________________________ There is an often-used saying about planning, usually trotted out by would-be authority figures; teachers, parents, bosses -as an admonishment for being unprepared. It goes like this: Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Fair enough. It is great to plan. However; there is another saying, popularized by John Lennon that I think is a little more apt today: Life is what happens to you when youre busy making other plans. Life has thrown us a Covid curveball that few of us could have predicted as we sat down and drew up our New Year’s resolutions. How will we react? If we ..read more

Two and a half months ago, I wrote my Snapd article about the priorities of the day, and the need to flatten the curve. Those were the early days of Covid-19, and no one – least of all me, knew what to expect in the coming days. That the coming days would become the coming months hadnt occurred to me. By now, however, it is clear that the world is changing. Whether it will return to what we broadly call normal is a matter of differing opinions and not a subject I intend to tackle here. Like any crisis, Covid-19 has shown the ability to demonstrate that the veneer of civilization is thin indeed ..read more

_________________ If ever there was a moment or event that causes one to reevaluate one’s priorities, or at least remind us of them, this would be it. Although the coronavirus has been on our collective radar for several months now, count me among the group that still found myself surprised by the sheer scale of implications it has wrought on our lives, with more certain to come. I suspect I am not alone. Today, in what I truly hope hindsight will prove was an abundance of caution, we announced an initial 2 week closing of our real estate office to staff in an effort to do our part to flatten ..read more

August 9, 2022 1:58 pm Published by cbnadmin At the onset of the pandemic, you could not blame someone if they were skittish about the short-term outlook for the real estate market. Aside from a general uncertainty that permeated all walks of life, there was an extra wrinkle thrown at our profession: how do you navigate an up-close-and-personal industry from a distance? Until real estate sales were deemed an essential service, buying a home sight unseen might have seemed like the least of our worries. Fortunately, real estate construction and sales were deemed essential and the business was bo ..read more

Exactly 9 years ago, in May of 2013, I penned an article for Snapd magazine and our newsletter addressing the then relatively new Places to Grow legislation mandating Guelph’s growth, my own family’s immigrant story, and what we may owe a future generation of Canadians. Canada was, and remains, a beacon for new immigrants. We needed them then, and we need them now, to continue to realize our country’s vast potential. But they need a place to live, and that requires a change to our communities. Drumming up support for change is not always easy, and the roadblocks to new housing supply are great ..read more

My family’s Canadian journey is not unique. My parents landed in the Halifax Harbour in 1956 as a 24- and 21-year-old young couple. With a toddler in tow, and expecting a second, my older sister Evelyn. Shortly thereafter, my uncles and aunts followed my parent’s lead and all hung their hats in Guelph for a couple of years before eventually settling in Elora. They chose Elora in part because at the time it offered a slightly more affordable housing option in which to house multiple families. And that they did, together with my aunt and uncle in a large yellow brick two-story home on the south ..read more

_________________________________________________ In April of 2020, one month into the Covid experience when very little was certain, a good friend asked me if I thought it was a good time for his daughter to buy her first house. For the first time in my professional life, I flinched at that question. Long a disciple of the maxim that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and that the second-best time is today – until that moment I had never hesitated to encourage anyone interested in listening that getting into the real estate market at the earliest possible moment was sound advice ..read more

____________________________________________ There has been a trend for some time in the news world, away from informing us about what happened, and towards telling us what we ought to think about it. An example of this can be witnessed anytime President Trump is scheduled to address the media. CNN has taken to not airing his speech, but rather televising a panel of experts deciphering what he is saying, often in real-time, fact-checking it, and pointing out the inaccuracies. And no doubt there are many. But one is left with the feeling that the network doubts the viewer possesses the intellig ..read more

______________________   In an initiative led by our Broker of Record Steve Foti, our office celebrates earth day annually by giving away trees to our clients, or anyone willing to plant them. This year, my personal allotment included a small bundle of American Elm seedlings. Out of curiosity, I Googled the American Elm to glean a rough idea as to how long I would need to wait before I might enjoy the fruit of my labour. Correlating the maturation cycle of the American Elm with my birth certificate did little for my motivation. However, having often cited the tree planting metaphor for li ..read more

____________________________________________________ As parents, we sometimes fall into the trap of telling our kids you can be anything you want to be. High school and university graduation speeches are steeped in platitudes affirming to the gathered that their potential is limitless. Optimism abounds, and so it should. But is it true? Can I be anything I want to be? Can I be tomorrow’s leader? And what exactly is a leader? Fear not, I will not pretend to espouse what a good leader is or isn’t, as each of us will have a different opinion on the matter. Not all of us will be attracted to the s ..read more