Welcome to 2020!
A big thank you to all of our phenomenal clients, colleagues, and readers who helped make 2019 another successful year!
We are so grateful for your business and support!
There’s something particularly exciting about the month of January, and feeling like the new year is a fresh, clean slate. At Urbaneer, we view this an opportunity to edit, improve, and elevate how we execute a business that we love. We intend to make 2020 our best year yet!
To kick-off 2020, we want to share with you the Top 5 Most Popular Urbaneer Posts of the year, which span the gamut from light rail transit to laneway housing to government policy.
We’re occasionally conflicted about whether to write more lengthy informative posts on Toronto and its housing market that we deem important or to post more entertaining light-hearted content that will engage new readers. What did we learn in 2019 when it comes to blog content? Never underestimate the draw of “houseporn” (which happens to be one reason we started our sister site Houseporn.ca in 2013) that will engage people about the design and stylings of where we live, but acknowledge that Torontonians consider issues surrounding the infrastructure of our city, the buildings we live in, and how we navigate between them of high importance. We’re learning an equal combination of each might be a smart trajectory this year for the team at Urbaneer.
#1 Here Comes The Eglinton Crosstown LRT
The once-exciting transit project has been losing fans as its construction drags on – in part for the disruption that’s impacted Eglinton Avenue – one of the city’s main east-west arterial roads. However, the creation of the Eglinton Crosstown has been fairly true to both its projected timeline and cost. Once the construction is completed, Torontonians will be able to navigate our city with greater efficiency and ease! It’s also changing the face of real estate along Eglinton Avenue, as the surrounding neighbourhoods are already enjoying a boost in value in anticipation of the arrival of the Crosstown. Read more here!
#2 On Flipping – Or Building Equity – For Toronto Real Estate Buyers
I genuinely appreciate the skilled design/build teams who purchase tired, dated, obsolete crap boxes (like all those Toronto Housing Corporation dumps which were unloaded a few years ago) and turns them into quality, renovated, mechanically-sound dwellings for resale while extending the life span of these properties another thirty years. In fact, I fully support the home improvement industry earning a premium return on investment for jobs-well-done.
But before you think it’s super easy to flip properties, it’s actually one of the most challenging of all the shelter industry occupations because one is trying to get the highest return in the shortest amount of time while operating at the whims of what can be a very fickle market. This blog shares our insights, tips and horror stories with some examples of flipper fails and poor timing.
#3 How To Determine The Laneway Suite Potential Of Your Toronto Property
In the summer of 2018, the City of Toronto approved Laneway Housing, albeit in a confined area which has since been expanded to encompass most of the original City of Toronto. It took the better part of 6 months for the city to post the specific by-laws for this new housing type, and most of 2019 for property owners, the shelter industry and potential buyers to assess. It’s been a slow process for laneway housing to proceed as-of-right, but as a realtor working in the original City of Toronto for 27 years, I can assure you the interest is enormous. In fact, we have a number of Buyer clients keen to secure properties with laneway housing potential so they can be transformed into their highest and best use!
There are several guidelines which must be satisfied before one can build a second domicile on a single lot. This blog – co-written with our friends at Sustainable. – answers the most important questions Torontonians might have about Laneway Housing. This is a great primer for anyone looking to create this new housing form!
#4 Foreign Buyers, Property Prices, And Toronto Real Estate
Published at the tail end of 2018, this popular post trended in 2019. While there are a number of factors that contributed to the price increases of Toronto real estate over the past decade, it’s trajectory has fundamentally been influenced by the factors of supply and demand. When property listings are scarce and demand is strong, prices climb. And, in Toronto, its population explosion and steady inflow of foreign investment capital pushed values up. While the extent of ‘foreign investment’ was heatedly debated because the statistical documentation was meagre, those of us working as realtors saw the combination of great wealth and favourable currency conversion of foreign investors bolstered their ability to pay more than the local market, which not only drove up prices but prompted calls for the Foreign Buyers Tax which was subsequently implemented. Urbaneer’s proprietor Steven Fudge shares his personal experiences with this trend here.
#5 How To Rectify Kitec Plumbing In A Condo Before Closing
If Kitec plumbing is found in your property – specifically your Toronto condominium – your property sale could unravel (if it’s caught) or result in a hefty expense for unsuspecting buyers (if it’s not). Kitec was a very popular material for plumbing installations from around 1995 to the late 2010s in Toronto. Originally promoted as a dependable, cost-effective material resistant to corrosion; it was later discovered Kitec Plumbing was defective. In fact, instead of standing up to corrosion, the product design can accelerate the process. One way to know if you have to be concerned about Kitec plumbing in a condo building is to look at the condo corporation number. If the number is between 1200 and 1900, it may contain Kitec, as buildings are registered by date of completion.
This is highly problematic as a plumbing failure can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage, especially in a high-rise condo. And, as anyone who has ever experienced a plumbing leak can tell you, it doesn’t take a lot of water or a lot of time for serious water damage to occur. What’s even worse about Kitec Plumbing, is that failure doesn’t tend to be gradual, but the ‘burst pipe variety’ as opposed to a pinhole leak that periodically drips. Click here to read about this problem plumbing product.
We are so grateful to be part of the Toronto real estate industry! Thank you for your continued trust and support!
At urbaneer.com, we LOVE what we do, and consider ourselves most fortunate, both to be in the business that we are and to have the amazing clients that we do. The Urbaneer team makes it our mission to guide you from your first to final purchase, plus any property in between. Along with educating, advising and gently steering you, our mandate is to identify the best locations and properties within your budget and recommend the appropriate dwellings that offer the best opportunity, whether it’s as a personal residence or part of your investment portfolio.
Thinking of selling? At Urbaneer.com, we take great pride in offering you our insight and guidance to make your property the most ‘sellable’ it can be. Offering a comprehensive sales and marketing program including print ads, direct mail flyers, and a multi-faceted social media program, we also offer a design service, access to contractors, and a warehouse of home furnishings available as part of our competitive listing commission. With designer discounts, sterling trades, and connections to several of the city’s best purveyors of home furnishing product and fittings, we are your one-stop real estate boutique that will pull out all the stops to enhance your property and attain top dollar.
If you, or someone you love, is looking for real estate expertise with a commitment to service, please know we’re here to help!
~ Steven
Steven Fudge, Sales Representative
& The Innovative Urbaneer Team
Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage – (416) 322-8000
– we’re here to earn your trust, then your business –
Celebrating Twenty-Five Years As A Top-Producing Toronto Realtor
*Like what you’ve read? Did you know we were recently listed as one of The Top 25 Toronto Real Estate Agents To Follow On Twitter! and The Top 50 Blogs On Toronto? Consider signing up in the box below to receive our FREE monthly e-newsletter on housing, culture and design including our love for unique urban homes and other Toronto real estate!
*Love Canadian Housing? Check out Steve’s Student Mentorship site called Houseporn.ca which focuses on architecture, landscape, design, product and real estate in Canada!