All Of The Above - Duncan's Blog

Condo Fees in flux

We had a surge, as in dramatic increase, in energy costs a few years ago. As I predicted here, the local condo boards had to address this added cost so they of course raised the fees. All of the condos... Read more →

Another City Walk

Over the years, in my quest to know more about the neighbourhoods I sell, I've been trekking the long streets that define who we are. So far, I've walked the Danforth, Queen Street East, Yonge Street, Kensington Market, Spadina Avenue... Read more →

Real Estate and the Self Employed

When I first began selling real estate in 1987, I rarely encountered a self employed person who could buy a house. Unless the individual had a few years of success (accompanied by income tax assessment notices) under their belt, institutional... Read more →

Mandatory Energy Audits on Resale Homes? Not quite.

There is new legislation about to receive royal assent and it will have some affect on the real estate industry. It won't be as onerous and intrusive as we first thought because as with most new legislation, the final product... Read more →

Banjo Show Review

Steve Martin, comedian and banjo player is touring the U.S. and Canada to support the release of his only banjo CD, "The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo". He played Roy Thompson Hall (of all places) last Thursday and... Read more →

Cash Backs? Smells dangerous to me.

I've had some clients this year who have taken advantage of a cash back program offered by some lenders. It's none of my business how a client finances a purchase but it is my job to understand the borrowing practices... Read more →

On Facebook? Beware!

I read a column recently written by a young journalist who tried to un-subscribe to Facebook. After many days of deletions and unsubcribing, he still wasn't successful. I've never tried to do this myself so I don't know the difficulties... Read more →

Confusion over electrical renovations

It's reached the point where I don't rely on the seller to tell me about the details of the renovations they've paid good money for. It's not that they lie to me. It's that they're often uninformed about the extent... Read more →

Obligation of a Realtor

There are many advantages to working with a Realtor when buying or selling a home. One of the less known facts is perhaps one of the most important and that concerns the Realtor's obligation to disclose. Of course, we have... Read more →

Mortgage Insights

I don't think I've published the full text of an article in this blog before but this one is worth the read. It is an article in the Globe and Mail dated September 30th, 2009. The author is Paul Brent.... Read more →

Romantification of Travel

I've written here before about a middle aged couple who sold there house a couple of years ago for a huge amount of money and hit the road. I don't know them all that well but they have included me... Read more →