Gallo Real Estate Ltd., Est. 1975
A home is one of the most expensive purchases a person will ever make. And, unlike a pair of jeans that you purchase at the mall, there’s no 30-day return policy. That’s why it’s so important to have a professional home inspector take a look at your potential new home before it’s yours. His or her findings help you get to know the property in more detail and feel more confident if you decide to make an offer. A home inspector should … [Read more...]
If you’re in the market for a new home, chances are you’ve got a list of “must have” features. For some people, that list can be pretty long. It can include things like location, such as, a quiet street and amenities, such as a two-car garage or an en suite bathroom. These are deal breakers: Things that you feel you can’t live without in your new home. You might also have a list of “nice to have” features. For most … [Read more...]
If you’re in the market for a new home, you’ve probably made a budget that highlights how much you’re able to offer for a down payment and what kind of regular mortgage payments you’re able to make. But between meeting with bankers, lawyers, home inspectors and planning your actual move, it’s easy to forget about other significant, up-front costs: closing costs. Closing costs are fees that you owe on or before closing day … [Read more...]
FIT, in this context, means feed-in tariff and in Ontario, this program is the first comprehensive one in North America that guarantees pricing structure for renewable electricity production. Through the program, stable prices will be offered via long term contracts for energy that’s generated from renewable sources. Renewable sources, according to the Ontario Power Authority are biomass, biogas, landfill gas, on-shore wind, solar … [Read more...]
"The grand old lady on the hill" may be the description you see in an ad for a century home on a prestigious street in town. As a novice real estate buyer, you may fall in love with the look of history re-visited but we warn you to be conscious of making buying decisions without considering the following… 1. What is the heating method of the home? If it’s oil, make sure that oil tanks aren’t buried on the property that are no longer … [Read more...]
If you are considering a move from metropolitan Toronto to the GTA, and desire a countryside home, there is more to country life than just more space, quieter neighbourhoods and starry nights. In Toronto your property is most likely fully serviced with municipal services such as city water, sewers, natural gas lines and hydro services. Whitchurch-Stouffville is made up of the actual Town of Stouffville where all those services are also … [Read more...]
House hunting can be stressful and time consuming so to ensure that you maximize your time – whether you’re searching online or having an agent help you – one thing you should consider when narrowing down your search is the home search radius. You’ve likely at least figured out which area of town you’d like to live in; but depending on the size of the town, your search might end up being narrower than you’d planned – especially … [Read more...]
Most older homes were built with a more traditional layout than modern homes where walls were placed between living and dining areas or between kitchen and family rooms. Newer homes, with perhaps less square footage on smaller lots, are often built to have open space with no walls or half-walls opening up to these areas. This visually opens up the entire living, dining, kitchen and family room areas to combine them with one another. With these … [Read more...]
Location is often something that home buyers don’t necessarily think about as being as important as other home features when they’re looking for a home. But, as nice as the home may be, the location could make or break the deal. When looking for the right location, you’ll need to consider how it impacts you and your lifestyle. Do you require a busy location, a quiet, dead-end street location, a country setting on a long tree-covered lane … [Read more...]
When you’re buying a home, you’ll probably have list upon list of all of the things you need to do before you even start looking. And if this is your first time buying a home, then you may not even know where to begin. Of course it’s important to know what kind of house you’re looking for and in what location, but none of this matters if you don’t know how much you can afford. This is why, before you even start looking for a home or … [Read more...]
