Throughout the course of this blog I have been helping and guiding you all how to buy or sell your property, decide on revamping your home for the technology of today and tomorrow and other aspects of the financing of a home sale or purchase. Today I want to discuss property boundary disputes.   In a perfect world, everything is without issue after you are moved into your new neighbourhood and home. But sometimes you may want to adjust a few items in your home through a renovation,... [read more]

You’ve just emerged as the owner of a new property or seller of a new property. Either way it’s time to move. If you thought the hard part was over – think again. The process of finding a great realtor and strategically making a purchase or sale of a property can be tough, but the journey is not over yet. Finding a great moving company seems to be the final hurdle for many home owners leaving their property or entering into their new one. Most realtors will not go... [read more]

They say that the market has turned and that buyers are now the ones in the driver’s seat. Naturally what follows is the amount of terrible home buying tips that home buyer will be getting now that they are on the hunt for the perfect home. Regardless if it is your first or fifth time buying a home, the process of home buying is not an easy one. It’s a great thing we live in an era where great advice is just a phone call and few clicks away. But you can’t read and believe... [read more]

The world of data and technology has changed many industries, and real estate is not immune to this. The impact that data and technology has had in the marketing, sale and syndication of real estate homes and home related content is immense. Today many home owners and home buyers are using this data themselves to further their reach on how to list, sell and market their home or how to better buy a home. The truth is that despite all the available data and technology around real estate, home... [read more]

A recent article in the CBC stated that the recent boom in the housing market has driven up the amount of construction and real estate associated jobs in Canada. Naturally this was to be true seeing as both sectors almost completely go hand in hand. The article also alludes to the fact that this boom in recent months and years has been a huge opportunity for “get rich quick” schemes by both, overnight development companies that popped up out of nowhere and go into the... [read more]

Smart homes are the current talk by anyone in home decoration and interior design. This not so new technology helps from everything like playing music in your home, improving security and being more efficient with the energy spent. The more devices you have and set up on your phone or tablet, the more you feel like you are in the home of tomorrow. So why is everyone not running to the store? Because with anything data related, there is always a concern for customer privacy. And this time the... [read more]

With the recent announcements made by the bank of Canada regarding the increase of interest rates, many home owners gearing up to put their home on the market are beginning to think that the future of their sale is looking bleak as buyers are no longer rushing to buy. The cause of the slowdown is that home buyer are using new tactics to bring home prices down. They think that if they all stop coming with money in hand, that the home owners will drop the prices.   In an effort to... [read more]

 PART 5: Marketing and transparency   Did you know that 90% of home buyers searched online at some point during their home buying process? And that 100% of home buyers use the internet to research a specific home. And that the first step for 43% of home buyers is searching for online properties.* With staggering data like this, you would wonder why so many of these online listings are vague, poorly marketed, have little to no details about the property or neighbourhood and... [read more]

  Part 4: Expecting your asking price and pricing tactics   Unlike going to a department store or the mall where prices are set, buying a house gives the buyer the ability to negotiate price and stipulations. As such, any intelligent buyer and their realtor will try their best to negotiate down your price or other details of the home sale to their advantage. The truth is that if you want to close the sale, you must play the game and do the dance that at times can seem like it... [read more]

Part 3: Setting your price   In the last blog entry I touched upon the subject of hiring an agent. Naturally the next step, with or without an agent, will be to realistically set a price on your home. Considering all other aspects of your home sale journey (marketing, staging, right agent, etc) pricing truly is the key and catalyst that will help everything else mold into place. The main step when setting up the price of your home is to do a comparable market analysis as potential... [read more]

Part 2: Hiring your agent   Although many people think that they can easily use the internet to syndicate their property and hold an open house, maintain and dangle offers and ensure that the real estate agents commission price is avoided – it is simply strongly advised to AVOID self-representation at all times.   I am not telling you this because I am a real estate agent, I am telling you this as an individual who has a full-time job, family, personal life and... [read more]

In my time as a realtor I have had the pleasure of helping many families and individuals with selling and buying their dream home and property. But during this same time, I have seen many people make some drastic mistakes when being on the selling end of the transaction.   Recently there has been talk of the Toronto real estate market cooling, but the residual homes still on the market and those that continue to be put on the market – show that this could be far from... [read more]

Before selling a home many families look to increase the value of their home by renovating different areas of the property or all areas that need a facelift. The notion of looking to renovate always gets home owners excited. But sometimes that same excitement that fills the air can act like a blindfold that covers the truths around home renovations.   The idea of doing things yourself or finding a team that will bring your renovation plans to life under budget or on budget are enough... [read more]

Selling a home is always a very difficult task, it can be even more difficult when your home needs to have work done on it. Whether that be a new kitchen renovation or a bathroom revamp, these type of upgrades can cost you a lot of money and delay the selling process.  Put plain and simple: When you want to sell your home, you sometimes need to renovate the home before putting it up for sale. The cost of renovations may lead you to realize that you do not have the capital to follow... [read more]