Via Capitale - 4 May 2012
Source : iStockPhoto
According to a survey conducted on behalf of CIBC Bank at the beginning of March, 50% of Canadians would opt for a fixed mortgage rate today, compared to 39% last year.
At 32%, the popularity of variable rate mortgages has not changed. However, the percentage of people who are undecided has dropped considerably, from 30% last year to 18% this year. Conclusion: most Canadians who were undecided last year opted for a fixed rate given the stability of the interest rate.
Final result: just 6% of Canadians believe that mortgage rates will decrease over the next year, while 86% believe that they won’t change. If they do change, they will go up.
This is good news in the eyes of the CIBC, because it means that many owners took into account a potential increase in interest rates in their mortgage planning, which is a sign of caution. (more…)
Tags: fixed rate, mortgage, survey, variable rate
Categories: Financing |
No Comments
Via Capitale - 4 May 2012
source : Wikipedia
Us Via Capitale bloggers search the world for unusual buildings. Yet we have a building in our own backyard that causes tourists to look twice when they come across it. We see it because it’s been part of the landscape for almost half a century: Habitat 67.
Take a look at it and you will quickly include it in the category of unusual buildings, because it really is! The architecture of cubes piled haphazardly on top of each other borders on the grotesque, somewhat like the works of Gaudi in Barcelona.
If you find the word grotesque irritating, you should know that none other than Victor Hugo once declared: “As a means of contrast with the sublime, the grotesque is, in our view, the richest source that nature can offer.”
Built as part of Expo 67, of which one of the themes was housing, Habitat 67 is a product of the era’s obsession with building vertically to respond to the growing urban density. It’s kind of a futuristic solution to coming needs.
The pavilion has been visited by thousands of people from around world. After it was used by the federal government, the complex was converted into condos in the 1980s. (more…)
Tags: apartments, Expo 67, Habitat 67, tourism, urban density
Categories: Out Of The Ordinary |
No Comments
Via Capitale - 4 May 2012
Ecorad radiator
Are we the only ones to have suffered from the cold and humidity of the last few months? The only ones to dream of more clement weather?
Even with electronic thermostats in the house, we would get a chill when the sun set. A colleague spoke to us about radiant heating, but with electricity rather than heating oil. You remember those iron radiators that we used to see in our grandparents homes. The ones that they used to say “weighed a ton.” (more…)
Tags: Ecorad, energy, heating, radiator, temperature, thermostat
Categories: Renovation |
No Comments
Via Capitale - 1 April 2012
Despite the extraordinary and sustained prestige this building garners, there is no envy in this prestige, as the building is considered to be one of the ugliest in England. In fact, it often finds itself in the top three.
It’s up to you whether or not you like it. And don’t be offended if we take the liberty of confirming that, although it’s not ugly, it has a long way to go to match the beauty of Versailles or the Prague Royal Palace. (more…)
Tags: architecture, Birmingham, commercial, Selfridges, unique
Categories: Out Of The Ordinary |
No Comments
Via Capitale - 1 April 2012
If they had to do it all over again, baby boomers would invest more in real estate. If they had a second chance at planning their retirement, 35% would invest in real estate, 31% would opt for guaranteed investment certificates and 20% would choose cash. (more…)
Tags: investment, mortgage, real estate, retirement, RRSP
Categories: Financing |
No Comments
Via Capitale - 1 April 2012
Source : iStockPhoto
Feel like freshening up your decor now that spring is here? Changing the colour of a wall can do miracles. Virtual paint makes it child’s play to imagine the effect of a colour on a wall, furniture or an accessory. We had a look at a few sites for you that offer a virtual paint service: CIL, Sico and Benjamin Moore.
(more…)
Tags: Benjamin Moore, CIL, colours, paint, Sico, virtual paint
Categories: Decoration |
No Comments
Via Capitale - 1 April 2012
Natural stones such as marble, granite and onyx offer a thousand and one renovation possibilities. These noble materials liven up your decor.
You can use them to change your counters, dinner table, coffee table, and flooring, whatever you like. Try something different and go out and discover the stone that inspires you. (more…)
Tags: counter, flooring, granite, marble, natural stone, onyx
Categories: Renovation |
No Comments
Via Capitale - 1 March 2012
Have you ever noticed that in epic movies, there is often a great scene where, as a spectator, you go through a natural gateway that leads to a mysterious kingdom?
The gateway can be an arch, two rocky columns, two huge fountains, two big trees leaning over a water course.
We can’t wait to get to the other side to see what waits. In the Lord of the Rings for example, the community slides slowly over a river by going between two huge and imposing men sculpted in the rock.
Relatively speaking, that’s the sensation you get from the two Kio towers in Madrid. From the top of their 114 metres and 26 storeys, they lean majestically over Paseo de la Castellana Boulevard. The two highnesses invite to step forward into a new world. (more…)
Tags: Europe's Gate, John Burgee, Kio towers, Madrid, Philip Johnson, Torres Kio
Categories: Out Of The Ordinary |
No Comments
Via Capitale - 1 March 2012
Source: Tamboa.com - Atelier Petite Californie
Just try it out. With children big and small. Use musical instruments as decorative items. Leave them lying around and see how people react.
Maybe you’re thinking about the djembe, flute and synthesizer? Interesting. But have you ever heard of the tamböa, cajón and darbouka? (more…)
Tags: cajon, darbouka, music instrument, percussion, tamboa
Categories: Decoration |
No Comments
