OTHER COLUMNISTS

by Shawn Lackie We have been hearing ad-nauseum, recently, about “housing affordability.” Ok folks, I get it. Times are strange for sure. When we bought our first house in Toronto it was for less than a deposit adds up to these days, and that was for the whole house. We couldn’t afford to move back to Toronto these days. The gap between the haves and have-nots has become very wide indeed. Sure, people will tell you, salaries these days are far ahead of what was being paid out

by Shawn Lackie Real Estate is a funny business. Funny ha ha and funny not so ha ha. Just ask anyone who has been at it for any length of time. As a full-time business, not some side hustle, all too prevalent these days. When things die off, like they have the last few years, it’s interesting watching all the wanabees scramble out of the madness. Speaking of madness, a lot of a sales persons reputation depends on their innate ability to satisfy a buyer (or seller’s) expectati

by Tina Y. Gerber-McCurley We all face challenges of hardship, disappointments, and setbacks. My hubby calls this, "The corner of hardship and perseverance." More seniors are experiencing some kind of profound and heartbreaking challenge, such as social isolation, physical limitations, financial barriers, mental health challenges, or addiction to name a few. Most seniors have an increased risk of falls, unmanaged chronic conditions, depression, malnutrition from skipping mea

By Shawn Lackie Imagine, for a second, going into a fast food place and ordering a cheeseburger. You pay for it and they deliver it to you wrapped up. However, when you open the wrapper, there it sits, just the burger and whatever toppings you ordered. No bun. Nada. That’s kind of like what the condo market morphed into the last 20 years or so. It’s no wonder that market is in free-fall right now, and justifiably so. For years, the deck was stacked in favour of the condo deve

By Shawn Lackie That’s a question which seems pretty easy on the surface. However, once you start peeling back the layers like an onion, it might not be so straight forward. Most people start out in a simple way, renting an apartment or room, in the early stages of career advancement. There will be all sorts of exceptions to the rule, especially for those who are privileged to start out with more. I’m just talking in general terms here. I think many people never take the time

By Nick Kossovan The word "networking" makes most people's stomachs turn. It conjures images of hotel conference rooms, aggressive business card swapping, and awkward, forced conversations in which everyone is subtly looking over their shoulder, to see if there's someone more important they should be speaking to. If that's your mental picture of networking, you can't be blamed for resisting it. Undoubtedly, active networking has its place in job searching, just not to the ext

by Shawn Lackie This article could also be titled: Buyer quirks and quarks. Remember the old adage, if it’s too good to be true it probably is? That pretty much sums up some of the potential clients you meet in the wonderful wacky world of real estate. If they run in the door waving a check-book saying, “We’re buying a house today,” chances are you’ll never see them again. Any realtors reading this will be smiling and thinking, 'Ya pretty much.' That’s the nature of this busi

by Lauren Walker So what do you do when your Instagram video takes off? I posted a video on my Instagram page, @theartistwithin86, and it blew up past my wildest expectations. By the time this article gets published, I'll have almost 3 million views. It is overwhelming, to say the least. Uncharted Territory This is uncharted territory for me. I believe these moments are rare and fleeting, so I feel like I'm riding a wave, until it settles back in to the vast social media ocea

Editorial by TODD GREEN The Standard Fathers. I've had three in my life, two of them contributed more than they know. The first father I had, brought me into this world. He was a bit of a train wreck, marriage wise, but while in their lives, he was fiercely loyal to those around him, stimulating a return in kind. One of his passions was creative writing. In part, I have reaped a blessing from that lineage, and you are experiencing it now. His other main passion was being a ca