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
__________________________ Like many professions, the Real Estate sales industry is one in which it is common for prospective clients to interview multiple salespeople before selecting one with whom to work. Google How to select a Realtor, and you will probably be exhorted to interview a minimum of 3 prospective salespeople before making your decision. Salespeople know this, and the more successful of them, thrive through this process because they have honed their skills to such a degree that they know... View Article
_________________________________________________________ The psychology of sales is the subject of volumes of books, endless seminars, curiously absent from our educational system, and not necessarily something I profess to be an expert in. Few do it exceptionally well, but most of us would probably recognize how not to sell something. An acquaintance of mine recently relayed a fine example. The pertinent background information on my friend the buyer is that he and his wife are, in the parlance of salespeople, qualified purchasers.... View Article
___________________________________________ My wife and I saw both our kids off to University last month, our first taste of the ‘empty nest’. Naturally our thoughts turn to our children’s next stages of life. We hope that we have prepared them well, but as anyone who has either had or been a parent knows – parenting is never over. Rather we trade the worries we had when they were young for the worries of life’s next stage. During each stage we delude... View Article
________________________________________________ Under the category of ‘even a broken clock is right twice a day‘, Donald Trump struck upon a truism in what otherwise might have been mistaken for an election night victory speech – albeit 7 months late – when he addressed the Boy Scout convention in Virginia on July 24th. It is too easy in the President’s case to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and I almost did as I joined the international cringe at the majority... View Article
Very very early in my career and many times since, my father, who preceded me in the family real estate brokerage, would say to me: take notes, someday you may want to write a book. Save for these articles, I have yet to heed his advice. Having had the fortunate opportunity to observe the habits of professionals for almost 30 years now, some recurring themes begin to emerge. And while my observations are generally of the real estate industry, they... View Article
Looking for a long-term home? Here are a few questions you should ask yourself before buying. Buying a home can be an overwhelming process. Relax. Yes, buying a home is a huge commitment – but if you ask yourself a few key questions, you can increase your likelihood of ensuring that you buy a fantastic home that you’ll love for decades into the future. If you plan on buying a property that you can call “home” for the rest of... View Article
My wife started a family tradition when the kids were quite young. Each New Years Eve, we would sit together, and jot down on our respective pieces of paper our personal goals -resolutions if you will- that we had for the coming year. Twelve months later we would repeat the process with the added amusement of reading what we had written the previous New Years Eve. The cramped jar has become a testament to my personal shortcomings, as a review... View Article
The Bank of Canada lowered the prime lending rate this past week, in a move that garnered very little attention in the media. For the better part of a generation, interest rates have been low, so a move from almost zero, to a little closer to zero raises few eyebrows. As my livelihood is closely and visibly tied to people’s willingness to spend borrowed money, I notice these things. It is easy to take cheap money for granted, but it... View Article
