Oakville, ON

The vision statement for the Town of Oakville is "To be the most livable town in Canada" With an envious location on the shores of Lake Ontario only a half hour from the large cities of Toronto and Hamilton, Oakville is home to nearly 170,000. Although the population warrants a designation as a city, Oakville has chosen to grow yet retain the smaller community feel.

Whether you presently live in Oakville or you are contemplating making a move here, there is always lots going on around the town all year long.

If you are new to Oakville, the Oakville Newcomers Club is there to provide a welcome package, friendship and local information.

Dialing 211 in Oakville provides information about non-emergency community, health and social services.

Dialing 311 provides access to all government services for Oakville and all of Halton Region, plus the local school boards.

What's New In Oakville

Oakville Transit introduced a new revamped bus service in September with 6 new cross town routes. They rolled out 11 new buses and 8 refurbished buses along with 37 new bus shelters and 2 new terminals, one in the Uptown Core and one at Sheridan College.

QE Park Community Centre - Demolishion work has begun on the interior of the former QE Park High School in order for renovations to begin on a one of a kind centre for the Oakville arts and culture community. Approximately 54,000 square feet will be dedicated as cultural space for studios, rehearsal and performance space, music and arts rooms.

The public pool will remain and be refurbished. The centre will also offer youth and senior's programs, plus daycare facilities.

Halton Regional Police Service is on the move. The new home for 20 Division is presently under construction on Dundas Street at Oak Walk Boulevard. This 3 storey, 70,000 square foot state of the art facility will be opening in 2010.

There is lots more happening in Oakville. Stay tuned for more Town Talk.

When buyers are comparing homes often the decision to buy is determined by which house offers the most features that the buyer is looking for, at the pricepoint they are prepared to pay.

When sellers are getting ready to list their homes, their Agent will ask them for a list of features and inclusions. Usually the agent will do a walk through of the home, making notes of the highlights of the home. The agent will also point out suggestions to make the home show to its best. I always ask my sellers what it was about their home that made them decide to buy it.

Often I will take those reasons and note them in the feature sheet or in an advertisement or internet remarks. It's important to know the difference between new and newer, updated and renovated. A renovated kitchen usually means that the whole kitchen has been replaced. Updated could mean only new countertops and appliances, for example.

It's important to be clear when advertising these features. Is 5 year old carpet new or newer? What about 10 year old kitchen cabinets?

It's a known fact that the more features a home offers, the more likely the home will sell quickly for top dollar. Buyers will visit a number of homes on the market and compare what each home has to offer.

Here are some top features that today's buyers desire in a home.

1. Fireplace

2. Hardwood and ceramic flooring

3. Deck or patio

4. Fenced and landscaped yard

5. Walkin or large closets

6. Air Conditioning

7. New(er) windows and roof

8. Updated kitchen and baths

9. Home Office

10. Private Yard - Quiet Street

There are often features in a home that the seller wants to obtain a return on investment but the buyer doesn't see the value. If a seller pays extra to install a roof with a 40 year instead of a 25 year life expectancy, the buyer is not usually willing to pay. The same goes for extra insulation, indoor hot tubs, saunas, cedar closets and even swimming pools.

If the buyer isn't really looking for a home with these features but they happen to be in place they will not be deemed as features, especially if the buyer plans to remove or make changes to these items.

Every buyer has their list of needs and wants. Most have to make compromises as most buyers are working within a budget. If your home is on the market and it shows well, has desirable features and is priced correctly you have a very good chance that it won't take long before that For Sale sign flips over to Sold.

Canadian home-resale prices are likely rise in 2010 at an even faster pace than this year but a dangerous bubble probably won't develop, TD Economics said in study published on Tuesday.

The average price of an existing home in Canada is expected to surge 9-10 percent next year to about C$346,000 as sales climb to 475,000. In 2009, the average price rose an estimated 4-5 percent on an annual basis.

But the sales momentum, which TD expects will last six to 10 more months, should not translate into a "bubble" as the cost of ownership, when lower interest rates are taken into consideration, has fallen in recent months.

The residential housing market froze late last year in the wake of the global financial crisis, but its swift recovery has prompted some concern about the chances of a sudden collapse. Sales of existing homes rose to a record monthly high in October.

TD described the Canadian market's downturn and subsequent recovery "as V-shaped as can be." It partly attributed the rebound to pent-up demand after last year's slump.

Over the next few years, sales growth should moderate as more supply comes into the market and interest rates rise, TD said in its resale housing outlook report.

In 2011, eroding affordability is likely to weaken sales by more than 10 percent to 421,200 units while prices rise 1.6 percent to C$351,600. In the following two years, prices and sales are expected to rise modestly.

SOURCE: yahoo.ca

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Wild flowers hold a simple beauty and can turn an empty field into a blaze of colour. Unlike a planted garden, there is no design plan, fertilizer or irrigation required to make these plants grow tall and strong.

Colours will change with the seasons, but these sturdy specimens attract butterflies, birds and bees to the area. These photos were taken at the height of the fall season in Oakville, Ontario. Oakville offers many areas where you can enjoy walking through fields of wildflowers.

Jenny Kotulak Photos

Windows of the World Photography

Photo Location - Oakville, Ontario

Canadian Tire is a well known retail institution in Canada. In business since 1925 and with close to 500 stores, it has been said that 85 percent of Canadians live within 15 minutes of a Canadian Tire store. How many of you have scads of Canadian Tire money laying around the house? How many of you buy gas at Canadian Tire, use the Canadian Tire Mastercard or buy at Mark's Work Warehouse, all Canadian Tire subsiduaries.

The ingenious Canadian Tire money loyalty program began over 50 years ago and is still going strong. Here in Oakville, the old, cramped Canadian Tire in the plaza on Kerr Street at Speers Road has closed their doors forever.

Just up the road, on the property that once housed the Country Squire Restaurant, an Oakville legend, a brand spanking new and enormous Canadian Tire store has just opened. Their grand opening celebration was held over the past four days. There are now 3 Canadian Tire stores within a ten minute drive from my home.

Situated on the north side of the Queen Elizabeth highway, right at the Kerr Street exit, you couldn't ask for better exposure. If you stand at the front of the parking lot and look across the highway you can probably see the Home Depot. Whereas Home Depot caters to contractors and handymen and women, Canadian Tire offers a huge automotive section, as well as housewares, sporting goods, and electronics.

There are 3 Home Depots located within a fifteen minute drive from my home. Everytime a new Canadian Tire or Home Depot goes up, it seems to be bigger and brighter than the last. Wider aisles, more consumer friendly. All well planned, I'm sure to pull at the consumer's pocketbook strings.

I must admit the new Canadian Tire couldn't have timed their opening better. By the looks of the crowded parking lot the past few days and the Police there to direct traffic, I'd say they are bound to capture their share of the Christmas shopping market.