Recently I was visiting Mike Donia, one of our franchise’s leading Realtors. I looked around at the walls of his office, which features sports memorabilia and photos of the great sport professionals of this and bygone eras.   Something of an epiphany hit me between the goal posts of my eyes!  Here I sat, surrounded [...]

At the request of the Canadian Real Estate Association, the Durham Region Real Estate Board is the latest board to change its name. It will now be known as the Durham Region Association of Realtors (DRAR).   The association was formed in 1954 by W. Paul Ristow, who, along with a group of brokers, met [...]

Century 21 Watson Realty in Cambridge, Ont., which has been in operation for 38 years, has new owners. They are Fern Frias and Paul Saunders, who have more than 35 years of real estate sales expertise between them.   Previous owners Tom Watson and Denise Dion, the current broker of record, say they look forward [...]

Two members of the Fredericton Real Estate Board were recently presented with gifts recognizing 35 years as members of the board.  Noreen Barwise of Barwise Realty and Garnet Urquhart of Re/Max Group Four Realty received their gifts from President Ed Carten at a recent board event.   In the phono: Ed Carten, Noreen Barwise

A survey of what U.S. home buyers want shows that garages with two or more spaces rank at the top of the list.   The 2007 Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences, released by the National Association of Realtors, says that since the last survey in 2004, oversize garages saw the biggest growth in terms [...]

The lobbying efforts of Toronto Real Estate Board members paid off, at least temporarily, when the City of Toronto deferred a decision on a proposed second land transfer tax. The proposed levy, of up to two per cent, would make it Canada’s highest land transfer tax and could cost the average Toronto homebuyer more than [...]

The Royal LePage Franchise Services Fund announced royalties for the second quarter of 2007 of $8.8 million, an 11.4 per cent increase over the same period in 2006.   Earnings before non-controlling interest for the quarter of $4.9 million was $2.8 million ahead of the same period of 2006.   “The growth in royalty revenue [...]

Working at all levels of real estate in Ontario, David Rossi helped write the Real Estate Council of Ontario’s Code of Ethics. He says Realtor ethics are improving but there’s still some work to be done.
  Interview by Kathy Bevan   At the 2007 Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) appreciation dinner, one of the special [...]

Playground Real Estate, an Intrawest company, has partnered with Collier’s International to bring their combined expertise in the resort real estate market to Asia Pacific, beginning in New Zealand and Australia.   Established in 2001 by Intrawest, Playground has sold properties in communities including Maui, Whistler, the French Alps, NapaValley, San Diego, Orlando, Aspen, Vail, [...]

By Patty-Lou Bryant   Have you ever had a problem with asbestos on a home inspection? Just the word puts fear into the hearts of many. Even property disclosure forms have questions about asbestos. I once encountered a problem that almost cost my sellers thousands of dollars in remediation costs.   When I first became [...]