According to Moishe Alexander, the project was built by EcoCité Developments and Les Constructions Sodero as part of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC’s) EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative, which encourages builders and developers to build the next generation of sustainable housing in Canada.

The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for CMHC, was joined by Claude Trudel, Mayor, Verdun borough; Robert Deschamps, President of Les Constructions Sodero; and Christopher Sweetnam-Holmes, Principal, EcoCité Developments, at the official opening today.

“The Government of Canada is pleased to work with the housing sector to develop such innovative homes. We congratulate the Abondance Montréal: le Soleil project team on its winning design and commitment to environmental responsibility,” said Minister Finley. “Abondance Montréal: le Soleil gives people in this region an opportunity to see first-hand how we can create beautiful, healthy dwellings, conserve energy and resources, and reduce pollutant emissions.”

Abondance Montréal: le Soleil features a highly energy-efficient design, solar energy systems to generate electricity and hot water, high efficiency appliances, water-efficient fixtures and building materials with lower pollutant emissions. The three-storey triplex is located on an infill site in an established area of Verdun and represents a new approach to building in an urban environment. It also demonstrates how the principles of EQuilibrium™ Housing can play a key role in the delivery of healthy and more sustainable housing as part of the overall renewal of Canada’s inner cities.

The Abondance Montréal: le Soleil project team is benefitting from a contribution from CMHC to help defray costs relating to the design and documentation of the project, carrying out quality assurance, and commissioning and demonstrating the project to the general public. CMHC is also providing technical, marketing and promotional support to the team and is supporting long-term performance monitoring and reporting on the project. The other contributors include the Agence de l’efficacité énergétique (Québec), Hydro-Québec, the GeoExchange Coalition and Natural Resources Canada.

“Abondance Montréal: le Soleil is a response to the strong public interest for very green urban homes. This project proves that my vision for net-zero living is an affordable possibility for North America’s cities,” said Christopher Sweetnam-Holmes, Principal, EcoCité Developments. “EcoCité Developments looks forward to collaborating with developers, builders and investors to replicate the le Soleil model.”

Abondance Montréal: le Soleil is one of the winning projects in CMHC’s national EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative competition that was launched in 2006. EQuilibrium™ Housing projects will be open to both the general public and professional audiences for tours, and then monitored for performance by CMHC for one year, once occupied.

EQuilibrium™ Housing offers a new approach to housing in Canada. It strives to balance our housing needs with those of our environment. It brings together the principles of occupant health and comfort, energy efficiency, renewable energy production, resource and water conservation, and reduced environmental impact.

CMHC has worked closely with many stakeholders to develop and deploy the EQuilibrium™ Sustainable Housing Demonstration Initiative. In particular, CMHC has collaborated closely with Natural Resources Canada which has contributed substantial research and development expertise and resources to advancing the initiative.

Moishe Alexander Deeply Pleased by Housing Project in Verdun

The Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for Halton, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Kevin Flynn, Member of Provincial Parliament for Oakville, on behalf of Jim Bradley, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Gary Carr, Halton Regional Chair along with Gordon Krantz, Mayor of the Town of Milton,and Jeff Knoll, President of the Halton Community Housing Corporation, made the announcement.

Victory for Halton Region Moishe Alexander posts video

“Locally, this achievement gives a hand-up to individuals and families who need safe, affordable housing that meets their needs,” said Minister Raitt. “Our government is investing in this project to get the local economy moving, creating immediate jobs and economic stimulus for the community.”

“The McGuinty government is helping build new affordable units for those in need in Halton,” said MPP Flynn. “This new project is also part of our Open Ontario plan to create jobs and economic opportunities in the Town of Milton and the whole region.”

“On behalf of Halton Regional Council, I would like to thank the provincial and federal governments for this significant commitment in Halton,” said Regional Chair Gary Carr. “We have worked hard to get this project in place and are very pleased to get started and get our seniors housed in this wonderful building, just steps from the Milton Seniors Activity Centre and local shopping centre. The creation of these units in Milton will provide residents with access to safe, affordable housing, in the community they call home.”

“As Mayor of the Town of Milton and Halton Regional Councillor, I am pleased to be a part of the groundbreaking for this much-needed project,” said Milton Mayor Gord Krantz. “I would like to thank our federal and provincial partners at the Province for recognizing the need to fund affordable housing for low-income seniors and people with disabilities in Milton.”

These 40 affordable rental units are part of an 80-unit project located at Ontario Street and Childs Drive. The approximately $4.8 million in federal and provincial funding is complemented by $10.1 million in municipal financial incentives.

Moishe Alexander states: The Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement comprises a commitment of $301 million from each of the two senior levels of government. In total, the federal, provincial and municipal governments will invest at least $734 million in the program, which will provide affordable housing for up to 20,000 households in Ontario.

In 2008, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over five years to improve and build new affordable housing and to help the homeless. Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on this and provides $475 million, over two years, to build new rental housing for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. Overall, the Economic Action Plan includes $2 billion over two years in new and existing social housing and lending up to another $2 billion to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure. Combined for Ontario, this means a further $1.2 billion joint investment under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment.

The basic thing is that the person who has decided to go in for the mortgage has to be clever enough to understand the entire process. He/she should be able to pay the installments on time so that the process continues in a systematic way without any disturbances. There are several types of mortgages and one can take the advice of the professionals and then sign the deal. If one follows some tips before entering into any dealing, then it would be a sensible decision. Here are some tips one can follow: 1] A person should plan his/her budget before hand; calculate the amount he/she has to borrow. 2] He/she should try to go in for the Today’s Mortgage Rates. 3] He/she should decide the Mortgage rates which he/she should be able to repay it without disturbing the present expenditures. 4] One should also find out if there is any redemption penalty. 5] Last but not the least, one should also know what would happen if he/she misses to pay one or two installments.

My father had taken the assistance from the Mortgage refinancing Toronto when he wanted to renovate his house. The brokers and the management at the Mortgage Refinancing Toronto are very straight forward and they clear all the doubts of the clients in a proficient way which occurs before or during the time of the financial dealing. The Beneficial Mortgage Financing procedure is one of the best ways to take the loan from the mortgage company for renovating the house. My father was satisfied with the Mortgage refinancing process because of the easy installments. He was an intelligent businessman and he already had a vast knowledge about the various mortgages processes and their advantages .

http://real-estate-investors-guide.com/mortgage-refinancing/mortgage-refinancing-ontario-grant-with-the-existing-mortgage-rates-for-people-who-want-to-benefit/

Moishe Alexander, canadian funding corp CEO, reviewed

In 2008 over $133 B US was spent over the internet in the U.S. alone and this figure is estimated to increase to over $203 B by 2013. In Canada, by the end of 2007, $13.8 B Canadian of on-line consumer transactions had taken place with this number forecasted to grow to $22.8B by 2012. (eMarketer Feb. 2009) Considering such numbers it is safe to say that any business that has the ability to sell On-line and does not is making a strategic mistake. The good news with these growth numbers is that it is certainly not too late to take advantage of on-line shopping and buying and selling over the Internet.

Its difficult at best for anyone who reads a paper or watches or listens to the news to not be feeling down about the current economic reality. As with everything else in life however we can choose to be negative or we can search for the opportunity. And there is plenty of opportunity when we look at the internet. We know that by typing www we have almost instant worldwide fame or infamy. Its easy to get a message or advertisement out to virtually anyone who has an interest in it. When we overlay Shopping Cart technology it becomes even more powerful. Many of us would like to do more for our families and for ourselves but the economic circumstances for many is this is just not possible given what we are bringing home. Internet and e-commerce mean the possibility of multiple income streams are becoming a new option for many. If you have an idea or product and the interest to make them a reality you can also leverage a second or even third income. And the availability of many excellent Affiliate Programs means you don’t even have to have an idea or product right now. You can use someone else’s product or service and represent it while you learn the e-commerce game and work on your own idea.

The internet has spawned a number of other social advertising formats such as Face Book, U-Tube, Twitter and more. This has caused a shift away from traditional and more expensive advertising media such as papers and yellow books. So, in addition to their reach advantages these new social media are providing cost containment for today’s financially stretched businesses. And this is accelerating the migration away from paper based solutions. Their reach is also a plus. Although everyone agrees that the economy is more challenging it is not bad everywhere. As in any down market there are always people and places that continue to thrive. The internet’s reach means that you have access to these markets and all the emerging and improving markets as conditions change and previously depressed areas being their economic recovery. Your presence on the internet combined with your shopping cart solution means that you are they when they are ready.

In marketing and in any economy there is always one thing that holds up. There will be people ready to buy now and others that are just shopping, collecting information for that time in the future when they will purchase. To take advantage of the now buyer your website and e-commerce solution will determine if you are able to capitalize. This holds true for everyone. But how do you deal with the future shoppers or prospects? A good shopping cart will have a stay in touch capability so you can keep prospects interested until they are ready to act. However, the astute internet marketer will look to incorporate other technologies that work with your shopping cart and e-commerce programs. Using multi-media they deliver on-going campaigns updating your prospects on your products and services. They are proactive so the customer always knows when the next deal or special is coming. For an example of a company with an excellent marketing campaign technology check out www.AutomatedMarketingSolutions.com. Rounding out your platform should be the social networks including Face Book, U-tube, Twitter and more. These networks allow you to test the market for what you intend to sell, they allow you keep in touch with how your product is being received and to be proactive in correcting any emerging negativity. The bottom line is do not limit yourself in how you reach out to your current and future prospects and customers.

Given the impressions we all may have about larger companies we can still learn much. For example a report released in February 2009 discussed the top 10 priorities CMO or Chief Marketing Officers in America were considering as their top 10 priorities for this year. Number 2 on this list was the need to develop marketing programs that integrate both the internet and their traditional media. Doing this provides advertising cost cutting and reduces other overheads. These same advantages accrue to the small to medium business as well as the entrepreneurs working out of their home. The simplicity with which an on-line enterprise to advertise, buy and sell over the internet can be set up brings it within reach of more and more of us looking for that second income. What will differentiate us and our success will be how effective we are in using these tools to attract, convert and retain.

About the Author:
Invest in yourself by implementing your E Commerce Shopping Cart today! A E Commerce Professional EBusiness solution can be simply and quickly implemented

http://www.real-estate-news-articles.com/how-e-commerce-sustains-hope-in-a-bad-economy/

viewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Julius Melnitzer

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/legalpost/archive/2009/05/26/lawyers-real-estate-monopoly-struck.aspx

brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

By way of Brendan King’s Twitter stream.

As a licensed Asian, I found this particular misunderstanding quite amusing and so did the other Asians in my office, but discriminatory practices are no laughing matter and fair treatment for all human beings is a cornerstone of a civilized society.

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code was written to protect people from discriminatory practices. The following are “prohibited grounds” for discrimination under the Code;

(i) religion;
(ii) creed;
(iii) marital status;
(iv) family status;
(v) sex;
(vi) sexual orientation;
(vii) disability;
(viii) age;
(ix) colour;
(x) ancestry;
(xi) nationality;
(xii) place of origin;
(xiii) race or perceived race; and
(xiv) receipt of public assistance.

Section 10 and section 11 of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code deal specifically with discriminatory practices in the sale or leasing of real estate.

Discrimination in the purchase of property prohibited

10(1) No person shall, on the basis of a prohibited ground:

(a) deny to any person or class of persons the opportunity to purchase any commercial unit or any place of dwelling that is advertised or in any way represented as being available for sale;

(b) deny to any person or class of persons the opportunity to purchase or otherwise acquire land or an interest in land; or

(c) discriminate against any person or class of persons with respect to any term of the purchase or other acquisition of any commercial unit or any place of dwelling, land or any interest in land.

(2) Repealed. 2007, c.39, s.4.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) prohibits the sale, the offering for sale or the advertising for sale of a place of dwelling for occupancy by persons over 55 years of age exclusively.

Discrimination in occupancy of commercial unit or housing accommodation is prohibited

11(1) No person, directly or indirectly, alone or with another, or by the interposition of another shall, on the basis of a prohibited ground:

(a) deny to any person or class of persons occupancy of any commercial unit or any housing accommodation; or

(b) discriminate against any person or class of persons with respect to any term of occupancy of any commercial unit or any housing accommodation.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to discrimination on the basis of the sex of a person with respect to housing accommodation, where the occupancy of all the housing accommodation in a building, except that of the owner or the owner’s family, is restricted to individuals who are of the same sex.

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to discrimination on the basis of the sex or sexual orientation of a person with respect to the renting or leasing of any dwelling unit in any housing accommodation that is composed of not more than two dwelling units, where the owner of the housing accommodation or the owner’s family resides in one of the two dwelling units.

(4) Nothing in subsection (1) prohibits the renting or leasing, the offering for rent or lease or the advertising for rent or lease, of any housing accommodation for occupancy by persons over 55 years of age exclusively.

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code is here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @SaskatoonHomes.

Norm Fisher

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

A great resource for real estate investors performing their due-diligence, the info is laid out well, and in a glance you can wrap your head around the key information.

The #1 recommended community to locate your business is the Edmonton International Region – being the area around the airport (Leduc & Nisku are the hubs). The rest of the top ten includes Edmonton, Strathcona County, Camrose, Airdrie, Calgary, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Red Deer and Strathmore.

One item to note, is that the pricing for serviced industrial land is consistently on the low side. For example, serviced industrial land in Strathcona County for $300,000 per acre? $500,000 would be a safer “average”.

Real estate investors take note: this type of information shows trends for yesterday & today, but does not forecast tomorrow. A decision by city council, or the unexpected fall of a commodity price can quickly change the tides for a community. If you are not an informed citizen of the community you are investing in, there is no substitute for an unbiased, on-the-ground local expert to give you an inside scoop, and assist in taking a calculated risk to capture the biggest upside tomorrow.

Well done, Alberta Venture, a useful tool which I think many will utilize.

http://www.albertaventure.com/?p=3293

According to data released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association, the number of homes sold in Canada in May, on a seasonally adjusted basis, was up for a fourth consecutive month. Moreover, it was 1.3% higher than in last September, that is, the pre-recession level. Today’s Hot Chart (left panel) shows that the turnaround in sales has been accompanied by a drop in new listings. As a result, the ratio of new listings to sales was the lowest in seventeen
months and well within the range where the market is considered balanced. This development reduces the risk of persisting home price deflation and of a corresponding deterioration in household balance sheet. On a regional basis, we note that sales in BC and Quebec more than recovered the ground lost since September. Even Ontario has
shown a significant pick-up in activity in recent months (see right panel).

NBF Financial Group…

http://www.news-to-use.com/2009/06/canada-existing-home-sales-back-to-pre.html

This report brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

By Ozzie Jurock

Received tons of email … Not all favorable. Some people wish to bet me money – some a case of beer, that real estate is going to go down … just wait and see. Likely they are all the people who never bought anything. If you go to http://www.realestatetalks.com/ you can see some 16,000 people arguing for more than 14 years the ups and downs of Vancouver real estate. It is always the same guys and gals that argue collapse and (yep) often the same that argue that eventually we will always be higher (because of monetary expansion creating it).

So, take it easy. If you had listened to the experts who were dispensing the best advice available 20 years ago and locked yourself and your wealth into a plan which guaranteed to remit the then prevailing ‘safe amount’ of an income stream of $500 per month (a lot back then – pocket-change today) for the rest of your life, imagine the desperate poverty that you would retire to today. Stone soup would be a luxury.

Yes, we need more money now but who knows what this money will be worth tomorrow. Yes, we need more income, but who can possibly know the state of the world three months from now … much less 20 years from now? Nobody knows for sure the ‘what and where’ of interest rates and inflation rates and the value of money. It’s just not possible.

What we do know is that the safety that was inherent in the projected big income of 20 years ago is a pitiful joke today.

Yep, forecasting is never easy – particularly when it’s about the future. Crystal balls crack, vaunted talk-show soothsayers wither and drop off the television scene and the books that were treasure maps wind up in the remainder bin at the bookstore. In the last three decades stock markets have surged up and crashed down. Certain mutual funds that looked like they were blue chips sprang leaks and sank while others soared like rockets only to burn out and fall back down.

Through all of this the average folk watched their savings chewed away by insidious inflation.

However, in all the turmoil of this sound and fury, one asset has weathered the changes. Three decades ago, had you bought good quality real estate you would not be concerned about your future today. That real estate would have kept up with inflation, remained secure in value, and steadily appreciated. Sure, there would have been some temporary dips. There has to be because real estate is cyclical in nature. But one thing is certain – over the years, the base values have been steadily increasing. Back to that purchase 30 years ago – today it would be paid off and clear title – which means either a mortgage-free home (no more monthly ‘rent’ payments to the bank) and/or a steady rental income courtesy of your tenants.

Put into perspective, if you place a good portion of your assets into real estate today, you won’t have to worry about tomorrow. It doesn’t matter how wild or turbulent the economy or the marketplace. It’s like riding a horse with one spur – if half the horse goes, the other half has to go along with it. No matter how deep or tempestuous the water, you’re going to be floating on top of it.

Let’s review something all of us already know. The Chinese have used real estate holdings for wealth creation for 2,000 years. All huge fortunes were either started or extended with real estate. Home ownership (the most common form of real estate holding) has been the single largest factor in the accumulation of wealth for the average North American, firstly because of straight appreciation due to inflation, secondly, due to the leverage involved and thirdly real estate has a use and therefore always a value.

This basic principle of appreciation holds true for pretty well any healthy major urban center. Let’s take Vancouver, B.C. for an example.

In 1960 the average Vancouver home sold for $13,105. Thirty-eight years later in 1998 the average sale price was some $310,000. Almost a 2,300 per cent return. But in March 2008 the average sale price was $895,000. Almost a 6,830 per cent return. That’s on the price. Play with the return on down payment of $655 and you get tens of thousands per cent returns
If this kind of appreciation is going to continue, you have to be on the conveyor belt. If you’re not, you’re going to be left so far behind that it will be financially disastrous. And here we’re only talking from the perspective of a place to live. This isn’t even addressing the investment aspect of those monies outside the family home.

When you combine appreciation with leverage, you unlock the great secret of achieving the optimum result with real estate investment. And as you can see from the foregoing numbers, the ‘lever’ can lift you up or the ‘appreciation’, if you’re on the wrong side, can crush you down.
When your gain is measured on the capital invested, not the actual price of the property, some really astounding results come into focus. But the game is not as simple as it used to be. The goal posts move. The only constant is that everything is always changing. The secret of surviving and prospering is the ability to adapt to the changes.

The 1980s were very forgiving for the amateur. Benign with a capital ‘B’. That ‘B’ could also represent ‘Bucks’ and ‘Brainless’. Back then if you had a few dollars you could buy any piece of real estate, anywhere, and you would make money. Even if you could barely hear thunder and see lightning, it was almost impossible to make a big enough mistake. If you paid too much, it only meant that you had bought a little too soon. The clock and the calendar made you into a financial wizard. Thanks to inflation, prices soon caught up to you and bailed you out.
Still, there were lots of people in the early 1980s who managed to lose all their money in real estate. Those were the people who put their money into the wrong syndications, limited partnerships or real estate investment trusts. But we’ll talk more about that later. In the late eighties fortunes were made.

But after the 1980s the real estate world became less forgiving. For some investors the times were downright terrifying. All of a sudden there was the sudden change. Markets fluctuated area by area both as to volume of sales and prices. Different real estate categories rose or fell without any apparent linkage to each other. You could see in one market area the average single-family detached home rise in value by 40 per cent while in the exact same market area downtown condos slumped in value by 12 to 20 per cent (Vancouver 1990-1995).

The people who tried to play by the old rules found themselves playing someone else’s game. And most of the time they were handed their heads. Was it possible to avoid the dangers and yet at the same time prosper with the good stuff) Yes it was, but you had to put aside location, location, location, and instead you had to read the trends, position yourself as to the timing and then implement some new techniques.

To be successful real estate investors we must understand ourselves. That means we have to understand our investment objectives in relation to the risks we are willing and able to tolerate. But having done that we then must understand that aspect of ‘ourselves’ that is part of the New Consumer.

http://londonontariorealestatediagnosis.blogspot.com/2008/05/ozzie-jurock-why-i-will-always-buy-real.html

Recommended by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

For several years I have been producing a real estate index. It started effective 1 January 2004 and tracked prices monthly in accordance with an index. Everything was set at baseline 100 on the first of January 2004.

The reason was largely to provide at least four consecutive years of numbers for the purposes of comparison.

The four year moving average is the standard for comparative purposes in the mutual fund industry, so that’s why I selected the starting date.

However, that was 65 months ago. It’s now time to revamp the index and make it a little shorter in terms of the time period. So, the new staring date is 1 January 2005. That will mean that as of the end of May 2009, we are looking at the last 53 months. There’s no magic in the starting date. It could be anytime.
Here is the monthly progression over the time period. This particular index shows the average price for single family homes as measured at the end of each month by the Toronto Real Estate Board.

May-09 122.4261
Apr-09 119.3414
Mar-09 112.0415
Feb-09 111.8103
Jan-09 106.3412…..2009
Dec-08 111.8444
Nov-08 114.0623
Oct-08 109.2322
Sep-08 114.0521
Aug-08 112.9185
Jul-08 114.9427
Jun-08 122.5057
May-08 123.2118
Apr-08 123.3786
Mar-08 117.7003
Feb-08 118.2295
Jan-08 115.8779…..2008
Dec-07 116.4309
Nov-07 121.8499
Oct-07 122.1281
Sep-07 117.6366
Aug-07 111.9914
Jul-07 113.2670
Jun-07 118.2032
May-07 118.4582
Apr-07 117.2940
Mar-07 113.0420
Feb-07 114.0948
Jan-07 109.4643…..2007
Dec-06 104.0465
Nov-06 110.0841
Oct-06 110.2995
Sep-06 108.0463
Aug-06 104.6577
Jul-06 105.8467
Jun-06 110.7984
May-06 113.1200
Apr-06 113.4746
Mar-06 109.2817
Feb-06 109.5274
Jan-06 102.9541…..2006
Dec-05 101.2611
Nov-05 105.5815
Oct-05 105.9754
Sep-05 104.6809
Aug-05 100.0353
Jul-05 100.8953
Jun-05 106.7847
May-05 107.2207
Apr-05 105.8461
Mar-05 102.2913
Feb-05 103.4446
Jan-05 100.0000…..2005

The indexed price now stands at 122.4261. That’s an increase of 22.4261 in four years and five months (53 months). The increase is 0.4231 monthly, or 5.0776 annually, as non-compounded, simple interest.

You may recall that I have frequently referred to the fact that property doubles in value every 20 years.

http://wannanetwork.com/ontariorealestate/2009/06/15/ores-index-toronto-gta-single-family-homes/

Reported by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO