Thoughts & Happenings

You don’t have to be in a drought-stricken area to realise just how important it is to conserve water. Being blessed with a steady supply of fresh clean water is no excuse to waste one of our planet’s most important resources. Read on the tips below to find out how you can save water at home without going through a lot of changes.

Many homeowners are spending upwards of $90,000 for professional holiday and installation, but how much are you willing to put down to make your neighbours go ooh and ahh?

Each year our taste for décor becomes more and more elaborate, and once you get a taste for the holidays it can be a bit hard to stop. But the larger the home, the more elaborate or exotic the architecture, the more risky it can be to decorate your own home for the holidays. It’s no wonder so many Canadians are turning to professional décor and installation!

Owning a home is a dream for 91% of Ontarians, but that dream may have to wait for a while longer as our province plans to give municipalities the ability to impose a municipal land transfer tax. This is certainly not good news. Do you know that the government is already charging every home buyer 2% of the home’s value for tax purposes in Ontario? Yes, that’s a lot and it’s bound to get a lot more if the MLTT pushes through. With 3 out of 4 Ontarian home buyers possibly having to put off purchasing a home if the MLTT comes to fruition, this is an issue that we simply cannot ignore.

Aren’t you curious how the world’s rich and famous are planning to ride out a doomsday scenario? Well, we’ve stuck our noses to sniff out one of the world’s best and biggest planned bunkers for a doomsday escape – the Vivos!

Calling all Oakvillians! Come this Saturday evening, March 28, 2015 is the Oakville Earth Hour. Known as the Earth Hour Movement, the one hour event will take place between 8:30 to 9:30 PM and everyone is invited to participate.

With interest rates on the rise, Canadians are beginning to pull back on their borrowing - but not their spending. For the last few years Canada’s economic titans have been asking Canadians to pull back on how much they’re borrowing and increase their savings… and while they’re finally putting away the credit card, their savings aren’t increasing.

Last month the fines increased to $280 because of a Chief Justice’s decree about distracted driving - but there’s so much you need to know before you hop behind the wheel! As we go on through this digital age, it’s only the beginning. These new laws are going to shape the rules of the road, our behaviours in Ontario and all of Canada, for many years to come.

An unfriendly, and unwelcome, message being sent out to snowbirds on both sides of the water may impact your choice to buy a home South of the Border.

Think about it, you’ve spent your entire life dreaming of some warm little home 6 months out of the year - you worked hard, you did all the right things, but a small twist of fate might make it that more attractive to just stay in Canada.

MoneySense magazine’s latest city ratings just came out, and Oakville was chosen as No. 2 in the best mid-sized Canadian cities to live in. Not just in the GTA, or Southern Ontario, or the whole province, but all of Canada! It was second only to Burlington (which is a nice place to live - but we still think Oakville should have won!), and beat out over 200 other cities for the top spot.

Massive storms have caused monthly payments to rise 15% to 20% in some areas, and with insurers hedging their bets, these jumps in premiums are here to stay. Even homeowners in Ontario will need to brace for permanent jumps in their property insurance - but are you ready? How much can you expect your premiums to jump over the next few years? Let’s find out!