You’ve decided it’s time to make that move you’ve been contemplating and need to hire an agent. Question 1: Would you a) hire your friend or relative; OR b) keep business and personal separate? Question 2: If you prefer to hire your friend or relative, which of the following best describes your reason for doing […]
This is the third post on this subject, otherwise known as “He Who Hesitates May Get Lost”. You’ll remember that Part 1 was about the second buyer who appeared out of nowhere at 11:30 pm just as the seller was about to accept my client’s offer and Part 2 was about the negotiations that carried […]
You may not be interested in Lytton Park specifically, but what’s going on there right now is very helpful in understanding how the residential real estate market works in central Toronto. Lytton Park is undervalued. It hasn’t been scientifically proven, but that’s what I think. Here’s why: First, some background. Lytton Park is an established, […]
You’ll remember the lesson learned in Part 1: Residential real estate exists in its own strange world in which anything can happen so don’t hesitate. If you see it and like it, buy it. And if you receive a good offer for your home, take it. But residential real estate is SO strange that you need to expect the unexpected and […]
There’s an old adage in real estate that your first offer is always your best offer. It’s a line typically used by a buyer’s agent to try to convince a seller to accept the buyer’s offer, usually when the property hasn’t been listed very long and usually when the buyer’s offer is low. The premise […]
Have I told you about the time that another buyer appeared out of nowhere at 11:30 pm to scoop my client? It was about 1993 and multiple offers were non-existent because it was a buyers’ market, if you can believe it. My client had been looking for a bungalow for several months. We finally found […]
To pick up where we left off, it’s now about a month before closing and the buyer had just called ME, even though he wasn’t my client, to tell me that he was having trouble arranging financing. If you’d like to review all the details and all the lessons learned so far, and there were […]
So where were we? Right. Our sellers had just accepted one of the fifteen offers they received for their property. The buyer was a builder who had given a significant deposit. And the documents had been sent to the parties’ respective lawyers. (For a full recap of what happened, see It Finally Closed! A Real Life […]
It finally closed!! The deal I thought might never close. The deal that took as much of my time as 10 other deals. The deal that should be in the real estate training manual for all the things that can be learned from it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning. […]
When it comes time to estimate the fair market value of a home, all that matters is this: “How much are similar homes selling for?“. Why is this all that matters? Because if you’re buying, why would you pay more for Home A when you can buy Home B, which is very similar, for less money? […]
Preparing your home for market involves a lot of work. At times, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do and might be tempted to leave some things undone. Resist that temptation! Here’s why: A few weeks ago, a client asked me “Do I really need to fix that little […]
Buyers who don’t have their own agents either go to open houses or ask the listing agent to show them the home. Recently, many buyers like these have been asking me if they can put their offer in through me. This has been happening with increasing frequency not just to me, but to many other agents, as […]
It’s time to talk about Bully Offers because they seem to be rearing their ugly heads more frequently lately. (Two agents have called me in the past three days saying their buyers want to make Bully Offers.) That’s to be expected in this type of real estate market because when buyers get frustrated by not […]
When it comes time to buy or sell your home, you have to be prepared to negotiate. You may get lucky if the person on the other side of the table offers you everything you want, but that doesn’t happen too often. Most of the time, you’ll have to decide if you should take an […]
If you’re buying a home in a hot real estate market like the one we have in central Toronto right now, you should be prepared for multiple offers. Because there are more buyers than sellers, it’s not uncommon to find yourself up against other buyers when you find a home that you like, especially if […]
This isn’t the type of question to which there’s a “one size fits all” answer. (Just like most real estate questions, don’t you find?) Every situation is different so the best way to figure out which way to go is to analyze your own situation by asking yourself the following questions: 1. Why do you want to move? […]
If the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location, then the fourth, fifth and sixth most important things are timing, timing and timing. Some timing issues are fairly obvious. For example, don’t try to time the market perfectly because that’s pretty much impossible. Also, if you have a choice, don’t list your home […]
I was watching an episode of The Newsroom the other day when I realized that some of the shows I’ve enjoyed most over the years have been about people doing what’s right and standing up for what they believe in. I’m all about being honest and doing the right thing, but I’m in a business […]
When Advocate Realty was formed in 1995, the idea was to create a real estate brokerage that would get it right. A place where you could be sure that your best interests would always come first and that you’d receive the best service possible. I was reminded of this recently thanks to a couple of good […]
True or false: If you receive 6 offers for your home and sell it for well above list price, you made out like a bandit and should be jumping for joy. You’re probably thinking “That’s so obvious! What do you take me for?” Well, sorry to tell you this, but “true” isn’t necessarily the right answer. […]
