New Home for the Junction RA

New JRA Website - junctionra.ca

Don’t forget our new JRA website is junctionra.ca; the previous site junctionra.ning.com is now offline. Anyone who was a “member” of the Ning site should receive this email, as your details have been added to our mailing list.

We hope everyone likes the new site

High Park Avenue – Bikeway Network Survey

The Junction Residents Association is collaborating with the City of Toronto Transportation Services on a project to enhance the bikeway network on High Park Avenue and we are seeking feedback from Junction residents.

Please visit our website survey (HPA Bikeway Network Survey) for details on this project.

Junction Arts Festival, September 8 to 12– call for volunteers

With summer coming to an end, the Junction arts community is preparing to welcome thousands of people to our great neighbourhood for this year’s Junction Arts Festival.

JFAC (the organizing group) is looking for volunteers to help with the festival. Please come out, have fun, meet your neighbours and help make this year’s festival one to remember. Many volunteer positions are available, from community greeters to overnight neighbourhood watch, so please contact volunteers@junctionartsfest.com

Volunteers help make the festival happen!

Nominating Committee and November Elections

The JRA membership will elect officers for 2011 at our AGM on November 11, 2010. For this purpose, we need a Nominating Committee of three members, who will meet a few times in the next several months, to gather names of nominees and confirm their desire to run for office. Please volunteer to work on this committee by emailing info@junctionra.ca, especially if you don't plan to run for office yourself. If you do wish to run for office, please notify info@junctionra.ca of your availability. Officers are to be Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Membership Coordinator, plus up to five Officers at Large.

The next JRA meeting – Thursday September 16, 7pm – 9pm

Our next JRA members' meeting will be held on Thursday, September 16, 2010, at 7pm at the West Toronto Baptist Church, 3049 Dundas Street West.

It’s your Junction, It’s our Junction!
JRA Members Meeting - Thursday, September 16, 2010

Visit junctionra.ca today!

David Pylyp; Dear Friends of Mine, Paul and Sharleen Rankin are Featured in the Opening and Premier of a New Art Gallery in the Junction; The Phone Booth Gallery is located at 3148 Dundas Street west, where St John's Road meets Dundas. Take a moment during the Junction Arts Festival to welcome our newest member. Junction Arts Festival

Condo Purchase Home Closing Costs

I recently met with David Pylyp of RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc. to discuss the problem of surprise closing adjustments and the need for a cap to be negotiated at the beginning of the purchase process. I learned that Mr. Pylyp is one of the select VIP Brokers privy to a cap on the closing adjustments for purchasers of a unit in the newest phase of the trendy California Condos project by Camrost-Felcorp located in Etobicoke’s master-planned Mystic Pointe community. By negotiating such a cap, Mr. Pylyp will inevitably save his clients thousands of dollars and a series of painful headaches in the days leading up to final closing.

Purchasers of new condominium units and freehold homes are consistently shocked when I tell them that they have to pay the developer a large some of money on closing for closing adjustments. It is all too often the case that this is the first time purchasers have heard anything about closing adjustments. For example, let’s assume you signed an Agreement of Purchase and Sale for the purchase of a beautiful two bedroom condominium unit three years ago. A letter is sent to you by the developer stating that final closing will take place in ten days. Excited about the prospect of finally taking title to the unit you have been occupying for several months now, you call your lawyer to arrange a meeting to sign closing and mortgage documents. The day before the meeting, you receive an email from your lawyer attaching a “funds summary” and a “statement of adjustments”. The first thing you look at is the statement of adjustments. All sorts of expensive fees appear on this mystical document, from the TARION enrolment fee to massive development and education levies. The adjustments total over $10,000.00 and you temporarily lose your mind. You then squeamishly look at the funds summary. Your lawyer is actually asking you to bring a certified cheque for $15,000.00 with you to the meeting. This can’t be right you tell yourself and everyone and anyone who will listen. You call your lawyer in a panic and demand an explanation. Unfortunately, the lawyer has an explanation: the developer is entitled to charge a variety of adjustments on closing because of some fine print buried in your agreement of purchase and sale, and, in your case these adjustments total $10,000.00. The other $5,000.00 has to do with land transfer tax and lawyer’s fees and disbursements. The bottom line is that your options are limited to coming up with the money to close or you risk being sued by the builder for failing to close the transaction.

You can easily avoid this type of unwelcome surprise by negotiating a cap on closing adjustments before you enter into an agreement of purchase and sale. Not surprisingly, your bargaining position is nil after you have signed the agreement of purchase and sale. Your lawyer or real estate agent may be able to assist in negotiating a cap on adjustments. In my experience, even a relatively high cap is better than no cap at all as any cap gives the purchaser a semblance of certainty as to the money it will take to close the transaction. In my experience, it is rare to see a builder willing to completely waive adjustments on final closing. Hopefully, real estate agents and builders will take a cue from Mr. Pylyp and Camrost-Felcorp by working together to offer a cap on closing adjustments to give purchasers a sense of financial certainty on final closing.

John Moher is a Solicitor with Fine and Deo Condominium Law Specialists in Vaughan Ontario. John can be reached at 905 760 1800