Deciding to return to Ottawa a decade or more ago, I found Dan most helpful and knowledgeable about the local housing market. When it appeared that suitable bungalows were in short supply in my preferred area (i.e. near a golf course), he assisted me in purchasing a lot in a new sub division and a perfect bungalow was soon built for me.
Now, ten years later, Dan has been instrumental in guiding me through the maze involved in selling my bungalow as I move to a seniors’ residence.
Great photos showing off all corners of the house, help with showcasing my home, good advice on staging, and realistic pricing combined with a current demand for this type of property all led to a quick and painless conclusion to the adventure.
Barbara R.
Ok, so you’re just about to close on your home purchase or sale, what do you do for the utilities? Does it just magically get setup for you? Maybe, or maybe not ;^)
Property tax bills should be moved to the new owner, generally done by the city or your lawyer on closing.
Here’s additional information:
City of Ottawa (water/sewer/taxes):
https://ottawa.ca/en/living-ottawa/water/water-utility-bills/moves-open-transfer-or-cancel-service
Call 3-1-1 or 613.580.2400
Enbridge (Natural Gas)
https://www.enbridgegas.com/My-Account/IM-Moving
Customer Connections Contact Centre at 1-888-427-8888.
Hydro Ottawa:
Online form to be completed at least 10 business days prior to the move:
https://hydroottawa.com/accounts-and-billing/residential/request/moving
Rogers Moves Concierge:
https://www.rogers.com/consumer/support/moving-your-services
Or call: 1.866.841.3705
Bell Moving:
https://www.bell.ca/moving-with-bell
1.866.527.8771
It’s also a great idea to go through all your personal bills, banking, insurance and contacts to make sure everyone is updated properly. You might also consider paying Canada Post to forward your mail, here’s the link:
https://www.canadapost.ca/cpc/en/personal/receiving/manage-mail/mail-forwarding.page
Be sure to sign up for the newsletter on the right…
The presentation and photographs are what bring in potential buyers of your home. Professional staging and photography could make such a huge difference in the final terms of the sale (higher sale price, faster sale, shorter conditions, etc.) that there is NO EXCUSE to not work with professionals.
Call or contact Dan to discuss further.
Rob and Dan Discuss Ottawa Real Estate, Cars, The Glebe, Centretown, Old Ottawa South, Old Ottawa East, Mechanicsville, Westboro, Hintonburg, real estate Statistics, the Rideau Canal and NCC, Suggestions for First Time Home Buyers and a whole bunch of other great real estate info.
Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter on the right for real estate related updates.
According to 
the Government of Canada just released several tools and resources to help with the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive program.
These include:
1/ the product highlight sheet (PDF)
2/ the online calculator on the government website
3/ all about the program on the government website
4/ all about the process on an awkward government website, that may or may not work for you
Possibly, the most important question is how the “loan” is paid back. According to a quick review of provided info, you can pay back the full loan if you want at any time. If you sell the home you need to pay back as a percentage of the sale price.
For example, you “borrowed” 10% of value of a new home. When you sell you must pay the government of Canada 10% of the sale price, whether value went up or down.
For resale (not new) homes the max is 5% of value.
Why not borrow the full amount you can, and then if value goes up a lot, pay off the full loan just prior to selling? Not yet clear how this would be handled.
I expect there will be MANY more questions about the process and requirements. It really doesn’t seem like the government thought this program through…but it does line up nicely for a fall election.
There is no doubt that first time buyers are finding it MUCH harder to buy a home in the Ottawa market. Hopefully this program will help in a meaningful way.
The 2 most accurate ways to get information about a real estate listing are to:
1) Look it up on Realtor.ca (also known as MLS.ca)
2) Go directly to the listing agent/brokerage’s website, if you know it.
Google’s search algorithms are always changing and you never know what you will see when you search in Google. It’s confusing.
Stay tuned for my upcoming email explaining how real estate listings are distributed on the internet.
How to buy the BEST possible home
Buying a home may initially seem daunting but following these steps can help to simplify the process. I see many first time buyers unsure of how to begin searching for a home and these are the tips I give them.
Dan…knows the market particularly well in Centretown, Glebe, Ottawa East and Ottawa South. He is very knowledgeable, pays attention to detail, offered good advice/ strategies and is easy to get along with. I was quite pleased with all aspects of the listing and sale of my place.
Scott Baylis