Author: homegoal.ca

Let’s be honest: spending time with friends is one of the best parts of life. Whether it’s sharing a meal or a good laugh, those moments are what make life feel full. With our schedules feeling busier than ever, it’s no surprise that spending time with loved ones has become harder. In 2022, only one in five Canadians said they saw their friends on a typical day—down from nearly half (47%) in 1986. With the cost of living and housing on the rise, living closer with friends can make life more affordable and a lot more fun. Here are seven…

(photo: Unit 106 of 7 Dale Avenue, listed for $7,995,000).   Talk about one-stop shopping. Eleven Realtors from different brokerages recently came together to hold an agent open house that featured all seven of the suites for sale in a luxury boutique condominium in Toronto’s South Rosedale neighbourhood. No. 7 Dale, designed by architect Hariri Pontarini and with interiors by Alessandro Munge, is a collection of multi-million-dollar suites. Each is more like a custom home, with its own mechanical room that allows owners to customize features such as heating, water filtration and security systems for their own suites. Other highlights…

The Central Lakes housing market in September 2025 showed renewed momentum and a notable shift toward balance, following a period of cooling earlier in the year. According to the latest data from the Central Lakes Association of Realtors® (CLAR), nearly every regional market within Central Lakes saw stronger sales activity, supported by an increase in available listings and the recent September interest rate cut. While regional trends aligned in some key areas, such as sales volume and buyer choice, there were differences in price performance and market speed, suggesting a diversity of market conditions across the Central Lakes area. Source:…

Every week, we talk to agents who tell me the same thing: “The leads are sh*t.” Sometimes they’re right. Most of the time, it is not the leads. It is the system. The latest episode of The Leads Are Sh*t, co-hosts Andrew Fogliato and Taylor Hack break down the real difference between agents who consistently close deals and those who keep fighting their CRM.  The conversation took some turns, especially when Ado Topuz from AgentLocator dropped in with the results of a $50,000 test comparing forced and non-forced registration leads. It all circled back to one thing: success comes from…

Each Wednesday, Real Estate Magazine shares insights, experiences and advice from top-performing agents across Canada. If you’d like to contribute or nominate a colleague or team, send us an email. Editor’s note: The following interview was originally published in a REM special edition print magazine released Oct. 7 at the Re/Max Activate conference.   Steven Liambas of Re/Max Noblecorp Real Estate has built a solid luxury business in the Toronto area, based on innovative marketing tactics, personal touchpoints with clients and keeping on the cutting edge of technology and tools. In this interview, he shares the strategies that have helped…

Canadians will soon answer an age-old question—if home values are inflated to facilitate mortgage leverage, will regulators actually do anything? Canadian lenders are increasingly using blanket appraisals, treating pre-construction contract prices as market value to maximize leverage and close new home purchases. The move shifts risk from developers to buyers—especially those who bought at peak, now holding loans well above the asset’s value.  No need to alert Canada’s bank regulator—they’ve already acknowledged the issue, mostly to dismiss it. Either they don’t grasp the scale of the problem, or they’re quietly praying for the problem to go away. Or maybe preying—depending…

Are you spending more to drive than to live? As rent prices in major cities fall, some Americans may now pay more in monthly car payments than in housing costs. According to Experian, the average new car payment is $749; however, accounting for gas and insurance pushes the monthly ownership costs of a car to over $1,000.  Yet young car buyers are still drawn to new vehicles. Between April 2024 and March 2025, Americans aged 18-34 bought 1.1 million new cars, accounting for 9.9% of vehicle registrations in that age group.  Those opting for a used car will get some…

Toronto’s One Bloor West is moving forward after years of development turmoil and has already reached a significant milestone that signals a new chapter for high-rise development in Canada.  It became Canada’s first supertall tower in June when it surpassed 300 metres, the benchmark for achieving “supertall” building status. Jim Richie, president and CEO of the building’s developer Tridel, has said One Bloor West marks “a pivotal moment not just for Toronto, but all of Canada.”  “We are moving into a new era of development, marked by a level of ambition and engineering excellence not previously seen before,” he said…

Transit-oriented developments (TODs) have emerged as one of the most durable and attractive real estate strategies in both residential and mixed-use markets. These developments cluster housing, retail, office, and community amenities around major transit infrastructure, including subways, light rail, commuter rail, or bus rapid transit, creating high-density nodes of urban activity. Transit-oriented developments (TOD) are not new. However, while their benefits in terms of convenience and increased property values are well recognized, their role in shaping resilient returns is becoming more evident. By minimizing investor risk, TODs can deliver returns that hold up through both cyclical downturns and long-term structural…

There was a time when Realtor meant something. It conjured images of polished professionals, steady hands on the tiller, people guided by ethics, not ego.  Today, the word feels less like a badge of honour and more like a brand you’d whisper about at a cocktail party before someone asks, “Oh, are you one of those?”   A shared word with split reputations   Canada’s real estate professionals use the word Realtor by permission. It is not ours. The trademark is co-owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the United States.…