_____________ Six years ago, my wife and I traveled with our kids to Italy, and as part of a broader vacation, spent a week in an apartment in Positano. By North American comfort standards, the home was austere. What it lacked creature comforts – tiny shower, lumpy beds, basic kitchen, it made up for with intangibles – fresh figs in the backyard, and a view of the Mediterranean in the front. It was, and remains, our favourite destination of... View Article
It might be hard to imagine for anyone younger than, say, 45, but there was a time not long ago in which real estate was not the in vogue hot ticket item it is today. Some of us remember those days well. New listings of homes languished on the market for months on end with little in the way of interested buyer activity. It is a time that some would have us believe is overdue for a return. But consider... View Article
____________________________________________ In the current Snap’d issue can be found a double page spread announcing Coldwell Banker Affiliates of Canada award winners, under the title Success is Not Accidental. The measure of winning these awards is by necessity a mathematical one – but is this the true measure of success? Is success selling a lot of houses or making money? Is success a reasonable goal? Or, as I prefer to believe, is success (or failure) the natural byproduct of the processes... View Article
—————————————— Getting professional advice is something we are all faced with on a fairly regular basis. Doing your taxes? Find a good accountant. Building an addition? Talk to an architect. Decorating your home? Hire a designer. Your business needs a social media presence? Social media experts will help you with that. Buying a house can involve a slew of them – home inspectors, lawyers, and, hopefully, a realtor. Not feeling well? Seek a medical opinion from your doctor. Still not... View Article
_____________________________ Real Estate companies have paging systems by which the companys receptionist can dispatch calls to the appropriate salesperson, or salespeople. If you call for Jeff Neumann and I am not in (quite possible), I will get a page dispatched to my cell phone. If you call on a listing that happens to be listed with more than one agent, the system has the flexibility to page the same message to multiple recipients. On the odd occasion that we want... View Article
_____________ Be patient with me, this is not a hockey article. However, while channel surfing waiting for the Leaf game to start, I happened upon the final few minutes of a lopsided hockey game in which the Philadelphia Flyers were handily defeating the Buffalo Sabres. Losses arent unusual, every game includes one. This one however seemed particularly irksome to Buffalo Sabre colour commentator Rob Ray, who lamented the lack of effort put forth by the home team. Finally, with the... View Article
___________________________ Full disclosure: including mutual funds, RRSPs and other investment vehicles, I hold a total of $0 in the stock market. This is not an indication that I do not believe in the stock market, I do – Warren Buffett happens to be one of my favourite authors and economic philosophers. Rather, it is an admission that I do not understand the stock market, and am therefore heeding Mr. Buffett’s advice when he cautions investors to define your circle of... View Article
________________________ Mark Twain, that 18th century provider of good stories and better quotes, is credited with having said Find a job that you like, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Good advice if youre lucky enough to succeed in your effort to heed it. Universities are full of students attempting to do just that – get an education that will help them get a job doing what they like. Some will succeed. For those... View Article
Small Talk – No Talk ______________________________ Stereotypes can be cruel. As a product of two German immigrants I have many times been assumed to be a stubborn man with angular skull features. Once they come to know me, sadly, theyll realize their assumptions were largely correct. Although in my defense, I am only stubborn when I believe I am correct! However there is no denying the shape of my head. When time finally takes its last toll on my hair,... View Article
_____________________ A common refrain among free market proponents, myself included, is that the presence of competition in the marketplace is a benefit to consumers. Many of us have learned to accept as fact the notion that the more choice we have the better off we are in terms of both price and service. I have stumbled upon an outlier in the capitalists theory! We are in the early stages of planning significant enough changes to our home that moving out... View Article
