On behalf of all of us here at Rob Roland & Associates, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and the best for 2012. May all your dreams come true.

Rob, Joanne, Mikki, Pamela and Ridwan

Here's a postacard for you

Several Muslim buyers have asked me about creative mortgage financing when buying real estate. After reading about the collapse of UM Financial which is a brokerage that offered creative financing for buyers that wanted to respect Sharia law, I am reminded that when you go on a safari, always take a guide along who has been there before. Mortgage financing is creative and flexible and you need an experienced professional.

People ask me about all this legal debate between the real estate industry and the federal Competition Bureau from time to time.

It's really simple- first, commissions or fee for service have always been negotiable, keeping in mind that you do get what you pay for and nothing is ever free. Second, the information on the MLS system, including the selling price, is private information. Here is a great article in today's Star that will interest you.

All the technology we use is Apple because it is reliable, user friendly and intuitive. That was one of Steve Jobs contributions to mankind. Another is his wisdom, expressed one way through an address he did at Stanford.

Steve Jobs will be missed and we honour everything he left. We also acknowledge that now there is space for another to create new dreams, new visions and new businesses. Thanks Steve.

Read an article in the Harvard Business Review last week about the value in posting pictures on your property when you list your home for sale. Here is what they said

So it got me thinking how much information, visually, auditorally and kinesthetically, comes our way each seond. Turns out it is over a milliuon pieces of information per second. This compares with less than 10,000 twenty years ago. So any stimulus that comes our way has literally a nano-second to grab our attention. These are the pros and cons of the technical age.

The internet is incredible because it gives us instant information. As I have said before, we should always caution that with the "spin" on the source of the advice.

In the case of CMHC there is always great free advice. Most people think that a government site is all written in government language, boring and hard to read. Not so with this site which has some invaluable tools and information.

Check it out.

At my eye doctor's last week I asked her about Vitalux supplements because a few friends had "Googled" it and found some information that suggested there might be some issues with it. She said no. It is only a vitamin and taken as directed it can only help our eyesight.

This got me thinking as to how much we rely on information from the web, newspapers, tv and radio as being the truth. It is not always so. There is no substitute for personal knowledge and experience with somone who you trust.

It is especially so in real estate.

The Toronto market is very interesting so have a look at what I think will be a strong market window for sellers this fall and especially the next month. Interest rates are stable for another quarter but they will be shifting.

If you want an analysis on your market conditions, call me.

It has been a very cool and wet spring this year because of the jet stream pattern across North America. This high altitude air current has driven all the low pressure systems through the mid section of the continent and that, combined with a lot of winter snow, has caused all this wet weather and flooding.

It has dampened the short term real estate market slightly but the bigger, long term picture is more important.

Basic factors affecting the market: the market has been adjusting to a more balanced market since late last spring because its long term cycle was due, interest rates have been historically low for years and with record government debt and a fragile economic recovery in Canada and the U.S. (yes indirectly what happens there does affect us) over the next months/year we will start to see rates climb, government policies have affected consumer confidence and affordability by adding costs to the buying of homes.

If you are even remotely thinking of selling, the next few months may be your best window in years. No the market will not necessarily change drastically but it will shift like many have not seen. In fact, in many neighbourhoods that is already happening.

If you are buying,  your challenge is balancing rising home prices against rising interest rates and affordability over the rest of this year and into next year.

In real estate timing is everything and even though it changes, there never is a good or bad time to buy. There is only adjusting to the current conditions with an eye to the long term and that is why I have always said real estate is a great long term investment. I have seen this many times before and would like to help you see it.

Just like the weather when it rains, I take an umbrella and slow down. This rainy, cool spring will end and there will be lots of sun this summer. People will buy and sell real estate, though they won't all do it at the right time.

Feng Shui and numbers can act in strange ways so here is something to think about.

If you look at the Calendar for July 2011 (United States), this year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags. So, forward this to
your friends and money will arrive within 4 days. Based on Chinese Feng Shui. The one who does not forward.....will be without money. Again this is according to feng shui and Chinese lore. There, I have shared it with you so take a friend for coffee with the money you get.