OREA forms continue to confuse lawyers and consumersWhen does a real estate deal close — when the deed is registered, when the keys and money change hands or when the seller moves out of the house?This question was raised by London, Ont., lawyer Lorne Campbell in response to my Oct. 2 column...

What are commodities telling us? Oct 18th 2010, THE statistics pages at the back of The Economist have always been a useful guide, because they provide perspective from the daily volatility of the markets. So it is particularly instructive to look this week at our own commodity price index...

QUOTE (margaretcowan @ Oct 20 2010, 10:24 PM) Last year when I was shopping for a new mortgage for my 5 unit house property in Nanaimo, someone said the Royal Bank would do it. I got my residential mortgage with the Royal Bank so give them a try. I`ve also found over the years that when a bank...

The Next Disaster Fri, 08 Oct 2010Many commentators have noted that the public has withdrawn some money from stock mutual funds in order to buy bonds. If people were pouring into Treasury bonds, it would be a bullish sign, because it would reflect waxing conservatism. But most investors are not...

Bernanke: Talking Inflation, Walking DeflationFri, 15 Oct 2010Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said on October 15 that the Fed is ready to start its next round of quantitative easing, if needed. The new stimulus involves the purchase of long-term U.S. Treasuries and keeping interest...

Bracing for a deflationary spiralDIANNE MALEYSpecial to Globe and Mail UpdatePublished Monday, Oct. 18, 2010 Ian Gordon makes a hair-raising case that the United States is in deflation’s grip. The U.S. money supply is shrinking, the rate at which money changes hands is slowing, core consumer...

Analysis: U.S. banks prepare for deflation riskTue Oct 12, 2010 (Reuters) - U.S. banks are bracing for possible deflation and, if it comes, it will not be pretty for lenders, analysts said. Atlanta-based SunTrust (STI.N) has set up a special committee to assess its exposure to deflation, said...

The Economy and Deflation Our contention last month was that the economy is moving into a critical new phase, an outright deflation in which “prices fall because people expect falling prices.” Obviously, this implies an element of recognition, as efforts to protect against indebtedness and...

Time to take some Profit$

QUOTE (ThomasBeyer @ Oct 9 2010, 03:55 PM) # possible, albeit unlikely scenarios come to mind where real estate will not do well: b) unemployment rates @ 15% i.e. many renters that can`t afford to pay rent ! ...the U.S.A. is quickly heading to that rate. The real unemployment rate for...

Lawyers may kill deals not in client`s best interest From time to time, lawyers get accused by real estate agents of being "deal killers." I was reminded of this recently in an email from Paula Riopelle, a real estate lawyer in Orleans, Ont. She was responding to my column, "Agents should never...

Hot Button Issues for Residential TenanciesReal estate lawyers involved in transactions of residential rental properties provide added value to their clients by flagging regulatory risks faced by landlords. Clients investing in rental property for the first time are often naïve about the...

QUOTE (Rickson9 @ Oct 6 2010, 02:36 PM) Regardless of what ends up happening, I`d just be happy to be able to get my property up on MLS for a hundred bucks! An Ottawa Realtor does it for $109.

Lawyers Will Now Use the MLS to Sell Real EstateThe ability to use the MLS and lawyers means you can effectively cut out the middlemen – the agent.That kind of thinking does not sit well with organized real estate, with many agents already under siege from consumers who see more options...

Why didn`t CREA keep its members informed? - the Globe reports that several top brokers were caught off guard when contacted about the potential settlement. This change will trouble many in the industry, mainly because change is hard and it`s even harder in the absence of good leadership.

QUOTE (investmart @ Oct 4 2010, 09:32 PM) Hi Brett, "The Canadian system .. creates a situation where it is always in both agents` interest to get a sale at any price." I don`t understand the Australian lawyer. isn`t the seller`s agent`s interest to sell to the highest bidder? this contradicts...

OREA is up to date with 1980s technology Virtually all agreements of purchase and sale for homes or condominiums in Ontario are prepared on standard forms published by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). Unfortunately, those forms have a great number of shortcomings which do not promote...

An interesting point about our Canadian Real Estate, written by an Australian Lawyer:Where the buyer’s agent gets paid only if the deal goes through, makes more commission the more his or her client pays, and gets paid by the party that he or she is negotiating against, is rife with conflicts of...

QUOTE (gwasser @ Oct 3 2010, 01:10 PM) As Lucky Luciano and many others pointed out at nausea, you get what you pay for.Of course you get what you pay for....you don`t pay until AFTER the sale! The SALE is what you wanted, regardless of the fee/commission!