Stop the Harmonized Tax !

Last week, the Government of Ontario formally launched its latest assault on homeowners, purchasers and sellers with the introduction of legislation to harmonize the provincial sales tax and goods and services tax.

Homebuyers and sellers will pay 8 per cent more on legal fees, appraisals, real estate commissions, home inspection fees, and moving costs, adding about $1,500 in new taxes to the average residential real estate transaction in Ontario.

For homeowners the HST will also add hundreds of dollars in additional tax on utility bills (gas, electricity and home heating fuel), on home renovation labour, the cost of lawn upkeep or landscaping and the cost of snow removal.

Please help Ontario REALTORS® fight this tax. In less than 30 seconds you can send an email to your MPP asking them to vote against sales tax harmonization legislation, by clicking here: http://bit.ly/stopthehst

GeoThermal Solutions : A green Future

I just picked up the the first issue of Holmes Magazine this afternoon and read a very interesting article about GeoThermal Systems.
For those of you who are eco-aware like me, this system could offer you a great way to heat your home in the winter, and keep it cool in the summer!

The system itself is based on capturing the energy that is stored about 5 or 6 feet under ground. By running high-density polyethylene pipes under the ground the system is able to conduct this energy via an ethenol-water mixture. The mixture is circulated through the pipes and returned to the main geothermal unit. It is here that the internal mechanisms of the geothermal unit convert the energy into heat.

The cooling feature of a geothermal unit is a bit different, as the way that I understand it is that heat is pulled from your house, rather than having an AC unit blowing cold air into it.

The cost savings are quite evident, as although it does take some electricity to run the system, you can expect to see your electric bills cut way down. The article says that "for every kilowatt of electricity you are using to run the system, you are getting three kilowatts out of the ground." The installation cost varies due to the site specifics of your home, and whether or not you need to run the pipes horozontally or vertically. The example they give in the magazine states an overall cost of $24,000 before government grants, but a savings of approximately $2000 annually on energy costs.

With these systems getting more and more popular you can expect to see costs come down over time, but if you want to do it right away there are government grants available to help with the cost. Visit homeenergyontario.ca to get an idea of what you can expect.

If anyone out there has one of these systems installed I would love to hear what you experience has been like so far. Please feel free to comment!

Tips for quick home sale

Tips for a quick home sale

Man Rises from the Dead to Sell House? - Topix

Man Rises from the Dead to Sell House? - Topix