Kinnear's Komments

Volume 17, Issue 2
March 2009

The best way out is always through.
Robert Frost

Julie' s Scoop

 

 

Jullie's pictures from Jamaica trip

Mary and I are back from a fabulous week in Montego Bay, Jamaica at the Royal LePage Chairman's Club Conference. Who knew that Jamaica was all that it is famous for - gorgeous beaches, lush landscape, and to die for sunshine. It was a wonderful break in the middle of our on again, off again grey winter weather.

Great news this month! After an exhaustive search, we welcome Stephanie Mitchell to the JK Team as our new Client Care Coordinator. Stephanie comes to us from a long career in the film industry where she held a senior administrative position. We are thrilled that Stephanie in changing her career path chose to join us. She looks forward to getting to know you, our loyal clients, and your friends or family when you have real estate queries. Stephanie can be reached at our office at 416-762-5949

Another behind the scenes peek in our team is our fabulous Sondra Palacios. She of course is Jen's Mom and Julie's Mother-in-law, and definitely one of our unsung heroes. Sondra is the one who makes sure you receive our mailings (like putting on those crazy stickers and stamps!). She faithfully puts together all our binders before our buyer and seller consults, and generally helps out in many ways. We appreciate her generous efforts.

Guess what? The real estate market is extremely active despite all the conflicting news reports! The market is increasing in affordability and in the number of sales as prices and mortgage rates have come down. Properties are selling and there are a lot of happy buyers moving too! It is a dynamite opportunity for first time and move up buyers who are either renting or able to take advantage by buying & selling in the same market (gap is lowest its ever been).

With the prime rate at 2.50% and variable and fixed rates at RECORD lows, these mortgage rates have never been seen in my lifetime. My realtor Mom remembers selling a house in Moore Park in the recession of the early 80s when the Vendor took back a mortgage at 12% and the buyer thought they got a really good deal! Ha.

Lately heard on CNN a commentator in referring to Allan Greenspan's description of the market in its heyday as "irrational exuberance" calling today's fears "irrational depression".

Attention children under 12 - another Krazy Kontest especially for kids! See enclosed for our 2nd annual Kool Easter Kolouring Kontest! Winner receives a fab Easter Gift Basket and the winning artwork will be posted on www.JulieKinnear.com. Mail us your entries in by April 8 to be eligible! We had a blast with it last year!

Cheers,Julie

Market Watch

Maureen O'Neill President of the Toronto Real Estate Board commented that "a considerable number of transactions continued to take place in February 2009. Motivated buyers and sellers who were aware that market conditions changed over the past few months were able to negotiate transactions acceptable to both parties."

The Toronto Real Estate Board statistics for February 2009 state the following:

• In Feb 09 there was a total of 4,120 sales compared with 6,015 sales in February 08.
• The average sale price in Feb 09 was $361,305 compared with an average sale price of $382,048 in February 08.

Average sale prices can be skewed by the sales of higher priced properties. More meaningful is the Median Sale Price comparison:

• In Feb 09 the median sale price was $312,900 and in Feb 08 the median sale price was $324,000.

Did you know?

Looking for great ideas for energy efficiency but worried about the cost?

Check out the info on the Hydro One website. Energy conservation ideas with a local outlook:
www.HydroOneNetworks.com
The Hydro pamphlets (available in PDF or print) have suggestions for every budget on such topics as Heating, Cooling, Lighting, Caulking, Appliances, Landscaping, Windows, Hot Water & Conservation

Mortgage Info to Save You $$$$

With interest rates falling as of late, refinancing your existing mortgage and switching to a lower rate may save you a lot of money - possibly thousands of dollars per year.

Imagine what you could do with the savings - anything from renovating or investing to going on a much-needed vacation or putting money towards your children's education.

With the high cost of holiday gift-buying and entertaining now behind you, this may also be the perfect time to get 2009 off to a fresh start by refinancing your mortgage to a lower interest rate and freeing up some money to pay off high-interest credit card debt. With access to more money, you will be better able to manage your finances.

By refinancing now and paying off your debt, you can put yourself and your family in a better financial position. It's very important to not rack up your credit cards after refinancing, however, so set your goals and budgets, and stick to them.

There are penalties for paying out your existing mortgage loan prior to renewal, but these may be offset by the extra money you could acquire through a refinance.

Carrie offers you a FREE over the phone consultation for any of the JKT clients to see if this is worth investigating further.

Otawa by Ivan Aleksic

There are many ways to pay down your mortgage sooner to save you thousands of dollars in interest. Most mortgage products, for instance, include prepayment privileges that enable you to pay up to 20% of the principal (the true value of your mortgage minus the interest payments) per calendar year. This will also help reduce your amortization period (the length of your mortgage), which, in turn, saves you money.

You can also change the way you make your payments by opting for accelerated bi-weekly mortgage payments. Not to be confused with semi-monthly mortgage payments (24 payments per year), accelerated bi-weekly mortgage payments (26 payments per year) will not only pay your mortgage off quicker, but it's guaranteed to save you a significant amount of money over the term of your mortgage.

Even paying an extra $20 per payment will help you in the long run, and gain you more equity in your property and rid of that mortgage faster!

ARTICLE COURTESY OF CARRIE DAVIDSON, DOMINION LENDING

P.S. Carrie offers you a FREE over the phone consultation for any of the JKT clients to see if this is worth investigating further. 

Chit Chat

• We wanted to add Adrian Dos Ramos' awesome poem that we missed in the January newsletter!

  Twas the night before "Closing" our spanking new house,
  With joy and excitement I danced like a mouse!
  Like Mickey or Mighty or Scratchy indeed
  We danced and we pranced for a closing with speed!

  And so we are winners in a small bidding event
  Then Excited and afraid of the money we spent!

  With a very old home we saw knob and tube
  And alas we must Reno our brand new little cube.
  So we shop for electricians from high and low
  With quotes upon quotes that have quite a huge blow.

  And many weeks later we finally move
  And so all is well and we are now in the groove!
  Thanks to Julie, Jen, Nicole and KJ
  And now for baby already on the way!

• Catherine Meade & Rita Be Wuebler were happily married October 11/08 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• Krista Bradley & Jamie McMillan got married in Mexico in January 09. It was a fabulous experience with 45 guests flying down to the Mexican Riviera for the week.
• Lots of news from Connie Eggins & Joe Tomona - Connie's son Jeremy Pace got engaged on New Year's Eve.  This was a total surprise to his girlfriend Alexis Thompson!  He proposed at midnight, on bended knee, with a ring in hand.  The big day will be August 7, 2010. Connie's eldest, Adam Pace, is taking a leap of faith.  He left a successful career to try his hand as a Financial Advisor with RBC.  Given the current economy, we salute his courage and initiative. Joe's oldest daughter, Laura Tomona, is branching out in her artitistic endeavours.  She has done commissioned landscape work and is now painting sets for two theatres, in Brampton and Orangeville.  Do you know anyone who would like a painting of their home as a unique gift?  See a sample of her work at www.CaledonCitizen.com

• 

• Dr. Chris O'Toole, is happy to announce that Bloor West Village Animal Hospital is set to open Monday, March 23, 2009. It is located at 2100 Bloor St. West, kitty corner to High Park. There will be an Open House in April to look out for. We're really excited to be able to meet all of Oscar's friends from the park and to service the animals of West End Toronto. Appointments can already be booked at 416-769-7687. For more information, check out our new website at www.BloorWestVet.com
• Alison Young and Eric Tilley had a fabulous year meeting, skiing, cottaging, travelling and to top it all off Eric proposed in Rome, Italy in September! We are hoping this will be their year to buy a house together after their big day in June 2009!

Babies

• Alana Patterson and Tracey Barbrick welcomed baby Cody Patterson Barbrick on August 22/08.
• Charlotte Kanya-Forstner & Peter Johnson welcomed Baby Thomas, born in early December/08.
• After many long hours of labour Vivian Margaret Liphardt was born on January 12/09 Alison & Eric Liphardt. She's a sweet little girl. Big sister Tarin is excited to spend time with her sister.
• Baby Riley Jean Theresa is here! Darlene Bennett & David Howes are loving their new little girl, born January 13/09.
• On January 16th, 2009, the world welcomed a very healthy Georgia Jane Saynor. Her first words were "wah-wah, followed by, "Dad, can I borrow your amex, I want to go to Holts and get a great new handbag I've been eyeing" Mom, Stacy Begg, and dad, Don Saynor are thrilled. Georgia intends to live in Toronto.
• James Murphy was thrilled to announce that Michelle gave birth to a beautiful little girl on January 18/09!  She weighed in at an even 8 lbs and the both of them are doing well.
• Rahul Ghosh and Claudia Navarro are thrilled to announce the birth of their son Diego Raahi Ghosh born Jan 25, 2009.
• Julie Ross- O'Toole & Chris O'Toole and their beloved dog Oscar welcomed twins Griffin Ross and Zoey Skye on January 27/09. Hard to believe they're already 6 weeks old!
• Julie Russell & Chris Sabine are proud parents of Lucy Violet Sabine, who was born on Feb 16/09 (family day!!)

Are you Feeling like Giving Back?

Charity of the month - Benefitting the Princess Margaret Hospital www.ConquerCancer.ca

The JKT Cycling Team (our fearless cyclists KJ, Wendy, Holly, Cynthia, Jen, Tori & Julie) are preparing for the 200 km Ride to Conquer Cancer from Toronto to Niagara Falls. The ride is coming soon - June 13-14! The Ride To Conquer Cancer is our charity of choice this year and we are looking for help from all of you to meet our team goal of $32k. Conquering cancer is a goal close to all our hearts and we value your support. Please go to www.ConquerCancer.ca, click Ontario, then click donate and type in The Julie Kinnear Team.

Mortgage rates

found on our website

current variable rate is 3.3%
current prime rate is 2.50%

Competitive Advantage Series (=more reasons to refer!)

Is there value in working with our top team ?

Have you heard of the Google test?
Try it. Go to Google and search Blogs or websites & type in Toronto Real Estate.
Wow. Check out where our website is ranked. In the top few EVERY DAY.

1. Stats show most consumers ignore any sponsored links as they know the organically ranked offer the most comprehensive content.
2. Stats also show that if your website is not on the first page your likelihood of being chosen goes down dramatically.

The advantage to you as a seller means that your home gets that much more exposure with us than more traditional sales reps. Not only will they see your listing among the thousands on realtor.ca, mls.ca, royallepage.ca or Toronto Real Estate Board. You are one of our few featured listings, on our home page at any one time, and it translates into our property presentations online being seen by literally thousands more buyers a day.

You can't put a dollar figure on that kind of exposure.

Our hard work and dedication to the amazing power of the Internet and creating a valuable website & blog is a tool that you receive the benefit of when selling with us.

All the new and exciting content, the updated neighbourhood stats monthly and the krazy kontests keeps people coming back to this trusted resource.

Curious George

See a For Sale Sign/Sold you were wondering about? We are happy to let you know about houses in your neighbourhood - feel free to contact Steph at: ' + '') /*]]>*/

The Julie Kinnear Team's GEMs

(Genuine Evidence of Merit)

Thanks Julie & KJ, for all your hard work over the years on behalf of Danica and I.

You've always been prompt to respond to our concerns and needs (as buyers & sellers) - and managed to make us feel comfortable in some of the most stressful times of our lives.

Your expertise, experience and overall down to earth approach to the process really made a big difference, the people we referred to you share the same feelings and for that, I thank the people who referred us to you!!!

Thanks for everything.
Maxime.

What They Got!
A continuing column of the Julie Kinnear Team's Sales

21 Jennings

Bloor West Village

21 Jennings
Asking Price $999,000.
Selling Price $895,000.

210A Avenue Road

Yorkville

210A Avenue Road, Ave & Dav
Asking Price $519,000.
Selling Price $505,000.

7 Sparkhall

Riverdale

7 Sparkhall Ave.
Asking Price $659,000.
Selling Price $624,000.

JKT - A few of our Favourite things

Jen
Early morning yoga @ Big Stretch Yoga in Leaside. It doesn't matter what level you're at, you go at the pace you're comfortable with. Check out their website: bigstretchyoga.com. To counter act that healthy recommendation, Jen particularly loves Swiss Style Chocolate Almonds from Adam & Eve Chocolatier.

KJ
Pickaboo on-line photo albums are easy to use and great value. Very useful with sharing all the cute pictures of our growing girls.

Holly
Crema Coffee in the Junction (South West side of Dundas and Quebec). Extremely good coffee and a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere.
Also: HUSH clothing on Queen West. The owner/designer Osafo is very helpful and knows what looks good!  

Julie
Wii. Yes I know we must be grown up children to be loving it so much. It really is challenging, interactive and fun even during a dinner party at home. We play all the sports especially tennis & bowling, and on the Wii Fit - unlocking all the balancing games, and yoga etc is a blast. The computer weighing us and calculating our BMI is NOT the fun part!

Stephanie
Right now it is her Roots Side Saddle bag in hot pink!! She'll also tell you she  LOVES her pink colour juice lip gloss, and listening to Kenny Chesney CD "Just Who I Am - Pirates and Poets"

Attention children under 12 - another Krazy Kontest especially for kids! See enclosed for our 2nd annual Kool Easter Kolouring Kontest! Winner receives a fab Easter Gift Basket and the winning artwork will be posted on www.JulieKinnear.com. Mail us your entries in by April 8 to be eligible! We had a blast with it last year!