Home Condition and Hazards

Two ways to get ceiling height in an old Toronto basement. How each works, what permits you need, what it does to the floor space, and what buyers pay for.

Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings rebates, what a cold-climate heat pump does in a Toronto winter, and whether buyers pay more for a house that has one.

A homeowner policy usually will not cover a rented unit. What landlord coverage includes, why rental income protection matters, and what to require of tenants.

What an appraisal and an inspection each do, who they protect and what to do if one goes wrong.

Last updated 7 September 2026. Written by Jatin Dua, Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway, Etobicoke.

Fire is what people insure against. Water is what actually happens. On a large Toronto house with a finished lower level, it is the single most expensive category of problem.

A standard home inspection is scoped for a standard house. On a 6,000 square foot property with a pool, an elevator and a ravine slope, here is what the inspection actually needs to cover.

High-value home insurance is priced on what it would cost to rebuild, not on what you paid. Here is what actually drives the premium and the clauses that catch owners out.

No provincial registry of former grow-op properties exists. What does is the Building Code Act order machinery: a registered property standards or unsafe-building order is discoverable on title, and a buyer acquiring an interest after registration is deemed served with it. Toronto’s by-law compared with Ottawa’s, and what building records will and will not show.

TSSA requires an underground storage tank to be removed within three years of disuse under the Fuel Oil Code, O. Reg. 213/01 prohibits supplying fuel oil to an unregistered underground tank, and owners are responsible for cleaning up contamination. What to look for before you buy and what removal actually triggers.