Vaughan condo proposal receives interesting about-face
A planned 17-storey building development on Highway 7 at Kiping Avenue has recently been the subject of much controversy between local residents and ratepayers groups, politicians and developer alike.
On the one hand, you have local residents concerned primarily with the overall traffic safety which they contend is quite conceivable with the approval of a development of this magnitude in this particular location.
According to an intial article published on Yorkregion.com on May 15th, West Woodbridge Ratepayer’s president Nick Pinto was quoted saying “They (Municipal Council) don’t have the male attributes to stand up to the developer. They’ve surrendered. They’ve put up the white flag.”
On the one hand, you have local residents concerned primarily with the overall traffic safety which they contend will likely be compromised with the approval of a development of this magnitude in this particular location. On the other hand, are several Vaughan counsel members who contend that the project is in keeping with the overall intensification plan mandated within recent provincial Places to Grow Act.
Regional Councillor Joyce Frustaglio said if the issue goes to the Ontario Municipal Board, Vaughan could lose and an even bigger development might end up approved.
“Let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, the provincial policy on Places to Grow is very clear on intensification of major corridors and there is no bigger corridor than Hwy. 7 in Woodbridge,” said Ms Frustaglio, who is also chairperson of the region’s rapid transit committee. “It is of major interest for the region of York. We can’t talk from both sides of our mouth and say, ‘Yes, we want the subway and rapid transit and then say that we don’t want intensification, not in our back yard’.
The interesting point about that quote arises when we fast forward to the same topic during this week’s council meetings, as reported in this article by YorkRegion.com. According to the article, Regional Councillor Frustaglio, along with her other colleagues said they wouldn’t support the proposal in its current form.
To summarize then, last week it’s thumbs up, this week it’s thumbs down. It was a dramatic turn of opinion for a Council who only a week earlier pontificated about how “we ought not to talk from both sides of our mouth.”
So why the U-turn of support you might ask?
Those who subscribe to the power of the collective would point to the massive turnout of public protest at Vaughan City Hall as being one reason. Then again, those who subscribe to the power of partisan politics might point to fact that among those residents present and opposing the development was former Mayor Michael DiBiase.
Interesting eh?
MoveSmartly.com real estate blog welcomes yours truly
I am pleased to announce that I will be joining the team of writers at MoveSmartly.com blog in Toronto. MoveSmartly.com is a Toronto neighbourhoods and real estate blog which forms one component of Realosophy.com
According to their website,
Realosophy.com helps Toronto HomeBuyers make smarter decisions throughout the real estate transaction. The site’s founders strive to make neighbourhood profiles, school performance reports and a comprehensive HomeBuyers Guide accessible to all its users—no email address or other personal info required.
“Toronto home buyers are feeling anxious about fitting into a booming real estate market,” explains Realosophy’s founder, John Pasalis. “Buyers are increasingly diverse. They want their homes to fit their particular lifestyles. But media reports about sky-rocketing prices and fake multiple offers leave them wondering how to make this happen.”
I have been a regular visitor and commentator of this local blog and its writers for some time now. I’ve always been impressed with the quality of content and the varied perspectives offered by the multi-disciplined and talented team of writers. I’ve since had the opportunity to correspond and meet with several team members and I’m delighted to be associated with this group of like-minded individuals.
Please be sure to include the blog on your list of favourites and subscribe to the RSS feed.
10 Questions to ask a prospective Home Stager
Editorial note: I am pleased to welcome Dane Caldwell as a guest author to VaughanBlog.com. Dane is lead consultant and founder of 2 Hounds Design. With her background in design and decor, Dane brings both a comprehensive and professional approach to her design consultancy business. I am confident you will value her insight and advice.
Carl Minicucci, VaughanBlog.com
As a consumer considering hiring an interior decorator or home stager you need to do a little homework also know as due diligence. Many of these questions are generic to any service provider.
To help you I’ve provided a list of 10 Questions…and many follow-up questions:
- How long have you been working professionally as a decorator/stager?
- This question is important to determine if you are speaking to a professional or a hobbyist. A hobbyist will tell you they’ve been ’staging’ for years for themselves, friends and family. How nice for them, however, this does not tell you if the friends and family would feel the quality of their work was good enough that they would pay for this person’s services.
- If they are just starting out, and they tell you that up front, great, you are ready to move on to the next question.
2. Do you have a portfolio I can see?
- Of course you have to get a ‘yes’ but there is more to the question than just getting a look at the persons portfolio. Follow up questions:
- Are the photos in your portfolio your own or are they ‘examples’ or photos provided by your trainer?
- Did you select the accessories, furniture, paint, etc. or was it a collaboration with others? (HINT: you want to hear that they made the selections).
3. What formal training have you received and are you certified or accredited?
- There is no such thing as a certified or accredited stager. Currently to be certified or accredited the designations are awarded by an independent (from the trainers) institution. There is no such independent institution for home staging.
- There are many fabulous decorators and stagers who are naturals with little to no training as well as those who have taking training. The point of the question is to help you find the needle in the haystack. You are placing one of your largest investments in the hands of a stranger at the very least you what to know the person you are hiring doesn’t mislead consumers by claiming false certifications.
- The point of the question above is to see if you are going to be told the truth and not meant to bash those who have taken the training. Training is a good thing…false claims of certification and accreditations is NOT.
Assuming you’ve gotten the desired responses you can continue with the questions.
3. Is your business covered by insurance?
- If the answer is yes, then request to see a copy of the ‘certificate of insurance’. If insured, they will be happy to provide it. Obviously, if the answer is ‘no’ you need to end the conversation and move on to another decorator/stager.
4. Have you worked on condo’s, lofts, houses like mine?
5. Are you familiar with the market in my area?
- A stager who lives outside of your area may not be familiar with the various buyers who will be looking for properties in your area. In the downtown core of a city it is extremely important you hire someone who specializes in the downtown as there are very many diverse niche markets with even within a single condo building. You want a professional who can market your property to each niche, not just one type of buyer.
6. Are you familiar with the expectations of buyers in my price range?
- You want someone who knows the buyers and what is expected in various price ranges. An example would be a multi-million dollar property without top of the line appliances. Buyers who are shopping for a home in this price range will not be impressed with standard appliances. They are expecting to find Sub-Zero, WOLF etc in the kitchen as well as in any other room (butler’s pantry, bar, master suite etc) with appliances.
- Another example in today’s downtown Toronto real estate market buyers expect to see upgraded counter-tops in entry level condos but not necessarily in entry level homes. You need a professional who is experienced in these details.
7. Do you have insured resources to draw on for trades people if required as well as trade discounts you could pass on to me?
- While you are not entitled to the trade discounts, some decorator’s who stage may be willing to pass on a portion of their discount to you. This could save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
8. Are you insured to act as a contractor/project manager?
- If you are not able to or willing to take on the work to be completed to prepare your property for sale you need to know your decorator/stager is insured to do this. Yes, this insurance is above and beyond the insurance discussed above. Again, you would be requesting to view the certificate of insurance.
If you’ve made it this far you are doing well and are most likely talking to a professional who is running a business not a hobbyist. The last couple of questions are about working with the professional.
9. What is your availability if you were to be awarded my project?
10. What are your rates?
- Rates vary by area but if someone offers to work for you for peanuts…well you’ve been warned here: you get what you pay for.
- Or as world famous Home Stager Debra Gould says, ‘When hiring a stager don’t be penny wise and pound foolish!’
Dane Caldwell is Lead consultant and Founder of 2 Hounds Design. Email Dane
Moderate March Real Estate sales in Vaughan
Low inventory levels kept sales brisk but well off record levels, TREB President Maureen O’Neill announced today. “With 6,631 transactions recorded during March, the overall Greater Toronto Area resale market was down 22 per cent from the 8,518 sales of March 2007.
Sales were not evenly distributed across the Greater Toronto Area. In the City of Toronto (416 area code), they decreased 27 per cent to 2,527 from last March. However, the 905 suburbs saw only an 18 per cent decline, to 4,104 sales.
In Vaughan, the resale real estate market (District N08), was down 14 per cent to 196 transactions in March 2008, compared to 169 in March 2007.
Of note, average real estate prices in Vaughan rose marginally at just under 1% when comparing March 2008 to March 2007 for Detached home sales. For Semi-detached resale homes, the increase was much more pronounced at 8%.
Since overall inventory, at 20,533 listings, fell six per cent between these two time periods, a portion of this result can be attributed to a lack of suitable product. And this lack of product was at least partially caused by the severe winter weather that kept both buyers and sellers on the fence during the first half of the month.”
Overall, average prices rose four per cent in the GTA to $380,338 over March of 2007. Within the City of Toronto proper, however, the average, at $404,361, increased only two per cent over the $394,199 recorded during the same period last year. Furthermore, City of Toronto districts bordering the 905 averaged $347,882, up less than one per cent from the same period last year.
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board
New Census data results for City of Vaughan
Employment is growing faster in the municipalities surrounding Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal than in the cities themselves, Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday.
In its latest release of 2006 census data, Commuting Patterns and Places of Work of Canadians, Statistics Canada said the trend observed in Canada’s three biggest cities is one that has been emerging over the last 25 years and is consistent within most of Canada’s 33 census metropolitan areas (CMAs).
(A CMA consists of many municipalities and the central one lends its name to the CMA. The others are peripheral municipalities)
Sharp increase in the number of workers in the municipality of Vaughan
In 2006, the municipalities of Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan and Markham were among the 25 largest municipalities in Canada from the point of view of the number of people working there. Of these 25 municipalities, Vaughan ranked first in terms of the increase in the number of workers (+22.2%), Brampton ranked fifth (+14.1%), Markham ranked seventh (+10.9%), Mississauga ranked tenth (+10.1%) and Toronto ranked twenty-fourth (+0.7%).
The fastest growing peripheral municipalities around Toronto in terms of the number of people reporting them as their usual place of work were Mississauga (+35,100 or +10.1%), Vaughan (+25,000 or +22.2%), Brampton (+17,300 or +14.1%) and Markham (+12,700 or +10.9%).
Commuters to Vaughan made little use of sustainable transportation
In 2006, the number of people commuting to work in the municipalities of Toronto, Mississauga, Vaughan and Markham was higher than the number of workers living in these municipalities (+232,300 in Toronto, +68,700 in Mississauga, +25,800 in Vaughan and +6,900 in Markham). In contrast, the number of people working in the municipality of Brampton was lower than the number of workers living there (net loss of 58,900 workers).
In 2006, 43.0% of workers whose usual place of work was in the City of Toronto used a sustainable mode of transportation to get there, i.e., public transit, walking or cycling (compared to 41.1% in 2001). The corresponding proportions were 10.8% for those commuting to Vaughan (9.4% in 2001), 10.7% for those commuting to Markham (9.5% in 2001), 11.9% for those commuting to Mississauga (11.0% in 2001) and 10.4% for those commuting to Brampton (10.2% in 2001).
Clock ticking for York transplant patient
For Rita Amatangelo, life right now depends on the right match.
The Woodbridge resident was diagnosed with leukemia last June, her husband, Carmine said.
She underwent chemotherapy at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital at that time, then underwent a bone marrow test to check if the treatment was successful. The test came back clear and Mrs. Amatangelo was able to return home, but she returned to Princess Margaret frequently. “If she got frequent flyer points we would probably have got a trip by now,” Mr. Amatangelo said.
At the beginning of this month, Mrs. Amatangelo’s leukemia returned. She underwent chemotherapy again starting March 13, but it can only be performed so many times. A bone marrow transplant would offer a cure.L
“That’s the only real cure,” he said.
The search for a donor has become a race against time. Mrs. Amatangelo is undergoing chemotherapy and doctors said if the treatment is unsuccessful, her chances of surviving past six months are unlikely. Chances of finding a match are better within a person’s own ethnic group, said John Bromley, regional communications manager with Canadian Blood Services.
“The strongest message here is for Canadians of Italian heritage to think about getting onto the registry so they can make their stem cells (which are used in transplants) available to another person of their heritage anywhere else in the world,” he said. But on a bank of donors called OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network — part of an international group of registries — about 85 per cent of those on the registry are caucasian, while other ethnic groups represent far fewer donors, he said.
South Asians, for example, represent only 0.9 per cent of donors, East Asians make up 3.8 per cent and blacks represent another 0.3 per cent.
As well, of those looking for a matching donor, only about 30 per cent will find one within their families, Mr. Bromley said. “Unfortunately, 70 per cent will not.”
Italian-Canadians fall under Canadian Blood Services’ definition of a diverse group and will have a tougher time finding a match on the international registry.
Potential donors are found using a buccal swab, which looks similar to a long Q-Tip. The top of the swab is rubbed on the inside of the cheek to collect loose cheek cells. The method of collecting cells is as accurate as a blood sample and far less invasive.
Although her siblings have been checked for a match, so far no one has been found.
Although there are 11 million people registered internationally as donors, no match has been found for his wife, Mr. Amatangelo said.
Flyers have been posted in shops near the Amatangelo’s Woodbridge home, as well as churches in their area, he said.
Source: YorkRegion.com
VaughanBlog.com makeover
I like change. It’s the only constant in life after all.
I recently decided to change the look of VaughanBlog.com by adopting a BrianGardener.com Wordpress theme. Aside from the sleek look, there are some great embedded features in this template. Brian’s credo that “the first way to stand out in a crowd is to have a brilliant and unique design for your blog or website” is one which I subscribe to, although I stress the word first. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more important than the content one provides to readers.
Nonetheless, it’s nice to slip into a new suit once in a while.
Hope you like the new digs. Let me know what you think.
Finished basements…A value proposition
Vaughanblog.com welcomes your thoughts, opinions and questions. Feedback is a hallmark of my philosophy to improve quality and service in virtually all aspects of business and life.
I particular enjoy answering questions you may have and while I cannot guarantee I will always have a satisfactory answer, I can promise you that I will do my best to research the answer.
You can click on the button to the right which will provide you with a convenient submission form for your question.
That said, a reader of VaughanBlog.com recently submitted the following question:
Hi Carl, this question is regarding finishing the basement. When purchasing our house in Woodbridge we bought a house with separate entrance to the basement with the thought of resale at the time, we did not need it as it’s only my wife and I. Are there any benefits to finishing the basement and does it add any value to the potential resale?
As this may be a common question among home owners, I thought I would share my response:
Thank you for your question above. In the case of a two-storey house (which is probably likely in Woodbridge), one third of the potential living space is in the basement. If it’s a bungalow, it’s generally half. To your question, does it add value? In most cases, there would definitely be added value, all else being equal when compared to a similar home without. The more interesting question is what is the relationship between the cost to finish and the added value that results. Most realtors will probably agree that unless there is a significant amount of “sweat equity” (i.e. the work is done by the homeowner), improvements made to a home generally do not recoup full cost. The real benefit however, is that such improvements definitely add to the marketability of a home. If you engage a listing Realtor to sell your home, he or she should be able to prepare a comparative market analysis based on comparable properties that are for sale or have recently sold in your neighbourhood. This may assist in the determination of the value impact of similar homes with and without basements. I’ve recently been dealing with a few new home buyers who typically are looking into modestly sized starter homes. With smaller ground floorplates, access to finished living space is high on their priority list for example. An interesting study completed on behalf of the National Association of Realtors (the American counterparts to the Canadian Real Estate Association), suggests that on average, a midrange basement remodel project resulted in a return of value of about 75% of the original cost. You can visit the study @ http://www.costvsvalue.com/index.html for more information. Keep in mind it is an average only and represents a different market, so caution should be used in interpretation.
Hope that helps.
There may be many other considerations involved so before you roll up your sleeves, seek some professional advice.
Princess Margaret Hospital Home Lottery features Woodbridge grandprize homes
It’s back and better than ever. The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation is once again hosting their Home Lottery for Cancer Research. Taking part and purchasing your ticket(s) is a very small way to help support one of the top 5 cancer research hospitals in the world.
Among the prizes to be raffled are 7 grandprize showcases. Each of the grandprizes include a lavishly decorated Greenpark custom decorated and furnished home and Mercedez-Benz automobile.
The two largest homes are located in Woodbridge and are situated nextdoor to each other. I had a chance to “drop by” the homes …and that is precisely what my jaw did when I did. Each home was absolutely magnificent.
Here’s the website description of one of the grandprize home:
95 Grand Vellore Crescent, Woodbridge – 6,255 sq. ft.
A stunning foyer leads to the spectacular two-storey centre hall with circular staircase. Overlooking the balcony and rear yard is a sun-filled breakfast room and irresistible island kitchen with granite countertops, top-of-the-line Miele appliances and built-in espresso machine. Connecting kitchen to formal dining room is a convenient servery with walk-in pantry.
There’s a gas fireplace in the family room and in both living and dining room is a beautiful two-way gas fireplace. An elegant, circular staircase leads to the family quarters including a sumptuous master suite with his-and-hers walk-in closets and a spa-like ensuite with whirlpool tub with wood paneled surround.
Now, here’s the Virtual Tour
Don’t delay, early bird ticket sales deadline is midnight, Thursday April 17. Homes are now available for viewing and tickets can be ordered on-site, on-line or by phone.
$100 each and 3 for $250.
Help Conquer Cancer
For more information, visit HERE
Kortright Centre: Sweet Oasis
If you’ve never made the trek to visit the Kortright Centre in Woodbridge Ontario, this March Break is as good a time as any. The Kortright Centre for Conservation is described as a natural oasis located on 324 hectares of pristine woodlands along the Humber River Valley. It’s truly a gorgeous piece of natural real estate.
The Kortright Centre is currently hosting the Sugarbush Maple Syrup 40th Anniversary Festival and runs from March 7th to April 6th, 2008 and marks one of the sure signs of Spring here in Vaughan. 
Events include demonstrations, wagon rides, activities and, of course, pancakes and maple syrup! Special March Break and Easter activities are also promised.
For further information, click on the image ->
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