Things to consider while buying a home

Before you go shopping for real estate in West Toronto or Etobicoke, you should think about what you need and want in a house. While viewing homes, you should make notes about those you may be seriously interested in.

Design issues - renovations, enough yard space, Is there room to grow?

Things to consider should include the following:

• Is there enough room to live comfortably, including growth of your family and property?
  Does the floor plan suit your family's style of living?
• What About planning a Kitchen renovation?
  Are there enough bathrooms?
  How do the appliances compare to what would be optimal?
  Make a list of all decor items you would like to change.
  Consider what you may want to do with the yard.
  Ample room for more than one car?
  Location issues - quiet suburb, nearby amenities, good access?

Neighbourhood features you may want to assess:

• Schools, kindergartens, daycare and parks
  Shopping and business services
  Entertainment and outdoor activities (especially for children)
  Crime statistics/general safety
  Public transport - frequent, convenient and nearby?
  Commuting to and from work/traffic congestion
  Noise levels eg traffic, trains, especially at night
  Pollution eg smog/fumes/smells from nearby traffic/industry
  Ambiance - does the neighbourhood have a good "feel"?
  How are the neighbours looking after their homes and property?

All these issues are kept top of mind when looking at Homes.

Other related reading:

How to Choose an agent

A Guide to Selling in West Toronto

Is a Condo for you ?

How to become a VIP Buyer

Fun Facts about Toronto

One quarter of Canada’s population lives within a 160 km radius of Toronto
Toronto is Canada’s largest retail market
There are 100 + languages spoken throughout the city
Over half of Toronto's labour force has a university degree or college diploma
Toronto is Canada’s number one tourist destination
Toronto is the largest and most important financial centre in all of Canada and the fourth largest in North America. Only New York city, Chicago and Los Angeles are larger.
North America's largest continuous underground pedestrian system PATH, connects about 1200 stores and restaurants, 50 office towers, five subway stations, Union Station, six major hotels and several entertainment centres under Toronto's financial core.
Yonge Street is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest street in the world, stretching 1,896 km from the lakeshore in Toronto, north to Rainy River, Ontario, near the Minnesota border.
Toronto is home to the world's tallest free-standing structure, the CN Tower standing 1,815 feet (553 meters) tall.
Toronto is the third largest centre for English language theatre in the world, behind New York City and London.
Toronto's public transit system is the second largest in North America and has the highest per capita ridership rate on the continent.
The Toronto Zoo is home to more than 5,000 animals.
Many of today's famous movie stars hail from Toronto and the GTA including Jim Carrey, Mike Myers and Eugene Levy.
About 25% of films produced in Hollywood are actually filmed in Toronto, making it North America's 3rd largest TV and movie production venue.
The Caribana parade is the largest single-day parade and largest Caribbean festival in North America.
Toronto is North America's 5th-largest city after Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

http://www.toronto.com/article/000375228
Toronto has North America's largest public transit system after New York City. GO Transit moves people in and out of the city, while two airports service the skies above. Toronto gets its water from Lake Ontario, 8th largest fresh-water lake in the world. Above ground or below ground, here are some facts about what's moving around in, on and under Toronto:
there are 10,033 different streets or, 5,365 km of road (streets, expressways, ramps and laneways) covering 27.4 per cent of the city's area
there are 20,371 street intersections in Toronto
the longest street is Lawrence Avenue East at 25 km; the shortest street is Sea Grassway at 9.72 m
there are 7060 km of sidewalks
535 bridges
there are 1773 traffic control signals and 158,890 streetlights
the 337 km of railway, rapid transit rails and hydro corridors make up 2.3 per cent of the city's area
34.8 per cent of the city's area is residential; 7.8 per cent industrial, 2.3 per cent commercial, 7.3 per cent institutional (schools, universities, churches and cemeteries)
8,000 hectares - or 18.1 per cent of Toronto's area - is parkland (ravines, valleys, woodlots, waterfront natural areas, parks and farmland)
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) took over nine existing fare systems and routes in 1920. Today over 2.2 million trips are made on the TTC daily. More facts
GO Transit is the interregional public transit for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Get the facts.
Toronto is served by VIA Rail, the network that provides all rail service throughout Canada. View some Via facts.
Historic Union Station is the hub of Toronto's transportation network. 96 per cent of all GO Train riders pass through its concourse. Learn more.
Pearson International Airport is the busiest in Canada, 4th busiest in North America. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is responsible for air traffic above the Toronto area.
North America's largest continuous underground pedestrian system PATH, connects 1200 stores and restaurants, 50 office towers, five subway stations, Union Station, six major hotels and several entertainment centres under Toronto's financial core.
average annual demand of water per day is 1.24 million cubic metres. Enough to fill the Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome) every day, 365 days a year
18 water pumping stations, 10 water storage reservoirs and 4 filtration plants clean and hold that water
there are 10,002 km of sewers (sanitary, combined and storm) under the city
40,460 water hydrants
residential water usage accounts for 52 per cent of water used in Toronto; average household use: 280 cu. metres/year
toilets are the #1 indoor water users; they account for 28 per cent of the total indoor water use or use 100 litres of water/day
Toronto Police Services has 5,028 uniformed officers, including the chief. They patrol the city with 1,228 cars, 138 motorcycles, 19 boats and 25 horses. More police statistics Toronto Fire Services -->
Emergency Medical Services' 850 paramedics respond from 41 stations across Toronto. 65 Emergency Medical Dispatchers take 425,000 calls yearly (forwarded from 9-1-1)
Toronto has an excellent telecommunications infrastructure in terms of access lines with digital switching and advanced signaling technology. Toronto is also located in the largest flat rate calling area in the world, and has the most fibre optic cable of any city in North America.

http://www.toronto.ca/toronto_facts/infrastructure.htm

David Pylyp I was very impressed with the fact that Toronto's Path System is the largest in the world for underground access and shopping.

GST takes growing bite out of housing market: study

The federal government is raking in some $2 billion a year in GST on new homes, driving up the cost of housing and making home ownership more difficult for many purchasers.That’s the conclusion of a new study being released today. It found that GST on the average-priced new home in Canada is now approaching $20,000 -- almost double what it was in 1991.

Even if the GST is reduced to 5% next year, homebuyers will still be paying about $16,500 on average.“That’s a huge amount of money for anyone to have to pay, and it is especially onerous for young families and first-time buyers,” says Phillip Rubinoff, chairman of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), which commissioned the research.

The study, conducted by Will Dunning Inc., explains that the growing tax-bite has come about because the federal government has not adjusted the rebate thresholds since the GST was introduced in 1991.When the tax was implemented, buyers of new homes were entitled to a rebate of 36% of the GST on homes costing up to $350,000. The rebate declined for houses priced between $350,000 and $450,000. For homes priced at $450,000 and above, a rebate was not available. But in 1991, only 4% of new homes fell into this upper category and were taxed at the full GST rate.Seventeen years later, house prices have increased considerably while the rebate thresholds have remained the same. This has put a greater percentage of homes over the upper threshold. Today, more than one quarter of all new homes are taxed at the full GST rate. The study notes that when the GST and the rebate structure for new homes were introduced in 1991, the federal government made a commitment that it would review these thresholds at least every two years and adjust them as necessary to ensure that they adequately reflected changes in economic conditions and housing markets.“That commitment has not been met,” the report states. It cautions that the effective GST rate on new homes will continue to rise in the future unless the rebate thresholds are adjusted upwards. RESCON is urging Ottawa to bring the rebates back into line by raising the thresholds by the full amount of the change in the average price of new homes since 1991, and thereafter by indexing the thresholds to the annual percentage increase in these prices. Based in Toronto, Will Dunning Inc. is an economic research firm specializing in housing market analysis.

December 18, 2007 -- On October 30, 2007, the Government of Canada announced in its Economic Statement that it proposes to reduce the GST rate by one percentage point from 6% to 5%, effective January 1, 2008. To facilitate the transition to the lower rate, the Economic Statement also proposes transitional rules for determining the GST/HST rates applicable to transactions that straddle the January 1, 2008 implementation date.This info sheet reflects the proposed amendments to the Excise Tax Act. Any commentary in this publication should not be taken as a statement by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that these amendments will be enacted in their current form. See Info Sheet [PDF*]

David Pylyp Will this encourage commuting or is this an exodus from Toronto (416 to the 905) with the new Land Transfer Tax? Are you aware of the Home Buyers Grant for Peel?