Posts Tagged ‘Toronto Real Estate’


beach

I’m in my final week of travels down under, yet still finding it incredibly hard to find time to blog vs. getting an even tan throughout my pasty white body!  Thankfully I’ve got great guest bloggers like Chris Molder to help me out on the blogging side, and beautiful beaches to help me with the tan!

This week Chris compares shopping for mortgages with purchasing  toaster ovens:

Pop quiz!

What’s the difference between a mortgage and a toaster oven?

Seems like a pretty silly question but there is one major difference that you need to understand before you take the real estate plunge.

When you shop for a toaster-oven or any consumer good for that matter, the price is set and firm. You can shop it around to get a better price from one store to the next but once you pay, the amount you paid for that toaster oven won’t change. Your cost is fixed and nothing you do later will ever cause the price to change.

Mortgages are different from almost every other item you’ve ever bought.

Why? Because the price you pay, also known as interest, is impacted by the choices you make throughout the life of your mortgage.

Let me explain.

Borrowers are mostly concerned with the lowest interest rate. The thinking is that the lower the rate the more I save. This is only half true. The lowest mortgage rate will save you money compared to a higher rate but if you want to minimize the total cost of your mortgage you have to look beyond just the rate.

You have the opportunity to affect how much interest you pay. For example the simple choice of setting up bi-weekly accelerated payments can save you tens of thousands of dollars in interest not paid to the lender. Every dollar not paid to the lender is a dollar in your pocket.

Consider the example bellow; column #1 shows regular monthly payments and column #2 shows bi weekly accelerated payments. The last two lines show the amount of interest saved simply by making payments more frequently. That’s $13,493 of interest saved.

Picture01
Picture02

 

As a borrower you have choices throughout the life of your mortgage that will effect the total cost of your mortgage. If you stay focused on just the interest rate as your mortgage reduction strategy you’ll end up paying more to the lender than you should. But with a some simple strategies and cashflow management you can save yourself thousands of dollars and be mortgage-free years sooner.

Imagine what you’ll do when you are mortgage free? Think of all the toaster ovens you can buy!

Christopher Molder is a Toronto Mortgage broker with Tridac Corporation Ltd – The Mortgage Centre. He writes on his blog sonofabroker.com with a primary focus on showing Canadian mortgage borrowers how to reduce their mortgage debt. He’s my buddy and a true professional, you can sign up on his blog for more great mortgage reduction tips.

Treviso

The hole has been dug, and the cranes are up… Construction at Treviso Condos is well underway! The sales centre will be closing soon and relocating for the start of phase 2.  In anticipation of this the developer has released some exclusive end of year pricing on the few remaining units.

All Studio, One bedroom and Two bedroom suites come with a 5% cash back and all Three bedroom suites get 6% PLUS the assignment fee is reduced to zero (instead of $5000). They are also offering a special deposit structure – pay $2000 with offer and pay the balance of 5% within 30 days… then it’s only $2000 every 2 months until a further 5% is paid with the last 10% due on occupancy!

If you’d like to live at Treviso, fill out the form below… I’d be happy to help!

Credit Check

Understanding the importance of a credit report is so crucial in the home buying process! My good friend and fellow blogger Christopher Molder from Sonofabroker.com wrote a great post explaining how to correct any mistakes that may show up on your report and how to order one for free!

Credit Reports: How To Get Yours For Free & Make Corrections

Before applying for a mortgage checking your credit is a good way to verify that your personal information is up to date, your financial information is correct and to ensure that you aren’t the victim of fraud. There are two credit reporting agencies, Equifax and TransUnion, and because those two agencies don’t share information it’s advisable to check both reports yearly.

Getting Your Credit Report

By Mail – Did you know that if you request your credit report by mail it is free? If you send a mailed in request including two pieces of government issued I.D. the credit agencies will snail mail you back a copy of your credit report at no cost. I’ve included the mailing addresses below.

By Internet – For those of us who can’t wait you can always order your credit report online through Equifax or TransUnion’s website. There is a fee of course but within a few seconds you will have your report in hand as an electronic copy.

Getting Your Credit SCORE

Getting a credit report is useful if you are just double checking to make sure everything is in order. If you are preparing to apply for a mortgage you want to see your credit score. The only way to get your credit score is online. The cost of obtaining your credit score is abit higher than getting just your credit report but it also includes the report. You will receive your credit score (and credit report) online a few minutes after you have made the request.

What You Should Do If You Find A Mistake?

Mistakes do happen and they can be an unnecessary hassle especially when you decide that you want to apply for a mortgage. If you spot a mistake or believe that something was reported incorrectly there is a two step process to effectively get the mistake corrected.

  1. Contact The Credit Reporting Agency – The credit reporting agency will make note of your request and contact the financial institution that provided the information. If the financial institution acknowledges there was a mistake the credit bureau has 30 days to make a correction. If the financial institution doesn’t agree with correction and you are still not satisfied you can submit a brief statement to the reporting agency who will add it to your report.
  2. Contact Your Financial Institution – To avoid any delays in getting errors corrected its a good idea to also contact the financial institution that made the error and ask them to follow up with credit reporting agency. If the error came from your financial institution and the institution will not correct the error, ask for information on its complaint-handling process. Financial institutions that are regulated by the Government of Canada are required, by law, to have a process in place to resolve disputes between consumers and financial institutions.
Here are the credit reporting agency’s mailing addresses and contact information:
Equifax Canada
National Consumer Relations
P.O. box 190, Station Jean-Talon,
Montreal, Quebec  H1S 2Z2
Tel. (toll-free): 1-800-465-7166
Fax: 514-355-8502
Web site: www.equifax.ca

TransUnion Canada
All provinces except Quebec:
Consumer Relations Centre
P.O. Box 338 LCD 1
Hamilton, Ontario  L8L 7W2
Tel. (toll-free): 1-866-525-0262
Fax: 905-527-0401

I hope you found this information useful and can put it into good practice by checking your credit report regularily. If you are shopping for a mortgage or thinking of buying in the coming months join my Free Blog Updates list to receive more great info for first time home buyers and to stay in touch with me.

 

Underpass Park

As promised a few posts back, I finally got around to checking out the newly opened Underpass Park. Located under and around the Eastern Avenue, Richmond and Adelaide overpasses, it is the most extensive park ever built under an overpass in Canada, and the first ever in Toronto.

The park is being constructed in two phases.  The first opened on August 2nd, with the second expected in spring 2013.  Earlier in the week I visited the area to see what the first half looks like!

With construction fences still up along St. Lawrence St, it was a bit hard to find a way into to the park.  The easiest way is to come in along King St. East and turn onto Lower River St, the park runs on either side of it.

Underpass park is divided into three main areas.  The first is West of Lower River St.  This part was geared more towards smaller children.

Underpass Park

There’s a teeter-totter, hopscotch, 4-square, swings and few “kid friendly” structures for children to play on! The floor around these attractions is made of a soft, almost spongy material… pretty cool to walk on!

Underpass Park

Read the rest of this entry »

Treviso Crane

Italy’s big win and advancement in the Euro Cup isn’t the only cause for celebration at Dufferin and Lawrence… Lanterra’s progress at Treviso is too!

Earlier in the week, Lanterra posted pics on it’s Facebook page showing it’s first crane being built.  The developers are making great timing, considering the site still had buildings on it only 6 months ago. The installation of the crane marks a big milestone in the corners transformation from commercial parking lot to the Treviso community!

I’ve included several photos from Lanterra below, be sure to check out their Facebook Page for more updates on Treviso and their other projects throughout the city!

It’s that time of year again…  The birds are chirping, the Leafs aren’t in the playoffs and HotDocs Film-Fest-Fever is taking over my life!

The Festival is in it’s 19th year and is looking like the biggest one yet… at least for me!  In 2009 I some how found my way into the festival while searching for a track by Thelonious Monk. My Google search took me to a link promoting the screening of doc about him and his Jazz Baroness - Pannonica Rothschild.  Being the self-proclaimed ”Doc freak” that I am, I naturally had to buy a ticket for the show.  It was love at first sight… the nostalgia of watching films in some of Toronto’s oldest theatres, to the energy of others partaking in the low key film fest had me hooked!

Since that faithful night, I’ve been coming back year after year and for 2012 it’s no different!  Except this time around I’m seeing even more films!  The festival runs from April 26 – May 6, 2012 and features both Canadian and International content.  Below is a summary of the 5 films I’m watching:

Theo Fleury: Playing With Fire

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Theo Fleury achieved every boy’s fantasy of becoming a hockey superstar, raking in the millions, being cheered by countless fans and living the high life with a beautiful woman. Then he blew it all on booze, drugs, gambling and strippers, betraying his game, his colleagues and his family in a flame-out he couldn’t control. In 2009, he published a book that revealed his difficult childhood and years of sexual abuse by his coach, Graham James. Inspired by the book, the film takes the story further through hockey highlights and interviews with coaches, family, ex-friends, Olympic figure skater Jamie Salé and, most of all, with Theo as he hits the road to promote his book and faces the ghosts of his past. A compelling portrait of a great hockey player, a man who won it all, lost it all, faced his demons and is bringing his game up to a whole new level. Lynne Fernie

Fists Of Pride

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“Thai children have more money. Burmese children have no money. They are rich. We are poor. That’s all.” This is how 13-year-old Pho Kyaw ‘Panda’ sees the world while training to challenge a Thai boxer at the annual Water Festival along the Burmese-Thai border. If he wins, his family receives prize money from bets placed by his coaches. Losing isn’t an option. For sons of migrant workers, the Thai boxing camp is their best hope to escape the dangerous and impoverished life that otherwise awaits them. The boys’ militaristic training regime and their daily routines reveal their courage and fear as they face the ring. The coaches provide another fascinating layer, as their gambling success determines the boys’ well-being. The film is a powerful allegory for a cultural and political battle that continues to be waged, through the eyes of children who inherited a bruised and battered history. Alex Rogalski

The Queen Of Versailles

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Meet Jackie, former Mrs. Florida 1993 and current wife of David Siegel, the self-styled king of a vast timeshare empire. She loves her husband, eight children and shopping. A leggy blond teetering on high heels, Jackie is thrilled to show us her work in progress, the largest single-family home in America. Modeled on the palace of Versailles but arguably more lavish, it features 30 bathrooms and a skating rink. At the same time, David is building the largest timeshare property in Las Vegas, selling average citizens a small piece of the good life for just a little money down. Then the financial crisis of 2008 hits. As the threat of losing it all looms, David’s personality undergoes a marked shift from boastful billionaire to tired old man, but Jackie soldiers on with a bright smile. One wonders what it will take to wake this queen from her American dream.

We Are Legion: The Story Of The Hacktivists

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We Are Legion is a guide into the world of Anonymous, the “hacktivist” collective with no defined leadership or structure that’s responsible for numerous acts of a new internet-based civil disobedience. Through interviews with current members and those awaiting trial, as well as with other major online figures, writers and academics, we gain an understanding of motives and what it means to be involved with a group redefining online activism. We hear from a group that began as a forum to share jokes, learning about the development of their ideology and their ability to mobilize thousands worldwide. A history of the internet’s evolution, the film traces the birth of a powerful democratic activism that’s making corporations and governments very nervous. Charlotte Cook

Charles Bradley: Soul Of America

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For decades he’s been Black Velvet, a soul singer scraping by in Brooklyn’s projects with small club gigs in the evenings and odd jobs by day. But 62-year-old Charles Bradley has an impossible dream: he wants to make it in the music industry as…himself. As if that weren’t challenge enough, he’s also supporting the mother who abandoned him as a child, struggling to pay his own bills, and, in his spare time, learning to read. When Bradley’s noticed by the soul maestros at Daptone Records, it seems as though he just might have a chance. With lyrics that draw directly from the anguish and hardship of his life, his electrifying performances transform pain and sorrow into an experience of sublime transcendence. When he says to the audience, “I love you, each and every one of you,” he truly means it. It’s a visceral rush to your soul. Gisèle Gordon

For a full list of movies and to purchase tickets, check out http://www.hotdocs.ca/

Treviso Condos (at Dufferin and Lawrence)  is a development that I’ve been writing about for several months on the blog… in fact, I like the project so much, I even bought a suite there for my self!  I’ve helped several people purchase at Treviso and because of it, I’ve become one of the top selling Realtors for the development.  Thanks to this, 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!

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