Over the last few weeks, I've been watching the real estate market slow down. Really - it's slowing down. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. You might not have heard about a market slow down in the media, and I agree. Often, I read articles in the media talking about the "hot" market etc, but they are reporting what has happened, and not what is happening. ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on November 5, 2011
I thought a little bit about the headline of this blog, and I kind of like "From Real Estate to Life". I think it describes how a real estate transaction can be the start or end of a particular journey.
I absolutely love real estate and I really enjoy helping people take the next step in their life - whether it's buying their first home, moving up to a larger home to accommodate ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on September 21, 2010
The real estate market continues to change and we've now entered a balanced market, which means that neither sellers nor buyers have the advantage. In other words, market conditions are fair on both sides.
You might wonder if I'm a little crazy in saying this, especially when reading that the number of homes sold in July in the Greater Toronto Area dropped by 34% compared to July 2009. ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on August 6, 2010
It's a sunny Monday morning on the first day of summer in June 2010 as I write this blog, and it's interesting to see how the Greater Toronto Area real estate market is changing. About six to eight weeks ago, REALTORS® like myself started to see a shift in the market once again. Strangely, newspapers and other media haven't really caught on yet and so the general public still thinks ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on June 21, 2010
Happy New Year, everyone!
It's January 6, 2010 as I write this blog, and it's very interesting to see how the market has changed over the last year, eh?
At this time a year ago, everyone had gone into hibernation, and adopted a "wait and see" attitude with regards to the economy and the housing market. One year later, and the market has changed drastically! Prices are going up ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on January 6, 2010
I was surfing www.youtube.com today, and thought it might be interesting to see if there were any Century 21 videos. Well, I found a whole lot of them - many of them hilarious! Some of them were from real estate sales representatives showing off their listings (a cool idea), others were from clients showing off the new home they bought with help from their Century 21 REALTOR, and then ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on November 15, 2009
If you haven't been paying attention to the news lately, you might have missed information about the Home Renovation Tax Credit. It's part of the stimulus program that the federal government has put into place for this year, as part of the effort to help the economy and shorten the recession. Essentially, it works by reducing your income taxes up to $1,350 for the 2009 tax year.
So, ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on October 25, 2009
As I write this, it's a cooler summer afternoon with rain on the 30th of June - it feels more like a spring day than summer. And that brings to mind thoughts of the "spring" market that we've just experienced.
Well, the market turned out to be pretty decent - a little above last year's numbers (before the economic fuddle-duddle). As of last night, there have been 353 house sales ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on June 30, 2009
Well, it's the last week of April 2009, and the market is growing - just like the spring flowers in the garden! Yep, even in these trying economic times, the market IS improving!
Over the last few weeks, I've experienced more activitiy in the market. Homes are starting to sell a little bit faster, and I've even shown buyers houses and when we've begun to prepare an offer, we've found ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on April 24, 2009
In my real estate trade, I've seen quite a number of homes that are for sale. Interestingly, the majority of them probably won't sell - especially in the current marketplace. What, you ask? Why on earth wouldn't a home sell? Well, here's my take:
1. Paint colours. You may love the royal purple paint with the gold carpet (yes, it reminds me of one of those sequinned ...
Posted by Jim Datlen
on January 19, 2009