Toronto Real Estate

05/11/2021

https://goo.gl/maps/aSHhZVun3VZPQAqz8

★★★★★ "We had an amazing experience working with Bruce during our recent process to buy a new home, which closed recently. Bruce was very knowledgeable about the Toronto real estate market and helped us understand all the key considerations we needed to factor into our buying decision. He ...

03/29/2021

The truth about BULLY OFFERS

A bully offer is an offer to buy a house before the stated offer date.

The current market in Toronto is a seller's market. This means a seller can list their home and delay accepting offers until a specific date. Often 7 days after the house goes on the market.

This strategy prompts multiple offers on the same day, hoping to drive up the ultimate selling price by having multiple bids.

The more buyers submitting an offer generally means a higher selling price.

This strategy's effective because it usually yields a higher selling price than waiting to deal with offers one at a time. The traditional sale method.

It's often challenging for buyers to compete in a seller's market. As a result buyers then tend to submit an offer before the stated offer date.

A bully. .

These buyers don't want to compete and risk driving up the purchase price.

A bully offer is based on the idea that the offer on the table's sweet/enticing enough for the seller to accept and not to wait until their offer date.

Essentially by jumping the line, fewer other buyers may be prepared to react quickly enough to get to the table with a competitive offer themselves.

Fewer buyers competing at the offer table means a lower selling price.

Read that last sentence again.

In a sellers market there're always buyer agents who want to be aggressive by getting their offers in early. When I'm working with buyers you can count me among this group.

As a listing agent it's very rarely in the seller's best interest to accept a bully offer.

If a buyer's hot and bothered enough to want to make a bully offer, then they'll still be excited about your home a few days later on the offer date.

I had a listing where a bully offer came in at a record price for the neighborhood. We didn't take it.

On our stated offer date that same buyer offered $50,000 more than their own bully offer price and they still weren't the top offer.

A bully offer gets the house sold fast. In a heated market like we have in Toronto, it generally means the seller has left money on the table.

Isn't the goal of every listing to sell for the most amount of money?

02/26/2021

A big thank you to Tamar Satov and MoneySense for publishing this great article about how I helped my client’s journey to buy a house in this seller’s market.

Read what strategy we used so that Jennifer and James bought for $200k less than a similar home on the same street that sold just the night before.

Learn other strategies that can help you buy the home you want in this competitive market.

Link in 1st comment.

02/15/2021

When Emily was very little she already loved cake. Like her dad.

She said that you didn't actually turn your age until you had cake.

Ever since then, we have a family ritual that whenever it's someone's birthday, we all eat cake for breakfast.

It's funny because in most of the birthday pictures I have, both kids have bed head.

Today we celebrate Emily's 13th birthday.

I can tell you that she has turned her age .. we ate cake for breakfast.

02/14/2021

HOUSE TINDER

With so many photos of homes online, you can spend hours looking at pictures.

What about a house will make you swipe right?

Maybe you like a dark roof, maybe light. Brick, stucco or stone?

A lot like dating, the better understanding of what your type is, the more likely you'll find what you're looking for.

It's important to go and see some houses in person. Perhaps like a lunch date: non-committal but if you like it there is always another opportunity to see it again. Swipe right.

Do you like the floor plan? Is the feel of the house comfortable for you? Swipe right.

Make sure you check out the inspection report. Is there any baggage you need to know about before you get emotionally connected? Swipe right again.

Are you and the house in the same socio-economic standing? Maybe a discussion with your friend the mortgage professional.

If you're still having night sweats, maybe it's time to start getting serious and consider making an offer.

Before you swipe right here .. DM me and let's discuss your options.

02/10/2021

In the heated Toronto real estate market pre-emptive offers are not uncommon.

Sellers who accept a bully offer are not maximizing the amount of money they're getting for the sale of their home.

02/08/2021

In Toronto we're in a pronounced seller's market.

It's as important as ever to hire an agent with a proven method to maximize the amount of money you get for the sale of your home.

If you are planning to sell, watch this video to see how to set yourself up for success.

01/29/2021

The Toronto real estate market is ultra competitive right now. Here are 3 strategies you can use today to find a house sooner.

01/27/2021

When choosing to renovate your home, do it for you and not the next buyer.

I’m often asked how future buyers would value a renovation.

If you’re planning to stay for more than 7 years then you should absolutely do the reno that will make you enjoy your home more.

Don't do it for your next buyers.

Will adding a double sink vanity in the master bedroom add value? Likely. But it will make the house much more enjoyable for you to live in while you are there.

Will hardwood floors get a higher return than carpet? Probably. But if you want carpets then you’re going to resent walking on those floors for the next 10 years and that isn’t productive.

You need to enjoy living where you are. Renovate to your taste today.

01/23/2021

Stuck inside, reminiscing about one of my favorite weekends took place a few years ago.

We bought tickets to Queen’s Plate at Woodbine. They promote it as Hats and Horseshoes.

The Sunday event was a good time but we made a whole weekend of it.

My son was at camp so it was just my wife, Emily and me. We spent the whole day before walking around downtown looking at thrift shops and hat stores.

We tried on all sorts of hats that day. Fun hats. Serious hats. And everything in between.

Liz was looking for something with a huge brim. Emily wanted something whimsical but not silly. I wanted something that didn’t make my blockhead look bigger.

We had hot dogs from a street vendor (remember those days?!). It must have been the situation but that was the best dust dog I’ve ever had.

The event was a lot of fun. Everyone there was dressed to the 9’s and into the hat theme. It was prime people watching.

I’m looking forward to getting out of the house and having some more of these experiences.

01/22/2021

It's important to use a lawyer who specializes in real estate to help you convey the title during your real estate transaction.

Real estate lawyers don't charge a lot of money for their services. Consequently in order to make a real business of it, they must drive a ton of volume on a regular basis.

As a result, after they have been in the business for any length of time they've seen almost every scenario possible and have a established a map on how to successfully navigate toward successful completion of the transaction.

01/21/2021

I’m the cook in my household.

I find it a big challenge. Everyone in my house has a different palate.

My wife isn’t vegetarian but she prefers to eat vegetarian dishes. Once she saw a truck full of pigs and since then she refuses to eat any pork product.

My daughter’s sensitive to textures. I’m still unsure what about the textures affects her but I generally have a sense of what foods she doesn’t like.

She also rejects vegetables.

My son is a vacuum. He’ll eat almost anything. I love that about him. He’s equally content with cereal as he is with a 3 course French meal.

He really enjoys good cuisine which is fun for me because I do too. He’ll try almost anything and is quite adventurous.

The challenge is to find meals that everyone will enjoy eating.

One of the things I do is to make a sauce. My daughter will get the plain meal and Ill add the sauce to make a dish a little more interesting for the rest of us.

I’d love to know how other home chefs keep meals interesting for both those eating the meal and the one cooking it. Let me know what your best meal hacks are.