Narrowing your choice down to the best Realtor for your selling needs - 03/30/10 01:22 PM
 
OK...you are getting ready to sell and you have a growing list of things you have to do. One of them is selecting a Realtor. The choice you make deserves some serious scrutiny because this is the one task on that list that will influence the net outcome of your sale more than any other. Effort will equal reward if you focus on the things that will matter most to the outcome.
I have prepared a list, a test you can use or add to your own that I feel addresses some of the more important aspects of marketing a … (3 comments)

Lock up your daughters and lock in your mortgage rates!!! - 03/30/10 09:34 AM

The daughter remark was just to get your attention, and it worked.  The following advise might be worth at least the cost of your family vacation for each of the next five years if you fit into any of these categories... .
Are you planning to buy a home in the next few months? Is your existing mortgage coming due for renewal soon? Does your existing mortgage have a variable rate? We have been spoiled by low rates that for many seem status-quo but those who have been around a little longer remember double digit mortgage rates that meant little … (4 comments)

Talking with the Feds - 03/27/10 11:31 PM
I shared my concerns Saturday with Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement about the Competition Bureau's repeated "disingenuous" comments to the press this week regarding the Canadian Real Estate Association.
REM Magazine Article about this week's actions:  CREA has filed its response to the Competition Bureau’s challenge of its MLS rules, calling comments by commissioner of competition Melanie Aitken “preposterous” and stating, “There is simply no legal, economic or factual basis upon which to order the remedy sought by the commissioner.”  view entire story
 

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Weekly Mortgage Rate Adviser from Shelley Black and Mortgage Alliance - March 26th, 2010 - 03/26/10 10:52 AM
 
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The Secret Society of Realtors - 03/24/10 08:20 AM
 

The most significantly unique aspect of the real estate industry when compared to almost any other vocation is that it is comprised almost entirely of people who came from other professions.
People who have worked as teachers, trades persons, professional athletes, media personalities, engineers, architects, airline industry workers, medical workers, house wives, fire fighters, police and that's just in my office.
Almost any and every industry is represented within the ranks of the Canadian Real Estate industry. I can say with absolute certainty that there is not a broader or more complete representation of Canadians and no doubt Americans, … (8 comments)

The changing face of Barrie - 03/21/10 04:53 PM


Saturday night I joined a few friends at the Simcoe Hotel.
The Simcoe is a true small town Ontario working-class neighbourhood bar in the classic tradition, from the well worn plank floors to the half empty picked egg jar on the counter. Asking to see the wine menu might draw you a blank stare but the Jack Daniels is guaranteed fresh. Located smack dab at Barrie's main intersection of  Dunlop and Bayfield streets this place has been here since the late eighteen hundreds when thirsty travelers would tie up their horses out front. The side door still sports a sign over it that says … (2 comments)

Time flies like an arrow - Fruit flies like a banana - 03/20/10 11:46 AM


Suddenly it feels like spring. The snow is gone, the days are longer. I'm sure I'll see that first Robin any day now. This morning I saw some lady bugs crawling along the railing of the back deck. The following is an article I wrote a couple years back for Food & Home Magazine that I thought about again this morning.
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
 When I was growing up just south of Barrie in an area bordering the woods and surrounded by overgrown fields that would have inspired Mark Twain, bugs were … (4 comments)

Barrie and area February 2010 Real Estate Market Activity - 03/19/10 09:56 PM
 

Sales activity edges down in February
media release from BDAR President, Elizabeth Wilson
Residential sales activity in the area served by the Barrie District Association of REALTORS® Inc. remained strong in February, but edged down from levels in recent months.   According to statistics provided by the Association, home sales recorded through the MLS® System numbered 278 units in February 2010, 36 per cent above levels reported one year earlier. This year-over-year gain was smaller than those in the previous four months. “Year-over-year gains in activity are becoming more subdued as we move past the recessionary lows of one … (4 comments)

Weekly Mortgage Rate Adviser from Shelley Black & Mortgage Alliance - 03/19/10 08:02 AM
 
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My letter to CREA President re: Realtor.ca issues with Canadian Competition Bureau - 03/17/10 10:55 AM
This is a letter I recently sent to the President of CREA, Dale Ripplinger.
For an outline of the proceedings in this matter click the links at the bottom of this post.
 
Dear Dale, Like many Realtors, I have been following the competitions bureau events and have some thoughts of my own I would like to share with you. We know that one product (service) licenced Realtors in Canada provide is a process for the public to bring real property to the market which protects both parties of the sales transaction to the highest degree through our rules, regulations and … (10 comments)

Encouraging the Dream of Home Ownership Must Be Central Part of Economic Recovery: Tim Hudak - 03/11/10 12:58 PM
 
Thursday, March 11th, 2010

BARRIE – Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak today addressed the Barrie & District Association of Realtors and expressed his belief that any economic recovery plan must include making the dream of home ownership more affordable for Ontario families.
In his remarks, Hudak discussed how Dalton McGuinty’s $3 billion HST tax grab will drive up the costs associated with buying or selling a home. In particular, the HST will be fully applied to closing costs as well as to the value of properties worth more than $400,000.
Hudak also used his remarks to explain how … (1 comments)

Telecommunications industry in Canada to finally be opened to competition - 03/04/10 10:08 AM
 

Today's federal budget could well be free of election provoked incentives or omissions. Regardless of what it does or does not deliver, the opposition will make hay from it, par for the process. On the whole Canadians are fairing well in light of financial strife in most countries we do business with. If this budget does nothing more than insure our course remains steady then I think most agenda free Canadians can be satisfied.
One thing I was happy to learn from the highlights I read  this morning about the pre-budget throne speech is that we are finally going … (3 comments)

Canada the proud and the humble - 03/01/10 06:46 PM
The Olympics have wrapped up. We took more gold medals than any other Country participating. 16 million Canadians and who knows how many around the world watched sunday as Sidney Crosby scored in overtime securing a gold medal for Canada in men's hockey.
At the same time at least one Canadian Realtor was out showing homes through the third period while following the play by play on the car radio. (is there a medal for that?) I made my way around town from home to home on totally deserted streets.

Friends back at the house enjoyed my beverages and kept … (4 comments)

 
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Mike Montague

Barrie, ON

More about me…

sales representative : Keller Williams Experience Realty

Address: 516 Bryne Drive, Unit I & J , Barrie, ON, L4N 9P6

Office Phone: (705) 720-2220

Cell Phone: (705) 718-6119

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