Toronto Real Estate and Neighbourhoods Blog | Move Smartly

Are You a Home Buyer Worried About Schools?

Worried about buying in the right school district for your family?

Worried you can’t afford to?!

Sign up for Realosophy’s Schools for Home Buyers Workshop starting this Sat Feb 25^th – and strategize before you hit open houses this spring!

Our free, no obligation workshop will empower you to make the right school-related home buying decisions in Toronto.

The 1-hour session, designed and delivered in Realosophy’s trademark style – fresh, data-driven and frank – will address your key questions including:

• How does school quality impact my house value?
• How can I compete for houses in good school districts when there are so many crazy bidding wars?
• Should I buy in a school district if it’s not that great today?
• What happens if my school district doesn’t improve in the future?
• Where are Toronto’s best schools located?
• What are some more affordable school districts in the city?
• Are there any affordable neighbourhoods that have a disproportionate number of good
  quality schools?
• What Toronto neighbourhoods best fit all of my needs including school quality?

Old-fashioned real estate brokerages have been telling home buyers the same story for decades  (“you should always buy in the best school districts” is an oldie but a goodie) because they don't have the information and data to offer buyers concrete advice.  

Realosophy is today’s real estate brokerage – for today's home buyer. We know that today's consumers want to base their home buying decisions on something more than old wives’ tales about the importance of schools – and we deliver.

How We Do It

Our analysis of the effects of school quality on house values is based on concrete data.

Since 2008, Realosophy Analytics has been developing and advancing our proprietary technology to publish neighbourhood level real estate statistics for the Globe and Mail, Toronto Life and other media outlets.

Using this same technology, we’re taking our analysis a step further – analyzing real estate statistics by Toronto school districts.  Our technology allows us to track price changes over the past three years for every school district and compare these price changes to changes in school quality as measured by a school's EQAO score.

The result is concrete data and facts about the relationship between school quality and house prices that every home buyer should know.

Read more about our spotlight on the relationship between schools and real estate here at Move Smartly.

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You're Invited! Celebrate the Holidays in Leslieville - This Thurs Nov 24

It's that festive time of year in Leslieville, Toronto's East-End Artisan Mecca.

This year's Leslieville Wanderlust festival is happening this Thurs Nov 24 from 6pm-10pm.

Bring your family, friends and kids down to usher in the holiday season - Leslieville's indie stores and artisans will be offering great sales, cocktails, hot chocolate buskers, scavenger hunts, prizes and pictures with Santa. Get more info at Facebook here

Realosophy is proud to be celebrating another holiday season in this amazing neighbourhood. Please join us at our HQ at 1152 Queen East @ Jones for buskering fun, cocktails and an another session of telling us how you really feel on our famous idea wall.

The festival takes place on Queen Street East between Logan and Greenwood. See you there!

Urgent appeal: You’re nobody till facebook likes you. So if you enjoy our blog, please scroll down to the bottom of this post and click on the facebook “like” button!

Urmi Desai is editor of the Move Smartly blog and is responsible for Realosophy’s strategy and marketing. Realosophy Realty Inc. Brokerage researches Toronto neighbourhoods to help our clients make smarter real estate decisions. Email Urmi

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Are House Values Up or Down in Your Toronto Neighbourhood?

Realosophy Team in Realosophy News

It's here: the Globe and Mail Home Value Survey. Make sure you grab today's Globe to see whether home prices are up or down in your Toronto neighbourhood (see the online version here). Or better yet, stop by our office to pick up your free Globe today!

Since 2008, Realosophy has powered the Globe's home value survey with our proprietary neighbourhood appreciation data. We do it because we believe that today's consumers make smarter real estate decisions when they have access to the best service and tools.

If you want more info on what's going on in your neighbourhood or with the survey, email us at info@realosophy.com

Editor's appeal: In today's world, you’re nobody till facebook likes you. So if you enjoy reading the Move Smartly blog, please scroll to the right column of this blog and click on the facebook "like" button just under the the subscribers box. And thanks for the love!

We're Sorry...

Team Realosophy in Realosophy News

We’d like to apologize Realosophy fans who’ve contacted us in the past few weeks to buy a house, get personalized Neighbourhood Match advice or take advantage of our 1.5% Blitz to sell a house. We’ve received hundreds of requests so it’s taking us a bit longer than we’d like to get in touch with you. But we’re stepping up our efforts to meet the challenge.

We’re aggressively recruiting talented, pro-consumer agents to join our team (see our ad here). If you know of any great agents that would be a great fit at Realosophy, please send them our way!

Part of the rush stems from a busy fall market in Toronto, with an increase of 25% in sales so far this month (year over year comparison). But we’ve also noticed that consumers are expecting more from their real estate service providers as the industry is forced to get more competitive. We’re hearing some great questions from consumers showing a much higher level of sophistication. And our strategically designed services - crafted to address the problems that buyer and seller frequenly encounter - are striking a chord with you.

So thank you for choosing the Realosophy way – you’ll be hearing from us very soon!

Realosophy Realty Inc. Brokerage researches Toronto neighbourhoods to help today's home buyers make smarter decisions and is home to the innovative Neighbourhood Match tool . Realosphy's ground-breaking 1.5% Home Selling Blitz offers today's home sellers comprehensive marketing and full agent services at a discount. Email Realosophy

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Introducing Realosophy's Awesome Toronto Neighbourhood Match Tool

Urmi Desai in Realosophy News

We're excited to introduce Realosophy’s revamped Neighbourhood Match tool, our "eHarmony" for Toronto neighbourhoods. Thanks to the hard work of our awesome team, it's now better than ever. Check out our profile in the Toronto Star last week and let us know what you think of the new interface and user experience.

Neighbourhood Match, a online tool powered by proprietary Realosophy analytics, allows you to sort through over 170 GTA neighbourhoods based on what matters to you – budget, type of house, school quality, Tim Horton’s vs. Starbucks vs. indie coffee. Even better, we rank your neighbourhood results by the number of houses sold matching your criteria - giving you a better sense of the likelihood of you finding the home you need in that neighbourhood. For those of you familiar with our earlier version, you'll be happy to find that you can now filter your results by school quality, a key change.

Real Estate Agent Wanted - Toronto

Realosophy Team in Realosophy News

Wanted – Experienced Buyer Agent

Realosophy is growing again! We are currently recruiting an experienced Buyer Agent. You will consult clients, protect their best interests throughout the buying process, advise them on different neighbourhood options and help them make smarter buying decisions.

This is a full-time contract position.

You are:

o   Passionate about giving today’s consumer what they want

o   A registered real estate sales representative in Ontario

o   Actively selling real estate full-time with a minimum of 10 sales

o   Working in City of Toronto

o   University educated

o   A great communicator (verbal and written)

o   Good with numbers

o   Organized and detail-oriented

o   Able to work evenings and weekends

o   A Realosophy fan!

You get:

o   Lots of deals - you’ll have 10-12 clients actively looking for homes at any given time

o   An innovative Toronto brokerage that connects with today’s consumer and gives them what they want

o   The power of the Realosophy brand: smart, trusted and cutting-edge

o   Access to proprietary neighbourhood analytics that drive the Globe and Mail and Toronto Life housing market reports

o   Use of exclusive tools like Neighbourhood Match which gives you the unprecedented ability to advise home buyers on all Toronto neighbourhoods

o   The support of a hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves-and-dig-in broker and leadership team

To apply:

Email us (info@realosophy.com) your resume, tell us who you are and why you want to join Realosophy. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Realosophy Realty Inc. Brokerage researches Toronto neighbourhoods to help today's home buyers make smarter decisions and is home to the innovative Neighbourhood Match tool .  Email Realosophy

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Why Realosophy isn’t a Technology Company (Hint: It's All About Steve Jobs)

Urmi Desai in Realosophy News, Real Estate Trends, Entrepreneurism

Realosophy was in the Toronto Star over the weekend which was great fun. It was particularly exciting that the piece focused on our innovative business model in the context of a changing industry (it also profiled an adorable family, Realosophy clients, that found our Neighbourhood Match service very helpful to them).

In the article I’m quoted as saying that “[w]e take what we call the Steve Jobs approach — we adapt technology to solve consumer problems in real estate,” and I’ve been asked about this since. Hubris aside, it captures my belief that it’s the adaptation and application of technology to very basic (but not simple) human problems that matters – often more than the technology itself. Roger Martin of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto articulates this very well in his recent post on invention (scientific R&D) vs. innovation (efforts to add value for consumers). 

While we tend to be wowed by the Googles of the world, Martin cites some Canadian examples to illustrate his point that heavy R&D and high tech isn’t behind most business success stories – Four Seasons Hotels based its model on the belief that service matters more than grand architecture, Cirque du Soleil realized that consumers were bored with the traditional circus and Harlequin standardized the number of pages in their books to lower printing costs.

Leslieville Shop & Stroll Customer Appreciation Event This Sat June 25th

Urmi Desai in Leslieville, Realosophy News

Leslieville's indie shops, restaurants and offices want to thank you for your incredible support. This Sat June 25th, there will be BBQs, lemonade and great clothing sales along the Queen East strip (between Carlaw & Greenwood) for you and your family to enjoy.

The Realosophy team at 1152 Queen East @ Jones will be outside with our Neighbourhood Match + lemonade booth. Think of it as eHarmony for Toronto neighbourhoods - tell us what your needs are (schools, walkability, even coffee) and you'll get a personalized report of the best Toronto neighbourhoods for you (learn more). With over 170 neighbourhoods in TO, you may be surprised by the results! It's all powered by Realosophy Analytics, our industry-leading data technology. We hope to see you this Sat!

Urgent appeal: In today's world, you’re nobody till facebook likes you. So if you enjoy reading the Move Smartly blog, please scroll to the top of the blog and click on the facebook "like" button just under the Relaosophy logo on the right (under the subscribers box). And thanks for the love!

Urmi Desai is editor of the Move Smartly blog and is responsible for Realosophy’s strategy and marketing. Realosophy Realty Inc. Brokerage researches Toronto neighbourhoods to help our clients make smarter real estate decisions. Email Urmi

Subscribe to the Move Smartly blog by email

Real Estate Marketing: What Story Does Lowering Your Commissions Tell?

Urmi Desai in Real Estate Marketing, Realosophy News

Want to kill a few hours? Tell someone you’re thinking about how to price a good or service and ask for their thoughts. (Make sure they’re buying the drinks.)

This is a particularly hot topic in the real estate agent and brokerage services industry. If, as Seth Godin tells us, changing your pricing changes your story, what does a lower price say? A higher one? Refusing to change? Perhaps you’ve heard the story about the traditional agent who refuses to lower commissions based on the principle of self-esteem: “Because I’m worth it!”

Realosophy Powers the Globe and Mail Toronto Home Value Survey

Realosophy Team in Realosophy News

It's here: the Globe and Mail Home Value Survey. Make sure you grab today's Globe to see whether home prices are up or down in your Toronto neighbourhood (see the online version here). Or better yet, stop by our office to pick up your free Globe today!

Since 2008, we've powered the Globe's home value survey with our proprietary neighbourhood appreciation data. We do it because we believe that today's consumers make smarter real estate decisions when they have access to the best service and tools.

If you want more info on what's going on in your neighbourhood or with the survey, email us at info@realosophy.com

Enjoy!