We had a rather lively discussion on a private Facebook group this week regarding the number of active monitoring devices Realtors are seeing in homes when we are showing homes these days. It used to be that we would see the occasional baby monitor in odd locations in a home. Then, we saw laptop computers left open or desktop computers with their "camera on" lights covered up (but not the cameras).

Now, it seems that monitoring devices are probably more common than not. They come in all forms: security systems, smoke detectors, light switches, audio and television systems. These are all great appliances to monitor your home and for convenience. However, when you have your home on the market and you have thereby asked that a Realtor and their clients visit your home wit you not present, it is actually quite illegal for you to be monitoring their discussions!

In one example, one Realtor had stated that after a weekend of showings, the seller and Realtor had agreed to have a price reduction...

With individual agents, homebuyers and sellers have a direct connection with a highly-skilled expert

[reposted WITH permission of the original Calgary author]

I saw a social media post recently by our local ‘mega-agent’ entitled: “Breaking News: Individual Real Estate agents added to Endangered Professions List!”

This post compares the individual real estate agent to “a tennis player using a wooden racket” or “a football player with a leather helmet.” The individual agent is on life support, it exclaims.

Total nonsense. Here’s an entirely different perspective.

The individual agent

‘Indy Bob’ is classified as an individual real estate agent only because he doesn’t have other licensed agents on his team. And yet, Bob has surrounded himself with a top-notch team of highly-skilled professional photographers, staging experts, graphic designers and other specialists.

Bob takes a huge amount of pride in the presentation and...

December 2020: Amidst economic challenges, housing market ends 2020 on a high note

With December SALES of 1,199, this is the highest December total since 2007.

“Housing demand over the second half of 2020 was far stronger than anticipated and nearly offset the initial impact caused by the shutdowns in spring,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

“Even with the further restrictions imposed in December, it did not have the same negative impact on housing activity like we saw in the earlier part of the year.”

Attractive interest rates, along with prices that remain lower than several years ago, have likely supported some of the recovery in the second half of the year. However, it is important to note that annual sales activity declined by one per cent compared to last year and remains well below long-term averages.

Read the full report on the CREB Now website!

The following data is a comparison between December 2019 and December 2020 numbers, and is current...