Palace Pier, a condo at Toronto’s waterfront, has taken an aggressive and progressive step to conserving energy and saving money. As a result they are garnering high praise for becoming the first residential building in North America to adopt LED (Light Emitting Diodes) lighting as their primary lighting source.

Converting to LED lighting can make a significant difference:
•    LED bulbs and fixtures contain no mercury or other hazardous substances found in fluorescent and compact fluorescent products.
•    Green technology - no hazardous waste is created as it is approximately 90% recyclable.
•    Amazing durability - if used for 12 hours a day an LED bulb can last for 10 years.
•    Increased efficiency: Incandescent bulbs generate 10 to 15 lumens for every watt they burn. Compact fluorescents generate 40 lumens for every watt. LEDs generate 50 to 70 lumens for every watt.

Palace Pier will be using LEDs for interior lighting on all 44 residential floors, employing approximately 1,300 LED based MR16 lamps in the hallways. To demonstrate the savings energy, the previous lighting used 35 watts of electricity per light, while the new LEDs only require 4 watts per light. The lamps selected have a lumen maintenance rating of 70% at 40,000 hours and can operate continuously for 5 years. They use 87% less energy than halogen lights and should reduce electricity consumption by 349,226 kWh per year.

Bravo Palace Pier! A solution that saves money as well as energy should encourage others to ride the wave. Are you making an effort to conserve energy? Is it something that you feel governments should be offering significant incentives to encourage?

It seems that every week there is a new addition to Toronto’s convoluted and controversial tax system. The latest is the new Land Transfer Tax which will come into effect on February 1, 2008. It is expected that real estate activity will be heating up so that buyers will be able to close on their properties and avoid the new tax altogether.

You will have to pay the Land Transfer Tax if you have purchased a property with a closing date on or after February 1, 2008. However if the closing date is on or after February 1, 2008 and the Purchase & Sale agreement was executed on or before December 31, 2007 you are eligible for a full rebate. First time buyers qualify for a rebate of up to $3,725.00 for both new and existing homes. For complete details on the Land Transfer Tax Rebate Program, follow this link: Transfer Tax Rebate Program

I’ve read many descriptions about how to calculate the Land Transfer Tax and personally I find them all very confusing. I found this Land Transfer Tax Calculator that you may find helpful in that it does the work for you. Just follow the link below and plug in the numbers: Land Transfer Tax Calculator

Here’s a way to beat the Toronto tax system. The Bank of Montreal will pay the Toronto’s Land Transfer Tax for you if you arrange your mortgage with them by February 29, 2008. Bank of Montreal customers who take out a new fixed, closed mortgage with a minimum five year term will have their Land Transfer Tax covered for up to 1.5% of the mortgage amount. Is this a good deal?

Not when developers are trying to cause a feeding frenzy for a new condo at the corner of Bloor & Yonge Streets. Realtors were actually paying people thousands of dollars to stand in line at the Bloor & Yonge Streets location so that they would get first crack at a unit. The place holders were mostly students who were actively recruited on Internet sites like Craigslist and by word of mouth.

I suppose that the students were a natural fit for the “positions” given their vast experience lining up for concert tickets. I can’t imagine that Bloor & Yonge Streets have ever seen anything quite as insane as this before – supposedly civilized people fighting over who is going to have the opportunity to overpay for a condo. The condos went on sale on the night of Tuesday, November 13th. Prior to the 13th the condos were listed from $300,000 - $2,000,000. The demand created by the developers reached such a pitch that the day that the units were going on sale the prices were jacked up to from $500,000 - $8,000,000. You would think that sanity and good sense would prevail and that the smart people of Toronto would just laugh and walk away. But no! People in the line started pushing and shoving in an attempt to get closer to the front.

People in Toronto, are you insane? This condo, 1 Bloor Street, is not even scheduled to be built until 2011. The condo, at 80 stories, will be the tallest in Toronto. That is unless some other savvy developer decides to trump (excuse the pun) that. Yes, Bloor & Yonge Streets is a great location. But is it worth fighting for? Toronto, what are you thinking?

Are you a cross border shopper that is rejoicing at the beefed up loonie? Well, you are not alone. Canadians are traveling south of the border in droves to scoop up bargains on everything from clothing to cars. Every day there are news reports of record breaking lines at the border crossings. But even that is not a deterrent for motivated Canadians.

Our loonie is finally worth something and we’re going to do everything that we can to take advantage of its buying power. Unfortunately, the very thing that keeps you chanting, “Go Loonie Go”, is spelling disaster for Toronto hotels.

The strong loonie is creating terrible problems for the tourism industry. As a result Toronto hotels are seeing greater losses in American tourists than the SARS epidemic caused. The weak dollar impelled the Americans to come to Canada and get a great bang for their buck. The weaker the Canadian dollar the higher the occupancy was in Toronto hotels. Now the strong loonie coupled with a weak American economy, high gas prices, and long border line-ups has kept Americans at home instead of coming to Toronto to shop, see theatre, wine and dine, and stay in our hotels. The migration of tourists has shifted. Instead of traveling north, we are now traveling south.

Part of the problem is us. As Canadians we have always been very weak at promoting ourselves. With a very weak dollar we became complacent, because that alone was enough to drive tourism here. We never waxed poetic about our fabulous theatres, incomparable wine country, magnificent restaurants, and amazing attractions – everything that makes a great city great. Let’s start getting our message out there and let’s start filling up the Toronto hotels again.

Location, location, location has always dictated the real estate prices in Toronto. Competition is fierce and everyone is looking for a way to lure in the moneyed set. It seems that Toronto condo builders have found a hook, and that hook is culture.

High priced condominiums and culture are truly a match made in heaven and driving the cost of living in Toronto in a downtown condo higher and higher. Condo projects that are near museums, concert halls, or cultural events are selling like proverbial hotcakes in spite of price tags that can extend well into the millions of dollars.

There is a certain element of the population that wants a connection with culture even if all that they are going to do is look at it. It does offer a certain cache, doesn’t it? A new high-rise condo is being built directly across the street from the new ROM expansion and yet another is slated to go up next to the Sony Centre. However, the most prestigious and sought after of the new projects on the books may be the Festival Tower which will be going up alongside the new home of the Toronto International Film Festival, located at the corner of King St. and John St. Privileges of living in the Festival Tower will include being first in line for festival tickets.

Would you choose to buy a condominium because of its proximity to a museum or the film festival? Is this really any different that buying a place on a golf course?

Did you know that “extended stay” is the fastest growing segment in the hospitality industry today? ELEMENT Hotels which launched in 2006 and has set out to capture this market is getting ready to launch its first Canadian Toronto hotel. Called the ELEMENT Toronto Downtown, this exciting extended stay Toronto hotel will be open and ready to do business in January 2009. Its 220 guestrooms are being created to maximize both productivity and relaxation. Ideally located on Front Street West, guests will be in close proximity to the heart of the financial district, as well as the sights, landmarks, culture, and entertainment that Toronto has to offer.

Extended stay hotels are designed to recreate a residential feel for travelers who spend a lot of time on the road. The ELEMENT Toronto hotel will be designed to make travelers as comfortable as possible and ensure that their suites are fully equipped with features including multi-purpose modular furniture, entertainment units equipped with flat screen televisions, fully equipped kitchens, and spa showers. On site will be a fitness centre, 700 square feet of meeting space, a technology centre, and an outdoor fire pit and barbeque where guests can meet each other and enjoy a meal and drink together.

A complimentary breakfast of hot breakfast sandwiches, smoothies, coffee, and tea will be served daily. The staff is trained to be attentive and intuitive, never intrusive. These properties marry the best of hotel living with the touches of home.

When you look at the Toronto skyline and see construction everywhere in the downtown core, do you wonder who they keep building all of these condos for? The downtown core of the Greater Toronto Area is actually one of the fastest growing communities in the GTA, with no signs of slowing down.

The new residents are a condo developer’s dream – educated, well off, and childless. In the last 5 years approximately 17,000 new housing units were built to accommodate the over 165,000 people that have moved into downtown Toronto during that same period.

Surprising enough, most of the new downtown GTA residents have not arrived from the suburbs. They were already Greater Toronto Area residents, many of them moving within 5 kilometres of their previous address. What is not surprising is that the largest demographic moving into new downtown Toronto condos is the 25 – 39 age bracket. They are young, upwardly mobile, and childless. In fact only 4% of the newly built condos have children living there. Although families with children are living in the downtown Greater Toronto Area, they are moving into older condos, as are the seniors. As more and more people keep moving into downtown GTA, the building of more condos will continue as we watch Toronto grow higher and higher.

Does your garden need fluffing? Did you even know that a garden could be fluffed? In Toronto’s hot real estate market, the curb appeal of your home can make the difference in how quickly your house sells and it can greatly affect the selling price. Garden fluffing isn’t just for folks with large yards. As a matter of fact garden fluffing can be of great benefit even if you don’t have a yard. Outdoor spaces, whether they are backyards, terraces, or balconies can have a great impact on the perceived value of your home. In recent years we seem to be using our outdoor spaces more and more. We eat outdoors, relax outdoors, and even work outdoors. I use my balcony as an extra room in the summer.

Garden fluffing may involve nothing more than a little sprucing up – pretty flowers in planters, new patio furniture, or pressure washing the deck. Or it can be pretty pricey – landscaping, or replacing driveways and walkways. There are professionals called “home stagers” who will professionally fluff your yard, terrace, or balcony. I did a google search for home stagers in Toronto. Follow the link below for the results.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=home+stagers+in+toronto&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryCA

The Beaches, or the Beach if you want to be politically correct, is the city’s best known Lakeside community. Just 15 minutes from downtown Toronto, the Beach runs along Queen St. east between Coxwell and Victoria Park. If you are planning to visit by TTC, go to the Queen St. station and take the streetcar eastbound. By car from downtown Toronto, take the Gardiner Expressway east and exit on Coxwell or Woodbine. Once you reach Queen Street, turn east. If you are coming from North Toronto, take the Don Valley Parkway, exit on Richmond Street, go north to Queen, then go east.

The style of living in the Beaches is laid back and outdoorsy, although very upscale. Young upwardly mobile professionals share this community with growing families and those who are drawn to outdoor activities. The Beaches are famous for tennis, sailing, canoeing, windsurfing, beach volleyball, rollerblading, bicycling, swimming, lawn bowling, kite flying, skating, cross-country skiing, and hiking. And Queen St. itself reflects the diversity of the community with an eclectic mix of antique and curiosity shops, and trendy bars and restaurants. The Beaches’ most famous landmark is The Boardwalk. The social centre of the Beaches neighbourhood is Kew Gardens which hosts many annual events including the fabulous Beaches International Jazz Festival. The line-up for the 2007 Jazz Fest looks better than ever. Check it out here. http://www.beachesjazz.com/home.html

Just a short ferry ride from Harbourfront is one of the most unique of all of the Toronto neighbourhoods - the charming Toronto Island community. Contrary to popular belief this is a vibrant year-round family oriented community. Over 600 people live in the 262 homes that are situated on 33 acres of land. In case you still have any doubts as to whether this is truly a family oriented community you may be interested to know that 200 of the 600 residents are children. The Island community itself occupies only 4% of the entire area of the 825 acres which is the total area of the Toronto Islands. The Island Parklands occupy 576 acres while the Island Airport is located on 213 acres. Homeownership on the Island is quite different than what most of you envision. Although the residents own their homes, they do not own their land. They lease their lots from the Toronto Island Land Trust. Private sales are prohibited in order to prevent anyone from making a profit from publicly owned land. Home sales are strictly regulated by the Island Trust, which oversees a public list of potential buyers. Only children and spouses of Island homeowners may inherit their homes. All Island homeowners must occupy their homes as their principal residence. In order to satisfy this requirement they must be in residence on the Island for a minimum of 220 days per year. In spite of these restrictions, the residents love their way of life. In fact 37% of the adult population has lived on the Island for 35 years or more and 67% of the adult population has lived on the Island for 20 years or more. How’s that for a ringing endorsement of Island living? Would like to move to the Island? Are you already on the “waiting list”?