As a seller, choosing the right list price (also referred to as your pricing strategy) is probably the single most important factor in determining how much your home will sell for and how quickly it will sell. But your list price might be even more important for buyers than it is for you. Why? Because […]
Have you bought Bitcoin lately? Gambled on Gamestop? Rolled the dice on lottery tickets? Or perhaps you’ve decided to try your hand at some residential real estate in central Toronto? Because it’s been almost as unpredictable. It’s one thing to take a risk on a lottery ticket or a small investment, but quite another to […]
It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re buying or selling your home. Especially in today’s hot market because decisions have to be made even more quickly than usual and because higher prices mean mistakes are more costly. I see people make mistakes every day. Literally. But thankfully not our own clients. How do I […]
You know to call us when you’re thinking of buying, selling or leasing your home, right? We’re always at the ready for that. But we encourage our clients and everyone we know to call us any time they have any kind of question relating to their home or to real estate in general. We always […]
When I was a teenager in Montreal there was a plastic surgeon who did a lot of nose jobs. Thing was, most of those noses ended up looking the same. You could look at someone’s nose and say “That nose was done by Dr. Dave.” There’s nothing wrong with that but I’ve never taken a […]
There are people who are in tune with their feelings. When they’re upset, they know what upset them and why it upset them. Or so I’m told. Because I’m definitely not one of them. Far from it. I’m the guy who often doesn’t even realize he’s upset. I’ll be going about my usual business and […]
There were lots of little things my mother had to do when my father passed away last year, things like cancelling credit cards, closing bank accounts, transferring internet accounts and the like. You know how it is. All the small, mundane tasks that should take about five minutes each to do. My mother stayed […]
“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 […]
If you think it’s hard to distinguish Thing 1 from Thing 2, try figuring out what’s going on in the real estate market now. Stand on one side of the street and you could be in one market. Stand on the other side of the street and you could be in another market. Some people […]
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 […]
This is one of the subjects I get asked about most frequently. Probably because there’s lots to know and no one ever talks or writes about it. I rarely talk about commission with my fellow Realtors so almost all the information I have comes from third parties – potential clients who say things like “We’ve […]
The phone rings. I answer it. The person on the other end says “Hi Michael. My name’s Alison. My husband and I are selling our home and already have a Realtor we like and trust, but we have a few questions about some things we discussed and we’d like to get your take on them […]
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 […]
If you live in central Toronto, chances are you’ve received at least one letter about selling your home in the last little while from a Realtor you don’t know. You may even have received numerous such letters from different Realtors! All of these Realtors are just doing their jobs, in most cases trying to find […]
If Advocate was a pizzeria, this is what it would look like, except with a little more style and panache. This pizzeria is in a small, medieval village about two hours southeast of Rome. The streets are paved with cobblestones. There are no cars in the village. Everyone knows everyone, including the gentleman who owns […]
If you’ve looked for a house in central Toronto during the past twenty years, you probably have a pretty good idea of what it means to wait for a house. For most buyers, the process goes something like this: You toy with the idea of moving for a few months or even a few years. […]
I don’t know if it’s because of the TV reality shows they’ve been watching or because they’re tired of being at a disadvantage in this long lasting sellers’ market, but lately I’ve noticed a few more buyers making demands of sellers around closing time. It’s only happening in a small number of transactions, but this […]
Anthony and I were talking about the last blog post – how to determine which of two similarly priced homes has more value – when he asked me a very good question: why were semis more expensive than bungalows back in 1993? For those of you who don’t know Anthony, he’s Anthony Malecki, one of […]
True confession: I still go to agents’ open houses. (If you know me, you’ll know this is about as juicy as it gets.) I know I could save a lot of time by looking at the photos online, but I like to keep up to date with the market and find I get a better […]
I would never claim to understand how all buyers think because there are many times I don’t even understand how my own brain works, but after twenty five years in this business I’ve gained a little insight into what buyers are likely to be thinking when they look at homes. Some people might say […]
