The Globe and Mail had an article last week that suggested that the rental market was heating up as would-be buyers were leaving an overheated condo market in favour of renting. As a result, the rental market is now heating up considerably. The evidence for this hypothesis provided by the author was strictly anecdotal, so […]
Today is June 30th, 2010 which means that tomorrow is July 1st, 2010 – the day the earth will stand still as the dreaded HST era begins in Ontario.Today is quite possibly the busiest closing day in the history of Toronto. The last week of June is traditionally the busiest of the year for closings […]
Using a buyer’s agent is not for everyone. Even though I constantly preach on this blog that having a buyer’s agent is absolutely necessary I recognize that not everyone agrees with me. Some buyers prefer to go directly through a seller’s agent, or in the case of new construction-directly through the developer. Everyone has their […]
From 10,000 feet, the Fort York neighbourhood is booming. Hard to believe that 10 years ago if you went to the corner of Bathurst and Lakeshore, you wouldn’t see a single condo abutting that intersection. Now there are several completed buildings like 219 and 231 Fort York, 600 Fleet Street, and the nearby 38 Dan […]
We are bordering on a buyer’s market right now. I wouldn’t say we are quite there yet, but with the Sales:Active Listings ratio hovering around 35% for downtown condos, buyers certainly have choices when they go out looking for condos this summer. But I don’t want to talk about buying for a change, I want […]
For the first time in 16 years, sales of new condominiums in Toronto were lower in the second quarter than they were in the first quarter. This, according to the latest stats in from Urbanation. So what? Well, real estate is highly cyclical (at least it used to be), and the busiest months of any […]
Buying a pre-construction condo takes guts. It takes vision. It takes money. It’s not for everyone, but for those who understand the game and play it well, the rewards are huge. Those who are fearful, lack vision, and have no access to capital will continue to sit on the sidelines and wait. And wait… Every […]
In contrast to yesterday’s post, “Losing Mentality“, I wanted to present to you some observations about the people who are successful condo investors. Those who buy (and sometimes sell) multiple condos over years and understand that condos as a great way to accumulate long term wealth. They are entrepreneurial. Either they run their own businesses, […]
There has been such a crush of new condo launches in the past 6 weeks that developers are now actually being forced to compete with each other for buyers! Who’da thunk it! There have been so many launches (or at least soft launches to the Realtor community), representing thousands of units of inventory that even […]
Rental Market Heating Up?
June 21, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
The Globe and Mail had an article last week that suggested that the rental market was heating up as would-be buyers were leaving an overheated condo market in favour of renting. As a result, the rental market is now heating up considerably. The evidence for this hypothesis provided by the author was strictly anecdotal, so […]
Read more
June 30th – The Busiest Closing Day Ever?
June 30, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
Today is June 30th, 2010 which means that tomorrow is July 1st, 2010 – the day the earth will stand still as the dreaded HST era begins in Ontario.Today is quite possibly the busiest closing day in the history of Toronto. The last week of June is traditionally the busiest of the year for closings […]
Read more
Client Service Is For Clients
July 2, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
Using a buyer’s agent is not for everyone. Even though I constantly preach on this blog that having a buyer’s agent is absolutely necessary I recognize that not everyone agrees with me. Some buyers prefer to go directly through a seller’s agent, or in the case of new construction-directly through the developer. Everyone has their […]
Read more
Fort York Neighbourhood: Boom or Bust?
September 2, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
From 10,000 feet, the Fort York neighbourhood is booming. Hard to believe that 10 years ago if you went to the corner of Bathurst and Lakeshore, you wouldn’t see a single condo abutting that intersection. Now there are several completed buildings like 219 and 231 Fort York, 600 Fleet Street, and the nearby 38 Dan […]
Read more
Defence
July 20, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
We are bordering on a buyer’s market right now. I wouldn’t say we are quite there yet, but with the Sales:Active Listings ratio hovering around 35% for downtown condos, buyers certainly have choices when they go out looking for condos this summer. But I don’t want to talk about buying for a change, I want […]
Read more
Tipping Point?
August 3, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
For the first time in 16 years, sales of new condominiums in Toronto were lower in the second quarter than they were in the first quarter. This, according to the latest stats in from Urbanation. So what? Well, real estate is highly cyclical (at least it used to be), and the busiest months of any […]
Read more
Losing Mentality
September 29, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
Buying a pre-construction condo takes guts. It takes vision. It takes money. It’s not for everyone, but for those who understand the game and play it well, the rewards are huge. Those who are fearful, lack vision, and have no access to capital will continue to sit on the sidelines and wait. And wait… Every […]
Read more
Investor Mentality
September 30, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
In contrast to yesterday’s post, “Losing Mentality“, I wanted to present to you some observations about the people who are successful condo investors. Those who buy (and sometimes sell) multiple condos over years and understand that condos as a great way to accumulate long term wealth. They are entrepreneurial. Either they run their own businesses, […]
Read more
Developers Rolling Out Incentives
October 28, 2010 / by Andrew la Fleur / Insights
There has been such a crush of new condo launches in the past 6 weeks that developers are now actually being forced to compete with each other for buyers! Who’da thunk it! There have been so many launches (or at least soft launches to the Realtor community), representing thousands of units of inventory that even […]
Read more