As a real estate sales rep for Freeman Real Estate for eight years, it took Janelle a few circuitous years to find her true calling. Right out of university she worked as a flight attendant and then as a customer service rep for a government agency. Working with people is the common factor in all her careers.

But it wasn’t until she sold her own home through an outside realtor that Janelle realized that selling and buying homes might be for her. Janelle’s realtor suggested she give it a try so she did and she hasn’t looked back.

“When you’re in sales you really need to believe in what you’re selling to be successful at it,” says Janelle. “I come to appreciate every property to the point where I can sell it because I actually believe in it as a product and I believe there is a buyer for everything. You have to find the right fit.”

While Janelle truly loved her work with Canada 3000 airlines, getting to travel the world and stay in nice hotels, it was a career well suited for her previous life as a carefree single woman. Today, as the married mom of two young kids, real estate offers the 40-year-old financial stability, a chance to build her career and the flexibility to shop for groceries on a Tuesday afternoon while the children are at day care.

Each day brings a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction for Janelle because she truly enjoys her work, which differs all the time. “Because of my experience working in the airline industry I was accustomed to working odd hours. I enjoy that.”

Janelle specializes in residential real estate in downtown Toronto, Etobicoke and Mississauga. She hooked up with the Freeman team after presenting the winning offer on a Freeman listing. “My buyers got the property and within a day or two Nancy Freeman called and said you need to come work here.”

She loves the not-too-big, not-too-small size of Freeman’s Bathurst Street headquarters which has a “lovely office environment” and a staff that makes her feel like she’s part of a team effort.

Janelle knows her former careers each contributed to the realtor she is today. In fact, life and work experience are necessary requirements for someone thinking about a career in real estate because, she emphasizes, the work is a whole lot more than simply sales. “You need life and street experience,” she says. “You need a thick skin to withstand the rejection and you need to know how to handle the many different types of personalities you encounter.”

Janelles Website: http://www.janelleweiss.com/ 

Some say working with the public can be a thankless job, while others derive a sense of pride in it.

The latter is definitely the case for Helen and Steve Moon who’ve owned and operated Steven’s Groceries at the corner of Bathurst and Follis since 2007.

The convenience store, which is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week, offers customers a soup-to-nuts range of products from Christmas trees in December to cut flowers and plants in summer to sewing needles, laundry soap and even obscure little finds that you won’t find in other stores.

Classical music and kind words of welcome greet customers who enter the store. The space is surprisingly clean and tidy given its abundant stock. Helen and Steve enjoy marking many holidays and celebrations such as Canada Day and St. Patrick’s Day by decorating their shop with appropriate flags, balloons and banners. It’s easy to see why the Toronto Star voted the store as one of the best in the city.

But Helen, a native of Seoul, Korea, credits her success back to her customers.

“Our relationship with the customers is important,” says Helen, 55, who was a professor of art education in Korea. “Every customer is my friend. We give them poinsettias every Christmas and they give me Christmas cards, and they give me pictures of their families and their pets and we put them up in the store.”

Because of the store’s location in Seaton Village, not far from the University of Toronto’s stomping grounds, many of its customers are students, professors, doctors and lawyers – all very nice people, says Helen, and the reason why “we are a good match.”

Helen and Steve and their two grown children moved to Canada 13 years ago. Finding this corner store with the name Steven already on the sign was a happy coincidence for the Moons, who had been looking to purchase a convenience store for some time.

The store, which is adjacent to Freeman Real Estate Ltd., was the brainchild of my grandparents Max and Sarah Hartstone, who decided to open a dry goods store there in 1959. Named after their first grandson, the store – known then as Steven’s Milk – served the needs of the neighbourhood’s largely working-class immigrants. As its customers changed and evolved so, too, did the store moving its merchandise into organics and specialty foods.

Sarah, Max and their son Marvin worked longs hours at the store, which was open till midnight seven days a week. Max died at 75 in 1982, while my grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 98. Marvin decided to close down the store in the mid nineties after suffering a serious heart attack. His retirement and his crusty but kind manner were celebrated in a Toronto Star column.

Steven’s Milk provided many young men in the neighbourhood with their first jobs as Max and Sarah liked to hire customers, even those who had shoplifted in the store, to help with the endless chores associated with running a corner store.

Because my grandfather virtually lived in the store, it was there that he forged relationships, ate meals and performed odd jobs that most people performed at home. A tight relationship with Sealtest Milk executives led to daily milk-less lunches in the back of the store. On the menu? What else but pastrami, herring and good old wholesome scotch.

Photo courtesy of The Toronto Star & Steve Russell

Our listing at 2 Bellwoods on the Park has been garnering quite a lot of media attention over the past week.

It was first featured in an article on the 20th of June in The Globe and Mail. Since then is has been featured on CBC news and Metro Morning with interviews of Daniel Freeman the broker of record, and the owner of the house Larry Chilton. The story was also picked up by The Toronto Star on the 25th of July.

If you are interested in the property contact information can be found Here

Links to all the articles and interviews:

CBC News: http://goo.gl/bazEw1

Metro Morning: http://goo.gl/3L9HyU

The Globe and Mail: http://goo.gl/LTC5kc

The Toronto Star: http://goo.gl/68hnTG

As a realtor, we wear hats of many different sizes and styles.

One day, our hat might be that of an investor or accountant, the next it might be confidante and counsellor. During a particularly nasty transaction, you might don the hat of or divorce attorney. You just never know.

Geoff Mundell, a residential real estate sales rep here at Freeman Realty for the past six years, is used to the drill thanks to an eclectic career that has seen this renaissance man dig for gold in a northern Ontario gold mine, mix drinks for affluent personalities at the A.C.C. and deliver parcels for UPS.

The Platinum Club, where Geoff still works part time during the hockey season, is a great spot to market his real estate services. Staff and clientele are quick to accept his business card. Next to having a trade that lets him sell his practice, Geoff loves the fast pace of working at a bar.

“I like the action,” says the 57-year-old Toronto native who loves to cook in addition to mixing drinks. “It’s nine to 10 hours of complete mayhem and it’s nonstop. A day disappears so fast and 10 hours blows by before you know it.”

He’s served cocktails to a who’s who list of celebrities, from Michael Douglas and J. Lo to Jon Bon Jovi and each venture capitalist on the Dragon’s Den.

His bartending skills, which involve a level of sales proficiency, tie in with his career as a realtor. Much of his real estate work is repeat business. Since about 50 per cent of his practice focuses on first-time home buyers, many are now looking to upgrade to a bigger and better home to accommodate their growing families.

Geoff, who’s married to a chiropractor, enjoys showing young couples potential digs. As someone who specializes in the first-time home buyer market, he knows his condos and is not shy about steering clients to well-built, quality buildings versus poor lay-outs and badly built lesser models.

“It’s an education,” he says simply. “Some are terrible and some are fantastic. I take them to what I consider a good product and they usually end up in a place I think they should be.”

Over the years, Geoff’s encountered some weird and humourous situations as a realtor. Like the hand-wringing first-time sale to a young couple that was bankrolled by two rich aunties. One lived in Toronto and the other was in England, which made consulting each other on the merits of each potential possibility somewhat labourious. Fifty properties and six months later, the couple finally got a great condo. Frustrating, admits Geoff, but worth it in the end.

Or the countless times he’s found the vendor of a listing in bed or in the shower after being told that no one would be home.

That’ll redden your cheeks.

June 5, 2013 — Greater Toronto Area (GTA) REALTORS® reported 10,182 sales through the TorontoMLS system in May 2013, representing a dip of 3.4 per cent compared to May 2012. Sales of single-detached homes in the GTA were up by almost one per cent compared to the same period last year, including a three per cent year-over-year increase in the City of Toronto.

“The sales picture in the GTA has improved markedly over the past two months. While the number of transactions in April and May remained below last year’s levels, the rate of decline has been much smaller. A growing number of households who put their decision to purchase on hold as a result of stricter lending guidelines are starting to become active again in the ownership market,” said Toronto Real Estate Board President Ann Hannah.

The average selling price for May 2013 sales was $542,174 – up by 5.4 per cent in comparison to $514,567 in May 2012. The annual rate of price growth was driven by the tight low-rise segment of the market and particularly by single-detached and semi-detached home transactions in the City of Toronto. Average condominium apartment prices were also up slightly in comparison to last year.

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark was up by 2.8 per cent year-over-year.

“The annual rate of price growth in May was not surprising given the competition that still exists between buyers, particularly for low-rise home types such as single-detached and semi-detached houses. We remain on track for a three-and-a-half per cent increase in the average selling price for 2013 as a whole,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis.

*supplied by the Toronto Real Estate Board

*Toronto Real Estate Board Info
Year Over Year Sales Summary GTA

2013 2012 %Chg.
Sales 10,182 10,544 -3.4%
New Listings 19,216 19,075 0.7%
Active Listings 22,677 20,462 10.8%
Avg Price $542,174 $514,567 5.4%
Avg. DOM 23 21 9.4%

Downtown/Midtown Sales Statistics
Month of May 2013**

May/13 Apr/13
Properties Listed 1862 1760
Property Sales 578 561
Avg. Price $873,670 $917,607
Median Price $703,500 $706,667

**areas bounded by Yonge-Ossington-Lakeshore-Eglinton

When you’ve been in real estate as long as we have, your collective heap of horror stories about lousy neighbours begins to topple. Trust me, we’ve heard some doozies.

But rather than focus on the negative, we thought it better to look at the opposite. If real estate is all about location, the neighbourhood in which you live is a big part of that. As a resident within that neighbourhood, you play a key role in making it good, bad or just mediocre. So here’s to those long on friendly smiles, doing good deeds and exercising simple and helpful acts of kindness.

Here’s to being neighbourly:

Say hello – It helps to show you’re human. Wave, say hi or smile to your neighbours. This goes a long way toward building a pleasant environment. At the very least, it shows you’re extending a kindness to your neighbour and that there is some kind of expectation for a mutual greeting. It doesn’t mean you’ll be fast friends but it should earn you a few brownie points.

Keep the volume down – Eighties metal band Metallica might still be number one in your heart but not a favourite on your neighbours’ playlists. Keep the volume at a whisper. If you’re having an outdoor party, be sure to inform your neighbours, or better yet, invite them over. Be considerate of neighbours who are sick or at home with a newborn. Don’t mow your lawn at god-awful hours and if your dog is a barker, pay close attention and let him inside once the yowling begins.

Think beyond your four walls – Be considerate. If you share a wall with a neighbour, try not to place noisy appliances or electronics on the common wall. Be mindful of where you park your car. Don’t over-rev your engine or slam car doors too loudly early in the morning or late at night.

Get to know your neighbours – Do they have kids? Pets? Where do they work? How many actually live in the house? While acquiring this info may seem intrusive, knowing about their lifestyle helps you be a good neighbour. Knowing that you live next someone who works shifts, for example, helps you keep your outdoor noise level down during certain times of the day. It also arms you with the info needed to keep your neighbourhood safe. The recent discovery in Cleveland of a homeowner who imprisoned three women inside his house for nearly ten years is an extreme example of the segregation and mile-high fences we often build in neighbourhoods. Try reaching out instead.

The sign on her salon says Studio 976 but everyone on the block knows her as Mary the Barber.

A fixture in the Annex for 34 years, Mary Vinci is a barber, hairstylist, confidante, major Leafs fan – you name it.

“I’ve watched people grow from when they were babies,” says the follicle goddess of her one-woman Bathurst Street empire that’s smack in between Dupont and Bloor. “I don’t do nails, sun tanning, pedicures. I strictly do hair. Because I’m a one woman operation here, it’s hard to do everything. Besides you’ve gotta stick with what you do best and do it well.”

The 55-year-old Italian-Canadian has groomed some great heads in her time. And she doesn’t discriminate – male or female, young or old, Muslim, Christian or Jew – she’s worked her aesthetic talent on them all.

Our family – my grandparents, my father, my uncle and my son – have surrendered to Mary’s charms: her capable hands, her colourful stories and her never-ending wit.

In 28 years, she’s been witness to my slow and regrettable hair loss, but having Mary tend to my crowning glory has somehow made it a little more bearable. She’s great for a laugh or to find out what’s going on in the neighbourhood.  A diehard Leafs fan, her clients know it’s the holiday season when Mary puts up her beloved blue-and-white Christmas tree.

About 70 per cent of Mary’s customers are men. Haircuts for men are $20, while for a women, it’s $25.

She’s proud of her 22 year-old daughter, who is following in her footsteps and currently apprenticing at a separate salon. Mary thought her daughter’s training in the business would be best done outside of her shop.

Thinking back on her early days, she recalls working for a lawyer after studying legal administration but she hated the office atmosphere because it was simply “too boring.”

“This is so much more fun,” she says of her 500 square foot salon. “I get to play around with people’s hair and make them look good and hear all their nasties.”

Had Mary not followed her heart we’d all be the lesser for it.

A lot can happen in the 41 year lifespan of a business. Today, I’m writing my inaugural blog via my computer and you’re reading this thanks to the internet. When my father Barry Freeman started Freeman Real Estate Ltd. in 1972 the concept of a digital world seemed like a far-off notion heard about only in sci-fi films. A blog was, well, it was unheard of.

The span of time we’ve spent on this corner of Toronto has been good to the Freeman family. I like to think that goodness funnels back to the customers we’ve acquired in real estate and other family businesses as well. Prior to launching his real estate company my father worked in the sofa manufacturing business. During the 1950s, ‘60s and into the 90’s, my grandparents, Max and Sarah Hartstone owned and operated Steven’s Milk, a neighbourhood variety store on Bathurst Street well known for its great products and located right next to where Freeman Real Estate Ltd. operates today.

To say the Freemans love real estate might be a bit of an understatement. My father started out in 1966 and my mother really immersed herself into the business in the mid 1980s. Given those genetics, I guess my fate was sealed in a way as I entered the business in 1989.

Those family ties shape the bonds we maintain in our business. What keeps our clients coming back after decades is owed in part to our strong sense of integrity and personalized, friendly service. As a medium-sized, family-run business we offer that unique something – call it tradition, personal care, pride and community – that real estate franchises can never replicate. Freeman’s growing team of 30-plus agents shares our vision as they seek to promote those same ideals in their day-to-day work.

Unlike the consumer of the 1970s and ‘80s, today’s buyers and sellers are overwhelmed by the massive amount of online information that’s available. There’s just so much to process. And that’s why the services of a professional realtor are so indispensable. Whether you’re a buyer or seller, the real estate sales process is a complex web of directions, decisions and choices best made with the guidance of experienced and caring professionals.

Let a four-decade history of sales success help you with your next transaction.

           2013                             2012                 % Chg.

Sales                                          7765                             9385                 -17.30 %

New Listings                           14728                           16191               -9.0 %

Active Listings                       18384                           16920               8.70 %

Avg. Price                         $519,879                       $500,875           3.80 %

Avg. DOM                                   24                                 21                     16.90 %

Downtown/Midtown sales Statistics

Month of March  2013**

    Feb/13              March/13

Properties Listed                   1404                             1624

Property Sales                          335                               444

Avg. Price                         $783,531                       $832,464

Median Price                   $706,667                       $641,000

** area bounded by Yonge-Ossington-Lakeshore-Eglinton

April 3, 2013 — Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 7,765 transactions through the TorontoMLS system in March 2013 – down 17 per cent compared to 9,385 transactions in March 2012. While the year-over-year dip in March sales followed the trend that has unfolded since mid-way through 2012, it is also important to note that the Good Friday holiday was in March this year versus April in 2012. Generally speaking, there are fewer sales reported on statutory holidays and weekends. Read the rest of this entry »