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More On Basement Apartments From Toronto Real Estate Lawyer Bob Aaron
At the end of March, we blogged about Toronto Real Estate lawyer Bob Aaron’s latest column, which detailed some of the trickier aspects of having a basement apartment in your home or buying a home with a basement apartment.
An illegal basement apartment can break the bank if you're a homeowner!
If you haven’t read it, check it out! It’s a very worthwhile read for Toronto home buyers who are considering a new home with a basement apartment. Understanding what makes a basement apartment legal will help you avoid serious problems and get straight to earning extra rental income or providing a space for extended family to live close by.
Bob Aaron has followed up his column on basement apartments with another column on the same subject, detailing a new law that the province of Ontario put into effect in January of this year, as well as mentioning the City of Toronto guide to basement apartments and second suites, which is available here.
Bob Aaron’s column is found here. Check it out!
Toronto Home Sales Increase in March
Home sales through the Toronto MLS Listings increased by eight per cent in March 2012 over March 2011, according to the latest market update from the Toronto Real Estate Board.
Toronto Real Estate Board prices and sales for March 2012. Click for full size.
Throughout the Greater Toronto Area, 9,690 real estate transactions took place compared to 8,986 last year in March.
“The GTA resale market has not suffered from a lack of willing buyers this year. Buyers have been spurred on by the positive affordability picture brought about by low mortgage rates,” said the president of the Toronto Real Estate Board, Richard Silver in a press release. “The challenge has been a lack of inventory. Many listings have attracted multiple interested buyers. Strong competition has led to annual rate of price growth well above the ling-term average.”
The biggest sellers in both the 416-area code and the 905-area code were detached homes, sales of which increased by 12 per cent and 16 per cent respectively, year-over-year.
“The number of new listings was up last month in comparison to March 2011,” said the senior manager of market analysis for the Toronto Real Estate Board, Jason Mercer. “However, based on the historic relationship between price and listings, the GTA resale market should be better supplied. If competition between buyers remains as strong as it is right now, we will most certainly see an average selling price above $500,000 for 2012 as a whole,” he said.
Stay tuned! Our full analysis of the March Toronto Real Estate Board sales will be coming in just a few days!
Quick Curb Appeal Tip From Your Toronto Real Estate Team!
The recent record-setting temperatures in Toronto have resulted in some of our gardens coming back to life, including those pesky little weeds that can grow up through small cracks in our walkways and driveways. The upcoming cold snap this weekend won’t do much to deter the weeds, which can make the exterior of your house look untidy.
Keep those pesky weeds away with white vinegar instead of herbicides.
Many homeowners aren’t comfortable using herbicides around their home, especially if they have small children, pets or are worried about how long the herbicide will remain in the soil when they want to keep their garden healthy.
What you can do, is use undiluted white vinegar to get rid of these unwanted weeds in hard-to-reach places like a stone walkway or gravel path. You can buy a pump sprayer (or even a small hand spray bottle) at any garden store or dollar store. Just keep in mind that unlike some commercial weed-killers, vinegar could harm friendly plants that you’d like to keep, so it’s best suited to areas where you don’t want anything growing.
Does Buying A Toronto Home With A Basement Apartment Seem More Complicated Than It Should Be?
Buying a Toronto home with a basement apartment can appeal to many home buyers because of the potential for rental income. But first, the basement apartment must be legal.
Before you buy a home in Toronto with a basement apartment, make sure it's legal.
Recently, Carson Dunlop of Carson Dunlop & Associates, a leading home and commercial property inspection consulting engineering firm, published an article on what makes a basement apartment legal.
This definition was further quoted in a letter to Toronto real estate agents from the Toronto Real Estate Board, and brought up in Toronto Real Estate Lawyer Bob Aaron’s latest Toronto Star Column.
In short, five questions to ask when encountering a basement apartment are:
- Do the local bylaws permit basement apartments?
- Does the apartment comply with fire code?
- Does it comply with building code requirements?
- Does it comply with electrical safety requirements?
- Has the apartment been registered?
Unfortunately, home buyers who come to find their new home’s basement apartment isn’t quite legal have difficulty taking the steps to make it legal without getting into trouble themselves.
The entire Carson Dunlop report is worth a read if you have a basement apartment in your home, are considering creating a basement apartment in your home or may be buying a home with a basement apartment in the near future.
HOT Toronto Real Estate Listing: 650 Queens Quay W #1619, Toronto, Ontario
Gorgeous sunny, west facing suite with great views of the city and lake
If you’re single, or a young couple, we can’t imagine a better place to live in Toronto than downtown and right on the waterfront! On a crisp day with a gorgeous blue sky, you could decide to walk home from your office at King and Bay. Head south and eventually leave the steel and glass towers behind while you approach your fabulous waterfront neighbourhood. 
For shop-a-holics, the Eaton Centre and Yonge Street retail stores are within a short distance, and numerous neighbourhood amenities are close by… Shoppers Drug Mart, Sobeys, movie rentals, dry cleaners, hospitals, walk in clinics etc. There’s a Loblaws over at Jarvis and Queens Quay East. If you have to hop in a car, you’re seconds away from Lakeshore Blvd, the Gardiner Expressway and the DVP—the highways are so easy to access without driving through the city. It is very convenient using the TTC to get around downtown, and the GO Train to visit the suburbs. Public transportation is phenomenal downtown and there is always a taxi nearby if you need one.
You could head down to the lake for a leisurely coffee at the Second Cup at the quaint Toronto Harbour Commissioner’s Pier 6 building, and sit and listen to the sounds of the waterfront. Walks along Queens Quay are great for people-watching in the summer along the water’s edge and there are lots of outdoor things to do year-round. There are numerous fun activities right at the waterfront… boat mooring and boat rentals, Harbourfront parks, two skating rinks & a pond, theatre, food fairs, concert stage, cruise boats, or sun bathing on the beach at H2O park or Sugar Beach. Walks along the boardwalk on beautiful sunny days can’t be beat. Bicycle paths run east to the Leslie Street Spit and the Beaches boardwalk and west to Etobicoke.
For local entertainment, there’s opera, stage and lots of night clubs and restaurants, all within minutes walking or driving. Plays like Phantom of the Opera and Dirty Dancing have all been here, some shows such as the Cirque du Soleil were just a few steps away. It’s an easy walk to the Skydome (Roger’s Centre), the CN Tower, the Air Canada Centre and the ferry to the Toronto Islands.
There are fabulous restaurants close by too. These include Baton Rouge, The Keg, Indian Cuisine and the Marche (otherwise known as Richtree) and others along the Esplanade. Memorable dinners can be experienced at the top of the CN Tower when it is lit at night time.
The festivals and events downtown are unmatched with anything that can be found elsewhere. Taste of the Danforth, Caribana, the CNE and lastly, the Christmas parade. These are simply things you will never find in the suburbs at this grand scale. The fire works and air shows are another thing can be watched from the comfort of your living room or roof-top deck- the planes fly right by and you can watch as many of them take off and land from the island airport. Open the Juliet balcony doors for the full effect!
This is a terrific safe and secure building with 24-hr security in a great downtown and lakeside location. The concierge staff are terrific. There are nice facilities… a well-equipped gym and a party room, as well as a great rooftop patio with a barbecue and seating, and incredible panoramic views of the lake, the island, Harbourfront and the city.
This is a terrific, spacious 602 sf sunny west-facing one-bedroom PLUS den + solarium suite. It has an open concept through the living room, and the kitchen is open to the main area over the breakfast bar. It has lots of cabinets and counter space and there’s room to pull up bar stools here for morning coffee or breakfast.
Nice comfortable carpet runs through the suite, with ceramic tile in the kitchen. Look out through the sliding glass door on the Juliet balcony to enjoy the sights and sounds of the lake and the city. There is also a solarium which adds even more sunny west-facing windows – it makes a great home office or sitting area. You could easily remove those glass doors to open the room up to the living area and make it into a fabulous dining room!
The master bedroom is bright and faces west for some great evening sun. You can access the solarium through the sliding glass doors. There is a nice large closet along one wall. Rounding out this fabulous suite is the 4-piece family bath with the stacking washer/dryer hidden away in a laundry closet, as well as smaller closet across form the kitchen which would make a good linen closet or pantry.
BONUS…as you enter the suite is the nice size DEN open to the hallway. It makes a great home office or even a guest room if you add a futon or Murphy bed. It could easily be partitioned off to make it a separate room if that fits your living requirements.
Included are: Fridge, stove, dishwasher, microwave, stacking washer and dryer, all light fixtures and window coverings. Maintenance fee includes heat, hydro and water. Locker is Level A, Unit 64.
You could be enjoying your fabulous suite and exciting downtown living early this summer – in lots of time to enjoy the spectacular waterfront !
For more information on this Toronto real estate listing including floor plans, more photos, pricing and a video tour, click here.
