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You Get What You Don’t Pay For
There’s a saying I’ve heard for years—usually tossed out just after someone regrets buying discount sushi or a budget smartphone: You get what you pay for. It came to mind again this weekend while showing two fourplex rental properties to a seasoned investor. Both were on the same street. Both were built for exactly the…
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The Allure and Limitations of Real Estate’s Shiny New Toys
This weekend, an email landed in my junk folder, where it belonged. The subject line was unremarkable, but the offer inside was worth a double take:“Click to purchase Instagram followers. 1,000 for $100,000 for $100.” The pitch was as absurd as it was revealing. It reminded me of how often the real estate industry—particularly at…
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Furnace Rentals: Deal Maker or Deal Breaker?
So I’m doing a little homework for a seller and stumble across a home listing. Everything looks pretty normal… until I get to this part in the comments: “Great news! Rental items have ongoing exceptional maintenance! Furnace + Hot Water Tank ($140/mth), Water Softener ($81/mth), and Security System ($45/mth).” And I thought… wait a second.…
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Why are Buyers Sitting on Their Hands? Is it the Price…of the Recipe for Doubt?
Alright, gather ‘round the kitchen island, folks. Let’s break this down like a good cheese sauce: clear, simple, and essential. Say I’m your head chef, and I show you a dish that’s been on the menu for 75 years. It’s a classic. Always a crowd-pleaser. Maybe it’s had a rough couple of months—too many jalapenos…
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Can You Spot the Imposter? The Real Estate Edition
Quick weekend trip to Ohio = great for my soul, not so much for my gas tank. I filled up at a mystery station and bam! my car started coughing like it had swallowed a bug. A full tank of quality fuel from a national chain later, and it was purring like a kitten again.…
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Is It a Buyer’s Market? That Depends… And I Swear This Won’t Make Your Eyes Glaze Over
I promise this post contains zero pie charts, zero jargon, and absolutely no expectation that you’ll need a calculator. Now, let’s talk about something that comes up a lot:Someone recently said to me, “There are so many homes for sale right now—it’s clearly a buyer’s market, right?”And my answer (which always feels a little like…
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Making Sense of a Market that Makes No Cents
Here is where we are currently – in the past month, this has been the activity. (Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington detached homes for the month of April) Total homes available: 1,009 Homes sold April/25: 304 Price reductions: 8 When you look at where we began in 2025, we had 446 homes for sale. This shows that…
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Doggie Dishes and Sold Signs (A Lighthearted Look at What Not to Do During a Home Showing)
There’s a saying in real estate: “When a buyer tours a home, nothing with two legs or four should be present.” Translation? Ideally, neither sellers nor pets should be home when potential buyers stop by. Why? Because it’s a bit tough for buyers to imagine themselves living in a space when the current residents—human or…
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Buy Canadian – Buy a Resale Home!
I read a fascinating article over the weekend in the New York TImes over the weekend titled “Building Homes Under the Trump Agenda.” This is not intended to be a political blog entry, just a breakdown on how new home construction will change under the tariffs and counter-tariffs. The article reviewed a home being built…
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Stress Test or a Test that Causes Stress?
In 2016 our federal government implemented a policy that was met with mixed reviews. Called the “stress test,” the policy required borrowers to qualify for a mortgage at a rate of 5.25% or 2% higher than the rate they were applying for. (Whichever was greater.) When this policy was introduced, the Bank of Canada lending…
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