How to find a GREAT Real Estate Agent

You could simply call me. Seriously when looking to buy or sell your next home how do you find a Good Agent that will work with you and look out for your best interest.

First is to ask a Friend or Family Member for a Referal. Source the area for an active Agent.
Check out the Net and Google Toronto Real Estate Agent or Real Estate Agent in the Area of the City you are interested. Create a Short List and Book a meeting with the Agent.
Ask them about there experience, there marketing plan, understand and feel comfortable that they have the experience and knowledge to assist you.

Allen Mayer, Broker
http://www.allenmayer.com/

Bank of Canada holds rates, signals no hike soon

 

Tue Mar 1, 2011 12:16pm EST

 

By Randall Palmer and Louise Egan OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada left its key interest rate unchanged at 1 percent on Tuesday and gave no signal it plans to raise rates soon, spurring traders to scale back rate-hike bets and to knock the Canadian dollar off a three-year high. The central bank repeated the exact language on rates that it used in its January rate announcement, saying that while considerable monetary stimulus remains in place "any further reduction in monetary policy stimulus would need to be carefully considered". It said the Canadian recovery was moving a bit faster than it expected and hailed a budding recovery in net exports. But it cautioned that the export sector "continues to face considerable challenges from the cumulative effects of the persistent strength in the Canadian dollar and Canada's poor relative productivity performance". Investors hoping for a hint that recent strong economic data would prompt the bank to resume rate hikes at its next decision date on April 12 were disappointed. The Canadian dollar weakened against the U.S. currency following the stay-the-course statement. "On balance, it suggests no imminent rate move," said Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada. It also raised more doubts about whether the bank would move on rates at either its April 12 or May 31 policy-announcement dates. Most analysts polled by Reuters last week predicted the bank would resume rate hikes in the first half of the year, with May 31 being the most likely date for the next move. Markets "perhaps got ahead of themselves in their expectations for first-half rate hikes," said Jacqui Douglas of TD Securities.   Posted by Allen Mayer, Broker http://www.allenmayer.com/

Improving Your Home's Look and Value

 

With buyers becoming more selective when looking for a new home, sellers are finding more ways to improve their homes that will not only make them more attractive to buyers, but also provide a great return on investment.

One of the best ways to achieve this is by installing hardwood floors. Hardwood floors make a home look newer while also adding quality and character. Floors are important because they provide the first impression to buyers. It’s the first thing a buyer will typically notice, so improving the quality of your floors could mean the difference between selling your home or it staying on the market. As the popularity of hardwood floors has grown so has the number of options. People aren’t just looking for solid hardwood anymore. Pre-finished hardwood is huge, so is cork and bamboo. Even laminate continues to grow in popularity.

Before installing a new floor in your home, it’s best to know your price range and how the floor will be used.

Hardwood
Hardwood floors give a home the look of luxury and are typically found in living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms. Historically, installing solid hardwood floors has been a time consuming task due to the necessary sanding, sealing and staining. But that no longer has to be the case as the trend has been shifting recently toward pre-finished hardwood floors that carry warranties of up to 50 years.

Bamboo
Because it’s eco-friendly and provides a handsome grain, bamboo continues to increase in popularity for homeowners looking to improve the value of their home while making it “green” at the same time. Bamboo is actually a grass which replenishes itself naturally in the wild, so by using bamboo, you preserve the habitat of endangered wildlife.

Cork
Cork flooring is another option for those who want an eco-friendly material in their home. It is durable, acoustical and an insulator making it a great option for those high traffic areas of your home. Cork is considered a green product because the same tree can be harvested numerous times.

Laminate
Because laminate is durable and low-maintenance, it’s also a good choice for those high-traffic areas in your home. They are also nice for the homeowner on a budget as these floors mimic the look of hardwood at a more reasonable price.

In this highly selective real estate market, sellers need to make a great first impression on a buyer from the moment they set foot in the home. Those who install a new floor stand a better chance at getting a buyer’s attention and sending their home’s value through the roof.

This article was provided by Lumber Liquidators. Lumber Liquidators offers a large selection of styles in hardwood, bamboo, cork and laminate in every price range.

Flaherty warns of even higher mortgage rates

Flaherty warns of even higher mortgage rates after this week's jump

 

By The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press – Tue, 8 Feb .2011.

 

OTTAWA - Interest rates are going up, and the federal finance minister says he expects them to rise even more.
The Royal Bank increased several of its posted and special mortgage rates on Tuesday, joining TD Bank and CIBC.
All three banks have increased the posted rate for a five-year closed mortgage by a quarter of a percentage point, to 5.44 per cent.
RBC also raised its special fixed rate offer for a five-year closed mortgage by the same percentage amount, to 4.39 per cent.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he's not surprised.
"The recent increase by a couple of the banks is exactly what we expected," Flaherty told reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons.
And more increases should be coming, Flaherty predicted, since lending rates have been hovering close to historic lows.
"We're likely to see higher interest rates as we go forward because interest rates are still very low."
Flaherty commented as he denounced a Liberal opposition day motion calling on the Harper government to reverse a planned 1.5-percentage-point corporate tax cut.

posted by Allen Mayer, Broker  http://www.allenmayer.com/

TD hikes mortgage rates

TD Canada Trust announced Monday February 7.2011  they would be raising some of their fixed-term mortgage rates by as much as a quarter of a percentage point.

The five-year fixed rate mortgage, a popular choice among Canadians, increased by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.44 per cent.
The five-year special closed fixed rate also increased by 0.25 of a percentage point to 4.39 per cent.
The four-year fixed rate increased by 0.20 of a percentage point to 5.14 per cent, and the six-year fixed rate by 0.25 of a percentage point to 5.95 per cent.
All the new rates come into effect on Tuesday.
The hike comes one month after the federal government announced changes to mortgage rules.
The new rates only apply to new mortgages and renewals, and will not impact existing mortgages.
As of Monday afternoon, no other Canadian bank had announced their own hikes.

Posted by Allen Mayer, Broker     http://www.allenmayer.com/

Mayor Ford's Cost Cuts

What happened to Rob Ford the slasher?

Contrary to the expectation of many, including no doubt most people who voted for Rob Ford, the city will actually employ more people in the first year of Ford’s administration. After all the claims about waste at city hall and lambasting of those officials who’d allowed Toronto’s work force to balloon under David Miller, Matt Gurney and Jonathan Goldsbie ask how will Ford’s hiring of even more workers sit with the citizens?

GOLDSBIE: City press releases conclude with a paragraph of boilerplate, offering basic background information on the City of Toronto and its leadership.  As of January 5th, the text was modified to reflect Mayor Rob Ford’s particular priorities, including the self-cannibalistic pledge that “Toronto’s government is dedicated to … reducing the size and cost of government.” It’s therefore amusingly ironic that this year’s city budgets involve a net increase of 48 jobs, rather than the mass shrinkage Ford repeatedly promised during the campaign. But I’m not terribly fond of mocking him for breaking a vow that was poorly thought out in the first place; while I enjoy watching reality smash apart his dishonest rhetoric, I also believe in positive reinforcement. Capital projects such as making TTC stations accessible necessarily require hiring new people to get the job done. On the one hand, good for him for (in this narrow case) not placing ideology ahead of progress. On the other hand, wouldn’t you say that’s a rather low bar for governance?
GURNEY: I’d grant that that’s a low bar for governance, but wouldn’t grant that Ford is only reaching that unenviable target. As to the crux of the issue, while some of Ford’s all-anger/no-brains supporters might be outraged, I believe that most Ford supporters — and voters who didn’t vote for him but conceivably might — won’t be too freaked out by what is essentially a rounding error in the city’s workforce. I think the Ford team has been pretty clear that 2011 was going to be a year where not a whole lot changed while the new government got a handle on the nitty gritty details of the city’s operations. I entirely agree with something Chris Selley (who couldn’t join us today) recently said in a column: Bring in outsider auditors, get a handle on every department and agency, and go from there. That might mean that 2012 is indeed a year of painful cuts, or if a full audit dragged on, Ford might content himself with largely holding the line until ready to make big sweeping moves on staffing levels. What did catch my eye as was Doug Holyday’s comments that, having now taken office, they’re going to have to reconsider which of their promises they can follow through on. That’s pragmatic to a degree and in a sense refreshing to hear, but I was a bit unnerved to see how quickly they seemed to be backing away from major job cuts. Having an election promise arrive later than expected, that’s something the voters need to be grown up about. But a Reduce The Size Of Government Campaign can’t go back on a promise to slash the government without warranting some backlash.
GOLDSBIE: The paradox of Ford is that he ran both a Reduce The Size Of Government Campaign and a Make People Happy Campaign and didn’t quite understand that there might be a contradiction there. While some people (yourself included) are of the belief that small government is an ideal in itself, I do like to think that’s a minority opinion and that most people understand that government of a certain stature is fundamental to the quality of life we enjoy and would like to build upon. But regardless of who’s in charge, 2012 was always going to be an especially difficult budget, with the bills for a number of capital projects coming due. The solution hinted at by Councillor Doug Ford (who functions as both the de facto mayor and the de facto budget chief) seems to be the privatization of whatever assets can be legally jettisoned … but even setting aside the debate around whether that is wise or desirable, there is no reason to think that it would be anything less than extremely difficult to achieve. And that, even if achieved, it would result in any substantial savings. Every once in a while, Rob and Doug will open their mouths, and I am unnervingly reminded that they don’t understand their populist grandstanding is exactly that. Government is an infinitely more complex organism than newspapers or talk radio portray it to be, and it is resistant to easy answers. I can only hope that as the Fords gradually come to appreciate that fact, their response is not a vicious one.
GURNEY: Ford can kill two birds with one stone, since making government smaller makes his supporters happy. Nothing paradoxical about that. Further, I dispute that the “stature” of a government must be directly linked to the size of its workforce and budgets, rather than its accomplishments (or that a constantly “built upon” government will translate into improving lives for us all). The problem in Toronto has been the perception —whether accurate or not is open to debate — that despite the fact that the government and its costs to the taxpayer kept going up and up, the quality of life you speak of was not increasing accordingly, but was in fact declining. That’s where the anti-government anger comes from. People are, I think, fundamentally reconciled to paying for services or for government institutions, whether we’re talking libraries in a specific city or the nation’s armed forces. But they need to be convinced that their dollars are providing something, and it’s hard to do that while constantly asking for more without offering more in return. But I do generally agree with you that Ford, having promised both a smaller government and no reduction in services, is going to have to go with one or the other (and I suspect I know which option we’d both choose). As we’ve discussed earlier, I think you and I are in broad agreement that due to his personality, he’ll probably find that damned hard to do. Those around him in the circle of power? Less so.
GOLDSBIE: Asking for more without offering more in return? Like increasing user fees while cutting bus routes and closing a library?
GURNEY: I can only imagine the horror Ford feels at the prospect of having to make up the few dozen votes that might cost him … but probably won’t.

Published  City Hall City of  Toronto Financial Post

Posted by Allen Mayer, Broker http://www.allenmayer.com/

Toronto January 2011 House Sales Report

GTA January 2011 House Sales

Each month Greater Toronto Area housing information is released midmonth and here is the update for January. When compared to the first fourteen days of January 2010, there seems to be a slight decline. Generally however, the sales can still be considered quite high, Toronto Real Estate Board President Bill Johnston said.
Exactly 1,563 sales were reported by the Greater Toronto Realtors from the first half of this month. In comparison with 1,749 homes sold during the same period in January of last year, it is an 11 percent decline. Sales in the city of Toronto fell too, from 708 to 628. Prices, on the contrary, increased again. The average price for a home in GTA during the first two weeks of this month was $413,565, up 5 percent from $395,307 compared to the first fourteen days of January 2010.

Posted by Allen Mayer, Broker http://www.allenmayer.com/