About Simcoe County, ON

“They just don’t build homes like they used to” is a commonly heard phrase. While often used, it is truly a misconception. Homes are built a lot better than they used to be. In fact, on January 1st, 2012 a new Building Code came into effect mandating a lot of changes. Most notably are the changes to insulation values, heating and air-conditioning.

The Pink board on the exterior of our new homes in Barrie is an insulating board that helps seal up the home and reduce the amount of heat loss.

At Pratt Homes we embrace the changes even though they mean a slightly higher cost of building. Better insulation values and a tighter built home means savings for our homeowners in the long run. Buying a new Pratt Home means that you will save on your heating bill and help reduce the environmental footprint produced by your home. So before you buy, compare the many benefits of purchasing a new home with a resale home.

To comply with the new provincial building code, our new townhouses in Barrie use pink insulation board that helps seal up the home and reduce the amount of heat lost.

Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. posted a solid year-over-year gain in January 2012.

Home sales numbered 218 units in January, rising 11 per cent compared to the same month in 2011.

Within the City of Barrie, sales activity was up by less than the overall trend for the region. The City of Barrie saw 142 residential sales in January, up eight per cent from one year earlier.

“Home sales held more or less steady for the seventh straight month, and also stood well above demand in the same month last year,” said Walter Doret, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “While demand has been stable in recent months, supply has been trending down. That has resulted in a tighter market, which is keeping the upward pressure on prices.”

The average price for all homes sold via the Association’s MLS® System in January 2012 was $288,549, up five per cent from levels in January 2011.

The average price figure for homes sold just within the City of Barrie was $278,234. This was a seven per cent increase compared to the same month in 2011.

The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® cautions that over a period of time, the use of average price information can be useful in establishing trends, but it does not indicate actual prices in widely divergent areas or account for price differentials between geographical areas.

The dollar value of all home sales in January 2012 was $62.9 million, up 16 per cent from year-ago levels.

New residential listings were down three per cent from a year earlier to 560 units in January 2012.

Active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System numbered 1,246 units at the end of January 2012. This was down five per cent from the overall supply at the end of January 2011.

There were 4.6 months of inventory at the end of January 2012 on a seasonally adjusted basis, down slightly from 4.7 months in December 2011. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

Sales of all property types in the Barrie region numbered 227 units in January, up 10 per cent compared to January 2011. The total value of all properties sold in January 2012 was $68 million, up 22 per cent on a year-over-year basis .

The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview..

The difficult economic environment of the past few years may have stalled your retirement savings plan—or maybe you haven’t even gotten around to creating a plan. And you’re not alone—43 percent of Americans had less than $10,000 saved in 2010.

The good news is that it’s never too late and with the right planning, you can retire comfortably no matter what your age. According to retirement planning specialist Derrick Kinney of Derrick Kinney & Associates, never think that you’re too old to start saving for retirement. As he explains, the years between your 40s and 60s represent a timeframe when many of the financial obligations associated with raising a family have decreased, allowing you to put retirement savings into overdrive.

Kinney offers the following tips for speeding up the process:

• Create a detailed catch-up plan

. Determining the amount of money you will need in retirement can be difficult. You must factor in the inflation rate, your retirement age, the longevity of your retirement and your expected expenses, including your increased medical costs. For obvious reasons, calculating retirement income can get complex fast, but there are online calculators that can provide an estimate. Plus, there are some widely accepted guidelines you can use as a baseline such as planning to live on 80 percent of your pre-retirement income. After you have determined the estimated amount of money you will need to save, use that number to create realistic, yearly goals.

• Redirect spending to build your savings.

Since you are beginning to save later in life, Kinney recommends you save 20 percent of your salary each month. Take advantage of online budgeting websites and smartphone apps that connect to your accounts and track your spending to determine wasteful spending habits. Cut out these habits and redirect the money to your savings account. Also, consider automatically directing any raises you receive to your savings account. You can't miss money you never touched.
• Buy the appropriate insurance. Statistics show that nearly 2/3 of retirees will need long-term care either at home or through an assisted living facility and the cost can be upwards of $50,000 annually. To ensure skyrocketing medical costs won't destroy their financial security, retirees should consider purchasing long-term care insurance as well as health insurance, says Kinney. It's important to realize long-term care insurance does not cover the same day-to-day medical expenses that health insurance covers and if you retire at 59.5 you are on your own when it comes to providing health insurance. Retirees may also want to consider buying life insurance if they have dependents.

Following the above three steps can put anyone on the path to a more secure retirement, even if you're in your 40s, 50s or 60s.

As a Member of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®, I have a wealth of real estate and homeownership information that may be of help to you. Feel free to contact me any time to learn more about the Barrie real estate market or this important information, and be sure to forward this article on to any friends or family that may be interested as well.

Sincerely,

Peggy Hill

YOKOHAMA's new GREEN tire is ORANGE!!!

Yokohama has just introduced the World's first mass-produced tire using Orange Oil technology.

Infusing the natural and synthetic rubbers with orange oil, which is extracted from orange peels, Yokohama says the resultant tire attains longer tread life, better road handling and better fuel consumption. Apparently Orange Oil extends the life and wear of the rubber allowing Yokohama to offer unlimited mileage warranties for four years (for V-rated tires), five years (for H-rated tires), or six years (for T-rated tires).

Better fuel consumption is achieved through the reduction of friction (which reduces rolling resistance).

This technology achieves these gains while reducing its carbon footprint and has achieved the prestigious BluEarth designation as an ecologically friendly tire.

Looking for a replacement set of tires for your vehicle? Consider the Cost of Ownership, not only the Acquisition Cost (Purchase Price), and these new tires might not only help you save some money, but also help in a small way to reduce the environmental impact on our Planet.

More information on Yokohama Avid Ascend.

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