This is a story of knowing when to put your foot down.

I had a first-time homebuyer reach out to me looking to purchase her first house with her fiancée. They were extremely organized and had a very clear idea of what they wanted and what they needed to be prepared. However, they weren’t sure quite where they wanted to live… so, we set off on a journey across the GTA.

An investor client of mine had tasked me with finding him a “steal,” and as I am sure you can imagine, that is not an easy feat. Many investors look for the diamond in the rough, but since so many are looking for it, it makes it that much harder to find.

In the spring of 2023, someone reached out to me about upsizing from their 1-bedroom condo townhouse to a detached home. They were concerned that if they sold the townhouse first, they wouldn’t find a house they liked in time, so they decided to buy first. Now, this was a time where the market had significantly slowed down, especially for condos, so it was going to be a challenge to sell their home regardless.

If you’re a first-time homebuyer in Toronto, one thing that you will need is perseverance - especially if what you are looking for is full of tight competition. In the fall of 2023, I was connected to a lovely young family who was looking to buy their first home. However, similarly to many first-time homebuyers, they were looking for a house or condo townhouse around $1,000,000. They also had very tight location restraints and that made things a bit more difficult, as the area they had to stay in was not friendly to entry-level buyers.