Gift local

Is 2020 over yet? It’s been a year. We hope everyone is doing okay and looking forward to a very different but very happy holiday season.

Usually at this time of year we are getting ready to celebrate with our team, our office, friends and family, it’s strange to have an empty calendar. Although the “parties” are on hold until next year, we are still very keen to support local businesses and spread some cheer through gift giving.

One idea I had was dropping off a “hostess gift” for all of the ladies in my life that usually throw lovely holiday get togethers at this time of year. A way of saying thanks for what you’ve done in the past and a reminder that we all be together again someday soon…and they’ll be stuck hosting again! wink wink.

I also love to have a stockpile of ready-to-go items for easy gifting. Whether you want to do homemade or store bought (preferably local!) here's what's on our inspiration list for 2020. Our goal as always is to think functional and thoughtful, with items that were either local, reusable or consumable.

photo credit: tenandco.ca

photo credit: tenandco.ca

Wrapping a tea towel or swedish sponge cloth around a favourite bottle (drinking bubbles or washing bubbles!) is a go-to gift for us. You can find the cloths at tenandco online or cloths and soaps locally at The Pretty Clean Shop.

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Get some helpers in the kitchen with you and whip up some butters. Sweet or savoury whipped butters are THE BEST! By making up a bunch ahead of time you’ll thank yourself every time you have a ready-to-go gift this season. Package them up in a nice reusable container from The Cookery with a ribbon.

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We are approaching Giving Tuesday so why not give a better gift by choosing to pay it forward this year. Purchasing "giving gifts" online has never been easier, so choose a cause close to your heart and write a personal thank-you / holiday note & let your host know they've made a difference. We love these giving-gifts for teachers!

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Not everyone on your list will be a wine lover, so how about supporting one of our many amazing local breweries. Stop by and grab a mix of different bottles and maybe even a few of these reBeer glasses from Ecotique.

photo credit: wildhood

photo credit: wildhood

Brighten your besties day with a surprise delivery of flowers or greens. Wildhood & Willem & Joolst have a great selection and there is no better way to let someone know you are missing them this holiday season.

We are in Lockdown 2.0 in Toronto & that has really affected many of our favourite local shops. Since in-person shopping is closed locally until further notice you need to do some extra digging to find out who is open for curbside pickup, local delivery, and shipping. A few amazing humans have put together some lists for all of us! If you want to browse some local shops that tend to have a lot of Canadian labels for more inspiration, check out : this one and that one. It's the perfect time of year to support local shops & Canadian companies. Have a suggestion of where to shop, tag it below or on Instagram.

Happy gift giving everyone!

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navigating the west Toronto high school options for your grade 8 student

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My youngest daughter is in grade 8 so I am doing this all over again, but as with everything, it is looking a lot different this year! Due to covid, all of the Toronto high school open houses are virtual this year, but we are still logging in and weighing our options. She will be graduating from Karen Kain School of the Arts (KKSA) so ESA is an option, as well as our home school and some of the specialty programs that are offered at other high schools, such as UFA and Western Tech. I will let you know how it goes!

Here is our annual guide to all the (virtual) open houses, programs, key dates and application deadlines for many of the West Toronto high schools.

 

Specialty Programs & Key Dates

Bishop Allen Academy (Catholic)

  • Congregated Advanced Placement Program - an internationally recognized program that fosters success in higher education by encouraging students to develop critical thinking skills at the highest level

  • application & strong academic performance in grades 7 & 8 required - applications are available as of October 8th and are due October 29th. Notification of acceptance to specialty programs is on November 27th (wave 1) & December 4th (wave 2)

Bloor Collegiate - Open house November 16th, 6:30-8:30pm

Etobicoke Collegiate - Open House November 26th, 7pm

Etobicoke School of the Arts - Open house November 16th, 7-9pm

  • arts focus in dance, drama, music & film

  • applications are available November 9th and the online application submission deadline is December 9th

  • acceptance dependent on audition - virtual auditions are being held January 15th, 2021. Offers of admission will be emailed in early February 2021


Father John Redmond (Catholic) - Virtual Open House

  • Congregated Advanced Placement Program (CAP)

  • Regional Arts Program (RAP) - applications available as of October 8th and are due October 28th (online) or October 29th (paper). Portfolio/Audition videos must be uploaded by November 13th and auditions will be conducted from November 18-20. Notification of acceptance is on November 27th (wave 1) & December 4th (wave 2).

  • Gifted & Enrichment Program

  • Update: apparently they have changed their application process and you can only apply to CAP if you have been accepted into Father Redmond through a feeder school or into the Regional Arts Program

Humberside Collegiate

  • extended french & french immersion programs for students coming from feeder schools

  • students in the english program must live within the school's catchment to attend

Martingrove Collegiate - Open house November 24th, 6:30 & 7:45

Parkdale Collegiate - Open house November 18th, 7pm

Richview Collegiate - Open house November 24th, 7-9pm (french) and November 25th, 7-9pm (english)

  • extended french & french immersion programs for students coming from feeder schools

  • students in the english program must live within the school's catchment to attend

Runnymede Collegiate - Open house December 2nd, 6pm

Ursula Franklin Academy

  • Integrated technology & academics for the real world with a focus on 5 core values: spirit of inquiry, democracy, social justice, community of learners, and connected knowledge

  • application required - applications due January 29th

  • if the number of eligible students exceeds the number of spaces available, a lottery will be held the first week of February and acceptance letters will be sent out February 12, 2021 and must be accepted by February 26th

Western Technical-Commercial School - Open house November 19th, 7pm

Please click here, for a list of open houses at all TDSB schools.  Happy open housing and the best of luck to all of you.....high school is a whole other post ;).



World Kindness Day

Make kindness the norm.

That’s the idea. And boy, in 2020, it’s something we could all use a bit more of.

Yes, today is Friday the 13th, but it’s also World Kindness Day. So let’s focus on that.

The idea behind World Kindness Day is to shift from random acts of kindness to intentional ones. It’s hard to do random acts of kindness when day to day we are all so wrapped up in our own lives. If we took it upon ourselves to intentionally do one small act of kindness each day, we could provide a bright spot in someone else’s day and our own.

Acts of Kindness don’t need to be grand gestures or cost any money. Keep it simple.

  • compliment a stanger

  • check in on a neighbour and offer to do an errand for them

  • call or text a friend that you haven’t spoken to for a while  

  • tell  a co-worker or family member how much you appreciate them  

Studies have found that acts of kindness are linked to increased feelings of wellbeing and can promote changes in the brain linked to happiness.

This can be especially important for our growing children. Being kind to others and lending a helping hand is good for their self-esteem and gaining perspective on things around them. They just might need a nudge to rake the neighbours leaves or write grandma a letter but they’ll feel good afterwards.

Don’t forget to be kind to yourself. Take a few minutes today to do something you love.

  • call a friend that makes you laugh

  • turn off social media channels for a day, or even a week  

  • do something you enjoy, like listening to a favourite song or reading a book

  • get outside, spend some time in nature

Mark Kelly did a Ted Talk on how an act of kindness a day changed his life (and listening to his accent might be an act of kindness to myself! swoon)

Helping others through acts of kindness is also believed to be one of the ways that people create, maintain, and strengthen their social connections. And in 2020, we sure need more of that.


West End Toronto Real Estate Market Update - October 2020

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Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were up again year-over-year for the fourth month in a row. There were 10,563 sales as reported through the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s MLS® System in October 2020. This was up by 25.1 per cent compared to 8,445 transactions in October 2019.

Sales and new listings reached record levels for the month of October. However, year-over-year growth rates for sales and new listings diverged in some market segments. In the detached market segment, the pace of annual sales growth far outstripped growth in new listings. Conversely, the condominium apartment market segment experienced more than double the new listings compared to October 2019, whereas sales were only up by 2.2 per cent over the same period.

“Competition between buyers of single-family homes, and particularly detached houses, remained strong last month and continued to support double-digit annual rates of price growth in many GTA neighbourhoods. In contrast, condo buyers have benefitted from much more choice compared to last year. Pre-COVID polling had already pointed to an increase in investor selling in 2020. The pandemic only added to this trend with a stall in economic growth and a halt to tourism impacting cashflows for many investors,” said Lisa Patel, TRREB’s President.

The average selling price for all home types combined was $968,318 – up by 13.7 per cent compared to $851,877 in October 2019.

“Year-to-date home sales through October were above last year’s level. The economic recovery in some sectors coupled with low borrowing costs has kept home purchases top-of-mind for many GTA residents. With this being said, we have not accounted for all of the pent-up demand that resulted from the spring downturn. Expect record or near-record home sales for the remainder of 2020,” said Jason Mercer, TRREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

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Click here if you would like to compare these numbers to last month’s numbers.

If you would like further information about current market conditions, or if you are considering a move and would like to know how much your house is worth, feel free to get in touch, we are always available for your questions!

Halloween in 2020

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How are you all feeling about Halloween this year? Our kids are a bit older so thankfully we don’t have super disappointed ghosts and goblins. I know lots of neighbours are getting creative with things like scavenger hunts, backyard pumpkin carving and mini Halloween parades. We are still looking to have some fun as a family but it’ll be a quiet one for us.

What traditions do you normally have around Halloween? I think when we were kids Halloween was not a “season” just one day of frenzied fun. The one thing for sure about this spooky day, is that the west-end does it right.

How proud are we all of our favourite local plumber Geoff Burke? His candy chute project was big news last week and sadly won’t be put to great use this year. However, he raised $24,157.00 for the Daily Bread Food Bank. If you have some change to spare (since we didn’t buy candy to give out this year) maybe donate a few dollars to push him over the $25,000.00 mark!

As always, the house at Glenlake/Dorval is a must see. They have some new additions this year and it is SERIOUSLY creepy so may not be the best for the littles.

One of the most popular family events in our neighbourhood supporting a great cause is the St. Joe's Toronto West Halloween Fest. It takes place on Saturday October 31st from 10-11 am. This year, it will be virtual and has games, activities, treats and loads of entertainment too! The very talented Adam Growe is hosting this year so be sure to tune in. If you miss it, you can still make a donation here.

If you’d rather start your day with some fresh air and exercise than Eryl’s outdoor Yoga class in High Park might be the way to go. This $10 class is outside, accessible, socially distant and run with mindfulness in mind.

Sadly, my favourite part of Halloween is taking the kids to the Pumpkin Parade after the sugar rush settles down on the 1st of November each year. The city has decided to not give any permits for the pumpkin paraders this year so what shall we do with Jack? Any suggestions?

Happy Halloween everyone!

What I've Learned in 20 Years in Real Estate

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Celebrating a big career anniversary in the middle of a pandemic isn’t ideal, but it has given me the opportunity to reflect on what I’ve learned over the past 20 years, so here it goes:

Experience matters

There really is no substitute for experience and after almost 30 years of combined experience and hundreds of transactions, we haven’t seen it all, but we’ve seen A LOT. You don’t have to use us (though we’d be stoked if you did ;), but please please please don’t use your cousin’s brother-in-law who just got his real estate license, lives in Whitby and has never been west of Vic Park. Please.

Most people are lovely

We’re not going to lie, buying a new house and selling your old one is stress-ful! We tend to deal with people during times of very heightened emotions and periods of big transition. Whether it’s divorce, downsizing or upsizing, no matter which way you cut it, the process is stressful, but our experience is that with the right guidance, most clients move through it with grace and gratitude.

Some people can never be satisfied

On the flip side, there really are people who can never be satisfied. Luckily, we have gotten to a point in our careers where we can be a bit choosey about who we work with, and sometimes you just have to know when to cut your losses and move on. Like I say to my kids, as sweet and delicious at peaches are, not everyone likes peaches, so be the very best peach you can be, but even then not everyone is going to like you :).

Chemistry counts

Real estate is a bit like dating. Finding the right real estate agent can be like finding the right partner, and when the chemistry is right, the relationship is easy and fulfilling and the process can be fun. If the chemistry is off, the process can be arduous and unpleasant. My advice to you is do your due diligence, interview a few agents and then choose the one who knows your market and who feels right to you….you may be spending a lot of time together!

People who listen get the best outcome

We don’t pretend to know everything, but we’ve been doing this a long time and I can almost guarantee that we know more about real estate than your neighbour or your mother-in-law, so please take your advice from the experts. There is definitely a learning curve to real estate, but we find that clients who are open to our advice and willing to listen to our suggestions, often get the best outcome.

You might lose your mind a little

It was mentioned above, but it is worth repeating, selling your home is stressful and when you first see your home on MLS you might lose your mind a little. It’s okay, we get it and we’ve got your back.

Technology is a blessing and a curse

When I first started in real estate we had to fax listings to our clients (FAX!!) so the advent of the iPhone, email, texting and electronic signatures has certainly improved the way we do business significantly. I spend way less time sitting in my car at 1am in the middle of February than I used to, but as technology has advanced so has the pace of the real estate market. This has always been a 24/7 business and the advancement in technology has made it even more so.

There is so much more to it than you think

Weekends, evenings, on call 24/7, marketing, social media, competition. Not to mention all the different hats we have to wear - therapist, mediator, interior designer, babysitter, dog sitter, the list goes on. I think there is a perception that being a realtor is both glamorous and lucrative, and there is some truth to that, but it also involves a lot of relationship building, staying on top of marketing trends, dealing with rejection and an extremely competitive marketplace. Like any job, you have to take the good with the bad, but honestly it really isn’t all beautiful houses and big commission cheques.

Sometimes the first house is the right house

It’s like falling in love, when you find the right house, you just know. It might be the first house or it might be the 51st house, my advice - follow your gut.

Grieve a little and then move on

Sometimes that house that you fell in love with just wasn’t meant to be and, I’m not going to lie, it is devastating when you lose your dream home in competition, but it is my experience that the house that you finally end up buying is always the best one, so take heart, your dream home is waiting for you.

Location, location, location

Truth.

I still love my job

I really do, and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has invited me into their homes and entrusted me with their real estate over the last 20 years. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Home trends & a pandemic to thank for them

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The past six months have had us discussing everything from the best sour dough bread starter in lockdown, to whether or not to wear a mask in the spring, to now, whether or not to send our kids back to school or keep them there!

One thing we can all agree on, is that after spending so much time at home over the past several months, the place where we live has never felt more important. People are making big lifestyle decisions and we are seeing new patterns with clients with regards to their home searching criteria. I personally have spent too many hours scrolling ‘the gram’ looking at desert homes, beach homes, country homes…in almost every country in the world!

Many of our lives have changed in ways that a year ago, we could not have imagined. Every pandemic in history has brought about changes to how we use our homes and what design trends will be moving forward. We have noticed that during private showings over the past few months, clients are prioritizing home office set ups and outdoor living spaces and not worrying about a great kitchen for entertaining.

Apartment Therapy released an article about how Coronavirus will change the way homes are built and designed moving forward. Some key points and predictions from the article are:

the end of open concept

More defined spaces and privacy for family members will become increasingly popular over the open concept, one-room-for-all of the past. Big YES to this.

antimicrobial surfaces

Using materials like copper and krion to build, making homes naturally antimicrobial from the start. As we start to renovate our own home, it will be interesting to see what decisions become directed from a ‘clean’ point of view.

outdoor living space for the win

YES! Even though we have a shorter outdoor season in Ontario, I’m 100% here for this. I would love to expand our porch into a 3 season room, or even cover it for rainy evening meals outdoors. Can you find me a patio heater please!!! Carving out space for a small patio or balcony in urban settings will become a priority for architects.

larger master bedrooms

Huh? This one I don’t get. The rationale is that if you had to self-isolate, a larger sanctuary would be beneficial. Personally, I’m not going to give up valuable square footage in my house for this one.

Low rise living

Ok, I see both sides of this, but in a city like Toronto it’s not really an option with affordable housing already being in crisis mode. Architects will have to get creative on how to make elevators “cleaner” and providing green space to residents, but in densely populated cities this one will pose a challenge.

back to basics kitchens

With at home dining being the norm, people are going to improve their cooking spaces for quality cooking (high end appliances etc), not for showy entertaining. Makes sense to me but I don’t love cooking so I’ll stick to pretty.

healthy homes

Smart technology, with the ability to monitor air, water and light quality, will be used in new construction and with the ability to adjust filtration based on reading. One company, HED south, is already doing this and more will follow. Love the idea, but think I’ll hate the price tag.

touch-less technology will become the norm

Motion sensors were once a luxury but will become the norm as builders lean towards touchless light switches, faucets and everything else. Like it!

the front vestibule or mudroom

Having a designated spot as a transition space from the “outside world” to your inside space, both psychologically and physically. Love it, just wish it could work in my 100+ year old home.

Historically many design trends and building finishes have been directly influenced by plagues and viruses. Have a look!

Our takeaway from all of this is that after spending so much time at home over the past six months we are really thinking about how we use our home and how we can improve it to work best for us. Not all from a “virus” point of view, but how it can be more comfortable, more efficient and more organized moving forward.

West End Toronto Real Estate Market Update - September 2020

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Toronto Regional Real Estate Board President Lisa Patel announced that sales reported through TRREB’s MLS® System by Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® amounted to 11,083 – a new record for the month of September. This result was up by 42.3 per cent compared to September 2019. Following a record third quarter, sales through the first nine months of 2020 were up by approximately one per cent compared to the same period in 2019.

“Improving economic conditions and extremely low borrowing costs sustained record-level sales in September, as we continued to account for the substantial amount of pent-up demand that resulted from the spring downturn. Further improvements in the economy, including job growth, would support strong home sales moving forward. However, it will be important to monitor the trajectory of COVID-19 cases, the related government policy response, and the impact on jobs and consumer confidence,” said Ms. Patel.

Year-over-year sales growth in September continued to be driven by ground-oriented market segments, including detached and semi-detached houses and townhouses. Annual growth rates were also higher for sales reported in the GTA regions surrounding the City of Toronto.

The September 2020 MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by 11.6 per cent year-over-year. The average selling price for all home types combined in September was $960,772 – up by 14 per cent year-over-year. Price growth was driven by the low-rise market segments. The relatively better supplied condominium apartment segment experienced a comparatively slower pace of price growth.

“On a GTA-wide basis, market conditions tightened in September relative to last year, with sales increasing at a faster pace than new listings. With competition between buyers increasing noticeably, double-digit year-over-year price growth was commonplace throughout the region in September, resulting in the overall average selling price reaching a new record,” said Jason Mercer, TRREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

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Click here if you would like to compare these numbers to last month’s or last year’s numbers.

If you would like further information about current market conditions, or if you are considering a move and would like to know how much your house is worth, feel free to get in touch, we are always available for your questions!