Posts Tagged ‘Mark Savel’

Ho Ho Ho!  If you’re living in a condo and your neighbour get’s the Behringer iNuke for Christmas… expect a New Year with many sleepless nights!

Weighing in at a whopping 700 lbs and spread over 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide the iNuke can pump out over 10,000 watts of power! Sadly, this machine of musical monstrosity won’t be out until 2012…which gives consumers time to save up the $30,000 that will cost to purchase!

If you’d rather put your $30,000 towards a condo of your own, I’d love to help!  Contact me to find a downtown condo of your own!

photo from http://opeklife.com/

Oh Robert, you always seem to surprise me!

Two years ago, I was sitting in a room full of Realtors listening to the mayoral hopefuls ”ouuu and ahhh” the crowd.  It was politics as usual with outlandish promises and stops to gravy trains.  Admittedly, I was more interested in my twitter feed than what was being spoken on stage… until, the golden question was asked: “If elected, will you remove the land transfer tax”

Now before I go further with the story, I want to pause and let you know where I stand on the tax.  For starters, it should have never been introduced in first place.  The tax penalizes the very poeple who not only support the City but also the Country.  You see, when you buy a home it’s not only the seller (and their Realtor) who make money…but the entire economy.  Tons of people are employed simply because of our strong housing market.  Trades people, contractors, furniture manufactures etc etc.  The way I see it is anything that slows that process down, slows the whole economy.

Unfortunately, the politicians of the time didn’t see it the same way and passed the tax in 2008. The result of this was an additional sum of money that purchasers had to pay the City of Toronto at time of closing.  Now some may argue that the effects of the tax haven’t really slowed down the economy and that the market is still strong. We can thank the low interest rates for helping many first timers get into the market.  These same first timers also have the incentive of a reduced Land Transfer Tax. Many purchasers haven’t felt the true effects of the tax on their purchase… it won’t be until many of these first timers purchase their second home that the pinch is felt!

Exactly how much is this Land Transfer Tax costing Torontonians? On a $500,000 purchase, buyers must shell out an additional $5,725 on their purchase!  Keep in mind that this cost must be paid on closing and can not be mortgaged!

Now back to the story…

Ford was the first candidate on stage to quickly promise and end to the Land Transfer tax… this sent the crowd wild!!! I too supported the idea by proudly taking to twitter and letting everyone know that finally a candidate had stepped up to save the day!

Being naive, I never asked my self how the heck the City would function without the revenue it’s become accustomed to receiving each year. That was until George Smitherman pointed out that cutting the Land Transfer Tax and delivering the same services Torontonians were used to was practically impossible.

Unfortunately Smithermans logic wasn’t imbraced my the masses and as we all know, Ford went on to win the the race… though I think the outcome may have been different had the candidates SAID WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE DONE WITH THE MONEY INSTEAD OF SIMPLY CUTTING IT OUT!  And by this I mean giving more disclosure of where the $300,000,000 is being used. Communication is key, if they promised to be more transparent with how it was being spent, I’m sure more support would have been had. Instead the candidates tried keeping up with Fords cost cutting promises.

It’s been almost a year since Rob Ford has been elected and talks of removing the Land Transfer Tax have been sparse.  On Thursday, Ford surprised us all again by bringing the topic back up.  He said “I campaigned we’d get rid of it by the end of my term and if we do it in pieces, we’ll do it in pieces, but I’m going to keep my promise.”

So what’s my take on this supposed ”good news”… it’s worth as much as the paper it’s written on – NOTHING! I don’t buy it for a single second!

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of our Cities councillors for a minute… You know, the one’s that would have to vote on such a thing! Let’s say you already have a shortfall in your budget.  Would you promise to give back roughly $300,000,000 of it putting you further in the hole?  Honestly, I wouldn’t…but Ford wants to! But wasn’t his campaign all about “balancing the books”? He’ll have to get that $300,000,000 from somewhere else, right?  hint hint, wink wink – higher property taxes or more service cuts!

Another surprise came in the form of a press release Toronto Real Estate Board.  Part of it read: ““Mayor Ford deserves to be applauded for sticking to his convictions and delivering on campaign commitments. That is what Torontonians elected him to do. The Land Transfer Tax is not good for Torontonians or the City. We look forward to working with the Mayor and Council to get rid of this unfair tax,” said Richard Silver, President of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB).

I belong to TREB, and truly do like the work Richard Silver has done as our president… BUT I totally disagree with how quick he was to applaud him.  We have nothing on paper except for a blank promise during a TV interview. Which brings me to another point:

If in some small way the Tax is removed (partially or whole), the announcement would have to be almost instant, with it’s removal coming just as fast! When the tax was introduced in 2008 there was a rush from home buyers to purchase before the tax came into effect.  The removal of the tax would have the opposite effect… a drastic slowdown as purchasers will wait for the tax to be removed.

These “drip promises” just don’t cut it. The removal of such a tax is a HUUUGE move.  To only mention it during a TV interview is a little suspicious… and just before the holidays?

In my opinion, this announcement was nothing more than political comment, to boost his ratings with Toronto’s citizens. Remember, It was almost a year ago that Ford was voted in.  At my families Holiday gatherings, his name came up quite a bit as each side made points on whether Ford was going to stick to his promises.  The timing of his latest promise is a tactic to gain sympathy from Toronto’s tax payers and to boost his approval ratings over the holidays.

But wait… wasn’t I all for the removal of the tax in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4?

Yes, but kinda no!  In 2008, I was totally against it.  We should have tighten the budget then and never introduced the Tax in the first place.  But we did, and we got comfortable with it…and we rely on that $300,000,000 of extra income each year!  I don’t think we should have brought it in then, but I also don’t think we can do without it now…then what should we do?

I have a few suggestions:

Keep the tax, but allow it to be financed by the homes mortgage. Yes, people will need to qualify for an extra $5000 (on average) but the pay out can be spread over time… like the CMHC Insurance fee purchasers pay on high ratio mortgages.Can’t finance a tax you say? Then change the name of it – Toronto Investment Fund sounds good to me.  The City benefits from the “tax” today and the purchaser get’s to pay it over time leaving them with more money to reinvest the spin-off economy created by way purchases of furniture, appliances, home improvements etc.

Oh, and the difference in monthly payments on a $500,000 house as opposed to a $505,000 home – $21 per month (assuming a 20% down payment, 25 year mortgage and a 4% mortgage rate).

If Rob Ford is confident the City can function without the $300,000,000… let’s take it out of our budget and put it directly back into improving our City’s infrastructure and make Toronto even better! In order for our City to grow, we must rely on strong immigration patterns.  Better infrastructure and a more commutable system are just two of the areas that the money can be used for.

Or even better… Go after the Provincial government and get them to cut out or at least reduce the Ontario Land Transfer tax that we’re ALSO subject to. Plus the rate of the Provinces land transfer tax is higher than Toronto’s!

We’ve been pretty lucky thus far in Toronto!  Christmas Eve is less than 2 weeks away and we’ve still yet to have a serious snowfall in the City… yet tons of mysterious snow men have been popping up all over town!

I found one in my neck of the woods (in-front of the Maria Shchuka Library on Eglinton West) and was instantly intrigued by it’s unusual design. A few days later I saw a couple posing in front of a similar snowman on Church St… then another in Yorkville!

The snowmen are part of a fundraiser for the Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada!  Residents and visitors of Toronto are encouraged to take a photo of themselves next to the snowmen and email or text it to me@TOsnowman.com or 647-TAG-SNOW.

For every photo received – either through text or email – TorontoLand will donate $2 to the Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada, who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses and life-altering injuries. The campaign runs from from Nov. 1 – Dec. 20, 2011 or until the maximum donation of $50,000 is reached. As of writing this they’ve raised over $31,500!  Help reach there goals and have some fun posing next to your favorite snowman!

More details and photos can be seen at the TorontoLand Facebook page!

La Dolce demolition has begun at the Treviso Condominiums construction site!

As one of the top sellers at the Treviso Community, I’m able to offer all purchasers who work with me the following exclusive discounts and bonuses… but only for a limited time!

Get 5% Cash Back ($12,000-$30,000)
AND Free Assignments – Regular $5000
AND $3000 Yorkdale Gift Certificate OR Travel Voucher 

Special Deposit Choice for Treviso 1 and 2
$2000 with the Offer
Balance to 5% in 30 Days
5% in 120 Days
$2000 Every 3 Months (for additional 5%)

Or

$2000 with the Offer
Balance to 5% in 30 days
10% BMO Interest Only Loan and Vendor Pays the Interest

FIRST 20 2 & 3 BEDROOM SUITES SOLD AT TREVISO 2 ONLY GET AN ADDITIONAL $10,000 CASH OFF
AND a N’espresso Espresso machine at closing, offered originally and exclusively when I represent you in the purchase of a unit at Treviso! Contact me TODAY!

All cash back offers can be deducted off the purchase price or be adjusted on final closing. Bank of Montreal loan program is subject to approval.  Mortgage pre approvals are required on all sales. Balance to 20% is required on occupancy date for all deposit structures noted above.  All promotions, discounts offers are valid until April 30, 2012.  All promotion offers may be changed and/or cancelled at any time without notice.

Priestly Demolition is working on scrapping the former BiWay/Blinds-T0-Go/Perfume Outlet that once operated on the Dufferin and Lawrence corner. Once fully removed, excavation and shoring can take place. If all goes according to plan we should expect construction to start in the Spring/Summer of 2012!

I stopped by the site on Thursday and took a few photos of the demolition taking place, check them out below:

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There is two things Symmetry Developments did really well  in 2011:

1) Pushed the envelope for lowrise/infill design.

2) Set Twitter ablaze with tweets after releasing photos of said developments.

With the launch of The Hive Lofts in Etobicoke earlier this year, they set a new standard for what a forward thinking development should look like!  Last Friday… They did it again!

Using a similar method to how they announced The Hive, @symmetrydevelop took to twitter and sent out a pic rendering seen above!

The the images look stunning, and the best part is, Sayf (Vice President of the company) says that a few more tweeks are in store for the development.

Judging from the pics, it looks like the entire building will be about 8 storeys – A lobby or potential commercial space on the main, 5 levels of residential living and possibily 2 floors of penthouses…It’s hard to tell from the initial renderings if the penthouses will be a floor each or a combination of 2 levels (I’m hoping for the latter)!

Of course the biggest question on my mind is “Where will it be located and what will it be called?”!!!  Symmetry’s other two residential developments have been north of the downtown core.  The company is known for developing these funky projects in areas not known for outside-of-the-box-design.

Since Sayf wouldn’t budge on it’s location, I’ve decided to do a poll on where you think it might be going.  The 5 choice are pretty random, but hey, anythings possible with Symmetry!

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Last night I had the privilege of joining a small group of Lanterra’s top selling Realtors for an intimate cocktail at the beautiful One Bedford! The companies two founders, Mark Mandelbaum and Barry Fenton hosted the party kept the laughs coming all night!

Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games… as we sat in a gorgeous 9th floor suite, overlooking the downtown skyline – Barry shared Lanterra’s plans for it’s 2012 condo launches!  The companies latest project to launch is also their newest acquired property: The converstion of the Sutton Place Hotel at 955 Bay Street!  Their timing couldn’t have been any better as hotel was just bought last Friday!

The crowd went wild to hear that Lanterra would be bringing another project to the Bay St. corridor… but the launches didn’t stop there!  Lanterra is no stranger to the Bay St. Area as they’ve already built the two Murano Towers on the East side of Bay St, followed by Burano on the West. In 2012 they’re venturing to the other side of Grosvenor St and planning to launch 501 Yonge St (at Alexander St)!  The project will be made up of 2 towers similar to Murano.  The current application calls for two 58 storey towers containing 960 units and a shared 7 story podium!

Both 3018 Yonge St. and the Treviso Condos sold very well in 2011!  3018 has only 19 units left and Treviso Phase 2 is still moving along quickly!  At Treviso we should see equipment and demolition crews on sight very shortly!

Receive a special cash discount for a limited time on all purchases in phase 1 and 2!  As part of Treviso’s VIP Realtor group I can exclusively offer my clients this promotion PLUS a N’Espresso coffee machine at closing!

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I just cannot say enough good things about Rise Condos at Bathurst and St. Clair!  The location, the look, and the price all rank high on my scorecard.  It’s very rare that you can find a preconstruction condo in the same range of price per square foot as nearby resale condos…oh and having a subway line, streetcar route and massive grocery stores directly across the street doesn’t hurt either!

The developers and architects were very logical in the design of the building. The tower will rise up directly on the corner. This will allow for clear views in all directions. I especially like that the tower is set back just far enough to clear the large rental building that sits south of the project on Vaughan Rd… sunsets to the west will be heavenly!

… and it gets even better on the inside!  I had the opportunity to preview the sales centre and wanted to share a few pics of what the finishes will one day look like!  The R.05 unit has been rebuilt as the model unit.  The layout features 865 square feet with a large wrap around balcony.  It faces south east and will give residents some of the best views of the downtown skyline! Read the rest of this entry »