Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Condominium Corner: Status Certificates
August 19th, 2010 categories: Around TORONTO, Condominium, Downtown Toronto, Real Estate, Selling in Toronto, Technology, Toronto
Within the process of listing and selling a Condominium recently, I got a bit of a run-around from a management office that I thought I might share with you: Before listing we called to order a Status Certificate and was told that the staff person dealing with Status Certificates was out of town on Holiday. We asked for a request form to fill out and dutifully wrote out a cheque for $100 and mailed both to the management office. Not having heard back from the management office we assumed that all was moving ahead as it should have been.
A week later we had five offers that we were reviewing, almost all of which were conditional on Status Certificate Approval.
I called the Management Office direct for an update and I was told: that the cost for a Status Certificate had been increased to $130 plus HST and that only a certified cheque or Bank draft was acceptable.
I insisted that the Condominium Act mandated Status Certificates at $100 and that no taxes were applicable and was chastised for my being difficult and was almost hung up on. I suggested that someone at their Head Office be called, as this is one of, if not the largest Condominium Property Management in Toronto, Del Property Management and that their information should be corrected otherwise they would be contravening the Condominium Act . A call back a few minutes later was very conciliatory…yes, I was correct that the amount was $100 and yes their were no taxes to be paid, neither GST, PST or HST… Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Last week at REBarCamp San Francisco.
July 18th, 2010 categories: Technology, Travel
Last Monday at the 3rd REBarCamp San Francisco there was a heated discussion generated by Joel Burslem’s recent blog called “The Death of the Real Estate Blog” for 1000 Watt Consulting . I don’t think that I have ever been in a room so filled with the movers and shakers of Real Estate Blogging…the Big Kahunas were there: Jay Thompson , Bill Lublin , Rob Hahn , Heather Elias , Derek Overby , Dale Chumbley , Todd Carpenter , Maya Paveza , Andy Kaufman , Mike Mueller , Ginger Wilcox , Kelly Koehler and more. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
REALTOR Magazine, June 2010
June 24th, 2010 categories: Real Estate, Technology
I was recently interviewed by REALTOR Magazine for their June 2010 issue. I have since received a number of calls about this artricle and especially the “leaf bags”, that I distribute in Cabbagetown each year. If you are interested, contact Primo Promotions, who are my supplier and are great to work with…their email address is primopromos@sympatico.ca. Tell them I sent you!
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Real Estate: What is Included in the HST?
May 2nd, 2010 categories: Business, Buying in Toronto, Economy, Food, Lifestyle, Real Estate, Technology
It seems almost daily that I am reminded how little we know about the upcoming Harmonized Sales Tax. There is so much confusion in the Public’s mind about what is to be taxed and what is not to be.
The biggest misconception that I hear because of my business is that there seems to be a concern out there that resale housing draws HST. It does not. HST is only on New Constuction. However, HST is payable on any of the services that are used in the Buying or Selling of property. But again: RESALE HOUSING AT ANY PRICE DOES NOT DRAW “HST”, only the services that are involved.
For a full view of what is taxed, I’d like to thank Lori Nichol of Forest Hill Realty Inc. who forwarded me this great summary. To make it easy to view you can easily make it “Full Screen”.
If you would like it in .pdf format jusr click here.
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Lifestyle and Technology: People are talking about you!!
March 12th, 2010 categories: Around TORONTO, Business, Food, Technology
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 whatever service you are looking for and once you start narrowing down your search offers up peer reviews to help you make your decisions. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: No Comments »
Going Small Screen…
March 7th, 2010 categories: Business, Technology
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 . Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
REAL ESTATE: January 2010 Article in “Today’s Buyer’s Rep”.
February 9th, 2010 categories: Business, Real Estate, Technology
Almost a year ago I travelled to Chicago to sit in on a day of “rebooting” a course offered by REBAC, the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council of the National Association of REALTORS. The course was called Innovative Marketing and after a day of meetings and numerous subject matter discussions the course was relaunched in November of 2009.
“REBAC is the world’s largest organization of real estate professionals focusing on BUYER representation. By providing specialized training and ongoing skill development, REBAC helps its members—and the home buyers who work with them—experience more successful real estate transactions.”
Since last year I have sat on the Advisory Council of REBAC and in early December 2009 was interviewed for the article attached, both a great honour. Hope you enjoy the read..it will give you a sense of how our business has changed in the past years…to read it easily you may choose the full screen version.
| Discussion: 9 Comments »
Toronto Real Estate Board Launches IDX.
February 2nd, 2010 categories: Around TORONTO, Economy, Real Estate, Technology
IDX or Internet Data Exchange has been launched by the Toronto Real Estate Board this month. This platform allows the participating Brokers to share their listings with other participating Brokers on their web sites. For a consumer it means greater access to one-stop shopping on a Brokerage or Realtor site. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Impressions of REBarCampNYC and Inman Connect NYC 2010!
January 22nd, 2010 categories: Business, Economy, Real Estate, Technology, Travel
So I have been home a week and trying to make sense of all the information that I gleaned in the four hectic days of meetings in New York City. Instead of the usual “Blow by Blow” and who said what, I will just give you some of my impressions:
First and foremost, the four days were all about Social Media . Like it or not, just the way we used to say that Realtors with Technology will replace Realtors without it, now, Realtors and Brokers who have a Social Media presence will replace those who do not. As one of the speakers said, being a “Geek” is the norm and fashionable. Grandma’s are on Facebook , tweeting and showing off their new IPhone ! Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Lessons in Customer Service: Holland America’s Onboard Internet Service.
January 17th, 2010 categories: Business, Lifestyle, Technology, Travel
While on a Holland America Cruise recently, I messaged my Facebook and Twitter friends that I was enjoying the “Techspert” classes that they had on-board. Like a lot of Companies today, Holland America , is monitoring the Blogosphere and Tweetosphere and I heard back quickly that they “were happy I was enjoying myself”. My response was to tell them that although I was, I thought that their Internet charges ($100 for 250 minutes) were excessive in view of the poor service (back to the OLD dial-up days). Their response was “I’ll pass it on”.
Over the next weeks as complaints on-board grew and my Internet bill reached over $600.00, I again posted my thoughts and was told by the responder that they would “pass it on”. What does “pass it on” mean? Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 8 Comments »
