Put your hand up if you’re tired of hearing about bursting bubbles. My, there are a lot of you out there. Is it any wonder? 

Prognosticators have long been predicting that the sky is falling. For years, we’ve heard doom and gloom about rising interest rates and the dire consequences that will have on Toronto’s smoking hot real estate market.

As lifelong realtors who have been there, done that and just about seen it all, we’d like to offer our thoughts on what we think should take place in the real estate sector for 2015. Keep in mind that we make these suggestions with our tongues firmly planted in our cheeks.

Tip Your Realtor: That’s right, we said it first. You tip your hairstylist, your doorman, your newspaper delivery person. You offer gratuities to wait staff, taxi drivers and gardeners. If you feel you’ve received top-drawer service from your realtor why not give them a little extra? Or perhaps tickets to a theatre or sporting event or a weekend away at your cottage? We’d probably fall over but your kindness would be most appreciated.

Stop Talking about Rising Interest Rates: We’ve heard it for years and now it’s simply annoying. This reminds us of the self-proclaimed trendsetter who prides himself or herself in repeatedly saying red is the new black until – several years pass – and finally it is. We propose a new rule when it comes to making forecasts: the act of making predictions is punishable by death unless uttered six months before said incident is to happen.

You Drive: Clients would be better behind the wheel as that would allow realtors more opportunity to sweet talk you into a deal you hadn’t bargained for. While the realtor would naturally help navigate (turn left at the light, for example), clients, it could be argued, would begin to warm up to certain houses and neighbourhoods much sooner by experiencing the feeling that they are driving ‘home.’

Only Lookers Need Apply: Realtors will no longer be unattractive as this can be repugnant and off putting to some clients. Instead, they will have movie-star good looks with smooth skin, big bright eyes and a full, glossy head of hair. This rule will be implemented by January, 2016, which gives agents who no longer fit the bill a full year to find other work.

Full-Service Realtors Expand Horizons: Full service shops will really give discount brokers a run for their money in 2015. They will do so by offering a multitude of services that assist the prospective home buyer or seller. In addition to looking after your traditional real-estate needs, agents, depending on their speciality, will also offer feng shui, house cleaning, psychotherapy and home repair services. To get your business, others may throw in hair cuts for the whole family, dog walking and even violin playing. This may even prompt a trend in which clients begin picking realtors based on what they did in previous careers.