“Michael, I just read What Market Are You In? and it was great. It has lots of helpful info and really helps me understand the big picture. I’m now able to impress my friends with my in depth knowledge, but I’m in the process of actually selling my house and buying a new one so I’d […]
You’d think that after 25+ years in this business I’d know it all, but the longer I’m in this business the more I learn. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that experience really is invaluable in this business. And what’s the point of all this knowledge and experience if I can’t use […]
I’m usually a pretty upbeat guy, but lately I’ve been feeling a little grumpy because of some of the things I’ve been seeing in the real estate market. Maybe grumpy isn’t the right word. Perhaps disheartened and frustrated would be more accurate. I contemplated not writing this until I’m feeling better, but sometimes you just […]
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: choosing the right list price (also referred to as your pricing strategy) when you sell your home is probably the single most important factor in determining how much your home will sell for and how quickly it will sell. This information isn’t only important for sellers. As […]
The Toronto real estate market is a very hot topic these days. And when people talk about the market, the hottest topic of all is “What’s the government going to do to cool things down?” Well, it looks like we’re going to find out soon enough because the government is poised to introduce measures that […]
The residential real estate market in central Toronto typically slows down during the holiday season. Not because buyers decide to take a break from looking for new homes (although some do), but because sellers take a break. Who wants the stress of putting their home on the market when it’s full of decorations and guests? […]
You may read this question and say to yourself, “Isn’t that obvious? It’s because greedy sellers and their unscrupulous Realtors want to mislead innocent buyers into thinking they can actually buy the home for the low list price so they’ll make offers and bid the price way up.” Well, I’m here to tell you it’s […]
Sometimes my best thoughts come in the middle of the night. It started with a sunny day in mid-June. I had booked a few days off and was listening to a Rich Roll podcast in my car on the way to the Laurentians. I was enjoying the peaceful solo drive and looking forward to meeting […]
I had an interesting conversation the other day with a friend of mine. He’s thinking about selling his home in central Toronto and was wondering about whether he should just sell it to a builder and not bother putting it on the market. He was also wondering whether a builder would pay a premium for […]
It seems that I get asked this question quite frequently at this time of year. Probably because people are starting to map out the things they’d like to do in the new year and they’d like to list at a time when they’ll have the best chance of getting the highest price. As I always […]
Buying a new home doesn’t have to be as stressful as some people make it out to be. In fact, it should be fun and exciting. If you’re buying before selling, one of the things you can do to lessen a potential source of stress is to look into bridge financing before you even start […]
When you think of buying or selling a home, you think it’s relatively straightforward, don’t you? I used to think that, too, but it seems that things are weird and getting weirder. Here’s what I mean:
We just finished discussing stale listings – what they are, why you don’t want your listing to go stale and what you can do to avoid that from happening. Now let’s look at a simulated real life example to see what happened when Jim and Jen’s home was on the market because this’ll give you an […]
One of the things I do countless times every day to make sure I’m always right up to date with the market is check to see what sold and how much it sold for. Every now and then a sale price causes me to pause because it’s so much higher than the comparable sales. When […]
In a hot market like the one we’ve had here in central Toronto for the past several years, a lot of buyers have hard times finding homes to buy. Because demand is stronger than supply, there just aren’t enough homes to go around. This has resulted in some buyers (often with the help of their […]
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 […]
People often ask me what I think the market will be like in the future. It’s a good question because it’s helpful to know this when you’re trying to determine the best time to buy or sell. I usually have a pretty good idea of what the residential real estate market in central Toronto will […]
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 […]
No, it’s not Fall yet, but the Fall market in central Toronto IS just around the corner. The unofficial start is after Labour Day and it usually runs until the beginning or middle of November, which is when things begin to slow down for the holiday season. I was recently contacted by a couple of […]
The Summer Real Estate Market has officially arrived! Not that you’d know it by the weather. Or by what’s going on in the real estate market, which is unusually active for this time of year. Although the real estate market in central Toronto hasn’t slowed down yet nearly as much as it has in past years, it’s […]
