Admission Fee to View $5 Million Home In The Beaches

A seven bedroom, five bathroom heritage home has been listed in the prestigious beaches area for a cool $5 million.  The property offers a guest house, green house, and the rare ability to swim from your own front year.  Sounds beautiful?  Would love to see it?  Well, your access will require a $50 donation to Sick Kids.

There are no photos on MLS, no virtual tours, and the media has been denied entry.  This marketing tactic was set in place to filter out non-serious, nosy lookers.  The listing agent and owners wanted to ensure that only serious buyers were viewing the home.

Within the past year or so, we've seen realtors and sellers adapt some guerilla marketing techniques - we've seen properties grossly under listed; we've seen sales boasting lower fees, and we've even seen houses listed for $1.  This particular marketing ploy comes with a little more class - if you have a home of that worth, of course you'd like it to make sure that people aren't just coming in to look because they're curious or bored, and the icing on the cake is that the money is going to a good, local cause.

Click here for more info

Why econdos Is a Great Investment

I haven't been this excited for a pre-construction project in a while.  When I saw the information on econdos, I flipped out.  Apart from the facilities being beautiful, clean, and modern, the investment opportunity is one that Toronto has been needing.  Something that can restore faith and confidence in our new condo market, and something that will entice buyers again.

When I look at new projects, I look at the aesthetics of the project, the area, and the investment.  With this project, the photos speak for themselves.  The amenities are amazing, from the infinity pool, to a party room that is of a night club caliber.  The floorplans are impressive, and are space efficient.  The area is hot, and getting hotter.  It's accessible, being on the Yonge subway line, and just a quick ride into the core of the city.  The building has underground access along the subway line, which connects you to three corners of the Yonge and Eglinton intersection, additionally giving you access to retail stores, restaurants, and a movie theatre without even having to step outside.

The investment is what sold me.  The pricing is in alignment with where our condo market is, as well as with the area that the project is in.  Prices start from the mid $300s, but my favorite layout is one that's $439, with a spacious balcony, and is south facing.  Amidst projects that are offering free parking, or free maintenance fees, econdos is offering a 5% deposit structure, which is an intelligently aggressive approach during a time where new condos are so competitive.  So, with econdos, you are required to put a 5% deposit for the first 48 months, then the remaining 15% at the end of the four years.  So, let's consider this; for my favorite unit, the 20% is approximately $86k - 5% of this is roughly $21k.  When you compare this to conventional deposit structures that require 20% at the start, you have $65k that has been freed up for four years.  In a time where investing your money is a growing trend, $65k can make a lot of money - 8% is a very feasible yield, that's a sufficient downpayment if you're interested in a fixer-upper, or even private lending with a 12% return.

Apart from the deposit structure, you'd be looking at a mortgage payment of around $1400, with maintenance fees of - let's say - $360, so you're looking at $1760, with a rental that would be upwards of $2000.  Of course it's difficult to forecast when you're looking years ahead, but confidence in the area is very strong.

In my opinion, it's an all over project - modern look, impeccable facilities, great area, and lucrative investment.

Still #LoveThisTeam

So we're not off to the best start.  Especially with Sunday's upset.  But, as fans, we need to stay positive.  We've all been looking forward to this season, and the hoopla around it has really brought our expectations up, but we have to remember to look at our boys as a new team, they just need to find the groove, but the foundation is there.

Our past losses can really be attributed to growing pains.   Dickey's knuckleballs are a force to be reckoned with, and we just have to learn how to catch them.  Uncaught pitches advanced bases that drove in 2 runs for the first game.  We have third basemen playing second.  Bonifacio - who is technically a third basemen, has played less than 20 games as a second basemen, and has never done so on artificial turf.  We've had a string of errors, from Izturis to Cabrera, and these all drove in runs.  We didn't lose to teams that had better players, we lost because we just haven't found our groove yet.

To look on the bright side, Reyes is a ray of light.  He keeps the boys excited, keeps the fans happy, and you can tell that he just loves what he's doing.  Our two Jose's are going to take us far.  Not to mention that our beloved Joey Bats was out for a couple of games.

When fans lose hope, the boys lose hope.  They have a nice day off, then back at it tomorrow.

World Health Day - Control Your Blood Pressure

Today is World Health Day, and the theme is your blood pressure.  One in three adults suffer from high blood pressure, which can be a detriment to your health.

Here's a quiz to see how much you know about blood pressure

Check your risk here

Happy 40th Birthday, Cell Phones!!

It's been 40 years to date that the first cell phone was seen on the streets of New York City.  Back then, the prices were just shy of $4000, which is about $8700 in today's economy.

Here's a timeline of the life of a cell phone (via mashable.com).   What was your first cell phone?  Remember these?

file://localhost/Users/macuser/Desktop/cellphone-anniversary.jpg

Psychology of Colour

APRIL FOOLS!!!

Pranks are usually left to frat boys and college students.  I'm not a big prankster, but I searched the web and was definitely lol-ing when I found some of these.  For those of you who aren't a prankster like me, hopefully you'll enjoy them, and for those of you who are, maybe you can get some ideas for the rest of the day!

Earth Hour

Tonight, we are urged to shut off our lights for one hour between 8:30 and 9:30 pm, in honour of Earth Hour.  This event is organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and is held to increase awareness on global climate change.  Earth Hour was created to:

• To unite people and show our desire to protect the planet.

• To encourage and empower people to take action beyond the hour itself

• Create an interconnected global community and build on the momentum and

action for a sustainable future

I think we all know the damage we do to our planet, and this hour represents the unity that can be formed to fight against it.  So, I think we should all participate in the one hour of darkness - even the CN Tower is doing it!

Lamborghini Veneo

March Madness!!

All ball fans can appreciate March Madness.  I love the NBA, but these guys are so hungry, and have to much heart.  Even the President gets into it!

Is it too late for the Department of Finance to get their foot out of their mouth?

The mortgage world is preparing for battle today, as rates continue to drop to record lows.  The banks expected a war with each other, but not with the Department of Finance.  Manulife Bank of Canada made and aggressive move and dropped their 5 year fixed rate to 2.89%, only to have it stopped after a phone call from Jim Flaherty.

Our Finance Minister is trying to put a halt to 'aggressive' and 'irresponsible' lending, and is concerned at Canadians' rising levels of debt.  However, mortgage insiders find it funny that the low rates were prompted by him in the first place, in attempts to keep the housing market from overheating.  He implemented some changes to the lending rules, which was a smart move on his behalf.  He successfully filtered out buyers from those who should, and those who could.  By tightening the rules, it was more difficult for buyers to qualify, which was his way of ensuring that people were not overspending, and that buyers were able to financially handle the burdens of having a mortgage.

Last year, when major banks aggressively dropped their rates, we found ourselves in the midst of a mortgage war - everyone was trying to offer the lower rates.  The war was between the major banks, and oligopolized against independent mortgage brokers.  At the time, lenders in the broker channel were unable to compete with what the bigger banks were doing.  Now that the low rates have been offered for a while, the broker channel was able to offer the same rates.  However, the Finance Minister can make calls to major banks like Manulife, but he cannot sit and call each independent mortgage broker with the same warnings.

Mortgage brokers felt the wrath last year, and are increasing the levels of competition.  A mortgage broker that I have worked with is currently offering a 2.79% 5 year fixed rate.  Mortgage brokers are sometimes allowed to waive portions of their commission in order to provide a lower rate - in other words, they buy down the rate.  This is what they have to do in order to compete with the large banks, after last year's dominance.

On many levels, this kind of competition is not only expected, but it's healthy.  As a Realtor, I want my clients to get the best deal, and the best product.  I don't worry about my clients overspending, or taking on burdens that they can't financially handle.  I'm very familiar with the lending process and criteria, and I am confident that it ensures people are in the right financial state to carry a mortgage.  I think the Department of Finance is micro managing by making calls like this, and I think that the professionals know what they are doing, and moreover, the Canadian buyers know what they're doing.

TV Home Floorplans

Ever watch your favorite TV show and feel baffled by size, structure, and affordability of it all?  How do Marge and Homer Simpson afford a +2500 square foot home (my assumption) when he works at the plant, and she doesn't work? Or, have you ever wanted a bit more of a look around?  The home that Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia had always looked like somewhat of a mansion to me - terrace, separate wings, huge backyard.  Inaki Aliste Lizarralde, and incredible artist and obvious TV fanatic, put together some floor plans of favourite TV homes throughout the years.  To see her full portfolio, visit her tumblr, but I've included my favourites below.

Celebrity Homes

When MTV Cribs launched, every was fascinated by celebrities' homes, but, it was a bit over-saturated with the little punch lines, cars, and drinks.  The show didn't really promote an appreciation of design or decor, it was more to show you people's lifestyle.  Here are a few homes that I found (via Architectural Digest) where you can really see the reflection of character in the home:

Pinkett-Smith's

Diane Von Furstenburg:

Ellen Degeneres & Portia DiRossi

Will Ferrell

Giorgio Armani (New York and Italy homes)