I bought a house! 

We have been at our old place so long; I’ve never bought a house as a real estate agent before! Boy, did it give me a lot of insight into what my buyers go through. In the past I relied on my agents to protect me from all the behind-the-scenes stuff so that it all seemed to go so smoothly. This time it certainly added an extra layer of emotion on top of the effort I always extend.
I was talking to my brokers at Sotheby’s about whether I should take the plunge to buy when the market is so uncertain and if prices would drop in the fall. As usual, they had the best advice. They said (and I know this, I just needed reminding because I was doing it from the other side for a change), if you have to buy and sell, always try to do it before the market changes in order to avoid being priced out of a market on the upswing. Trying to time the market is best left to people who enjoy gambling. Toronto home prices increased a whopping 161.3% from 2005 to July 2020. Also, the best time to buy is when you need to move. If your family situation is changing and you need more space, or less space, or a garden, or to be closer to a new job, that is the best time to buy.
My own advice is to find something you love about the place you are buying. Even if it is not your forever home, you can still be content to stay there if the market does change. Want to know the best thing that happened during our purchase? Because we could not meet in person, I wrote a letter telling them about our family and they were so amazing, they picked us! I’ve had my buyers do this in the past and it does help! I love our new place and am happy to stay there forever but if I ever have to do it again, I think I would get an agent friend to do it for us. It’s too stressful to combine getting the deal done with the emotion of buying for your family. If you are thinking about making a change, drop me a line, you know me, I love to chat!
If you’re in the neighbourhood, come on over for a socially distanced bbq! Margarita mix will be in the freezer!