Friday Night Jazz Series- Latin and Jazz Lula Lounge 8 pm

Friday Night Jazz series Date: November 23, 2012 Venue: Lula Lounge- 1585 Dundas West Toronto, ON 8 pm 8pm- 9pm With Don Naduriak and Don Laws and Roberto Riveron Jazz dinner show Lulalounge.ca for reservations Share | via laurafernandezmusic.com

Mississauga Arts Council annual Cranberry Breakfast

MISSISSAUGA ARTS COUNCIL ANNUAL CRANBERRY BREAKFAST! LATIN JAZZ SENSATION, LAURA FERNANDEZ EXPLORES “BALANCING YOUR ART, BALANCING YOUR LIFE”

Date: December 7, 2012

Venue: 7:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Living Arts Centre (4141 Living Arts Drive).

With the holidays approaching and family and friends toasting, the Mississauga Arts Council invites you to celebrate the season at its annual Cranberry Breakfast, Balancing your Art, Balancing your Life on Friday, December 7, 2012 from 7:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the Living Arts Centre (4141 Living Arts Drive).
The Cranberry Breakfast is an invigorating morning of networking, inspiration, a delicious holiday breakfast, raffle prizes and entertainment. The morning will be hosted by Singer/Songwriter and Jazz FM Radio personality, Laura Fernandez, who will be sharing her secrets to balancing her busy career as a sought-after musician, media personality, realtor and mother. “My life has always been a balance of art and function. I dream, I work hard and I do my best to make things work and to fulfill my responsibilities without compromising my responsibility to myself and to my art. I also have great faith and a lot of help and encouragement!” expresses Laura Fernandez.
If you feel overwhelmed and fragmented as a busy artist, come to this interactive event and learn tips on balancing the modern day demands of being an artist. Come and enjoy a keynote discussion by Laura followed by a spicy performance of her original Latin Jazz compositions.
This is definitely one event you won’t want to miss! Some of the topics that will be covered by Laura include: How to balance a “day job” with your arts career; Finding time to work at your craft; Balancing family life with your career; Valuing “downtime”; The importance of identifying goals; How to become a ‘thriving artist’ instead of ‘starving artist’; How to avoid over-commitment and spreading yourself too thin. Following Laura’s discussion and performance, we will open the floor to you, giving everyone in attendance the opportunity to announce any upcoming events they would like to promote and share their triumphs from the past year.
The Cranberry Breakfast will be held at the Living Arts Centre, located at 4141 Living Arts Drive. Tickets are now available to purchase for $25 for MAC members and $30 for non-members. They can be purchased by calling the office at 905-615-4278 or emailing info@mississaugaartscouncil.com. For more information, please go online at www.mississaugaartscouncil.com. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MissArtsCouncil and Twitter @MissArtsCouncil.

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Opening for Eliades Ochoa and la Banda Patria _ Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto

What a wonderful experience! Sold out shows in all three cities, beatuful venues also. I was surrounded by great talent and generosity. A special thank you to Noah Zacharin who played along side me on the tour, the organizers and Eliades Ochoa and la Banda Patria! Here are some highlights of the Toronto show at the Danforth Music Hall. Thanks to Robert M Saxe for the great photos!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Real Estate in Toronto

Should your home’s selling price be made public?

Canada's competition commissioner says any member of the public should be able to find out a home's sale price.

Should you care whether someone knows how much you paid for your home?

Some people think that information should be made public, while others believe that constitutes an invasion of privacy. Why should a stranger have access to that kind of information?

This issue is a big bone of contention and now the basis of a lawsuit launched by Ottawa’s Commissioner of Competition against the Toronto Real Estate Board. The commissioner holds that anyone should be able to go onto a real estate brokerage’s website and see any price of a recently sold home in their neighbourhood. In Ontario, real estate agents can view prices through their local MLS system, but members of the public cannot. In Canada, only Nova Scotia lets everyone see this information, while in the United States, access is for the most part universal.

Read more about the lawsuit here.

More of my clients are asking if there is a way to keep the price they paid for their home off the title records that are accessible by anyone. It can be done if you make arrangements to pay the land transfer tax before closing. This way you keep the price you paid off the title.

The competition commissioner believes that if sold prices were publicly available, buyers could figure out what to offer on a home themselves and would not need to employ a real estate agent. In my view, it wouldn’t change anything because there are many varied reasons why a home sells for a particular price. For example:

•Two houses on the same street, the same size, built by the same builder, may have different views and layouts, which can make a big difference in their curb appeal.

•The price is affected by seller motivations. One vendor may have to sell quickly because she has bought a house, or has had a change of life circumstance, whether through death, marriage breakup, or job relocation.

•A history of sewage backups could affect a selling price, or whether the house backs onto a park or ravine, or is close to a hydro tower.

•What about a wind farm that has just been announced as coming to your area, a crazy neighbour, or a halfway house located on the same block?

In the U.S., sold prices have been available for years. A study compiled by the National Association of Realtors found that 89 per cent of deals done in 2011 were handled by real estate agents. This figure was much higher than it had been before the Internet came into common use.

Before the lawyers make too much money fighting over privacy, my hope is that this issue can be settled amicably and that buyers and sellers continue to receive all the information they need, whichever way they might try to buy or sell a home.

thanks to Mark Weisleder for sharing his knowledge with us.

Mark is a real estate lawyer in Toronto , Canada

The State of the Real estate market in Toronto- Update

Real Estate Market Update

Major media outlets are referring to August 2012 sales figures from several sources. TREB reported a decline in sales of 12% with a 22% decline in condominiums. Media are pointing to a dramatic decline in activity from August 2011.

Some media have asserted that prolonged, low interest rates have fueled recent sales gains and have artificially propped up the real estate market. They credit the recent mortgage rule changes with the coincidental decline in sales.

Last week Macleans Magazine reported that “Canadian Housing, there is an obvious over supply problem in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.” This story referenced monthly downtown Toronto condo sales of approximately 350 units for August 2012. Declaring it a four year low.

TREB reports over 660 units sold for August 2012. Lower than 2011 but on par with 2010, not a four year low. Macleans is conveniently picking a specific district in the core to justify their point.

Closer examination of the complete market data for central Toronto reveals a different story.  The aggregate statistics that the media are referring to are simply averages of many diverse market segments. Each differentiated by product segments, price categories and geography.  Generalizations of this nature result in inaccurate or misleading summations.

Following the GTA statistics at the top level is similar to quoting the TSX numbers. That doesn't reveal the whole picture.

Fundamentals that exist in the market include the following. Modest price appreciation of 6.5%, balanced listing inventory, with healthy absorption rates.

Supply is not out pacing demand. TREB reported that in August 2012 the new listings were 5% less than new listings in August 2011. The Sales to new listing ratio for August 2012 was 0.55, down slightly from 2011. This typically will take pressure off of price appreciation.

The decline in sales activity experienced in August compares with the same relative rate of change in sales the past two years.  This indicates a seasonal market adjustment, driven more by consumer behavior rather than mortgage rule changes in 2012 as a cause.

Affordability is a key driver for the housing market. Affordability remains at historic levels. Low interest rates have maintained affordability even as prices have risen.

Healthy immigration has contributed to maintaining demand. That along with domestic demand has contributed to maintaining a balance in the overall housing market.

It is never been more important for the consumer to have an expert interpret how their property is impacted by the market. That expert is not the media. By combining intelligent interpretation with acute awareness of market activity, we have never been in a better position than today to assist our clients.

This article was written By Gary Zalepa Jr. VP Royal LePage Johnston and Daniel Division Brokerage

A Sweet gig with the world renowned Luis Mario Ochoa!

Laura Fernandez with Luis Mario Ochoa at Bloom!! Date: September 20, 2012 Venue: Bloom Retaurant -2315 Bloor St W Toronto 7 pm 2 sets Luis Mario Ochoa is a world class entertainer , it is a treat to see him in this intimate setting and a treat to be invited to share the evening with him! This little gem on Bloor West has a  delicious Latin American menu as well as  excellent service! A perfect evening!! Share | via laurafernandezmusic.com

Skip Prokop's Jazz friends

I'm really excited to be included in Skip's new blog project Skips Jazz Friends, you all can check it out!

http://skipsjazzfriends.blogspot.ca/2012/07/skips-july-jazz-friends.html