About Mississauga's Lorne Park

What do so many people think of when you talk about Mississauga? Hazel McCallion, the mayor?

Perhaps, but when thinking of Real Estate most 416er's (those from Toronto 'core') think of Mississauga as that suburb to the west with row upon row of sub-division houses. Homes built by companies like Fernbrook, Mattamy, Regal Crest, Greenpark, Sundial and Cachet to name just a few. While this is true there are large sub-divisions of newer homes with all the amenities that many people want in a home. These include; ensuite baths, lots of closet space, new modern kitchens, high ceilings, open concept living and yards...? Well maybe the yards is where all that magic breaks down a bit. With new home builders offering 32, 40, and the 46 foot lots - the latter of which advertised as being a "wide-lot", it's no wonder that people who like room between their house and their neighbours look to more mature communities. These areas can be found in a variety of pockets but probably none as prominent as the area of Lorne Park in south Mississauga.

Bordered by the QEW to the north, Southdown Road to the west, the Credit River to the east and the Lakeshore to the south, Lorne Park may in fact be one of Canada's best family friendly neighbourhoods. With Port Credit being a stones throw away as well as the smaller Clarkson Village, it has the quaintness of a small town with the amenities of a big city nearby. In addition, it offers a huge variety of homes on much larger lots than found in some of the newer developments. Homes for sale in Lorne Park range from a low of $400,000 and range up to beyond $4 million. Below I have given you a cross section of homes (from low to high l to r).

Are there sub-divisions in Lorne Park? Yes, there are a few pockets that have several hundred homes that were built 30+ years ago when a developer bought some land from a local fruit farmer. These homes generally have 50 ft lots and are also considerably deeper than the average new subdivision home lot. Most have ensuite baths and walk-in closets, with main floor laundry, family rooms, eat-in kitchens, and formal dining rooms, however many may require updates to varying degrees. You will certainly pay a premium for a property that has been fully updated.

There is also a popular sub-division built by Mattamy Homes called Watercolours which has all the amenities of new luxury homes on 50 to 75 ft lots. These properties range from approximately $800,000 to $1.5 million and are 2600 sf up to 5000+ sf.

Originally the area was the home of a variety of farms, orchards, and even cottages to the people from the City of York which is now Toronto, Lorne Park has gradually been sold off in chunks by the original owners of yesteryear and has become the vibrant kid and adult friendly community that it is today. Joggers, cyclists, dog walkers, and kids (lots of kids) are at every turn. Trees are plentiful, and in the fall, leaves are still vacuumed up at the curb by the city... (and yes most houses still get door to door mail service). Older properties are constantly being upgraded and smaller homes on larger lots are regularly transforming into another person's dream or vision of the perfect home (or investment!).

Lorne Park Secondary School with it's outstanding reputation in sports and student experience is fed by several well reputed senior elementary schools including; Tecumseh P.S., Hillcrest P.S., and Green Glade P.S. These schools are also fed by the junior elementary Lorne Park P.S., Whiteoaks P.S. (french immersion), and Owenwood P.S. In recent EQAO testing these schools have scored amongst the best in Peel region.

Area sports and associations include Lorne Park Hockey Assoc., Port Credit Hockey Assoc., Clarkson-Sheridan Soccer, Mississauga Southwest Baseball Assoc., Don Rowing Club of Mississauga, Port Credit Canoe Club, Port Credit Yacht Club, Clarkson Hockey Assoc., and a huge variety of additional sports, dance and other activities throughout the community.

Visit my website at www.timbishophomes.com for more information on Lorne Park, Lorne Park homes for sale as well as other communities in Mississauga.

So many people see real estate as easy as any monkey filling out a real estate form; pounding a sign in your front lawn and then collecting that huge real estate commission.
Lets touch on a few of these myths.

• I need to prepare for your listing appointment by being armed with neighbourhood data sold, statistical information, inspected a number of homes in your neighbourhood (Over the last several months) How many homes have sold in your "pocket" recently.
• Pull your history and Ownership details from Realnet and the Polaris system.
• The Listing Presentation itself and all your questions.
• Create your marketing plan and future events calender.
• Implement the marketing plan, load listing details, take photo's, add descriptions, distribute your information to websites, advertise on line, create your web page, shoot your video, upload.
• Screen and Interview Buyers from sign calls by price, timing and affordability.
• Show the property while you are at work or out according to the buyers schedule.
• Obtain and motivate an offer, presenting the offer and negotiating that offer with you.
• Explaining the sign back, counter offer, re offer, options available to you.
• Acknowledge agreement into a formal contract.
• Deal with all the conditions in the contract being sale of property, condition to finance or inspect.
• Handle and attend all inspections on site.
• Usher you to the lawyers office to direct your lawyer as required.
• Transaction management to closing.
• Final Inspections prior to closing to insure repairs or promises made are concluded.

On an average real estate transaction it is not unusual to spend 100 hours on your behalf, but many details seem to be hidden from public view. The commission cheque is paid to the Real Estate Broker who maintains Trust Accounts, an accounting department, Full time live answered telephone reception seven days a week, to get your showing appointment booked, and the maintenance of my office in a professional business environment.

I cannot express my HORROR recently when I found a broker using a cell phone as the office contact phone number and their "mailbox" was full. If you were their client and wanted your agent to call or book a showing, What would you say?

I look forward to answering your questions in person and remind you that during the month of September I am holding a listing special. You will need to call for details.
Tell me your Real estate Horror Story and I will tell you mine