In December of 2013, Ollie (now 7 years old) was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML). A big part of Ollie's treatment these days involves blood (and platelet) transfusions. The blood supply system always needs more donors, so I'm organizing a blood drive, and I'm...
Over the years, I have met some really great mortgage professionals. The best of them know their business inside out, and see their job as really helping home buyers/owners - not just to get a mortgage, but to manage that mortgage intelligently, and pay it off as...
The Toronto Real Estate Board has reported 11,303 sales for April, 2015 - the most ever for the month of April. It's an increase of 17% over the 9,660 sales in April 2014. The number of new listings increased by only 5%. The fast pace...
I sometimes say that finding an 'up-and-coming' neighbourhood in Toronto is hard, because most neighbourhoods have already arrived. However, I think that Birch Cliff Heights (in the north-east corner of Birch Cliff) qualifies. It's a quiet area dotted with parks, close to the Scarborough GO...
As usual, real estate is much in the news these days. With the oil market correction, the media (and a few others) jumped all over the idea that the real estate market would - obviously! - experience a crash of some sort. The only question...
Hillcrest Village in North York was developed through the 1960s. The western part includes a beautiful development of mostly bungalows and backsplits built on 50x120 lots, which are now spotted with mature trees ranging from pines to cedars to maples. Winding roads, crescents and cul-de-sacs make for a...
The Toronto real estate market had a great month in February. In the face of a decline in new listings (-2.8%) and active listings (-8.7%) compared to 2014, the number of sales surged 11.3%, to 6,338. Naturally, that created competitive situations for buyers. It's that...
Over the years I have completed five transactions on Bastedo Ave, near Coxwell/Danforth. That's tied for the most I have sold on any street! Each sale had its own story: a first time buyer, an estate sale, and various move-up/move-on situations. Some of the buyers chose Bastedo...
There are a few streets around the city where, for one reason or another, I have sold several houses - even if I haven't sold another for a kilometer radius from the street! Maybe it's coincidence, but maybe it's because there's something special about those streets. Glenmore...
Despite yet another growing wave of media fear-mongering about the Toronto real estate market, January was yet another strong month both for volume and prices. The number of sales was up 6.1% over January 2014, to 4,355 transactions; that strong activity helped drive the average sale price...