5 Ways to Beat the Winter Blues

1. Embrace the Season

Make the most of this cold and snowy weather and go outside and try a winter activity you haven't tried before. There are copious amounts of things you can do outside in the wintertime. You can take up a winter sport like ice skating, hockey, snowboarding or skiing. Or try a winter activity such as tobogganing, ice fishing, snowmobiling or dog sledding. Or why not feel young again and build a snowman or a snow fort, make a snow angel or organize a snowball fight! All of these things are guaranteed to lift your spirits during this depressing time of year.

2. Exercise

Exercise is a great way to relieve the daily stress in your life. It is also a great way to get into shape and get warmed up! Now when it's extra cold outside why not try a hot yoga class. Hot yoga is a great for the mind, body and soul. Plus you are sure to warm up fast in that class.

3. Treat Yourself

A great way to treat yourself this winter is to head to a spa. This past weekend I went to Body Blitz in Toronto a great place to rejuvenate yourself. The therapeutic waters will not only do wonders for your skin but you come out feeling so relaxed you just want to go home and go to bed. I think going to any spa and being pampered is key ingredient to making you feel good during the wintertime.

4. Get together with Friends and Family Members

Wintertime is usually a time when your social calendar is a little slower so it is a great time to plan fun events with family and friends. This winter I have some fun little events I am looking forward to like a Superbowl party, winterlicious, martini night and a weekend away at my cottage. The winter blues can be tough so it is always good to have something to look forward to on the calendar.

5. Relax

Sometimes a great way to beat the winter blues is to do nothing at all. I went to the cottage last weekend and just lounged around and it felt amazing. Read a book or a magazine, go to sleep early or sleep in. Try meditation it seems to be doing wonders for a few of my friends. Or have a movie day when you can just veg out in front of the TV all day.

2011 Golden Globes Best and Worst Dressed

Top 10 Best Dressed

Top 10 Worst Dressed

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This year's Golden Globes were very entertaining. There were lots of hits and misses on the red carpet but for the most part everyone looked stunning. Ricky Gervais was hilarious as always and opened up with an excellent monologue poking fun at many of Hollywoods most famous actors and actresses. Although I am sure there will be some backlash today for some of his comments I think he just said what everyone else has been thinking.

Tobogganing in Toronto

This past weekend my group of friends and I decided we would take advantage of all the beautiful snow in Toronto and go tobogganing. Tobogganing is a winter sport that is cheap and a lot of fun no matter how old you are. We being a little older then most people you would see at the park decided to head out in the late evening when most of the kiddies would have gone to bed. We decided to head to my favourite hill and what I would consider to be one of the best hills in the city for this sport Riverdale Hill.

Riverdale Park has one of the steepest hills in the city and has one of the best views of the Toronto skyline another reason for making it the number one spot. To our discovery the hill was packed with people all similar in age, who all thought of the same idea. We even saw some very interesting sled ideas. There was this one group of boys who decided to take an old couch and put skis on it. As they rode down the hill they popped open an umbrella to help them stop it was a very clever idea and a pretty neat sled. Another group of people tried using an old mattress to slide down the hill, one of my sisters decided to embark on this form of transportation down the hill and said it was the most luxurious ride she's ever taken. My friends and I came prepared with some krazy karpets, the old classic wooden toboggan and some other black plastic toboggans that went exceptionally fast. All and all it was a lot of fun, I have never laughed and smiled so much! It was wonderful to feel like a kid again and I would highly recommend it to anyone at any age.

Riverdale Hill is what I consider to be one of the best for tobogganing but there are a few more that may be closer to you that you may want to try. Some other suggestions are:

Christie Pits Park

Withrow Park

High Park

Lithuania Park

Trinity Bellwoods Park

So as we prepare for another snowy day try and take advantage of it and embrace it by trying something like tobogganing. I can ensure you, you will not regret your decision.

Reaching Out To Renters

Written by Cindy Freiman

Now is the perfect time to reach out to first-time homebuyers by pointing out the benefits of buying now as opposed to waiting another year or two.

With interest rates still sitting at “emergency” levels with nowhere to go but up, now is an ideal time for you to market to renters/potential first-time homebuyers with solid examples of how much they could save in interest if they bought in the current low interest rate environment versus predicted rates over the next couple of years.

But if historically-low interest rates still don’t tip the scales with potential first-time buyers who are sitting on the fence, it’s important to have prepared answers to their most common objections to help convince them why now is an optimal time to buy.

Down payment
The main reason many renters feel they can’t afford to purchase a home has to do with saving for a down payment. The key is to explain to first-time buyers that there are many solutions available today that can help them with their down payments.

Talk about how many lenders will allow for a gifted or borrowed down payment. And of those lenders that will not provide this alternative, explain how many offer cash-back options that can be used as a down payment.

Better yet, introduce potential first-time buyers to available programs from some financial institutions where they will offer a “free down payment” or a “flex down”. Of course, the client will end up paying about 1% more in their interest rate, but the program will help them get in the homeownership door and start accumulating equity earlier. The client must, however, stay with the original lender for the full initial five-year term or else they’ll have to pay the down payment back.

First-time homebuyer incentive
As you’re probably well aware, last year a $5,000 increase was made to the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan, meaning first-time homebuyers can now withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs for a down payment – tax- and interest-free. The problem is that many potential homebuyers still don’t know this fact.

And if there’s a couple making a home purchase together, they can each withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs.

Educating and coaching
There’s an endless amount of information available to prospective homeowners – through the Internet, friends, family members and anyone willing to voice their opinion on a given subject. What they need, therefore, is education and coaching as opposed to being bombarded with more information.

You may even want to suggest that they speak to a trusted real estate agent contact of yours once you’ve gotten them pre-approved and before they head out home shopping. This will help set their minds at ease, because many first-time buyers are overwhelmed by the financing and buying processes, and often don’t know what it truly costs to purchase a home. Providing real examples can go a long way in showing them what it costs to buy a home in their area versus what they’re currently paying in rent.

If a renter is currently paying $800 per month, for example, with that same payment (including taxes) they could afford to buy a $120,000 home. And assuming real estate values increase 2% per year over the next five years, the new homeowner would have accumulated $27,000 in equity in their home. If they continue renting, however, this $27,000 has generated equity in someone else’s home.

It may even be worth your while to set up a joint meeting with your undecided client and a trusted real estate agent to further clarify the situation. Your client will have two professionals in one place available to answer all of their questions about the home financing and purchasing processes.

And if you don’t think it would be worth your while to take a team approach with a real estate agent for just one client, consider holding a free first-time homebuyers seminar where you and other professionals can dispel the myths and educate any clients you have that are undecided about homeownership. This is an excellent way to pool your resources to not only help your clients make a decision, but also tap into the clients of the other professionals holding the seminar with you.

My Top 10 Christmas Specials

1. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas

3. Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas

4. Mickey's Christmas Carol

5. A Muppet Family Christmas

6. A Garfield Christmas Special

7. Frosty the Snowman

8. Santa Claus is Coming to Town

9. The Year Without Santa Claus

10. The Little Drummer Boy

My Top 10 Christmas Movies

1. A Christmas Story

2. It's a Wonderful Life

3. Elf

4. Love Actually

5. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

6. Home Alone

7. White Christmas

8. Meet Me In St. Louis

9. The Muppet Christmas Carol

10. The Grinch

These are my top 10 Christmas movies what are yours?

Buyer agents matter even more

By Mark Weisleder

When you use an agent to sell your home, you may agree on a commission as high as 5 per cent with the proceeds split two ways. One half goes to the agent who works for you and the other half is paid to the agent who finds the buyer and helps negotiate the deal.

Now that the federal government has brought more competition to buying and selling a home, there are more ways for you to sell a home by yourself. That means the role of the real estate agent acting for the buyer will become even more important to you and the buyer.

Most people understand that when you sign a listing agreement to sell your home if you sell during the term of the agreement, you owe commission to that agent.

It’s a little different for when you’re buying a home. Here, you agree to work exclusively with one agent to find the property you want. The agent protects your interests and negotiates the best price for you. This becomes important if you are involved in a bidding war because you’ll need an objective third party to guide you, to make sure that you do not get too emotional and end up overpaying for the property.

In exchange, you agree to pay this agent a fee, typically a percentage of the sale price. For example, if the homer costs $200,000 and you agree to pay your buyer agent a 2 per cent commission, the cost is $4,000. Usually, the agent will get the commission from the seller. If the seller refuses to pay, then the offer will be readjusted to $196,000, and the buyer will pay the fee directly.

When interviewing buyer agents, be sure to ask for references and then follow up and call them. If you are nervous about signing the agency agreement, you might want to consider signing for a short term, let’s say 14 days, to get a feel for the kind of service your buyer agent will provide. You must understand though, that if your agent shows you a home during that 14 day period that you later buy, you will owe commission.

Sellers should make the effort to co-operate with buyer agents as well, even if they are trying to sell their home by themselves. One of the main reasons is that when a potential buyer approaches a seller directly, the seller has no idea whether this buyer is really looking for a home or even has the financial ability to afford the home. They may in the extreme case be a thief who is only looking to see whether they can come back to this property at a later time. When you work with a buyer agent, you know that they have already qualified any potential buyer so that you have the comfort of knowing that this buyer is in fact ready to buy and more importantly, can afford your home.

In addition, because the buyer agent will protect their buyer by conducting the appropriate due diligence on the property itself, there is less chance that the buyer will discover problems after closing. This means that the seller will not likely be sued by the buyer after closing. This means peace of mind for the seller after closing, as well.

There are advantages to both buyers and sellers in working with buyer agents. Understanding this will make your next home purchase or sale decision much easier.

Real estate lawyer Mark Weisleder is the author of Put the Pen Down! What homebuyers and sellers need to know before signing on the dotted line.