Maybe you have seen a shift in the market and brushed it off as the economy, the weather, or even the youth of today!  Well, you will find that the trends of the big City are certainly going to travel to our outlying communities and if you had guessed that Gen Y is the reason that this shift is taking on a stronger roll in the housing market, you are correct.  

Just think about it: you remember what it's like to turn on the TV and switch the channels without a remote.  Gen Y has grown up with microwaves and remotes, iPhones and tablets.  Gen Y is changing how our economy works, and they are changing the housing market's long term perspective.  You may ask what that long term perspective looks like?  We unfortunately do not have a glass ball that allows us to look into the future, but we certainly have the bennefit of looking at some of the most technically advanced communities in North America to see where we are headed.

We found this great write-up about Gen Y in the Atlanta Business Chronicle and wanted to share an exerpt of it for a better understanding of the Gen Y Factor.    

Resource: 

• Apartments are hot. In the wake of the housing crisis, people no longer see home ownership as the American Dream or a ticket to wealth creation. Apartment dwellers include people who have been burned by the housing market, and people who know someone who has been. Furthermore, Generation Y — the more than 70 million young people born between 1980 and 2000 — is entering the workforce and loves the flexibility offered by renting instead of owning.

• Mixed-use has staying power. That’s because people are tired of commuting and spending their lives inside cars. They crave walkable environments in urban infill settings. Also, zoning requirements across the country are increasingly demanding a mix of uses. The first phase at Emory Point also has 80,000 square feet of retail and Phase Two calls for an additional 40,000 square feet of retail. It should be noted that some planned mixed-use projects in other markets have dropped the retail component because it’s too difficult to lease. Retail is just not bouncing back as quickly as multifamily. But near Emory, there is pent-up demand for retail and restaurant space.

• Unit sizes are shrinking. Originally, the project’s residential units were designed with an average size of 950 square feet. The actual project has a slightly smaller average size of about 930 square feet. If we were designing the project today, the average unit would likely be 850 square feet. The smaller unit size allows the owner to demand a higher rate per square foot without driving up the monthly rent payment for the renter. As for living in a small space? Gen Y seems willing to accept less. Today’s apartment dweller is focused not on size but on amenities, nearby restaurants, and being out and about in a walkable environment.

We expect this trend to continue as Generation Y wants to live close in, rent instead of own and walk to dinner and places to hang out.

If you are a seller and you are seaking a Real Estate company who understands and facilitates the Gen Y Factor, you have come to the right place.  Simply click on our link "Find an Office" and start speaking with a professional who specializes in your local market today.  

If you are a Real Estate professional who has found him/her self wondering if you are prepared to manage the shift to accomodate future Real Estate markets with the Gen Y Factor, you can try our free real estate simulator to see if you know how Gen Y thinks!  


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When you make a decision to search for a new home, and are actually serious about purchasing a home, it is time to take the necessary steps for the search.

There are several ways to go about searching for a home, which includes searching the internet, reading the newspaper and of course, talking to a real estate agent.

It is always great to do your own research, and by that I mean searching the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) - available on our website www.ssre.ca - for homes and if you do find homes that interest you, then you can take the next step, that being to call the respective agent and setting up a showing.

The best thing you can do is talk to a real estate agent about the type of house you are looking for, it helps make the process a lot easier, and will save you time you might not have to spend.

A real estate agent will take what you want into consideration and compile a list of houses that suit your needs.

This will include the features you are looking for and the price you are looking for.

They will do the work for you, and all you really have to do is go through the list, and select what you really want to see.

Next time you are looking for a house, get yourself a real estate agent, you will definitely not regret it. And you can always connect with one of our agents through our Facebook Page.

For instance, the site Realestate.com offers a youtube channel for all of its listings. The videos show pictures of the home and provide many of the relevant details that buyers would be interested in. The benefit is that the videos are engaging and can potentially draw buyers in more than a traditional static listing can. Unfortunately, this site is currently only for American listings.

However, even this site is not taking full advantage of the power of youtube. Since these videos only show a succession of static images, beyond the simple fact that people are more engaged by videos, this channel is not necessarily that effective. A better approach is provided by Silver:House.

Silver:House is a Toronto-based service that does more immersive video tours of properties for real estate agents. Although the shots generally remain in one place in the room to minimize the jarring, Blair-Witch-Project feel of a handheld tour of a property, they offer pans of rooms to give a genuine sense of their size, layout and connection to the other rooms in a house. These shots also provide an authentic idea of what the view from the unit might look like.

Of course, since these videos are more expensive than a simple collection of still images, they are most effective for high-end properties where the seller wants to minimize the number of showings.

Another use for Youtube in the real estate arena is to get the feel of a neighbourhood. Moving into a new ‘hood can make you nervous, but checking out a youtube tour of it can give you an idea of what the amenities of the neighbourhood are, and what you can expect from the character of the place. There are many independent tours available on youtube. They may not be the most professional pieces on the Internet, but they can be interesting and fun.

A lot of the old-school methods of selling real estate in Mississauga are starting to go by the proverbial wayside. Bench advertising, although good for branding, does nothing to sell a home. Newspaper advertising still gets you a lot of dead leads, but the good ones are getting fewer and farther between. Even the more-recent method of keeping a database of agent email addresses and then sending each and every one of them a “Just Listed” EXCLUSIVE email… even this ploy has seen much better days.

(Heck, it was legendary Mississauga Realtor Gordon Daly who ADVISED me to do this, and then HE was the first one to UNSUSCRIBE me!)

“The MLS gives us everything we want!” agents defend.

So then what about the Open House, eh? The Open House has been the King of Home-selling Tactics ever since the invention of the welcome mat. Long loved (hated) for its unique blend of Serious Buyers, Passers-By and Nosy (read: contemptuous) Neighbours, the Open House has historically been a profitable diving board for sellers jumping head-first into the deep waters of the real estate market. But with the exponential advancement of the Internet and the de-socialization of human interaction, is the Open House still King?

You bet your assessment it is.

First, let me address my fellow agents: IF YOU ARE NOT HOLDING OPEN HOUSES AT EACH AND EVERY OPPORTUNITY, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE JUST STARTING OUT, THEN YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN SUCCEEDING.

The benefits of the Open House are almost innumerable for the agent. First let’s broach the people coming in… The Serious Buyers – well, this helps you and your client without saying, but the real value for the agent lies in the Passers-By and the Nosy Neighbours.

The Passers-By will likely have no agent………… Ding ding ding ding!!

The Nosy Neighbours? Well, half of them are nosy, for sure. But the other half are comparing homes to see what their home might be worth………… Ding ding ding ding!!

Is there a math here that I have to calculate?

Prevent problems before they occur: Top 10 tips

1. Get your vehicle ready for winter in the fall.
2. Install four matching winter tires.
3. Pack an emergency kit.
4. Learn and practice winter driving techniques before you need them.
5. Plan your trip, check road and weather conditions.
6. Remove all snow from your vehicle before each trip.
7. Give yourself extra travel time in bad weather.
8. Avoid using overdrive and cruise control on slippery roads.
9. Travel with a fully charged cell phone.
10. SLOW DOWN and WEAR your seatbelt.

Whenever possible, do as much of the work as you can. Most renos go through money to pay for the labour, rather than materials. However, as always, make sure it is stuff you can do yourself. If you try to do something that you just don’t know how to do, it could potentially cost more than you would like it to when you have to fix it.

The things you can probably do yourself are the ones that are labour intensive but not very skilled. These include demolition, tiling, installing floors and painting. Save the electrical and plumbing to the experts.

2. Be the boss

When you hire contractors, cut out a middle man by doing the hiring yourself. To make sure you aren’t scammed, get a referral if possible. If this isn’t possible, try to get several estimates, and choose the most professional and comprehensive one.

3. Shop around

Save money that you would spend on materials by shopping around for the best prices. You can sometimes pick up steals from salvage yards, or directly from the manufacturer. The Internet is

also a great place to pick up for deals.

When you do find any good materials, make sure that you measure your space correctly so that you know how much you need. As well, buy a little extra, particularly when you are purchasing tiles. If you need to repair any tile work in the future, this extra tile will come in handy, and will save you if the tile you used has been discontinued.

4. Reuse whenever possible

If you don’t have to get rid of it, don’t! You can always paint an existing cabinet, or have an existing bathtub refinished. Mirrors that aren’t damaged can usually be framed to appear more attractive. Reusing is not only environmentally friendly – it will also help you save money.

Hopefully these tips have been helpful. As always, if you have any more particular concerns, consulting directly with a contractor or other expert can help you save a lot of money in the long run.

You should have a plan for any renovation you undertake, but a bathroom is especially important. While you can survive on take-out and sandwiches if your kitchen is a mess, going without a bathroom – particularly if it is your only bathroom – can be potentially more problematic. As well, the bathroom features a lot of running water, and improperly fixing up your bathroom can easily cause water damage, or let mould develop. Think of this as cost control: you don’t want to be forced to pull out your bathroom in three years because it wasn’t built properly. Planning well means writing out all of the steps you are going to take in your reno, and when and if the key components of your bathroom are out of order.

2. Don’t move the sink.

Most importantly for your plan, is whether you are going to change your bathroom’s main features. If you can, you should likely avoid any major changes. Moving the toilet or bathtub will substantially increase your costs. You can then channel all of your cost savings into installing top-of-the-line faucets or by upgrading your shower stall.

3. Budget and don’t budge it.

Figure out everything you need to spend right down to the bolts, nuts and tiles. The closer you determine your need for everything, the more likely you will be able to get deals. For instance, you might be able to find just the right number of tiles at a clearance sale. If you don’t know how much you need, how will you snag these deals?

Also, stick to your budget. You may feel like suddenly adding a new bathtub will not adversely affect how much you are spending, but when you stray away from your budget, you are going to suddenly find all sorts of costs wracking up that you didn’t think of. Budgets are there for a reason.

That’s it for today. Next time we'’ll provide you with more helpful tips to ensure that your bathroom reno doesn’t turn into a money pit.

The tests evaluated the insensibility and loss of posture in birds via EEG and EKG by attaching electrodes to the birds’ skin.  Electrodes were also attached to the skull to measure electrical activity in the brain.  These tests recorded an average of 90 per cent reduction in the EEG signal in the birds within 32 seconds.  The animals’ hearts exhibited the signs of full fibrillation of both the ventricles and the atria within 35 seconds.  Loss of posture was recorded at 37 seconds.

In a second series of laboratory tests, a large prototype was designed that worked with a cage that had a capacity for 256 birds.  This next set of experiments determined broiler behaviour by monitoring it by video during the course of the cycle.

The test results revealed that no stress behaviour was observed before the desired pressure was reached.  After loss of posture was recorded, the behaviour noted was comparable to that seen with gas stunning.  Furthermore, no vocalizations were noted during the complete cycle.

In the industrial application, the birds’ corticosterone levels were recorded.  Comparisons were run against twenty birds a day slaughtered in a different manner for three days.  In this way, a mean level of the stress hormone was determined and compared to that of the electrically-stunned broilers.

In the findings, the birds slaughtered through the newer, humane method had no processing problems and were slaughtered more efficiently.  Automated processing procedures did not present any problems.

While the system is still being tested and perfected, it will likely be on the market soon, as consumers demand increasingly humane methods of elevation and slaughter from livestock producers.

Inspection Fee

Any house that has been previously owned will need to be inspected. You wouldn’t want to buy a property and find its roof is leaking, discover that it is uninsurable because it has knob and tube wiring, or see that it has roaches. Good inspectors will find these things for you; they will also cost you in fees.

Appraisal Fee

When you are getting your mortgage, your bank may require you to get your new home independently appraised to determine its value.

Survey Fee

This fee can be avoided if the previous owners of your home have already done one. However, if there isn’t a recent one completed, you’ll have to get a new one done. A survey will tell you how your home is situated on your property. It will also tell you if any part of your home is on your neighbour’s property, if any part of their home is on your property, and if your home meets the current zoning regulations.

Legal fee

When you are claiming the title of your property, you will need to have the title searched. Searching the title is undertaken to ensure that you aren’t buying a property that has any claims on it and to make sure that the seller actually has the right to sell the home. Although you can use a paralegal (except in BC and Quebec, where a lawyer is required), a lawyer is advisable.

Title insurance

To ensure that you are protected from the possibility that the seller doesn’t actually own the title to your home, you’ll have to get title insurance. It sounds like an unnecessary expense, but you definitely wouldn’t want to find out you’ve paid several hundred thousand to a person who doesn’t actually own the house you are buying.

Other costs

And there will be other expenses: moving costs, gas and time to look at all the houses you are interested in, costs to replace those terrible drapes, etc. Generally, these costs are an understandable and necessary part of buying a home. And these costs will be recouped by you if you live in a house for several years, and the house naturally appreciates in value. However, it is unlikely that you will recoup these costs if you try to flip the house immediately.

In other words: flipping is only for the brave. For the rest, real estate is a great long-term way to invest your money.

Cash crops have a certain inherent amount of instability, and for farmers looking for reliable sources of income, harvesting energy, such as solar power, can provide an additional promise of longevity.

Furthermore, with commercialized, industrialized farms dominating the industry, harvesting green energy could well be the saving grace for the traditional family farm.  In Ontario, for example, farmers can receive licenses from Ontario Power Generation to sell their energy to the province’s energy grid.  While it’s not big business enough to save the average family farm, the thousand or so dollars that a contributing producer can raise certainly helps.

Prior to the licensing program in Ontario, solar panels were a bit of rarity.  In 2009, solar installations contributed less than 100 megawatts of electricity to the provincial grid.  However, with new incentives like the licensing program in place, that number is expected to jump to as much as 700 megawatts in the next two years.

Solar energy production is attractive to producers looking to get involved in energy production since the prices for photovoltaic panels have come down with increased demand for them.  And, unlike wind farms, the panels can often be installed fairly discreetly – on the roofs of houses and barns for example – saving space in the fields for crops.

The prices of solar technology are expected to come down even more going forward.  Countries like China are beginning to invest heavily in the technology and as it becomes more commonly used, its attendant devices and services will also come down in price.

What I Need From You …. To Give You The Best Service

A  few guidelines/procedures to keep in mind when your home is listed for sale.

Setting Up  Showings

My office will call you to request an appointment when an agent has a prospective Buyer that would like to see your home. If you are not available, a message is left on your answering machine if you have one, or depending upon arrangements made, we will grant the request and provide access to your home with a lock box.

Make Your Home  Accessible

Having your home accessible to prospective Buyers as much as possible, is critical in the sale of your home.  Agents try to give as much notice as possible for requests to show your home, but there are times when last minute requests do occur.  Granting requests as much as possible is desirable … the request you turn away may be the purchaser you’ve been waiting for.

Dress For Success

Looking good is important when you want to make a great impression, whether for a job interview or a social function. The same is true of a home that is on the market. When the “For Sale” sign goes up in front of your home, it should be “dressed” for the occasion.

Since the first impression will be of the front of the house, a well-groomed exterior is crucial, from the landscaping to the paint. The interior of your home should be clean and tastefully decorated. Take care of any minor cosmetic repairs that are needed, such as cracked plaster or peeling paint. A sparkling kitchen and shiny bathrooms, clean windows, and the absence of clutter will help your home “show well”. Keeping your home looking good at all times is hard work, especially if you have children and are packing for a move. The dividends are impressive, however, because a home that looks well cared for has an excellent chance of selling quickly for top dollar.

First Impressions

Good curb appeal is a major plus when we market a home. A little bit of work on the front of your can pay big dividends.

When a potential buyer pulls up in front of your house, their first impression is absolutely crucial. Sometimes buyers won’t even look at a home with droopy shutters, sagging gutters, peeling paint and a bumper crop of dandelions in the front yard. Or they might go in expecting to find a “fixer-upper” that could be purchased at a bargain price. If a house looks neat and cared for from the street, the initial good impression will carry over as the buyers step inside.

It is not necessary to hire a professional landscaper, but listen to your Realtor’s suggestions when you list your home. Local nurseries can help you select blooming plants that will thrive in your area. Keep the lawn mowed, and regardless of the season, take care of exterior maintenance. Strong curb appeal will help your home sell more quickly and for top dollar.

A Sparkling Kitchen

There’s no doubt about it–the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the whole house for many prospective buyers. Smart sellers will take a close look at how they can make their kitchen a real asset when it is time to sell.

Your kitchen doesn’t need to be state-of-the-art to be attractive. The first step toward enhancing your kitchen’s appeal is a thorough cleaning. This includes the walls, cabinets (inside and out), floors, and appliances. Keep the counter tops as clear as possible of small appliances and gadgets. Consider low-cost improvements which can make a big difference, such as a coat of paint, fresh wallpaper, or new floor covering. Be sure to keep the kitchen sparkling when the house is being shown. This means no dirty dishes in the sink or mouldy cucumbers in the refrigerator. This extra effort will pay great dividends!

Help Your Realtor

Once your home is listed for sale, it may be difficult for you to step aside and let your agent take over. When prospective buyers arrive, you may want to stand by to point out the closet extenders, the hidden spice cabinet behind the kitchen door, the energy-saving storm windows or the updated copper plumbing. If you really want to help, however, you will leave the house whenever it is being shown!

We have found that the sales process does not really begin until buyers have begun      to voice their objections about a property. Sometimes these concerns are serious     enough to remove your house from consideration. Often, however, people voice objections as a defense mechanism because they really love the house and they want     to buy it. We are trained to know the difference. If a seller is standing at the agent’s elbow, the buyer won’t be comfortable enough to let this process take place, and we could lose the sale. The best way to help is to give us the room to do our job.

Summary

Very few people will buy a house because they are attracted by fantastic bathrooms. Buyers do react to bathrooms that are not cared for, however, because they view them as a reflection of the overall condition of the property.

Many buyers know that plumbing repairs potentially represent a major expense. They get nervous about dripping faucets, loose tiles, and running toilets. Your pre-marketing preparations should include making sure that your plumbing is working properly and that any cosmetic damage caused by former leaks has been repaired.

Keep the bathroom spotless while your home is on the market. Get out the scouring powder, mildew remover, glass and tile cleaner and a scrub brush. Re-caulk around the tub and shower, if necessary. A new shower curtain, bath mat, and nice smelling soap can help give the buyer one more positive reason for liking your home!

A recent report released by the Toronto-Dominion Bank tries to do just that. It argues that the tax credit did encourage people to renovate, and helped boost the economy. Diana Petramala, the author of the report, estimates that the credit encouraged $4 billion to be spent on renovations.
 

However, the bad news is that most of the money spent was from loans. Petramala says, “We believe that the stimulus measure likely borrowed $3-billion of demand from the future.”

This is bad news, because it suggests that demand from these consumers might be weaker in the near future as they try to recover from their debts. There will be some lingering benefits from the renovation spending – these projects will likely push up activity throughout 2010. But as Petramala notes, “the pace of growth will diminish over the course of the year and into 2011 as payback from the tax credit occurs.” This will have a dampening effect on Canada’s economic recovery.

Even more worrying is the fact that interest rates are expected to rise. If many of the home renovators are putting these expenses on credit card debt, rising interest rates could really knock consumption. And we’re deep in debt. In 2009, home indebtedness reached the historical high of 140% of income.

As well, these renovations might be encouraging the recent upswing in the housing market. If householders are going into debt to pay for renovations, they might feel they need to sell quickly in order to dig themselves out of credit card debt.

Nevertheless, we shouldn’t get too upset about these sorts of analysis. It’s always difficult to predict what the market will be like next month, let alone a year from now. In the end, what matters is not whether most people have wracked up large credit card debts – the problem is whether you have. Try to keep your spending in line, and let the future take care of itself!