Haves & Wants

I belong to a global real estate center for Haves and Wants of Industrial, Commercial and Investment Real Estate, Land, Farms, Business Opportunities, Financing and more. If this type of real estate interests you, or you would like to place your Haves and Wants, please feel free to give me a call. There are thousands of listings with hundreds of new listings coming in regularly. Please feel free to visit often for new opportunities. Click Here

Details of Approved Toronto Land Transfer Tax

October 23, 2007 -- Toronto City Council has approved a municipal land transfer tax that will be levied on top of the provincial land transfer tax. TREB worked very hard to oppose this tax and commends the efforts of REALTORS® on this issue. TREB took a strong position to oppose this tax as unfair in principle and refused to compromise. As a direct result of this strong position, City Council was forced to make a number of amendments to the City’s original proposal, including rebates for first-time buyers, a reduced rate, and grandfathering for existing transactions.
The City has not yet provided detailed information on administration or implementation issues. The following is based on currently available information. Some information from the City is available here.
What was approved by City Council?
A second land transfer tax, on top of the provincial land transfer tax, at the following rates:
Residential:
0.5% of the amount of the purchase price up to and including $55,000
1% of the amount of the purchase price between $55,000 and $400,000
2% of the amount of the purchase price above $400,000
Commercial / Industrial / Etc.:
0.5% of the amount of the purchase price up to and including $55,000
1% of the amount of the purchase price between $55,000 and $400,000
1.5% of the amount between $400,000 and $40 million
1% of the amount above $40 million
When does this take effect?
February 1, 2008.
Are existing transactions grandfathered?
Yes. Any transactions where the purchaser and vendor have entered into an Agreement of Purchase and Sale for the property prior to December 31, 2007 will be rebated the full amount of the Toronto land transfer tax, regardless of the closing date. (Note: Media reports that closings must occur by Feb. 1, 2008 are inaccurate.) The City has not yet provided clarification on how rebates will be administered. If your clients have concerns, they should check with their lawyer. Once the City of Toronto provides clarification, more information will be provided.
What about Agreements of Purchase and Sale signed after December 31, 2007 with closing dates before February 1, 2008?
Purchasers with a Purchase and Sale agreement signed after December 31, 2007 with a closing before February 1, 2008 will not be required to pay the Toronto Land Transfer tax.
What about Agreements of Purchase and Sale signed after December 31, 2007 with closing dates on or after February 1, 2008?
Purchasers with a Purchase and Sale agreement signed after December 31, 2007 with a closing on or after February 1, 2008 will be required to pay the full Toronto Land Transfer tax.
Where does this apply?
The Toronto land transfer tax only applies to transactions within the City of Toronto. This does NOT apply to property transactions outside of the City of Toronto.
Are first time home buyers affected?
First time home buyers of new AND re-sale homes will receive a rebate of the Toronto land transfer tax of up to $3,725 (this equals a 100% rebate on homes purchased for up to $400,000). The City has not yet provided clarification on how rebates will be administered. If your clients have concerns, they should check with their lawyer. Once the City of Toronto provides clarification, more information will be provided.
More detailed information will be provided once it is made available by the City. If you have questions, contact the City of Toronto at Access Toronto at 416-338-0338. Some information from the City is available here.
If you have questions, contact the City of Toronto at Access Toronto at 416-338-0338.

www.70berkindale.com

FOR SALE

70 Berkindale Drive

One-of-a-kind 6,000 square foot custom Chateau on prestigious street, exquisite interiors by Claire Grenier-Kennair, double-entry front door with sculptured wrought iron rails, dramatic 2 storey foyer, oval staircase with custom decorative wrought iron rail and spectacular stained glass skylight, artist-painted ceilings, fabulous master BR with stunning mosaic-tile his/her ensuite, 5 BRs each with mosaic tile ensuites, dream kitchen with island and w/o to custom in-ground pool set in lush gardens, heated circular driveway.

MAIN FLOOR - 10 foot ceilings

Foyer:Limestone mosaic detail floorCoffered and hand painted ceiling.

Hallway: Wide plank Brazilian cherry with Parquet mosaic insert flooring Grand oval staircase with wrought iron railing and stained glass skylight domeLantern excluded

Ante Room: Wide plank Brazilian cherry flooringCustom painted domed ceiling adjacent to Lounge & guest Powder roomHand painted faux finish walls with artistic detail Wall sconces Free standing furniture vanity on limestone crème marfell with basket weave mosaic inlay floor -2nd main floor Powder roomMud room and separate entrance

Living Room:Wide Brazilian cherry wide plank flooringCove mouldingElegant ragging wall treatmentWindow treatments excludedGas fireplace¾ height Mantel finished faux limestone with matching columns

Library:French doors Full detail Fireplace in Mahogany trim Brazilian cherry wide plank flooring Mahogany full panel wallsBuilt-in wood and leaded glass custom cabinetry Coffered Mahogany ceiling with hands painted artistic detail Vintage brass chandelier and duel matching wall sconces Window coverings excluded

Kitchen: Pendant Kitchen Aid fridge with ice and water dispenser Thermadore Professional Range with chef's oven, 6 burners, grill and convection oven Hot water dispenser Fisher & Paykel dual dishwashers Moen faucet Kitchen-Aid trash compactor Garburator / In-Sink-EratorBuilt-in wine racking with corbel details European Artist vintage wall finish Flooring: wide plank Brazilian cherry Counters: GraniteBacksplash: tumbled limestoneMoulding: CoveLighting: large kitchen chandelier (excluded), pot lights, accented cabinet lighting

Butlers PantryBuilt-in cabinetry Flooring: wide plank Brazilian cherry Counters: Granite Lighting: pot lights

Family Room: Linen window coverings Gas fireplaceFrench doors to garden and pool Built-in TV/book shelving Flooring: wide plank Brazilian cherry European Artist vintage wall finish Dining Room Brazilian cherry wide plank flooring Cove moulding Elegant ragging wall treatment Chandeliers and Window treatments excluded

SECOND FLOOR - 9 foot ceilings

Master Bedroom Double entrance doors leading to the Ante-room adjacent to the master bedroom, walk-in closet and showcased ensuite washroom. Double Brazilian cherry wide plank flooring Cove moulding Double layered silk drapery Wall to wall windows overlooking the yard and pool Walk-in closetFull hand crafted cabinetry with marble inlay island Brazilian cherry wide plank flooring Custom window seat Chandelier and dual wall sconcesHis & Hers Showcased Ensuite washrooms5 jet full mosaic shower Hydro Maax 2 person full mosaic Roman style bath with columns Stained glass windows Hand painted ceilings Custom furniture vanity with honed crème marfell counter top

Bedroom Two Broadloom Cove moulding Oversized (4 piece) Ensuite with separate shower and bath tub Full shower with subway style limestone Hand painted ceilingFull mosaic wall and bath skirt Flooring: large limestone tile with inlayDual wall sconces and chandelier Honed marble vanity counter Drapery excluded

Bedroom Three Dual closets Broadloom Ensuite (4 piece) washroom with tumbled mosaic tub walls and limestone inlay Limestone floor with tumbled mosaic in-layMarble countertop

Bedroom Four Cove mouldingBroadloomDraperyWalk-in closetEnsuite (4 piece) washroom with hand built cabinets Tumble marble with mosaic picture frame wall treatment

Bedroom Five Broadloom Pierre Frey wallpaper Chandelier Drapery excluded Walk-in closet with clothes organiser Ensuite 4 piece washroom with full wall and floor mosaic treatment, honed limestone counter top and Custom built vanity

Laundry Full size Ceramic tile flooring Full cabinetry Deep stainless steel sink Maytag Neptune Washer & Dryer (included).

LOWER LEVEL - 9 foot ceilings

Nanny's Suite Broadloom Chandelier Wall to wall closet Ensuite (4 pieces) with full detail tumble marble shower / bath Honed marble flooring.Bathroom Custom cabinetry Pot lights

Theatre / Fitness Room Rough-in wiring for theatre installation Broadloom flooring Mirrored wall

Wine room Broadloom presently used as storage space could be 7th bedroom

OfficeBroadloom Separate private storage Could be 8th bedroom

Recreation Room: Broadloom and tumble crème marfell with black marble in-lay border with heated floorWenge wood veneer Wet BarSauna (Finnish style) with a 3 piece washroom and pool change area Dual high efficiency Fireplaces surrounded by fieldstone wall finish Double French door Walk-out to flagstone Bistro style patio with stone cathedral staircase to garden and pool.

EXTRAS:2 Furnaces 2 air cleaners 2 humidifiers 2 air conditioning units Security system with cameras and alarmTherm-X-trol hot water circulating system Dual (rented) 284 litre -hot water tanks

Heated patterned concrete driveway

Landscape lighting Soffit lighting Wrought iron fenced rear yard with pet proof mesh borderPatterned concrete and flagstone patio Gas BBQ, Gunite Pool and heater, Stone enclosed pool equipment shed.
About the Neighbourhood
York Mills is one of Toronto's most affluent neighbourhoods. Its mills are long gone replaced by shining office towers and luxury condominiums. Its main arterial roadways including Yonge Street and Bayview Avenue - which were once impassable by car, now serve as major roadways to and from the city core.
Yet, despite all these changes York Mills has managed to maintain a peaceful tranquility and natural beauty that has helped make it one of Toronto's most desirable neighbourhoods.
York Mills Plaza is conveniently located at the south-west intersection of Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road. This popular outdoor shopping plaza is anchored by a large drug store, and a supermarket. York Mills Plaza also features an international restaurant, a wine shop, small specialty retail stores and a fine selection of gourmet food shops.
The Bayview Village Shopping Centre is located at the north-east corner of Bayview and Sheppard Avenues. This upscale shopping centre caters to the affluent York Mills market with several designer clothing and accessory stores, gift shops, a magazine and book shop, jewellery stores, and an excellent selection of restaurants.
The York Mills Centre located on the north-east corner of Yonge Street and York Mills Road has about a dozen retail shops and professional services in addition to medical offices and a food court.
The multi-faceted York Mills Park, located at the south-east corner of York Mills Road and Bayview Avenue is well used in the summertime for a variety of pursuits. There is an outdoor pool for recreational swimming, a children's playground and a baseball diamond with recreational house leagues. This park also provides access to Windfield's Park which has an attractive footpath through a ravine valley that follows the winding course of Wilkett Creek, a tributary of the Don River.
York Mills Park is also the home of the York Mills Arena. This arena is busy year-round with organized hockey leagues, as well as power and pleasure skating. There are many parks located north of York Mills and west of Bayview Avenue. The largest of these neighbourhood parks is St. Andrew's Park which features a mini valley and lush greenspace that is popular for walks and light recreational pursuits. Tournament Park located next to St. Andrew's Square features tennis courts and an active tennis club program. Golfers are very close to the scenic Don Valley Golf Course located west of Yonge Street and south of Highway 401.

www.70Berkindale.com

Ontario Helpful Links

Address info
http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pcl/bin/advanced-e.asp
http://canada.gc.ca/directories/internet_e.html
http://direct.srv.gc.ca/cgi-bin/direct500/BE

Building Inspectors
http://www.cahi.ca/map.html

Community Demographics
http://www.rural.gc.ca/cris/directories/profiles_e.phtml

Contaminated properties
http://www.ec.gc.ca/etad/csmwg/en/index_e.htm
http://www.aicanada.ca

Government (real estate related) sites
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/
http://www.reco.on.ca/

Home Warranty Information
http://www.tarion.com/HOME/Warranty+Protection/

Insurance news and information
http://www.ibc.ca/

Legal information
http://www.canadianlawsite.com/realestate.htm
http://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/resources/topic/property.htm

Mould
http://www.cca-acc.com/mould/index.html

National Building Code
http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/codes/home_E.shtml
http://www.cwc.ca/design/codes/

Taxation information
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/
http://search-recherche.gc.ca

Translators
http://www.foreignword.biz/directory/search.aspx
http://www.cttic.org/e_member.htm

Underground storage tanks
http://www.ec.gc.ca/st-rs/default.asp?lang=En&n=EA46E5E0-1
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/c20021002se02.html
http://www.tssa.org/home/default.asp?loc1=home

Water testing issues (rural properties)
http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/water/wtesting_e.htm

Neighbors draw line over repairs:

What happens if you need to do repairs to the side of your house, but you don't own enough space between the outside wall and the lot line?

Can you trespass onto your neighbor's property to do repairs to your own house?

Those were the questions facing an Ontario court in a case heard last September. Eric Parla and his wife own 60 Spruce St. in Toronto, and Nigel Pleasants owns the house to the west at 58 Spruce.

Their houses were built very close together in the late 19th century, and for many houses like this it is impossible to inspect the area between them without walking on both properties.

The property line between the two houses is only six to eight inches west of the west wall of the house at No. 60. (All measurements are imperial in the court's decision. Judges of my generation don't like the metric system any more than I do.)

By contrast, the east wall of No. 58 is two feet away from the same property line for the first 30 feet of the depth of the house – leaving a total space between the two houses of about two feet, six inches.

At the 30-foot mark, the wall of the house at No. 58 is set back about four feet, leaving up to seven feet between the two houses from that point until the back walls of the two houses.

Of all this space, only a six-inch strip belongs to No. 60.

The Parlas discovered that the west foundation wall of their house required substantial repair due to compression of the foundation and rotting of the wooden sill plate used in the construction in Victorian times.

In order to make the repairs, a trench had to be dug along the northerly 18 feet of the west wall of No. 60. Since it is impossible to dig a trench in a space only six inches wide, it was necessary to encroach on the lands of No. 58.

Two contractors refused to start the work without the consent of Pleasants, but some considerable friction arose between the neighbors and permission could not be obtained.

Ultimately, the Parlas found it necessary to apply to the Superior Court in Toronto for an order allowing them onto the Pleasants property to make repairs to the west side of the foundation of their own house.

In their application, the Parlas relied on City of Toronto Bylaw 1994-0404, which reads:

"The owner or occupant of any building or other structure, or the agent or employee of the owner or occupant may enter upon any adjoining land for the purpose of making repairs, alterations or improvements to the building or other structure but only to the extent necessary to effect the repairs, alterations or improvements."

Another part of the bylaw requires anyone who enters under the authority of the bylaw to leave the land in the same condition as before the entry.

Justice Dennis Lane heard the evidence on September 1st 2006 and delivered his decision on September 19th.

He noted that there was considerable debate about who said what to whom, none of which was very helpful except to indicate an unfortunate degree of bad feeling between the parties. The bottom line, wrote the judge, is that the bylaw gives the (Parlas) the right to access the (Pleasants) land in the circumstances before the court, subject to the obligation to restore the lands to their former condition ... The terms of the bylaw are clear.

But the dispute did not end there. The Parlas also asked the court to declare that they have a right of way over the Pleasants' land so that they can inspect, clean, maintain and repair the west side of their building. In law, what they were asking for was a right of way, or easement of necessity, which is implied bylaw in cases where it would otherwise be impossible for owners to enjoy their own property.

An easement of necessity can arise when one owner divides his or her property so that one part of it is left without any legally enforceable means of access.

In cases like this, the law will grant an easement of necessity, based on a presumption that access was intended to be given. Otherwise the land would be useless, a conclusion contrary to public policy.

In fact, the evidence before Justice Lane established that the same person once owned both houses.

When the title was divided, no one apparently gave any thought to the impossibility of performing even an inspection of, never mind repairs to, the Parla home without access to the neighbor's property.

Justice Lane refused to grant the Parlas an easement of necessity since the city bylaw already provides a legally enforceable means of access to inspect and, if necessary, to repair the foundation, wall, eaves or part of the Parla house.

The judge did, however, order that a gate and some stored materials which were blocking the passageway had to be removed by Pleasants.

The case of Parla v. Pleasants has prompted me to create Aaron's First Law of Neighborliness: It's always better, and cheaper, to get along with your neighbors.

Unfortunately, it's not always possible.
by: Bob Aaron -Toronto real estate lawyer.

UPDATE: The Residential Tenancies Act

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, takes
effect on January 31, 2007. The Act was
passed in June of 2006, and it replaces the
Tenant Protection Act, 1997. The new Act
affects approximately 1.35 million renter
households in Ontario, representing 32
percent of Ontario’s population.
As many real estate professionals are significantly
impacted by this legislation, TREB was
very involved in ensuring Members’ opinions
were heard. TREB’s actions on this issue
included gathering Member input on residential
tenancy issues via TorontoMLS and hosting a
session with Brad Duguid, the Parliamentary
Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs
and Housing, who was responsible for consultations
on this issue. The session was attended
by over 120 TREB Members who were able to
give their input directly to Duguid. In addition,
TREB provided formal written comments to the
provincial government and met with government
representatives.
Though the Act contains many important
changes, of particular interest to many
REALTORS® are sections dealing with rent
increase guidelines, excessive or wilful damage
to a unit, causing a disturbance in a landlord’s
home and interest on last month’s rent. Full
details of the Act, including summaries and frequently
asked questions, are available from the
website of the Ontario Ministry of Municipal
Affairs and Housing at www.mah.gov.on.ca.
A summary of some of the key changes
included in the Act are outlined as follows:
Landlord and Tenant Board
The Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal, the body
handling the dispute resolution process,
becomes the Landlord and Tenant Board. The
Board will send information notices about the
eviction hearing process to tenants who have
had eviction applications filed against them.
Landlords are still responsible for giving the formal
“Notice of Hearing” to their tenants.
Annual Rent Increase Guideline
Under the legislation, the annual rent increase
guideline will be based on the Ontario
Consumer Price Index (CPI.) The CPI will be the
rate of inflation for the year running from June
to May. The guideline is announced each
August; it will be more stable and never higher
than inflation. Buildings constructed after 1991
remain exempt from most rent controls.
Above Guideline Rent Increases
When landlords receive permission to issue
above guideline rent increases for higher utility
costs or for capital work on the building, they
must reduce these rents if utility costs go down
or when the capital expense has been paid for.
In addition, landlords must inform these tenants
of the buildings’ utility costs each year,
and there is a stricter test to decide if capital
expenses are really necessary.
Starting Rents
One of the key issues TREB raised during consultations
with the provincial government on the
proposed new legislation was the importance of
maintaining the existing policy that allows a
landlord to negotiate freely for the rent of a
vacant unit. This policy was preserved in the
new Act, meaning landlords and new tenants
can still negotiate starting rents. Once the rent is
set, it is controlled by provisions of the Act.
Interest on Last Month’s Rent
The rate of interest that a landlord must pay a
tenant on a last month’s rent deposit every year
is the same as the annual rent increase guideline,
which is based on the Ontario Consumer
Price Index.
Excessive or Wilful Damage to a Rental Unit or
Building, or Causing a Disturbance in a
Landlord’s Home
There is a shorter eviction process for tenants
who cause wilful or excessive damage to a
rental unit or building, or for tenants who rent
an apartment in a landlord’s home and are
causing a disturbance.
The notice period to the tenant is shortened
to 10 days from 20 days. Landlords can apply to
the Board for an eviction order immediately
after serving the notice. The eviction order will
ask the Sheriff to speed up the enforcement of
the eviction.

WANTED: REAL ESTATE DOERS

If you or anyone you know is thinking of buying, selling or leasing real estate, call me!

Steven Maislin
Registered Real Estate & Business Broker
Cooper & Company Real Estate / Brokerage
416-410-6000