Rising Interest Rates:For Real This Time?
I think for many of us, we never thought the day would come. We have been warned over and over again, for years and years, that rates are going to start to go up very […]
Toronto Real Estate Market
What Deals are Real in Toronto Real Estate?
Everyone loves a deal. Especially, if it’s the real deal. Last week, for example, I went into a grocery store, and found out that every item for purchase in the store would have no HST […]
A 16% Decrease in Home Sales. Should You Worry?
Stats can be a scary thing. Especially in real estate. Words like “drop”, “decrease”, “plummet”, “bubble”, and “crash” can ignite the kind of anxiety a homeowner may feel if he or she were being chased […]
Size Matters: In Praise of Older Condos
I don’t want newer condos to get a complex. Some are fantastic. Condos built in the last five years often have better-designed units. They display a wiser use of space. They often, but not always, […]
What Opinions Really Matter in Real Estate?
Every body has their opinions. Especially when it comes to real estate. I know I do. But I also know my limitations. No one can really tell you flat out that they know where the […]
The Luxury Condo/Hotel: Will Fancy Work in Toronto?
Toronto never used to be a fancy place. Sure, people loved good food, and is some neighbourhoods you would spot a few snappy dressers, but generally we never really had the interest to push our […]
I Support Rob Ford! This One Time…
I didn’t vote for Rob Ford. I don’t think he has the chops to run a big, complicated city that’s in a constant state of transformation. I do, however, believe many voters in Toronto had […]
First Time Buyers: They’re Back!
I’m not sure they were ever really gone, but it seems as we move further into 2013, first time buyers are coming back to the real estate market. After crabby reports on the slumping […]
Is There Such A Thing as A Balanced Market?
Everyone’s using it. It’s the new real estate catchword of 2013: Balanced Market. This term has been thrown around by agents, water cooler gossipers, pundits, think tanks, banks, cranks and columnists talking and writing about […]
Move over Boomers, the Echo Boomers Are Flexing Their Muscles
Demographics and real estate have a relationship you can’t really ignore. The baby boomers have been given most of the spotlight (or the blame) for how the real estate market has grown. This massive […]
Are Bidding Wars Back for the Spring?
Real estate is seasonal. Whether we’re in a hot market where prices are rocketing skyward, riding a parachute down as prices return to the earth or if we’re some where in between in a balanced […]
READING THE TEA LEAVES: PREDICTIONS FOR TORONTO REAL ESTATE IN 2013
I can’t help it. I get caught up in it like everyone else. As the new year begins, I want to stare into my tea leaves to see what kind of predictions I can make […]
Buying A Condo New: Still a Good Idea ?
Remember when buying a Toronto condo off the floor plan was the best idea in the world? Investors would purchase units from a developer before any dirt was dug up to make way for the new building, […]
Condo Fees: More Than Just a Number!
Condo fees. The mightiest of obsessions among the condo owner across the city, the world, and possibly the universe, if there are condos on other planets. And for good reason! You can spend a lot […]
How to Navigate in an Inconsistent Market.
A couple of months ago, when I was obsessed with the Olympics, I suggested that the housing market and the condo market were not in sync any longer. They are synchronized divers no more, to […]
The Rise of the Landlord
I own a fourplex. That’s four apartments in one house. For the most part, I don’t mind being a landlord. I’m not particularly handy, but I have learned a few things from youtube, my handyman […]