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I read an article recently that says living near Starbucks could raise your home's value. That got me thinking: What fuels gentrification? The answer seems to be coffee.
First, let's look at Leslieville. A client mentioned to me that there used to not even be a place to eat lunch there. In 2004, the average price for a semi-detached home was $310,000. In 2006, Starbucks opened its doors. Semi-detached home prices went up in 2007 to $467,000, and by 2013, the median price was at $748,000.
The same can be said for Dorset Park. Home prices were rising in 2014, and then in January of 2015, Starbucks opened. The average price of a bungalow in 2013 was $481,000. By early 2015, homes were selling for as much as $660,000, with an average price of $586,000. That's a whopping 79% increase in two years, and Starbucks moved in at the height of the increase. Now, this area sees a lot of bidding wars.
When Starbucks moves in, an increase in home value occurs. In order to see the most dramatic appreciation, make sure you get into a neighborhood before Starbucks shows up. The key is knowing what areas are gentrifying before they do.
We are experts on that. Buying a home in an area about to gentrify is the best way to build equity. If you have any questions on today's video, or on real estate in general, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to hear from you.

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation
We've been hearing a lot of questions about multiple offer situations because the market has been heating up lately, so today we're going to walk you through what you can do to come out on top.

We're currently still in a strong seller's market in Toronto with an absorption rate of 58.5%, and this tells how many homes are up for sale compared to how many homes have sold. A neutral market would have a 25% absorption rate, which means 1 out of every 4 homes will sell in a month. 
If you're a buyer, you will need a skilled Realtor to help you write a strong offer. Sellers will be focusing on price, deposit, closing date, extras, conditions, and terms. For most sellers, price is the most important factor, but the other five factors can be equally important depending on the needs of the sellers.
Sometimes you can make a stronger offer by removing conditions from the offer, or sometimes writing a personal letter to the seller can help. This can help the seller relate to who you are as a person, and it may help to put a face to your name. Let them know why you want the home and how great a homeowner you would be for the property. 
Now, as a seller it's important to make sure that your home is clean, staged, marketed well, and you should also have a pre-listing property inspection performed. Staging your home can actually increase the value by 5%, and a pre-listing inspection will give buyers the peace of mind they desire when buying a home. 
If you get multiple offers in the first few days, don't jump on it too quickly. If the offer is above the market value, I would suggest hopping on it. Overall, the offer that is most convenient for you is the one that you should choose. 
If you have any questions about these things or if you would like assistance with real estate in Toronto, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation
Today we want to talk to you about mortgages. More specifically, we are going to talk about mortgage payments, and how you can pay more of your mortgage off in less time. 

Over the years, we have found that there is a way to pay your mortgage off much sooner, without putting extra financial burdens upon yourself. The way to do this is by making bi-weekly payments. While you are paying your mortgage twice as often, you are paying half as much. If you make these 26 payments a year, you will be making an extra payment without even noticing it, in your head or in your wallet.

If you make bi-weekly mortgage payments on a 25-year mortgage, you can actually have the sum payed off 7 1/2 years sooner, without doing much extra work to get there.

This is a great strategy that we encourage our clients to adopt. It makes financial sense, and doesn't put any more of a burden on you. In fact, it takes a lot of the burden off of your plate, about 7 1/2 years to be exact. 

If you're waiting for the market to stabilize, you have been waiting too long. We don't know how long interest rates will stay where they are, but we do know they are historically low right now. Locking in a low rate around 4% today will not only give you more purchasing power in the present, but will save you thousands of dollars in interest over the years. 

We are always looking to give you a helping hand in the Toronto real estate market. If you have any questions for us at all, don't hesitate to reach out and give us a call. We would be delighted to help. 

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation
Welcome back everyone, today we are answering some of the most common questions we get from sellers regarding multiple offers. With a shortage of inventory and very low interest rates, multiple offers are becoming a lot more common in Toronto. We want you to be prepared, and you will be after you hear the answers to the following questions:

"As a seller, what should I do before I list my property in order to get multiple offers?"

Preparation is very important when offering your home to the market. It's our most valuable asset and we want to show everything in your home in its best possible light.
There are a few critical things that must be done to maximize your list-to-sale price. Staging the home is important because it can increase your home's value by 5% or more. Online marketing is critical for getting your home in front of the highest amount of buyers possible. Finally, pre-listing home inspections are a good way to get out in front of any problems with your home, and demonstrate your authenticity with your buyer.

"If you receive multiple offers in the first few days after your home is listed, should you accept the first one, or wait for more?"

This is an excellent question. If we received one or more offers before our presentation date, this is what's commonly called a "bully offer." When a bully offer comes in, you have to know the market value of your home. When sellers are holding out for multiple offers, they usually list a home for 10% less than its market value. Just because a home is sold over asking price doesn't mean it's sold for market value. 

Thanks for taking the time to watch today. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation
Hey everybody and welcome back to our video blog! The spring market in Toronto is in full swing, and lately a lot of homes have been seeing multiple offers. If you are thinking of listing your home this spring or summer, it's likely you will get multiple offers too, and if you're buying, you are likely competing against multiple offers. We want you to be prepared for each situation, so today we are going to be discussing what do with multiple offers from a buyer's perspective. 

We see many people get serious about buying, then subsequently get intimidated by multiple offers. In the Toronto area, we are still feeling a very strong seller's market, with an absorption rate of 58%. To put that into perspective, a neutral market has about a 25% absorption rate. Interest rates are still at record lows, and there are many buyers out there competing in the market, partly due to a 7.5% decrease in inventory from this time last year. 

So, is the only way to win in a multiple offer situation by offering more money? Not necessarily. When you hire a skilled and knowledgeable Realtor, you will find that sellers really look at 6 different factors to determine which offer to accept. They are: price, deposit, closing date, extras, conditions, terms. For most sellers, the price is the most important, but when offers are deadlocked in price, the other 5 factors will determine who wins. 

When making an offer, one extra touch we recommend is writing a personal letter to the seller. Real estate transactions are unique because they are both a business and a personal transaction. When you let a seller know how you and your family will take care of their home, it can help.

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to talking with you soon!

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS 
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation
Hello everyone, welcome back. Today we're talking about the latest headlines in Toronto that claim the average home in Toronto costs $1 million. Where are these statistics coming from? We're not quite sure, but we do want to provide you with the real average prices in different areas of Toronto, and it should help to explain how people are coming up with that figure.
In West Toronto, from Steeles down to the lake, the average price of a home is $534,157. The highest priced neighborhood in this area is Stonegate Queensway, with an average price of $778,000.
In East Toronto, from Victoria Park to Rouge River, the average price is $512,721. The highest priced neighborhood is South Riverdale, where the average home costs $709,754. 
Finally, in Central Toronto, with Differin to the west, and Victoria Park to the east, the average price is $757,272.

The highest priced neighborhood here is Lawrence Park North, where an average home costs $2,115,887.

We hope this puts a clear perspective on the recent news. While most areas in Toronto are priced well below the $1 million mark, there are neighborhoods, like Lawrence Park North, where the average price is so high, it brings up the averages of the other neighborhoods.

If you have any questions for us, we would be glad to help out. Give us a call or send us an email, and we will be in touch soon.

 Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS 
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation
Many home buyers and sellers think that real estate agents only want to sell a home as soon as they possibly can, so that they can get paid sooner. While we can't speak for every agent out there, we can say that at the Aldo Udovicic sales team, we want to get you the best possible deal, but on your timeline.
We have a system that allows you to take up to a year to find the perfect property at the best price for your family. We are now selling homes to the 2nd generation of our clients, and our goal is to become your family's Realtor of choice. Your best interest is the only thought that comes into our head as we work with you to get your ideal home or investment property. 

If you are thinking about buying or selling, let us know. We have some helpful tools we'd like to share with you, and can't wait to tell you about them!

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Today I'll be speaking about what has been happening with the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC), and what will be happening with our mortgage rates. 

I can remember in 1989 when interest rates were somewhere around 12-13%, and now in 2015 they're sitting at 2.75% for 5-year mortgages. 
This means that you have the opportunity to save $300-$500 a month, and thousands of dollars every year. These savings are phenomenal, and it's part of what has been driving the market. 
If you're selling your home and moving into another, you have the opportunity for a very financially successful transaction. The money you make selling your current home can be put towards your next one, lessening the financial blow of moving up into a bigger property. 
If you're looking to purchase a home, I recommend that you go out and get Pre-approved for a mortgage loan. This will narrow down your home search and allow you to find a good home quickly. Now is a very good time to buy, and you can lock yourself into a very low interest rate. 
If you need any assistance buying, selling, or investing in Toronto real estate, please don't hesitate to contact me. Please consider me your #1 resource for real estate in Toronto!

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Today I am speaking to anybody who has thought about selling their home. We want to talk to you about getting your home ready for sale this spring, during the busiest selling season of the year in Toronto. We have some great tips for you today to help get you into the right mindset as a seller, and to help you make your choice of who you want to sell your home.

First, here are some tips for sellers: Get into the right mindset: When you decide to sell your home, it's no longer your home. It is an asset that you are trying to sell for the highest possible dollar amount.  Think of your home sale as a business transaction: Your memories will always be with you, but the physical space of the home often needs to be altered or completely changed so it can appeal to the highest possible number of buyers
Once you've gotten into the correct mindset, it's time to make the decision of who you want to hire to sell your home, if you want to hire anybody at all. Why should you consider our team? Well, aside from our vast experience and knowledge of the Toronto real estate market, we have a checklist of 209 items that are involved in selling your home. It sounds daunting, but it really isn't.

We would love to sit down with you and go through the list, showing you how we work harder to get your home sold. You can put your home in the MLS or in the newspaper yourself, we have hundreds of different marketing avenues to get your home sold for a good price. 

Finally, one of the biggest decisions you will make when selling your home is its price. Each home is different, and we want to leave the decision up to you. While we will provide you with plenty of data and examples of what comparable homes sold for, we leave the decision of where to price all up to you. 

We would love to share all of this cutting-edge information with you. If you have any questions at all, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. Now is the time to make your move if you are looking to get settled in by this summer. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS
Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate. 
Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation
I'm expecting a very busy spring market in Toronto, and today I want to offer you some advice.  Low interest rates in 2015 are going to spur a lot of first-time home buyers into our market. If you lock in a low rate right now, you would be in a very good situation for years to come.  The absorption rate is currently at 27%, which means that you have a 27% chance at getting the home  you want in Toronto. This rate has dropped from 50% in previous years, but 27% is a very good absorption rate for any real estate market.  Mortgage lending has not loosened the way that we have expected it to. However, we can find you good financing, with access to 40-50 different lenders.  If you're interested in buying a home in Toronto this spring, please contact me and I would be happy to consult with you so that you can find a home that suits your needs. 

Buying a home? Click here to search all homes on the MLS Selling a home?  Click here for a free home value estimate.  Call us at (416) 438-2536 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Today I'm going to fill you in on what will be happening in our local Toronto real estate market in 2015. Knowing what is happening in your local market is the best way to capitalize on it, so hopefully this advice is useful to you.
To begin, prices have continued to rise in 2015, but we're unsure of whether they will continue to climb. Some people think our home prices are still way undervalued for a world-class city like Toronto. For a detached home, the average price is right around $575,000, which is low when compared to New York City. 
With interest rates under 3% for 5 year terms, a lot of people think now is a great time to purchase a home in Toronto. This is driving an incredible amount of activity, and it's common to see
good homes getting upwards of 10-15 offers. 
We've been on quite an upswing in the last seventeen years, with prices increasing by 5-6% compounding. This means that prices have basically tripled in the last seventeen years in Toronto. 
Now is a great time to move up into a larger home because you can probably expect it to gain considerable value in the next few years. However, this is a big decision to make, and I would be glad to be invited into your discussion of whether or not to move up. 
If you need any assistance or have any questions regarding the real estate market in Toronto, please don't hesitate to contact my team or me.