I sit and I watch and I listen to them debate. And I wonder to myself “Can one of these guys really be President?” And then I catch myself and remember “There are as many points of view as there are people because everyone’s different. And just because someone thinks a certain way today doesn’t […]
I was hoping for a piece of apple pie this week given I ate humble pie last week in Selling Off Market, but it appears I’ll be eating humble pie again. It doesn’t taste nearly as good as apple pie, but at least it has no calories. So what did I do wrong this time? […]
Before we get started, there’s something I have to confess. I enjoy a nice piece of pie. Quite a lot. Mostly fruit pies – apple’s my favorite – but I won’t turn down a piece of lemon meringue or pumpkin pie. And every once in a while I eat a piece of humble pie. I […]
“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith, My name is Jim Johnson and I’m a sales representative with ABC Realty Ltd., Brokerage. I may have clients who are interested in buying your home and are willing to pay top dollar for it. If you’re considering selling, please contact me so we can discuss this in confidence.” Letters […]
A little while ago we talked about Real Estate Fear and the major role fear plays in real estate decisions. Low interest rates and supply and demand play their roles, but if you really want to understand what motivates buyers and sellers, don’t ignore fear. I didn’t plan on writing a sequel to Real Estate […]
I recently received an email from a reader who’s a long time North Toronto resident. The email contained a fairly detailed and accurate description of what’s been happening in her neighourhood. This reader is clearly on the ball. Essentially, developers/builders are buying old homes and renting them out short or long term until the developer/builder […]
Before we begin, I have to come clean. I’m not a real estate investment guru. I’ve invested in real estate for my own personal use, but not strictly for investment purposes. You may be wondering “How can that be? Don’t you believe in real estate as an investment?” Yes, I believe real estate to be […]
Let’s say you want to buy a new home in central Toronto. And let’s make two fairly safe assumptions: 1. You know bidding wars occur fairly regularly; and 2. You won’t want to buy every home you see. There are endless reasons as to why you may not want to buy a particular home. It […]
In Where’s the Value? we looked at whether you’re better off buying an older home to renovate in central Toronto or buying a home that’s already been renovated. We also looked at whether there’s money to be made doing quick reno-flips in central Toronto. Most people looking to buy a home in central Toronto these […]
We just finished talking about the huge role land value plays in determining overall value in central Toronto and about whether a townhouse will be as good an investment in the long run as a similarly priced detached or semi-detached home. (See What’s Value? if you’d like to refresh your memory) Today we’re going to […]
“Under all is the land.” That’s the first thing I remember reading when I took the real estate licensing courses way back when. I also remember thinking to myself “Why’s that so important? Sounds like it could be a quote from the bible or some other historical text. I can’t imagine it having too much […]
Have you seen Everest? The movie not the mountain. I knew what to expect because I had read the book Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer which recounted the same story, but the movie was still very much worth seeing. A couple days after seeing the movie I vaguely remembered Krakauer mentioning the name of […]
Here’s how my brain works (or not). I try to write one post a week for this blog and usually have no trouble coming up with topics. This week was a little different. Even though I kept coming up with topics, none of them seemed good enough. I don’t want to write about any old […]
It’s around noon on offer day for one of my listings. There’ve been a fair number of showings and a lot of questions asked by buyers and their Realtors, which is always a good indication that there’s interest, but no one has called yet to register an offer. I’m sitting at my desk writing […]
When I was in real estate school 20+ years ago we spent a lot of time on the concept of Fair Market Value. The definition we were given was something along the lines of “the highest price a buyer will pay and the lowest price a seller will accept when neither is under any undue […]
Have you ever been accused of speed viewing? Not that it’s a crime, but there have been a few times when I got the sense that someone thought I didn’t spend a sufficient amount of time looking at their home and was a little put off by that. No one’s ever said anything to […]
It never hurts to do a friend a solid, does it? That’s what good friends do, don’t they? In this market that could mean giving your friend the opportunity to buy your home before it goes to market. The overwhelming majority of homes are still sold on the MLS system, but private sales do occur […]
“The deal is dead.” They just hung there. The four words you never really want to hear in real estate. Almost like “I’m breaking up with you.” Words like these can make you feel a little sick to your stomach – sometimes a lot sick to your stomach – but that’s not the way Rhonda […]
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 […]
So you’ve sold your home and signed your agreement of purchase and sale. The i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for closing so you can get your money. As a seller, your main and possibly only worry at this point is not wanting your buyers to […]
