Crack is Whack

Just above you'll see a photo from a recently discovered flyer found in the Sherbourne and Dundas area. I'm not sure whether I think it's pretty clever or just plain sad. You can really take this notice one of two ways. It's either legit where there is a concerned citizen out there who genuinely wants to return crack to his or her rightful owner, like you would a bank card or cell phone you found on the street, or more likely, it's a local prankster who is making his or her thoughts known on just how common place drug use has become in this particular neighbourhood.  

But what does this have to do with emerging neighbourhoods, you ask?

 Well, a lot.  Many buyers I come across seem to think that if a Toronto neighbourhood is centrally located and is close to the downtown glitz and glam, it is destined to shake off its shady past, and emerge as a place where the prices of property will just keep going up and up, and the neighbourhood will inevitably improve. 

And to a point, I agree. There is a certain momentum where more and more people want to live in the city. And this places pressure on well located neighbourhoods to improve as prices become out of reach in the more established downtown neighbourhoods. Even at Dundas and Sherbourne, a lot of the old Victorians have been renovated to look pretty fantastic. 

But let's not kid ourselves. Some hoods that have much bigger hurdles to clear than others. The  things that are pulling it down are just too powerful - crime, lack of community, and a disproportionately high concentration of poorly maintained public and private housing.  And of course crack. I wouldn't go so far to say neighbourhoods like the one around Dundas and Sherbourne are doomed forever like rehab that just won't work, but turning them around won't be easy.  

The Wacky Pride of Parkdale

Parkdale's a wacky place. Just the other day I was standing on a leafy, pleasant street in this emerging neighbourhood with a client who just purchased a property here. I was speaking to him on the sidewalk  when a local Mom, possibly a little on the crazy side, or maybe just looking a little tired from the heat, walked by with her kid in a wagon. As the Mom and 3 year old passed me, the kid wound up and punched me in the leg. It didn't hurt, but it was strange that the Mom didn't turn around to respond to it. Of course,  I didn't say any thing either. Somehow, because I was in Parkdale, I expect that odd things will happen from time to time and I'll just be fine with that.

Nowhere else in the city are you going to find the same mix of cool kids, urban professionals, half-way homes for the mentally challenged and some of Toronto's best rotis in the same neighbourhood.  You would think there would be more friction with this mix, but instead you find inhabitants who are incredibly proud to be part of such a distinct place. They brag about how close it is the to city, and they really own it's gritty side. Case in point: In the Parkdale property my client purchased, the seller explained how she had found a newpaper from the 1920s when she was renovating her home. She offered to frame it and give it to my buyers as a gift. My buyer was thrilled. Just in that act alone, he could see how proud Parkdale owners are of their homes and neighbourhood.

The Unreachable Traveling Seller

In the Toronto world of selling real estate, some salespeople hold back offers in a healthy seller's market to help boost the price, and give the public time for buyers to see the house. I've used this strategy myself. It basically says don't bother giving me an offer until a certain date, usually around a week after the listing. At this point the seller will view all offers. Of course the buyer's agent can come in with a bully offer at any time, but usually every one gets in line, and if there are any offers that come in, they come in on that date. It's fair and straight forward. We're not seeing any offers until such and such a date.

Another tactic that seems to gaining some momentum is the 24 or 48 irrevocable used by the seller. With this, the seller will accept the offer any time but would like to have either 24 or 48 hours to be contacted, and then make up their mind about the offer. During this time, the seller's agent will likely call every one that went through the property to see if they would like to put an offer. The 24 or 48 hours allows the seller agent enough time to drum up a multiple offer situation. 

The bottom line though, the buyer's agent doesn't have to give the seller agent this time frame.  So often there is a popular excuse given as to why a seller can't respond to an offer on the most important sale of their life. That is: They're traveling.  And that's what drive me a little crazy. It's like every one who is selling their home has suddenly left for a remote part of the world where their is no internet, cell access or faxes. I'm sure some people are traveling and do need time. But let's be serious. One look at the mls you would think that a good chunk of people who want to sell a house had decided to do that lion safari in remote Kenya or climb mountains in Nepal at about the time they were selling their house. 

I can certainly see when you're selling a home how this strategy can be helpful. I used it myself when my client was up north at a cottage with no cell access. Honestly! But if I am working for the buyer, it's best to call up the seller agent and see just how accessible the traveling seller really is. 

dinos for a strong community

Community is one of those wishy washy words that I don't like to throw around. It means different things to different people. For some, a good community is a lawful place where there's no crime, a certain bland consistency and a sameness that can feel great for insiders, and lousy for the outsiders.

I prefer community to be a place where different kinds of people have a common thread, a desire make a particular neighbourhood feel more friendly. People care about their  homes. They want to have distinct local business. And they want to bump into friends at the coffee shop.  Whether you crave community or not, it's a key ingredient for an emerging neighbourhood. Good coffee shops, restaurants, parks, local events, like farmer's markets or a music or art festival, are the usual markers of a neighbourhood that is building a stronger  community.

But sometimes community can grow out of some thing quite small, and unintentional. I have a friend, Amanda, who lives in Dufferin Grove. Amanda's been around. And by that I mean she has lived in a lot of cities. She was born in England, moved to Boston and now lives in Toronto. Each place she goes, she and her husband have to build a new group of friends and tap into their local community. She has two sons now. And recently, for her sons, Amanda put 2 toy dinosaurs in the front garden. She told her sons that the front garden was going to be their new home. The hostas will provide shade, and protect them from extinction-sized comets.  They became part of the flora and fanua of the garden. 

Then one morning, Amanda noticed there were more than two dinosaurs in her garden. There were four. And from there, it grew. Every one from the neighbourhood began adding dinosaurs to the garden.  If I mention the dinosaur garden to any one I know in Dufferin Grove, they all know exactly what I'm taking about. In fact, they light up with a kind of pride that their neigbhourhood contains this unique and unusual place. 

Now maybe you don't want dinos in your garden, but personally,  I think that says something quite nice about community. With absolutely no intention or committees or budget, a local dinosaur garden was formed from the creativity of a group of neighbours who may or may not even know one another. 

bigger is not always better

You know, ever once in awhile, an article comes along to say how big a house you can get if you move away to a smaller market like Windsor where houses are cheap and plentiful. What they never seem to mention: You better be staying in Windsor because you won't be able to afford to get in any where else. There are a few places that are still inexpensive, like Hamilton, that i think will be worth more some day, but unless you're retiring, more is not always better from an investment perspective. If you buy a hugh house in Windsor for 300K or a tiny condo in Toronto for 300K, you would have more space and a better standard of living in Windsor, but the appreciation on your asset will be much better in Toronto.



www.moneyville.ca/article/1009404--want-cheap-housing-move-to-windsor?bn=1

The Lake Effect

People like lakes. And so do I - especially ones that you can swim in during the summer. Mimico and Long Branch are a pretty unique part of Toronto in that both neighbourhood border the lake, though I don't know about the swimming option for Lake Ontario in these parts. As far as lakeside communities go, they're fairly well priced. Of course the closer to the lake you are, the more it's gonna cost you, but even this is relatively new in south Etobicoke.

I remember celebrating my sister birthday at her friend's home about 7 or 8 years ago, a simple, but well-maintained bunglow on the lake with a humble row boat at the end of the yard. Even then I was shocked that any one can just live on the water like that so close to the city. It felt like a mistake. You couldn't go swimming in it, and the ugly view of Hamilton was not very inspiring, but it just felt nice to be near the water. I felt calmer somehow. Since then, my sister's friend sold her place for a healthy profit and the whole house was knocked down to make a far fancier home. I don't think it would be easy to find a lakefront property in Toronto these days, even in more affordable Mimico and parts of Long Branch.

But still a strange divide has happened. I have a listing, not even a block from Lakeshore Blvd. A great place, but you can't see the lake at all. Even south of lakeshore, you can't really see the lake from most properties. Still, I've had a few calls where I was told that interested buyers want to be near the lake, and for whatever reason, south of Lakeshore has been the dividing line that determines what is close enough to the lake and what isn't. You can still access the lake quite easily in a short walk from north of Lakeshore, but somehow this two lane commercial portion of Lakeshore determines what is near the lake and what isn't.

Is that crazy or is that just me?

Fool for Pools

When I was a kid, I didn't have a pool, but I had friends with pools, and on hot summer days I would give them a call to see what they were doing. I would never ask if I could come over for a swim, but I would hint. "Wow, it's hot out," and hope they would take the bait and open the gate for me and my towel. Pools reigned supreme in the 70s and 80s. At one point, it was a bit of a status symbol to have a backyard pool. You can be the nerdiest kid on the block, but if you had a pool, you would be the coolest and most sought-after friend. At least until the end of the summer. 

 Then some thing happened. The tides turned - at least as far as adults are concerned. Many homebuyers began to develop a distaste for pools. Why? Because it cost money to maintain, they take  up too much back yard space, and you only use them for 4 months of the year. Fair enough, I guess.

I currently have a listing coming up with a pool. Luckily, the pool is above ground and could be easily removed, and it does not dominate the entire backyard, which has been landscaped so that the pool is not the only thing interesting behind the house.  In a sense, you could have your cake and eat it too in this home. 

Regardless, I think the pool may actually scare off a few people when they see word "pool" mentioned in the listing, even though the house is well priced - in my biased opinion. 

I have to admit that if I was selling this house in March with the dead leaves and the sunken cover over the pool, I would think it was a real eyesore, an unfortunate thing to have in your backyard. But it's different in the June. It's blue and swirling and just so inviting on a hot day.  I think of the entertainment potential. Though pools may be far less in numbers than decades ago, a summertime pool  still gives you the power to create the fun in your own backyard. People will come to you. And though you can't use the pool year round, I ask you: how many months do you actually spend in the backyard any way?