In 2005, Kyle MacDonald, a Saskatchewan man, made 14 trades, upgrading from a little red paperclip to a two-storey farmhouse. Charles Moffat, a Toronto web designer and blogger wants to do the same, using a Hot Wheels toy car to get a condo. While the task he faces will be much more difficult given the cost of a Toronto condo, he thinks it’s doable.
In his search for trade partners, Moffat uses social media and documents the story on his blog, mysearchforahome.blogspot.ca. So far he’s made just 2 trades. For his first trade, Moffat swapped the Hot Wheels toy car for a Mastercraft Digital Multimeter Kit, worth an estimated $56 at Canadian Tire. Less than 3 weeks later, Moffat has made his second trade for a Retro Red Raleigh Mixte Bicycle. It’s estimated worth is about $150. Although he’s been offered all sorts of strange things in exchange, but he’s holding out for something more. Here are some of the stranger items he’s been offered:
A collection of Magic the Gathering Cards
An offer of $250 worth of beadwork from a Toronto artist.
Two metal contraptions.
A 3rd generation 8GB iPod.
A pre-1940s, antique Bulova pocket watch believed to be circa 1925. Value estimated at $250 to $350, but not for certain.
I wish Charles Moffat all the luck in the world. Personally, I think he’s going to need it.
How did Kyle MacDonald do it?
Kyle MacDonald traded his little red paperclip with a fish-shaped pen. That fish-shaped pen got him a handcrafted doorknob. The doorknob, in turn, was traded for a Coleman camp stove. The stove included fuel. A couple of months later, MacDonald traded the camp stove for a Honda generator.
Almost two months later, that generator generated an interesting trade: an empty keg, an IOU to fill the keg with the beer of the holder’s choice and a neon Budweiser sign. Quebec comedian and radio personality, Michel Barrette, offered MacDonald a Ski-doo snowmobile in exchange for the party pack, and that Ski-doo later turned into a two-person trip to Yahk, British Columbia. In exchange for the trip, MacDonald received a cube van, which was later swapped for a recording contract with Metal Works in Toronto. MacDonald then traded the contract for one year’s worth of rent in Phoenix, Arizona. Just 15 days later, the one-year’s rent in Phoenix was traded for an afternoon with Alice Cooper, which was then traded for a KISS motorized snow globe (I’m not really sure what that’s worth). Less than one week later, MacDonald traded the snow globe (weird) to Corbin Bernsen for a role in the film, Donna on Demand. Someone wanted that role bad enough to trade it for a two-storey farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan.
It took MacDonald 14 trades and just under a year to get a two-story home in exchange for a red paperclip. If he can do it, I don’t doubt for a second that Moffat can too. Maybe I can too. In fact, I’d like to offer up $100 worth of writing services (seriously). Any takers?
Does anyone have an offer for Charles Moffat (or for me)? Feel free to post your offer here.
With a lack of land available in big cities, developers are coming up with more and more creative condominium designs. In Toronto, for example, developers are incorporating older buildings like churches into their designs. The Toronto Star says that the redevelopment of churches “is a great way to pay homage to the rich history of the buildings, and also a way to ensure that they survive another era.”
The next Toronto church up for development is the Bloor Street Church. While it will remain the head office for the United Church of Canada, it will also be part of a development project, including a sleek condominium tower. The glass tower will connect to the back of the building, while the main facades will be maintained as per the church’s request. Although nothing has been finalized as of yet, the plans for the building look stunning.
When 30-year old Melissa Hart sold her condo in Richmond Hill to move to Toronto, she had no idea finding a new home in the city was going to be so difficult. She and partner aren’t looking for anything out of the ordinary. All they want is something small – a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home in a nice area. They moved to the city to avoid the daily commute, but since they can’t find anything affordable, they’ve been renting an apartment since their arrival.
“I’ve been looking at the real estate market in this city for years and years – casually looking,” says Hart. “And I just keep seeing prices get crazier and crazier.”
After months of searching, Hart and her partner weren’t able to find anything remotely in their price range. In her opinion, most of the houses on the market are insanely overpriced and totally not worth it. One day, Hart drove past a starter home on Danforth. It was small and rundown, but she thought that it was likely well within their price range. When she returned home that evening, she looked up the property only to find that the listing was totally inaccurate – and wildly overpriced.
This past week, a Toronto waterfront home listed for a record $8-million. The 4+1 bedroom house is located in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood. Its current asking price is significantly more than double what it last sold for – a cool $2.8-million in 2007. What makes this property worth so much? Likely that it’s one of just over a dozen homes in the city that has easy access to Lake Ontario.
Realtors are said to often exaggerate the proximity of properties to the lake, but with this one, there’s no exaggeration. The 7,000 square-foot home is quite literally just steps away from the beach – a stretch of sand that spans a good fifty feet. It’s apparently one of the rare sections where dogs are allowed to run leash-free.
Never mind the beach; the home itself is stunning. What used to be seven apartments has recently seen a $4-million renovation and is now a 4+1 bedroom single family home. Outside, the walkways are heated, so they require no shoveling during the winter months. Next to the pool you’ll find a hot tub and a putting green, all surrounded by a fence which allows for stunning views, but blocks anyone from seeing in. Although the lot itself is small, it does allow for parking for four cars. Property taxes are almost $23,000 per year.
Inside, the home features a library, a marble island counter in the kitchen, a wine-tasting room and large windows throughout. The view of Lake Ontario is said to be spectacular.
Estimating big or small home repairs like basement, electrical, plumbing, roofing, funance and air-conditioning is a necessary evil when becoming a homeowner.
Here’s a general budget guide for the big-ticket items; the ones you really need to think about when buying a property especially when they are older. Keep in mind that contractors can vary as much as 300% in quotes depending on quality of workmanship and material and in different economic conditions.
For the past three years, 31-year old Joel Allen has kept a secret – a secret that was just too delicious to keep any longer. Using his own money and scraps he collected off of Craigslist, the former software developer turned carpenter built a secret egg-shaped tree house in the heart of Whistler, B.C. The only problem is, it wasn’t built on his land – it belongs to the Crown. Better known as HemLoft, the orb currently hangs from a precipitous slope in a stand of towering hemlocks, but is at risk of being removed altogether. Dwell, a popular design magazine featured the unique building in a recent issue; since then the story has gone viral, which may put his not-quite-legal project at risk.
A New Jersey couple is suing their landlord for renting them a haunted house. Josue Chinchilla and Michele Callan are suing for their $2,250 deposit, claiming that the strange happenings in their apartment are “paranormal activity.” The two even hired local ghostbusters, the Shore Paranormal Research Society, to determine whether or not their home was indeed haunted. It’s either that or they’re imagining things.
The couple’s landlord isn’t convinced, though. He thinks they’re using it as an excuse to get out of paying their rent and their one-year lease. As a result, he is countersuing for losses.
When my partner recently bought a new truck, he was able to ask for a car fax that outlined the history of the vehicle and any accidents it may have been in. From there, he was able to make an educated decision as to whether or not he wanted to buy the vehicle. According to the car fax he obtained, the truck in question had been in one minor accident. It had caused a dent in the front bumper, which wasn’t enough to deter him from purchasing the truck.
Now that we’re looking into purchasing our first home together, the risks feel higher though, since we can’t ask for a house fax. I’ve often thought it would be wonderful to learn about a home’s history, especially if you’re in the market to buy. Well now you can, thanks to an Ottawa-based company called Homeproof.com. For just $99, you can order a home history report and feel confident in your decision to buy.
You probably already know that when you choose to sell your home using a real estate professional you have to sign a Listing Agreement. Did you know, though, that there’s also an agreement for homebuyers? While some contracts can be scary, this is one that certainly isn’t. The Buyer Representation Agreement works in your favour and guarantees that you receive the very best in real estate service.
In Ontario, the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), a public agency that was formed to protect both consumers as well as agents, has introduced a set of guidelines that instruct real estate professionals to have their clients sign the Buyer Representation Agreement at the earliest time possible. When choosing representation, buyers can sign one of two agreements – the Buyer Representation Agreement of the Buyer Customer Service Agreement. In this article, we will only be talking about the Buyer Representation Agreement or B.R.A.
It started with that REM song, “It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine).” Out of nowhere, my partner and I began talking about the end of the world and what we’d do in the event that we survived. At first we chuckled uncomfortably at the idea, but then we got serious – well, sort of serious. Where would we go? How would we survive? If the world was going to end, how did we think it would end? The conversation eventually took the inevitable turn towards the ridiculous and we found ourselves talking about the “zombie apocalypse.” After discussing the best way to bludgeon a zombie to death, the conversation ended and I went back to doing the dishes. Two days later I would find an article on “Doomsday preppers” in my inbox – and it wasn’t a joke.
