With the spectre of Halloween hanging over our heads, we thought, what better time than now

to discuss the prospect of buying a home that was the scene of a grisly murder, horrific suicide

or the site of some other unsavoury incident or activity.

The first question you need to ask yourself is do you care if the previous owner was found

hanging from the rafters or that the house was a drug den for meth heads. If not, go on your

merry way. But if learning that a tragic murder occurred within its walls bothers you perhaps

you’re best to ask a few questions first.

Realtors are obligated to disclose information about homes that are stigmatized – the term

used for a property that buyers avoid for reasons that have nothing to do with its physical

condition. But if an agent doesn’t know the house’s history, then there is nothing that holds the

realtor culpable.

Unfortunately, in Ontario a seller is not legally obligated to disclose any information about

murders, suicides, or any other gruesome fact that might have happened in the home. There

have already been many calls for clearer legislation, but this area of the housing market

remains rather grey. Drawing a clear line between important and unimportant information can

be difficult. For example, if neighbours believe a house accommodated an illegal marijuana

grow op, though never proven in court, does that make the house stigmatized?

It’s thought that stigmatized properties or houses widely believed to be haunted thanks to a

murder or suicide typically drops in value. A Realtor.com survey from October 2012 showed a

surprising 29 per cent of consumers would consider buying a haunted home on one condition

– that the home was substantially discounted at 20 per cent or more off an otherwise similar

home.

According to Toronto real estate lawyer Mark Weisleder, in the city’s red-hot real estate

market, an Ossington Ave. house took 16 months and several listing agents before selling in

2013 for $73,000 below the asking price of $973,000. The reason? The single-family house was

the scene of a murder in 2011.

Interest in stigmatized properties has prompted the start up of several websites such as

www.DiedinHouse.com, a U.S.-based site founded in 2013 that claims to instantly search over

118 million death records. There is a fee involved and currently the site is not set up to search

properties outside of the U.S.

The scary side of real estate is well documented by Silicon Valley realtor Mary Pope-Handy in

her Haunted Real Estate blog, which offers scads of info on eerie properties, spirits and the

supernatural, properties that would be deemed stigmatized.

Housecreep.com is a crime discovery website developed by Toronto brothers Robert and

Albert Armieri. Visitors can submit an address and see whether a crime was committed on the

property. The site currently has over 24,000 addresses entered and about the same number of

events listed.

Weisleder says it’s not a bad idea for sellers to sign a clause saying that they are not aware of

issues relating to murder, suicide and grow ops. You can also scour the internet for info about

a property’s past. But your best line of defense involves shoe leather. Speak to neighbours in

the area of the house. They’re likely to tell you if those walls witnessed more than their share of

criminal or objectionable activity.

The FreemanTeam®, Kate Hobson and Alex Beauregard sponsored awesome Pony Ride events. Kate Hobson’s event was held at Shaw Street PS and Alex Beauregard’s event was held at Palmerston PS.

Even if contemporary art isn’t your thing, you’re sure to have fun joining in with the regulars who attend this annual all-night celebration of art.

Expect about a million of them.

In its ninth year, this very popular, free art exhibit known as Scotiabank Nuit Blanche is produced by the City of Toronto in collaboration with the city’s art community. But artists naturally come from far and wide with about 400 mounting art installations and projects throughout the city. Starting on October 4, from sundown Saturday to sunset Sunday morning, the city comes to life during a 12-hour window in which throngs come to view more than 120 art exhibits scattered throughout Toronto.

Montreal’s Chelanie Beaudin-Quintin offers up a rather unusual inspiration in Screaming Booth, a private booth that lets you scream your fool head off in anger, frustration, happiness – whatever emotion strikes you. Festival goers are encouraged to let it rip inside the bright yellow booth, which will be located at Dundas and Spadina.  The artist came up with the idea for the screaming booth because she noticed a lack of spaces within urban settings in which people are free to express emotions.

Independent Toronto curator Magda Gonzalez-Mora has created Before Day Break, which includes 12 projects located in and around historic Fort York.  The exhibition examines the intricacy of everyday life and the perception of reality. Through these works, the artists reflect on different conditions that impact our ability to understand the world.

The Night Circus, which takes place at Roundhouse Park and Bremner Road, features 10 projects curated by Denise Markonish, curator at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass. Inspired by Erin Morgenstern’s book of the same title, the exhibition offers the spectacle of magic with an aura of darkness bubbling underneath. Artists astonish and entertain during this night circus that vanishes with the break of dawn

Heather Pesanti, senior curator at the Contemporary Austin in Austin, offers an exclusive performance-based exhibition for the first time ever at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche called Performance Anxiety. Curated in the spirit of symphony, events will take place throughout the night at Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square. Pesanti’s exhibition reflects the sensation and emotion an individual feels when facing the public.

For more detail on each artist and each exhibit go to www1.toronto.ca and search Nuit Blanche.

If David Fogel had the floor in a room full of wannabe home buyers he’d ask them to step back, take a breather and consider the lot size.

Too many buyers get caught up in the details of countertops, windows and floors, all items that depreciate in value over time. Instead purchasers should consider their lot. It’s the lot that is the driver of rising house prices.

“The home investment has two components, the house and the lot” says the 58-year-old realtor and construction professional. “One is depreciating and the other is appreciating. The house might be depreciating at a snail’s pace but it’s still depreciating.”

Fogel, who has spent the last 30 years working in the construction industry, thinks purchasers would be wise to consider their lot size, especially the lot width, when buying. Call him, he’ll explain why. As an agent for Freeman Real Estate for almost 15 years, Fogel’s work focuses solely on buyers. His years of experience building and renovating means his clients have a builder with them at every home they consider, offering valuable information early in the process.

In a city like Toronto, renovations and additions to homes are common thanks in large part to the fact that the homes are getting up there in age with many over 100 years old.

“I’ve spent a good part of my real estate career helping people buy homes,” says the Toronto native. “Because of my combined experience, working for 30 years in both real estate sales and construction, I’m well equipped to help buyers evaluate a home, or estimate renovation costs or warn of potential hidden problems.”

David ran his own construction company for over 20 years. Today, his time is split between real estate sales and as a construction consultant at Altius Architecture, a large architectural firm that designs and builds modern homes.  This year Altius won an ARIDO interior design award for a home in Etobicoke.

A stickler for detail, David rarely has more than one or two clients at a time. And often, it takes viewings of more than 20 houses before his clients find the right one.

“To avoid any conflict of interests, I don’t work for two purchasers looking in the same area for same type of home” he says, “and I never sell, I simply answer questions, and I try to point out what may not be apparent to the untrained eye.”

Freeman Real Estate is happy to once again host one of its most popular community events, an Historic Walk of Seaton Village led by local historian and retired school teacher Marilyn Spearin.

The walk begins at 1 p.m. on September 28. Participants are asked to meet outside of Freeman Real Estate at 988 Bathurst St. just before that time. It runs about 1 ½ to two hours and explores the area between Bloor Street West to Dupont and Christie Street to Bathurst.

The tour will focus on the neighbourhood’s settlement period, which took place between the 1860s and 1920, and Marilyn will point out important buildings and homes and give the history of street names and other visual clues that tell the tale of the area’s past.

New to this year’s tour will be historical accounts of the names of various lanes. The naming of Seaton Village lanes is a fairly recent occurrence that was set in motion thanks to the Seaton Village Residents’ Association, which also worked at selecting those people and institutions worthy of merit.

Participants can expect to learn about Deborah Brown for whom a lane to the east of Markham Street has been named. Also known as Mammy Brown, Deborah was likely the first black resident of Seaton Village as a runaway slave from Maryland. In the 1860s the population of blacks in the neighbourhood was relatively large with about 50 people, many of whom had been born in the U.S. and escaped slavery by seeking refuge in Canada.

Another lane, the Mission House Lane is named after the Anglican Sisters of St. John the Divine. They ran a mission that provided basic food, clothing and medical aid for the indigent from 1890 to 1912.

On a personal note, we, Dan and Elden Freeman, are proud of the lane named in honour of our grandfather, Max Hartstone, who with our grandmother Sarah Hartstone, opened Steven’s Milk in 1958 on the corner of Bathurst and Olive. Max and his oldest son Marvin ran the store until Max’s death in 1982. The store was closed in 1998 when Marvin suffered a major heart attack. Today, the store is owned and operated by Helen and Steve Moon as Steven’s Groceries. But our family enjoyed a good run there for 40 years.

Marilyn is a member of the Community History Project, a non-profit citizens’ group of people interested in local history. The group runs the Tollkeeper’s Cottage, a museum at Davenport and Bathurst. Marilyn also edited a 40-plus-page booklet detailing the area’s history that is sold at the museum for $15.

In case of rain, the walk will take place at the same time on the following Sunday, October 5.

As we express gratitude for the light in our lives this Thanksgiving, perhaps we should also take a page from the Japanese viewpoint that finds joy in imperfection and send a little nod to the beauty within our own flawed corner of the world.

This aesthetic ideal is known as wabi-sabi and it dates back centuries, emerging as a reaction to tea ceremonies that had become ridiculously drawn out and ostentatious. Some decided to return these communal get-togethers to their roots as simpler, quieter occasions that employed local materials and artisans.

The Japanese have embraced the attitude of wabi-sabi for years, finding beauty in a world that is imperfect, simple, rustic, impermanent and old. Wabi-sabi is not just a style of design but more of a way of life, explains Robyn Griggs Lawrence, who was instrumental in introducing North America to the concept through her two books, The Wabi-Sabi House and Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House.

“It’s not going out and buying hot-house flowers from Brazil but finding native plants from right where you are,” she explained recently from her home in Colorado. “It’s about practicing and developing your sense of gratitude and contentment for what is right there.”

Lawrence believes those who embrace wabi-sabi will naturally learn to become more appreciative of their lives and have more free-flowing gratitude. She believes it can help people to accept and embrace their homes as sacred, nurturing spaces.

“Wabi-sabi is everything that today’s sleek, mass-produced, technology-saturated culture isn’t,” she says in The Wabi-Sabi House. “It’s flea markets, not warehouse stores; aged wood, not Pergo; rice paper, not glass. Wabi-sabi celebrates cracks and crevices and rot and all the other marks that time and weather and use leave behind.”

“Wabi-sabi is all about clearing away the clutter and dreck so that we can appreciate our homes as beautiful, just the way they are,” she says.

Lawrence’s books are laid out in a type of 12-step pattern in which the reader is taken on a journey that covers topics large and small. You learn tips for slowing down, choosing local artisans or handmade items over imports, the art of silence and meditation, the importance of getting rid of clutter and how to offer your hospitality.

“It’s not how to be Martha Stewart and impress the hell out of your guests. There’s a whole piece on soul in the book.”

In an effort to embrace wabi-sabi, you need to accept the imperfection of your home, a move Lawrence says will prove wonderful and freeing because we all know “that to-do list can make you unhappy in your own home.”

Here are some simple steps from Lawrence’s book for incorporating wabi-sabi into your life right now:

• One day a week, wash the dinner dishes by hand. Taking on this task alone allows you quiet, uninterrupted time to think—or not think.
• Pay attention to your daily bread. Is the food you’re eating in season, and is it available locally? Through the meals you choose and prepare, you can connect with the earth’s cycles and with the place where you live—and live a healthier life. Buy food from your local farmers’ markets and ask the produce manager at your grocery store where different items came from.
• Next time you sweep the floor, consider it a meditation. Opt for the broom over the Dirt Devil whenever possible.
• When you’re invited to someone’s house or even just to a meeting, bring a small gift—nothing extravagant, just a small gesture (a jar of homemade jam, apples from your tree or a luxurious bar of soap) that lets them know they’re appreciated.
• Offer everyone who comes to visit a cup of tea. Serve it in pretty cups with a little something sweet. If no one comes by, enjoy a cup of tea by yourself in the late afternoon.
• Keep one vase in your home filled with seasonal flowers.
• Take a walk every day. Let this be your opportunity to open up your senses and to experience the changing seasons.
• Learn to knit or crochet.
• Next time you buy something, stop and ask questions. Who made it? How was it made? Where does it come from?

Who knows? Slowing down a little may give us the presence of mind to appreciate more.

The National Association of Green Agents and Brokers (NAGAB) provide a Greenbroker and Greenagent certification program to Realtors across Canada. To get more information or to sign up for a course, visit www.nagab.org. Elden Freeman M.E.S., AGB, broker is the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization. 1-877-524-9494 Email elden@nagab.org.

Freeman Real Estate hosted a very successful moth night in Vermont Square Park on July 31 2014. This was the fourth year sponsoring this event. We thank world famous moth scholar and expert David Beadle for making lots of big and small kids happy!

Given the extreme weather we’ve been having – from floods and ice storms to reports of tornadoes – it’s difficult to know what September has in store as I write this in early August.

Will the weather gods smile down and give us a month filled with balmy Indian-summer days?

Or will September feel winter’s looming grip just around the corner? Either way, September is the perfect time to start getting your outdoors ready for the big chill.

Begin by putting together an attractive autumn planter using the best of the fall season –ornamental cabbages and kales, mums, cora bells, verbena and sedum. Hopefully this may inspire you to continue with garden jobs that are less immediately rewarding.

Collect seeds for next spring and harvest herbs for drying and other ripened vegetables.

If your hostas are the size of Mini Coopers now is the time to divide and conquer. Overgrown perennials can flower poorly and become floppy. Fall is the best time to divide perennials and share them with neighbours or to plant elsewhere. Water the plant well a day or two before digging it up. Try to divide on a cloudy day as hot sun will stress plants.

Now is the time to plant spring and summer flowering perennials as well as new trees and shrubs allowing six to eight weeks for roots to form before winter’s frost sets in. Be sure to add compost or manure to your garden beds.

While this is easy to neglect, watering trees and shrubs until the ground freezes is an important task as it helps them better weather the ravages of winter.

Don’t let fall leaves go to waste. Shred collected leaves and bag them to be used as winter mulch.

Pull weeds before they go to seed to reduce the amount of weeds your lawn and garden will have next year.

Don’t forget to turn off your outside water taps. Store hoses and sprinklers. Clean and store or cover bird feeders, gardening tools, water features. Empty and clean clay containers. Bring them indoors to protect them from cracking.

If you’re a big fan of the ‘Stinking Rose’ otherwise known as garlic then you will want to find a sunny spot to plants your cloves. Plant cloves eight centimetres deep and 15 centimetres apart. Expect to harvest the following July.

Root vegetables such as carrots and parsnips can be harvested all winter. Remove top foliage from the plants and cover them with a 15-centimetre-thick mulch of leaves or straw. Throw an old piece of carpeting on top and let the snow fall as it may. Lift the coverings to dig out veggies as needed.

Feed your lawn with organic lawn fertilizer in the fall. Typically, these fertilizers while more expensive up front are cost effective in the long run as they require fewer applications in addition to decreasing the need for pest controls and promoting better growing conditions. Or you can try making some with your very own compost. Fill a bucket or container one-quarter full with compost and top up with water. Leave for three days and then strain the mixture. Dilute the compost tea with water before spraying your lawn. Also, remember to aerate your lawn as well.

While none of these suggestions will ward off winter’s arrival, know that your lawn and gardens will be better off for making the effort come spring.

The National Association of Green Agents and Brokers (NAGAB) provide a Greenbroker and Greenagent certification program to Realtors across Canada. To get more information or to sign up for a course, visit www.nagab.org. Elden Freeman M.E.S., AGB, broker is the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization. 1-877-524-9494 Email elden@nagab.org.

Ask Martyn Balsky why he’s working in real estate and he’ll tell you it’s because he enjoys helping people.

Dig a little deeper and you’ll learn that all his experience have led to this career, beginning in his early days at a family business that manufactured menswear to working as a commercial real estate agent and recently in the remediation business.

In one form or another – from residential and commercial real estate to land development and remediation related to brownfields — he’s been putting together deals, scoping out sites and trying to find value for his clients.

The difference between what he’s done and what he’s doing is that now his energies are directed at finding the right fit for clients within an increasingly feverish real estate market.

“To be good at real estate you need to be a bartender, a wet nurse, a psychiatrist,” says the 51-year-old married father who is one of Freeman Real Estate’s newest agents. “You need to listen really well and to read between the lines as to what people really want. Sometimes clients can’t articulate their wants and needs. Our job is to ferret it out through profound questioning. You have to be able to articulate what most people can’t visualize.”

The Toronto native is skilled at reading people thanks in part to a vast and varied educational background that started with a philosophy degree from the University of Toronto, followed by a business degree program in management and administration (CIM), and a diploma in construction engineering.

What clients can expect with Balsky is a cool head, experience and a deep understanding of the dynamics of the real estate marketplace.

“I’m brutally honest if someone asks me for their opinion,” he says. “I will tell them what I think regardless of how gung-ho they might be. I think candour and truthfulness and integrity are values my clients appreciate and eventually warm to. This business is often fuelled by a lot of emotion and not a lot of reality. You need to have a clear head and a clear mind.”

Because his name and reputation are of paramount importance, Balsky rolls in a way that might be considered different than his colleagues. He worries that people are over leveraging themselves by buying houses that are over inflated. “People are buying on fairy dust they are so over leveraged.” If there is a significant correction it will be because those buyers who chose to purchase with mostly borrowed funds, could pull the market downwards.

A vocal critic of multiple offers for his clients, Balsky is the first to tell clients to steer clear whenever possible and have a maximum in mind that they are willing to pay regardless of the amount of offers.

“I always tell my clients it’s not preferable to engage in bidding-war scenarios,” he says. “It’s too emotionally charged and precarious and I think at the end of the day people may be over paying. I’m in this for the long run and I don’t want my clients to get burned.”

The building blocks that form the foundation of Catharine MacIntosh’s professional life are at first glance a seemingly dissimilar array of disciplines.

But on closer inspection, her political background in combination with her know-how in sustainable design and technology and her experience with business innovation all contribute to making Freeman Real Estate’s newest realtor an extremely  well-rounded one.

“I love being involved in opportunities that ignite change,” says the 43-year-old. “Owning Real Estate can give you the real power to do some

thing. With a property, you have invested in your future and compared to other investment vehicles it can provide constant leverage for growth.”

As a four-year-old growing up in Calgary Catharine would tell her grandmother that she wanted to be the prime minister of Canada. Ambitious and industrious, she obtained a political science degree from the University of Calgary and would go on to work at the Canadian embassy in Washington, DC, starting in the press office and winding her way throughout the embassy working in several departments such as finance and defence procurement.

In 2001, she returned to Canada to seek a degree in environmental design from OCAD University. A Toronto architecture firm hired Catharine upon graduation. While there, she became a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited professional, the 83rd person to do so in the province of Ontario.

Catharine then moved to a business innovation think tank and helped Dutch-based Philips Corporation secure a U.S. patent for pioneering work done within the corporation’s hotel sector.

She then worked on a highly original project at Dundas and Bathurst. The space included commercial space, would ultimately house a Starbucks and was unique in that she developed a co-working space on the ground level called “The Foundery”.

It was thanks to one of the Foundery owners who suggested Catharine consider a career in real estate that she pursued her license.  She interviewed at a number of brokerages – discount, mainstream franchises and couture – when she happened upon Freeman.

“I was immediately impressed,” she says. “I had a list of wants and they met them all – they’re family owned, they’re Canadian, they’re accessible with their expertise, experience, intelligent and sound advice, caring mentorship and support. They’re down-to-earth and they treat everyone in a professional manner. And they love dogs and have a ‘dog-friendly’ office—how great is that!?”

Catharine finds much value in the weekly staff get togethers otherwise known as the Freeman Café in which realtors discuss topics, share ideas, brainstorm and problem solve.

As a resident of Kensington Market, Catharine feels she has a special expertise in the downtown core and that’s something she plans to capitalize on as she hones her real estate career. It’s the convergence of her knowledge and expertise in design, technology and business innovation that add up to quite an impressive backdrop for a career in real estate.

“My personal motto is simply, be magnificent,” says Catharine. “Just go and try and do it.
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