Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) sold 657 residential units through MLS® in December, bringing the total for 2003 to 12,715, less than one per cent off the record-setting pace of 2002 which saw 12,831 sales.

According to OREB, the average price of residential properties sold in December in the Ottawa area was $217,882 while the average price for the entire year was $218,691 — up 9% over 2002. The average selling price of a residential listing increased to $232,923 (up 7.7% from 2002) and the average selling price of a condominium increased to $164,590 (up 12.2% from 2002).

While Ottawa resales remain strong -- fuelled in large part by ongoing low mortgage interest rates and optimistic forecasts for the Canadian economy -- there are indications that the market is becoming more balanced as some properties are taking a little longer to sell and multiple offers are becoming less common. It is anticipated that prices will continue to increase.

According to the Ottawa Citizen, provincial assessments on which this year’s property taxes will be based are sometimes tens of thousands of dollars higher or lower than the selling price of the properties. "This means some homeowners are likely to pay more than their fair share of property taxes this year, while others will pay less." A Citizen survey suggests 40 per cent of Ottawa homes sold last year sold for less than the assessed value, while 60 per cent sold for more than the assessed value. The assessment is an estimate of a home’s "fair market value" if it were to be sold.

The city of Ottawa is struggling to hold down the size of any property tax increase this year. On average, an Ottawa home was assessed to be worth 24 per cent more on June 30, 2003, than it was on June 30, 2001.

According to an article in the Citizen, "City tax officials say it doesn’t really matter if assessments are above, below or at fair market value, just as long as all homes are assessed to the same standard." Just the same, assessors expect a greater number of appeals than usual against assessments.

Homeowners have until the end of March to appeal.

The new Liberal government in Ontario has promised to revamp the land transfer tax (LTT) rebate program and plans to bring back rent controls.

The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) has lobbied to extend a land transfer rebate to include resale homes and would eventually like to see the tax eliminated to encourage home ownership. (LTT paid by a buyer for the purchase of a $300,000 home is $2975.) The Liberals now plan to offer the LTT rebate only on newly-built homes in "priority growth" areas such as brownfields (lands where soil has been contaminated) and vacated commercial lands.

The new provincial government also has plans to repeal the Tenant Protection Act (TPA) and bring back rent controls in low vacancy areas to protect tenants from "unfair" increases. The current TPA, passed by the Conservatives, allows landlords to charge whatever the market will bear when a unit becomes vacant. Details of the Liberal plan are not clear yet, but it has been suggested that the threshold for implementing rent controls will be determined on a community by community basis.

Effective January 1st, all Canadian businesses must comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act when collecting, using and disclosing an individual’s personal information. The implications of this act are broad and vary from industry to industry.

Please rest assured that I strive to protect the personal information of all clients (including names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses) and that your personal information will remain confidential.

Here are three examples of the coverage paid to home buyers who purchased title insurance:

Survey: Title insurance policies typically update a survey (no matter how old) and even cover situations where no survey is available. (A new survey can cost up to $1500.)

Building Permit / Building Core Standards: When the buyers moved into their home, they received an Order to Comply from the municipality. The order advised the buyers that the deck had been constructed without a proper building permit, and the municipality required the deck meet the building code requirements. The title insurance company paid the costs for the building permit and to bring the deck up to building code standards.

Encroachment onto someone else’s land: After moving into their home, the buyers were notified that part of their driveway encroached on land owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources. This encroachment had to come to an end or the buyers had to buy the strip from the ministry. This title insurance company paid the cost of a survey and paid the cost to purchase the strip of land.

Source: Real Estate News & Tidbits by N. Fera

Why do some bathrooms have electrical receptacles with buttons on them?

These receptacles contain a GFCI (ground-fault circuit interrupter). A small transformer in the GFCI senses the current that is flowing through the hot wire and the neutral wire. If the current differs by more than 0.5 milliampere, the presumption is that current is leaking to ground via some other path. This may be because of a short circuit to the frame or cabinet of an appliance, or to the ground lead, or through a person. Any of these situations are hazardous, so the GFCI trips, breaking the circuit.

GFCIs do not protect against all kinds of electric shocks. If, for example, someone touches the hot and neutral leads of a circuit and no part of his or her body is grounded, a GFCI won’t help. All of the current that passes from the hot lead into the body would return via the neutral lead, failing to set off the GFCI.

We recommend using a licensed electrician when installing GFCIs.

Source: Inspect Tips by P. Bouzanis