December 2014 - Toronto Realty Blog

December 22, 2014 12

Happy Holidays!

It’s that time of year again, when I feel equal amounts of sorrow and relief as I sign off from Toronto Realty Blog until January.

But I’m excited to open a new feature when we come back in 2015: the forum. A new spin on an old idea, which will give readers a chance to create their own topics in this wild world of real estate in Toronto.

I want to thank my regular blog commenters from 2014: Appraiser, Kyle, Mike, Boris, Joe Q., Potato, Amelia Haynes, Lui, Libertarian, AndrewB, Paully, Geoff, George, Ed, Jeremy, AGrant, David P, ScottyP, Gypsy, ABB, Clifford, Oren, Jonathan, Myeo, IanC, Jeff316, Huuk, DarrenB, JC, Steve, Johnny Chase, Joel, Alex, Jackie, Gareth, Frances, Long Time Realtor, Rob Fjord, Fro Jo, JG, and anybody else I may have missed while trolling through the last four months of comments at midnight.

Blog reader of the year has to go to Chroscklh, hands down, simply for the entertainment he provides us with on a daily basis. Sorry, Moonbeam; you may be my mother, and I know you’ll always love me, but Chroscklh has you beat.

Have a great holiday, everybody!

Business

2014 Real Estate In Review: Top 10 Stories (Pt 2)

Let’s pick up where we left off on Friday, and go through the rest of the “Top Ten” real estate stories of 2014.

When you get to the bottom, and you see what I deem to be the #1 real estate story of the year, you’ll probably have that pause, perhaps expecting something sexier and more interesting. But then you’ll come to your senses, and realize that the way things are in Toronto in 2014, there couldn’t possibly be a bigger story.

And maybe, just maybe, the #1 story of 2014 will end up being the #1 story of 2015 as well. It could happen, much to the chagrin of some real estate market participants, and to the delight of others…

December 19, 2014 5

Business

2014 Real Estate In Review: The Top 10 Stories

Well folks, the year is winding down, and as I find myself with no properties to show, few emails to answer, and no burning real estate news to report, I thought it would be a good time to go back over the top ten stories of the 2014 real estate calendar.

I just went through the 156 blog posts from 2014, and it was tough to narrow it down to just ten topics!

But I’ve chosen ten stories, events, themes, or blog posts that I think were the most notable, or in some cases, infamous, and revisited them below. For your further reading and viewing pleasure, I’ve also provided links to the original blogs, newspaper articles, or follow-up stories.

Enjoy!

December 17, 2014 18

Business

Percentage Of Toronto Condos Owned By Foreign Investors Is Very Low, Says CMHC

Did you see this article in Tuesday’s Toronto Star?

Three of my blog readers emailed this to me, and it was making the rounds on social media all day yesterday, and still is today.

The bottom line, based on preliminary discussion, is that nobody believes the numbers that CMHC is feeding us. Perhaps CMHC is no longer able to accurately monitor segments of this insanely hot and complicated real estate market, or perhaps they have a different definition of “foreign investors.”

The report that CMHC put out was comprehensive, but the facts and figures are being called into question.

Do you think that only 2.4% of Toronto condos are owned by “foreign investors?”

December 15, 2014 23

Condos

The Meth Lab Explosion In Liberty Village

A reader emailed me last week and asked if I was “playing favourites,” since there’s no topic I won’t touch, and yet for some reason, I haven’t written about one of the most dramatic and newsworthy stories in real estate in the past few months.

He said, “I guess you own like twelve condos in Liberty Village.” Not true. I only own eleven…

Let’s talk about what happened with the explosion of a meth lab in a condo on East Liberty Street, but also why, in my opinion, this won’t affect real estate values as we move forward…

December 12, 2014 3

International

How To Revolutionize The “Open House”

“Saturday/Sunday, 2-4pm.”

We see this on every MLS listing when they come out, and often I wonder, “Isn’t there something more we could be doing to differentiate our listings from the pack?”

The real estate industry is changing every day, both in terms of how we work, as well as how we sell. Isn’t there a new spin to the old idea of the weekend open house?

Somebody sent me this video earlier in the week, and while I don’t speak Dutch, I think the video speaks for itself…