By Shawn Lackie Remember the saying, you can’t choose your family but you CAN choose your friends? How about neighbours? In 1952, Norman McLaren created a short film, for the National Film Board, called Neighbours. It was so good, it won an Oscar. Talk about being ahead of its time. See if you can find it on YouTube and have a look. It’s THAT good and still relevant to this day. It pretty much encapsulates what happens to people living next door to each other, when things go

by Shawn Lackie Quick question. Do you ever just pause and take a look around you and acknowledge the changes which have been happening? John Lennon wrote, in one of his songs, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” He was so right. We often get caught up in the day to day madness of jobs, raising kids, making and saving money; always making future plans. Then we wake up one morning, take a look around and say, “Where did all these houses come fro

by Shawn Lackie Got my property tax bill in the mail the other day for 2026. I know, I know, let’s not go there. But, as always, I feel I must say something. You should be listening to the excellent Beatles tune, Taxman  written by George Harrison, while you read this. So here goes. The latest half-year interim bill is equal to what we paid for the whole year when we first moved back to Port Perry, 19 years ago. And while I am more than aware things go up (like the price of g

By Shawn Lackie The ever-changing world of Real Estate encompasses many components. One of the largest, and obviously most important, would be how to stimulate new business. After all, you can only count on friends and relatives for so long and then that source dries up. In some cases it was never really there to begin with. In the good old days, Realtors advertised in newspapers, magazines and local publications. Many still do, with good results. (We second that! – Editor –

By Shawn Lackie Hey, if I could answer THAT question, I would be posting all the lottery numbers I think are going to win and see how successful that turned out. I get asked, all the time, just what is going on and what’s next? The simple answer is, let’s wait and see. I can say, with some certainty, what we have been seeing these past 15 months is more than likely to continue. There are too many intangibles right now: jobs, inflation rate, interest rates, an insane dictator

by Shawn Lackie SCUGOG: The 100 Men of Scugog kicked off the 2026 campaign in fine fashion, on a blustery Wednesday night. Hey, more snow. What a novel concept. The group met at the Port Perry Legion, on January 21st. The Legion, with a huge help from Doug Babcock, has been an amazing partner in facilitating these meetings, and the group is more than grateful for their ongoing help. Presentations were made by Big Brothers/Big Sisters North Durham, Safe Hope Home and Community

by Shawn Lackie Every week we continue to be inundated with stories about housing and whether or not areas have under-bidding or over-bidding. We wait in breathless anticipation, to find out where the deals are being had, much like the annual Black Friday or Boxing Day sales. This is a recent phenomena, one which was never really a big part of the action back in the day. Since the buying world partly lost its mind in 2016 and then fully lost its collective mind in 2019-21, it

by Shawn Lackie A client called me recently, asking about the benefits of land leases. I had to choke back on this one but I did carry on. I asked, why on earth would they be asking about this. Strictly a personal opinion here, but a Land Lease is very similar to a condo purchase, and I have NOT been a fan of condo purchases, for my clients. For a myriad of reasons. In short order, you are buying the air space you live in, and really nothing more. You are subject to monthly m

by Shawn Lackie Over 20 years ago, I finally decided I wanted to make Real Estate (RE) my life. I had worked in television, in a multitude of capacities, and then transitioned to a VP job with the Canadian Football League. At the time, I considered it to be my dream job. Yet, in the back of my mind, for many of the previous 10 years, I had always wondered what the world of RE held. I would call a friend, every spring, and ask how the market was and what process I would follow

By Shawn Lackie This one might be a little out there but work with me, please. Quick question. How many local businesses are you aware of? And no, I don’t mean eateries like Jesters or Marwans. Even Haugens, who has been here for a looooong time. I have witnessed their menu firsthand since 1970. Still great. Yummy, but I digress. No, I am talking about those manufacturing places, Industrial or not. We often hear there isn't enough manufacturing and such to offset taxes and cr

by Shawn Lackie Have you ever heard the adage, “You better not assume something because it could make an ass out of U and me?” Or the old saying, “Never judge a book by its cover?” Both are excellent pieces of advice. Assuming something could be more hazardous than you think. In his amazing book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of a car salesman in the Midwestern United States who, at one point, was the most successful salesman for his brand of automobile. The reason w

by Shawn Lackie It’s that time of the year again, when all the best and worst end of the year lists come out. So I thought, hey why not? Except this isn’t a list, it’s a collective look at what has happened and maybe some crystal ball gazing in what might happen next. Please don’t hold me to any of this. These are merely my thoughts on what might happen. The past year provided many people with a more realistic look at the Real Estate market. We know this market is like all ot

by Shawn Lackie It’s that time of the year again and I always want to send my list to Santa for things to wish for. Against all logic, I thought I would share here: 1. Awesome clients, like I have had in the last few years. It makes the job a joy and really NOT a job. These people have dreams and wishes, and being able to fulfill some of their aspirations is inspiring to me. Especially when they find THAT place. Especially first-time buyers. Matt, Hannah, Sarah and Anujan, An

By Shawn Lackie It’s easy to take cheap shots at a person or a situation. We seem to be overrun with bad news or salacious stuff we just can’t turn away from. Train wreck anyone? So I thought, what about talking about the positives in this profession. There are lots of them, but it would seem, it’s easier to turn over rocks and see the slime underneath and make a big deal about that. Trust me. There are many good people in this business. People who care, people who want to ma

By Shawn Lackie I had to laugh at a recent headline, in one of the on-line, so-called expert, sites, regarding Real Estate. The BIG NEWS was, “Underbidding” was back and prevalent in many GTA neighbourhoods. Underbidding? Since when did THAT become an issue? Like, when someone is asking $1.2 Million for a property and you have the temerity to offer them $1.1 Million? Excuse me, but isn’t that what used to be considered the norm? A seller lists a home for X dollars. The buyer

By Shawn Lackie I was recently reading a monthly report on a local internet news site about house prices in the Durham Region. It got me thinking. I read those as do thousands of others, but what are we really to believe? The reason I ask is that I mentioned this before in a piece I called "Tell Your Numbers To Shut Up" in October. And it made me wonder. What DO people believe? Many real estate boards would have you believe what they say is the gospel truth. I think some coul

By Shawn Lackie The Real Estate landscape has certainly changed in the last two years (yah think?). What used to be a crazy ride for buyers and sellers has almost died out completely. High interest rates and seller greed finally caught up with the market. Buyers who were once throwing money at sellers with no thought about it are now sitting back and patiently waiting for the next shoe to drop. Or at least interest rates. We had one drop in September, and more are on the way.

by Shawn Lackie Nobody said it would be easy. But it’s all a matter of perspective. By it I mean finding a good and reliable mortgage broker. In many instances the decision can be an extremely simple one. You have a relative or a very close friend who you trust implicitly to give you the best quality service and really look out for your best interests. Even these scenarios come with a certain level of risk. As long as you ask the right questions and stay engaged in the proces

by Shawn Lackie I was sitting with some close friends, the other night, and we got to talking about needs in a home purchase. Now, I have always believed there is a vast difference between a need and a want. Most times buyers confuse those two, so called, priorities. A need is something you absolutely MUST have, based on necessity: number of bedrooms; good sized living area; large or small lot, depending on your needs; access to schools and transportation; and hospitals, if y

by Shawn Lackie I know the title sounds like a bit of a joke, to many, but there ARE realtors out there who care, and they carry themselves and their business with honesty and integrity; really. However, too often we hear about the “bad apples,” and there are more than a few of those. Recently, a brokerage was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Their trust account was audited and there was a $10 million dollar shortfall. The case is still under investigation but may