About Brampton's Lakelands Village

Ability to Negotiate.

• By selling first, you have the luxury of time. You don't have to take the first offer that comes along because you already have a place to live. It's called your home.

  Higher Sales Price.

• Sellers who aren't under pressure to sell often obtain higher sales prices because buyers realize the sellers are not desperate. Nothing yells "discount your offer" like a listing that reads: "seller motivated, bought another."

  Contingent on Concurrent Closing.

• By making the sale of your home contingent on closing concurrently with your new purchase, you have basically said to the buyer, "If I can't find the home I want to buy, I'm under no obligation to sell to you." You don't have to name the property address. You can simply state: "This sale contingent on closing concurrently with the purchase of seller's replacement home." In fairness, a smart buyer's agent won't let a buyer sign a contract with a contingency clause like that; however, I get away with inserting that clause because few agents understand its implication.

  Contingency Period.

• OK, let's say the buyer's agent is smart enough to strike a concurrent closing clause from the contract. The next best thing to ask for is a time period during which you are free to look for a replacement home. A contingency period will give you the right to cancel the contract during that time period if you so choose, which can range, on average, from 7 to 21 days.

  Renting After Closing.

• Some sellers who want to take their time to find the perfect home, that one-in-a-million, will often opt to rent after closing. If the buyer doesn't require immediate occupancy, the seller might rent back their own home for the amount of the buyer's new mortgage payment. Or the seller might move out, put their belongings into storage and rent a furnished, short-term apartment.

Reasons to Buy First and Then Sell

It's a Seller's Market.

• When the number of buyers are many and inventory is reduced, homes generally sell within days of hitting the market. In this instance, there is little risk in buying first and selling second. However, few sellers will accept a contingent offer. Since these sellers will not accept a sale-contingent offer, you could be stuck owning two residences until your home sells. On top of that, you will pay top dollar for your new home, especially if you end up bidding in a multiple offer situation.

For more info, I can be reached anytime at 416 562 8417.

My Blogs:

www.activerain.com/patshyam92

Visit my website www.greatgtahomes.com for MLS listings and search MLS properties in your desired area.

If you have any questions related to real estate and if you are seeking an assistance in selling or buying a real estate property in Brampton, Mississauga, Milton, Toronto, Oakville, Caledon, Etobicoke or anywhere in GTA area, you may contact me at 416-562-8417 or email me.

Buying a Home and What Must they Know is very important. Mortgage calculator,

Pre listing home inspection is very important for accurate evaluation. Ask For a FREE complimentary market evaluaton of your property today.

If you are looking for a house and you have a particular School in mind, you must look for these MLS listings with school information

It may seem that a realtor's access to the Multiple Listing Service is the most significant reason for working with a real estate professional.

While realtors can use the MLS to match your housing preferences with available properties and help you establish realistic expectations if you're selling, it is just one of several tools they use to offer you professional advice

I can also, for example, access the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation's database to provide you with valuable insight into current taxes on individual properties, ownership histories and lot size specifics.

Using Teranet's GeoWarehouse, I can retrieve even more information that is useful in the decision-making process like streetscape imagery, mapped neighbourhood sales, and average local incomes.

As well, if you're considering a newly constructed home, I can have your needs covered through access to RealNet which is Canada's database of new home listings.

RealNet reports on 99 per cent of all developments greater than 15 units in size in the GTA.

A search of the RealNet database can be conducted by housing type, location, price range and number of bedrooms.

This information can help you measure your preferred builder's value proposition and more carefully weigh your decision with respect to choosing new versus resale housing.

As your realtor, I can also advise you on government programs that will save you money.

For example, if you're considering a few fix-ups prior to listing, I can provide you with details of programs like the Home Renovation Tax Credit and the Energy Guide for Houses Retrofit Grant.

If you're wondering whether buying a home is within reach, I can tell you about a program that, with only 5 per cent down, allows you to apply for mortgage insurance that can facilitate your purchase.

As well, if you are a first-time homebuyer, as your realtor can advise you of a program that allows you and your partner to each withdraw up to $25,000 from your RRSPs to put toward your purchase.

As your realtor I can also work to advocate your interests on important issues like property taxes, sales tax harmonization and the Toronto land transfer tax.

They make direct contributions to GTA communities as well, helping to feed 1,900 children in 11 local schools every week through the Children's Breakfast Program and providing grants to 20 shelter-related charitable organizations this year alone.

These are just a few of the many ways that shows there's more to Greater Toronto realtors than MLS.

Sham Pathania. Salesperson

Homelife/United Realty Inc. Brokerage

Direct : 416 562 8417

Off : 905 672 1234

My Blogs:

www.activerain.com/patshyam92

Visit my website www.greatgtahomes.com for MLS listings and search MLS properties in your desired area.

If you have any questions related to real estate and if you are seeking an assistance in selling or buying a real estate property in Brampton, Mississauga, Milton, Toronto, Oakville, Caledon, Etobicoke or anywhere in GTA area, you may contact me at 416-562-8417 or email me.

Buying a Home and What Must they Know is very important. Mortgage calculator,

Pre listing home inspection is very important for accurate evaluation. Ask For a FREE complimentary market evaluaton of your property today.

If you are looking for a house and you have a particular School in mind, you must look for these MLS listings with school information

HELOC - Not always bad!

A Home Equity Line of Credit can be good or bad depending on how you use it. There are 10 things savvy home owners should look for when considering a Home Equity Line Of Credit:

1) No HELOC application fee or at least the fee should be refunded at closing. If your lender assesses an application fee, make sure it's refundable at closing.

2) No home loan appraisal or closing costs - there are plenty of no-cost options available that you shouldn't have to pay a HELOC appraisal fee.

3) No HELOC account maintenance or check-writing fees - Lenders already make money when you write checks (read - borrow) on the home equity credit line. If your lender tries this, dump him!

4) No "usage" fees - Apparently, HELOC lenders don't approve of the notion that a homeowner may want to have a HELOC as an emergency "reserve" account. Definitely look for a lender that does not charge this type of fee.

5) Variable APR equal to or near the prime rate (adjusted quarterly) - Interest charged on the balanced borrowed should be the only cost involved with a good home equity credit line!

6) Periodic cap on interest rate changes (the amount that the rate can be changed at one time) - Look for a Home Equity Line of Credit that adjusts quarterly (rather than monthly) in increments of 0.5% or less.

7) Lifetime cap on rate increases (the amount that the rate can be adjusted over the loan's life) - You'll want to find a HELOC loan with a lifetime rate cap that you can live with. Ask your loan officer to clearly spell out the "worst case" scenario for HELOC rate increases!

8) Ability to convert to a fixed rate loan - When rates do rise, people often get skittish about their variable-rate debt. A useful feature to look for in a HELOC loan is the ability to convert the line of credit to a standard fixed-rate, fixed-term home equity loan.

9) Interest-only payments allowed - Get this option but only use it if you need to! It's always best to pay down the principle, not just interest!

10) Unrestricted ability to repay principal without penalty - You should be able to pay off the Home Equity Line of Credit at any time without paying extra!

Enjoy these ten basic tips and now, more than ever, be careful! There are a lot of shady deals out there and if you don't take your time reviewing the fine print, it will come back to bite you!

Serving Region of peel, its your Realtor Sham Pathania. Visit my website www.greatgtahomes.com for MLS listings and search MLS properties in your desired area.

If you have any questions related to real estate and if you are seeking an assistance in selling or buying a real estate property in Brampton, Mississauga, Milton,Oakville, Caledon, Etobicoke or anywhere in GTA area, you may conact me at 416-562-8417. Ask For a FREE complimentary market evaluaton of your property.

If you are looking for a house and you have a particular School in mind, you must look for these MLS listings with school information.

Second time in two months! Yes, it was another sad day for me and my client. The fault was of my client's Mortgage Broker who did not want to give mortgage committement within the stipulated time. Incidently everything was fine with my client.

I curse my self. I should have forced my client and refer him to my broker!

Free Ways to Save on Electricity and Gas Bills

The easiest and most effective way is to shop for a lower electricity rate. But, there are plenty of ways to lower the AMOUNT of energy you use too. Consider these:

1. Put your PC to sleep. $25/month - Don't worry, putting your pc to sleep is painless and it doesn't require a trip to the vet. If you put both your computer and monitor in "sleep mode" (set it up to go to sleep automatically) instead of leaving them on 24/7, you will use 80% less electricity, which over a year could equal 1,250 pounds of CO2 reduction and more dollars in your wallet. ElectricBids Expert estimates show the savings could be as much as $25 per month per PC!

2. Run your Heater and A/C at more reasonable temperatures. $100+/month - I would have a hard time taking my own advice, I like to see my breath in the summer and walk the house in my boxers in the dead of winter. But, I digress - with a little self discipline and a ceiling fan, habits can be broken. Set your thermostat 5° F to 10° F lower when your sleeping or away from the house. In most of the country, 10° lower in the winter can mean 20% savings on electricity or gas. You can always burn some of your electric bills in the fireplace, don't they deserve it? Before you add a layer of clothing to stave off frostbite from the AC in the summer, consider that for every 1° you raise the temperature, your energy costs go down 3°. Follow this advice from ElectricBids Experts and you could save $100+ per month.

3. Wash your laundry on "Cold" setting. $10+/month - Guess what, most of the electricity your washing machine uses doesn't come from the party your socks are having during the vigorous swishing cycle. The fact is that 90% of the electricity is consumed heating up the water. If you can stand having clothes that keep their bright colors, you'll save a lot by washing and rinsing in cooler water. Thanks to incredible space-age 21st century advances, and declasification of secret cold-war clothes-washing technology, Cold-water detergents are available to handle just about everything in your hamper. ElectricBids.com Experts calculate a potential $10+ per month savings by using this tip.

4. Don't overdry your laundry. $10/month - Heating the water in the washer uses lots of electricity, but so does heating the air in the dryer. It also raises the temperature in your house requiring more A/C time to cool it back down. If you remove your laundry a couple minutes before or just after your machine buzzes you, you will have less ironing and your clothes will last longer. If you're about to replace your dryer, find one that has a moisture sensor - they are more accurate than thermostat models.

5. Let your dishwasher do it's job. $15/month - Prerinsing dishes to make your dishwashers job easier not only makes it lazy and less respected by the other kitchen appliances, the added step can waste 20+ gallons of heater water/day. Scrape off the extra food with your fork and let enzyme-based dishwasher detergents lend a helping hand for spotless dishes that don't cost you an extra $15 in wasted electricity.

6. Less fire, More Money. $15/month - Your normal, everyday fireplace sucks (heated) air out of the room and sends it out into the atmosphere. Frankly, the atmosphere prefers to control its temperature without your intereference. Assuming you've been heating your house through the central system, you're pouring those electricity and gas dollars down the drain or sending them up the chimney. The free version of this is to just stop burning fires. For those who can't do without the flames, try a direct-vent, sealed-combustion gas fireplace. It's reported that these units have energy efficiencies of around 70%, which isn't quite as efficient as a radiator, but satisfies that primal need for fire...ugh ugh.

7. Shades (and windows) - very cool. $20/month - One of the most underutilized methods of controlling cooling costs is the use of shades in west facing rooms and open windows on cooler nights. The surface of the sun is about 10,000°, and sometimes it doesn't seem like it's cooled down much by the time those rays hit our homes. Simply pulling down and closing your window treatments, or using solar screens, can help you cut electricity use cooling your home artificially.

8. A/C - TLC $15/month - If you keep leaves and other debris away from the outside unit (condenser) and replace the filter in the inside unit (air handler) regularly, your A/C will show it's thanks by reducing your electricity bill by $200 per year.

9. Ovens & Microwaves - $5/month - Ovens of the microwave variety use just 20% of the electricity that conventional ovens use, not to mention the reduced need to cool your kitchen down from the oven's radiated heat. This tip is most useful in the summer. In the winter, that extra heat from the oven isn't so bad.

10. Save electricity on heating your water. $5/month - Most household uses of hot water require a temperature no warmer than 120° ("low" on your hot water heater's dial). If your tank feels hot to the touch, you should add insulation. Try wrapping the heater with attic insulation or buy a blanket made for wrapping water heaters. You can also wrap the hot water pipes, if you can get to them. An added bonus to the extra money is an extra 4° F in the temperature of your water at the end of it's journey to your faucet.