As predicted in my last blog, the crap has hit the fan in the Toronto Real Estate market - sales are down over 35% from the same time last year!  Well, take that as a grain of salt folks because last year was a record year and the numbers were artificially inflated by the introduction of the new Toronto land transfer tax.  On top of that, the financial market in the US took a nosedive causing a lot of people to lose a lot of money, so what do you expect?  Then on top of that, it's the news - I'm telling you!  If they keep reporting over and over and over and over again how badly the real estate market is, that will become the reality. 

In any case, I want to share a couple of things on my mind over the last couple of weeks...

• People tend to be very, very, very reactive instead of proactive.  While no one has a definitive crystal ball, if you did do some due diligence, you probably would have, or could have I should say, figured out well in advance that the market was slated for change.  Armed with that knowledge or insight, you could then plan or time your actions to best take advantage of things to come.  Now that things are turning sour, don't start playing the blame game because you missed the boat or got on it at the wrong time... "it's because the real estate agent didn't tell me" or "the sales centre told me this" or "no one told me that"... there's information everywhere!!  Really now, at the end of the day, you signed on the dotted line and unless you were explicitly lied to, decieved or had a gun pointing at your head, you have to take responsibility for your decisions.  When people decide to buy or sell real estate, the decision is mostly already made and agents and lawyers and mortgage brokers and home inspectors and everyone one else involved in the process are just there to help make it happen.  As a real estate agent, I am a facilitator of real estate transactions and NOT a sales person as my business card states.  I do not "sell" people on buying or selling real estate, I facilitate the process... and through experience, if I didn't do what some clients wanted or advised against their decisions, they found someone else who agreed.  Moral of the story, if I don't do it, someone else will.
• People should buy real estate for one of two reasons: 1) a fundamental need for lodging and/or 2) a financially sound investment, whether it's long-term or a short-term (note that the two of those don't always go hand in hand - owning your home doesn't always make more financial sense than renting, but it's the security you pay for, and prices don't always go up!).  I'm all about value and I'm all about things making sense.  While I can't guarantee that all my clients who have purchased something in the last few years will be immune to the market changes, I can say with absolute certainty that none of my clients were pushed beyond their limits (and I hope that they truly did buy or sell for one of those two reasons above!).

I know that a lot of people are afraid of what's going on and my best advice is to not make any rash decisions... if you're an owner, don't rush to sell now because that's what everyone is doing and if you're a buyer, take your time as things might continue to go south.  Only make decisions that make sense and if you make any decision in an unstable market like this, be 150% sure and own your decision.  Remember always that you sign the bottom line (and make tons of initials) - YOU.  The last thing you want to do is regret and harp or play the blame game after the fact, so take that pen out of your hand if you're not sure.

On a side note, I'm actually enjoying the calmer market... it's a lot less stressful, albiet a lot less money, but it's good because greed can subside and at least people can actually take time to make the biggest financial decisions in their lives!  Oh and agents are starting to suffer (which I'm sure many of the general public are happy about since unfortunately Realtors don't have the best reputations) and it will become survival of the fittest.  It's sad to say, but folks, I am now officially a member of a dying breed of the Real Estate Agent.  I do hope that the real estate market woes becomes a catalyst for change though... this industry is in dire need of it.

Until next time...