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 […]
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. […]
Is it too early to predict what I think might happen in the residential real estate market in central Toronto in 2018? I don’t think so. Because I already spend so much time mulling over what’s going on in the market, I don’t need to wait until January. And I figure I may as well […]
Many years ago, I remember listing a home on Douglas Avenue in North Toronto. It was so long ago that it was a buyers’ market. To select the right list price, which we all know is the most important component to a successful sale, we selected a list price that was in line with the […]
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 […]
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 […]
Part 1 of this series was about how our little family ended up living in North Toronto. Basically, it was pure luck. But we didn’t have any idea how lucky we really were until Cole and Alannah were born. And Part 2 talked about the play dates, playgrounds and activities they enjoyed around the neighbourhood when […]
The area north of Lawrence and south of Loblaws on either side of Yonge is commonly referred to as North Toronto. The west side of Yonge is usually called the John Wanless area after the neighbourhood public school. The area on the east side of Yonge is known as either the Wanless Park area after […]
Should you choose a trustworthy Realtor or an aggressive Realtor? Or do you even need to choose?
This is the first in a series of posts designed to give you an idea of what it’s like to live in one of central Toronto’s great neighbourhoods. Note that I said “one of”. That’s because there are so many great neighbourhoods in central Toronto. Many of the things that make living in North Toronto […]
If you’ve been following along diligently the past few weeks, you know what stale listings are and how to avoid them and you’ve seen firsthand what happens in the life of a listing. Now it’s time to find out when you should bite the bullet and reduce your list price because that’s your best move. Price […]
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 […]
One of the questions I get asked most frequently at the beginning of every year is this: “Should we list in the Winter or wait for the Spring?” Well, if this question has been on your mind, you might want to check out this short video that contains my answer, along with some tips about […]
Have you ever heard the expression Sell the sizzle, not the steak? It’s pretty well known in sales circles and means, more or less, that when you’re trying to sell something to someone, you should try to razzle dazzle them and not focus on the substance of what it is that you’re trying to sell […]
Have you noticed more advertising for realtor teams like The Walter White Real Estate Team? Do you know what this relatively new thing is all about? For the most part, every Realtor operates his or her own individual business. Yes, most of us work at companies with other Realtors, but that’s mostly an office sharing […]
Human nature is funny. How you feel about things depends on how you look at them. Attitude is everything. There’s a saying in real estate circles that goes something like this: “You know it’s a fair deal when the buyers think they paid too much and the sellers think they got too little.” In other […]
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 […]
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 […]
One of the questions often asked when the subject of real estate commissions comes up is whether Realtors are worth what they’re paid. Does it make sense for some Realtors to earn more than school teachers, for example? Probably not. But it’s the market that determines how much people are paid. The same market that determines that a […]
