I’ve been told that I’m a highly disciplined and extremely organized individual. This isn’t all that surprising given that my mother says I was a little soldier when I was a young boy. She used to put a watch on my wrist and tell me to be home when the big hand was here and […]
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 […]
Real estate is a language unto itself, full of terms and expressions that have special meanings. A stale listing is usually thought of as a listing that’s been on the market for a while and hasn’t sold. How long does it take for a listing to be considered stale?Depends on the circumstances. It might take […]
You’ve had your home listed for a while. You really want to sell. You receive an offer and enter into an agreement to sell your home for $1,000,000 conditional on a home inspection. After the inspection, the buyer says he wants a price reduction of $3,000 to fix some minor things. He’s entitled to do […]
There’s no question that pricing is the most important factor when it comes time to list your home for sale. The list price you choose affects your sale price and how long it takes for your home to sell. It’s no wonder so many people ask me “What’s your pricing strategy?”. The fact is, I […]
It doesn’t matter if you’re buying or selling, it’s absolutely crucial to estimate fair market value. But have you tried to figure out prices lately? It’s no easy feat. I know because I try to do it every day. It used to be that I could look at a home, factor in its list price […]
Ask me anything. Anything at all. And I promise you an honest, straightforward answer. I’m here to help and I’m happy to do so. Don’t be shy because there’s no such thing as a stupid question. If you haven’t been selling real estate every day for the past 20+ years like I have, no one expects you […]
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 […]
Ask me anything. Anything at all. And I promise you an honest, straightforward answer. I’m here to help and I’m happy to do so. Don’t be shy because there’s no such thing as a stupid question. If you haven’t been selling real estate every day for the past 20+ years like I have, no one expects you […]
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? […]
For different reasons, some people prefer to sell their homes without listing them on MLS. It may be because they don’t want the hassle of buyers parading through their homes or because they think they’ll save on the commission or for some other reason. Whatever their preference, my view is that they’re entitled to do […]
Lots of people don’t enjoy buying or selling a home, partly because of how the system works. When you want to buy something in a store, one look at the price tag tells you how much you’ll have to pay. When you want to buy a home, you can look at the list price, but […]
The media’s focus on bad news often results in good news and good people going unnoticed. This is true in real estate, as well. One of the things I enjoy most about being an agent is learning about people because buying or selling a home often reveals a person’s true personality. My client (let’s call her Sam) […]
They tell me to write short blog posts. As you can tell, I’ve been having difficulty. Let’s see how this one goes. If you’ve ever bought a home in Ontario, you know about Land Transfer Tax. You probably don’t remember it fondly, but you can’t forget it because it was so substantial (approximately $16,500 for […]
……Slaughtered. I first heard this expression when I was practicing law. I must’ve found it to be quite catchy because I still remember it. Basically, it means that you shouldn’t be TOO greedy. It’s okay to get your share and probably okay to get a little more than your share, but if you try to […]
