Buyers - Buyers Library
Tips For Winning In A Multiple Offer Situation
How To Come Out On Top In Multiple Offer Situations The Greater Toronto Area is experiencing a hot seller's market right now, as you probably know. As a result, many home vendors get multiple offers for their homes. What's the best way for you to come out on top in these situations?
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View ALL Toronto MLS Listings
View Thousands Of Toronto House & Condo Listings! There are three ways to search for Toronto listings that interest you.
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FREE Report... How To Find Your Toronto Dream Home On The Internet
Finding it hard to surf the 'net and find ANY listings, let alone the ones that are right for you? Use Your MOUSE To Find Your House
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Hire A Buyer Agent To Represent Your Best Interests
A Good Buyer Agent Can Often Negotiate Thousands Of Dollars OFF The List Price.
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Learn How To Avoid The 10 Most Common Buyer Mistakes
How To Avoid 10 Common Rookie Mistakes When Buying A Home First-time homebuyers face a steep learning curve. There's much to know, much to learn, and a great potential for "rookie mistakes" -- with potentially costly consequences.
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Choosing The Right Neighbourhood
We've all heard that location, location, location is the first rule in real estate; nothing matters as much to most home buyers. But finding your dream home is often easier than finding your dream neighborhood.
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Do You Have Buyer's Paralysis
Do You Have Buyer's Paralysis? You've looked at dozens of homes. Your Realtor is about to tear her hair out with frustration. You are paralyzed, letting one great home after another pass you by. Why can't you make a decision?
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What By Referral Only Means
The Thomas & Sally Cook Team does business on a "By Referral Only" basis. What does this mean to you, a 'Client For Life?'
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Whats The Difference ... Real Estate Consultant vs The Traditional Agent
Thomas & Sally Cook at RE/MAX have adopted a particular philosophy of doing business!
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Taking Care Of Our Happy Clients
So you're interested in buying or selling ... what would you expect to happen after the offer's been accepted? Thomas & Sally have designed several programs that keep their clients 'in the loop' from start to finish. They feel that it's important that you not feel left out in the cold and on your own once the offer has been accepted. Since they've been in business since 1980, their knowledge and experience are a tremendous benefit to you during this critical and stressful part of the transaction.
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Three Most Common Fears Of Home Buyers And How To Conquer Them
Buying a home must be up there with public speaking and the remake of The Exorcist for frightening experiences, but many of us will buy a home, speak publicly and watch horror movies again and again in our lifetimes.
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Buyer Contract Easy-Exit Guarantee
From time to time, purchasers have signed a Buyer Agency Contract with a Realtor for a lengthy term and regretted their decision later.
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Professional Home Inspection Buys Peace Of Mind
When buying an expensive dress or suit, most people are careful to ensure there are no buttons missing or seams loose, and that it's made of a quality fabric. This is easy enough to do. Buying a home is no different, except that few of us are equipped with the know-how to ensure that the plumbing, electrical, heating and other major systems are working as well as possible.
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A Buyer Agency Contract
By signing this agreement a resale house or condominium buyer authorizes their buyer agent to represent them during the entire home buying process.
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Real Estate Speak
Every industry and profession has its own short forms and acronyms, but those terms make it difficult for an 'outsider' to follow what's going on.
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Five Smart Ways To Plan Ahead For Buying A Home
If you're in college or university, or if you just started a job, it's most likely that "home" to you right now means a crash pad. But it's never too early to start thinking about the future! Here are five valuable tips to consider that will make your life easier when you do want to buy a home a few years down the road.
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Generation X Wants Informality In Their 'Wired' Home With A Great Garden
For years, the leading edge of Baby Boomers has influenced home design, but now Generation X, which is at the tail end of the Baby Boom, is starting to become a force to be reckoned with, according to surveys from south of the Border.
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Toronto Home Moving Checklist
Let's face it: Moving is NEVER fun! But you can make it as stress and hassle-free as possible! For starters, use this handy checklist.
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How To Simplify Your Move
The average American moves every seven years. How do frequent movers succeed?
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Protect Your Family From Carbon Monoxide
According to the United States EPA, carbon monoxide poisoning represents a silent, but very real, killer. The colorless, odorless gas is found as a result of "incomplete" combustion.
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Seniors Home Safety Checklists
This checklist can be used by you, a family member or a volunteer. Please call your local Health Unit if you need assistance in completing the checklist or for information about making your home safer.
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Basement Water Woes
Sometimes older homes weren’t built with the understanding that the basement would be used as a family living space or rental unit.
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The Art Of Home Repair
Once you’ve found your perfect new home, moved in and are enjoying it, beware! Even in a brand new house, things can go wrong that might need repair.
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Seven Tips To protect Your Home While You're Away
When homeowners head off for a relaxing vacation, often they're in so much of a hurry to pack up and catch the next flight that they leave their homes vulnerable to thieves.
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Tune Up Your Home Before Winter Comes
Well, as fresh as the memory of Indian Summer may be, the cold weather is here and, dare we say it, winter isn't far behind! Here's a list of some of the things you should do to get your house in top-notch shape before the arrival of winter:
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Homeowner Basics
New homeowners often find there's more to keeping up a house than cutting the grass and clearing snow from the driveway. Here's a handy guide to the basics to get you started:
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Making A Move Easier For Kids
Moving from one house to another is seldom easy and is never fun for anyone, and, if parents fail to plan carefully, a move can be needlessly traumatic for children. On the other hand, if parents deal with their children's concerns and needs thoughtfully, much of that distress and discomfort can be avoided.
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Protect Your Interests BEFORE You Look At A Home
Even if you're thinking "We don't know if we are serious so we shouldn't bother Thomas & Sally", call us anyway ! It will surely save you thousands of dollars!
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Home Buying Made Easy
Be willing to do ‘whatever it takes’ to get the knowledge you need to make yourself comfortable about the home buying process.
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Is Fear Of Making Mistakes Holding You Back?
Fear takes the fun out of a lot of things, but there is reasonable fear and unreasonable fear.
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Visualize Yourself In Your New Home
There are so many things to think about when you are buying a new home: financing, what you want in a dream house, which neighbourhood to live in.
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The Rent Or Buy Dilemma
Most people decide to buy a home for very emotional reasons. Their home-owning friends are constantly talking about fix-up projects and gardening chores. Family members keep asking when the apartment dweller will be hosting a holiday dinner. Children want bedrooms of their own and a backyard for playtime. And so it goes.
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Crucial Questions Buyers Should Ask About A Potential Home
Buying a first home can be overwhelming and, as buyers, we tend to become wrapped up in the physical aspects of a home-- the amount of rooms, a condo's amenities -- and neglect less obvious, but equally as important issues that will affect our quality of life.
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What Home Buyers Should Know About Mold
Mold is considered a serious health hazard, and the problem now has the attention of the EPA, The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the American Lung Association, among other groups.
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Dont Get Stuck With A Money Pit
Most People think a house that has expensive defects will be very obvious to detect, but often the most expensive defects are hidden and take a little more investigating.Here are six signs to look for when inspecting a house...
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How To Avoid The 10 Most Expensive Mistakes People Make When They Buy Or Sell A Home
Here are 5 Expensive Mistakes Home Sellers And Home Buyers Make...
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Free Reports
If you're going to buy or sell a home, these QuickTips for home buyers and home sellers will help you avoid costly mistakes and could save you thousands of dollars.
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Selecting The Right Realtor For You
If you are thinking about buying or selling a home, you've probably asked yourself, Do I need a Realtor?
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Six Signs In A House That Could Mean Hidden (Expensive) Trouble
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Renovate With Materials From ReStore And Help Habitat For Humanity
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Save Time And Money With Self-Cleaning Glass In Your Windows!
Now here is a technological revolution that we really like: self-cleaning glass. Use it in your windows and skylights and save lots of time that would have been spent cleaning, save money that you would have spent on cleansers, plus stop using harmful chemicals!
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Crucial Buying Information
The best way to get started as a 'Client For Life' of Toronto's Real Estate Team - Thomas & Sally Cook PLUS!!is to take these three steps: tell us what you want in a house, let us work out what you can afford and then have a personal Buyer Consultation so that we can see if your dreams match your reality!
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Buyer Agreement
A typical Buyer Agency Agreement
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How To Make A Major Move Less Traumatic For Children
Moving from one house to another is seldom easy and is never fun for anyone, and, if parents fail to plan carefully, a move can be needlessly traumatic for children.
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Home Buyer Questions
Attendees typically have many questions… and we encourage people to ask lots of them at the Buyer Workshop.
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Free Hard Copy Of Our Information-Packed Client Newsletter
You'll discover lots of helpful market news, buyer tips and more in our quarterly, eight-page, hard copy version of Living In Toronto (LIT).
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The Condo Act's New Performance Audit
According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Association, six out of every ten homes sold in the Toronto area are resale; four are new. Prospective homebuyers must eventually decide for themselves which type of home is right for them, keeping the following considerations in mind.
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Owning A House Requires Some Basic Maintenance Knowledge
All the systems and components of a house have been designed to work together to ensure our comfort. Numerous components must ventilate, circulate, prevent, detect, reduce and protect. Our responsibility is to ensure these systems are balanced, regulated, understood and maintained.
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Condo Owners Beware Of Special Assessments
The sad truth is that sometimes scary things happen in real estate transactions, and something that all condominium owners should be made aware of is special assessments.
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House Hunting On A Realistic Budget
Shopping is always more enjoyable when you can shop with confidence, and decision-making is far easier when you know exactly what you can afford to spend. By knowing what your budget will allow, you can visit communities that are in your price range.
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Thinking Of Buying A Second Home? Here Are Some Tips
The largest numbers of second homes are in areas with large populations. The most popular locations for second homes are near bodies of water and mountains and second home buyers prefer rural settings to those more urban, but in most cases, second homes are within less than a day's drive from the primary residence.
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Condos - An Affordable Housing Alternative
If you're a buyer in search of affordable housing for your first purchase, don't overlook condominiums as an alternative to the highly touted 3-bedroom, 2-bath single-family house. In most areas, a condominium provides many of the benefits of homeownership without some of the home-care hassles.
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Why Is One Neighbourhood Better Than Another For Your Family?
Once you've become pre-approved for a mortgage, you should be ready to put your house-hunting efforts into full gear. But don't skip the important step of scouting out Toronto's many neighborhoods before you start your search for the perfect house.
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Each Specialist Has Their Own Expertise In Different Areas !
1. Your Realtor Specialist can help you with the determining what's happening in the market. Depending upon whether you're a buyer or a seller, a Buyer Specialist or Listing Specialist are the ones you can turn to for information on home values, neighbourhoods, taxes, zoning, schools, and more.
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Toronto's Housing Market Expected To Remain Healthy....Declines Unlikely!
The most popular people in Canada are those who are thinking about selling their homes. Across the country, it's a sellers market as inventory struggles to keep up with demand.
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Closing Day Is Soon And So Is Your Move
Have you just bought a new home? Before the agony of house-hunting subsides, it's already time to start thinking about the fate worse than death: moving.
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How Is 'Fair Market Value' Calculated?
Estimating the value of a Toronto house or condominium suite can often be a challenge. The seller wants more, the buyer wants less and, sometimes, even the seller wants less. How do you determine fair market value?
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Colour Your Room - And Your Mood
So how do you make wise decisions about paint colour for your home? You don't have to settle for colours you're not wild about, of course, but you can consider a few factors that will make the difference between a colour that remains on your walls until you're tired of it, and a versatile colour that compliments your home environment and keeps you happy in the long term.
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Buying A Home Just Got Easier
Great news this week from one of the high-ratio insurance companies, GE Capital: they have raised the ceiling on 5% down purchases from homes valued at $250,000 to $300,000 in the GTA. This is another sign that the real estate market will continue to remain healthy in the future.
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Keeping Toasty Warm And Safe In Front Of The Fireplace
With the chill of winter in the air, the thought of warming up by a crackling, toasty fire is enticing. But before lighting that match, experts advise ensuring that your fireplace or wood-burning stove is operating properly in order to maintain the safety of family members and your home.
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Ways To Stretch The Renovations Budget
For those of you going through the throes of pricing a renovation project, finding out that your plans and projects are bigger than your pocketbook is a disheartening experience.
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Creating A Home Gym - You May Be Inspired To Actually Use It!
For so many reasons, it seems that more and more of us are sweating it out exercising these days, and more and more of us are looking for convenient, but creative ways to "get it over with."
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Last-Minute Cleaning Shortcuts For Those Holiday Guests
Tis the season. Guests are coming over and you realize your home is a mess. We're not just talking about a few things astray, but a bona fide disaster area. Shrugging it off and resigning yourself to a messy home is not an option when you're dealing with visitors.
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Buying New Furniture? Know The Terminology!
The arrival of a new year inspires many of us to try our hand at ambitious pursuits. Take buying furniture, for instance. This year may suddenly trigger the notion that it's time to rid yourself of that card table and chairs you've been calling your dining room ensemble.
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Setting Housing Goals For The New Year
Western society promotes the custom of making commitments to start the year on the right foot. However, these assertive statements may become self-defeating illusions that could reinforce the sense of powerlessness over change that is left from 2002.
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How To Cheat On Your Mortgage
Typically when a person talks to their banker about mortgages, most often the discussion revolves around having a standard monthly payment with an amortization of 25 years. For a $200,000 mortgage at a 7% interest rate, that would mean your mortgage would be paid off in full by the end of the 25th year!
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A Bit Of Regular Maintenance Goes A Long Way
Don't confuse deferred maintenance with the need to call the repairman. Periodic maintenance, as prescribed by the appliance manufacturer, can extend the life of your appliances, giving you more time before you must consider the repair-vs-replace conundrum.
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Toronto District School Board Students Show Steady Improvement in EQAO
News Release Toronto District School Board Students Show Steady Improvement in EQAO Toronto, ON, Thursday, January 23, 2003 — The Toronto District School Board today released system-wide results of the EQAO assessments for grade 3, 6 and 9 students conducted in 2002. Grades 3 and 6 reading, writing and mathematics results exceed the provincial average. Results for Grade 9 mathematics assessments showed an improvement over the previous year but are slightly below the provincial average.
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Six Ways To Beat The Stress Of Buying A Home
DEATH, DIVORCE & MOVING are the three most stressful experiences in life. There are two very different kinds of needs that people have while moving. First there are the transactional needs, like finding the home that is just right for them, finding a seller who is realistic, negotiating the price, filling out the paperwork, handling the escrow, and arranging for the move.
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Seven Different Reasons Why You Should Quit Renting And Own Your Own Home
Your Landlord Loves You For Paying Rent But You're NOT Building Any Equity For Yourself! You've probably seen lots of financial arguments about why you should own your own home rather than rent. This includes budgeting (no rent increases) and the property appreciation you'll most likely have. Now we're going to give you some reasons you probably haven't heard.
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Making The Move Easy On The Kids
Moving from one house to another is seldom easy and fun for adults, and it can be especially troubling for children. But if parents deal with their children’s concerns and needs thoughtfully, much of that distress and discomfort can be avoided.
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5 Powerful Buying Strategies To Use When Purchasing A Toronto House Or Condo
1. Don't Get "Pre-Qualified!" Get "Pre-Approved" Do you want to get the best house you can for the least amount of money? Then make sure you are in the strongest negotiating position possible. Price is only one bargaining chip in the negotiations, and not necessarily the most important one.
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How To Avoid The 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make When Buying Or Selling A Home
Not knowing how much they can afford before they make an offer. The easiest way to avoid this mistake is to get a FULL mortgage pre-approval from a lender before you go out looking at homes so you know in advance exactly how much you can afford.
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Protect Your Home from Burglars
Here's the inside scoop on the most effective ways to protect your home and family from unwelcome intruders.
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Things You Should Know About Moving
Subscribe to the area's local newspaper in advance of your move. It usually contains a large real estate section, which can be very helpful in giving you some idea of the type of housing available in the new city, as well as other useful information.
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Seven Common Mistakes For Move-Up Buyers To Avoid
Evaluate your current situation.
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Leaking Oil Tanks In House Basements May Cause Insurance Problems
Thousands of GTA homeowners could soon find themselves without home insurance because their oil tanks are too old. Most homes with oil heating have tanks that are reaching the end of their 20- to 30-year life span, insurance industry estimates show.
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Time-Share Properties Use Various Systems For Sharing
The ways of dividing weeks among fractional owners of vacation properties varies according to the development. Before you purchase a share in such property, you have to think through how the division of the time allotted to you and your family will affect your travel/vacation time each consecutive year.
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Opting To Vacation In Your Own Backyard
It used to be the patio and charcoal grill were standard fare for backyard areas. But as an increasing number of people spend more time at home, they're enhancing their outdoor areas, transforming them into elaborate cooking and clean-up areas. Sinks, refrigerators, and even dishwashers, are becoming quick companions of the grill. Sophisticated outdoor living is on the rise.
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Brighten Your World With A Sunroom
With outdoor and backyard living on the rise, some homeowners are opting for a compromise with sunrooms, enjoying the sunlight while being able to use the room year-round -- and add square footage.
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The Real Meaning Of 'Deferred Maintenance' And 'Subject To'
What is Deferred? First, it just means that you put it off. You waited. Maintenance? Taking care of something. Put the two together and it all makes sense. You put off taking care of something.
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RRSPs: Hands Off Or Not?
The annual rush to stash cash in RRSPs just ended, but the debate rages on. Should Canadians apply a "Hands Off" attitude in regards to their RRSPs? Or should they consider their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) a "registered ready-spending plan," there to help out in a cash crunch?
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Procrastination And It's Relationship To Home Buying
The Nike JUST DO IT! slogan sounds so simple and yet, we all have at some point found ourselves putting off doing the very things we think we should be doing to be more successful.
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Don't Be Afraid - Be Aware And Stay Safe
As every one of us can fall victim to a robbery or an attack, it is always useful to review some obvious and some not so obvious safety tips:
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Ventiliation - Natural, Mechanical, and Healthy
Although most people are oblivious to the issue, in more than half of the homes ventilation is a challenge. “Ventilation” means “air-exchanges” with the outside air. From our society's energy efficient mind-set of the last 25 years, most people think that bringing outside air into the house envelope is a bad idea because it is not “conditioned” — (i.e., warmed or cooled).
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Decorating Blunders: Revamp Your Home with Easy Fixes
You’ve spent a fortune on the perfect sofa, drop-dead wing chairs, and truly artistic wallpaper. You’ve even sprung for an entertainment center that’s not made out of plywood and cinder blocks. So why doesn’t your room feel pulled together? What’s keeping it from looking great?
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Buying Solo
According to national housing experts, solo buyers represent one of the most active segments of the Canadian home buying market. These buyers must believe positives out weigh negatives when it comes to real estate.
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How To Buy The Home You Always Wanted...... Without All The Money You Thought
Buying a home can seem like a frightening prospect. Whether it's your first home, or your fifth, so much is at stake — your savings, your credit rating, your financial freedom.
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Use Melamine Paint To Face-lift Tile Floors And Countertops
Sometimes decorating dreams exceed budget realities, so one has to be a creative corner-cutter. One solution is melamine paint (such as from Benjamin Moore), a Varathene-reinforced enamel, which the label touts as durable, scrubbable and stain-resistant.
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The Flip Side Of Buying For Investment... Be Ready For The Problems As Well As The Headaches!
During a hot real estate market many people get excited about all the benefits of owning real estate. Unfortunately, when the real estate or rental market slides, it can hurt big time.
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FREE PDF Brochures from OREA
Get FREE Electronic brochures!
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Why Fixing A Wet Basement May Be Tricky
A basement has been getting damp or even noticably wet - it now smells, the paint is peeling, the carpet squishes along the edges of one of the walls etc.
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Getting Your Home Ready For Winter
The fall leaves are on the ground and the weather's turning. It's the time, once again, to think about winterizing your house. Most of the tasks aren't huge, so with a bit of planning you can prepare for winter one step at a time.
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Turn Off And Drain Your Outdoor Faucets
SCENARIO: What if you returned from a week of skiing to discover that your basement was badly water damaged. You had forgotten to turn off the water to an outdoor faucet.
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How The Buyer's Down Payment Affects The Home Seller
How The Buyer's Down Payment Affects The Home Seller... Why Should The Seller Care How Much Cash The Buyers Put Down?
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Not The Best Deal - Do Not Use The Listing Agent!!
In the late spring of last year, one of my very good clients referred a family member to me as she was thinking of buying a larger condo unit in the building she was in already. A suite had come up for sale that she wanted to take a look at so I met her and showed her the home.
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How Do You Eat An Elephant?
Tom once asked me, "How do you eat an elephant?" I was dumbfounded by the question, but then he smiled his familiar smile and said, "One bite at a time."
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Winter At The Cottage - WOW
Although I was born and raised in Renfrew, a small town north-west of Ottawa, I hadn't really experienced the full extent of winter for many years. After all, the balmy climate (relatively) that we enjoy in Toronto from December through March isn't representative of what the rest of the province has to go through.
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Is it a good idea to wait and save more money for a down payment?
Let's consider the following example for the answer.
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Gains put pressure on rates
Surprise boom has mortgages, bond yields edging up
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Consumers Remain Perplexed About Home Buying
More than one in 10 first-time home buyers don't know the difference between home owners insurance and title insurance, nearly two in 10 of them forgot to budget for home ownership expenses other than the mortgage and more than one in three weren't aware one real estate agent can work for both the buyer and the seller on the same property.
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Some Things Never Change
I hesitate to make a list Of all the countless deals I've missed.
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How To Choose A Neighbourhood
The old cliché is that the three most important things about real estate are: location, location, location.
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120 Days To Home Ownership
Whether you are moving up, scaling down, or buying for the first time, the purchase of a home is a big decision. With proper planning, it does not have to be a big headache.
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It’s Not Clutter! Those Are My Collectibles!
You have decided to sell your home and now have it ready to show off. You’ve fixed all those minor repairs, tidied up your front and back yards, scrubbed down walls and floors, and dusted every nook, cranny and collectible in preparation for your first visitor. You are ready to show your home!
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Sod Roofs Sprouting Up In Toronto
We recently wrote about green driveways on our blog, BLOGTorontoRealEstate.ca, an environmentally friendly alternative to paved driveways for homeowners. In keeping with our city’s sustainability initiatives, Toronto’s commercial and condo buildings are creating living roofs all over the city.
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Have You Been Wondering What’s Best To Eat Before And After Your Workouts?
Sally and I have just switched to a fabulous new trainer and we’re loving it! He’s an ex-German Special Forces member with some parachuting experience (I can relate ;-)) and really knows his stuff. Below is an excellent article that Rouven was gracious enough to provide for our clientelle.
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City Of Toronto Land Transfer Tax Passes Council
Sally just spoke to an official at the City Finance department and they are scrambling to pull this together. She had a few questions just confirming what we'd heard and some that might be a little more fine tuned than they are ready for just yet.
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A Fall Furnace Primer
We are pleased to share with you valuable homeowner tips and information from one of the most respected companies in Toronto, Carson Dunlop, Consulting Engineers.
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120 Days to Homeownership – Month 2
Last month we showed you the first three steps to take for Month 1 of your 120-day journey to homeownership. This month, we give you two more steps to prepare you for your next home.
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In Search of the Perfect House
The engineers of Carson Dunlop & Associates Ltd. have conducted over 50, 000 home inspections and we haven’t found a perfect house yet. Since perfection is not an option, what should you expect?
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120 Days To Home Ownership - Month 3
Last month we showed you Steps 4 and 5 during Month 2 of your 120-day journey to homeownership. This month, we give you two more steps to prepare you for your next home.
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The Success Principles
The holidays keep us all hopping, both to stay warm and hunting for that perfect gift for that special someone. While you are out and about, remember to take time for you, to remember that you are a special someone, too. And when you are out at the stores, take a look at the newest book from Jack Canfield entitled “The Success Principles.”
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What’s In And What’s Out for 2008?
This time of year it seems like there’s a list for everything, but we found this one interesting. Maybe we’re a bit biased, but we thought you might find it interesting as well. Mark Nash, author of four real estate books has completed his annual survey of real estate agents in the U.S. and Canada. What’s in, What’s out with Homebuyers illuminates what’s popular with home buyers, and what can sour them.
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Home Buyers And Home Owners Are Willing To Spend On Green Upgrades, Says Poll
Green is like gold for home owners who are considering doing improvements, according to two new polls. Three out of four Canadian home buyers are willing to pay a premium for a home with environmentally friendly features, according to the TD Canada Trust Green Building Poll released November 21.
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First-time Buyers Can Enter Toronto’s Real Estate Market
Despite appreciation in Toronto’s housing prices, first-time buyers have alternatives to enter the real estate market.
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What Buyers Need to Know in Today's Market
What are the six most important things every buyer needs to consider in today’s market?
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What To Expect From Your Home Inspector
We are pleased to share with you valuable home-buying tips and information from one of the most respected inspection companies in Toronto, Carson Dunlop, Consulting Engineers.
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Do you have a 2008 Homeowners Resolution?
One of the best Beginning-Of-The-Year Resolutions homeowners can make is to eliminate expenses that are unnecessary and have no benefit. This is a tall order for many of us, with implications ranging from how you finance your mortgage to the energy efficiency of your home.
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Cardio Timing: The Secret to Burning Fat Up To 300% Faster
When is the best time of day to do your aerobic exercise? The answer is any time! The most important thing is that you just do it.
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Tarion’s Delayed Closings Warranty Changes Should Help Buyers Of New Construction
Tarion Warranty Corp. has released details of its planned changes to the delayed closing warranty for freehold homes. The changes are subject to final government approval, and are slated to go into effect July 1.
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Fit Squad AB SECRETS
The first thing you need to understand is this: we ALL have a 6-pack! 6-packs aren't created by doing ab exercises...they already exist. Don't believe me? It is s fact that these muscles already exist. If they didn’t you wouldn’t be able to stand up straight.
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What Do You Do If You’re Appointed As Trustee Of An Estate?
What Do You Do If You’re Appointed As Trustee Of An Estate? Be Sure Your Lawyer Acts In A Timely Manner
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Government Grants Are Available For Existing Homeowners To Improve Their Energy Efficiency
It May Be Time To Replace That Older, Less Efficient Furnace Or Other Energy Waster Around Your Home
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Big Impact For Little Bucks
Often when our clients find the home of their dreams, it isn't quite perfect. We often hear our buyers saying "We'll redo the hardwood floors" or "Maybe later we'll change out the kitchen cabinets". That's normal and to be expected - rarely is a home absolutely perfect.
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What To Look For As You Go Eco-Friendly In Your Toronto Home
Mamy consumers hope to do their cleaning with “green” or nontoxic products. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell the environmentally friendly goods from the eco-pretenders.
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Assessing Your Security When Looking At Condos
Most condominium buildings are secure. However, you should be aware of and ask questions about the security of any condominium buildings during your condo search.
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Put Your Tax Refund to Work for You
Jonathan Chevreau recently wrote an article for The Financial Post that caught my eye. It’s that time of the year again, and the information in this article is most relevant.
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Fireplaces – The Magic and the Mystery
We are pleased to share with you valuable Toronto homeowner tips and information from one of the most respected home inspection companies in Toronto, Carson Dunlop, Consulting Engineers. For this month’s newsletter we focus on the ins and outs of fireplaces.
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Condos
When Is It Time To Replace Condominium Windows?
Should window units in condos be replaced after 15 years? Well, that depends on the condition of the window units. Windows units are replaced for a number of reason normally associated with cost effectiveness.
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Resale Condo Buyers: Check Into Improvements Before Buying!
Prior to purchasing a resale condominium, prospective owners or their representatives should check into improvements or changes ("betterments") that have been made to the suite, or to its exclusive-use common elements.
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Living In A Condo Can Be A Great Option - But Is It For You?
If you're in the market to buy a home and are looking for fewer maintenance requirements, or perhaps a typical single-family home isn't in your budget, then you may want to consider a condominium.
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Are You In The Market For Your First Condo?
With more than 500,000 condominium units in Canada and one in four new homes built as condominiums, Canadian buyers need basic condominium buying skills to protect them in any market.
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Living Large In A Small Space
Condos can offer great views, a very secure lifestyle and convenient locations, but almost all of them offer less square feet than single family homes.
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Condo Living is Hot!
During the first quarter of this year, the residential condo market accounted for 50% of all new housing development in the Greater Toronto Area. “That has never happened in our history,” said Andrew Brethour, PMA Brethour. “This is the strongest high rise market that we have ever seen.”
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Who’s the Biggest On Toronto’s Skyline?
While many people say size doesn’t matter, Toronto’s condominium developers say the opposite. They’re building to new heights and some have made claims that made one journalist look twice.
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Toronto’s Condo Evolution
Predicting the future of the high-rise residential market can be risky.
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Buying Your First Condo
Successful condo living can depend on mindset and trade-off.
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Financing
Zero Down Payment Story
You CAN Buy A Home With Almost ZERO Dollars Down
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How Much Mortgage Can You Afford ... Crunch The Numbers
Amortization schedules, 7.25 per cent five-year, closed rate, bi-weekly payments... you might know all these mortgage terms by now, but have you sat down and figured out how much house your money will buy?
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Calculate Your Mortgage Payment
Many first-time home buyers are amazed to find out how low their mortgage payments can actually be compared to the rent they're currently paying.
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Create A Down Payment Even If You Have Zero Saved Right Now!
Every year, just a few months before it's time to file your tax return, we tell buyers that this is the perfect time of year to "create" a down payment by using their RRSP allowable contribution limit and the Federal Government's Home Buyers' Plan for first time home buyers.
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How Do You Use Your RRSP's To Buy A Home?
You may know that first-time buyers can use their RRSP money to help them to buy a home, but you may not know how it works and whether you can take advantage of it. Here's a primer:
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Proof That Buying Is Better Than Renting
Here's a common question buyers ask themselves — and us: In five years, will I be further ahead financially if I buy a home, OR if I rent a home and invest my downpayment money?
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How Your Credit Report and Credit Scoring Can Affect Your Ability To Buy A Home
Here's How Your Credit Score Will Affect How Much House You'll Be Able To Buy...
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How To Save Thousands Of Dollars In Interest And Pay Your Mortgage Off Years Sooner
Most People think when you get a mortgage you're stuck with it for 30 years, but what they don't realize is by using a couple of easy and painless ways to make some extra principle payments you can cut years off the life of your mortgage and save thousands of dollars in needless interest costs.
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We Offer A Risk-Free Way To Finance Your New Home Or Condo Purchase!
There can be a bit of a "Catch-22" for buyers who want to purchase a new home or condo AND be fully pre-approved for a mortgage at a "capped" rate that won't go up before they buy their home.
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What's an RRSP? Click and find out
Spend a half hour on the following two RRSP-related Web sites in the next few days and you will persuade yourself to take the plunge yet once again.
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A Great Time To Shop For Mortgages
Fueled by low interest rates and an improving economy, Canada's housing market finally slowed down this summer after setting records for new and existing home sales. Since interest rates are still very low, most analysts think the market will rebound again in the fall.
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Choose A Mortgage That Puts Cash Back In Your Pocket!
Put $8,000 Cash Into Your Pocket On Closing! You have two choices when you are deciding what mortgage rate to go with. At TD Canada Trust, you can choose to take the absolute best rate (called the 'Best Rate Mortgage') on a five-year term OR you can choose to get a lump sum payment of cash on closing day.
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How To Buy The Home You Always Wanted... Without All The Money You Thought
Buying a home can seem like a frightening prospect. Whether it's your first home, or your fifth, so much is at stake — your savings, your credit rating, your financial freedom. It's difficult to get up the courage to sign on the dotted line, even if you want that home very, very badly.
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How Much Does It Cost To Build A New House These Days?
Building professionals face this question every day, and the answer is usually not what the client wants to hear.
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Helpful Budget Planner
Calculate the impact your monthly expenses will have on the maximum house price you should be considering.
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New Zero Down Payment Options For Toronto Home Buyers
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Mortgage Qualification Chart
Toronto's Real Estate Team - Thomas & Sally Cook PLUS!! Qualification Chart
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We Offer A Risk-Free Way To Finance Your New Home Or Condo Purchase!
There can be a bit of a "Catch-22" for buyers who want to purchase a new home or condo AND be fully pre-approved for a mortgage at a "capped" rate that won't go up before they buy their home.
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How To Play the Credit Game
Whether you're starting a business or getting a mortgage, if you want to get the lowest interest rates, you'll need to pump up your FICO score.
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New Toronto Buyers Have Many Mortgage Options
Traditional thinking has been that young or first-time homebuyers should go with a long-term fixed rate mortgage, while seasoned homeowners opt for a variable rate mortgage. But that thinking has been clouded of late.
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Rental
How Do You Guarantee That You'll Get A Good Tenant?
You've all probably heard the horror stories... tenants trashing the house or apartment, rent cheques bouncing and landlords being stuck with thousands of dollars of unpaid rent!
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Fire Retrofit Manual
What You Need To Know To Make Your Toronto Home's Rental Unit Comply With Fire Safety Standards
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What Do Falling Residential Rental Rates Mean?
"Apartment Glut Forces Owners To Cut Rent in Much of U.S." read the headline of November 29th, a blurb which raises a question: Is rental ownership still a good deal?
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For Tenants, Good News On 2008 Rent Increases
Tenants in Ontario can expect a rent increase of no more than 1.4 per cent in 2008. The Ontario rent increase guideline for 2008 will be the lowest guideline since they were introduced over 30 years ago.
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Local
A Trust Specialist Moves To Toronto
In the late spring of this year, a Canadian couple living in North Carolina surfed the ‘net, found our website and signed up for our WiseBuy Homefinder Service.
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It Wasnt As Scary As She Thought
Ester is a first-time home buyer who attended one of our Buyer Workshops in late 1998. As is very typical, she was a little scared of making the first step but, once she did, she was amazed at how smoothly the process went. Here is how she felt in her own words after the transaction was complete and she was on her way to 'Celebration' day.
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Roseann and Phyllis Werent Successful The First Time
In late 1998, Roseann and Phyllis and their two significant others decided it was time to sell their two bedroom condo and move up to separate houses. They enlisted the help of their cousin to list their home on MLS but, after four months of trying, it didn't sell.
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Long Time Client Moves To Dallas (Almost)
Tatiana bought her first property with my help back around 1987, initially as an income property but, when she got married to Glenn, they decided to move in and make it their home.
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Access Other Excellent Toronto Websites
We have close to 500 links for everything from Local Attractions and Arts & Culture to Sports and Entertainment, News and Travel, Community information and Government Links for the Toronto Area, Southern Ontario.and Canada.
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Storage Facilities
Contact and pricing information on local storage facilties
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Houses
Young Homebuyers And Older Neighbourhoods A Great Fit
All over Canada, young first-time homebuyers find older neighbourhoods are the best way to the home ownership dream. While many of Toronto’s older neighbourhoods are in the midst of a renaissance, homes that still need repair are an affordable option for first-time homebuyers.
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How Do You Estimate What A Home Repair Cost Might Be?
As you shop for your new home in 2008, keep these costs in mind when choosing which home you may want to purchase.
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Market
October Toronto Home Sales Down 4.3% BUT...
October Toronto real estate sales are down 4.3% but 2006 is still on track to be the third best month in Toronto MLS history!
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