Number of houses sold in March 2009 = 509
Number of houses sold in March 2008 = 627
Breakdown:
Detacheds = 280
Semi-detacheds = 106
Freehold townhouses = 45
Condo townhouses = 41
Condo apartments = 35
In December and January the Brampton real estate market was down about 52% but in March things seem to have picked a little bit. By no means should this be considered a full recovery but it is a sign of hope.
Consider hiring one of the hardest working Brampton realtors or view the unique process I use to sell Brampton Homes.
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| Do you like being close to downtown, or would you prefer living outside the city? Do you like or dislike the prospect of maintaining a lawn and garden? Where would you like your children to attend school? These are lifestyle decisions that play a large role in the new home buying process.
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| Once you’ve chosen the location and the type of new home that fits your needs, meet with a financial representative to determine a mortgage amount that you can comfortably afford. This will ensure that you spend your time wisely on homes within your price range. You should also consider getting a pre-approved mortgage, which will allow you to shop with added confidence.
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| Talk to homeowners in the neighbourhood(s) you’re interested in. Find out if they were satisfied with the level of after-sales service that they received from their builder.
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| Before you sign your Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS), which is the contract for the construction of your home or condominium, there are a number of steps to take. One of the most important is to have your APS reviewed by a qualified real estate lawyer. There are additional steps and issues for you to consider, and we have created a list of them for you to review when you’re making the deal.
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Program
Did you buy a new house in Brampton? You may be eligible to claim a rebate for a part of the GST you pay on the purchase price or cost of building your home if:
- you buy a new or substantially renovated home (including the land or if you lease the land) from a builder;
- you buy a new mobile home (including a modular home) or a floating home from a builder or vendor;
- you buy a share of capital stock of a co-operative housing corporation;
- you construct or substantially renovate your own home, or carry out
a major addition (or hire another person to do so); or
- your home is destroyed in a fire and is subsequently rebuilt.
Details
- Resale homes are exempt from the GST.
- New homes are subject to the GST. New home buyers can apply for a 36% rebate of the GST applicable to the purchase price to a maximum of $6,300 for homes costing $350,000 or less before GST.
- For new homes priced between $350,000 and $450,000 before GST, the GST rebate would be reduced proportionately.
- New homes priced $450,000 before GST or higher would not receive a rebate.
NOTE: In the Greater Toronto Area, most builders include the GST in the price of the house, and any rebate would be assignable to the builder as they would be absorbing the net GST cost.
For questions on the Brampton or Georgetown real estate markets drop me an email.
When selling a unit, the developer must provide the purchaser with a disclosure statement, which must have a table of contents and contain specific information concerning the unit and project including:
- General description of the property (see above).
- The number of units the developer intends to lease.
- The estimated completion date for the construction of amenities.
- A copy of the proposed declaration and by-laws.
This table of contents helps purchasers find information quickly and easily in the declaration (see definition above), by-laws, rules or disclosure statement about such things as whether a building on the property has been converted from a previous use or whether the building has any restrictions on pets. Purchasers are encouraged to review the purchase agreement and the disclosure document carefully with an experienced condominium lawyer before the end of the 10-day cancellation period.
Purchasers will want to look closely at the types of facilities and services that are offered. The Ontario Human Rights Commission has ruled that adult-only buildings discriminate against families. However, some condos do aim to meet the specialized needs of families with small children, for example, by providing playgrounds. Others may be built with seniors in mind.
Reserve Fund
The corporation is required to establish a reserve fund for the major repair and replacement of common elements including the roof, exterior of the building, roads, sidewalks, sewers, heating, electrical, plumbing, elevators, laundry and recreational facilities.
Before any of the reserve fund is spent, the corporation must ensure a professional (e.g. architect, engineer) conducts a reserve fund study. The corporation is required to conduct studies at periodic intervals to ensure that the fund is adequate. The act stipulates that a qualified person, such as an architect or engineer, must conduct the study.
A physical site inspection must be done to provide an estimate of the expected life of the major components of the corporation, together with an estimate of the replacement cost of each component. This study shall be presented to the board. Within 120 days of receiving the reserve fund study, the board shall propose a plan for future funding so that the fund will be adequate to meet the requirements of the study.
Within 15 days of proposing the plan, the board shall send a notice to the owners containing a summary of the plan and areas, if any, where the proposed plan differs from the study. The board shall implement the plan 30 days after sending the notice to the owners. New condominiums must complete a study within one year of registration and the fund must be fully funded by the end of the following fiscal year.
NEW CONDO BUYERS
Whether you’re a first-time buyer or have lived in your condo for years, the Condominium Act, 1998, is designed to protect your investment, improve the day-to-day operation of your condominium and allow for new kinds of condominium developments.
Quick Tips for Buying a Condominium
It’s often said that buying a condominium is buying a lifestyle. What does that mean?
- Condominium living is different from owning or renting a detached house, townhouse or apartment because condos have a dual nature. Condominium owners hold title to their units and share responsibility for the operating costs of the balance of the property (common elements such as lobbies) that makes up the condominium.
- There are many advantages to condominium ownership. It may be less expensive than other types of home ownership. It can provide an “instant†sense of community. While someone else is shoveling the snow, you can participate in community decision-making.
- But condominiums are not everyone’s cup of tea. Condominium corporations may set restrictions on such things as owning pets or having an outdoor barbeque.
Ontario’s Condominium Act
The act provides strong protection for buyers by setting out information (e.g. whether the developer intends to lease some of the units) to be provided when they buy a unit. It makes sure owners have a say in the way the corporation is run. It also establishes new types of condominiums.
If you want to change your mind and cancel the contract, the legislation gives you a 10-day “cooling-off†period from the time you receive a copy of the signed purchase and sale agreement or the disclosure statement (whichever comes later). In some circumstances, you may have additional time to cancel the contract if there has been a material change as defined in the act.
Making the Fine Print Clear When Buying a New Condo
First, you should remember that you have a 10-day cooling off period after receiving the disclosure package to cancel the deal if you change your mind. Here is the information you need to know as you make your decision:
A condominium as a corporation is formed when a declaration and description are registered at the Land Registry office of the jurisdiction in which the condominium is situated.
Description: Includes a detailed plan of layout and location of the development, surveys of land, location of the buildings, architectural plan of buildings and specifies boundaries of each unit.
Declaration: This is the founding document that details what constitutes common element vs. what constitutes each unit, establishes the percentage of ownership for each unit and the percentage each unit has to contribute to the common expense fees. This document is often referred to as the “constitution†of the corporation.You are probably aware of the new condo coming up in Brampton. For more information on it drop me an email.
IMPORTANT NOTES TO HOME BUYERS
• Applications for building permits cannot be submitted until the subdivision is registered. Contact the Planning Department or the Building Division at the City of Brampton to confirm whether the plan is registered.
• Builder’s Deposits – New home purchasers should review their purchase and sale agreement to confirm what deposits and payments the builder requires and when, and how they can get their deposit back. If the deposit is returned upon Assumption, the date of assumption can be obtained through the Clerk’s office or the Engineering Services office at the City of Brampton.
• Assumption of the subdivision by the City occurs when the municipality assumes responsibility for the maintenance of all municipal services (except for mowing of boulevards). This usually occurs within 3 to 5 years after the registration of the subdivision or when the City is satisfied that the Developer’s obligations have been fulfilled (typically after the final coat of pavement has been installed throughout the subdivision). Until Assumption, the Developer is responsible for all municipal services and the upkeep of the street (except snow clearance).
• A consulting professional engineer on behalf of the Developer will be required to certify that the final grading of the lot is in conformity with the drainage plan approved by the City. This certification is carried out after the property has been graded and sodded, which is to occur generally within 12 months of the date building occupancy inspection is completed.
• The Builder cannot legally sell homes until a subdivision is draft approved by the City. Purchasers will know if a subdivision has been draft approved because the Builder is required to post a coloured copy of the signed and approved version of the Homebuyers Community Information Map in a prominent location in the sales office. A black and white reduction of this map must be attached to all purchase and sale agreements. An agreement of purchase and sale should not be signed until confirmation of draft approval has been provided or obtained.
Construction was set back a year and an additional $1 million investment was required for architectural and structural design revisions to comply with stricter flood plain regulations, but site work for the erection of downtown Brampton’s first condominium in several years is now in full swing.
To be located on a one-acre site on George Street, within eyesight of the City of Brampton’s administration building, the 27-storey Renaissance is expected to kick-start a major revitalization of the historic downtown at the juncture of Main and Wellington streets.
Scheduled for completion by early 2009, the tower will provide an affordable alternative to Brampton’s predominately low-rise market and comply with provincial and city intensification policies for its downtown, says Robert Cooper, president of the Alterra Group, the Toronto-based developer/builder.
Designed by Burlington-based KNY Architects Inc. with structural design by Kalishenko Leonard & Associates Ltd., the project will consist of a stepped-back tower, and a podium with 4,800 square feet of retail space at ground level, parking on four levels and two floors of lofts.
An official opening ceremony for the condominium was held in December. But getting to that point was not an easy process, says Cooper. “We were well received,†says Cooper in a reference to the original municipal approvals it obtained a few years ago. Within a few months of the project’s grand opening in the spring of 2005 approximately 130 units were sold.
Shortly after that, however, Alterra had to go back to the drawing board after learning conservation officials were placing a much stricter emphasis on provincial flood-protection policies. As downtown Brampton is in a floodplain, the construction timetable for the Renaissance project got derailed. “We has just finished the design and were starting the working drawings,†says Alterra architectural designer technician Sara Vanderwal, who was working for the architects at the time.
Alterra convinced Toronto Region Conservation officials the tower would meet regulatory flood plain controls with design changes that included raising the elevation three feet, relocating major electrical and mechanical equipment to the second floor, plus removing a planned second underground parking garage door and other ground flooring openings.
The second door had been intended for garbage trucks, which will now enter the building through the main entrance. A column in the garage drawings had to be removed and replaced with a transfer beam, Vanderwal points out. While the residential component of the building starts at 9.5 feet above grade, a major requirement was an unhindered entranceway for emergency personnel at all times.
Fortunately, the building site abuts a property that’s above the flood plain level and Alterra was able to negotiate a deal with the owner, the Anglican Church, to permit access should such an event occur, says Vanderwal.
“We had to reconfigure the stair well [in the drawings] and will have to build up the grade at that area.†That won’t happen until much later in the construction schedule, says Alterra site superintendent Steve Matijasic. Some of the work to date has included the installation of approximately 200 concrete caissons around the perimeter of the site, plus tiebacks and lagging.
“We need this freezing,†says Matijasic, who recently was anxiously waiting for a cold snap up to remove about 200 loads of excavated soil. With one snowstorm in December, a second one New Year’s Day, followed by the traditional January thaw and rain, the fill was too wet to remove. Dump sites were also closed over the Christmas holidays, he says.
Construction of the footings will probably begin in about eight weeks, with concrete work from the foundation to the roof expected to take 16 to 18 months. The largest and most complicated component of the project will be the parking garage, which consists of two levels of underground parking and the four above-ground levels. There are numerous columns and beams to install, says Matijasic.
“Once we get to the sixth floor [where the tower starts] we’ll be doing a typical floor a week.†The overall project will take about 25 months to complete, says Matijasic.
