Sometimes you just don’t know what you’ll do until you actually find yourself in a certain situation. And residential real estate has a way of putting you in all sorts of different situations. Situations you would never have dreamt possible. It’s easy to say “Oh, I would never have done that!”, but how do you know […]
You may not be interested in Lytton Park specifically, but what’s going on there right now is very helpful in understanding how the residential real estate market works in central Toronto. Lytton Park is undervalued. It hasn’t been scientifically proven, but that’s what I think. Here’s why: First, some background. Lytton Park is an established, […]
You’ll remember the lesson learned in Part 1: Residential real estate exists in its own strange world in which anything can happen so don’t hesitate. If you see it and like it, buy it. And if you receive a good offer for your home, take it. But residential real estate is SO strange that you need to expect the unexpected and […]
To pick up where we left off, it’s now about a month before closing and the buyer had just called ME, even though he wasn’t my client, to tell me that he was having trouble arranging financing. If you’d like to review all the details and all the lessons learned so far, and there were […]
So where were we? Right. Our sellers had just accepted one of the fifteen offers they received for their property. The buyer was a builder who had given a significant deposit. And the documents had been sent to the parties’ respective lawyers. (For a full recap of what happened, see It Finally Closed! A Real Life […]
It finally closed!! The deal I thought might never close. The deal that took as much of my time as 10 other deals. The deal that should be in the real estate training manual for all the things that can be learned from it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning. […]
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? […]
Residential real estate is a mine field. There are so many things that can go wrong it would be impossible to list them all. That’s why it’s important to recognize potential problems in advance and know who to call for advice so they can be avoided. You may need to speak with a plumber, an […]
Peggy: You never say thank you. Don: That’s what your paycheque is for. Michael (in a rare cameo appearance): Don, money’s not enough. People want to feel appreciated for what they do and a paycheque doesn’t do that. In my books, saying please and thank you and being honest, considerate, respectful and grateful are the […]
Have you ever wondered why it’s important that signatures to an agreement be witnessed? If you have, you’re not alone. Recently, we’ve done deals with other agents who have tried to tell us that signatures don’t need to be witnessed if an offer is negotiated by fax or email and that it’s okay to witness […]
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 […]
We’ve already discussed what staging is all about in Is Staging Necessary? so I’ll assume you agree it’s a useful and necessary component of the house selling process. At this point, the question running through your mind is probably something to the effect of “how much is this staging business going to set me back?“. That’s […]
In the past week I’ve met a handful of buyers who are trying to buy homes without an agent to represent them. Their reasons for doing so vary from “I know what I want so I don’t need an agent” to “If I don’t have an agent the listing agent will cut his or her […]
You never know what to expect when you put your home on the market and designate a date for offers because anything can happen. My clients put their home on the market on Wednesday and sold it on Monday, which was the offer date. You might appreciate this behind the scenes rundown of how things played out so […]
There’s already laughing yoga, smiling yoga, hot yoga, naked yoga and countless other types of yoga, so why not real estate yoga? I’m not kidding, but I’m not suggesting you start doing headstands on your roof. I’ve been selling real estate for over 20 years and practicing yoga for over 16 years and I take […]
Most people set out to hire a good agent, but did you know that many agents set out to find good clients? That’s right! Some of us are as concerned about who we work with as you are. We’re not interested in selling as many homes as possible and working with just about anybody to […]
Two very similar properties recently sold in a central Toronto neighborhood. One sold for $1,700,000 and the other sold for $1,295,000. Does that make sense to you? It doesn’t make sense to me, but I understand how it can happen. You should understand how it can happen, too, so you can determine the best list price for […]
