Season's Greetings From Livehigh.com!

All of us at Livehigh would like to thank you for your continuous support. Your comments and feedback are taken very seriously and will help us continue to shape and improve the website.

We wish you all a very safe & happy holiday season.

See you in the new year!

The Livehigh Team

Considerations When Buying A Condominium

In addition to price and location, there are other important factors that should be considered when making your home purchase. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has done a great job of creating a comprehensive guide to explain the basics of condo ownership and help potential buyers through the selection process.

The CMHC Condominium Buyers' Guide can be downloaded for free here.

We think this guide might be especially helpful for first-time buyers, and have highlighted some points of interest after the jump.

Hints & Tips For Condo Living: Deck The Halls…But Hold The Holly?

With the holidays just around the corner, many of us are getting into the spirit of the season by sprucing up our homes with a little festive décor. Before you shell out for that live evergreen however, you may want to check whether your building will allow it. Many condo boards don’t permit live trees to be used due to the fire hazards they can pose, and the mess they can cause in common areas (if you’ve ever tried to transport even one live pine tree, let alone say, 200 in a condo building, then you can probably picture the foliage rug that would result – not a pretty sight!)

While there’s nothing quite like the scent of fresh pine, artificial trees have come a long way over the years and there are some great alternatives for condo dwellers who want to have their Christmas tree (and put it up, too.)

Details after the jump...

Hints & Tips For Condo Living: Shoe Storage

38 pairs and counting...

Are your shoes invading what is already a limited space?  Not sure what to do with all those shoes scattered all over the floor?

A practical option is to use a bookcase to customize your own shoe-shelving unit.  We like the BILLY Bookcase from IKEA - it's not only style-savvy but also budget-conscious!  And with its many different designs, it provides a world of options for custom shelving.

 Benefits:

• Available in a wide variety of heights, widths, and colours, the BILLY Bookcase fits into many different spaces with ease, and matches almost any decor;
• Different styles can be mixed and matched to customize your ideal storage space;
• An economical option for custom closet shelving, starting at only $29.99 (CAD);
• Quick and easy to assemble;  
• Additional shelves can be purchased separately so that your storage unit can be tailored to fit as many types and pairs of shoes needed.
• Placement suggestions for small spaces;
• The 41-inch bookcase can fit into the coat closet by the entrance of your home, still leaving enough room to hang your jackets above.
• The bookcase is shallow enough to fit into the gap behind a bedroom door.

Considerations:

• The shelves may not be deep enough for larger sizes (but remember, shoes can be lined up from back-to-front or side-to-side).
• Adding a liner or shelf-protector sheet can help to reduce wear-and-tear from dirt and water.
• You may be able to find the bookcase online at a discount (e.g. Kijiji or Craigslist).

Vancouver Condos

Vancouver's beautiful skyline at sunset...

...and the gorgeous view in the opposite direction!

The Livehigh team recently travelled to Vancouver.  For some of us, it was our first trip out to the west coast and boy, were we smitten!  We have fond memories of Granville Island, Robson Street and Stanley Park...but we can't forget to mention the purpose of our trip:  the condos!  Celebrated for its natural scenic beauty, Vancouver is also known as the City of Glass* given the many glass condo towers that dominate its skyline.

Some observations from our visit after the jump...

Google Maps Mania!

Our condo search tool was recently featured on London-based Keir Clarke’s blog, which tracks new mashups and tools on the web that are built using the Google Maps API.

Thanks for the mention, Google Maps Mania!

Welcome To The Livehigh Condo Blog!

Thanks for visiting!  If you’ve landed here, then you may have already checked out our new website.  As you can see, the site is now live and we’re busy working away in preparation for our official launch!  You may notice small changes being made throughout the site on a daily basis - please excuse us while we continue to improve the site.  We're doing all we can to become your one-stop condo resource!

In the meantime, feel free to explore the site to access information and photos for over 1,000 condos in the Greater Toronto Area.  Sign up for a free membership to unlock some handy additional site features!

Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed to stay updated with the latest website news.  And please, please, please spread the word to your family and friends!

We have much more in store for you, so stay tuned!