News

NAR Green Designation comes to Canada

Chris Chopik — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 17:29:23 +0000

On December 4th, 2012, Chris Chopik taught the first course for the newly Canadianized National Association Realtors Green Designation to a group of 20 realtors from the Greater Toronto Area. These realtors are the first to have this training in Canada, expand their value proposition and adjust to the changing marketplace.

Learn more about the Green Designation

Talk of mandatory energy audits

Chris Chopik — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:46:48 +0000

Voluntary energy labelling of houses offers untapped potential for individual Realtors, brokerages and franchises to create value for home buyers and sellers. Think about the energy labels on appliances and cars and food. The market is used to seeing product and energy information and labels. So what does a voluntary building label look like in the real estate marketplace?

Read the Rest of this article at REMOnline.com

Promoting Canada’s liveability rankings

Chris Chopik — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:34:39 +0000

The Economist’s World’s Most Liveable Cities issue ranks cities according to 39 data sets including safety, education, hygiene, health care, culture, environment, recreation, political-economic stability and public transportation. Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary sit in the top five on the The Economist’s list. These key Canadian real estate markets share the top five positions with Vienna, Austria and Melbourne, Australia. New York is used as baseline. Interestingly, some of the world’s most buoyant real estate markets are also on the list of top 100 cities.

The implication to Canada’s real estate marketplace is not directly correlative. I have many conversations with colleagues and clients who speculate about where our marketplace is getting its tenacity. Generational wealth transfer is definitely one source of Canadian real estate stability and growth. I believe the attraction of global foreign investment in a time of social, economic and environmental instability has a major impact on our market, and I think liveability taps the psyche of wealthy people the world over.

Read the rest of the article at REMOnline.com

Chris Chopik is a sustainability communication and policy consultant, Realtor and real estate instructor in Toronto.

Eco Home News: Real Estate and Rising Gas Prices

Chris Chopik — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:13:04 +0000

Originally Published in Tonic Magazine 2007. The suburban lifestyle is built on the baseline principal of cheap gasoline. Since 2003 we have seen gas prices more than double. Today we are seeing the impacts to quality of life for residents of Toronto’s suburban communities. This expensive transportation inflation is influencing behaviour and is fuelling a revaluation of where people choose to live and work, and how they choose to get around. As the cost of car commuting increases, suburban lifestyles will continue to evolve, and urban lifestyles will become the preferred alternative...

Tom Rand - Ontario, Net Importer or Net Exporter of CleanTech?

Chris Chopik — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:33:48 +0000

@TomRand speaks with Chris Chopik about the competitiveness imperative for the Green Energy Industry in Ontario. Originally published at Evolutiongreen.com

Ecohome News: A fresh perspective on roofing

Chris Chopik — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:55:34 +0000

I often hear the objection, “I am going to sell the house before I see the benefit of that investment.” While this has been true of the last 12 years of real estate, I am confident it will not be true of our foreseeable future market. In a market like the one we are dealing with now, imperfections in properties are negotiating tools for buyers. In the resale housing market, roof defects are a common negotiating opportunity. If I am selling a home with a steel roof, you can rest assured the buyer is doing to receive a positive report from the home inspector, and that has an implication to value.

Ecohome News: Why Ontario needs the Green Energy Act

Chris Chopik — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:49:02 +0000

There is no doubt that the Green Energy Act will have a compelling and lasting impact on Ontario’s real estate market and energy-scape in the coming years. I am convinced that this emerging market will have a strong and very positive influence on the future of real estate valuation. Our industry is a hub of economic activity and this legislation will ensure the buoyancy of Ontario’s housing stock in a predictable future market where energy inflation has a much more significant implication to value.

Michelle Kaufman Prefab Design - Evolving Green

Chris Chopik — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:44:18 +0000

An exciting new development in the world of prefab designs happened today, when Blu Homes, an East coast prefab home designer, announced that they had Read the Complete Article">acquired the assets of mkDesigns, Michelle Kaufman’s prefab home design company. Back in May we were so saddened to hear that Michelle was closing the doors of her firm due to the crash in the housing market. This new development is huge and combines the manufacturing capabilities of Blu Homes with Michelle’s amazing talent, letting her continue doing what she does best – design fabulous green homes.