That’s a question that seems pretty easy on the surface. But once you start peeling back the layers like an onion it might not be so straight forward. Most people start out in a simple way, renting an apartment or room in the early stages of career advancement. There will be all sorts of exceptions to the rule, especially for those that are privileged to start out with more. I’m just talking in general terms here. I think many people never take the time to really dig down a l

Could also be titled: Buyer quirks and quarks. Remember the old adage if it’s too good to be true it probably is? That pretty much sums up some of the potential clients you meet in the wonderful wacky world of real estate. If they run in the door waving a check-book saying we’re buying a house today chances are you’ll never see them again. Any realtors reading this will be smiling and thinking ya pretty much. That’s the nature of this business and really, pretty much any busi

With apologies to the Cop film genre Good Cop, Bad Cop, how about Good Agent, Bad Agent? Lord knows there are plenty of both and if you’re lucky throughout your buying and selling career you will only encounter the Good ones. Reality says otherwise. I have dealt with both, on varying degrees of competence and incompetence. On the good side a few years back I was helping clients find a home and we saw one that fit the bill in Port Perry. They were first time buyers and wanted

There was a recent announcement that will have lasting impact on the Real Estate trade for many years to come. Real and Re/Max merged in an $888 million dollar deal. This has deep ramifications on a number of fronts. Real has only been around for 12 years while Re/Max has been a major player in the trade for 50 years. Expect some other mergers to follow and maybe even some to eventually fold. Why you might ask? A number of answers could be put forth but the most important one

If you looked up the term Market Correction in a reference book or on-line, you would see: “A market correction is a short-to-medium-term decline of 10% to 20% in a major stock index or individual stock from its most recent peak. These are considered normal, healthy market events that reduce overinflated prices and bring valuations back in line with economic fundamentals, usually lasting weeks or months.” Here are some key factors influencing market corrections: Magnitude: A

It’s a good time to dispel a few Real Estate myths. One of the largest and most oft quoted is that Open Houses only account for 2% of all houses sold. Many agents pooh pooh the idea of even holding them, claiming they “Never do anything to sell the property”. Wow. There’s a real open minded ideology. I have lived by a handful of credos over the years, one of which is to never pre-judge a situation. Expect the unexpected. That most definitely includes hosting open houses. My w

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