Banning Blind Bidding

Should Blind Bidding Be Banned?

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

Should blind bidding be banned? The Liberal Party of Canada seems to think so. Justin Trudeau created quite a stir when he announced the party’s plan to ban “blind bidding” in real estate transactions at a campaign stop recently. When I heard the news, I thought it likely an exaggeration or other form of “fake news” because real estate transaction …

Why Is Nobody Selling Their House?

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a housing inventory crisis across Canada and the United States (I haven’t looked beyond – maybe it’s another pandemic?!) In this video I look at the possible reasons not enough people are selling, and whether there are any signs of hope for house hunters. Video Outline (1:00) Stats: Number of Q1 Sales vs New …

House Price Theories & Conspiracies

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

House prices in Ottawa in early 2021 are going crazy! Last video we talked about the main reason. Let’s look at some other theories (and conspiracies!) about house prices. I mention a couple of media articles in this video. Here are links to those articles: Global News on Foreign Buyers The RBC Study that Global News References CTV July 2020 …

No Conveyance Of Offers

No Conveyance of Offers – Nothing Has Changed

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

“No conveyance of offers prior to <time of day> on <specific date>.” …or… “Offers presented at <time of day> on <specific date>; however, the seller reserves the right to review and may accept pre-emptive offers.” If you followed or participated in the real estate market in Ottawa in 2020 you will have noticed one of these two phrases appearing in …

Shared Equity Mortgage Canada

7 Reasons To Not Like Ottawa’s Shared Equity Mortgage

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

Is Ottawa’s proposed Shared Equity Mortgage “plan” a good idea? Okay, so I only know what I saw on CBC News the other night. They reported that the Canadian Government has yet to work out the details of the “plan”. We can’t fully assess it until we have those details… but the concept seems misguided to me in many ways: …

Ottawa Condo Prices Old vs New

Ottawa Condo Prices – Older vs. Newer

Bruce BrownInvesting, Buying And Selling

Talking about Ottawa condo prices with one of my clients recently, I realised it’s been 6 years since I looked at the average selling price trend for older vs. newer condo apartments in Ottawa. Here’s the article from 2012: Are New or Re-Sale Condos a Better Investment? Fast forward to today; let’s take a look at the average selling price …

Bidding Wars Ottawa

Bidding Wars That Aren’t

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

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 …

Agent Has A Buyer For My Home

Selling – Dealing With The Agent Who Already Has a Buyer

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

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) …

Problems With Cash Offers

Rise of the Real Estate Cash Offer Nightmare

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

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 …

Irrevocable Time On Real Estate Offers

Irrevocably Yours

Bruce BrownBuying And Selling

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 …