Toronto area Realtor taps technology to keep going during coronavirus pandemic

What's happening in Toronto Real Estate? 


OPEN HOUSES have been restricted
More PRIVATE showings
Social Distancing Increasing making Virtual Showings more important


iPad for Registrations
All feature Sheets Electronic Distribution
QuickPage Communication and Information


Fewer Listings Means Less Transactions.
Financing is ToughER. Appraisals are critical.
Sellers try to hold Offers and Appointments


Demand for Rentals will shift as
People PIVOT from AIRbnb
Students need less Housing with Online Classes
Rentals will be in competition over Caribana and PRIDE

Strong Prices and Inflation are inevitable.  
Everything is more expensive.

EXPECT More Showings like this;

Call 647.218.2414   Social Distancing on the Phone or Video Call. 

Facetime or http://Calendly.com/davidpylyp
Serving Toronto and Etobicoke for 30 years.

Intended to solicit those who are displeased with their current living arrangement.

Liberty Village Condo Explosion

Unless you have been out of touch;  you have seen the news reports about an alleged drug lab within a condominium community ( Liberty Village ) that suffered a catastrophic explosion, blowing out the unit door and damaging the elevators.

Fortunately no residents were injured.

The news reports were numerous.

The incident occurred at a residential building on East Liberty Street shortly after 6:30 p.m., and when firefighters arrived on scene, they found a man inside a sixth floor unit suffering from burns to his hands and face. The man suffered only minor injuries in the explosion, which was so powerful it blew off the door to his apartment. The explosion also blew in the doors of three elevators located directly across from the unit and the apartment door was later located on top of an elevator car four storeys below.
“We were told it was a stove explosion so initially we probably thought it might be natural gas, but it turned out it was chemicals; acetone, other chemicals that appear to be used for making drugs,” Toronto Fire Platoon Chief Kevin Shaw told CP24 Tuesday morning.“It was a pretty substantial explosion that pretty well wrote the entire condo unit off.
Read more: http://www.cp24.com/news/man-facing-drug-related-charge-after-explosion-at-liberty-village-condo-1.2107183#ixzz3JYymfMI4

Other sources also carried reports.

Explosion inside Liberty Village condo blows out elevator doors

CTV News

It happened inside a sixth-floor condominium unit on East Liberty Street, just before 6:30 p.m. Toronto Fire Services say the impact from the blast blew ...

Condo explosion sends one to hospital - Toronto Star

'Gas explosion' at Toronto condo sends 1 to hospital - CBC.ca

Liberty Village condo explosion linked to drug lab - Toronto Star

Some jumped on the story talking about disclosure of what happened in the building and stigma that may stay with the property.  

In bold type this headline is contained here; http://springrealty.ca/?what-happens-when-a-meth-lab-blows-up-in-your-condo&p=5642

Today, your condo is worth less than it was yesterday. Fact…sorry. 

While everyone is entitled to  their opinion the reality will take longer to play out.  The Residents Association came together as a community and posted an update of their own.

Todd Hofley

 at 4:55pm · Toronto issued a statement

Fellow Liberty Villagers’,

As many of you know, there was an explosion that occurred last night at 85 East Liberty St. (an official member of the LVRA), on the sixth floor. While the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it seems clear that it involved illegal activities and the occupant has now been charged.

Liberty Village is an incredibly close-knit community and we are fortunate that no one was seriously injured and the physical damages, considering the seriousness of the blast, are only to things and not people. This is, undoubtedly, a very scary experience for many affected and we encourage you to continue to reach out and give assistance to your neighbours as emotional and psychological trauma is also a very real possibility.

We are very happy that the community used the LVRA Facebook page to communicate with each other and share important and verified information. This tool alleviated many people’s concerns for their friends and family - making sure everyone was safe and sound. This is a sad incident, but we take comfort in that fact that it is isolated and our community reached out in a way and with a volume that very few communities do - especially condo communities. Of this we should all be proud.

The Board of the LVRA is committed to making Liberty Village the best Urban Village in Canada, and this only reconfirms our direction and belief in the importance of a connected community and knowing your neighbours. Of course, none of this happens without the buy-in of our community and that thanks goes completely to you for participating in and believing in the same vision.

Sincerely,
The Board of Directors
Liberty Village Residents’ Association

Have there been high profile drug labs in other upscale Toronto condominiums?   Yeah of course they are there.  http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/09/30/11200691-sun.html

Officers interrupted a cocaine cookup with a high-risk armed takedown early Monday, arresting three people and seizing more than $1.3-million worth of drugs.
They were cooking crack cocaine, "the scourge of the streets," Police believe the sixth-floor unit of the Fort York Blvd.-Fleet St. tower was also used to process methaphetamines -- also known as speed.
Police were surprised at the "significant amount ... a variety we haven't seen in a long time, especially in an upscale condo."

It is a reality of URBAN living that there will be infestations of all varieties.  Crime and vermin.  Units continue to be sold in and around Fleet Street and Bathurst without much ado.   

The aftermath

The building (LV) will need to be inspected to determine if repairs are required. The Board of Directors and the Management company have an obligation to restore / repair the building without delay.  The insurance companies will pay and then sue the  responsible parties.  If the Tenant or Owner had sufficient insurance coverage to indemnify the building.

If there are lawsuits; the Condo Corporation must disclose these lawsuits. The Condo corp will need to also disclose the need for long term repairs if required. Anything else is speculation.

Will the values decline?

I highly doubt that....   a few months from now it will be but a memory.

No wants to buy your house - You smoke

We only have a few cigarettes a day  -  now...
We're trying to quit...

Its his house, and he should be able to smoke....

Does the lingering smell of cigarette odors impact the dollar value of a home's sale price?

Is repainting and new broadloom enough to change the smell? 

What is your situation?

More than half of respondents — 56 per cent — said most buyers are less likely to purchase a home where people have smoked, and 27 per cent said most buyers are actually unwilling to buy a home where people have smoked.
In Canada, an estimated 15 per cent of homes have at least one regular smoker.
The study found that almost half, or 44 per cent of respondents, said smoking in the home affects resale value.
Of these, one in three said smoking in the home may lower the value by 10 to 19 per cent and a further one in three said it may lower the value by 20 to 29 per cent. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/04/16/business-smoking-housing.html?cmp=rss

As realtors we all have had properties with smokers;  I recommend  vinegar in pie plates placed around the property to suppress odors.  BUT they keep smoking...

How do you handle it?

David Pylyp

No Pets In a Toronto Condo

No Pets Means no Pets

No-Pet Clauses in Rental Condominium Leases

Posted by Keir Wilmut

Following on the heels of Heenan Blaikie’s condominium group’s recent seminar “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs”, the Toronto Star has weighed in on the always controversial issue of no-pet clauses in leases:

Under the law, you can’t prevent a tenant from bringing a pet into your property, unless it is a condominium and the building declaration says no pets. So even if a landlord and tenant sign a lease that says no pets, the tenant can bring 2 dogs and 4 cats the next day and there is nothing the landlord can do about it.

Yet if the landlord has a no pet policy in the entire building, they can probably refuse to approve the tenant in the first place if they know the tenant has a pet.

Tenants are governed by the same rules and restrictions as owners. As the Star notes, if a condominium corporation’s Declaration bans pets, an owner can ban tenants from having a pet in their rental unit. A condominium corporation’s Declaration is the equivalent of its constitution, and does not have to be reasonable.

However, the vast majority of Declarations do not contain provisions banning pets. As a result, many condominium corporations have passed rules restricting pet ownership. Like all rules, though, rules regarding pets must be reasonable. In practice, this means that a blanket “no pets” rule is unlikely to be upheld by the courts. Instead, condominium corporations should consider more reasonable rules such as only one pet per unit, or only pets that weigh less than 25 kilograms.

While tenants are subject to the condominium corporation’s rules, landlords cannot enforce additional rules regarding pets. If a condominium corporation’s rules allow one small pet, an owner cannot evict a tenant who has a cat – even if the lease purports to prohibit any pets!

For more information on this fur-raising issue, read Heenan Blaikie’s guide to pet restrictions in condominiums, or watch “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs”.


While the simple solution becomes to LIE, the front desk concierge is there at visitation and move in to enforce the buildings Rules and Regulations.

Welcome to Condo Life;   If you chose this lifestyle you agreed to the Rules    Do not expect exemptions.

Condo Flipping and Revenue Canada

I did not declare it was rented.  We flipped that unit No one will know.

Condominium Flips and CRA
Peter Clark  partner with Heenan Blaikie’s Taxation Law Practice Group. In his post, Peter discusses the potential tax implications of condominium flips.
 The Problem: We have heard that CRA is undertaking an “audit project” that is targeted at condominium flips. CRA is particularly interested in situations where the initial purchaser of the unit sells the unit without ever moving in or perhaps moves in for a short period of time and then sells the unit.  In either case, CRA will likely argue that the unit did not qualify as a “capital property” or as the purchaser’s “principal residence”.  If CRA is successful in denying capital treatment or principal residence treatment, then 100% of the flip profit is subject to tax as ordinary income.  CRA can also impose penalties and arrears interest if you profited from the transaction and did not report it on your tax return.
Quick flips can also create HST problems. You can lose the HST new housing rebate that you may otherwise have been entitled to.

Damage Control: Taxpayers who realized taxable income on an unreported condominium flip may be able to make a voluntary disclosure to CRA.  This will avoid penalties, but not tax and arrears interest. 

 Around our office recently a number of agents were discussing  University Students being audited on their TAX Credit claims.  One of the audit questions was who received the rent claimed.  Simply Put who was the Landlord?

This creates a number of separate issues;   Builder / Developers are providing purchaser lists when requested to CRA as they are claiming back HST.  It is not difficult in an era of electronic filing to look up the original contract name then cross reference the final purchaser.  ( Each Flip is responsible for LTT).

What is the lesson here?