Like life itself there are usually two sides to every story. When we read about the latest news in buying and selling it usually pertains to prices, interest rates and popular areas. The other side has reared its ugly head lately discussing dropping prices, higher interest rates and the stagnant market. Then there is the really nasty stuff – mortgage defaults. Seems there are more and more these days. Which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Think about it. When we were tryin

Time to take a trip back in time. You know the saying “What goes around comes around?” Well how about a return to old time advertising and the benefits that come with it? Since 1996 we have been taken over by what was then referred to as this new thing called the Internet. Many said it was just a trend and wouldn’t last. Really? Here we are 30 years later looking at the newest trend called AI. Many are saying that won’t last either. Guess what I am trying to say is life goes

How long have you been living in the home you are currently in? Used to be many years ago that you would buy a home and pretty much live there all your life. Unless you had a job transfer or some other upset in your life (family death, divorce). My grandparents lived in 2 homes their entire married life. The first was a small home, then they built a large 4 bedroom home to move into and start their family. It was also on the same street, so that is consistency. When I was you

Think about this for a minute. You want to sell your home and an agent advertises I can list your home and if it doesn’t sell in 30 days or less, I will buy it. Too good to be true, right? Pretty much. Sure they will buy it. For well under market value. Remember those lovely faux hand written pieces you used to get in the mail form “buyers” willing to buy your home without you even having to go through the arduous process of listing it? Well, this is another variation on that

Things just got a whole lot goofier in the Real Estate listings department. There have been numerous reports of AI Generated pictures that don’t show what the real listing looks like. Well, there’s a surprise. NOT!!! What did you expect? Whenever there is a new tool that you can use to cut corners and do the work for you, what did you think the lazy sector of realtors would do? Believe me, there are people in the business that will do as little as possible to make a good buck

Ever heard of FINTRAC? If you are any kind of Real Estate junkie and like to keep up to date on all the latest news about buying and selling you more than likely have heard of this governing body. Short for Financial Transactions And Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. Their mission is to get rid of money laundering and anyone will tell you Real Estate could be one of the go to businesses to launder your off shore bucks. There are myriad rules in place about how much of a down

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Dickens wrote this in A Tale Of Two Cities in 1859, but it could have been written yesterday. Need proof? Take a wander through any of the social media sites and check out the finger pointing and name calling. It is astounding. And a huge amount of the bitterness is around political beliefs. Even the Winter Olympics couldn’t escape the wrath of the political effect. The great divide comes from whether you lean left or rig

Over the last 22 years I have had more than a few clients looking to buy a new (to them) home. Some have been easy to please. Some not so much. But for the most part it was an enriching and rewarding process. I take great pride in being able to match up the right buyer with the right house. That’s not always easy. In fact, it is seldom easy. For a myriad of reasons. Wrong size home. Wrong size lot. Don’t like the area. Needs too much work. Why is that street light there? (yes

In one of my previous missives I talked about having crazy neighbours and ended the piece mentioning that we were lucky to have neighbours like Ross and Debbie that aren’t afraid to help out. That means a lot. One of the big things about Port Perry has always been the fact that the town is populated by a great number of people that genuinely care. For the welfare of the community, the buildings, the environment and the people that inhabit the area. Take a look around at what

Since there haven’t been a whole bunch of new ones these days, maybe it’s a good time to talk about listings and the different types you may encounter when it’s time to sell your humble abode. There are many different types of listings and you can pretty much choose the one that best suits your needs. Make sure you have reputable and reliable agent and also make sure that you discuss EVERY step along the way. If you ever have a question about something and the agent’s reply i

Remember the saying that you can’t choose your family but you CAN choose your friends? How about neighbours? In 1952 Norman McLaren created a short film for the National Film Board called Neighbours. It was so good it won an Oscar. Talk about being ahead of its time. See if you can find it on YouTube and have a look. It’s THAT good. And like I said, still relevant to this day. Pretty much encapsulates what happens to people living next door to each other when things go sidewa

Quick question. Do you ever just pause and take a look around you and acknowledge the changes that have been happening around you? John Lennon wrote in one of his songs “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” He was so right. We often get caught up in the day to day madness of jobs, raising kids, making and saving money. Always making future plans. Then we wake up one morning, take a look around and say where did all these houses come from? In the

Got my property tax bill in the mail the other day for 2026. I know, I know, let’s not go there. But, as always, I feel I must say something. You should be listening to the excellent Beatles tune Taxman written by George Harrison while you read this. So here goes. The latest half-year interim bill is equal to what we paid for the whole year when we first moved back to Port 19 years ago. And while I am more than aware that things go up (like the price of gas and potato chips)

Hey if I could answer THAT question I would be posting all the lottery numbers I think are going to win and see how successful that turned out. I get asked all the time just what is going on and what’s next? Simple answer is let’s wait and see. I can say with some certainty that what we have been seeing these past 15 months is more than likely to continue. Too many intangibles right now. Jobs. Inflation rate. Interest Rates. Insane dictator to the south. Moderating prices (bu

The ever-changing world of Real Estate encompasses many components. One of the largest and, obviously most important, would be how to stimulate new business. After all, you can only count on friends and relatives for so long and then that source dries up. In some cases it was never really there to begin with. In the good old days Realtors advertised in newspapers, magazines and local publications. Many still do, with good results. Many perfected the art of the cold call. I ha

Hey if I could answer THAT question I would be posting all the lottery numbers I think are going to win and see how successful that turned out. I get asked all the time just what is going on and what’s next? Simple answer is let’s wait and see. I can say with some certainty that what we have been seeing these past 15 months is more than likely to continue. Too many intangibles right now. Jobs. Inflation rate. Interest Rates. Insane dictator to the south. Moderating prices (bu

Every week we continue to be inundated with stories about housing and whether or not areas have under-bidding or over-bidding. We wait in breathless anticipation to find out where the deals are being had, much like the annual Black Friday or Boxing Day sales. This is a recent phenomena, one that was never really a big part of the action back in the day. Since the buying world partly lost its mind in 2016 and then fully lost its collective mind in 2019-21, it would seem there

A client called me recently asking about the benefits of land leases. I had to choke back on this one but did carry on. I asked why on earth would they be asking about this. Strictly a personal opinion here, but a Land Lease is very similar to a condo purchase. And I have NOT been a fan of condo purchases for my clients. For a myriad reasons. In short order – you are buying the air space that you live in and really nothing more. You are subject to monthly maintenance fees tha

Over 20 years ago I finally decided I wanted to make Real Estate my life. I had worked in television in a multitude of capacities and then transitioned to a VP job with the Canadian Football League. At the time I considered it to be my dream job. But in the back of my mind for many of the previous 10 years I had always wondered what the world of RE held. I would call a friend every spring and ask how the market was and what process would I follow. After the 4 th straight yea

This one might be a little out there but work with me, please. Quick question. How many local businesses are you aware of? And no I don’t mean eateries like Jesters or Marwans. Even Haugens who has been here for a looooong time. I have witnessed their menu first hand since 1970. Still great. Yummy – but I digress. No, I am talking about those manufacturing places, Industrial or not. We often hear about there not being enough manufacturing and such to offset taxes and supply j