Someone once said that January is the opening chapter in a book yet to be written, and we hope your pages will be filled with anecdotes of happiness and success! As global citizens, we all faced much hardship in 2020, but in the spirit of moving forward, let’s focus on the positive outcomes and hard lessons learned in order to embrace the new year stronger and wiser.
And so…
There’s something particularly exciting about the first weeks of January; the months ahead feel like a fresh, clean slate. At Urbaneer, we view this an opportunity to edit, improve, and elevate how we execute a business that we love. This year, it’s part of a larger purging process, as we try to remedy the anxiety, hardship, and pain that 2020 brought into our lives.
In our Urbaneer blog, we always endeavour to bring you informative and engaging housing, design, and culture content that is timely, easily digestible, and relevant to you. The pandemic has left no part of our lives untouched, and so it became essential to present the latest real estate information within the context of COVID-19 health & safety concerns. Furthermore, as the year progressed, and we witnessed both short and long term effects that COVID-19 had (and continues to have) on Toronto housing, we needed a forum to share our percolating ideas and predictions on how the housing industry will evolve. As such, we created a new series entitled ‘COVID-19 & Toronto Real Estate‘.
So, to kick-off 2021, we are sharing with you the Top 5 Most Popular Urbaneer Posts of the past year, which span the gamut from specialized home design to financial fallout! Given ‘Coronavirus’ was the most-Googled term of 2020, it’s no surprise that many of our ‘COVID-19 & Toronto Real Estate’ blogs were the most popular.
Check out the top 5 below!
#1 Trending In Toronto: Single Family Houses Replaced By Boutique Condo Townhomes
Demonstrating that perhaps people were looking for a distraction from COVID-19 content when this was posted in April 2020, thsi blog was very popular, and ended up being our most visited blog of the year. The housing trend described in the blog is a more recent arrival to the Toronto property market, and is still in its infancy, but anticipate it will have a growing presence in the urban core. It’s replacing ageing freehold houses with newly constructed contemporary two or three-unit condominiums. This intensification of land is more recent, but given they are consistently appearing indicates this new housing form is reshaping the urban fabric of our downtown neighbourhoods.
#2 How COVID-19 Will Likely Change How We Design Our Homes
My first love is real estate, but I also have a passion for design in all its incarnations! I often write about how our shelter is designed – or modified – to support our changing domestic needs, to reflect fashionable trends, or as a response to the opportunities or constraints of our holistic environment. Given the world’s focus on the current pandemic – and how we might better deal with one in the future – there is much buzz surrounding the ways in which we can better equip ourselves and our homes to deal with emergency situations. This blog – first posted in June 2020 – was not only timely, but one that I was particularly excited to write!
#3 Assess Your Risk: Buying & Selling Toronto Real Estate During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Success in real estate hinges succinctly on smart strategy; a shift in the market, in turn, requires a shift in strategy. When this blog was posted – at the beginning of April 2020 – we had just begun what would become an incredibly challenging time both for the economy and the country’s health. Although real estate industry was deemed an essential service – and buying and selling continued – the restricted landscape by which business was conducted was new unfamiliar and onerous. The limitations of social distancing measures, the non-essential business closures, and the directions from every level of government pressing residents to stay-at-home (including the request you only grocery shop once a week), transformed our lives. This blog was intended to assist buyers and sellers who suddenly found themselves in uncharted territory, wondering if they should continue their journey.
#4 The 8 Largest Loft Condominium Conversions In Toronto
I’ve had the opportunity to witness and participate actively in the fashion and trends of real estate development, while honing my expertise to specialize in niche areas of the market- in particular, the evolution of the Innovative Space market including the adaptive reuse of non-residential buildings into loft conversions. Both hard and soft lofts have distinct industrial and urban attributes – exposed brick, concrete floors/ceilings, exposed ductwork, large factory windows, etc. – that are extremely coveted by downtown dwellers, which is why units in loft conversions always garner a premium! In this blog we offer the history and composition of eight of Toronto’s largest, most sought-after buildings
#5 How Canada’s Big Banks Are Responding To The COVID-19 Pandemic Panic
Over the years the advice and guidance from our go-to mortgage broker – Mortgage Jake – has been absolutely invaluable. Jake’s always informed on the latest (and promptly shares that information with his client base) including how the Canadian Big Banks and other mortgage lenders are restructuring their approach to lending and finance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the subsequent weeks following the posting of this blog, Jake gave us two more updates, which we added as addendums to ensure you had the most up to date info – thanks Jake!
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-Eight Years As A Top-Producing Toronto Realtor
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*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!