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 […]
How would you feel if you thought you bought a brand new home, but found out later that it wasn’t really all brand new? I know how I’d feel, but I can’t use words like that in a blog like this. In the older parts of Toronto, some builders incorporate part or all of the […]
Buyers who don’t have their own agents either go to open houses or ask the listing agent to show them the home. Recently, many buyers like these have been asking me if they can put their offer in through me. This has been happening with increasing frequency not just to me, but to many other agents, as […]
It’s time to talk about Bully Offers because they seem to be rearing their ugly heads more frequently lately. (Two agents have called me in the past three days saying their buyers want to make Bully Offers.) That’s to be expected in this type of real estate market because when buyers get frustrated by not […]
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 […]
When it comes time to buy or sell your home, you have to be prepared to negotiate. You may get lucky if the person on the other side of the table offers you everything you want, but that doesn’t happen too often. Most of the time, you’ll have to decide if you should take an […]
How many times have you heard someone try to justify unethical behaviour by saying “but it was okay to do that because it was business”? I don’t know about you, but I don’t buy that. Not at all. There isn’t one set of rules for our personal personas and another for our business personas. Ethics […]
If you’re buying a home in a hot real estate market like the one we have in central Toronto right now, you should be prepared for multiple offers. Because there are more buyers than sellers, it’s not uncommon to find yourself up against other buyers when you find a home that you like, especially if […]
This isn’t the type of question to which there’s a “one size fits all” answer. (Just like most real estate questions, don’t you find?) Every situation is different so the best way to figure out which way to go is to analyze your own situation by asking yourself the following questions: 1. Why do you want to move? […]
If the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location, then the fourth, fifth and sixth most important things are timing, timing and timing. Some timing issues are fairly obvious. For example, don’t try to time the market perfectly because that’s pretty much impossible. Also, if you have a choice, don’t list your home […]
If you needed a hip replacement, would you go to a surgeon who specializes in this type of operation or would you go to your cousin, the newly minted eye doctor? Does this sound like a silly question? Then try this one on for size: if you wanted to buy a home in central Toronto, […]
This is one of those questions to which there is no precise answer. The start of the Spring Market varies from year to year and is influenced by factors such as the weather, the number of buyers who didn’t find homes in the Fall, when sellers are ready and willing to list, etc. Why do […]
Pre-inspections are becoming more and more common. If you’re not sure what a pre-inspection is, it’s a home inspection done by a seller before a home goes on the market. It has several benefits. First, depending on the area and the type of home, buyers may expect to see a pre-inspection. If one isn’t available, […]
Staging your home before putting it on the market has become common these days, especially because it has been shown to produce superior results. Some people are hesitant to stage their homes because of concerns about the expense and time involved. If this sounds like you, don’t be concerned. Staging has been given different interpretations, but essentially, it means preparing […]
People often ask “What’s the best time of year to buy a new home?”. There’s no correct answer to this question because many factors that affect the market change from year to year. But I’ve noticed a few trends over the past several years that seem to indicate that there are some good deals to be had in November and June. […]
You may have heard differently from other sources, but with over 20 years negotiating experience under my belt, I’ve found that trust is a fundamental element to a successful negotiation. A couple weeks ago, during a multiple offer situation, my clients were surprised to see the name of someone they knew on an offer for their home. It was surprising […]
When people talk about the residential real estate market softening, there are two extremely important factors which they often overlook. These factors play a crucial role in determining prices and are so influential that I find it hard to believe they’re overlooked so frequently. Please don’t make this mistake when YOU’RE trying to gauge the market so you can determine the best […]
What’s this you say? Posting 2 days in a row? Has there been a monumental shift in the real estate market that the world needs to know about immediately? Nah, I just had another post-worthy idea. Hard to believe, I know. It seems that everybody faces the dilemma of whether or not to hire their […]
It’s November and we’re still in the middle of the Fall market. Last week was a normal Fall market week with a fair number of new homes coming on the market. So what happened this week? Why have there been so few new listings? Well, if you’re a buyer looking for a certain style of […]
There’s a lot of noise out there right now about the state of the real estate market. It seems that almost every day someone reports that the market is softening or is about to crash. I don’t understand how these conclusions are drawn because I haven’t seen any evidence of them. I do, however, see […]
