You’ve purchased and closed your dream home but how do you know that former owners or tenants won’t come walking in unannounced (this actually happened to someone I know). Here are 3 things you everyone should do as soon as they take possession of their new home to help secure it. 1. Either get new locks on all external doors or have them re-keyed. Even if the previous owners have left the country, you never know who they had given a spare key to – a neighbour, cleaner,... [read more]

Investing in rental properties can be very profitable but you have to be prepared to put the work in. Below are some of the challenges that property investors have to deal with on a daily basis. Dealing with Tenants: Perhaps the biggest challenge of being a property investor is that you need to deal with tenants. The more successful you become as an investor, the more tenants you have to deal with. Don’t get me wrong, most tenants are good people and most experienced investors... [read more]

Many home buyers and sellers (and even REALTORS©) get confused about the difference between chattels and fixtures in a real estate purchase. Chattels are personal property and are not included in the sale of the house unless specifically included in the purchase contract. Fixtures are part of the real estate and are included in the sale of the house unless specifically excluded in the purchase contract. Fixtures are typically physically attached to the real estate by means of screws,... [read more]

Absorption Rate (AR) and Months-of-Inventory (MOI) are two very common statistics used to explain the general health of a real estate market. AR and MOI are calculated using the same inputs, the number of Active Listings and the Number of Sales. The number of sales is usually calculated as the number of sales in the previous month. For example, if there were 100 active listings in a market and 20 sales last month you would calculate MOI as 100/20 = 5 Months of Inventory. Conversely, the... [read more]

I frequently am asked how much being situated on a busy street effects a property’s value. There is no easy answer to this question. It depends on many factors including how busy the street is and the type of property be evaluated. It also depends on the local real estate market, specifically how much supply is on the market and how much demand is in the market. All things being equal, a house on a neighbourhood through-fare will have a lower value than the same house on a quiet... [read more]