Tatti Talk

During the course of any week I cross paths with a lot of people. The cross section is remarkable really and I feel honoured to be around so many. When it comes to Real Estate I am still shocked to learn on daily basis that some feel that buying a property should be like buying a small item online. Many seem to think the property should show up on their laptop so they can click to buy it. It doesn`t work that way. It never has and never will. Technology can help you in the first layer of searching but you have to go and see the property. You have to invest the time, because it is your purchase. Unless you can do this without the help of a mortgage you will be paying for this decision for the next 20 years or so. I encourage you to visit open houses, sign with a real estate sales representative and tap into their (my) expertise. Most purchases happen within 21 days of signing a buyer rep agreement with a sales rep. It can be an intense three weeks of your life but when your decision will likley last 20 years or more its clear, you must give this process its due respect.

Spring is Here

We are just slightly past the first full day of spring, the Leafs are still alive in the NHL playoff push and the Spring market for home selling/buying is here. There is no better indicator than our weekly Tuesday morning meeting at our Queen Street REMAX/Hallmark office at 2237 Queen Street East. The meeting consists of the latest breaking news for Real Estate,all agents in attendance can pump their "wish" lists and "looking for" lists. Then we go through the list of houses set up for our office agents tour. There were 10 on the list this morning. That is not a huge number but it is a healthy number. The more revealing number was our FYI list. That has future listings on it. Properties not quite ready to be listed on MLS, usually 24-48 hours away from getting listed. That list had 20 properties on it. Do the math, 10 launched today and another 20 set to go with more being added as the day progressed. yes the Spring market has indeed sprung!

Watching the Wheels

You have to like Leafs Coach Ron Wilson telling it is.. It was all downhill after the opening faceoff, he said about last nights loss in Pittsburgh.You can blame the coach for only so long. The fact is this team does not hit the ice game ready, sooner or later the players will have to pay the price for that..of course the coach will face the music first..
heh great item on the murder of John Lennon of TSN SportsCentre last night. The bit about Monday Night Football announcing the assasination of the ex-beatle was intriguing. Howard Cosell didn't seem to know what to do with the news. Frank Gifford, who was never really given much credit for anything on that announce team told Howard to announce it because it would have world wide impact..He did and 30 years later the impact is still being felt around the world.

New Opportunities

New construction is something that is quite common in the north, east and west and but when you mention new contstruction in the area around my office in The Beach you get a funny look. I write this as I sit in the store front office we have on Queen Street just east of Woodbine
for the Kew Beach Living Development that will be constructed on Kippendavie .This new development is one of many the Al Sinclair Team is involved in and I am happy to be part of it. A 65 unit condo building with a green roof plan and tree replacement program that tells you right away how well thought out the development is. One of the sales lines that I use to interested buyers goes like this, new construction south of Queen Street is certainly a rare opportunity. That line is 100 percent accurate. All of mine are, I still have a lot of journalism flowing through my veins. It is a rare opportunity indeed. Completion date is set for the fall of 2012.
If you need something faster try our converted church at 21 Swanwick, still 5 units left ranging from 699 to 849 and oh so close to the Danforth Go Station and local public transit lines, and if you want to head east a little bit try our townhouses at Birchmount and Kingston in the very low 700's, with an outdoor patio on each of the four above grade living levels and each unit has its own elevator. Average it out, the Kingston Road stock goes out at $275.00 a square foot. Please let me know where you can find that anywhere else in Toronto. Next time we talk it will be sports...

Congrats to the Als

I want to send along my congrats to the Montreal Allouettes this day. Back to back championships is more than noteworthy in these times of salary caps and cost saving. Did I enjoy watching the Allouettes win yesterday?... not really, I felt all along they would win and nothing bores me more than knowing what will happen as I invest 3-4 hours of viewing time. I still enjoy the playoffs and championship games in any pro sport. When you get to that stage all the buildup and pre game loop makes sense. It's the regular season action that grinds me.. I actually still like watching tons of sports, but I can't handle the endless pre game loop that tells you about useless story lines. You get the full nine yards of tv production on the opening to game 20 of the regular season whether it needs it or not. It might just be me, but once the game starts it seems like that entire pre game wheel is forgotten in an instant. While we.....er.... I am venting, I have totally given up on the salary cap. It should be renamed salary crap.Why would any sane hockey fan in a mecca like Toronto care that his team can only spend a fixed amount of money to keep sinking teams like the Florida Panthers in business. Due to the incredible NHL marketing machine revenues keep going up and while the spending ceiling increases every year so does the spending floor. That alone will eventually force the weak teams to consider a move back to Canada, we hope! Next time out we talk Real Estate.

The Time is Right

The countdown has begun and we are not talking about the metre running on when the Jays become an also ran . Several indicators have drawn a line in the sand and its time to get moving. I am not allowed to delve into financial predictions for you but you are aware the lending rates are moving. They will not hit the 19.5 percent I got hit with in the 1982, but they are starting to wiggle. You are also aware that the HST slides into home plate July 1st. And so as I write on the eve of April 9th and there is still plenty of time to dive in. The market has been good and healthy. Perhaps the best indicator is this comment from a mortgage broker friend this week. He was talking about moving and I asked him why? You don't have to be a journalist to ask that but since I am more than qualified I did. His response,"now is the time, there is no better time than now". That from somebody who works for a company that may be doing your mortgage. Need I say more? Didn't think so!

A Great Opportunity

I have spent the past three weekends hosting an Open House @ 21 Swanwick. It is an unqiue development, a Church converted into 10 condo units..yes the final conversion... I have hosted pretty well the entire neighbourhood and everyone one of them was impressed with the builder's use of the interior space and the builder's crew of workers. Many said they have seen minor house renovations that have caused more trouble to the neighbourhood. These units are one of a kind, new construction in a restored building, the best of both worlds. They come with the tarion warranty and here is the catch you can't find in the Beach area, these units come without a bidding war. The price includes gst, the maintenance fee ($167.00 for most), includes building insurance,water,private garbage,landcsaping and snow removal. These are fantastic units. You should take a look.