“We Want You To Make Magic”: A Buyer True Story

This just in: I got fired.

I’m not kidding around here, folks.  I truly did.

Oh, wait, I mean, I didn’t get fired from Bosley Real Estate!  No worries about that.  I signed a lifetime contract in blood with several members of the Bosley clan a few years back, and we made an official seal from a piece of bone (not saying whose bone…), and stamped that document to make it official.  Now, I walk with a limp…

After twenty-two years in this business, I can say that I’m truly blessed to have a loyal, respectful, grateful clientele, and I truly enjoy working with just about everybody I meet.

Every so often, however, I encounter a working relationship that goes off the rails.  Sometimes it’s a slow breakdown, and other times, it’s like a truck smashing into a wall.  In the latter cases, there’s always a “catalyst” of sorts, and despite all my years in this business, I can honestly say that I never see it coming.

I have this motto that I swear by, and it goes something like this:

“Whenever there’s a first of any sort, after all my time in the business, it’s usually not me that’s standing on the wrong side of the equation.”

Does that make sense?  Do you know what I mean?

If somebody says something, does something, or asks something that I’ve never seen before in twenty-two years in this business, then I could probably conclude, with a high level of confidence, that they are representing the issue, not me.

If that doesn’t make sense, then the following story will surely explain it…

Earlier this year, I was contacted by a young couple who were looking to buy their first home.  They had been renting for some time and were going to skip the condo phase of life and purchase a freehold home.

We met at my office on a Saturday afternoon, and I explained the home-buying process while obtaining detailed information on their requirements.

They had a very difficult budget: $1,000,000.

I know that must sound awful to some people; my suggesting that having “only” a million bucks to spend is a travesty.  But taken in proper context, this is a difficult number to work with in 2026 when you’re trying to obtain a freehold home in the central core.

They wanted to look on the east side and said they “really liked Riverdale.”

Sure, who wouldn’t?

But you don’t really hear the words “Riverdale” and “Million Dollars” used in the same sentence, right?

From the outset, they were quite firm on their requirements: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and legal parking.

For those with any knowledge of Toronto real estate, the math just doesn’t add up here.

There is absolutely, positively no chance of obtaining a home in Riverdale for $1,000,000 with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and legal parking.  If you’re taking this as a challenge and you’ve decided to scour House Sigma to find the one house that fits these criteria and sold for under $1,000,000, I would urge you to check whether or not the house had four walls, let alone a roof…

Even finding this in neighbouring Leslieville would be difficult, but maybe not impossible.

In any event, being the honest agent that I am, I told them right off the bat: “The dots don’t connect here.”

They looked a little bit discouraged, and then the gentleman, who we’ll call “Jeff,” smiled at me and said, “Hey, listen, we’re willing to wait as long as it takes!”

This is always a bit of a red flag.

The people who want to create their own narrative often act as though the impossible is possible, so long as you have a long enough runway.  They also say things like, “We’ve just got to put the work into it,” as though doing push-ups and jumping jacks is going to get them a house for 30% under fair market value.

In a flat market like ours, the concept of “waiting” isn’t as absurd as it has been in previous years.  When we were seeing the market appreciate every single year, a buyer who said, “I’m willing to wait for the right place at the right price,” risked getting left behind by the market.

The day after our meeting, I emailed them with a bit of a reality check, but I did so in what I thought was the nicest way possible.

I told them that “a picture paints a thousand words,” and that I wanted to show them how many properties sold for under $1,000,000 in Riverdale in 2025:

Two.

The first house was on Victor Avenue and was being sold by Bell Canada.

It looked like this inside:

The second one was on Langley Avenue, had zero photos on the listing, and came with this caption in the MLS listing:

Suffice it to say, neither of these houses was going to be appropriate for the happy, young couple.

The nice lady, who we’ll call “Abbie,” emailed me back and said, “This is a great start, thank you!  We just have to find the right opportunity!”

I loved their positivity.  I’m not being snide; I seriously got a kick out of how upbeat they were, and that even in the face of the odds stacked against them.

In my experience, buyers like this will spin their wheels a little as they get out and see houses get listed and sell.  They’ll gain knowledge through experience, and eventually adjust their search criteria – and expectations, accordingly.

In May, they reached out and said they wanted to see a new listing in Riverdale, on Riverdale Avenue:

The house was listed for $999,000 and it had 3-bedrooms and 2-bathrooms, so consider those boxes checked.

It did not have parking, however, and that was something on their “must have” list.

The basement was also unfinished, but that would ultimately keep the sale price a bit lower.

The listing said “Offered for the first time in 55 years,” so that gives you an idea of what condition the home was in.

Nevertheless, it was a great option in Riverdale.

There was only one problem:

This was a $1,300,000 house.

I emailed them back and said, “Great house, guys.  But there is an offer date set for next week, and my valuation here is around $1,300,000,” while providing them with some data and past sales that justify my pricing.

Jeff called me later that afternoon and asked if there was “any” chance that we could get the house for under the list price.

Under the list price?

This house had no chance of going for the list price.  Why under?

“Well, it doesn’t have parking,” Jeff said.  “So we have to discount the house accordingly.”

I was very blunt with Jeff, and I said, “Market value has nothing to do with your budget and expectations.  These things are mutually exclusive.”

I told him, “By your logic, you could say ‘we require a helipad on the roof’ and then deduct $150,000 from their list price to arrive at some notion of value.”

Sarcastic?  Yes.

Unfair?  No.

Jeff said that he and Abbie really wanted to see the house, so I took them through.

They were surprisingly quite picky and said the vibe was “like, not love.”

However, they said that they had “come around” after my difficult talk with them, and that they would consider buying the house for $1,000,000.

Here’s where an agent’s job is tough, right?

Some agents would say, “No problem, let’s draw up the offer, send it in, and hope for the best!”

But I don’t do “hope.”

I don’t believe in playing to lose.

I told them that if they wanted to make the offer, they could, but I recommended that they save their emotional energy for the next house, and that we would monitor what happened on the offer night.

They decided to hold off on making an offer, and here’s what happened:

Right on cue.

Over the next few weeks, I attempted to introduce Jeff and Abbie to other areas on the east side where they would be able to find a home that fit their parameters.

Even outside of Riverdale, however, finding a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home with parking is no easy feat.

But despite presenting them with options in Danforth Village, Greenwood Park, Upper Beaches, and a variety of different locations, they were dead-set on Riverdale.

Riverdale.

3-Bedrooms, 2-bathrooms, and parking…..for under $1,000,000.

A few weeks later, they asked me about a new listing on Tennis Crescent:

Abbie said, “What do you think the chances are that we could get this for under the list price?”

Before I could respond, Jeff responded and said, “Abbie meant under $1,000,000.  Not just under the list price, but under $1,000,000.”

I emailed them back and provided a few comparable sales over the last 12 months, adjusted for the variables between these houses and Tennis, and told them, “I think this is another $1,300,000 house.”

Jeff wrote back and said, “That’s fine; this house doesn’t have parking anyway, so I don’t think we’d go to our full $1,000,000.”

I was really starting to struggle with this.

I got Jeff on the phone that afternoon and asked him about his expectations.

“Your search criteria are not compatible with the market,” I explained.  I softened this by telling him, “Look, you’re not the first people I’ve met that have come out of the gate like this.  There’s a learning curve in the Toronto real estate market, and eventually, after seeing enough houses, you’ll come to understand market value.”

Jeff reiterated what he had told me during our first meeting and said, “David, we’re not in any rush; it’s totally fine!”

I asked him somewhat rhetorically, “What will you say if Tennis sells for $1,300,000?”

He said, “I would tell you that it just isn’t the right opportunity for us.”

That’s a very interesting way of putting it, but of course, it sought to shape the entire housing market as though the market was only there to benefit them.

A few days later, the house sold:

I followed up with Jeff and Abbie the next day and told them that Tennis had sold for $1,317,500.

Abbie emailed back and said, “That’s twice now.”

I took a lot of pride in that!

These two houses were listed for $999,000 and $1,049,000, both with offer dates.

It’s not easy to predict the weather, let alone the lottery.  To have predicted that both would sell for $1,300,000, and see them sell for $1,290,000 and $1,317,500, respectively, demonstrates market knowledge in an uncertain market.

Jeff and Abbie seemed to agree.

However, Jeff followed up on Abbie’s “That’s twice now” email and asked if we could set up a phone call…

Jeff and I exchanged salutations, and he said, “I wanted to add on to what Abbie had said earlier in her email, David.”

I figured we were going to chat about listing and pricing strategy, home values in Riverdale, or maybe, just maybe, Jeff was going to tell me that they realized it was time for them to adjust their search criteria.

But to my absolute shock and amazement, Jeff said:

“That’s twice now, David.  That’s two houses in a row where you haven’t worked to get us the property within our budget.”

(Mic Drop)

(Jaw Drop)

I was stunned.

I didn’t say anything, which is rare for me.

I think I said, “Come again, Jeff?”

He said:

“Two properties in a row, you just threw your hands up and said, ‘This is going to sell for too much money,’ without even trying to secure the home for us at our price.”

Ah.

So he wasn’t calling to pat me on the back for my market knowledge and ability to accurately value homes and predict sale prices!  “That’s twice now” wasn’t a compliment, but rather a critique.

Folks, perhaps now you can see when, why, and how I use that saying about “firsts” in this business.

This was the first time that I ever had somebody suggest that it was, apparently, my job to secure them a home for a 30% discount to market value.

This was the first time that I ever experienced clients who felt that their budget was in any way correlated to market value.

Try as I might to find a way to rationalize what Jeff was saying, I simply couldn’t.

So I asked him, “Jeff, can you just sort of clarify what you believe went wrong here?”

Jeff said:

“We told you that we wanted those houses for under $1,000,000, and you failed to secure them for us.  Worse is that you didn’t even try.”

I replied, “Jeff, the list price isn’t correlated with market value.  Both of these houses were worth $1,300,000, both were under-listed with an ‘offer night’ as a pricing strategy, and both were represented by very successful, well-known agents.  There simply isn’t a world in which you’re getting these houses for under $1,000,000.”

Jeff said, “Well, I guess we’ll never know, will we?”

I knew where this conversation was going (or wasn’t…), so I simply asked, “Jeff, what do you think I could have done to get you a $1,300,000 house for $950,000?”

Jeff said:

“We wanted you to make some magic.”

That was a new one.

I’ve often mused that the words “hope,” “luck,” and “faith” are a problem when used in real estate, and the same could be said for the word “maybe.”

But “magic?”

I had never heard that before.

This was yet another first for me.

Jeff said, “David, we’ve just felt that your pricing analysis is negative and pessimistic.  We need somebody who can be more aligned with our goals.”

I wanted to explain that he could replace “negative” with “realistic” and “pessimistic” with “exceptionally informed and accurate,” as well as inform him that any agent who is “more aligned with his goals” is going to waste his time, do him a disservice, and ultimately has no market value or knowledge.  But I didn’t see a point.

Jeff told me that he wanted out of our representation agreement, and I sent him the termination via DocuSign.

Abbie and Jeff were a very nice, pleasant, and polite couple.  They were respectful, intelligent, organized, and seemingly as “with it” as anybody else looking to buy a house.

But somewhere in there lay a major disconnect with reality; one that I haven’t experienced in a long time.

I spent the next few days reflecting on what I could have done differently, and if anything I did or said along the way helped, at least in some small part, to lead Jeff and Abbie to the conclusion that they could “magically” get everything they wanted in a home, in their desired area, at their predetermined price.

But ultimately I determined that, having provided previous sales in their search area, being honest about their budget, being accurate as to the current market value of homes listed with offer dates, and trying to introduce them to properties that they could afford, I had done my job effectively.

Sometimes, you just can’t turn a squirrel into a fox, no matter how you try.

Nobody possesses that sort of magic…