Owning and maintaining a home is a tremendous joy but also a big responsibility.

Here are my 10 rules that home owners should live by:

1. Take care of your home as often as possible

Experts recommend budgeting 1 to 3% of your home's value for maintenance and repairs each year.

2. Build equity

Making an extra principal payment when possible can decrease the interest you pay over the life of your loan.

3. Make a good first impression

Keep your front entrance clear and welcoming. Curb appeal improves the neighborhood and enhances your home's value.

4. Be properly insured

In most cases you only need to insure the replacement value of your home and personal property, not the land.

5. Love the neighborhood--not just the house

If you're happy with your current neighborhood, touch base with your neighbours about improvements to the street or areas around it.

6. Make the right improvements

Statistics show updated kitchens and baths often make a difference in a sale.

7. Safety first

Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure the security of your family.

8. Save on energy costs

Improvements in the insulation of windows, doors, and storm doors can save energy costs and increase your home's resale value.

9. Go neutral. It never fails.

Choose light, neutral colours, especially for tile or cupboards and anything else that can be a lot of money or effort to change.

10. Know when it's time to move

Over time people often outgrow a house or neighborhood. If you follow these simple rules of home ownership, then when it's time to move on you can reap the benefits of good resale value and less work to be ready for the sale.

I am a Full-Time Realtor living in the Durham Region and servicing Oshawa,Whitby, Courtice, Bowmanville, Brooklin and Newcastle. I am also a married Father of 2 boys and a dog (like a 3rd kid!). With my vast knowledge from my time in the construction industry, I can help in identifying problems or potential problems with the integrity of a home. I also take great pride in being able to share my knowledge of areas that my clients are interested in.

Don Edmunds

Oshawa Realtor with Re/Max Jazz Inc., Brokerage Tel: 905-706-8137 Email: dedmunds@trebnet.com

http://www.DurhamRegionHomesForSale.ca

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Don_Edmunds

I have been in the city a long time and finally downtown Oshawa is looking up. Though transition has been slow, signs point to a business and entertainment revival.
Oshawa's downtown is area in transition, where boarded-up buildings and empty storefronts share street space with busy upscale restaurants and ambitious restoration projects. Decay and degeneration is giving way to new development and a vibrancy not seen since the '70s.

The signs are everywhere. Among them:

The year-and-a-half-old General Motors Centre for sports and entertainment.
Construction of a new courthouse.
Restoration of the 1919 Regent Theatre, set to reopen this fall for live theatre and concerts.
The University of Ontario Institute of Technology's plans to move its faculty of education to a former bank building next month.
A just-announced $45 million hotel and conference centre.
The conference centre, to be built on a parking lot at Queen's Market Square, is "very significant," says Councillor Louise Parkes, who landed the deal by taking the developer on a tour "to show them we were serious about downtown." "This may be the domino that makes the rest fall into place," says Parkes, chair of the development services committee.

It's a viewpoint challenged by GM's recently announced plan to close the truck plant in the city, throwing thousands of people out of work.

Last month's year-to-date total of more than $242 million for building permits was the strongest in Oshawa's history, Parkes notes. "We are booming."

But more than that, "we're bringing high-quality businesses back into downtown."

Joe Bhola represents the new face of downtown Oshawa. Attracted by the city's efforts to revive it and "so many offices with working women," he and his wife Anjali opened Rheanna on Simcoe St. S. eight months ago. Selling high-end European fashions and jewellery, the boutique has been well-received since being officially opened by Mayor John Gray, Bhola says.

"We're doing well. There's a good office crowd and good traffic here. That's why I came – I love this area."

The Bholas' store is what downtown development officer David Tuley calls the "authentic environments" where today's consumers want to shop and socialize. That's one of the driving forces behind the new wave of business and commerce in the heart of the city, he says.

Like other urban centres, Oshawa fell victim to big box stores and indoor malls that pulled retailers out to the suburbs, says Tuley, who was hired two years ago to stickhandle the city's revitalization plan developed in 2005.

Proof of its turnaround is in the numbers: the commercial vacancy rate that was 28.6 per cent in 1996 now sits at 14.5 per cent. A year ago, there was more than 200,000 square feet of large office space sitting empty; today it's down to 40,000.

"It's been amazing," says Tuley. "It's an excellent sign." He thinks it's Oshawa's turn to blossom.

"The last bastion of development in the west GTA was Burlington. We're the final frontier, the largest urban downtown in the north and east GTA. We're still affordable and it's easy to come in and get your piece of the action. Compared to the rest of the GTA, we're kind of a golden nugget."

OSHAWA -- New home construction is on the increase in the Oshawa area.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data, 182 housing units were started in the Oshawa census metropolitan area in April. The Oshawa CMA includes Whitby and Clarington.

This number of home starts is three times higher than April 2009.

"As prices for new homes across the GTA continue to rise higher, more households will be challenged to buy homes in relatively expensive submarkets, and therefore will look into more affordable areas such as Oshawa," said Inna Breidburg, CMHC's market analyst in a news release.

Single-detached home starts are at their highest level in the past five years. The construction of new homes in April was mainly in the city of Oshawa.

"Data suggests that among recent purchasers in Oshawa, larger single-detached homes are particularly in demand."

OTTAWA – February 8, 2010 – The Canadian Real Estate Association has
revised its forecast for home sales via the MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate boards
in 2010, and extended the forecast to 2011.

With Canadian economic growth rebounding from the recession, the unusually severe decline in sales activity in early 2009 is not expected to recur in
2010. Annual activity in 2010 is forecast to be well above the previous year's
level as a result. CREA forecasts national activity will reach 527,300 units in 2010, up 13.3
per cent from 2009. This would represent a new annual record, standing 1.2 per
cent above the previous peak in 2007. Low interest rates are expected to boost housing demand in the first half of the year, resulting in strong annual
sales growth in nearly all provinces in 2010, led by British Columbia and Ontario.

National home sales activity is expected to remain strong in the first half
of 2010, fuelled by low interest rates and homebuyers motivated to avoid the
HST before it comes into effect in Ontario and British Columbia. Over the
second half of the year, national activity is expected to trend downward as the
last of pent-up demand is exhausted, interest rates begin rising, and the HST comes
into effect in Ontario and British Columbia.

Interest rate increases will contribute to weaker national sales activity
in 2011. National home sales activity is forecast to decline 7.1 per cent to 490,100 units in 2011, putting it on par with annual levels reported in
2005 and 2006.

"Although interest rates are expected to rise, they will still be low
enough to keep affordability within reach for many homebuyers requiring mortgage financing, and support overall housing demand," said CREA President Dale Ripplinger.

The national average home price is forecast to climb 5.4 per cent in 2010, reaching a record $337,500, with average price gains forecast in all
provinces. The national average price increase will continue to reflect upward skewing
from the rebound in activity among Canada's priciest markets, particularly in
British Columbia and Ontario. The national average price is forecast to ease by 1.5 per cent in 2011.
Modest average price gains are forecast for all provinces except British Columbia
and Ontario, whose share of national activity is expected to ease. The shift in
the contribution made by provinces toward national activity will continue
skewing the annual comparison in the national average price in 2011.

The price trend is similar but less dramatic for the weighted national
average price, which compensates for changes in provincial sales activity by taking
into account provincial proportions of privately owned housing stock. The
weighted national average price is forecast to climb 4.8 per cent in 2010, and
remain stable in 2011.

"Improved financial market stability and recovering global economic growth
mean that home sales activity in 2010 is unlikely to repeat the dive it
experienced in late 2008 and early 2009," said Chief Economist Gregory Klump.

"Fiscal restraint, a strong Canadian dollar and a subdued inflation outlook point to marginal interest rate increases over the next couple of years, especially if the U.S. economic recovery proves to be weak and protracted,"
said Klump.

"The Bank of Canada will need time to gauge the effect of interest rate increases on Canadian economic growth," Klump said. "It recognizes that consumer debt burdens are running high, so it will want to gauge the impact
of interest rate hikes on domestic demand and overall economic growth. Changes
in interest rates impact the economy with a lag, so the timing and magnitude
of interest rate hikes will be tricky, given that the Bank expects the private sector to lead economic growth once temporary government stimulus spending expires," he added.

"The decline and subsequent rebound in sales activity for homes in the
upper price spectrum in some of Canada's priciest markets skewed average prices
upward in the second half of 2009 and into 2010. This segment of housing activity
in Ontario and British Columbia is expected to ease beginning in the second
half of 2010, causing average prices to moderate in those provinces," said Klump.

"A downward trend in national sales activity combined with an increase in listings will result in a more balanced market. Although builders are understandably more upbeat than they were during the depth of the
recession, speculative building will likely continue to be held in check. As a result, while the real estate market will become more balanced, Canada will
continue to avoid the massive realignment in housing supply and demand experienced in
the U.S."

About The Canadian Real Estate Association
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada's largest
single-
industry trade associations, representing more than 98,000 real estate Brokers/agents and salespeople working through more than 100 real estate
Boards and Associations. Registrants in any province who become members of organized real estate
have an obligation to act in accordance with the REALTOR® Code. This Code outlines
the accepted standard of conduct for all real estate practitioners who are
members of a real estate Board or a Provincial Association. CREA owns the MLS® and REALTOR® trademarks, which signify a high standard
of service and identify members of CREA. For further information, please contact:
Spencer Callaghan, Communications Officer
The Canadian Real Estate Association
P: 613-237-7111 or 613-884-1460
scallaghan@crea.ca

--------------------------------------------------------------------
myhosting.com - Premium Microsoft® Windows® and Linux web and application
hosting - http://link.myhosting.com/myhosting

The report on the implications for sales tax harmonization
on new home buyers in Ontario was written by veteran housing
analyst Frank Clayton, PhD, of Canada's largest
independent real estate consulting and advisory firm Altus
Group, for the Building Industry and Land Development
Association (BILD). BILD is the Greater GTA affiliate of the
Ontario Home Builders' Association.

The report looked at nine Ontario municipalities and three
different home types. It revealed tax increases for single
detached homes ranging from $8,957 (Windsor) to $17,049
(Ottawa) in markets outside the GTA, and from $24,566
(Mississauga) to a whopping $46,676 (Toronto) within the
GTA.

"All told, harmonization of PST and GST without any
offsetting measures by the provincial government would rip
$2.4 billon dollars out of the pockets of new home buyers,
slamming the homeownership door shut in the face of many
Ontarians," said Stephen Dupuis, President and CEO of
BILD.

BILD Chair Leith Moore added that the proposal for GST/PST
harmonization couldn't come at a worse time and runs
completely contrary to the Province's efforts to stimulate
spending and jobs.

"There's no point putting the gas pedal to the metal from a
stimulus standpoint while braking equally hard with the
other foot, but that's what harmonizing the sales tax on
housing amounts to," Moore said.

Meanwhile, Ontario Home Builders' Association president
Frank Giannone said harmonization is a "poison pill" for
housing. "Housing is the only product that keeps on paying
property tax after it is consumed. So to cripple the new
home buyer market at this time not only damages the
provincial economy, it also hurts governments in terms of
revenues. In addition, the HST would also add additional tax
to future renovation projects, and we all know tax increases
drive consumers into the underground economy and into cash
deals. It makes no sense," he said.

Dupuis explained that builders are not fighting
harmonization, but fighting for fair treatment of housing
under a harmonized sales tax regime. "The reason housing
gets hit so hard is that it is the biggest of the big ticket
items and it's not currently directly subject to PST, for
good reason," he said.

"As matters currently stand, builders are paying an
average of two per cent PST embodied in the price of each
new home and they're prepared to keep on paying at that
rate, notwithstanding all the other taxes, fees and levies
they must endure.

"What home builders are not prepared to do is to sit idly
by while home buyers are hammered to the tune of $2.4
billion due to harmonization. That's not on," Dupuis
concluded. (CREA 11/03/09)

Don Edmunds
ReMax Jazz
Direct: 905-706-8137
dedmunds@trebnet.com
www.DonEdmunds.ca

DRAR President, Dierdre Mullen added, "Average selling
prices have jumped 11% ($283,674) from $256,344 this January
over last and with inventories down 45% (1275) from 2324, it
continues to be more of a seller's market".

Hope the trend continues......

Don Edmunds
ReMax Jazz
www.DurhamRegionHomesForSale.ca

Don Edmunds
ReMax Jazz
Direct: 905-706-8137
dedmunds@trebnet.com
www.DonEdmunds.ca

February 1, 2010 in CREA News

Ottawa – February 1, 2010 – On behalf of Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley, Rob Moore, Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, joined today with Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) CEO Pierre Beauchamp to announce that self-employed REALTORS® can now participate in the Employment Insurance (EI) program. “From coast-to-coast-coast, a large majority of REALTORS® are self-employed,” says Mr. Beauchamp