Jo-Anne Smith- Oakville, Burlington and Mississauga Region Real Estate, Ont

Thinking of Buying Your First Home in the Oakville, Mississauga or Burlington Area?

You Won't Want to Miss Our FREE First-Time Homebuyer's Seminar !

Being Held on Wednesday, November 18th from 7-9pm at
TD/Canada Trust on the corner of Prince Michael and Dundas in Oakville.


Becoming an informed buyer will save you time, effort and potentially 1000's of dollars as well as providing you with the knowledge you'll need to make a wise investment decision in today's unpredictable marketplace.



Bring a list of questions you've been wondering about and have them answered by one of our panel of experts.

Presentations will be given by the following home buying professionals:

• Jo-Anne Smith and Denise Bayne, REALTOR®s with Sutton Group Quantum Realty Inc.
  
  
• Ivana Marasovic and Deborah Agar, Mortgage Experts with TD/Canada Trust
  
  
• Robert Rose, Real Estate Lawyer - Oakville Real Estate Law
  
  
• Russ Fasullo, Home Inspector and President of Avanti Home and Mold Inspections

Every registrant will receive a FREE Home Buying Package filled with valuable information on the home buying process and valuable cost-saving certificates that will save first time homebuyers hundreds of dollars when buying their first home.

In addition, each registrant will be entered into our FREE DRAW for Valuable Door Prizes !*

Come out for a relaxing and fun-filled evening!

SEATING is LIMITED so Please REGISTER EARLY by

Contacting either Jo-Anne Smith or Denise Bayne at 905-469-8888 or Click on this link to

Register For First Time Homebuyer's Seminar By Email

Mark Your Calendar and Call TODAY.

*must be present at the seminar in order to win

On the search for vacant lots for sale in Mississauga or Brampton? Rare and exceptional, this beautiful, treed Brampton building lot is in an area of upscale bungalow and 1 1/2 storey new homes.

Situated in the highly desirable Streetsville Glen area of Brampton, this lot is zoned residential and is ready to be built on. It fronts on a quiet court with hydro, natural gas, cable and telephone readily available.

Level and peaceful, this beautiful Brampton building lot has an abundance of beautiful trees including hardwoods and softwoods.

When you sit on your deck in the morning, coffee in hand, you will feel like you are gazing out over your own private forest, right in the heart of the Mississauga and Brampton area !

Vacant lots are very hard to find in Mississauga or Brampton, especially at a price of only $279,900.

Build your dream home and watch your investment increase in value over the coming years while you enjoy the proximity to wonderful shopping and recreational facilities as well as to the Toronto Airport and the greater Toronto area.

If you are commuting to Toronto, this is a prime location with quick access to the 407, 401 and the 403 and yet still gives the feeling of being in a quiet, secluded enclave where forests and history abound.

This unusually large Brampton building lot is perfect for gardeners, nature lovers, children and pets.

The lot dimensions are 14m across the front, 37.4m across the back, 46m down one side and 55.4m down the remaining side, giving the homebuilder a very spacious and private back yard area.

In this price range, you won't find a more beautiful vacant lot on which to build your dream home in the Mississauga or Brampton areas.

Call or email today before it's gone!

For more information or an appointment to view, call Jo-Anne at 905-469-8888 or send an email to Vacant Building Lots Request

If you would like to be kept informed with a list of vacant lots that become available in Oakville, Burlington, Brampton, Mississauga or surrounding regions, contact Jo-Anne. You will receive daily updates in your inbox with all of the vacant building lots that become available.

In the meantime, why not take a look at this rare and beautiful Brampton building lot and make your dream a reality today!

©2009JoSmith

The mood was one of gaiety and laughter as we stood
around in a circle, glasses of wine in hand, trying to outdo one another with ghostly real estate tales.

The setting was one of the office parties my broker at that time, regularly held to recognize the office achievements of his sales representatives.
When it came my turn to tell a story, I decided to relay the events that had occurred at an open house I had held at one of my listings the previous weekend.

There was a hush in our small group as I began my story...

On the previous weekend, I had done an open house at a circa mid 1800s home in one of Ontario's oldest towns.

When I had listed the house, the owner, one of the warmest and nicest women in her seventies I have ever known, told me the story about Edmund, who she was going to dearly miss when she moved.
‘Who is Edmund?’, I asked; thinking him to be a neighbour.
With a somber look in her eye, she told me in an outright fashion, ‘Edmund is the ghost that lives here in the house and has been here since the day we bought it 30 odd years ago.'

‘Oh?’ , I asked as my eyebrows rose in sincere interest.

‘Yes, he is very mischievous and he and I are friends. He often plays games like flushing the toilet, or moving my papers around from one room to another. ‘ , she said with a twinkle in her eye.

‘Really?’, I exclaimed, thinking to myself that perhaps she was just saying these things to amuse me.

She then proceeded to tell me about the history of the house, how rumour had it that the original owner, a blacksmith, had hung himself in the woodshed, which was now the family room, in the late 1800s.

She figured Edmund was this blacksmith’s ghost. She also said that various members of her large extended family had seen Edmund and that his footsteps were often heard walking around the house.

I finished up my paperwork, had her sign all the documents and drove back home to prepare the listing for turning in to my office first thing in the morning.
I didn’t think much more about her story until one grey, wet Sunday in the fall when I was at the property doing an open house.

Things were very quiet during the first half hour with no prospects turning out in the drizzly rain.
Deciding to go into the living room and read some magazines, I had no sooner sat down when I heard a door open and some footsteps walking across a hall upstairs.

Suspecting a buyer must have tiptoed by the living room doorway and not known I was here, I decided to go upstairs and investigate.
The second story of the home was not huge, consisting mainly of two bedrooms, a large hallway and a bathroom.

I checked the bathroom and each bedroom, including under the beds and in the closets and, upon finding no one, I decided I must have been hearing things.

With a bewildered feeling, I returned downstairs and to my spot in the living room where my magazine lay waiting.

I had barely sat back down when I heard the toilet upstairs flush and the loud footsteps above my head once more.
Thoughts of Edmund came to my mind, however I thought to myself 'there is just NO way'.

Surmising that there HAD to be SOMEONE up there, I very quietly snuck back up the stairs.
Pausing at the top landing, I gazed down the hall and towards the open bedroom doors.

Standing very still, I listened for any noises. Nothing.
I checked each wardrobe in the bedroom, under the beds once more, and in the walk-in closet and again checked the bathroom.
No one could be found anywhere.

By now I was beginning to have the sneaking suspicion that Edmund was making his presence known to me.
Feeling a bit foolish, I softly said ‘Hello Edmund.’.
Then I went back downstairs and finished my reading.

When the loud footsteps began again upstairs, I ignored them.
On that cold, drizzly fall day, not a single person had attended my open house, unless you count Edmund, of course.

An agent called me in the last ten minutes and said he was bringing over an offer and asked if he could present it to my seller after the open house.
I told him that would be fine as I knew my seller was coming back as soon as the open house had ended.

As I stood waiting for her in the doorway between the kitchen and the sunroom, I felt a coldness all down one side of my body.
I shivered as I sensed someone standing right next to me.

Moving out of the energy field to escape the uneasy feeling, I felt strong eyes upon me and decided to go outside and wait for my seller to return.
Edmund was getting too close for comfort.

The seller returned, we dealt with the offer, and before leaving I told her I had met Edmund. She seemed quite pleased with this and told me this meant that he liked me.

As I finished my story, I noticed how round and amazed my peers eyes had become.
Since we were a group of close friends and watched out for each other’s interests, one of them asked if I had told our broker about this.
No, I said. I didn’t think I needed to.
She replied that he would be very interested in hearing this story. I felt rather embarrassed and did not want to tell him. Unfortunately, right at that moment, he approached our group and asked ‘What’s up ladies?’

My friend announced ‘Jo has a story to tell you.’. Well, I guess I now had no choice but to relay the story to him.
Upon hearing the story, he proceeded to ask me if I had told the buyer’s agent who had brought the offer on the property about this. ‘No', I replied, 'I didn’t think I had to.’

‘You most certainly do have to disclose this to the buyer’s representative', he said.

He then told us that a few years previous, a local brokerage had been sued for not disclosing the facts or knowledge of a haunted house that one of his agents had listed.
The house was known to be haunted and no one had told the buyers or their agent about this.
The buyers moved in and a succession of very frightening things had occurred. Eventually they found out that the house was known to be haunted and they proceeded to sue the listing brokerage.

The listing brokerage had lost that lawsuit.

Office policy now dictated that we MUST disclose when one of our listings is known to be haunted to the buyer’s representatives and to potential buyers.
In my case, it turned out ok. I called the buyer’s representative and informed him of the possibility of a ghost.

It turned out he and his buyers already were aware of the ghost, since they all were local residents and had heard the stories over a course of many years.
The fact that it was haunted did not scare his buyers in the least. On the contrary, there ended up being a bidding war for the property precisely BECAUSE it was known to be haunted.
It seems the ghost was quite a local celebrity .

When listing any property in Ontario, if it is disclosed to the listing representative, by the seller, that it is haunted or otherwise stigmatized, or if it is common knowledge that we are somehow made aware of, then by law we must disclose it to all potential buyers and their agents.
This includes properties where murders/suicides have occurred and any other type of stigmatization that the property may possess.

Do you know the law regarding stigmatized/haunted properties in your province or state?

©2009JoSmith

Crawford Lake - Revealing the Mysteries of the Past - Burlington Attractions and Oakville History.

Hidden in the eastern Ontario woodlands of the beautiful Niagara Escarpment, rests Crawford Lake.
Crawford Lake, a rare 'meromictic' lake, holds fascinating secrets of the past deep within it's depths.

As a meromictic lake, there is very little circulation at it's lower levels, thereby allowing annual sediment deposits called 'varves' to lay undisturbed for thousands of years.

In 1971 an analysis of sediment collected from the depths of Crawford Lake revealed a high concentration of corn pollen.



The corn pollen, dating from the years 1434-1459, indicated that a native village once rested nearby on the shores of the lake.

Archeological excavations revealed the presence of an Iroquoian village, the first 'prehistoric' village in the eastern forests of North America to be accurately dated.



Along with the location of the native longhouses and building structures, thousands of Iroquoian artifacts were found.

Reconstruction of the village took place over a number of years and today you may visit this beautiful Burlington and Oakville area attraction and historical site to experience for yourself life in a pre-contact Indian village.







As you stroll around the walkways of the village, the sultry scent of woodsmoke fills your nostrils and you find yourself transported back to a time when life was simple and people lived with the heartbeat of the land guiding their daily activities.











On entering one of the many Longhouses, your eye becomes entranced by the delicate, yet sturdy, baskets, tools, clothing, canoes and snowshoes of our indigenous peoples.

















A fire started with flint, the same way it would have been started hundreds of years ago by a woman of the village, sends it's smoky curls upwards in search of the smoke-hole in the Longhouse roof.


For a moment you find your heartbeat slowing and your every cell gentling to a quiet rythm rarely found in the hustle and bustle of today's harried world.





A sadness takes over you as you sense a deep spirit of loss and you find yourself wishing that, even for just a few hours, you could be transported back to that time when the waters of Crawford Lake teemed with fish and happy children's playful calls could be heard echoing throughout the surrounding woods and fields, while simple but delicious suppers cooked slowly over the longhouse fires.

Crawford Lake Conservation Area is located at the junctions of Steeles Avenue (now Conservation Road) and Guelph Line north of Burlington, Ontario.
To view a map showing how to get to Crawford Lake, click here ->Crawford Lake Conservation Area and Iroquoian Village .

With it's 19 kms of groomed hiking, cross-country skiiing and snowshoeing trails, as well as a sturdy, wide boardwalk around the lake itself, Crawford Lake will quickly become one of your destinations of choice when the urge to explore Oakville's history or Burlington's attractions comes upon you.

The unmatched beauty of the Niagara Escarpment surrounds the visitor at the Nassagaweya Canyon Interpretive Lookout as their gaze takes in the incredible views of nature and the sounds of forest creatures echo across the breathtaking landscape.

With a Visitor's Centre, well-stocked Gift Shop and Refreshment Area, Theatre, Gathering Place, Exhibits and Picnic Areas, Crawford Lake is sure to have something to please people from all walks of life and of every age.

If you are a teacher or a group leader, be sure to explore the amazing, hands-on, Educational Programs at Crawford Lake.
Parents may even opt to hold their child's next birthday party here!
It's certain to be one that will be remembered and talked about for years to come.

No matter what your interests are, if you are planning a visit to Crawford Lake, don't leave home without your camera. Photographic opportunities abound.

Crawford Lake, while revealing the mysteries of the past to it's thousands of annual visitors, has become a favourite Burlington area attraction for all who are interested in Oakville history, the Niagara Escarpment and the history of Ontario's Iroquois people.

©2009JoSmith

When I was 5 years old, my little sister, Maureen, died. After she was gone I was immersed in my own and my parents emotional pain for many months.
One day, shortly after Maureen's passing, I proclaimed to my Mother that I was never ever going to have human babies and instead would give birth to only puppies or kittens. They seemed much hardier to me and I somehow felt we had a choice.

Time moved on and I eventually gave birth to three beautiful sons. They were adorable little guys and with their unique personalities and interests, there was never a waking moment when something memorable wasn't taking place.

As small boys are apt to do, they grew up and moved far away. I missed them terribly as one by one they followed each other to Kelowna, a beautiful city in a stunning British Columbia mountain valley.

In September we flew to Victoria, BC and after spending an idyllic week exploring Vancouver Island, boarded the ferry and drove to the Okanagan Valley to spend a cherished week visiting with my sons David, Iain and Rob and David's girlfriend, Angie.

We had a wonderful time and when it came time to say goodbye, I steeled my heart and held back my tears.
While sharing in giant goodbye hugs, my heart overflowed with pride and love for each one and the very fine young men they had become.
It never ceases to amaze me how very fortunate I am that I was blessed with not just one, but three such caring, wonderful sons. They have all of the qualities I hoped they would have and then some.

Rob, Dave, myself and Iain at a lookout point near Kalamalka Lake.

©2009JoSmith