One Minute With The One Group

Despite what you might hear in the news, Ontario is still booming with Real Estate investment choices. In this week's One Minute With The One Group podcast, we reveal 3 of the best destinations for investment in the province

One of the most common dilemmas owners face when it comes to home improvement projects is whether you should hire a professional or go the DIY route and potentially save some money. While there is no one size fits all answer, there are a number of questions you can ask yourself to help decide whether to swing a hammer or write a cheque. The most important aspects to consider before you begin are things like, Do you enjoy physical work? Are you reliable, and patient, meaning once the project...

A Renovation project may pretty up your home, but have you thought about the effect it might have on the air you breath? Chemical Pollutants released from common things such as finishings, paints and even carpets can potentially cause issues with your home’s air quality, especially if it’s an older house. But you can safeguard yourself and your family with a few easy preventive measures. First off, check the label of all the products you are using. Look for a Green Seal or Global Organic and...

As sale prices rise and mortgage rules tighten, it is becoming more challenging for first time buyers to get into the Real Estate market. And for some, a Rent To Own program might seem like a path to ownership. But what does it entail? Basically, a homeowner rents to a tenant with a portion of the rent counting toward a deposit, with the tenant having the option to buy the home for a predetermined price at the end of the lease. But there are potential pitfalls. For the investor, the downside...

When you’re looking at potential homes, there is much to consider, things like how many bedrooms, and the state of the roof, but one important aspect that we tend to ignore…and that’s your commute time. Recent studies have discovered that people with the longest commutes tend to have lower overall satisfaction with life, and that even high paying jobs don’t provide enough wealth to comfortably offset the costs of vehicle maintenance and transit. Longer hours away from home also mean...

FIRST TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TIPS Real estate investing has produced some of the world’s wealthiest people, so there are plenty of reasons to view property ownership as a money maker. But like any investment, it’s vital to do research before diving in with your hard earned cash. Here’s a few starter tips… DON’T BUY A FIXER UPPER - It’s tempting to look for a house that you can get at a bargain and flip it into a rental property. But in that case, you’re likely to pay a lot to renovate....

April marks the return of warmer weather, but it also marks the return of an unwanted guest; Spring Flooding. But does your insurance cover a potential deluge? There are two major types of insurance against flooding in Canada: regular and overland Flood insurance generally covers you for damage in the event of a basement leak or burst pipes, but isn’t normally included in a normal house policy. Overland is the kind that protects you in case of a river or lake flooding, but can be very...

As house prices have risen over the last decade, owning a home has become more challenging for first time buyers, and one option to help the younger generation to get property, is for parents to co-own a house with their kids. If you’re considering this route, here’s a few important aspects to consider… If you are Buying together as an investment as a way to secure a mortgage for the kids, a capital gains tax will be triggered when the home is eventually sold. However, you can structure...

Here in Barrie we are lucky enough to have one of the country’s most progressive healthcare facilities in our own backyard. As RVH approaches it’s 121st birthday, here’s a few things you might not know about it… The forerunner, called the Barrie General Hospital was nothing more than a small cottage with just four beds when it opened on Duckworth street in 1891. The hospital was renamed Royal Victoria in recognition of the Queen’s jubilee in 1897, and the unit’s first X-Ray machine took up...

Audio version from the first ever Talking Barrie, a live stream round table discussion of all things Barrie, presented by The One Group! See the video version on our YT Channel! http://ow.ly/5Jq230iR88M Find us on FB! https://www.facebook.com/theonegrouprealestate/ On Twitter https://twitter.com/TheOneGroup_KW Online www.theonegroup.ca

Tax season getting you down? In this week's #OneMinuteWithTheOneGroup, Erin Jones reveals rebates and credits available to homeowners! SMASH that Subscribe button to get more podcasts about Barrie Real Estate! Find us online www.theonegroup.ca On FB! https://www.facebook.com/theonegroupr... On Twitter! https://twitter.com/TheOneGroup_KW On YouTube! http://ow.ly/5mxC30iPYUI On Itunes! http://ow.ly/IH6o30iPUEX You know that houses cost money, but this time of year you can maybe get a few of...

Winter in Barrie is hard enough, and it gets even tougher when Hydro bills eat away at your wallet. Here’s a few ways to cut down on your heating costs while you endure Simcoe County’s colder months.. Keep Electronics like TVs, computers and phones plugged into a power bar which you can turn on and off. This limits the amount of “phantom power” that your house uses when items are plugged directly into the outlets. Use LED bulbs; according to Hydro One, switching to these can cut your usage...

January and February in Barrie can be harsh, and trying to sell your home in the midst of the colder months is no easy task. But it’s not impossible! Here’s 3 things you can do to sell your house in Winter... Show Buyers What It Looks Like in Summer - Showcase all your home has to offer when the snow is gone with a digital slideshow or photo album during showings. Highlight gardens, patios and decks with furniture and Barbecues to heighten the seasonal potential. Hike The Curb Appeal - Slush...

#OneMinute - Energy Efficiency Tips Last week we went over a few tips on how to winterize your home, and today we’ll delve a bit deeper and reveal some easy ways you can improve your house’s energy efficiency, and save a few dollars on your hydro bill. Programmable Thermostats One of the most painless ways to cut your heating bill, it’s as easy as pre-setting the heat to go down for the hours you aren’t home, which can save you upwards of 5% every month. Adding Insulation If your house is...

Like many older cities across Canada, Barrie is rich with old buildings…and old stories. Many detailing grisly histories, sparking tales of hauntings and ghostly appearances. Ghoulish tales about the the Barrie Jail, first built in 1841 and home to a lunatic asylum for a time, have been whispered around town for decades, including unconfirmed reports of faint screaming and the sounds of clanging chains being heard in the halls of the small penitentiary, perhaps the distant voices of the...

With Halloween just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about winter, and just as importantly winterizing your house to avoid the cold from sneaking into your living room. Here’s a few tips to get you started. Clean The Gutters - get rid of the leaves and debris in the eavestroughs to ensure they will drain all the snow and rain that’s coming. Reseal the Windows - An easy way to test if you do have a drafty window is by putting a candle in front of it, if it flickers, then it...

It’s a simple question, but one that sparks alot of debate...should you live in a house or a condo? There’s really no right or wrong answer, and ultimately there are ALOT of factors that will influence your decision...but we can help you by laying out some of the benefits for each. First up is the House; the traditional one or two storey with a garage and a backyard is always at the top of most people’s wish lists. A big advantage to buying a house is that you have total control over the...

Here’s a great pub trivia question....when was the First Condo built? The best information we have points to the first Condo ever popping up New York City in the 1881, that’s according to a book called High Life: Condo Living in the Suburban Century, About 30 years later, Puerto Rico passed the first modern condominium statute, called a Horizontal Property Act and in the 50’s North American developers soon picked up on the concept. Remember Mitt Romney? His cousin Keith was almost solely...

A new GO station is coming to Innisfill in the next few years, and that announcement has brought up a lot of questions about the impact a rail station could have on home values in the nearby vicinity. So is living near a train a death sentence for your valuation? Based on studies conducted in areas where rail stations have been built, the most accurate thing to say is that many homes within one quarter of a kilometer from a station are actually more likely to increase in value due to the...

It’s an unfortunate truth that like other industries, Fraud exists all most levels of the Real Estate industry. Here’s how you can avoid a few of the worst Real Estate scams TITLE FRAUD - though it’s relatively rare, this is one of the most devastating realty scams, when a crook uses false documents to pose as the property owner, and transferring a property to their own name. Title insurance is the best protection against this, it will guard new owners against any liens or loans that exist...