We’ve listed this great 2 bedroom 2 bathroom townhome at The Gardens At Queen (Queen & Bathurst).

Check it out … 68 Carr Street, Townhome 22

In the never-ending real estate “bubble” debate, our brokerage Royal LePage is the latest to weigh in with the issuing of it’s quarterly House Price Survey yesterday.

Its prediction? No bubble.

“Widespread calls for a major real estate correction in 2012 simply can’t be justified,” Royal LePage chief executive Phil Soper said in a statement Thursday. “The industry has significant momentum entering the year, and buoyed by the stimulative effect of very low interest rates, we expect the market to continue to expand – albeit at a slower pace.”

Just two days earlier, a Toronto banking conference heard the Canadian market is overheated, with Bank of Montreal CEO William Downe noting that “warning signs” are emerging in two hottest condominium markets: Vancouver and Toronto.

Rather than a crash, however, Royal LePage predicts rising property values in all major markets.

The company’s forecast called for prices across to country to rise 2.8 per cent by the end of 2012, after stronger gains last year.

It said in the fourth quarter of 2011, the average price of a standard two-storey home was $375,427, up 4.2 per cent from a year earlier. The average rate of a detached bungalow was up 6.1 per cent to $344,392, while condominiums gained 3.6 per cent to $234,680.

Statistics Canada reported Thursday that its new housing price index rose 0.3 per cent in November, following on a 0.2 per cent increase in October, and was up 2.5 per cent year-over-year.

Price increases in Toronto, Oshawa and Montreal offset declines in Calgary, Vancouver and the Ontario metropolitan regions of Sudbury and Thunder Bay, the agency said. Builders in all four areas reported lowering prices in order to stimulate sales and remain competitive, while price increases elsewhere were attributed to higher material and labour costs.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has forecast the average price of a listed homes for resale to be $363,900 this year, up 1.2 per cent from 2011.

The Canadian Real Estate Association predicted that the average price would be relatively flat at $362,700. Both forecasts were made in November.

Royal LePage said even pricey housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto – where standard two-storey homes averaged $1.1 million and $629,188, respectively, in the last quarter – will see continued price appreciation in 2012.

The main text of this post is from an article in the Ottawa Citizen

Colby was doing a showing recently and upon entering the condo he and our client were met by this kitten “Peanut”.

Now I ask you, who could resist that face? These wiley sellers had the ultimate staging tool to guarantee a warm, fuzzy response to their home!

We’re selling this gorgeous 2 bedroom townhome at Queen & Bathurst. It’s an end unit and has both a deck and a private yard!

Drop by our Open House this weekend from 2-4pm for a tour and a chat …

In support of the Toronto Star’s recent decision to file a formal complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner regarding the “Ford Freeze“, whereby our mayor has decreed that all official notices and pronouncements from his office will not be provided to the Toronto Star, we give you the original Toronto Star Building at 80 King Street West circa late 1960′s.

The building was designed by the architectural firm Chapman and Oxley who designed numerous Toronto buildings in the first half of the 20th century. Completed in 1929 it was abandoned in 1970 when the Star moved to 1 Yonge. It was demolished in 1972 to make way for First Canadian Place.

Every year in November, we attend the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation Gala. This past Friday was the 5th year for the charity gala and it was a stellar event!

We’ve posted about the Shelter Foundation in the past and in particular about the annual Royal LePage Garage Sale for Shelter held at Royal LePage offices across Canada every May. We believe very strongly in the importance of giving back to our community, especially to those who are most vulnerable and marginalized, and one of the ways we do this is through our support of and participation in the Shelter Foundation. Through donating a portion of every commission we receive and through the fundraising events that we organize and participate in throughout the year, we do our utmost to bring hope and provide a safe shelter for those who need it most. We’re honoured to be in the top 10% of Shelter Foundation donors in Canada.

The numbers aren’t in yet, but between the live and silent auctions we think a record may have been set at the Gala this year! I know that a dinner for 6 with our President/CEO Phil Soper went for $4000. Hey, he’s a very popular guy!

So what’s up with the faux fur? The “pre-loved” fur coat featured in the above photo was purchased for $3.75 from the Salvation Army by two Calgary Realtors – Dave Shulz and Chris Matlashewski – during the Royal LePage National Conference in 2008. Fittingly, the Salvation Army they bought it from supports the prevention of spousal abuse.

Since then the beloved faux fur has been auctioned off at each conference to the highest bidder – who gets to keep it for the year and have their name immortalized on the lining of the coat. This scruffy cast-off has raised about $17,000 so far for the Shelter Foundation!

Unfortunately we are not the current keepers of the coat. That honour belongs to a group of Realtors at Royal LePage Westside in Vancouver who were cunning enough to band together to win the coat for 2011/2012 but also kind enough to let the faux fur make a visit to the Gala this year. But we do intend to do whatever it takes to bring the faux fur to Ontario next year – so be warned Westside!!!

An article I read yesterday about a home buyer’s terrible experience with a major basement leak just one month after moving in raises a lot of points and points a lot of fingers, but in the end it leaves the reader confused and angry because it doesn’t answer the question: how could this situation have been prevented?

Here’s the scenario: the home buyer bought a house from a small scale developer who had previously experienced water leakage in the basement. The seller maintains that the listing agent  told him he was not obligated to disclose the problem since it had been fixed. One month after moving in, the home buyer experienced a major leak in the basement in the same area.

But the article mentions something so briefly that unless you already have the knowledge, you wouldn’t realize how essential it is. I’m talking about building permits.

First of all, it is in everyone’s best interest – including the listing agent’s – if a listing agent asks their seller not only if they obtained the required building permits for any renovations, additions or deletions, but also to see confirmation that the permits were signed off by the regulatory body (in Toronto, for example, this would be the City of Toronto Building Inspection department). In the absence of these, the listing agent should refuse to take the listing.

Secondly, the buyer’s agent should also confirm this information in the best interests of their buyer.

Last but not least, the buyer’s solicitor may have been able to prevent closing had they contacted the City regarding permits on the property. In this particular case, a regular search for open permits such as you can do in Toronto here would not have sufficed since the seller did not obtain any permits at all. But with this particular case, the absence of any permits should have raised a red flag.

It’s also important to know that if a seller has obtained permits but has not had them signed off, they should contact the City for an inspection to determine if all work meets the requirements of the permits, what might be outstanding, and how to go about fulfilling the requirements for a sign off if there is outstanding work.

Here is the full text of the article if you would like to read it.

Why?!?