When you want a new home, do you really want to wait for it, for up to 18 months? If you are presently renting, think of the extra rent you’ll be paying – maybe $27,000 or more in money you’ll have thrown down the drain, paying somebody else’s mortgage. And who knows where your life will be in 18 months from now?

Or, you can buy this great NEW home, never lived in and only closed from the builder in September 2009! Here are just a few of the major pluses of this:

1. Save that $27,000 or more in rent that you would flush down the drain by waiting for the builder to build your new home, and
2. Gain approximately $15,000 in equity in your new home, just from paying down the mortgage, and
3. Gain approximately $22,000 in equity via historical price appreciation of real estate, and
4. Enjoy the freedom of doing what you want to your home, because you own it, and
5. Enjoy all the psychological benefits of home ownership that much sooner.

AND, if you already own a home, there can be big potential savings too, because of the current historically-low interest rates that are not expected to exist in 18 months from now, plus the high-demand for homes right now means that you can get a really good price for your present home. Call me directly to discuss this further, at 905-208-7002.

So, let’s talk about the house . . .

This great Arista-built semi offers 2090 square feet of living on 2 levels, and highlights many in-demand features, including 9′ ceilings on the main level, rich, over-size cabinetry, neutral carpet, 2 full bathrooms and a powder room, 3 HUGE bedrooms, CAT 5, CAT 3 & RG6 wiring, second-floor laundry, inside entry to garage, big closets

, rough-in 3pce in basement which also has oversize windows, central air, under-cabinet lighting in open kitchen, and lots more. In fact, you can view a list of luxury upgrades below.

As you enter this bright, welcoming home, one of the first things you’ll notice is the incredible feeling of space you get from the 13’8″ x 20′ Living Room , set a step up from the entry foyer, and the ceiling height. The kitchen is nice and open to the Family Room, with a very large Dinette and a generous bank of cabinets all around. Just a step down is the powder room, the entry to the garage, and the basement entry.

Unlike many new homes, the basement is well laid out, so finishing it allows a large Rec. Room, plus bathroom, plus storage, and the cold cellar too. Don’t forget to notice the over-size windows while you’re down there.

Head on up to the bedroom level, and you are greeted with 3 really generous rooms, the laundry room, 2 full bathrooms, and linen closet. The master bedroom is very large, offering hers and hers closets and an ensuite with separate glass shower, and the other bedrooms are also larger than you have come to expect in semi-detached homes.

This home is situated in the Scott neighbourhood, very close to the new school that is being built (there is a list of the public schools for this property at the bottom of this page – click on it to go to the school board web site.), and across from one of the many large ponds that are spread throughout the neighbourhood.

For people working outside of Milton, this property is very convenient to the 401, Derry Road, and all of the rural roads that lead down to the lake, so East-West or North-South commuting is easy. For the outdoors lover in you, this section of Milton is very close to the Escarpment, walking trails, Kelso Beach, Glen Eden ski area, and lots more recreational facilities.

Luxury Upgrades List: (click top-right icon to view full-screen)

Public Schools:

The following is excerpted from a Toronto Star column by noted real estate Lawyer, Bob Aaron.

Back in the spring of 2004, Timothy and Cherese Scherbak signed a listing agreement to sell their property on Boland Ave. in Sudbury, using the services of Wendy Weddell and Re/Max Sudbury Inc. The Sellers Property Information Statement (SPIS), which they signed at the same time, resulted in years of litigation, hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and damages amounting to twice the value of the house.

Following an open house, Zoriana Krawchuk signed an agreement to purchase the house from the Scherbaks.

The offer was not conditional on financing or home inspection, and came in at $10,100 over the $100,000 asking price.

Shortly after closing, Krawchuk discovered that the entire north foundation wall and the northern portions of the east and west foundation walls had settled and were continuing to sink into the ground below. The settling resulted in the failure of proper support for the floor joists and building above.

The city of Sudbury issued a work order requiring the problems to be rectified.

Correcting the foundation problem required lifting the home from its foundations, followed by excavation, removal and replacement of the cement basement floor, foundations and subsoil, and placing the house back on the new foundations.

Moving the home caused significant cracking of the interior finish in many areas, which required further repairs.

Fortunately, Krawchuk had purchased title insurance on the closing of her property, and the title insurer reimbursed her more than $105,000.

Krawchuk was still in the red on the deal. She estimated her total damages to be $191,414.94 and sued the sellers, the agent and Re/Max.

In the lawsuit, she claimed that the sellers were liable to her for breach of contract and misrepresentation. She argued that the problems with the foundation were hidden defects, which made the house uninhabitable, and that the Scherbaks had deliberately camouflaged them by attempting to level out the living and dining room floors back in 1995.

A significant component of the Krawchuk claim was based on the SPIS completed by the sellers. The SPIS is a controversial two-page form in widespread use throughout Ontario for residential transactions.

Its stated purpose is to protect sellers by disclosing correct information about the property to buyers.

On the SPIS form signed by the Scherbaks, the question “Are you aware of any structural problems?” was answered: “NW corner settled – to the best of our knowledge the house has settled. No further problems in 17 years.”

Read the full article here . . .

When you buy YOUR next home in milton ontario, you have some things that you are really looking for; we’re thinking that this fabulous home has those things, and maybe even more!

Rare to find is a 4-bedroom home at this price-point; even rarer is all 4 bedrooms are a great size for youngsters or teens alike. I’m thinking that you want 2 full, 5-piece bathrooms, the ensuite having a separate soaker tub, instead of those tiny regular tubs and 2 sinks – well, you’ll find that here too. In fact, the Master bedroom also has a pair of Her’s & Her’s closets! Guys, if you’re lucky, she’ll share with you. Want room for a computer nook? There’s room on the upper hallway. Oh yes, let’s not forget that there are California shutters throughout the house!

How about the main floor having a Family Room AND a Living Room AND a Dining Room AND a Breakfast Area AND a Breakfast Bar? Yep, yep, yep, yep, and yep – we got ‘em all!

Walkout to the yard, that is finished with beautiful perennials, situated for evening sun, and not so big that you’ll have to spend all your free time taking care of it. That’s my kind of living – is it yours?

Take a look at all the pictures, picture how much you’ll enjoy sitting on your front porch, watching the world go by; think how great it will be to come inside directly from the garage, and start placing your furniture, coz this baby’s got it all!

Oh, and as a special bonus (hey, that’s what they say on those HGTV shows!), the basement is huge, will make a fantastic rec. room, and is unspolied so you can develop it however you want!

Seriously, what more could you want in a house that is priced to attract immediate attention, offers, and ACTION! A GREAT first action would be to go check out the full listing at our real estate web site, AllMiltonHomes.com

So, take action now, call me today, and make this one YOUR new home.

I’m always looking for new tools and in

formation to help consumers in their home buying journey. Yesterday, I learned of an online seminar all about the Ontario New Home Warranty program, administered by Tarion. Tarion is just launching it’s online seminar series, with their first offer, Understanding Warranty Coverage.

This seminar will be helpful, not only to those considering buying a new home but also those of you who bought a home with a Tarion warranty still in effect.

Check out the seminar by clicking on the picture below.

Take a look, and please leave a comment with your feedback on this information.

That’s an interesting thought, spurred on by the number of conversations I have on this very topic every week. The number of conversations seems to be increasing the last couple of weeks, as people looking at real estate in Milton Ontario, Mississauga, and Campbellville become confused with what is happening out there.

You see, the Main-Stream Media (MSM) has spent so much time and effort fuelling the doom and gloom, and has only just started reversing their story, about 6 months behind what I have been reporting, that the public is only just beginning to catch up with the real reality. As opposed to the reality the MSM has tried to create about the real estate markets in the GTA.

You have to be careful when believing what is being reported by some media giant, and they are all equally bad, because they do no

t have specific data, relevant to your immediate area, updated weekly. Perhaps more importantly, media like The Star, National Post, and The Globe & The Sun, do not have the local expertise to provide real, on-the-ground information with local interpretations of the data.

There’s one part of the key – ‘on-the-ground with local interpretations of the data‘. On my main real estate site, AllMiltonHomes.com, I have an Internet Warning:

REAL ESTATE INTERNET WARNING: Despite advertising claims to the contrary, the Internet is not an experienced Real Estate Professional. It cannot consult, counsel, advise, have knowledge of local laws and market conditions, make judgements, ‘own’ the result, or most importantly, understand your individual goals and needs and care about you as a Client. To obtain an accurate interpretation of any information  you obtain online, please contact us.

To me, this pretty much sums it up – data is worthless in the absence of skilled interpretation.

So, on to the subject of this post – are rising house prices better for buyers or sellers? Would a better question be “are rising house prices good for anyone?”

Let’s look at it from a seller’s point of view – when prices are rising, the value of your present house goes up. That’s great if you are in the segment of the market that is down-sizing, and it’s also great if you are relocating to a less-expensive marketplace. However, it is not so great if you are moving up in the same general marketplace. Let’s suppose your present house is valued at $400,000, and prices go up by 10%; that would make your house worth $440,000, which is pretty cool. However, the other side of that is, if you are like the average move-up buyer, you will be spending 30% to 50% more on a house, which means that the $550,000 house you were thinking of buying is now going to cost you $605,000. So, your current house went up $40,000, your new house went up $55,000, with the net result that you lost $15,000. I’d say that rising prices are not so good in that situation, wouldn’t you?

What about looking at things from a buyer’s point of view? Well, that’s a pretty simple conclusion – the more prices rise, the more a house costs you, so it can’t be a good thing, right?

Hmmmmm. So, if rising prices aren’t good for sellers or buyers, why is it that the real estate buying and selling public historically act against their best interests? To understand that thought better, look at the ‘feeding frenzy’ that was the real estate markets for most of the first 2/3rds of this decade – the faster houses were selling and the faster prices were rising, the more buyers their were competing for them. Now, when prices are, in general, lower and houses are, in general, taking longer to sell, there are less buyers out there and less sellers out there. Hmmmm.

So, where are you in the real estate market? Buyer? Seller? Are you active in the market right now? Why not? Let’s talk about it.