Vol. 27, Issue 5, September 2019
- Julie's Scoop
- Quote of the Day
- Chit Chat & Babies...
- Market Watch & Mortgage Rates
- Feeling like Giving Back?
- The Julie Kinnear Team's GEMs (Genuine Evidence of Merit)
- What They Got - More of our happy buyers & sellers!
- The JKT's Featured Furry Friend
- A few of our Favourite things
Julie's Scoop
Happy End of Summer / Beginning of Fall
Well, the weather sure has reminded us that Fall is coming soon. Apparently more summer warmth is on its way though. Of course, around my house, we know the Fall has arrived as the Polish Festival on Roncy and the Ukrainian Festival in Bloor West Village were in full swing this past weekend, and these are always a highlight!
As you will see in the chit chat column, my family was blessed in August with the birth of my brother Alec's second child, Julian Alexander Kinnear (nice name eh? Another Jules in the fam!). It truly is a miracle of life. Am off to Vienna in November to visit him and the family.
Julian Alexander Kinnear
Other family / business news is that Brenda Kinnear & Jay Banks, my mother and step-father (of the past 40 years!) have moved back to the big smoke. They are energized and enthusiastically engaging in life here in Toronto again, with family and friends and real estate careers. Brenda has joined the JKT, and it is fun to work together again. Some of our clients might remember when Brenda came back from Vancouver for a couple of years to help when I was off for cancer treatments. Brenda will be handling client care and is happy to support, keeping in touch and helping any of our wonderful peeps. B has even hosted a couple of open houses already. A great addition of wisdom and hands-on experience for all of us.
Julie, Jay Banks & Brenda Kinnear
Our team enjoyed many pursuits this summer, the outdoors, family vacations, decluttering and fixing up our own spaces, and rejuvenating. Our fun summer JKTourist day included the Aga Khan Museum! We read as our team book the Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss and were very inspired by the mentors and their words of advice.
Since our last newsletter, the summer real estate market continued its positive momentum. September has seen a big increase in listings, and really good ones too, so hopefully lots of buyers out there can realize their housing dreams.
We are very excited about all the Google reviews and Facebook reviews that we have received this summer and so grateful to those who have contributed. It really is the way to share the message these days, and it is an honour to hear about your experiences first hand. Please add one yourself when you get a chance.
guiding you home™,
Julie
P.S. Now that school is back in, the traffic in the neighbourhoods has increased, and you might want to remind drivers to take a bit better care. Email or call today for one of our custom SLOW DOWN signs. Happy to share the message!
P.P.S. Halloween month is fast approaching! Our annual JKT pumpkin event this year is Sunday October 6th, 2019. We have rented out the cool old school REVUE THEATRE on Roncesvalles for the occasion and excited to screen ET (it has been quite a while since I've seen that awesome movie, it will be incredible again on the big screen). We welcome you, our fantastic clients, to FREE popcorn, drinks, pumpkins and candy for all attendees!! Come on down!
2018 REVUE Cinema on Roncesvalles JKT screening of
It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown & the Original Ghostbusters!
Quote of the Day:
Chit Chat...
- Carrie Davidson has some thrilling news to share. She is now working with a new company, The Mortgage Coach and continues to help people with their mortgage needs there. Please contact her at
- VOOMcart has been designed to make hauling up to 50 pounds around on foot easy, and hey – even fun! We have a great friend who has co-founded this venture, and it makes perfect sense for the downtown Toronto lifestyle of shopping and walking – by foot :). Very cool!
Babies...
- Alec Kinnear & Lucia Spisiakova and big brother Constantin welcomed their second son, (and Julie's so excited to share the news about her newest nephew) Julian Alexander born on August 22, 2019 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Loving congratulations to you all!
- Amy Swenson-Tiano & Sandra Tiano and big sister Carly proudly introduced their son Connor James to the world! Born on July 21, 2019, weighing 8lbs 9oz.
Market Watch ~ GTA REALTORS® Release August 2019 Stats
September 5, 2019 – Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 7,711 residential sales through TREB's MLS® System in August 2019. This result represented a 13.4% increase compared to 6,797 sales reported in August 2018. On a month over- month basis, after preliminary seasonal adjustment, sales were up by 0.8%.
GTA-wide sales were up on a year-over-year basis for all major market segments, with annual rates of sales growth strongest for low-rise home types including detached houses. This reflects the fact that demand for more expensive home types was very low in 2018 and has rebounded to a certain degree in 2019, albeit not back to the record levels experienced in 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.
Market conditions also became tighter in August 2019 compared to a year ago because, while sales were up year-over-year, new listings were down by 3% over the same time period to 11,789. Year-to-date, growth in sales has well outstripped growth in new listings. This is why overall active listings counted at the end of August were down by more than 11% compared to August 2018.
The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark for August 2019 was up by 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. The average selling price, at $792,611 in August 2019, was up by 3.6% year-over-year. Both the MLS® HPI benchmark prices and average selling prices were up on an annual basis for major market segments. The condominium apartment segment continued to lead the way in terms of price growth, followed by higher density low-rise home types and finally detached houses.
Feeling like Giving Back? The Pathways to Education Program
What an amazing organization – they truly have proven what a difference they can make in the most needed communities and work together with the families. Pathways provides youth from low-income communities with the resources they need to graduate from high school & break the cycle of poverty. The award-winning Pathways Program is a combination of academic, financial, social, and one-on-one supports that work to remove the barriers to graduation. It promotes positive youth development during critical high school years. Very proud to support these peeps. To donate visit: www.pathwaystoeducation.ca
The Julie Kinnear Team's GEMs (Genuine Evidence of Merit)
A company's success is strongly impacted by the customer reviews and for those of us in real estate, Google reviews and Facebook reviews create the biggest impact. We are asking for your help to go online and add your input and we will happily donate to a charity of your choice for your efforts!
You can do it on Google Maps here (it's very very important that you write a comment as well in addition to the rating), or you can also leave the same review on JKT's Facebook page here by clicking on "Yes" next to the "Do you recommend the JKT?" It's true, 5* reviews are almost as precious as a referral nowadays!
"Tyler helped us sell our condo and find and purchase our current dream house. I cannot imagine the process with anyone else! We initially approached him based on his experience and reputation, but decided to work with him solely based on the chemistry. He is relatable and real and truly "got" us. He took the time to understand exactly what we wanted and needed and there was no pressure EVER. We would recommend Tyler to anyone looking for an agent with their best interests at heart... and not just because he has become a life-long friend."
Julia
Interested in new build condos and townhouses? We have access to pre-public sales of new developments. Be sure to get in touch to take advantage of this leg up!
What They Got - More of our happy buyers & sellers!
A continuing column of the Julie Kinnear Team's sales...
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30 Ritchie Avenue ~ Roncesvalles Sold Over Asking |
23 Sandford Avenue ~ Riverdale List Price: $998,900 Sold Over Asking |
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330 Sorauren Avenue ~ Roncesvalles Sold Over Asking |
25 Oxley Street #1206 ~ King West Sold Over Asking |
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300 Balliol Street PH# 909 ~ Davisville Village Sold Under Asking |
12 Norwood Terrace ~ Danforth Sold Under Asking |
Did You Know? We have a large number of awesome trusted realtors in different towns and communities across Ontario, Canada and Internationally. Just get in touch so we can introduce you.
Our Purpose
Our purpose is for you to be so outrageously happy with the service we provide that you gladly refer us to your friends and family before you've even bought or sold with us.
The JKT's Featured Furry Friend – Teddy the Bichon Poo aka Bitch Poo!
Teddy is Claire Hartviksen's dog who was purchased for her son Addison after years of begging for a dog but as these things go I can tell you after 4 years she's pretty much my dog. Yes the promises of walking/feeding her etc. went out the window 2 weeks in but it's all good she is the best addition to our lives and family.
We brought her home on Valentine's Day 4 years ago when she was 3 months. It was not planned, just happened to be the day, and how fitting because she is the essence of Love!
A few fun facts about the World's Cutest Dog Teddy!
- She can tell the difference between organic and non organic meats. Yep you heard that right she will turn her nose up to all those antibiotic filled meats.
- Her favourite food is liver from Summerhill Market (the best 3 bucks I ever spend)
- She has a rare pink nose, people often stop and admire it – she's quite the little movie star on the Bayview strip :). I can barely walk a block without someone coming up to try and pet her or tell me how cute she is. I have had several people stop me from their cars to ask what kind of dog she is.
- Her favourite thing to do is cuddle – cuddle and more cuddles (should have named her cuddles)
- She refuses to go out in the rain.
- She is super smart, empathetic, well behaved and trained.
- Her fur is quite high maintenance – she's a hot mess on humid days.
- She is super jealous – it's kind of ridiculous, if anyone even thinks about hugging me she's not having it and will jump up and down and barks like a maniac! She's bossy and saucy but with that cute face she can do whatever she wants.
- Her birthday is December 3rd and how perfect because I love the month of Christmas.
The JKT - A few of our Favourite Things:
Lupy (Lisa Lupynec)
Tyler
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Claire
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Jen
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Holly
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Julie
- Apple AirPods – they really are pretty awesome. So quick and easy to use, hands free walking the dogs in High Park, listening to a great podcast and no tangling up with the leashes! Light and quick to pair with my phone too. Yes we are all a bit geeky walking around with these little things sticking out of our ears, but they definitely fit a need.
