Megann Willson's blog

Everyone is a beginner at something – including your current position in your real estate journey. There are certain milestones that are very evident, such as being a first-time home buyer. When you’re buying for the first time, there are incentives such as the Home Buyers Plan. That’s the plan that allows you to withdraw from your RRSP in order to help fund your down payment. You can only be a first-time buyer once, though. Or can you?

Yesterday I was showing some properties. (Let's be honest, that's what I'm doing on many Saturdays). One of the properties we looked at had a particularly pretty baby nursery, with cute furnishings, a practical change table, and some colourful toys. They couldn't have done better in staging this location if they had put up a neon sign that said "family home". But I don't know anything about the actual people who lived there.

Despite the impression created by popular real estate reality TV shows, there are very few get-rich-quick opportunities in real estate. When things happen quickly, it's generally because there has been a lot of work, planning, preparation and research up front. And for the vast majority of homeowners or real estate investors, making money on a property is simply a product of the magic ingredient, time, rather than timing. 

Congratulations! You've bought an investment property and you're ready to rent it out. Or are you?

There's no doubt that real estate is a solid investment, and that, in the long run, in most cases, the value of that property has nowhere to go but up. To keep it going in the right direction, though, it needs some help. And being a landlord, especially your first time, is not a simple proposition. 

In normal times, first-time homeowners will start holding housewarming parties, or barbecues, or other gatherings, to show off their home and garden. You may even have been invited to some of these. Now that we are entering stage three, and people are cautiously gathering again, you might get invited to one of these in the near future. Look closely at your friend or neighbour - notice how proud they look when they show you their new place?

Call a Realtor®? Talk to your lender? Both of these are important steps for first-time home buyers. But the truth is, they aren't the first step. The first step is to do your homework. Read. Research. Learn. 

After just a few days, with some clients, I'll get a question: "Should we add more neighbourhoods?" This is almost as challenging as the response "I'm happy to look anywhere". 

These days, houses and condos in the GTA are going for unheard-of prices. Many agents are setting up situations to force bidding wars, with many buyers at the table at once, all competing in a flurry of emotion, and with the winner emerging having paid a high sum of money, with few, if any, conditions. If you're a buyer purchasing your first home or your next home, how can you possibly make the next step, if it seems to be set impossibly high?

You've been searching fo rmore space. You've decided it's time to try home ownership. You've done your research, found a place, and now you're ready to submit an offer. In fact, you've seen a couple of places. Can you put an offer in on both of them, and see which one gets accepted? In short, no. Let's explore why not!