A Wonderful Way to Search for Homes

I found this wonderful website that makes it really easy to search for homes using a map feature on their site.

Basically all you do is tell it where you want to search for a home in Toronto by clicking on the map itself.

You can also narrow the focus by selecting your price range, how many beds you need, what neighbourhood you like, etc. Its not just for Toronto either, it works for all of Ontario.

Click search and then the listing icons come up on the map and you can click on them to see a mini description of the house and a photo. There is also icons for local amenities so you can tell how close the local school, library, grocery store is.

If you click More Options you can also narrow your search by property type, sale or lease, whether Open Houses are available or scheduled and even check which amenities you want to show up searches. And there's a lot of amenities! (Attractions, Banks, Car Wash, Day Care, Dentists, Doctors, Dry Cleaners, Fitness, Grocery Stores, Hospitals, Ice Rinks, Liquor / Beer / Wine, Medical Clinics, Movie Theatres, Pharmacies, Places of Worship, Recreation Centres, Restaurants, Salons / Spas, Schools Elementary, Schools Secondary, Shopping Centres, Splash Pads / Pools, Tennis Courts, Veterinarians)

So lets say for example I am looking for a house in Lawrence Park and I want to make sure its near the subway and a grocery store. Damn useful I'd say.

Of course in my case I also like the option of being able to narrow my search to just condos... and for the heck of it I also like to check for vacant land because frankly I think it would be fun to build most of it myself, with the exception of the foundation which should be done by a pro. (I studied construction and electrical wiring years ago and asides from a refresher course I am very confident I could do it without killing or electrocuting myself. Plus it would be a bonus if I could build the house using new green technology to save on heating and cooling costs.)

:)