10 Tips for Halloween Safety! - From The Fire Guy

Courtesy Canadian Red Cross                            The day that paranormal creatures invade city streets is near.
As your little ones prepare their costumes to trick or treat their way through the night, the Canadian Red Cross has prepared a quick list of 10 tips to make sure everyone gets home safely. You may not need to fear vampires and ghosts knocking on your door, but fire hazards, scrapes and getting lost are potential concerns.

1.     Give your kids a map of their trick or treat route so they can find their way home. Mark the homes of nearby friends and relatives in case they need assistance on their journey. Younger children should be chaperoned by an adult.

2.     Instruct children to walk on the sidewalk not the street - even princesses and fairies have to watch out for motorists!

3.     Prepare for the dark with lighter coloured clothing and reflective surfaces. What better way to decorate a sword or a cape than with magical glowing tape?

4.     Avoid any type of flame by substituting candles with glow sticks. Wigs and costumes are highly flammable and glow sticks are perfect for illuminating Jack-o-lanterns.

5.     Remind your kids to stick with groups of at least four or five - after all, even legendary heroes are stronger as a team (like the Avengers and X-Men!)

6.     Tell them to only visit residences with a porch light on and not to enter a stranger’s home - politely accept candy and promptly leave.

7.     Costumes are meant to embellish - not to hide. Keep hems short to avoid tripping and don’t let masks block the eyes.

8.     Whether you have one eye, two eyes, three eyes or four, always look both ways before crossing the street.

9.     Both mystical creatures and children need to let parents check their candy before eating to remove any potential hazards.

10.   A flashlight is akin to a protective light saber of sorts and makes night-time travelling safer (it also helps you spot a ghost or goblin trying to plan a surprise attack!)

Following these tips on October 31 will help ensure your family has a fun and safe night of trick or treating!

For all your Retrofit needs remember The Fire Guy
 "Who is here protecting you from Fire and Fire Departments"

VivaNext Construction update! Prospect South of Davis

Utility manhole construction on Prospect Street south of Davis Drive As part of the rapidway construction on Davis Drive, a utility manhole will be constructed just south of Davis Drive on the east side of Prospect Street. Dates: Starting Monday, October 22 for approximately four weeks* Times: 7am-5:30pm Lane closure and work area Crews will be working in the northbound curb lane on Prospect Street around the Southlake Regional Health Centre parking garage entrance (see map). Sidewalk and bus stop information The east sidewalk around the work area on Prospect Street will be closed. Please follow on site signs. All entrances to the hospital will remain open. Should the bus stop on Prospect Street (near Grace Street) be temporarily relocated south during this work, on site signs will guide pedestrians to the new bus stop location. Please note: There may be short-term noise disturbances and intermittent vibration associated to this work. If you have questions about the rapidway project, please visit vivanext.com, or contact: Michelle Dudzik Community Liaison Specialist Telephone: 905.886.6767 Ext.1096 Cell: 905.716.7663 Email: michelle.dudzik@york.ca *Please note: As with other road construction projects, some work will have traffic flow and noise impacts or may be rescheduled due to weather conditions and other variables. We are committed to providing advance notice whenever possible.

Mortgage Pre-Approvals... Not what they used to be.

I received an interesting email today from a Mortgage Broker, Darlene Hinton. Usually I disregard the bombardment of emails I get from Mortgage Brokers, but the first line really caught my attention since I have one property which I have now sold three times because the Buyers financing on the first two deals fell apart before the removal of the financing condition.

Mortgage Pre-approvals are not what they used to be. In times past, a client could depend on a bank's word when they gave them preapproval to start shopping. That's just not the case anymore. I see it all the time. . . clients happily shopping (and putting in an offer to purchase) confident they were golden with their bank. . . only to find there was some glitch. There are too many to list, but it could be something as inane as the address of the property the client wants to buy or an issue with the source of a client's downpayment. Maybe the clients credit rating drops between Pre-approval and Offer to Purchase. It could be anything.

Many of these issues can be avoided by using a Broker who takes the time to establish a personal relationship with their client. I try to gather every fact I can so as to avoid unneccesary stress and disappointment. But perhaps even more importantly. . . I have access to a plethora of Lenders that would be happy to step in should a Lender get cold feet.

Do you want to save both yourself and your client precious time? Call me for your homebuyers financng. . .and let's close more deals. . faster and more efficiently.    :)

Call me. I can help.

--

DARLENE HINTON
 

Mortgage Agent

Touch Residential Capital

note2darlene@gmail.com

License #M10001367

Phone: 705-331-6774

Fax: 1-866-716-7038

Weekend GoTrain Service to Newmarket/Aurora!

If you didn't know, it is now possible to catch the GoTrain to and From Toronto in Newmarket/Aurora on weekends and Holidays.
Between June 23, 2012 and September 3, 2012, GoTransit (Government of Ontario Transit) is doing a pilot GoTrain schedule along the Barrie line.
My guess is that they will continue if they see the usage, but it appears to be here just for the Summer (for now).

Here is some details on the Service:

It appears that there will be 2 trains that will do the entire route from Barrie to Toronto and run up and down all day, 6 times. However, will only run all the way to Barrie twice, stopping and turning around at the East Gwillimbury Station on Green Lane 4 of the 6 times.

This train line services: Allandale go Station (Barrie) -> Barrie South Go station -> Bradford Go Station -> East Gwillimbury (EG) Go Station -> Newmarket GoTrain Station -> Aurora Go Station -> King City Go Station -> Maple Go Station -> Rutherford Go Station -> York University Go Station -> Union Station (Toronto)

South Bound Service:

10:20am departure - Barrie (Allandale Go Station) -> Toronto (union Station) - 11:58am arrival

1:20pm departure - EG Station (Green Lane/Main St North) -> Toronto - 2:21pm arrival

4:12pm departure - EG Station -> Toronto - 5:13pm Arrival

5:00pm departure - Barrie Allandale Station -> Toronto - 6:38pm arrival

8:00pm departure - EG Station -> Toronto - 9:01pm Arrival

10:22pm departure - EG Station -> Toronto - 11:56pm arrival

Northbound Service

12:10pm departure - Toronto (Union) -> EG Station - 1:09pm arrival

3:01pm departure - Toronto -> EG Station - 4pm arrival

5:25pm departure - Toronto -> Barrie Allandale Station - 7:02pm arrival

6:50pm departure - Toronto -> EG Station - 7:49pm arrival

9:41pm departure - Toronto -> EG Station - 10:40pm arrival

12:10am departure - Toronto -> Barrie Allandale Station - 1:45am arrival

to view the complete schedule, click on the following link:
http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/PDF/Timetables/CurrentBoard/Table65.pdf

Newmarket Southbound trains (GoTrain station @ Davis Drive/Superior [Tannery Mall]):

11:00am; 1:23pm; 4:15pm; 5:40pm; 8:03pm; 10:58pm

Aurora Southbound Trains (Aurora GoTrain Station on Wellington):

11:06am; 1:29pm; 4:21pm; 5:46pm; 8:09pm; 11:04pm

I'll be sure to follow how well this pilot program goes as I believe better train service to Newmarket/Aurora will be well used in the coming years.
Lets see a few more trains during the work week too!

Increasing your payment by a small amount can yield huge savings.

As you know, you're paying interest every day you have a mortgage. So the sooner you reduce the amount you owe, the less interest you pay. One relatively painless way to do this is by increasing your payment by a small amount. Then all you have to do is sit back and let time work it's magic—before you know it, you'll have chipped thousands of dollars off your mortgage! 

Let's say you have a $200,000 mortgage at 4.5% with a 30 year amortization, and you're in year 3. If you increase your monthly payment by $100—roughly the cost of one premium coffee per day—that reduces your amortization by 51 months and saves you $24,622 in interest over the life of the mortgage! Now, I'm not suggesting you give up all of life's pleasures to pay off your mortgage faster. But it's obvious that doing something small can make a BIG difference. 


Information is compliments of:
Mike Havery AMP, Mortgage Planner
http://www.themortgagearchitect.ca/

Demand for Luxury homes on the rise across Canada

Sales of luxury homes have started out at a record-setting pace for 2012, up almost 50 per cent over the first quarter of last year, according to a new ReMax report.
While the luxury market only accounts for about 2 per cent of the total GTA housing market, the unexpectedly strong demand, coupled with a
“severe shortage” of prime properties in higher-end neighbourhoods, is only further fuelling bidding wars and price escalations, it says.
That, in turn, is driving more properties into the “luxury” price range. Even suburban communities such as Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill have seen a 54 per cent jump in demand for $1.5 million-plus homes in the first quarter of 2012 over 2011.
But that translates into just 54 luxury homes changing hands in those communities, it’s important to note, up from 35 sales in the first quarter of last year.
The annual report, Upper-End Market Trends 2012, examines prices and trends across Canada, prime neighbourhood by prime neighbourhood.
Luxury sales records were set in 10 of the 16 urban markets the report tracks, although the definition of luxury can vary from $500,000 (in mid-sized markets such as Regina and Halifax) up to $2 million (Greater Vancouver.)
Some 412 homes sold for over $1.5 million from January to the end of March across the GTA, up from 277 during the same time last year, the report says.
While high-end demand in Toronto was hot — especially in neighbourhoods within walking distance of transit — things have cooled in Vancouver where last year a frenzy of foreign buyers not only drove up sales numbers, but skewed average house prices upward right across the country before the buying frenzy eased later in 2011.
Low interest rates, improving consumer confidence and “tremendous confidence in the city’s residential housing market” in the face of stock market and global economic turmoil, are all being cited as factors. But, even then, the sales figures came as a surprise, says Michael Polzler, executive vice president for ReMax Ontario-Atlantic Canada.
“We didn’t expect (luxury sales) to be up nearly this much. This is significant.
“I think there is a lot of momentum out there in the market and people want to buy. If anything, in many cases, there is a shortage of product.”
That shortage is being felt even in the condo sector, Polzler said.
Seven per cent of luxury sales were condos in Toronto’s pricey core, the report notes, most of them in Yorkville.
The highest-priced condo sold in Toronto so far this year went for $5.3 million — a far cry from the record $28 million spent by an international buyer last year for a penthouse, due to be completed this summer, in the new Four Seasons Private Residences and hotel towers.
Regina, where luxury comes in at $500,000 or more, saw the biggest increase in luxury sales this year, up 56 per cent over the first quarter of 2011.
More: New home prices continue to rise
More: Things to watch for when flipping a condo
]]> http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1179107--demand-for-high-priced-homes-up-across-canada http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1179107 Thu, 17 May 2012 11:38:00 -0400

How to Avoid renting to a Problem Tenant!

http://www.moneyville.ca (C) 2009 thestar.com All rights Reserved. en-us [moneyville logo] http://www.moneyville.ca
A recent Toronto Star story exposed a problem tenant successful in abusing the Ontario landlord and tenant process to avoid paying rent. It can take landlords up to nine months to evict these types of ‘professional’ tenants.
However, it would be wrong to paint all tenants with the same brush. Over 95 per cent of Ontario tenants pay their rent on time and take care of their rental units. For every problem tenant, there are also problem landlords who do not properly maintain their buildings.
Here is how landlords and tenants can avoid problems:
Qualify your tenant in advance
When you advertise for a tenant, make it clear that you will be doing a credit check and checking personal references. This will assist in discouraging potential scammers.
Related: Why month to month may be better than a lease
Ask for a pay stub or banking information. Make sure that the proposed tenant makes regular deposits into their bank account, to prove steady employment.
Call references to make sure they check out
Google the tenant’s name to see if their social media information is the same as that on your rental application
Make sure the address on their driver’s license matches where they say they live now.
Join a service such as tenantverification.com to check a tenant’s credit
Have the tenant pay for utilities, if separately metered. They will have to pass the credit check of the utility company as well.
Treat tenants with respect
Successful investors understand that tenants are your silent partners. They are a source of income and are looking after your investment. When you treat them with respect, and show appreciation, they will also take better care of your building.

Something as simple as agift card can go a long way. When the tenants leave, if they have been a model tenant, why not award them with a certificate of superior tenancy, to show your appreciation. This might help them find another unit, especially if they have other credit problems.
Related: When can you evict a tenant for a family member?
If things go wrong, it is better to make a deal
Sometimes bad things happen. A tenant loses their job and even though they would like to pay the rent, they can’t. Instead of rushing to the landlord and tenant board, which takes time and results in hard feelings, try to work it out.

Perhaps offer to help the tenant move back with relatives and forgive part or all of the back rent owed, in exchange for the tenant leaving early. Let the tenant know that if they agree, you will also not notify the credit bureau about this and ruin their credit rating.

The landlord can then write off the amount owing and find another tenant to take over the unit. Also, when a deal is made, the tenant is likely not to damage the unit when they leave, which is what usually happens when things end badly.
Tenants, also show appreciation to those landlords who do properly look after your buildings. Don’t change the locks without permission, or permit visitors to damage anything on the property.
When landlords and tenants work together, everyone wins.
Mark Weisleder is a Toronto real estate lawyer. Contact Mark at mark@markweisleder.com
]]> http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1179318--how-to-avoid-renting-to-a-tenant-from-hell http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1179318 Fri, 18 May 2012 18:00:00 -0400