Some personal thoughts on how to think about downtown as an investor based on personal experiences. The downtown core as per The Toronto Real Estate Board is split into 2 Municipalities: CO1 (South of Bloor, West of Yonge, East of Landsdowne) and C08 (East of Yonge). For this discussion I will only focus on C01, west of Yonge. The C01 Municipality has 9 communities, of the 9, there are 3 where the...
I recently took over a listing from another Realtor that had 9 showings over 60 days, it did not sell. Upon relisting the home and adjusting the buy side commission, 7 days later the property was sold. CBC Marketplace recently did an expose on how some real estate agents behave in relation to lower than expected commissions. This segment generated a lot of heated engagement, it highlighted...
One of the nice things about purchasing a condo unit is that they are relatively straight forward to value. Your standard downtown condo will have a couple of hundred units with sales occurring with regular frequency. Comparables are readily available and standard adjustments to finalize valuations are based on floor, layout, condition, status certificate, views, etc. In this post I will highlight two...
As records are being set across the GTA on every property type, the premium paid for renovated homes appears to be growing disproportionately. In the past, premiums for renovated homes allowed buyers to save on time, stress, and lack of knowledge as it pertains to managing a renovation. The increase to the renovation premium in 2021 factors in a price hedge. The same renovation that cost $150k in 2019...
I have a theory on how to effectively ‘lowball’ within the real estate market, mostly substantiated by my own successes and failures with prior transactions. This strategy is exclusive to ‘stale’ listings, homes that have sat on the market for a few weeks with little to no traffic. Almost always this is a function of a property being overpriced and the seller not having realistic expectations....
In my prior post I highlighted a listing that sold at substantial discount due to its heritage designation. These properties are widely misunderstood and, in many cases, undeservingly stigmatized. Oftentimes they trade at a discount because agents and buyers are unaware of the optionality and potential such listings have. As a result, over the last 5-6 years there has been a noticeable trend that has...
Over the summer of 2021 there was a sale that got the attention of a few mid town agents, it was a home on 55 St. Edmunds Dr in the coveted Lawrence Park neighbourhood that sold for $3.45M in March of 2021. A neighbourhood with a median price of ~$4.2M for 2021. At face value there was nothing notable about this sale or listing until the deal fell through and the property was relisted for...