This is the second post in a series on downsizing, written about my own personal experience with this painful yet liberating process. The first post, “When Downsizing is Right-Sizing,” can be found here. There’s a scene in The Sopranos where Carmela, Tony Soprano’s wife, is a bit lost, her world beginning to unfurl. She was […]
When Downsizing is Right-Sizing
I’m going to tell you a story. It’s about a man and a woman who were on top of the world with their two wonderful boys. They had a beautiful house in the suburbs with great neighbours, a steady income, and a happy life. In fact, she would often say out loud, just randomly, “I […]
A word on our blistering hot real estate market
If you know me, you know that I’m pretty temperate in the tone of my blogs and emails, that I don’t get off on ramping people up unnecessarily, and that I would never scream “Now is the time to sell!” just to artificially ramp up business. So it is somewhat surprising that I find myself […]
On real estate photography
I get asked a lot, “Why don’t you take your own photos? You would probably do a good job. And you’d save some money.” Here’s why: Because the vast majority of home buyers “shop” for homes on the web, and if your place doesn’t look great in photos, many won’t even bother coming to see […]
Snapshot of the Kirkland QC Real Estate Market
By now you’ve probably seen the headlines exalting the quick pace of the Montreal real estate market in the first quarter of 2016. Here’s a focus on one of the micro-markets where I work a lot: Kirkland QC. First Quarter Sales of Kirkland Single Family Homes Q1 2016: 49 homes sold, median sold price of […]
Mortgage Approvals: Without One, This Girl Don’t Play
You know what sucks? Going through the entire process of house shopping, making an offer, negotiating back and forth, paying for an inspection, analyzing the inspection results, planning what needs to be done when you become owners, picturing where you’re going to put your furniture and what colour you will paint the baby’s room…and THEN […]
Real Estate in the ‘Hood – 2015 Review
Overall, 2015 was a good year for real estate in the ‘hood. And by ‘hood, I mean Pointe-Claire South West – south of the 20 from blvd. St. Jean heading west to Pointe-Claire Avenue – and Beaconsfield South East – south of the 20 from Jasper to St. Charles. It’s an area where we get […]
You Don’t Have to Wrestle Every Single Dollar Out of a Property
You really don’t. I know that sounds strange coming from a real estate broker but the truth is, at times there are things more important than a dollar – your sanity being one. Yesterday, I got a call from a woman whose dad had just passed away. She needs to sell her parents’ home and […]
“Calling out the jerks among us”
When I was much younger, still a university student entering the real world, I worked with a woman (now one of my best friends) who had this very odd habit. When someone would start to tell a joke, she would listen quietly and then, depending on how it started, say, “Is this joke racist or […]
Your Buyer is a Detective
Yup, that’s right. Your buyer is a detective. In fact, all buyers are. They’ve watched Holmes on Homes, listened to the Jon Eakes radio show and gone blurry-eyed from hours spent in front of HGTV. They’ve lost themselves in the glorious rabbit hole that is Houzz, gone to Home Depot workshops and googled “what to look […]
