MY TORONTO

MUST-HAVE TOOLS FOR HOMEOWNERS   When you own your home, things are going to break and, unless you want to spend your money on visits from a neighbourhood handyman, you’re going to need to fix them yourself. Luckily, you don’t need an arsenal of tools to handle most home maintenance fixes. These five tools will cover most of your basic projects.   Cordless Drill :   A cordless drill is a must-have for installing cabinets, drawer pulls, hinges, picture frames, shelves and hooks, and more. Whether it’s for do-it-yourself projects or repairs, you’ll use your cordless drill just about every month.   Drain Cleaners :   Shower and bathroom sink drains are susceptible to clogs because of the daily buildup of hair and whisker clippings. You can use chemical clog removers like Drano, but they’re expensive and the lingering chemical scent is unpleasant. Instead, buy some plastic drain cleaners that can reach into the drain to pull out the clog of hair and gunk. You can pu...

DOES THE CMHC HATE REAL ESTATE? If you were review the statements and reports and press releases being issued by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation lately, you might easily come to that very conclusion. On Tuesday 19th May 2020, Mr. Evan Siddall, President & CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) addressed the Federal Government's Standing Committee on Finance in a virtual meeting conducted by Zoom and recorded for posterity by ParlVU. Here is a clip from the over 3.5 hour meeting that took place that day. Among the many things that Mr. Siddall states at this moment in the meeting are as follows: Canadians are among world leaders in household debt. Pre-COVID, the ratio of gross debt to GDP for Canada was at 99%.  Due in part to increased borrowing but even more so to declines in GDP, we estimate it will increase to above 115% in Q2 2020 and reach 130% in Q3, before declining. These ratios are well in excess of the 80% threshold above whic...

TORONTO REGIONAL REAL ESTATE BOARD (TRREB) RELEASES APRIL 2020 MARKET WATCH VIDEO

RBC ECONOMICS MONTHLY HOUSING REPORT Home Buyers and Sellers Returned to the Market in May - RBC Economics Early reports from local real estate boards showed home resales picked up noticeably from April's generational lows. The month-to-month percentage increases-ranging from 30% to almost 70%-certainly look impressive though this speaks more about the extremely weak comparison point in April. May's rebound is the first step on a long road to recovery.

NEW RULES FROM CMCH WHICH AFFECT HIGH RATIO MORTGAGE INSURANCE QUALIFYING COMMENCE 1ST JULY 2020!

Covid-19 saw a mass shift of workers change-up their place of employment from the Office in a sterile commercial building downtown to the individual worker's own Home Office. What does this shift bode for the home and office of the future. And how will this change effect on the nature of work, workers & employers, and the real estate market. Read on to find out more in the below Forbes magazine article courtesy of Jacob Weiner of Investors Group Financial Services Inc. Is Home The New Office? The office is dead and remote working is the future, or so they say. By forcing people to work from home, the coronavirus pandemic has opened businesses' eyes to new ways of working - and the office doesn't feature.

U.S. SELLERS IN HIGH END MARKETS ARE COMING BACK  The U.S. real estate market, like so many of their markets, is often a harbinger of what eventually happens in the Canadian market -- but usually delayed and to scale or a little less. Therefore, could news of the high end luxury real estate market perking back up bode well for Toronto and Canada in general?  Sellers-Particularly in the Higher End-Return to Market Confidence is percolating among home sellers in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the nation's first hotspots for the coronavirus and now one of the first to see its housing market rebound.

Read Shawn Venasse's Newsletter on Nuzzel.

Staying home to self isolate or help reduce the number of people in public spaces does not mean your property value halts – there are many tips to maximize your home value while you are at home! Here are some of my favourites: Curb Appeal Now that nurseries are open and we all have more time to ourselves, one of the best tips to maximize your home value is to improve your curb appeal! Your home’s exterior is the first thing people see therefore it will garner their first impression. If your home is not inviting from the outside, chances are potential buyers will not even want to look the inside. Your garden does not need to be the most elaborate one on the block. You can create low-maintenance gardens with boulders and easy-to-care-for plants that blend well with your neighbourhood’s style. Just as a house with no curb appeal is off-putting to some, a house with an overly landscaped front yard can be intimidating to those who do not have a green thumb or cannot afford regular landscapi...