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Stoney Creek, Hamilton - We invite everyone to visit our open house at 69 Islandview Way on March 21 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
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Hamilton Mountain, Hamilton - We invite everyone to visit our open house at 15 Eaglewood Drive on February 7 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
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Six Years New!
• 4 bath, 4 bdrm 2 story - 
MLS® $369,900
Hamilton Mountain, Hamilton - 6 YR OLD 4 BEDRM FAMILY HOME FINISHED TOP TO BOTTOM. BRIGHT OPEN CONCEPT MFLR HAS MFLR LAUNDRM. FINISHED BSMT WITH IN-LAW SET UP HAVING A BEDRM, 3PC BATH & KITCHEN(PLUMBING DONE BUYER NEEDS TO INSTALL), 4PC ENSUITE IN BEDRM WITH W/I CLOSET. GAS FP IN FAMRM OPEN TO KITCHEN. W/O TO LG DECK FROM DINETTE. NEWLY PAVED DBL DRIVE.
Exclusions: FRIDGE AND STOVE IN BASEMENT KITCHEN
Features: Automatic Garage Dr, Roughed-In Central Vac, Ensuite Bathroom, Walk-In Closet, In-Law Suite, Main Flr. Laundry, Main Flr. Family Rm, Eat-in Kitchen
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My Christmas list didn't include "Teresa Cascioli" for Mayor. I didn't even think of that name for Mayor a month ago, but now that the radio waves and print media are buzzing with the news that she's going to take some time to think about it, I am happier than a kid waiting for St. Nick!
I'm sharing with you a little letter that I'm sending Ms. Cascioli....
Dear Ms. Cascioli,
Not to sound like a familiar running shoe commercial...please .... JUST DO IT!!
Sincerely,
Donna
Teresa Cascioli is a home town hero. She gave Lakeport Brewery life while swimming in a vast ocean of sharks and walked out onto the shore happy, healthy and a tad bit wealthier. This is one person who wouldn't be looking for anything except the personal satisfaction of being a great leader and doing an outstanding job.
With an aging infrastructure, taxed to the max citizens, developers looking for slight breaks and massive confusion about where money should be spent, Hamilton is overdue for strong, decisive, no nonsense leadership. Who could ever doubt Ms. Cascioli's capabilities or intentions? Maybe....just maybe...she'll turn this poor little town around to the point that the NHL is begging to put a team here. You never know!!
If we're lucky...she'll think it's a good idea! Yehhhhhhhh let's vote!
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/709807
OK...City of Hamilton Councillors....wake up...smell the java...STOP passing bylaws with no one to enforce them!! I couldn't stop laughing when I heard on the radio that City Hall wants to pass a Security By-Law which will restrict the type of security features a person can have on their property. mmmmmmm
So...on the list of "undesirable features" are: barbed wire and/or electric fencing, numerous security camera's, lockable-bullet proof shutters, bullet proof shielding, 3-150 lb rottweilers chained to the front porch etc. etc.
I'm sure that a dwelling this heavily secured is a bonus to any neighborhood! What better way to crack down on violators then to get this By-law passed. Give me a break!
First of all, only drug dealers and bike gangs really have use for this type of security, and I can just imagine the "By-Law" officer pulling up in his or her little City car to drop off an infraction notice. I think the Councilors and Mayor should actually go all together and deliver the notices themselves...buy a nice bullet proof by-law bus, invest in some flap jackets...they could even get a reality tv show going!
Secondly, I'm sure the owners of the property would be shaking in their boots when they got served with the notice.
Are they crazy??? This isn't a realistic way to stop illegal activities in the City. Are they forgetting how bad these guys are? These places need a S.W.A.T. team more than a unarmed city worker and hopefully the City realizes this...but now that I think about it, they may have a hard time finding a regular By-Law officer, earning what regular BL officers earn, willing to do the job!
Or...they may get exactly what they're asking for...beautified Biker houses!
As stated today on raisethehammer.org "By-law enforcement is complaint-based. We need to break the cycle of willful negligence and emergency demolition in this city by reporting reporting property standards by-law infractions to the city when we see them" and on February 6th, the first Bylaw Crawl will commence.
I am no stranger to the City's bylaw's, namely parking, and I don't think that those particular by-law officers are motivated by public complaint, however, the biggies, such as property standards, are primarily activated by public complaint. This in itself poses a problem simply because most of the time it's neighbors having to make the complaint...and that may not do well for good relationships on the street! Many years ago, I met a family who complained to the City about their neighbor...and their hedge accidently burnt down a few days later!
We've all been brought up with the old "Tattle Tale" fear...and perhaps people may fear repercussions if they rat their neighbors out. Forming a group of people actually doing a crawl, may in fact give property owners some anonymity. Perhaps they can call the "Crawl"...and have them visit their particular problematic neighborhood? City Hall may soon get the hint and put a solid bylaw enforcement program into place!
Visit http://www.raisethehammer.org/ and get the details!
Harry Stinson explains on Dailywebtv.com how the purchase of a condo in the new Stinson Street School Loft complex can be a carefree and rewarding investment opportunity!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ys2og5gNp0
Once upon a time, I had a house built complete with a wonderful high efficiency furnace. During the second winter, right in the middle of a cold snap, the furnace quit. That was to mark the beginning of a long love/hate relationship with the temperamental monster in my basement. I lived in that house for 4 years, diligently cleaned my filter on the first of every month and still did over $1,500.00 worth the repairs on the beast. The biggest problem was that it always seemed to break down during the coldest night of the year...and on a holiday.
Next up to bat was the top of the line, state of the art baby installed in another new home. After a year, the main valve went. $780.00 later I could see where it was going and decided to take out the "Silver" service pack with the heating and cooling company; it covered 80% of the parts and service. The cost of $480.00 a year only excluded the heat exchanger. A year later, the fan went, followed by the circuit board. I was still ahead of the game with my service contract. Then, in year 5 the heat exchanger went. After many complaints to the manufacturer, they offered me a new furnace for $2,800.00 !!! I declined, because I had already rebuilt the one I had. That particular furnace cost me more than $4,500. over 7 years.
Enter "Furnace # 3"....a top of the line Carrier Hi Efficiency. This house was not new, but the furnace was only 7 years old. A week before I moved in, Reliance Home Comfort contacted me and offered me the most incredible deal known to mankind. "Heating & Cooling Protection Plan with Maintenance" for $24.00/month". Worried that they were going to pull up some form of furnace credit report, I disclosed that I was experienced in various furnace issues...and asked for their list of exclusions in their offer. None. Zippo. For $24.00 a month, they would give me an annual maintenance on both my furnace and A/C unit PLUS all the repairs and service calls would be 100% covered! I immediately signed up.
Year 1..... I moved in at the end of March, and had the furnace serviced in October of that year.On the very first New Years Day, when the temperatures dipped to -15, the furnace quit. I called, they came, and there was no charge to me. It would have cost me over $800.00.
Year 2... I had its regular service in October ...and once again on a very cold January night...it quit. A phone call to Reliance produced a service man at my door almost instantly...and voilà, another major component replaced at no charge to me.
Year 3... I forgot to call in October this past year, and called last Monday to get my annual maintenance. They scheduled it for today, and keeping with January tradition, my furnace broke down last night! Today's issue was the main circuit panel. I can't even imagine what that would have cost me! Mr. Reliance was here for almost 6 hours and it was all covered by my Plan. xoxoxoxo
Yes...I love my "Plan" very much and as a Real Estate professional, encourage absolutely everyone to enroll with either Reliance or Direct energy today!!!! For the cost of an annual furnace tune up, you get complete peace of mind. The high efficiency furnaces are complex creatures. Their components are expensive...and just like any comfort giving appliance...only break down at the absolutely worse time!
If you don't have a plan...call Reliance Home Comfort or Direct Energy today!
Hamilton Mountain, Hamilton - Announcing a price reduction on 37 East 19th Street. Absolutely incredible value in this extremely well maintained 3 bedroom mountain beauty! Features a beautiful eat-in kitchen with ceramic floors and backsplash and all new cabinet doors, hardware, sink and counter! Incredible bath with a spectacular heart shaped tear drop whirlpool tub and separate custom shower! Supersized rear yard plus a wonderful screened in porch! Spacious living room and dining room boasting beautiful coved ceilings and hardwood floors! Updated wiring and lots of newer windows!!! Someone is going to get a fantastic house at an incredible price!!!! Now MLS® $189,900 - Incredible Value.
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As reported at www.farm.com on January 12, 2010
" Last night was a tremendous night for the Farmers of the Holland Marsh, and the citizens of King Township. We are fortunate to have so many astute individuals willing to take up this cause, and do battle with the Ontario government! As one Councilor put it "I never would have thought we would ever have to deal with the building of a power plant in the Holland Marsh"--yah, no kidding! A hydrological study has been done, independently, which does not favour the peaker plant builder's position, and this is very good. Now, as the Township Solicitor pointed out, if the provincial government really wants this project to move ahead--it will, but they can just as easily quash the entire project! The site for this facility is in a floodplain, which goes against the Provincial Policy Statement, and as well, is not "compatible" with the business of farming in this highly productive, specialty crop area. Apparently though, the Ministry of the Environment sees nothing wrong with building a 400MW natural gas-fired power plant, and claims there will be "no negligible affects to the area". I don't know how they have arrived at this particular conclusion, since they also didn't think anything other than the most basic environmental assessment was required (i.e. the same assessment that would be given to a small windmill project). This project flies in the face of so many "protected" area policies, and different pieces of legislation that anyone who is given just the tiniest bit of information about this area is flabbergasted that this was the chosen location! Anyway, our hope of hopes is that this project will be scrapped in its entirety, so that we Holland Marsh Farmers can get on with the business of feeding the people of Ontario! "
One of Premier McGinty's claim to fame is the designation of 1.8 million acres in Ontario as a Greenbelt in 2005; a permanently protected area of green space, farmland, forests, wetlands, and watersheds that surrounds a significant portion of Canada's most populated and fastest-growing area known as the Golden Horseshoe.
According to the Greenbelt Act 2005
"The Greenbelt Act, 2005 enables the creation of a Greenbelt Plan to protect about 1.8 million acres of environmentally sensitive and agricultural land in the Golden Horseshoe from urban development and sprawl. It includes and builds on about 800,000 acres of land within the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan."
The Greenbelt legislation was bittersweet for farmers. Even though it protected their farms from urban sprawl, allowing them to peacefully continue their usual farming practices, it removed any possibility of ever having their land value increase beyond that of farmland. Farms that weren't in the Greenbelt instantly became much more valuable than those in the Greenbelt.
The Act specifically defined the Niagara Fruit Belt, the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Holland Marsh. These areas were recognized as being extremely sensitive and their protection extremely important, so it's amazing that a power plant in the Holland Marsh is even being considered!
Let's give another big round of applaud for our fearless leaders aka "The McGinty Gang"!!
Last spring, we saw the Provincial Liberals throwing Kleenex out the windows of their Happy Bus named "Majority", as they announced the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax, effective July 2010. Of course they were aware that their humble subjects were living through the worse financial meltdown since the Great Depression, but when McGinty shook his "8 Ball" and asked for direction, it indicated that "anytime you have a majority is a good time!".
What does the HST mean for the average real estate transaction?
The residential resale homes will be exempt, just as they are with the GST, however, it's the services involved with the transaction that will be subject to a hefty 8 percent Provincial sales tax component of the new HST. Industry experts claim that it will cost the average home buyer an additional $2,000.00 http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2009/26/c4519.html
Now, considering that the Province already collects a sneaky little tax called the Land Transfer Tax each and every time a property is sold in the Province, this new sales tax on the services involved with the sale should be a pretty bitter pill to swallow for most Ontarians, especially if that Ontarian is also a Torontonian! The residents of that beautiful City were already held hostage by their Mayor when he introduced the Municipal Land Transfer Tax back in 2007/2008. Check out the nifty calculator supplied by our friends at the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) http://www.torontorealestateboard.com/LTT_splash/ltt_calculator.htm
Just for fun, lets tally up the taxes generated on the average real estate transaction. A house in Hamilton purchased for 250,000.00 and a house in Toronto, purchased for 500,000.00
Hamilton- $250,000.00 HST on Commission of 5% $ 12,500.00 @ 13% = $1,625.00
HST on Legal Fee's Buyer $800.00 @ 13% = 104.00
HST on Legal Fee's Seller $700.00 @ 13% = 91.00
HST on Home Inspections, Appraisals etc $700 @ 13%= 91.00
Land Transfer tax 1% of 250,000 less $275.00 (2500 - 275)= 2,225.00
TOTAL TAX- Province 3,401.00
Federal 735.00
GRAND TOTAL..... 4,136.00 OUCH
Now to the Torontonians.....yes, it's much more expensive to live there!
$500,000 house sale- City of Toronto Municipal Land Transfer Tax $5,725.00
Provincial Land Transfer Tax 6,475.00
Commissions 5% 25,000 @ 13% 3,250.00
Legal Fee's Buyer/Seller $2,000 @ 13% 260.00
Inspection/Appraisal Etc.... $800 @ 13% 104.00
Total City 5,725.00
Total Province 8,699.00
Total Federal 1,390.00
GRAND TOTAL 15,814.00 SUPER OUCH!!!!!
When you think about it, thats an awful lot of after tax dollars going to pay more non deductible taxes each and every time a humble subject wants to move! Matter of fact, in 2008-2009, the Province of Ontario reported Land Transfer Tax Revenues of $1,013,000,000 dollars, down $358 Million from 2007-2008. http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/paccts/2009/09_cfs.html#sc1
So, lets go to the Federal Government. Harper is very happy that the Ontario Liberals have put this plan into action. But, at the same time, Jim Flaherty, Canada's Minister of Finance has been hinting that the drones of the land are getting a tad bit too comfortable with the low interest rates enjoyed for several years. He's hinting at changes to minimum down payment and amortization periods because he doesn't want to see people get into financial trouble when they buy a house and the interest rates begin to ebb upwards. Wow, a politician actually feeling for the little people, waiving the "I shall save them from themselves" banner.
I know no one asked me, but I'm going to toss my "2010 prediction hat" into the ring here.
Prediction # 1...we're going to see a buoyant real estate market for the next 5 months, with first time home buyers racing to get mortgages locked in at nice low rates....plus save a thousand or two on the HST.
Prediction # 2...the buoyant real estate market is going to increase retail sales as people buy furniture, appliances and everything else that Home Depot has to offer.
Prediction # 3...Mr. Flaherty will put in the first major increase in interest rates in early March, 2010...just to stimulate those first time home buyers a bit more! People will be locking into mortgages right and left.
Prediction # 4...New home starts will post a gain for the first quarter...simply as a result of stimulus money..but we'll all think that the recession is truly over!!! Yahooooooo!!!
Prediction # 5...The home frenzy will increase in May and early June, as Mr. Flaherty announces that minimum down payments are increased from 5% to 8% affective July 1, 2010.
Prediction # 6...July 1st, 2010...the HST is ushered in...prime has gone up to 4%....amortizations are reduced to 30 years...and the market grinds to a hault...and a super recession may loom over the Country while all of the Politicians are playing golf over the summer. http://www.upi.com/Real-Estate/2010/01/05/Mortgage-Rate-Prospects-Stir-Fears-of-Re-Recession/5041262702687/
Home ownership should be affordable to everyone and the Governments of the day should realize how important the Housing Sector is to the economy. Are either the Federal or Provincial Governments acting in a responsible fashion right now, or are they they like children playing with matches? Time will tell...and here's hoping that my predictions are the farthest things from the truth!
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Hamilton Mountain, Hamilton - We invite everyone to visit our open house at 37 East 19th Street on January 10 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
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Hamilton Mountain, Hamilton - We invite everyone to visit our open house at 37 East 19th Street on December 20 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
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Hamilton Centre, Hamilton - We invite everyone to visit our open house at 182 Province Street North on December 20 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
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Don't miss out! Announcing a price reduction on 182 Province Street North, a 2 bath, 3 bdrm 4-level split. Now MLS® $207,500 - .
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