Do condominium owners need more protection when it comes to disputes with builders and property managers? Rosario Marchese (NDP), member of provincial parliament for Trinity-Spadina believes so:

“The fact of the matter is that the Condominium Act doesn’t have any consumer protection whatsoever,” he tells the CBC. “And so when people have a problem, they have to go to court to solve it. We think that’s incredibly unfair.”

Through a private member’s bill, Mr. Rosario is hoping to create a review board which would help condo owners settle their case outside of the courts. This process promises to be more efficient, much faster, and significantly cheaper than the options currently open to disgruntled buyers.

Mr. Rosario also wants all property managers to be licensed in order to take out the ‘guess work’ and ensure ‘quality’.

On Thursday, Mr. Rosario will present the new bill and is asking all Toronto condo owners to join the debate at Queen’s Park.

Do you think Mr. Rosario’s concerns are legitimate? Have you ever had lengthy dispute with builders? Please pipe in with your comments or questions.

source: CBC

Here is a market update released by the Toronto Real Estate Board. Sales activity through Toronto MLS® reached 10,350 for the month of April, that’s up from the 8,778 transactions recorded last April. Average selling price in March was $517,556 which is an increase of 8.5 percent from the previous year. Strongest growth was in the single detached market.

Check out the video for more:

http://youtu.be/SsXmFs-gRak

His inventions included the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove. Franklin was responsible for establishing the first public library, organizing fire fighters in Philadelphia, was one of the early supporters of mutual insurance and crossed the Atlantic eight times. Self-development was a constant endeavor throughout his incredible life.

Benjamin Franklin was clearly a man who knew how to get things done.

14 Action Inducing Lessons

Less Talk, More Action

“Well done is better than well said.”

Talk is cheap. Talking about a project won’t get it completed. We all know people who constantly talk about the things they are going to do but rarely ever take that first step. Eventually people begin to question their credibility. Taking action and seeing the task through to completion is the only way to get the job done.

Don’t Procrastinate

“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”

This is probably one of the first quotes I remember hearing as a teenager. With an impressive list of achievements to his credit, Benjamin Franklin was not a man hung up on procrastination. He was a man with clear measurable goals who worked hard to turn his vision into reality. What are you putting off till tomorrow that could make a difference in your life today?

Be Prepared

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

Whilst many of us don’t like change, others thrive on it. Either way change is inevitable. The stronger we fight against it, the more time and energy it consumes. Give up the fight. Focus on proactively making positive changes, instead of having change merely thrust upon you. Wherever possible, try to view change as a positive instead of a negative.

Get Moving

“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.”

There’s a reason we use the expression, movers and shakers. Movers are the ones who take action, the people who get things done, while the immovable are sitting around scratching their heads wondering how others could possibly be so successful. Which group do you want to belong to?

Avoid Busywork

“Never confuse motion with action.”

We are always running around doing things. We rush from one meeting or event to the next, sometimes without achieving a great deal. At the end of the day, how much of our busywork are we proud of? How much of that running around improves anyone’s life (including ours) for the better? Make your motion mean something.

Give Yourself Permission to Make Mistakes

“Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.”

If we fear making mistakes, we become scared to try new things. Fear leaves us nestled in our comfort zone. Staying in your comfort zone rarely leads to greatness. Taking risks and giving yourself permission to make mistakes, will ultimately lead you to whatever your version of success may be.

Act Quickly on Opportunities

“To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.”

Opportunities are everywhere. The trick is being quick enough and smart enough to seize them when they arise. Instead of jumping to the conclusion that something won’t work or can’t be done, allow yourself the freedom to ask what if?

Continue to Grow

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”

We all have vices of some description. The key is to keep them under control or preferably eradicate them entirely. Be kind to those around you, whether they are neighbors, family, co-workers or friends. Never accept that you have finished growing as a person.

Keep Going

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”

Have you ever looked at a successful entrepreneur or business person and thought how lucky they are? Most of the time, luck has nothing to do with it. Hard work and sacrifice on the other hand have everything to do with it. Successful people deal with failure. They tackle their demons head on. They pick themselves up and keep going.

We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of our fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you’ve read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o’clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won’t need to live in fear of it.

Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.

Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within. The first enemy that you’ve got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is. “Ho-hum, let it slide. I’ll just drift along.” Here’s one problem with drifting: you can’t drift your way to the top of the mountain.

The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. It will steal your chances for a better future. Take a sword to this enemy.

The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there’s room for healthy skepticism. You can’t believe everything. But you also can’t let doubt take over. Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities and doubt the opportunities. Worst of all, they doubt themselves. I’m telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success. It will empty both your bank account and your heart. Doubt is an enemy. Go after it. Get rid of it.

The fourth enemy within is worry. We’ve all got to worry some. Just don’t let it conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. Worry can be useful. If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you’ve got to worry. But you can’t let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner. Here’s what you’ve got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you, you’ve got to get it. Whatever is pushing on you, you’ve got to push back.

The fifth interior enemy is over-caution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it’s an illness. If you let it go, it’ll conquer you. Timid people don’t get promoted. They don’t advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You’ve got to avoid over-caution.

Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what’s holding you back, what’s keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.

Now, bread is $3, popsicles are 50c, and it costs me $4,150 just to pay for gas and insurance for my car!

And although we notice it, and complain about it from time to time, like when gas went over a dollar, or whenever we are hit with a new tax, we tend not to notice a little thing called inflation, and being Canadians, we shrug our shoulders, and move on.

By my calculation, when my kids are my age, a loaf of bread will be $50. Cars will be $200,000, and the average house will cost $5 Million. And we will pay it.

Of course when that time comes, the average income will be $1M a year for the average family . . .so everything is relative. Prices are irrelevant without taking wages, or income into consideration.

For the last few years, as our real estate market has marched steadily forward, the most common statistic we hear in the media is the “Average Price” of homes or condos. This to me, is irrelevant, unless you also take into consideration incomes, AND, the cost of borrowing, because as we know, most people finance their purchase, and mortgage, on average, 70 – 90% of their purchase.

I bought my first condo in 1989. A 973 sq ft 2 bdrm condo in a new building downtown. At the time, interest rates skyrocketed to a whopping 12%. So after my 25% down payment, including mortgage, maintenance, and taxes, I was paying a whopping $3,200 a month to carry my condo.

At the same time, we had a glut of vacant condos in the city, so average rent for the same size suite was a measly $1,200.

Fast forward to 2012: the same condo can be purchased for about $450,000 today, or roughly twice the original value. If you buy this same condo, today, with 20% down, your total monthly cost ends up being around $2,100. If you want to rent a similiar condo, it will cost you around $2,200 a month to carry.

So it’s actually cheaper to buy this condo TODAY than it was in 1989 in two ways: it’s cheaper to carry than it was, due to interest rates, and it’s actually CHEAPER than renting!

Here’s what I believe is a smarter way to analyze any real estate market is by using what I would call a FAIR PRICE ANALYSIS. This analysis would take into consideration the maximum mortgage allowed by the banks, which is Gross Debt Service (GDS) which takes into consideration your Gross Income, and compare it to the Average Price in various areas.

Fair Price Analysis:   Average Price x GDS Factor x  Average Income
DIVIDED BY  Average Price

For example:        Say the average cost of a 2 bdrm condo in your area is $400,000. Assume that 80% is financed with a mortgage, and assume a maximum GDS of 30 ( 30% of Gross Income):

Mortgage Payment:             $1,398
Maintenance Fees:              $   400
Total:                                      $ 1,798

Income required to qualify, according to CMHC guidelines (GDS of 30) is:    $71,920

The average household income in the GTA in 2010 was $99,991.

So with current pricing for 2 bdrm condos, the Fair Price evaluation is currently at 72% of value.

In other words, the average family, buying the average condo, in that area can afford to carry it.

If we also take that figure of $1,798, and compare it average rents, say $2,000 today for the average 2 bdrm rental, again, it is cheaper to own, than it is to rent.

When it comes right down to it, if we break down the city by neighbourhood, and by property type, and we have, it becomes clear that the market pricing is within reach of the average family, and in fact, HAS TO BE, because the banking, and insurance guidelines simply don’t allow us to buy beyond our means. In fact, over the last couple of years, the financing requirements have gotten tighter and tighter.

I’m preparing myself and my kids for $50 loaves of bread, and $200,000 cars by buying real estate today at what I know is 10 cents on the dollar compared to what it will be in a few short years when my sons grow up. We should all do the same.

There is an old saying . . . . ”The best investment on earth . .   .  . . . is earth.”

Always has been. Always will be.

Sources: Toronto Real Estate Board, CMHC, Toronto Region Research Alliance

A main reason given is that as the country ages, a smaller proportion of people are in the peak-contribution age range of 45 to 54. Another factor cited is that more of our money is going toward housing, and real estate investments.

The report noted how contributions to RRSPs had been on a steady rise from 1968 to 1997, before the downward trend began. Its records show that RRSP contributions as a share of personal disposable income peaked at 5% in 1997. That had fallen to 3.3% in 2010 and was anticipated to have gone as low as 2.9% last year.

At this rate, economists at RBC Economics see the RRSP-to-disposable-income ratio going below 2% by 2017. It hasn’t been less than 2% since 1975.

Click Here for the Full Story

We walked in to a Condo Sales Centre, and bought on the spot, without doing our homework.

We get this a lot. Your buddy at work told you about a new project that he just bought in, your brother in law has made a killing on 2 condos he bought 3 years ago, and you feel like you’ll be left out if you don’t do something.

You go to the sales office with your Venti Latte in hand. The receptionist is nice, and the model suite looks amazing. The sales rep tells you that “they’re selling fast” and you sign the paperwork, even though your gut tells you that you should take your time.

What you don’t know is that the best suites were already sold 2 months ago, to friends and family of the builder, and to industry insiders and their clients, AND they were $30,000 less on average.

We registered online, and then waited in line to buy a condo. We didn’t get our first pick, or even the layout that we wanted, but we felt like we didn’t have a choice, and that we’d miss out.

Night club owners learned decades ago, that the best way to fill up an empty night club, is to make people wait in line to give the impression of demand. This leverages the “Principle of Exclusivity”. People want what everyone else wants. And the more exclusive, the more they want it.

Developers are experts at building hype for their projects through ads, signs, websites, and NOW even resorting to offering higher and higher commissions to rookie realtors in hopes that they will convince their clients to buy, and create a buying frenzy at organized “VIP” events.

We panicked and sold our condo too early. If we had waited just a little longer, we would have netted MUCH more on closing.

In this market, 40% – 60% of preconstruction condos are sold to investors. Many of them are buying long term, and intend to rent them upon completion. The others are merely speculators. The problem comes up at occupancy, and prior to closing. Many of these speculators either don’t want to close to avoid closing costs, or worse, CAN’T close because they can’t get financing. These sellers are more desperate, and because they are all trying to sell at the same time, this keeps prices LOW. It seems to happen with almost EVERY new building at the same time. The savvy investors are those that close on the purchase, rent out the suite for a 12 – 18 months, and once the dust settles sell for much more.

I Didn’t Know About the govt rebates and grants that can save condo buyers THOUSANDS.

It’s not surprising that most people don’t know about some of these programs, because they are not advertised or promoted. Both before and after you purchase a condo, there are rebates, and outright grants that are potentially available to condo buyers, but you have to use the right forms, depending on your situation, and you have to file them within very specific deadlines.

This can save you Thousands of Dollars, but only IF you know about them, and if you file them on time.

Our all new 2012 Condo Buyer Survival Guide is is now available, and best of all, it’s FREE.

Whether you’re buying your first condo, upsizing, downsizing, or investing, resale or preconstruction, this guide is sure to help. It’s customized for each person, and will include a detailed report on condos available in your area, AND a list of condos recently sold in your area, which can help give you a much better idea about real market values in the area.

Call or email me NOW for your Free Copy:  416.366.9090 or info@reccanada.com

Rates remain at historical lows. A $300,000 mortgage is only $1263 based on a 5 year fixed rate! No matter what happens in the next 5 years, your payment is in most cases, lower than RENT.

If you are thinking about buying a new home, or refinancing, check with us FIRST, as our in house Mortgage Experts work with over 30 lenders and can get you the best rates, guaranteed. For more info, call 416.366.9090, or info@reccanada.com

Here’s this month’s report on the best rates in the market:

Rates remain at historical lows. A $300,000 mortgage is only $1263 based on a 5 year fixed rate! No matter what happens in the next 5 years, your payment is in most cases, lower than RENT.

If you are thinking about buying a new home, or refinancing, check with us FIRST, as our in house Mortgage Experts work with over 30 lenders and can get you the best rates, guaranteed. For more info, call 416.366.9090, or info@reccanada.com

Here’s this month’s report on the best rates in the market:

Couldn’t resist. . .please forgive the visual pun . . .

Badly Placed Fences Can Make For Angry Neighbours!

Frank and Dolores Lipischak are next-door neighbours to Diana DeWolf and Joe Russ on Caille Ave. in the town of Lakeshore in Essex County. Their homes front on Lake St. Clair and their deep lots back onto the municipal street.

When the Lipischaks bought their house in 1969, there was a wire fence running north-south separating the two properties. Shortly afterward, Frank Lipischak replaced it with a new chain link fence in the same location. The fence that was intended to divide the two lots along the property line in fact extended into the DeWolf property by about 3.6 inches.

Due to this misalignment of the boundary fence over a period of many years, the Lipischaks claimed ownership by adverse possession (also known as “squatter’s rights”) to two specific areas of the DeWolf and Russ property, measuring a total of 192 square feet.

In Ontario, the right to acquire title to a part of a neighbour’s property requires exclusive, open, continuous and obvious use without the neighbour’s permission for a period of 10 years prior to the date title to the property was converted to the electronic Land Titles system.

DeWolf and Russ objected to the misalignment and eventually the boundary dispute wound up in court before Justice Anthony E. Cusinato in Windsor. The Lipischaks asked the court for a declaration that DeWolf and Russ had lost their title to the disputed area.

The evidence showed that the Lipischaks had occupied a narrow strip of land belonging to the lot next door for more than the minimum 10-year period, starting with their purchase in 1969. The judge concluded that this state of affairs continued for so long because neither of the owners bothered to obtain a land survey report from an Ontario land surveyor.

In his written decision in June 2010, the judge ruled that the Lipischaks owned the disputed strip and DeWolf and Russ were ordered to remove any fences, concrete, trees and other improvements they placed on that land.

Justice Cusinato noted in his decision, “To state that these neighbours . . . have been anything other than neighbourly is an understatement. Each . . . maintained a selfish view of their own rights. While their homes are their castles, it does not extend over the property rights of another.”

The judge found that each neighbour was “overly sensitive to their property rights and did not conduct themselves in a manner that may have avoided the conclusion of these issues in a court of law . . . ”

In court, DeWolf admitted that she had removed the chain link fence, cut the concrete sidewalk and installed a new fence in the space between the two homes. For this conduct, and her “arrogance to take the law into (her) own hands,” the judge awarded her neighbours $5,934 plus taxes for the new fence and sidewalk, $7,500 in punitive damages for her “ horrific and excessive conduct,” and a further $15,000 in damages for trespass.

Following the release of the judge’s decision, DeWolf was also ordered to pay the plaintiff’s court costs of $89,371 for an 11-day trial. (The plaintiffs had asked for considerably more.)

DeWolf and Russ appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal. Last fall, a three-judge panel refused to interfere with the trial judge’s findings, and dismissed their appeal, ordering them to pay appeal costs of $20,000 to the Lipischaks.

I calculate the damages and costs awards against the defendants at $138,577, in addition to their own lawyer’s bill of perhaps another $100,000 plus.

But it looks like the case is far from over. After the trial, DeWolf and Russ sued the Lipischaks claiming the right to travel over the parcel of land they had lost. As well, they also sued the prior owners of their property for the cost of defending their title and for the loss resulting from the change in the property line.

Windsor lawyer James K. Ball acted for DeWolf at the trial and in the Court of Appeal. In an email last week, he told me “there were no winners in this case.” I tend to agree.

Thanks to Bob Aaron for this story . . . . Bob Aaron is a sole practitioner at the law firm of Aaron & Aaron in Toronto and a board member of the Tarion Warranty Corp.  Bob specializes in the areas of real estate, corporate and commercial law, estates and wills and landlord/tenant law. His Title Page column appears Saturdays in The Toronto Star.

Usually, the press release and all media stories have some sensational headline like “Run down home sells for record $1 Million in Toronto.”  (Those of you living in San Francisco, New York or London feel free to post in the comments.)

What virtually all of these studies do is look at median or average prices, and compare them to the median or average income. This metric worked okay in the 20th century in most cities when bungalows on modest lots were the first homes of young families. It is becoming increasingly meaningless in the 21st century. Here’s why.
1. Average and median home prices are being driven up by the larger, mature demographic (think those over 50) who have equity and are now trading homes. Some are buying a nicer location, some are downsizing to a penthouse condo. Everyone has their own reason. Regardless, they are not taking out a $1 million mortgage on their $80,000 salary.

Average prices are also being driven up in some cities, like Vancouver, by an increase in “Luxury Market” sales. Over 700 homes priced at over $3 Million sold in Vancouver in 2011, nearly doubling the previous record of 375.

This luxury product is not about homes for younger families. Therefore, we should stop including it in analysis of housing market affordability for young families.

2. With number one said, we can still see that demand today is strong and growing in walkable, mature cities and neighbourhoods; the detached houses are often in highest demand (even when more modest priced homes exist). Because you can’t make more detached homes on lots in these mature areas, demand exceeds supply for this type of product. This drives up the average and median price of even fixer-upper, non-luxury product; increasingly only those trading an existing home or coming in with cash can purchase them. Families are buying in these neighbourhoods, but they are typically not first-time buyers; they have above average incomes and often equity from a condo or suburban home.

3. Points one and two above illustrate that detached bungalows are no longer typical first-time buyer product. When individuals, couples or families buy their first home in larger Canadian cities (and many cities around the world), increasingly it is more likely to be a townhouse or a condo. According to Realnet, In the Greater Toronto Area, 62% of homes sold in 2011 were high rise condos. And from watching House Hunters on HGTV this is also happening in many US cities as well.

Therefore a statement like “Toronto is the most unaffordable city” is not that helpful if we are concerned about the “affordability” of buying a decent home for young families. Measuring something that is not first time buyer product against the incomes of first time buyers is comparing apples to Yugos.

If we are truly interested in understanding the ability of individuals with average incomes to buy a home in the higher priced, metro areas, then at minimum we need to look at townhomes and condos instead of detached homes. Ideally you also remove the product coveted by the multi-millionaire club from the analysis. Suddenly the income needed to get into the market looks more familiar to most of us — $50,000 for Metro Vancouver, $38,000 in Greater Toronto according to this study.

Flashy headlines about Toronto, Vancouver and other cities being unaffordable get the publisher of the reports and newspaper articles attention–this is why they publish them. Also it’s much easier to calculate median price and median income, and harder to do real housing market analysis.

What worries me is that politicians, policy makers and lobby groups are using this mis-information. I fear for the results. So banks and others, please move your thinking into the 21st century!

First Time Buyers: you can now lock in a fixed mortgage rate for a 10 Year Term for less than 4%. Any concerns about rate changes affecting you are out the window, AND, you can own for the same as rent. Your excuses are now gone. Anyone who has the ability to buy instead of renting and doesn’t today, is in my humble opinion NUTS.

Investors: rents are on the rise, and costs ( mortgage interest rates) are dropping. In business terms expenses are down, and revenues guaranteed to rise. Any questions?