Education and Advocacy

Education and Advocacy Yukon Realtors Finally Adopt Buyer Agency…Sort of A couple of weeks ago I received a very interesting phone call from one of the associate producers of Yukon Morning, CBC Radio Yukon’s morning show.  She was hoping to interview me about a big change recently announced by the Yukon Real Estate Association.  On August 23rd they issued a press release announcing they were […]
Education and Advocacy Know Your Rights as a Yellowknife Home Buyer or Seller On January 1, 2022, the Northwest Territories Association of REALTORS® mandated the use, by all of its Realtor members, of a series of forms intended to protect buyers and sellers from costly misunderstanding about their rights.  The main purpose of the forms is to help real estate clients and customers understand whether or not they […]
Education and Advocacy Does Yellowknife Need a New Neighbourhood? In my experience, when you ask Yellowknifers if they think our population is growing, shrinking, or staying the same, the majority of them believe it’s either staying the same or shrinking.  I’m not sure why this is.  It may have something to do with media reporting on the territory-wide population, which has been shrinking in […]
Education and Advocacy Prepare for Supply Chain Issues on Possession Day You’ve finally done it!  In a tight market you’ve managed to find a home that suits your family’s needs perfectly, you’ve submitted the winning offer, and only a few more weeks stand between you and your possession day.  Insurance is in place, mortgage paperwork has been signed at your lawyer’s office, the seller seems to […]
Education and Advocacy Why Don’t Whitehorse REALTORS® Represent Buyers? A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Whitehorse visiting with friends, fishing, exploring and generally just re-acquainting myself with the city and surrounding area.  I had a wonderful time, and while there I had a chance to do some digging into a question that has been puzzling […]
Education and Advocacy Real Estate Regulation in the Wild (North)West Two things have happened to me in the last 24 hours that have left me scratching my head in puzzlement. First, I was making inquiries on behalf of clients for a potential recreational property purchase in B.C., and when I received the information package, it contained a document that blew my mind – a material […]
Education and Advocacy Selling Your Yellowknife Home in 2021: What to Expect This and other articles about the Yellowknife real estate market are available in our e-newsletter.  Click on this link to sign up and receive our latest edition. As mentioned in my last post (“Year End Review”), 2020 was a busy year in the Yellowknife real estate market.  Fewer people listed their homes for sale than […]
Education and Advocacy 2020 Year End Review: A Look Back at Yellowknife’s Real Estate Market This and other articles about the Yellowknife real estate market are available in our e-newsletter.  Click on this link to sign up and receive our latest edition. Well, 2020 was pretty crazy. Just like most economic sectors in most countries in the world, COVID-19 left the Canadian real estate sector facing great uncertainty in the […]
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Education and Advocacy 5 Problems with Agent “Double-Ending” When a buyer purchases a home directly through the listing agent, rather than through their own buyer’s agent, they enter into an arrangement known in the industry as “double-ending.”  The term refers to the fact that there are two “ends” or halves of a commission on a real estate deal.  One end normally goes to […]
Education and Advocacy 6 Reasons Why Now is the Time to Connect with a Buyer’s Agent in Yellowknife Yesterday the Government of the Northwest Territories announced its “Emerging Wisely” plan for a phased relaxing of COVID-19-related restrictions.  Even before this announcement we in the real estate industry had already seen signs of life in the market (there have been 30 new MLS® listings in the first 13 days of May), so if phase […]
Education and Advocacy How to Be Sure You’re Working with a Buyer’s Agent Thinking of buying a home?  Under the right market conditions a buyer’s agent can save you thousands of dollars.  Here are some quick tips for figuring out if the REALTOR® you are working with is acting as a buyer’s agent: If you are viewing homes with the listing agent, you are not working with a buyer’s […]
First Time Home Buyer 101 Seminar Thinking of buying a home but not sure where to start?  Attend our second annual First Time Homebuyer 101 seminar and we’ll set you on the right track.  Co-hosted with Sherry Stuart, Mobile Mortgage Specialist at CIBC.  Admission is free of charge.  Pre-register now to receive a first time homebuyers information package!  See the flyer below […]
The Buyer Representation Advantage Even if they haven’t experienced it directly, most Yellowknife homebuyers are familiar with the concept of Buyer Representation.  It’s what they see when they watch real estate Reality TV, and it’s what they usually hear about from family and friends who purchase property in other cities.  Buyer Representation has been around since the 1990s in […]
Education and Advocacy Northlands is Back on the Market This afternoon CMHC circulated an update to lenders confirming that effective immediately it will once again insure mortgages in the Northlands neighbourhood.  CMHC withdrew its support for mortgages in the area way back on April 10, 2010, due to sewer and water infrastructure issues (see this CBC article with the April 10th announcement).  CMHC’s withdrawl led to to a “hands off” stance […]
Education and Advocacy Exclusive Listings vs. MLS Listings Over the last few years we’ve had a lot of home sellers ask us to explain the difference between Exclusive listings and MLS® listings.  Exclusive listings are a bit controversial, and are rarely seen in Yellowknife, but there is at least one type of situation where they are potentially preferable to MLS® listings. The MLS®, or Multi-Listing […]
Education and Advocacy What Can Yellowknife Condo Buyers Learn From Toronto? Although it may seem challenging to find similarities between Yellowknife and Toronto, a recent study by Toronto company Condos.ca provides a lot of useful information for Yellowknife condo buyers. The study, entitled Toronto Condo Maintenance Fees: Facts, Stats and Myths, is the result of a ten-year citywide analysis of condos sold through the Toronto Multi-Listing Service (MLS). […]
Education and Advocacy Alberta Government Tables Condominium Property Amendment Act Compared to many Canadian cities, Yellowknife’s condominium sector is still in the very early stages of its development.  We more or less began with the construction of Northern Heights in 1989 and it remains our only high-rise condo building (a bewildering fact – to be discussed in a future post).  Having said that, in recent years we’ve […]
Read This If You Live in a House in Downtown Yellowknife Yesterday I discovered an interesting quirk in the City of Yellowknife’s property assessment system.  If you own a house downtown and you use it purely for residential purposes, your land will be assessed at $95,000.  But if you choose to operate a business out of your home, your assessment jumps up to $210,000.  If you […]
Education and Advocacy Is Your New City of Yellowknife Property Assessment Fair? (Reposted with permission from myself – Adrian) Figuring out if your 2013 property assessment (used to calculate 2014 taxes) is fair is a time-sensitive issue because, as you’ll notice at the bottom right of your assessment notice, there is a deadline for appeals. So how should a property owner go about figuring this out if […]
Education and Advocacy CMCH Condominium Buyer’s Guide Are you thinking of moving to Yellowknife and investing in a condo?  If so, you’re not alone.  Yellowknife rental rates are the second highest in Canada, yet our condo prices remain very competitive with other markets.  These two factors make condo ownership an attractive option.  But there are different rules and regulations that condo corporations […]