Mortgage infographic

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Resource found here.

Beware of elder abuse

On Friday, March 9th, Dale Brazao and Moira Welsh of the Toronto Star reported:

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She was old, alone and afraid of ending her life in a nursing home.
Then Stella Wasiuk, 83, thought she was saved when a personal support worker promised to care for her until her dying days.
Instead, she says she was isolated, verbally abused and fed substandard meals. Wasiuk lost control of a $477,000 home and her life savings. Now she is fighting to get them back.
The Toronto Star investigated and found that caregiver Pauline Reid used a real estate agent, two lawyers and her family members and friends to gain control of Wasiuk’s assets. Police are looking into the case and a new lawyer is trying to assist her. In one of the story’s bizarre twists, Reid’s son, an accused criminal now convicted of a gun charge, was at one point the executor of Wasiuk’s will.
The hero of the story is neighbour Emile Timmermans. One day he spotted Wasiuk on the porch outside her Ajax home, looking distressed, waving for help.

“I’m in trouble,” Wasiuk said, getting Timmermans’ attention. “Please help me.”
It’s a cautionary tale for seniors, advocates say. Be careful who befriends you.
The Star made numerous attempts to interview Reid, 52, who currently works at a Scarborough nursing home. Her boyfriend, Joseph Comas, who describes himself as a Haitian prince, called instead and told the Star to stop “harassing” Reid.
“She does not want to talk to you,” Comas said.
The real estate agent involved in the scheme ran off when the Star tried to interview him. The two lawyers involved said they could not talk because they believe a legal action may be filed against them by Wasiuk.
The information in this story is based on interviews and a review of documents, including three wills Wasiuk signed, real estate agreements and a timeline created by Timmermans, the man who rescued Wasiuk.
With her late husband, Wasiuk had a long and lucrative career as a real estate developer. Growing up in Poland during World War II, she knew the value of a dollar and lived simply, especially after her husband died in 1987. The couple had no children.
For nearly 20 years after her husband’s death she stayed healthy and busy, volunteering as a driver with a local charity. Then her legs gave out and she had knee replacement surgery in December 2008.
In and out of hospitals and rehabilitation centres, she met Pauline Reid (also known as Pauline Brefo), who was working at one of them. Reid was a personal support worker, a twice bankrupt mother of three, who for years lived in low-rent apartments in North York.
“I’ll take care of you. Come and live with me,” Reid told Wasiuk, according to the elderly woman’s recollection. At the time, Wasiuk owned a luxurious condominium in Markham, which she left to move into a semi-detached home that Reid was renting in Ajax.
Shortly after, caregiver Reid announced she hated the home and wanted to move. It was time for Wasiuk to buy a house.
Enter real estate agent Sunny (Sukhjinder) Gandhi.
Based out of Brampton, far to the west, the agent listed Wasiuk’s Markham condo for $549,900. It sold for $410,000.
Gandhi then drove Wasiuk and Reid on a real estate tour and helped them settle on a big brick home on a corner lot in Ajax, near Taunton Rd. and Westney Rd. The new house was far from Markham and Wasiuk’s friends.
A review of real estate documents shows Wasiuk paid $477,000 for the Ajax home, writing a $430,000 personal cheque and borrowing $61,466 from Gandhi through a mortgage advanced by a recently created numbered company that lists Gandhi as the sole director. The mortgage interest rate was 9.79 per cent. Three months later, Wasiuk wrote a cheque for $69,000 to Gandhi’s numbered company to pay off the mortgage.
Wasiuk’s recollection of the events of May 2010 include a blur of document signing at the Mississauga office of lawyer Marvin Talsky. Talsky was acting for both Reid and Wasiuk.
The documents reveal that the home was registered in Reid’s name, with Wasiuk given a “life interest” in the property and allowed to live there until she died. The documents stipulate the house cannot be sold without Wasiuk’s permission.
“Pauline (Reid) will look after Stella for the balance of her natural life in the property being purchased,” according to an agreement between Reid and Wasiuk dated May 19, 2010.
The $430,000 Wasiuk paid for her new home is described as an interest-free loan to Reid, with Reid paying it back by providing $800 in monthly caregiving work. At Wasiuk’s death, the house would belong to Reid.
Wasiuk said she believed she was the sole owner of the house. “I knew that I was signing the purchase, but I didn’t think she was in it, because I paid for the whole thing.”
That same day, Wasiuk also signed a document called the Power of Attorney for Personal Care, giving Reid the power to make all decisions related to her health.
People are often advised to get independent legal counsel. The documents indicate Wasiuk had independent legal advice from another Mississauga lawyer, Hugh Galbraith, and she understood what she was doing.
Both Talsky and Galbraith, the two lawyers involved in the blur of signing that day, refused comment when contacted by the Star, saying a legal action may be launched against them.
Galbraith’s lawyer, Ernest Gutstein, said neither he nor his client can talk because the matter is being dealt with between lawyers.
“You would be doing a disservice if this matter is dealt with in the media,” Gutstein said.
The house deal closed May 2010 and Wasiuk moved in with Reid, Comas and Reid’s family members.
Three months later, Wasiuk was taken back to a lawyer’s office, this one in Ajax, to sign a will leaving all of her property to Reid, who was also made executor of Wasiuk’s estate. The lawyer on that file was Colin Oldman. He is away on vacation and has not responded to the Star’s interview requests.
The conditions Wasiuk said she endured in the new Ajax home were dreadful.
The rambling 2,800-square-foot, four-bedroom home was spacious, but Wasiuk said she was forced to live in a tiny second-floor bedroom above the garage. She was not allowed to use the washroom on the main floor, which was kept locked she said, forcing her to leave her walker on the main floor, pull herself up the banister, then use another walker to make it to the bathroom.
According to one of the agreements Wasiuk signed, she was allowed to “enjoy the house and property in its entirety” except for rooms set aside by Reid as her private living quarters. Reid had the large master bedroom with ensuite bath, while her adult children occupied the other two.
The food was cheap, Wasiuk said. Reid constantly yelled at her. Her chequebook disappeared, as did her contact list of friends and her Polish-English dictionary. She was not given a key to the home.
“She constantly threatened me that she is going to leave me in that house, that she is moving out,” Wasiuk said. “She wanted to drain me, get the money from me and abuse me.”
Cash withdrawals on her account between June 2009 and Oct. 3, 2011, totalled at least $51,000, amounts an accountant who has done Wasiuk’s taxes for years told the Star represented unusual activity for his longtime client.
People came in and out of the home, including Reid’s son Justin Brefo and Comas, the self-described prince, an imposing man who dressed in traditional robes and once removed his headgear to reveal a small crown.
In a brief interview with the Star, Comas said that he was supposed to end up with ownership of Wasiuk’s home. “It was my name that should have been on the house at first,” Comas said, but he refused to elaborate. “There’s a lot of things behind that story.”
At times, Reid left Wasiuk alone for several days, telling her she was travelling to visit Comas, who Reid said had a place in Montreal.
As Wasiuk’s relationship with Reid worsened, she went to visit lawyer Colin Oldman again to rewrite her will. This time, Reid was dropped as executor and benefactor, and everything was left to her son, Justin Brefo and his two sisters. Brefo was also made executor.
Wasiuk did not know it but at the time, Brefo, 24, was facing numerous gun and drug trafficking charges after Peel Regional Police raided three homes in 2010 and seized crack cocaine, powder cocaine, ecstasy tablets and heroin.
Brefo was convicted later that year of possession of a restricted weapon, a 9-mm Glock pistol, sentenced to 18 months in jail and banned for life from possessing any weapons. The other charges were withdrawn.
In an interview, Wasiuk said she appointed Brefo as her executor because he was kind to her.
Eventually, Wasiuk had had enough.
On Oct. 8, 2011, left alone in the house, she stood on her front porch and frantically waved at Timmermans, working in his garage next door.
Timmermans listened to her story. He called Durham Regional Police. He called the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly. He called in social workers.
The more support she received, the stronger Wasiuk became. She demanded a telephone in her room. Reid was furious when she found out Wasiuk had reached out to Timmermans.
“Pauline found out I went to see you and she threatened me that she is leaving at the end of this month. I have no place to go. I’m scared,” Wasiuk wrote in a note to her neighbour. “Please help me somehow. I can’t afford to see you. She doesn’t want me to talk to anyone. I’m her prisoner.”
A month later, Wasiuk asked Timmermans to drive her to lawyer Oldman’s office again, this time revoking the will that benefitted Reid’s three children and leaving all her money to charity. She also gave power of attorney to Timmermans and his wife Marie to look after her health care.
Durham Regional Police Sgt. John Keating, a liaison officer charged with looking after issues involving the elderly, began probing the case last fall. Timmermans said Wasiuk wrote several notes, which Timmermans passed to police.
In one note to Keating on Dec. 18, Wasiuk wrote: “I appeal to you for the last time. Do something about the forged papers that Pauline has, why a crook [she wrote “kruk”] like her should win by getting my house after I’m gone. . . . John please do something. I’m helpless.”
Reid and her family left the house in late January, shortly after a new lawyer working for Wasiuk, Alexander Jozefacki, sent letters to Reid and to the lawyers and the agent involved in helping Reid take control of Wasiuk’s house.
Jozefacki says Wasiuk is going to court to get her house back.
“There will be a statement of claim,” Jozefacki told the Star. “We’ve put a lien on the house and registered a caution on title. Nobody can touch the property until it’s dealt with by the courts.”
Someone attempted to sell the house a month ago. A ‘for sale’ sign went up on the lawn and an open house was held before Timmermans went next door and told the agent to stop. The sign has since come down.
Neighbours have reported seeing people remove belongings from the home in the middle of the night.
Approached to explain his involvement in the earlier transaction and in the 9.79 per cent mortgage, agent Gandhi bolted from his office and scurried into the parking lot, holding his cellphone and saying he was calling police.
Reid’s boyfriend Comas said neighbour Timmermans will not be satisfied until Reid is “begging on the street for bread.”
As for Wasiuk, who so feared living out her days in a nursing home, she is now in a retirement home, “for her own safety” on the advice of police, social workers and an advocacy group for the elderly.
The Durham police officer on the case is away this week and could not be reached for comment.
The hero of the story, Timmermans, said he thought calling the police would be all he had to do.
“We thought that once we called police that society would take care of her,” Timmermans said. “Not quite the way it works. There’s no way we were going to leave her alone after that.”

Toronto house prices hit new record- The Toronto Star

The Toronto Star's Susan Pigg  reports on Toronto's house prices:

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The Toronto housing market slipped back into sellers’ territory in November, helping propel prices even higher to a record average of $481,305.
That’s a 2.1 per cent increase from October and, when adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, almost 10 per cent more than the average GTA home was worth a year ago, according to figures released Thursday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
In fact, November sales across Canada were 7 per cent above the 10-year average for the month, resulting in the fourth highest level of sales on record for what’s typically the slow season, CREA noted.

A sold sign sits on the corner of Toronto's Manning Ave. and Ulster St.

Tara Walton/Toronto Star

While no one is uttering the dreaded B-word — bubble — as did Britain’s venerable magazine The Economist when it recently warned Canada’s housing market may be 25 per cent overvalued, the warning is clearly of concern among the country’s housing experts.
“With interest rates expected to remain low for longer, the housing sector will no doubt be closely watched for signs of excess,” say CREA’s chief economist Gregory Klump.
“That said, current trends for resale housing and new home construction suggest that tightened mortgage regulations are working as intended and fostering economic stability in Canada.”
A record November of sales in Halifax-Dartmouth, up a seasonally adjusted 34.7 per cent, helped offset a 10.5 per cent decline in sales in Toronto where 7,773 homes changed homes.
New listings across the GTA were down 4.4 in November while prices climbed by 9.7 per cent.
Despite economic turmoil in the rest of the world, Canadians continue to see real estate as a sure thing: A total of 432,048 homes have traded hands across Canada between January and the end of November, up 2.1 per cent from the same period last year, CREA says.

Your home’s sale price is private information by Mark Weisleder

An article from the Toronto Star, October 14, 2011, by Mark Weislader.  

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Condos under construction between the Rogers Centre and the Air Canada Centre in downtown Toronto. (Apr. 8, 2009)

Steve Russell/Steve Russell

A few years ago, the federal Privacy Commissioner ruled a home’s sale price is personal information and cannot be advertised or disclosed without the permission of the buyer and the seller.

This is what privacy legislation is all about — protecting your personal information. The lesson is that if you do not want to see your home’s sale price advertised after closing, then don’t agree to it.
In another case decided in 2006, an insurance company arranged for photographs to be taken of an apartment unit, without the tenant’s permission. The purpose was to get examples of the state of repairs of the interior of the apartments to assist in figuring out the building’s value. However, the pictures included some of the apartment’s contents.
The Privacy Commissioner’s office found that while the purpose might have been to show the condition of the unit, it also revealed information about the tenant, including their standard of living, whether they could afford expensive media equipment, whether they loved music or art or cooking. This was found to be personal information and thus permission should have been requested.
What this means is that before a buyer or agent takes photographs of anything inside a seller’s home, even during an open house or home inspection, they should ask for permission.
In another case decided in 2008, a consumer asked their bank for a copy of the appraisal report the bank had done on their home. An appraisal contains information about other comparable property sales in your area that help the appraiser calculate the value of your property. The bank refused, claiming this was confidential commercial information and not personal information.
The Privacy Commissioner’s office decided that, while the consumer was entitled to the appraisal value of their own home, they were not entitled to the name or contact information of the appraiser, or anything related to comparable property sales, as this was the personal information of third parties.
The issue of privacy arises in the ongoing lawsuit between the Competition Bureau and the Toronto Real Estate Board, something I’ve written about in the past few months.
The Competition Commissioner wants Canadians to be able to go online and access the selling price of any home in Canada. The potential abuses are huge, starting with thieves who want to learn about potential victims and their lifestyle. Since buyers and sellers didn’t provide this permission, in my opinion, it violates privacy legislation.
It seems to me the Privacy Commissioner should be involved in these proceedings and I encourage all Canadians to complain to the Privacy Commissioner’s office in Ottawa and to federal Industry Minister Christian Paradis. To register a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner’s office, you can download a form from their website, www.priv.gc.ca, sign it and then send it in. You can email Paradis’ office at minister.industry@icigc.ca.

Housing market has peaked, says Royal LePage- The Toronto Star

An article by Hugh McKenna regarding the current housing market:

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Canada’s hot housing market appears to be at its near-term peak, with current high prices concealing early signs of moderating market, according to a new survey released Thursday by Royal LePage.
In its House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast, Royal LePage says Canada’s residential real estate market saw sizable year-over-year price increases in the second quarter.
And, it says the price increases were evident across all housing types surveyed, with the national average price of a detached bungalow has rising the most — 7.5 per cent year-over-year to $356,625.
Meanwhile, the price of a standard two-storey home rose 6.1 per cent to $390,163 and the price of a standard condominium 3.5 per cent to $238,064.
While prices continue their recent climb, Royal LePage said signs of moderation, although they vary from region to region, are beginning to become apparent and the average price of a home is expected to end the year 7.7 per cent higher than at the end of 2010.
Sales volume nationally is forecast to decrease marginally by 2.0 per cent over the same period.
The survey, described by Royal LePage as the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind in Canada, contains information on seven types of housing in over 250 neighbourhoods from coast to coast.
“In many of Canada’s regional markets, we saw house prices appreciate at a significantly faster rate than wages and salaries, and this trend cannot continue indefinitely,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
“We expect price gains to moderate considerably in the latter half of 2011, which should reduce the stress associated with purchasing a new home.”

                   Construction crews work at a housing development near 

Derry Rd. E. and Thompson Rd. in Milton, Ont. 

PAWEL DWULIT/TORONTO STAR

However, Soper noted that Vancouver and specifically certain neighbourhoods in the lower mainland of British Columbia, “remains an anomaly, as investment from outside of the country continues to support higher price levels.”
Year-over-year prices should appreciate modestly in 2011’s third quarter as most Canadian housing markets cooled during the same period in 2010. Similarly, this year’s final quarter should display a flat year-over-year price performance when compared to an unusually strong fourth quarter of 2010.
“While the global economy struggles to find its footing, here in Canada we are seeing indicators of a return to long-term norms,” noted Soper.
“There is an expectation of continuing improvement in employment levels across the country and accompanying strength in wages and salaries, which should provide support for the housing market. Looking ahead to 2012, signs are pointing to stability for Canadian home owners and new buyers. We believe we are past the period of peak house price appreciation.”
In the Atlantic provinces, Royal LePage says markets that had recently enjoyed unusually high price appreciation such as Halifax and St. John’s are still seeing gains, although smaller than those in recent quarters. At the end of 2011, average house prices in Halifax are forecast to be 3.3 per cent higher than 2010.
In Montreal, detached bungalows and two-storey houses posted strong year-over-year gains above seven per cent in the second quarter, while standard condominiums rose modestly by 1.9 per cent. At the end of 2011, average house prices in Montreal are forecast to be seven per cent higher than 2010.
Toronto’s seller’s market witnessed strong year-over-year price appreciation in the quarter, with price gains ranging from 4.7 per cent to 6.1 per cent as the average price of a detached bungalow hit $511,100 and a standard two-storey homes $617,774.
The average year-over-year house price in Toronto is expected to see an overall increase of 6.4 per cent in 2011, while unit sales are expected to decrease 1.8 per cent largely due to lack of inventory.
Regina saw the largest year-over-year gain in the quarter, with the price of a standard two-storey home jumping 15.6 per cent and detached bungalows posting an 11 per cent gain as the city’s limited inventory was unable to keep up with the demand created by the booming local job market. At the end of 2011, average house prices in Regina are forecast to be 12.4 per cent higher than 2010.
Calgary witnessed moderate year-over-year price declines as it continued to adjust from the boom experienced in the middle of the previous decade, but is expected to finish the year with an average price gain of 3.8 per cent.
Vancouver experienced some of Canada’s largest year-over-year price increases with detached bungalows rising 14.1 per cent and standard two-storey homes rising 12.0 per cent. Average prices for standard condominiums stabilized rising 2.5 per cent.
At the end of 2011, average house prices in Vancouver are forecast to be 15.4 per cent higher than 2010.
Elsewhere, Ottawa is expected to see average prices finish 2011 up five per cent compared with 2010 and Winnipeg up six per cent, while prices in Edmonton are expected to be down 1.2 per cent.

Cheaper real estate fees are coming- The Toronto Star

Tony Wong's article in The Toronto Star:

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The Canadian real-estate market is expected to get much more competitive with a new discount agency partnership that would offer cheaper real-estate fees to consumers and present the most serious threat yet to traditional bricks-and-mortar realtors.
The deal between Moncton, N.B.-based PropertyGuys.com and Toronto-based Realtysellers Real Estate Inc. is expected to be announced Thursday, the Star has learned.
The agreement will result in a powerhouse for discount real estate. PropertyGuys bills itself as the largest and fastest-growing private-sale franchise network in Canada, where sellers can list and sell their own properties without an agent. Realtysellers, which has had a history of litigious tangling with organized real estate, is considered the bad boy of real estate due to its aggressive low commissions and flat fees.
The combination will create a company that promises to be an industry game-changer.
“We now have the size, sophistication and financial muscle to fundamentally change the way Canadians can buy and sell a home,” said Lawrence Dale, president and CEO of Realtysellers.
Realtysellers formed last year after the Competition Bureau signed an agreement with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to open doors to real-estate companies offering flat-fee services.
Home prices in the Toronto market have virtually doubled in the last decade but traditional commissions have stuck at the 5 per cent mark.
Although all commissions are negotiable, a traditional listing agent might charge 2.5 per cent commission, while the buyer’s agent may also receive 2.5 per cent.
Dale’s company charges 0.5 per cent to list a home. (If the buyer is represented by a traditional agent, then another 2.5 per cent may have to be paid for a total of 3 per cent in commissions).
If his company represents the buyer, then a rebate is given up to 70 per cent of the commission if the buyer has done the legwork of finding their own property.
PropertyGuys was a service for homeowners who didn’t want to pay a commission and wanted to sell their own homes.
Elizabeth Lipcsei, 80, listed her $1,299,000 North York home with PropertyGuys because she thought agent commissions were “outrageous.”
If she sold the house at full price, total commissions could be as much as $65,000. With PropertyGuys, Lipcsei says she expects to pay about $1,300 to sell her property.
She will likely still have to pay commission to the buyer’s agent.
But because her 5,000-square-foot ravine-lot home is not currently listed on the Multiple Listing Service, she has received few calls.
In the three weeks she has been on the website, the majority of calls have been from traditional agents fishing for her listing.
“There is a need for alternatives that are affordable for consumers,” said Lipcsei.
PropertyGuys lists homes privately online, and is part of the burgeoning sale-by-owner segment of the market. The company says it makes more than 10,000 transactions annually.
With Dale’s undisclosed financial investment in PropertyGuys, Realtysellers now has access to a database of customers to expand its reach, while PropertyGuys will be able to offer traditional brokerage services.
“This new union will give our current and future customers access to brokerage services that were previously off limits,” said Ken LeBlanc, president and CEO of PropertyGuys.
The two companies are expected to operate under their own brands but will pool their services and resources. PropertyGuys’ clients, for example, can use Realtysellers to list their homes on MLS, where the vast majority of deals are made.
Whether the new innovators make inroads into the Canadian market remains to be seen. Longtime franchises such as ReMax and Royal LePage spend millions every year marketing their well-established brands.
In the United States, a 2008 Justice Department agreement with the National Association of Realtors stopped the association from using rules to treat traditional bricks-and-mortar brokers differently than online brokers, ushering in an explosion of Internet-based companies.
However, traditional realtors still dominate.
“It will take time for the more innovative companies to make inroads,” said John Andrew, director of the executive seminars on corporate and investment real estate at Queen’s University.
“But this is the first really significant merger in the market, getting two of the largest players together to get a critical mass to take on the traditional brokerages.
“I think we may see more convergence in the industry with the smaller players getting together in order to create the volume needed to survive.”
The move toward cheaper commissions in many ways started with Dale, who has had a well-publicized acrimonious relationship with organized real estate.
His company claimed it was the first in Canada to offer a basket of different-priced services, including a “flat-fee” program that would allow consumers to list on the MLS for a few hundred dollars. Realtysellers closed in 2006 and Dale sued CREA and the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), saying they enacted new rules to put discounters out of business.
That got the attention of the Competition Bureau, which started to investigate the industry. Dale restarted Realtysellers last year with Toronto businessman Mark Litwin and longtime realtor Allan Spivak after the bureau reached an agreement with CREA.
“Because of the Competition Bureau, companies such as PropertyGuys and Realtysellers have been able to come together,” said Dale. “I would certainly not have re-entered the market without the bureau cleaning up the landscape.”
While an agreement has been made with CREA, the bureau last month decided to take the Toronto board to court in a move to further open up the MLS to consumers.
The bureau is arguing that TREB is restricting how its agents can provide MLS to customers, thereby “denying member agents the ability to provide innovative brokerage services over the Internet.” The bureau wants consumers to have the ability to look at historical data such as sold prices and comparables from their own computers. By doing their own work, fees might be lowered.
Dale says the new combined company will provide services and data not available previously on other websites.
“We intend to introduce to customers access to data that we can lawfully provide,” said Dale.
The two companies will have competition not just from traditional realtors but from other for-sale-by-owner sites that have bulked up in anticipation of competition.
For example, Ontario-based Bytheowner.com, now known as ComFree, joined forces last September with four other commission-free real-estate companies.
“You will see an ongoing convergence. But it makes sense to be among the first and the biggest because you crowd out the space for potential competitors coming in,” said Andrews.

Guerrero Law's Toronto office now open!

We are pleased to announce that our Toronto office is now officially open. Our team continues to expand in order to better serve our clientele.

Guerrero Law staff in the Toronto office specialise in Personal Injury cases, however, we continue to serve all of our clients' needs and are able to accommodate matters regarding Family and Real Estate as well, therefore do not hesitate to contact our office, as we are here to help you.

We welcome staff members who are able to work with the Tamil speaking community in order to better serve you.

Before opening for business, we were honoured to have a puja performed in order to bless the new location and its staff members.

Offerings of prayer.

Getting comfortable in his new digs.

 

Guerrero Law Toronto Office Address:

31 Progress Avenue, Suite 202

Toronto, ON M1P 2S6

Guerrero Law Toronto Office Phone Number: 

(416) 297-0205

Choosing a Real Estate Agent

You see so many different For Sale, Sold and For Lease signs with so many different Realtor names. You browse the listings on MLS and see so many more. With so many agents out there, how do you choose? Do you go by their picture? Do you look at how many listings they have? What's a home buyer to do?

Here are a few recommendations when beginning your search:

1) Get referrals from family, friends and co-workers.  

2) Meet with a few agents to conduct mini interviews.

3) Check the online search of The Real Estate Council of Ontario to see if the agent is registered. RECO regulates the activity of trading in real estate in the public interest and has been put in place to protect your best interests.

4) If you are a seller, find out how much their commission is.

5) Normally, it is helpful if the agent is familiar with the area you are looking in. 

6) Choose someone who displays professionalism and a willingness to work for your needs.

7) Should you want, your agent should be able to assist you with other necessary real estate related services, for example, arranging a house inspection, arranging a mortgage and finding a real estate lawyer.

8) If you are selling your home, does the agent have a plan of attack for marketing your house. MLS, ads, open houses?

9) Not all agents work the same schedule. If you are only available to view properties on Sundays, make sure your agent works weekends. Communicate your availability during your interview with them.

10) This isn't a deal breaker, but if your sales representative has a website, that is a very good way of gathering even more information about them and seeing what affiliations they have.

Taping for Now What? Rogers TV / Grabando para Now What? Rogers TV

Today, Antonio Guerrero had the pleasure of being interviewed by Martha Pinzón from the Rogers TV show Now What?.
He was invited to the show to briefly speak about divorce and alternatives to court proceedings.
The show will air in two weeks at which point we will upload the clip.

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Hoy, Antonio Guerrero tuvo el privilegio de ser entrevistado por Martha Pinzón de Rogers TV del programa Now What?.
Fue invitado al programa para hablar en breve de los temas de divorcio y alternativas al proceso judicial.
El programa estará en el aire en dos semanas en cual momento cárgaremos la entrevista.

Grabando para el programa Now What?

Martha Pinzón y Antonio Guerrero

Feliz Día de la Mujer

Photos courtesy of Antonio Guerrero