Kinnear's Komments

Volume 18, Issue 2
March 2010

TEAM - Together Everyone Achieves More!

Julie's Scoop

Well Mary and I are still feeling the "olympic hangover". We continue to relive our experience out in Vancouver of our magical 10 days with as many people as possible showing our pictures and sharing our memories. Mary's fave is seeing her curling heroes - both the Canadian teams were having a party at the Olympic House when we were guests there - so our picture with the woman's skip Cheryl Bernard and the mens vice skip John Morris is priceless! Mine has got to be seeing Sid up close - we had front row seats to the Men's Norway-Canada game and just the atmosphere alone lining up to get into Canada Place was amazing - a sea of red and white and smiles. The TV coverage seemed to express how it felt out there for real. I think the whole country has united with the same pride and enthusiasm.

Canada GO GO GO !!!

Holly continues her admirable and dedicated training program gearing up to her Iron Man race this summer in Lake Placid. She and I are both participating in the Ride to Conquer Cancer again this June, no doubt she'll leave me in her dust on the road!

Jen is looking forward to her work/play visit to San Francisco with her Mom this month. Great opportunity to learn at a BRO conference as well as spend a few days site seeing and eating well.

Steph's been working hard and reading a lot of dry text books, with the goal of obtaining her real estate licence. Not that she's planning on selling anytime soon - she's certainly learning a lot more to help our clients. Her friends planned the most amazing secret surprise 40th birthday party for her that was a big success!

The JKT is having a great start to the year and we have great chemistry with our team. I am very lucky to have Holly, Jen and Steph as they are completely dedicated to helping others, and giving the best experience possible to our beloved "peeps". We had a fun night up at Jen's Hacienda in January to start the year offt; they took great care of the biz while I was away at the Olympics; and we had a blast at the Royal LePage awards night recently. Jen & Holly are often receiving accolades from happy clients, and selling a lot of homes.

Olympic feeling

HST seems to be on the minds of many of our clients and is the buzz around the business these days. Many people are trying to take advantage of the savings before July 1/10. It does not affect resale properties specifically - although there are negative side affects to any services, commissions, condo maintenance fees etc. The full explanation is on our website.

With the prime rate at 2.50% and variable and fixed rates at still crazy lows, these mortgage rates continue to make home ownership affordable.

As the new year unfolded, we have been pleasantly and a little surprised that the market in January and February got off to such a healthy start. Usually things don't get really busy until later in the spring, but so far so good as there are plenty of motivated buyers out there, wanting to take advantage of the interest rates. For the time being there is still a lack of inventory - and that is what is fueling all the action. So if you're thinking of selling you can take advantage of the current conditions - feel free to call me for a confidential consultation.

Cheers,Julie

P.S. Attention children under 12 - another Krazy Kontest especially for kids! See enclosed for our 3rd 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 1 to be eligible! We had a blast with it last year, and decorate our office with ALL the artwork. Previous winners have been Marcus Leszek and Isabel Grant.

Market Watch

March 3, 2010 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,291 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in February, representing a 77 per cent increase over February 2009. The average price for these transactions was up 19 per cent year-over-year to $431,509. Sales and average price increases represent both increased demand for ownership housing and the base year effect, which involves a comparison of economic recovery this year to a period of economic decline last year.

"Increases in existing home sales and average price were noted across the GTA in low-rise and high-rise home types. Similar rates of growth were experienced in the City of Toronto and surrounding 905 regions," said TREB President Tom Lebour. "This suggests that first time, move-up and down sizing buyers are all active in the existing home marketplace."

New listings also increased in February, climbing 24 per cent compared to the same month last year.

"Annual growth in new listings is expected to continue. New listings growth will start to outstrip sales growth as we move through 2010," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis. "As the market becomes better supplied, we will see more sustainable single-digit rates of price growth."

Did you know?

Lights go out around the world for Earth Hour at 8.30pm on Saturday, March 27 in support of action on climate change.

FYI - attention Timmy's fans and participants in the the rrrroll up the rrrrim contest -

Tim Horton's stressed that the cups are recyclable - if you can find a place to recycle them.

Did you know that about 130 locations in Toronto and 400 locations across Canada collect the cups for recycling - so take them back there for your refill!

Tim Hortons paper coffee cups are recyclable in other municipalities, including Owen Sound and Windsor, as are the plastic lids, but the two items together can't be sorted by Toronto's current recycling depot.

Preparing Your Home for a Successful Sale

Properly preparing your home will make a huge difference to how much it sells for. Although it requires a bit of planning, the following ideas can be implemented with just a small investment of time and/or money:

• 1. Curb Appeal - Home buyers form their opinions as soon as they pull up so first class curb appeal is key. Create the best first impression possible by keeping the grass cut and the yard tidy. Also, paint or wash the exterior of your home and clean the windows. Finally, replace the clutter on your porch with a few pots filled with bright flowers.
• 2. Comfort - Buying a home is an emotional experience. When people view your home, they need to imagine themselves living there. You want to make them feel comfortable so go through each room and de-personalize it as much as possible. Take down family photos, personal knick knacks, kids' paintings and anything else that'll make them feel like they're intruding on your personal space.
• 3. Declutter - Most buyers can't see past someone else's clutter. Your home will appear much smaller when it's packed full of "stuff". Clean out your closets, garage, basement and attic. Buyers are trying to imagine what they'd do with these storage areas so make them appear as large as possible. If it's stuff you don't want to part with, put it in storage. If it's junk, now's the time to get rid of it.
• 4. Appearance - Repair things like leaky faucets and ripped carpeting so your home won't appear neglected. Buyers will size up each and every room but they'll also be checking out cupboards and drawers -- everything including under the kitchen sink. Hang clothes up neatly so that closets look as roomy as possible. Finally, a fresh coat of neutral paint will revive your home and make it appear fresh and spacious.

It's often the little things that make a big difference when you want to create a winning first impression. If you want to get top dollar for your property, investing a bit of time and money into transforming your home for showings will be well worth the effort in the end!

Created by RealEstateWord.com

Chit Chat

A tribute to our amazingly talented & inspiring friend/clients!! Read on...

• Jen and Damian Morrissey have great news! Their daughter Rowan, a grade nine student at Humberside Collegiate recently won the "Humberside Idol" contest. She was selected by the students after making it to the top-10. Rowan is now preparing for the Toronto District School Board regional finals that will take place on April 8th at Monarch Park. This is the first ever TDSB Idol Challenge and they are very proud of Rowan. You can become a fan of "Rowan-Morrissy-The-Next-TDSB-Idol" on Facebook.
• Additional information about TDSB Idol can be found, including the involvement of Farley Flex, at http://www.tdsb.on.ca/_site/ViewItem.asp?siteid=10391&menuid=24511&pageid=21220
• Bill Vlaad - On April 13th Bill is performing his stand up debut at Hugh's Room. Here is your chance to laugh at or with him and two of Canada's finest comedians. He is opening for Just For Laugh's veterans Mark Walker and "That Canadian Guy" Glen Foster.
• Tickets are $40 and all proceeds go to Camp Quality. The venue is perfect for stand up! Good luck Billy!
• Mary Palacios - Congratulations on reaching your 25th year with The City of Toronto. She will celebrate at a gala event on April 6th.
• Jim Blokland - Wow - the feature 'NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY' that he edited has been nominated for 10 Genie Awards (Canada's Oscars), including Best Picture, Best Actor, & Best Actress! The awards will be given out April 12th. The film is available on DVD and on iTunes. Check it out!
• Sue Langlois - inspired artist extraordinaire launched her new website: www.susannelanglois.com . You can see her show of new paintings in Kingston at Dwell Boutique - more info on her website. Hurry! Show ends March 31/10.
• Bernadette & Jeff Verhiel - Jeff's Mother passed away from Leukemia in January and he is now training to participate in the Ride To Conquer Cancer, benefiting the Princess Margaret Hospital, specifically Leukemia and Lymphoma research.
• We've included a link to his personal page as he could use your help to reach his goal of raising $3000 for this very worthy cause. It will be the first year that he and his Mom will not be celebrating their birthdays together since they are a day apart. Wife Bernadette is very proud of him and I will also be volunteering for the event. http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Toronto2010?px=1907239&pg=personal&fr_id=1311&fl=en_US&et=fBuksr_CP_oqfODm0MH1Sg..&s_tafId=136344

Babies

• Erin Kuttner & John Zubac welcomed baby Finn Francis, born December 5th, 2009. Big brother Jack is excited.

Are you Feeling like Giving Back?

Charity of the Month - Terry Fox Foundation - www.terryfox.org

What an inspirational story from one of our clients' children...

Janet Logan is very proud of her son for acting on a passion he has felt since they moved back to Canada. Introduced to Terry Fox, Nicholas, age 11, worked small jobs around the neighborhood (dog walking, mother's helper, garbage collecting) for months to raise $100 to donate to the Terry Fox Cancer Research Foundation. Wanting a new skateboard he said "this is more important than anything if I can help to save a life". May the run continue!

Mortgage rates – found on our website

- courtesy of Carrie Davidson of Dominion Lending

CURRENT VARIABLE RATE IS 2.00%
CURRENT PRIME RATE IS 2.25%

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:

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 Julie Kinnear Team's GEMs

Is real estate in Toronto really supposed to be this much fun? Less than 2 months after our first meeting with Julie, with her leading the way we find ourselves anxiously ready to move into our new dream home, and have sold our current home for more than we could have ever expected. And with Julie's cool, calm, always optimistic demeanor, I don't think we went more than 5 minutes without having ourselves a good laugh along the way.

To the whole JKTeam: OUR SINCEREST THANKS for all the hard work we saw, and all the hard work I know you were doing behind the scenes to help ensure that all our expectations were met and exceeded.

Brian and Carol Kim

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

7 Woodlee Road

Upper Beach

7 Woodlee Road
Asking Price $479,900.
Selling Price $500,000.

58 Coady Avenue

Riverdale

58 Coady Avenue
Asking Price $479,000.
Selling Price $537,000.

182 Mcrae Drive

Leaside

182 Mcrae Drive
Asking Price $549,000.
Selling Price $605,000.

954 King St W 122

King West Village

954 King St. W. # 122
Asking Price $369,000.
Selling Price $386,000.

723 Annette St

Bloor West Village

723 Annette St
Asking Price $539,000.
Selling Price $530,000.

4031 Bloor Street West

Etobicoke

4031 Bloor Street West
Asking Price $524,900.
Selling Price $513,000.

JKT – A few of our Favourite things

Holly:
T and T supermarket!! Love!! The Asian superstore on Cherry Street has aisles and aisles of unknown foods, amazing produce at great prices, dozens of types of rice (including red, sushi, jasmine, black, and more), hot pot meals, live seafood (lobsters, crabs, and fish),. The popsicle and ice cream section is unbelievable. You'll find unusual flavours like blueberry popsicles, ginger ice cream, and taro bars. The salty snack section is also just as exciting, and includes pizza, jalapeno, shrimp, sweet potato, and seaweed chips, wasabi peas, and lots of different types of jerky. My favourite is the salmon jerky. If you work up an appetite at T&T, the supermarket has a small cafeteria area with hot Chinese entrees, soup, dim sum, and a sushi bar.

Stephanie:
Terroni's Pizza! I love the ambience, the hustle and bustle! Their calamari is my absolute fave thing and pretty much every pizza on the menu (except anything with anchovies for me) is perfect! It's a special kind of place that no other restaurant compares to.

My friends! I want to give a shout out to all my friends. I have been and am making a lot of changes in my life and everyone has been there with 100% support and that is a truly special thing.

Smashbox O-Gloss. Its an intuitive lip gloss that goes on clear and changes into my own custom shade of pink!

Julie:
Kettle bells and Ryan Shanahan of Kettleworx. It is funny how we met when I saw his home gym when I was showing his house. I ended up selling the house, and he gave me a kettle bell and 2 videos as a gift. My reticular activator has kicked in as I immediately realized that one of my business mentors & coaches Joe Stumpf mentioned kettle bells the other day and how into them he was (and he lives in California!). Check them out next time you're at the gym, or my house as I'm a believer!

Watching Avatar in Imax - feels like the future of filmmaking! Awesome.

Jen:
Habitat for Humanity Restore - the place is stocked with new and gently used renovation supplies donated by homeowners and businesses. Everything is available at discounted prices. One of our clients purchased a couple of beautiful original doors, and some California shutters (at a fraction of what they usually cost). There are 3 stores in Toronto - Etobicoke, East York and North York. So, if you just bought a house and are ripping out the kitchen, renovating the bathroom, etc., why not donate it to Habitat for Humanity Restore? Or, if you're looking for some good deals, check it out!! http://www.torontorestores.com/