Real Estate Brokerage
Office: (519) 856-9922
Fax: (519) 856-9909
295 Alma Street
Rockwood ON
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Jennie's Blog
When you are short on space, but big on ideas, organization and ingenuity are key. Similr to the way a large space can be arranged to seem more intimate, a small space can be designed to appear more spacious. It's easy to do - you just have to be creative in your use of paint, furniture and lighting.
Use Lighter Shades - Light and airy colours such as cream, white, icy blue, pale green & yellow can help make a small room appear larger.
Make it bright - Uncovering windows and adding additional light fixtures can eleiminate dark shadows.
Eliminate obstructions - Eliminate clutter & avoid over-decorating. Arrange furnishings to open up floor space & avoid blocking doors and windows. Add to the illusion of space with the sparkle and reflection of mirrors.
Optimize your space - For efficient small space living, utilize multipurpose items such as futons, compact kitchen sets & storage trunks.
The Bank of Canada's key lending rate at a record low 0.25%. that's been the rate since April 21 of last year.
In a most recent report it said: Conditional on the outlook for inflation, the target overnight rate can be expected to remain at its current level until the end of the second quarter of 2010. The global economic recovery is under way and should return to full capacity with inflation returning to the 2% target in the third quarter of 2011. The Bank projects that the economy will grow by 2.9% in 2010 and 3.5% in 2011.
- Bundle up in layered clothing for better evaporation of perspiration. Outer garments should be tightly woven and water repellent. Wear boots with non-skid soles to avoid slips and falls.
- With a quality shovel, lift with your leg muscles, not your back and remember, pace yourself and take frequent breaks.
- Consider using a snow blower to push the white stuff away. Maintain your blower by checking areas such as the engine oil levels, blower system chute positioning and tire pressure on a regular basis.
- Make sure you have well-lit walkways around the outside of your home.
- If necessary, try using a long handled snow rake to clear snow drifts away.
Cooler winter temperatures and shorter daylight hours naturally limit the time we spend outside. Current interior design trends use nature punctuated with colour as a theme. Once your home is updated with the winter season's latest design essentials, it is most visually appealing to prospective buyers. Serious homebuyers are indeed active through the holidays and into the early months of the New Year. This means minimal disruption for you and your family and viewings from truly qualified prospects. Here are some of this season's 'outdoor-in' design essentials.
Wreaths and Garlands: Made from traditional pine or more contemporary bay leaves, eucalyptus or holly. Garlands look best along mantles, doorframes, windowsills and banisters, snaked among candles on tabletop centrepieces and as trimming atop tall furniture like bookcases and entertainment credenzas.
Trees and Topiaries: Like wreaths and garlands, trees and topiaries combine the same natural elements interwoven with vivid colours whether live or faux. This season, you can also find them made entirely of a single material, such as glass-like beads, holly berries, tinsel or round ornaments. Available in a variety of sizes, they can be brilliantly illuminated with lights and garland, or they can sparkle alone with a pre-treatment designed to imitate frost, ice or dew.
Faux Fire: Indoors or out, there's nothing quite like sitting around a fire to add ambiance to quality time spent enjoying family and friends. It's no surpirse then, that sales of electric fireplaces are red-hot this season. They provide the romance and warmth of a traditional gas or wood burning fire without the requisite venting or gas lines.
Finishing Touches: Just as the snow sparkles outside, so too do those finishing touches. From decorative ornaments, to picture frames, to napkin rings, to cardholders, to candles and candleholders. If those finishing touches aren't bejeweled with faux gemstones, then they glitter with the imitation effect of frost or ice.
The dramatically rising costs of home heating is a big concern for most Canadians. Heating your home efficiently will be the key to keeping your energy costs under control. Following are some quick, easy and most importantly, inexpensive ways to maximize warmth and minimize impact to your pocketbook.
Adjust Your Personal Thermostat: Wear a sweater and dress warmly around the house. When you're stationary, watching television or reading, you're most susceptible to a chill, so toss a throw around you. Since hot air rises, resist the icy influence of cooler floors with thick socks or slippers.
Adjust Your Home Thermostat: It goes without saying that the less energy you use, the lower your heating bills will be. Set your thermostat at 21 C when you're at home awake, 18 C when you're sleeping and 15 C when out of the house. Purchase a programmable thermostat to reduce your heating bill by as much as 20%.
Let the Sun Shine In: While up to 25% of your home's heat is lost through its windows, they are also a source of solar warmth. During daylight hours, keep your drapes open and let the sun help heat your home. Insulate your windows with plastic film to reduce heat loss by 50%. Insulating curtains are expensive, but pay for themselves within 7 years.
Seal the Leaks: Caulk, seal and weather strip around windows and doorframes, baseboards, ducting and electrical outlets to save up to 20% on your heating bill. Remember to close your fireplace flue when you're not enjoying a fire. Install a door sweep to resist against under-the-door drafts. Turn off the heat supply and close the door to unused rooms, such as a guest bedroom. Close interior doors leading to hallways or stairways to keep the heat where it's needed most.
A burgler can strike in any neighbourhood Although burglar alarms are good deterrents, there are things you can do to make your home less enticing to criminals than others in your neighbourhood.
Get a Dog. If that's too extreme, get a 'beware of dog' sign or place a partially chewed extra-large rawhide bone by your back door. Intruders don't want to cope with large dogs.
Keep the garage closed. Not only do garages often provide sheltered places for burglars to break into your home without being seen from the street, they're also where you most likely keep easily-fenced items like bicycles, power tools and golf clubs.
Use automatic timers. Putting automatic timers on lights and radios to go on and off at different times makes it appear as if someone is home when no one's there. These can be especially important when you're away from home for an extended time.
Don't advertise new purchases. When you buy something new or expensive for your home such as a TV, don't put the packaging on the curb for trash pick up. Instead, take those empty boxes to your local recycling or waste disposal centre or somewhere else where they won't be connected to your home.
Install good deadbolts. They should have a reinforced strike plate with three-inch screws. If there is glass near the door handle, you might want to consider a double keyed deadbolt lock. However, be sure you have a key nearby at all times inside in case of a fire or another emergency requiring quick escape.
Use your alarm system signs. Those stickers and signs could be what keep your alarm system from never being activated.
Don't let papers or mail accumulate. Either arrange for a neighbour to pick them up daily or temporarily stop delivery while you're out of town.
Make sure all windows and doors are locked. This may sound basic, but it's surprising how often a burglar can just walk in. Make sure any sliding doors are extra secure, as these are often seen as an easy point of entry.
Don't let your home stand out. Keep your landscaping maintained, but avoid making your home the showcase of the street; that could attract unwanted attention.
Keep entrances visible. Overgrown shrubbery can hide burglars from the street while they break into your home.
Use caution during the day. Burglaries are just as likely to take place during the day, when everyone is away at work or school. Just because it's daylight doesn't mean your home is safe.
Tips courtesy of AmeriSpec Home Inspection Service.
Fall is here and so with it comes a list of recommended to-do's for homeowners to protect their homes and prepare for winter.
- Have your furnace and heating system serviced by a qualified technician.
- Check venting systems of all of your equipment to ensure there are no obstructions. i.e. check your chimney for things such as bird, squirrel and racoon nests. Direct vents should be checked so that there are no bees or wasp nests.
- Clean leaves from eaves troughs and downspouts to ensure proper drainage from the roof.
- If you have a heat recovery ventilator, clean the intake grill outside and the filters inside the unit. Pour water down the condensation drain to test it.
- Ensure that the ground around your house slopes away from the foundation wall to prevent water from draining into your basement.
- Check exhaust ducts from dryers, bathroom fans and kitchen ranges that lead to the outside to make sure there are no obstructions. Check under the flaps to make sure nothing is nesting inside and clean it out.
- Vacuum electric baseboard heaters to remove dust and remove the grilles on forced air systems and vacuum inside the ducts.
- Ensure all windows and doors shut tightly, including the door between the house and garage, if you have one. It may be time to do some weather stripping.
- Run the dehumidifier in the basement throughout the fall. It should be run from spring to fall. It helps to remove a lot of moisture.
- If you have interior screens on windows and doors, remove them and store the screens for winter It promotes better air circulation to warm the glass and it may help to prevent condensation on windows.
For homes in rural areas - don't store firewood inside because it brings in a lot of moisture; have well water tested for quality; check the sump pump and line to ensure they work properly; if you have a septic tank, measure the sludge and scum to determine if it needs to be emptied before spring.
Residents in several Canadian cities can check out their streets, homes and neighbourhoods on Google Street View.
The Google Maps feature was rolled out recently displaying images on the Internet from a street-level perspective. The service is now available in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Vancouver, Squamish, B.C., Whistler, B.C., Ottawa, Kitchener and Waterloo, Ont. Once on a Google map, the user clicks and drags the image of a small yellow figure on a left-side scale and places it on the map. A photo of the street, including a 360-degree view, then appears.
In response to privacy concerns, Google has said it would blur the faces of people captured in the photos used in Street View. Street View was earlier made available in the U.S and several other countries across Europe and in Australia and Japan. Google began filming Street View images in the Canadian cities brought online today since 2007.
The Canadian Real Estate Association says 135,182 homes were sold country wide in the third quarter, up 18% from a year earlier and the most ever for the period.
It's the biggest year-over-year increase since early 2002, the group said Thursday. There were 208,215 homes listed for sale on MLS in Canada at the end of September 2009, down 16% from a year earlier. That's the fifth consecutive year-over-year decline in active listings and the largest decline in more than six years, the association said.
Is there an economic turn-around in the making? Lowe's (the home improvement retailer) increased its profit outlook for 2009 based on an increase in the U.S. Home Builders' Confidence Index. The index has risen more than 50% since January and it may catch up to levels not seen since February of 2008.
It is important to question why home builders' confidence is rising. Is it because of shrinking inventory, better financing terms, increasing rate of sales, or something else? We think it's because the U.S. Government is quite content to spend their way out of the current economic downturn. And, that all these roads and bridges they build will have to lead somewhere - perhaps to subdivisions?
Housing Completions in May for the U.S. were actually 4.9% above March's. This by itself would be enough to send the industry to a Happy Place. Another factor that might be skewing the data is many marginal players in the Home Building industry are out of business. With stronger more stable companies left, it is no wonder that the confidence index has risen.
We think it is a little too early to believe the U.S. economy is out of the woods. The full effects of the auto sector re-organization haven't been felt, and they will surely last through the rest of 2009. As a result, we will likely see mortgage rates remain near their current levels for the short-term. In the long term expect higher inflation and rising rates as a result.
With the US and Canada injecting money into the economy, there are mixed opinions on inflation in 2010. Ensure you are working with a morgage professional who can advise you about your mortgage strategy taking into account economic indicators and they're effect on your mortgage.
Written by: Sandra Lastovic, Mortgage Agent, The Mortgage Centre, e-mail: Lastovic.s@mortgage centre.com to make a comment.
The proposed Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) will provide a temporary 15% income tax credit on eligible home renovation expenditures for work performed, or goods acquired, after January 27, 2009 and before Feb 1, 2010. The credit may be claimed for the 2009 taxation year on the portion of eligible expenditures exceeding $1000, but not more than $10,000 and will provide up to $1,350 in tax relief.
For more information on all of the home ownership and housing related stimulus in Budget 2009, go to http://www.budget.gc.ca/2009/plan/bpa5a-eng.asp#Personal or to the Canada Revenue Agency Web sit at www.cra-arc.gc.ca and search for "Home Buyers Plan."
What's eligible and what's not for the Home Renovation Tax Credit?
The Federal government hopes the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) will get Canadians spending now to help create jobs in industries typically hurt by an economic downturn. Now through January 31, 2010, homeowners can claim a tax credit for 15% of renovation expenses between $1000 and $10,000. Here's a sample of what qualifies under the program and what does not.
Eligible:
- Renovating a kitchen, bathroom or basement
- New carpet or hardwood floors
- Building an addition, deck, fence or retaining wall
- A new furnace or water heater
- Painting the interior or exterior of a house
- Resurfacing a driveway
- Laying new sod
Uneligible:
- Purchase of furniture and appliances (e.g. refrigerator, stove, couch)
- Purchase of tools
- Carpet cleaning
- Maintenance contracts (e.g. furnace cleaning, snow removal, lawn care and pool cleaning)
For 2009 and subsequent years, the budget also introduced a new non-refundable tax credit to help first-time home buyers with some of their closing costs. This Home Buyer Tax Credit (HBTC) will provide up to $750 in tax relief on the purchase of a first home. The HBTC is calculated by multiplying the lowest personal income tax rate for the year (15% in 2009) by $5000. For 2009, the credit will be $750.00
To qualify for the HBTC, an individual must purchase a qualifying home and neither the homebuyer or the homebuyer's spouse or common-law partner can have owned and lived in another home in the year of purchase or any of the four preceding years.
Please contact me if you want the comfort of knowing you are working with an experienced agent to help you with the purchase of your first home.
Rates have been falling steadily for 2 months with some large decreases having taken place in the last 2 weeks and are close to the lowest they have been in the last 10 years. As of the middle of March 2009, interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages are at 4.19%.
If you have a mortgage and are currently in a fixed term mortgage of 5% or higher, it may be worth breaking that mortgage and renewing at the lower rate, even if you have to pay a penalty.
Consider the following example:
- You currently have a mortgage of $200,000 at 5% per annum, amortized over 25 years and fixed for 5 years. The monthly payment would be approximately $1,163.00.
- To renew this mortgage early, there may be a penalty to pay. In this example, there is a $5,000 penalty. This is likely more than it would be, but I like to be conservative. We will add the penalty to the total mortgage. So now, we are looking at a $205,000 mortgage at 4.19% per annum amortized over 25 years and fixed for 5 years. The monthly payment on this mortgage is $1,099.00.
Here is where the cost saving comes in. If you early renew your mortgage with the penalty included, this is what your savings will be:
- Your monthly savings on a lower mortgage payment is $65.00 per month. Over 5 years, this is a savings of $3,900.00.
- Total interest saved over 5 years because of the lower payment is $6,787.00.
- Total cost savings over 5 years will be $10,687.00 - pretty decent!
An important part of my mission statement is to provide ongoing support and useful information to my clients. I am not a mortgage specialist so I recommend you call Sandra Lastovic at The Mortgage Centre 1-866-838-4366, who has offered a FREE, no obligation, 30 minute telephone consultation exclusively to my clients to see if the outlined proposal above can be of benefit to you.
Please remember to pass on my name to friends or family who may need the services of an experienced Realtor.
Remember that even if you're moving to a new home, it's worthwhile to shop around for your mortgage. You do not have to deal with your existing financial institution if they do not have the best mortgage and interest rate available on the market. Sometimes a minimal cost can save you thousands on a lower interest rate.
Canadian employment numbers were released last week and the prognosis is that over the first half of 2009, we can expect the unemployment rate to head towards 8% before coming back down as the economy stages a recovery in the latter part of the year. Employment figures are key in predicting economic activity, which also includes looking at what is happening at GDP.
Mortgage rates will remain consistently low for 2009, but I'm encouraging my clients that if they're looking for real estate in 2009 to get pre-approved in January as a pre-approval locks in a fixed-rate for you and protects you from subtle market fluctuations.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to post a comment or contact me directly through e-mail at Lastovic.s@mortgagecentre.com. Sandra Lastovic, Mortgage Agent, The Mortgage Centre
There are many benefits to a market that favours buyers, even if you're selling a home in 2009. I've been working with several clients lately who are considering moving to a larger home in the spring of 2009 and have asked me if this is a good time to do so.
The main advantage to moving up in a market that favours buyers is that you can buy more for less. Although home prices in Guelph and area are remaining stable, let's take a worse-case scenario approach and say that they decrease by 5% across the board.
For example, if I'm selling my home of $200,000 and the price decreases by 5%, I'm selling at a $10,000 loss. The individual selling their home for $400,000, which I am interested in buying will also have a 5% decrease which benefits the buyer by $20,000. That means that as a buyer of a larger home I'm getting a $400,000 home for $380,000.
Home prices that are stabilizing and slightly depreciating are a great opportunity for a savvy homeowner looking to move up. Even though your home sale price may be lower the smaller loss at sale can be compensated by greater savings at purchase. To boot, we're at historically low interest rates which means that the larger home becomes more affordable.
For more information, please don't hesitate to contact me at lastovic.s@mortgagecentre.com. Sandra, The Mortgage Mentor.
MYTH: Only home sellers - NOT buyers - need a real estate agent.
TRUTH: Purchasing a home could be the most important and complex financial transaction you engage in and going it alone is risky. Indeed, a buyer's agent can save you time, hassle and thousands of dollars. Take time and care when selecting a real estate buyer's agent - find someone you can trust and that you have a good rapport with.
If you or someone you know has been thinking about buying a house with little or ‘zero money' as a down payment, you may want to seriously consider purchasing before mid October of this year. Current mortgage programs that allow for longer amortizations and little or no money as a down payment will no longer be available to home buyers as of October 15, 2008.
These changes come after The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's announcement that they will no longer insure mortgages with ‘zero' down payment or 40 year amortization schedules. This means amortizations will now be at a maximum 35 years, and all home buyers, will need to put a minimum 5% down on the purchase of a home.
Under the Bank Act, people who are buying a home with less than a 20% down payment are required to have mortgage default insurance. CMHC or Genworth financial are two providers of this insurance, and their role is to protect the lender's investment of money in the mortgage should the borrower default. In order for the lenders to align their policies with those of the Insurer, they will also have to stop offering 40 year amortizations and zero down options.
So what does this mean for the current home buyer? It means if you've been pre-approved to purchase a house with no money down and a 40 year amortization today, you will no longer qualify as of October 15, 2008, even if it is the exact same house! After this date, people in this position may have to take out a loan or save the money for the down payment instead. According to my experience, most first time homebuyers put down less than 20%, so Oct.15, 2008 is a critical date for many.
Shorter amortizations and a minimum down payment will be required for all purchases, so today's potential home buyer should consider the following:
- First time buyers who know they are putting no money down or a maximum of 5% down should buy now rather than wait, because they will not qualify for the same purchase price after October 15 of this year.
- Credit score requirements will tighten, and mean that only people with good credit will be able to buy homes. Remember that paying credit cards and lines-of-credit on time is extremely important in keeping a good credit history.
If you have any questions regarding these changes and how it will affect you or someone you know, please give me a call.
Written by:
Sandra Lastovic, AMP, M.Sc., Senior Mortgage Advisor
It seems no matter what news you tune into, the US economy keeps slumping towards greater economic challenges. On the other hand, the Canadian real estate market is holding steady and becoming a shinning star in the economy. Many of my past clients wonder what impact the US slow down is having on their real estate investment and homes. The question is a valid one considering the economic context of our neighbors to the south.
The value of Canadian real estate is impacted by a number of things. Here’s a few that I think should be top considerations for people living in the Guelph and surrounding area.
Jobs:
Guelph is a job creation machine. Despite the fact that some large manufacturers have closed their doors in the last year, our city has maintained a solid job growth rate as reported by Statistics Canada. A large part of Guelph’s strong and stable real estate prices are due in large part to the diversity of the economy here.
Land Development:
Commercial land development, while generally theorized as a positive influence, can also carry a negative impact. Consider the following example. The City of Guelph is attempting to purchase the property known as the York District Lands. This is essentially the area bordered by York, Victoria, Stone Roads, and Watson Parkway. The City’s goal is to develop the lands as employment lands to fulfill a strategic objective of having a five-year inventory of property to have ready for commercial and industrial business. The development of these lands will result in jobs and more demand for housing, which will positively help prices. The flip side is a negative, as the residential properties nearby may see a decrease in price due to noise and increased traffic. However, generally speaking development of the York District Lands will increase the value of property in Guelph as a whole.
Seller’s Market:
In the real estate market, supply and demand affect prices more than any other factor. The more people looking to buy, versus those selling, the greater the pressure on prices to increase. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) economist recently reported at The Guelph Real Estate Pulse Conference, that Guelph is in a Seller’s Market, but is trending towards becoming a balanced market.
If you are selling a home
The main benefit to being in a sellers market is that the local market will increase in value by approximately 4%. However, because we are trending towards a balanced market, even if homes are priced correctly, depending on the price range of your home, you may be on the market for 60 to 90 days. This is something that will become more prevalent as we move towards a balanced market.
If you are buying for the first time
The variety of mortgage options for the buyer today are plentiful. But please remember this important piece of advice: consider working with a mortgage professional that can help you decide what type of mortgage will set you on the path to accomplishing your long and short-term goals. Aside from helping you get a better rate than what most banks offer, mortgage brokers can help you navigate the financing options that are not only available to you, but can often be confusing. Why not make buying a home as simple as possible? Speak to a mortgage professional today.
By: Sandra Lastovic, M.Sc., AMP, mortgage advisor
To find out more call or e-mails Sandra Lastovic at tel: 519-763-3900 ext. 1001 or e-mail at lastovic.s@mortgagecentre.com
Welcome to my Blog. Many of my clients and family friends have already received the news of my exciting move to the area’s largest real estate brokerage, Royal LePage Royal City Realty Brokerage. My new spacious and beautifully refurbished office is located at 295 Alma Street, Unit 1 Rockwood next to Casual Dining. Please feel free to drop in and visit. You will be most welcome. I also have a new and much needed addition to my team; Janet Mizzi who is (keeping my paperwork up to date and) providing valuable support, enabling me to ensure even better service.
