All Of The Above - Duncan's Blog

Renovation Costs

There was an article in one of the weekend papers about the costs of renovating a typical semi detached two storey home (of which there are thousands and thousands here in downtown Toronto). This is of particular interest to me... Read more →

Green Living

Can it be? Is it true? Is the world finally changing? I attended The Green Living Show yesterday to see if there was any evidence that the human race might actually use their collective brains to delay their unavoidable self... Read more →

Council of Canadians

I renewed my membership in the largest political organization in Canada, The Council of Canadians. I say largest because they have more members than any of the political parties in the country. I liken this organization to the lobbyists for... Read more →

Flying a plane!

I spent yesterday afternoon in the Kawartha's enjoying an off day with my daughters. Sara my eldest lives in Cameron Ontario and my youngest, Erin, and I visit the hillbilly of the family from time to time. I used to... Read more →

Raw Courage!

I wrote yesterday about the very young people in the market for a home and the very young agents representing them. What I didn't mention was the courage required for a young person to tackle this demanding and often demeaning... Read more →

Real Estate Juggernaut Continues!

Good grief, the bidding wars continue! A three bedroom semi detached on a busy truck route sells for $425,000.00! Come on folks. Get a grip. At my open house this weekend, at a house priced at $319,000.00, I watched a... Read more →

AM 740 debut

Last Thursday, Whiskey Jack's new CD, WhiskeyJackMusic.com was featured on Canada's premier radio station, AM 740. Click the three files below to hear what was said. Read more →

Odd Real Estate Story

Today in the Globe and Mail, there was an article on the front page of the real estate section. It was a story about up and coming neighbourhoods here in Toronto where bargains are still to be found. The photo... Read more →

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

At Whiskey Jack's CD release last May, we auctioned off the band and raised $1,500.00. We donated it to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. As a result of this event, I was invited to, and was pleased to attend a... Read more →

Bill Bryson letter

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about a book reading I attended. The author was one of my favourites, Bill Bryson. I was sorry that I hadn't brought one of my new CD's to the reading. My guess... Read more →

More under pricing

Earlier today, I had another conversation with an agent who under priced a listing. I overheard him casually mentioning that he did this to get more showings. I challenged him and asked about the Vendor's expectations and he said the... Read more →

Two important events

fOn Monday evening, I attended the Alterna Savings Annual General Meeting at the Convention Centre. I was representing Access Riverdale. Alterna administers the micro loans we provide so we were invited to man a booth at the Community Information Fair.... Read more →

Saint June

The headline in yesterday's paper said it all. "Saint June". The world is a bleaker place since she died this weekend. She began a speech one time with a list of "ten things I know for sure". I was quite... Read more →

Delhi real estate

There was an article in The Star this morning on Delhi real estate opportunities. It caught my eye because of an email I received March 30th. It was from Daljeet Singh (daljeetsn@yahoo.com), a former air force pilot and government worker.... Read more →

Micro Loan follow up

I attended a meeting last night on behalf of Access Riverdale, the micro loan fund I work with. Accompanying me were fellow board members, Larry Whatmore and Gerry Campbell. The meeting was originally arranged by the Chair of the Asian... Read more →

There's nothing like an "old pro"

I attended a concert Wednesday night at Hugh's Room. It's a dinner theatre that features the finest acoustic music in the world. On this night, one of the original members of The Byrds was performing. His name is Chris Hillman.... Read more →

Cheap is cheap! That's all there is to it.

There was a Tony Wong article in The Star the other day about a flat fee Realtor. This company listed a condo ($314,900.00) and it eventually sold ($310,000.00). It was a flat fee Broker that represented the Buyer in the... Read more →

Final Joker Missive..

The Jokers received the following email from Ray Henderson (photos to the left), the brains and brawn behind the team we defeated in the final game yesterday, the Peterborough Pneumonia: I know we said it alot on Sunday but I... Read more →

We won! We won! We won!

We played two games today. The 10:00 AM game was a challenge in light of the previous day's activities. It felt like I just got home and had to leave for the arena again. At 12:37 AM today, I performed... Read more →

Championship bound

Ah! The sweet smell of victory. Again, we prevailed in a tight defensive style game. The forwards came back and except for the 4 on 1 defensive lapse, we held them at at bay. This started when Charlie Risor, easily... Read more →