Have you read the CBC article from April 25th about Ottawa real estate’s “Perfect Storm” intensifying “Bidding Wars”? I’d like to go through this article and shed some light on a few of the pronouncements it makes. You can read the original article here: CBC Article: Bidding Wars Intensify It’s fun working in real estate because almost everybody finds it interesting …
Law makers are waking up to some of the old school sales tactics that are unfortunately still common in the real estate business. CBC’s Marketplace ran their story (episode 44 – you can Google it if you haven’t seen it) about Realtors in Toronto working both sides of a transaction for the benefit of themselves (and buyer customers or clients) …
Your home hits the market and bam! You receive multiple offers – how excellent is that? And now you have to decide which offer to work with, or to accept. A quick glance reveals that the prices are all very close, the closing dates are all acceptable, and there is little to obviously set one of the offers apart from …
The irrevocable time on an offer – what does it mean? If you’re making an offer on a property, what time frame should you set? If you’re selling a property, how should you treat the irrevocable date on offers you receive? Should you state a requirement regarding irrevocable times in your listing? The irrevocable date and time on an Agreement …
It’s all the rage… the “coming soon” sign on the front lawn. Two of my clients have asked me to put one on their lawn this year while they were preparing their homes to sell. Why did they ask me? The first reason is my fault – I forgot to talk to them about this fad when we were working …
I wrote this article in 2016 and it has proven to be one of the most read articles on my site. Thank you for visiting and checking it out. Today, June 23rd, 2026, I’ve written an article about the compliance status of residential properties, and particularly those that have more than one dwelling unit. You might find it interesting as …
Why is Your House Not Selling? Here are seven unexpected reasons that I see every day. 1. You’re preaching to the choir. Yes, that’s a mixed metaphor. Although people often mix up the expression like this, I mean it this way. When people use the expression “You’re preaching to the choir” they mean to say that you are trying to convince someone …
When it comes to building a portfolio of investment properties, there is something on the menu for every taste. To suit your specific tolerances and objectives, you will want to discuss the ins and outs in detail. But I thought it would be fun to write-up a brief table of ingredients for two types of residential properties that are at …
A client of mine who is mulling over the idea of acquiring some real estate for investment purposes, started doing some reading on her own and came across a piece about rules of thumb. She read, in addition to other bits of wisdom, that: The rule of thumb is that the purchase price of investment property should be 10 times …
Whether buying strictly as an investment or as a new place to hang their hat, my clients often ask me if a new or re-sale condo apartment is a better investment. Well, there are actually two slightly different versions of this question that I hear frequently: is a brand new condo purchased from the builder a better investment or is …
