Wealth Building 101 - Issue 353 I’ve been in the Real Estate industry for over 35 years and have helped over a thousand families build wealth by becoming homeowners and investors.  I’m passionate about Real Estate and the opportunities that owning rental properties provide.  The following comments are why I think Guelph, and Southern Ontario for that matter, still represent value and opportunity to build wealth and create a life by design. Investing in Real Estate is one of the few investments I can think of that gives you a high degree of control and the ability to mitigate risk ..read more

Trust In Real Estate Services Act - Issue 352 April 1st, 2023 is fast approaching and this new announcement will not be an April Fool’s joke.   The province has been working on changes to how real estate sales are regulated and how clients are represented in transactions within the province of Ontario. The legislation is called Trust in Real Estate Services Act 2002 (TRESA). The highlights: clearing up the confusion around clients, customers, and unrepresented parties. The term ‘customer’ will be no more.  The distinction is that any services provided by a brokerage or sales ..read more

Where are all the Zombies? - Issue 351 The Bank of Canada did not raise interest rates this week.  Bullet dodged there - but don’t expect the governments and powers that be to leave the market alone.  We still have an affordability challenge (really a supply challenge that’ll take a long time to solve, rather than a neat sound bite or a  4 year election cycle solution). But that’s not today’s story. Where have all the listings gone?  Remember a month or 2 ago how the media was crowing about all the variable rate mortgages hitting their trigger rates? The rate at which t ..read more

Spring Real Estate Conditions - Issue 350 If today’s weather is an indication of what March is going to be like, then I suspect the March Real Estate Market is going to be as tumultuous this year as it was last year.  Or will it?  Stay tuned for that revelation.   The February numbers are out and let’s just say they are headed in the right direction.   It’s no surprise that the number of homes sold this February is down from the previous year. 2021 and 2022 sales numbers and prices set “storm of the century” levels that none of us will likely see in our lifetim ..read more

A Herd of Buffalo - Issue 349 It’s the last Friday of February and I can’t believe how quickly the month has passed - unlike the speed of the local real estate market.  February has been a turbulent month; some days & weeks have been really slow, and then we get a weekend like last weekend where 10% of the available properties sell in a weekend. Go figure!   More on that in a moment.  I spent this past weekend attending the Keller Williams Family Reunion.  This year over 10,000 KW agents and brokers gathered in Anaheim, California at our annual conference for 4 d ..read more

The January Numbers - Issue 348 The January numbers are out and to summarize, January was marginally better than December.  That’s really not saying much.  However,  the bright side of these numbers is that January, which is traditionally a slow month, was better than December and given the results so far in February I would say that we’ve turned the corner.   In the city of Guelph, the median sales price for all homes was $727,500, up 3.2% from December and down 23.5% year over year. That’s a significant decrease and again, not really unexpected, as we knew last yea ..read more

What Goes Around Comes Around - Issue 347 I’ve been following the narrative around interest rates and the real estate market these past few months and to see how the media has framed the conversation. The interesting part of this observation is that none of this is new and the media will present the news in a way that suits their needs.  Now before you think I’ve become all Trump-like about fake news, that’s not the case.  This story is about the perspective being presented and the impact it has on the market.  I don’t believe it’s a deliberate attempt to manipulate, but ra ..read more

What a Difference a Year Can Make - Issue 346 The real estate headlines are screaming about how high interest rates have spiked and how far prices have fallen. You’d think we were in the middle of a full blown depression and that if anybody was buying a home today they should have their head examined.   Yes, interest rates are up considerably compared to 2022, and if we see those rates again, that means we'll be in trouble again. The mortgage rates from 2020 through to this year were a response to a global event, the pandemic. I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t want to g ..read more

Charging Through the Storm - Issue 345 The latest interest rate hike of 25 basis points is now old news. It was the eighth increase since March of 2022 bringing the BoC rate to 4.5%.  You probably caught the Bank of Canada governor (Tiff Macklem) on the news this week signalling a pause with rate increases while the bank assesses the impact of all the increases on the economy.  He indicated that he thinks the bank has done enough now and isn’t planning any further increases.  However, if inflation doesn’t settle to around 3% by mid year…. all bets are off.   Turning ..read more

2023 Reconnection Tour - Issue 344 I hope this blog finds you better than ever. The past couple of years have been challenging and difficult to say the least.  However, there has been some benefits to come out of the Covid era.  Like many of you, I’ve spent time thinking.  Thinking about life and what I want out of it.  The relationships I want to build and deepen. I’ve also realized that life is indeed fragile and I want to wring out every moment and experience that I can.  By now, you’re probably thinking, who is this guy? Or where is he going with this?   ..read more