Richard Silver

Archive for March, 2010

Toronto Real Estate: Holding Off Offers.

Over the past years a technique has developed that Realtors and the Public call: Holding Off Offers. The idea is that the Seller and Realtor bring a property to the market through the TorontoMLS system with a note in the Broker's remarks that although showing can commence at the time of listing, offers, if any, will be reviewed at a later date. What is the reason for this? Are the Realtor and Seller manipulating the market to force multiple offers in an Auction-like scenario? Could...Continue Reading...

Real Estate: Competition Bureau vs. CREA: Editorial In Today’s Toronto Sun

I salute the Toronto Sun for its balanced editorial on the Competition Bureau's fight with the Canadian Real Estate Association. It is timely to have a realistic and unemotional discussion of the pros and cons of this situation copied below or on their Website : Home sales — can’t we get along?: Editorial, Wednesday, March 24, 2010 A fair deal for consumers in the residential real estate market starts with the realization not everyone needs the full services of a real estate agent to buy...Continue Reading...

Why Toll Roads in Toronto are not such a bad idea….

Here me out on this: First....most of the great large cities in the world have excellent Subways and rail lines. Toronto slowed and almost stopped building Subways and rapid transit years ago and we became more and more dependent on highways for transportation. Second...Toronto is surrounded by bedroom communities filled with people who use the major thoroughfares to come to the City to make their incomes and head back to their suburban properties where they pay the most of their taxes. Some major cities like...Continue Reading...

GREATER TORONTO AREA REALTORS® REPORTING MARCH MID-MONTH HOUSING STATISTICS

TORONTO, MARCH 17, 2010 - Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,353 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®)  during the first two weeks of March. This represented a 70 per cent increase compared to the 2,562 sales recorded during the same period in 2009 when resale transactions had dipped markedly due to the recession. The mid-month sales total was also 16 per cent higher than the previous March midmonth high reached in 2006. “The spring-like weather in the first half of March brought...Continue Reading...

Toronto: The Best Time of the Year!

For years friends have wondered why we stay home on long weekends and March break, and the last weeks of August....Sad to say but Toronto is at it's best at those times...basically times when as many people are away as possible. Traffic decreases and with it the stress levels on the roads, streets and in the Restaurants.... Toronto becomes more livable, casual and an absolute treat. I feel sorry for some of my friends who have drive the 2-3 hours to cottage...Continue Reading...

Lifestyle and Technology: People are talking about you!!

Last Summer a group of us techno-weenies were in San Francisco for a Conference and wanted to go out for a great dinner. After some discussion we decided on Chinese food and rather than walking aimlessly through Chinatown, we decided to YELP  the restaurant. For those of you who have not YELPED before...Yelp  is a website that is a repository of peer reviews, mashed with GPS . It uses the GPS to find you, allows you to search under numerous categories for...Continue Reading...

Going Small Screen…

The man with the biggest TV wins....has been the marketing chant for Home Entertainment Systems...but at the same time... Technology never slows and keeping up is a full time and expensive job. A year ago I was given an Amazon Kindle  for Xmas and have loved being able to access my own library from the Amazon Bookstore  on a moments notice. Then came the Sony Reader  and other E-books...Recently, Apple announced it's latest product the IPad . (more...)Continue Reading...

Toronto Real Estate Board: February Housing Market Charts

Here are the latest Housing Market Charts from the Toronto Real Estate Board. Seems that the lack of product has been forcing the prices to rise... Toronto Real Estate Board Housing Market Charts February 2010View more presentations from Richard Silver.Continue Reading...

GREATER TORONTO REALTORS® REPORT FEBRUARY RESALES

Here is the most recent update from the Toronto Real Estate Board. We are still having an active market due to the excellent mortgage rates available to the consumer. I'm always interested in your thoughts so feel free to comment below. TORONTO, March 3, 2010 – Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,291 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in February, representing a 77 per cent increase over February 2009. The average price for these transactions was up 19 per cent year-over-year...Continue Reading...