It’s not every day, but sometimes I hang out with real estate agents.  Seriously, some of them are actually interesting!  This year, I’ve been lucky enough to attend a Knicks game at Madison Square Gardens with the owners of some very cool Toronto brokerages, chilled by the pool with owners of a very large real estate team, and had a crazy Mexi...Read More

    NEWSFLASH: in Toronto, properties generally sell.  When it comes to freehold homes, they may even sell for more money than you thought.  But allowing that notion to guide how you sell your home is a lazy way of practicing real estate.  Even in this kind seller’s market, there are ways that sellers can make a mess of selling their homes and not get as muc...Read More

      Buying a home in Toronto: it’s like a video game!  There are stages that you either graduate or fall back to, and hopefully you get to the end.  Here is MY take on the stages a home buyer will encounter on their way to the storied promised land of home ownership: Stage One: Let’s Do It This is the stage when people decide to stop renting, or t...Read More

    Great news everyone.  I’ve decided to appoint myself new rule maker for the Toronto Real Estate Board, specifically how we do multiple offers.  Call them up and check.  It’s true.  Some of these new rules are different, some of them may be offensive and some of them will be outright bizarre, but hey – I’m the new self-appointed ru...Read More

  I don’t do well at parties.  If I’m not in a corner talking about some concert I went to in the 90’s with anyone who will listen, or sitting on the ground playing with the house pet, I’m passing the time looking through the cupboards for olives. The one thing I rarely do is tell people what I do for a living.  Not because I don’t like what I do, b...Read More

  Write this down: BUY BEFORE YOU SELL.  In theory – selling your condo to see how much you can get and putting that money towards the purchase of your new home is a good plan.  But if you’ve sold your place and keep losing out on house bidding wars… you sir have a problem. Historically speaking, selling your condo and renting until the market “falls&rdq...Read More

In a freehold home, people usually make a buying decision within one or two minutes of walking in. In condos, the buying decision is usually made in seconds. The order of value in terms of exposure is as follows: South, East, West and North… if you’re above ten floors and/or are not facing another building. Concierges/security guards can either make or break the experience for a p...Read More

Looking forward to 81 home games at the SkyDome this year! Why not live near the action! This 883sqft one bedroom condo plus den has everything you and your friends need to scream at your TV!  Game recap:     – a breakfast bar/kitchen island to prepare snacks on during a pitching change – an open concept living space so you can watch the game and yell at you...Read More

When I first got into the business, one of the more experienced realtors told me that being a real estate professional is about “being honest and quietly telling your clients the truth”.  Of the tough chats I need to have with people, these are the Top 10. “I’ll wait for the market to fall.” This is a tricky one, because nobody has the answer.  Anyone that ...Read More

One of the great parts of my job is showing homes.  There are a lot of cool elements to the activity; observing clients engage with the home, discuss its selling points and often dream of its potential.  Any given showing takes a pretty typical course; foyer, living space, kitchen, bedrooms/bathrooms then… basement. The basement portion of a showing is a layered experience. ...Read More