Jim Metcalfe - Our Home Toronto

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Cabbagetown SOLD in 5 days, over list, in multiple offers … Fantastic!

 Who says the Real Estate market is quiet in July and August. Lots of showing on this Cabbagetown  4 bedroom, 3 storey town home. Good homes priced at market value sell. I love a win win scenario. My buyer Ian commented does every REALTOR®  produce glossy card stock Feature Sheets with professional photography, floor plans and with it’s own website measuring visitors to every room. Fact is only a small percentage of  REALTORS® use Virtual Tours let alone create a website for every listing. Some REALTORS® are dramatically better marketers than others and the results are in the selling. I am most grateful to have 85% of my sales come from very happy referral clients. In this case Ian busted his butt getting his home ready for sale. I was happy he trusted me to suggest how. He is tonight enjoying a glass of Shiraz with his good friend and is extremely happy the sale of his home resulted the way he had hoped.  Yes a little horn tooting … but I am pumped to have worked hard and received the results for same.

 Being a REALTOR® BROKER is the best career ever!

Tags: Cabbagetown, Homes For Sale, SOLD

Do you support bike lanes on Jarvis St … will cycilist need full armour to avoid hospitalization?

 Bike Lanes on Jarvis … In OurHomeToronto

OurHomeToronto has started the process of converting Jarvis Street into a bike corridor marking the first tangible sign of one of city cycling advocates’ biggest victories.
While the installation will cause a few partial lane restrictions over the next week, the road will remain open for all but a day or two of the work. Today, workers will remove parking machines and, once rush hour is finished, the reversible centre lane will be closed to traffic. Over the next week, signs and signals for the centre lane will be taken down. Next Saturday, July 25, crews will paint the bike lanes along Jarvis between Bloor and Queen streets, closing down short sections of the road for a few hours. Sidewalks will stay open. “They should be able to get it done in one day, weather permitting,” said Daniel Egan, the city’s manager of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. There will be some lane restrictions over the following week as workers install signs and paint diamonds along the bike route. The installation of bike lanes on the street, which is heavily used at rush hour by drivers heading to and from the core, is a major point of contention between municipal politicians and advocacy groups on both sides of the issue.
Cycling advocates argue adding the bike lanes will help bike commuters by connecting to east-west bike lanes on Gerrard and Wellesley, allow residents of the dense neighbourhood along the street to cycle more easily and make it easier for students at schools on Jarvis to cycle. “It’s nice to see a large project moving forward,” said Yvonne Bambrick, executive director of the Toronto Cyclists Union. “It’s been a goal of this city to return Jarvis, which was once a grand boulevard and cultural corridor, to a more liveable street, rather than what it’s become, which is sort of an urban highway.”
Residents of Rosedale and other neighbourhoods to the north, meanwhile, opposed the plan on the basis that it would jam the street at rush hour. A traffic study by external consultants concluded that the bike lanes would add two minutes to rush hour travel time for cars on Jarvis. City council voted 28 to 16 in favour of the plan in May of 2009. In the months since, cycling advocates have had mixed success in getting the city to improve infrastructure for bikes. While council has approved a bike-sharing program to launch next year, it also nixed a pilot project to install curb-separated bike lanes on University Avenue when Councillor Paula Fletcher mistakenly voted against the proposal. The city has also added fewer kilometres of bike lanes overall this year than in past years, Ms. Bambrick said. The issue, however, may not be done for good. Mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi has pledged to remove the bike lanes if elected in the fall. Rob Ford has also been a frequent opponent of bike lanes.
Adrian Morrow … with comments from James Metcalfe
Toronto — Globe and Mail Update

Tags: Bike Lanes, Jarvis Bike Lanes, Toronto Bike Lanes

Canadian Open Golf / Insider … In OurHomeToronto

 I can’t wait … I’m volunteering for this years Canadian Open. We have had our preview meetings and everyone is set to go. Watch for me as I’ll be the one in the cart replenishing the drinking water for the players, caddies and officials at all of the tee boxes.

 NEW CONFIRMATIONS TO PLAYER FIELD AT TORONTO’S ST. GEORGES July 19-25, 2010
Golf Canada, in partnership with title sponsor RBC, announced today that two-time former Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk has confirmed his intention to compete at the 2010 RBC Canadian Open, July 19-25 at the historic St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto.Furyk, currently the 5th ranked player in the world and winner of both the 2006 and 2007 Canadian Opens, will be joined by long-hitting Bubba Watson, rising star Ricky Barnes, former Canadian Open champion Scott Verplank and fan favourite John Daly. With a pair of 2010 PGA TOUR victories (Transitions Championship & Verizon Heritage), Furyk currently sits 4th on the FedEx Cup standing. Watson, winner of the recent Travelers Championship, currently sits 10th on the FedEx Cup ranking while Barnes and Verplank, a five-time PGA TOUR winner, sit 20th and 32nd respectively on the 2010 FedEx Cup ranking. Daly, a fan favourite throughout his career, is a fivetime PGA TOUR winner and former British Open and PGA Championship champion. Furyk, Watson, Barnes, Verplank and Daly will join a field that includes notables Anthony Kim Sean O’Hair, Rickie Fowler, Camilo Villegas, Hunter Mahan, Luke Donald, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark, Y.E. Yang, Matt Kuchar, Fred Couples, Paul Casey and defending RBC Canadian Open champion Nathan Green.
While several PGA TOUR players have confirmed their intention to compete for Canada’s National Open Championship, competitors have until Friday, July 16 at 5:00 ET to officially register for the 2010 RBC Canadian Open.

Note … Carl Pettersson wins the 2010 RBC Canadian Open golf tournament with a score of -14 under par. Colourful John Daly takes a Pepsi moment and is certainly a fan favourite. Next year’s Open is in Vancouver B.C. at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club and in 2012 is back to Ontario at the Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Tags: Canadian Open, Carl Pettersson, Golf Canada, John Daly, St. Georges C&CC

Don’t Read This … Or The Kitty Gets It!

Love that is … Who loves us unconditionally … even more than we love ourselves? Our dogs and cats of course! This is your chance to share your recommendations for Veterinarians, Pet Groomers, Pet Food Favourites … all things Pets. For years I purchased my pet’s food from my Vet. I didn’t give a care about the price … just thought it was the best for Simba. NOT necessarily. While my Simba’s Vet (Bay Cat and Dog Hospital – Dr. Gabrielle Herman, D.V.M) is profoundly competent to care for her health needs, I was brainwashed into believing I needed to buy the food their too. Well then, there are dozens of great pet supply / food stores across Toronto. We willingly spend a fortune on our pets out of love and affection. It’s just fun seeing what some of these stores are offering. Check out the Toys R Us section at most stores. I recently visited YELP to see what other pet lovers said about their favourite Toronto pet shops. It seems the local Menagerie Cabbagetown shop was right at the top of the list. Visit this Yelp site to see other such ratings as “Best Toronto Pet Stores”, “Best Toronto Veterinarians”, “Best Toronto Pet Services”. A real favourite in my neighbourhood for our dogs is DogFather & Co . I challenge you to rate your favourite dog walk, park, names, breeds, Vets … It’s all about the Love & Licks. Coming soon … What to do in an Emergency, Tags, Chips and Why, Preventative Medicine, Food Nutrition / The Facts & Don’t Eat That Plant Digger.

Tags: Pets in Our Home Toronto

Downsizing in Toronto … or not?

We are blessed to work with many first time buyers even though the majority of our service is with those clients contemplating downsizing from large luxury homes. When is the right time to sell and should we purchase a condo or a freehold townhouse? What is a fair maintenance fee? Can I find what I want near transit, in a safe village like neighbourhood, with garage parking and up to date kitchen /bathrooms? Yes you can and there are good price points in new build condos as well as established freehold town homes. Should I sell now and rent or buy right away? Clearly if one sells and buys in the same market you are insulated from speculation losses. If you choose to sell and rent … in one or two years you may well pay more for the same property you could buy now with today’s dollars. The key is to work with an experienced REALTOR® to see for yourself what the choices actually are. Even if you are just interested in knowing what your home is worth, ask your REALTOR® to show your similar homes to yours so you can actually see first hand what competitive home listings are selling for and why.  Some REALTORS® may specialize in listing only and have juniors or associates deal with the purchasing side. I personally recommend that if a REALTOR® doesn’t have time to deal with you when you want to look to buy then why would you deal with him or her at all. We are full service REALTORS® who represent most of our clients for generations. Being referred to relatives and friends is most encouraging aspect of our business. We recommend you interview three REALTOR® prior to buying or selling. A cohesive fit is essential as your trust must be earned.

Tags: Condos Townhomes Downsizing

GEA Greening Toronto & Ontario = 90,000 jobs

Government of Ontario is prepared to initiate the GEA, which focuses on the possibilities for employment if a large investment is made in green practices.  Along with increasing employment opportunities, the program could have a huge positive impact on the environment.

The main goals of the GEA are to ensure that Ontario is the country’s leading green economy, create over 50,000 green collar jobs, and generate billions of dollars worth of economic activity as quickly as possible – ideally in three years.  The plan involves phasing out the province’s coal plants by 2014 and shifting the province’s economy so that it is based on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

Building the Green Economy: Employment Effects of Green Energy Investments for Ontario is a report done by the Political Economy Research Institute, which gives recommendations and ideas regarding the GEA.  The report identifies two levels of investment that would help the GEA.  The first program is the baseline Integrated Power System Plan (IPSP), which would invest $18.6 billion over the next ten years in: conservation and demand management, hydroelectric power, on-shore wind energy, bioenergy, waste energy recycling and solar power.

However, the report also looks at an enhanced green investment program, which is referred to as the Green Energy Act Alliance (GEAA) plan.  The GEAA plan would involve spending $47.1 billion over ten years and would do everything the baseline IPSP would do, plus it would invest in off-shore wind energy and a smart grid electrical transmission system for Ontario.

Although the baseline IPSP would generate 35,000 jobs, the expanded GEAA program would create 90,000 jobs for Ontarians.  The occupations created would range from construction workers to financial auditors and engineers to research scientists.  For the most part, wages would exceed $20 per hour.

Three types of employment effects would come out of these programs: direct, indirect and induced effects.  The direct effects would be the jobs created within Ontario by the environmentally related activities, such as conservation, hydroelectricity and solar power.  The indirect effects involve jobs associated with these green industries that provide goods and services for the green investment activities, like hardware and metals.  Induced effects would be the employment that is created when the people who are paid via green investment projects spend the money they earn on other products and services within the province.

The baseline IPSP would lead to 15,500 direct jobs, 11,600 indirect, and 8,100 induced, while the expanded GEAA program would create 38,400 direct, 31,100 indirect and 20,900 induced jobs.

The IPSP would create nearly 12,000 MW of new electricity or conservation capacity; the expanded GEAA program would produce over 22,000, though.  In March 2009, the Ontario Power Authority operated with about 27,000 MW of electricity-generating capacity.  This means that the $47.1 billion investment program could either replace or expand capacity by 82 percent in the province (and the IPSP by 44 percent), leading to higher efficiency and a huge increase in renewable energy levels.
By: Jordana Levine … sourced through Jim Harris Green Advocate

Tags: Green Priorities