrances, approx. 15 year old roof, double attached garage plus spacious driveway with ample parking.
Extras include: Stainless steel fridge, stove, dishwasher on the main level, washer, dryer, fridge and stove on the lower level, all electric light fixtures, all window blinds.
You could be in your gorgeous new family home by mid summer!!
Click here for more photos, information and a video tour of this Toronto Real Estate Listing.
