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The Recent President’s Gala

I hadn't been to the President's Gala in about 10 years, but the theme this year just looked like too much fun to say no.

@soldwithsandeep and his mom helped me out by lending me a Sari to wear for the Bollywood theme.

There was great food, great people, and great dancing... Sandeep showed me how it was done, and I learned the complete lack of rhythm and grace that I have.

@Staceyburrows danced her heart out and brought me so much joy during the evening, girl - you are next level and I loved being around you.

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Buyers And The Bidding Wars

Dear buyers... Did you know that for over a month now bidding wars have been back in full swing?

After months of hearing that the market is down, crashed, doom and gloom, it is hard to shift your mindset and soak in the fact that they are happening.

Our Winnipeg is strong and stable, and so it is no surprise that they came back for us sooner than anywhere else.... but even the higher markets are starting to see it now too.

So, reach out, and schedule a time to talk with us so that we can strategize what it will look like for you to enter this market.

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Local Business Of The Week - River Park Flooring

Local Business of the Week Episode 2!

River Park Flooring and I had so much fun creating this! (or rather our videographer had more fun making us do silly things). Either way, it was great to be in their space and learn more about them. Their staff is amazing and we have a lot of fun working with them on these videos.

Thank you for being a part of our video series! We love supporting locals and watching others thrive!

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Spring Is In The Air!

It is nearly spring break!! Can you believe it!!

While we won't sail into it on rollerblades, we will hopefully enjoy some slush on the streets.

Our family is heading to the Brandon Fair for the first time, it is a childhood memory that I remember very fondly, so will see if it lives up to my childhood expectations.

What are you doing over spring break?

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Racism In Real Estate

It was a few years back when I had lunch with Raj (@rajsandhurealtor). At some point during our lunch, the conversation changed to a discussion of racism. He started telling me how many more challenges he faced in accepting his offers.

One story, where they were in every way better than the accepted offer on paper and the listing agent said "my clients didn't like you guys" ..... "you guys" a phrase that Raj hears often, implying race, religion and so much more.

Raj sent me to the comment section of one of his videos, a very well-done video about investing in Winnipeg, a video that I could have done that may have had a few snide remarks about Winnipeg, but no remarks about me as a human. But Raj got many comments about him as a human, the opinions were not just about our city, but a direct hit at him.

As a listing agent, when I am presenting offers to my sellers I make a point of not reading names until decisions are made. We review facts - price and terms of an offer - before I read the names because whether we like it or not racism is alive and well, and reading a name on an offer may unintentionally change the outcome. A seller may not want to select an offer based on a name that sounds like a specific ethnicity and may gravitate to a name they like the sound of better - which is discrimination.

Every day, with every person, we never know what they are going through, but as Realtors we can look to our colleagues and learn more about them. Understand that some of us are going through more than others. Have a higher hill to climb with more obstacles in the way for no other reason than the colour of their skin. We can all take steps to ensure there is no racism or discrimination in the deals and interactions we have in our workplace. We can all do better.

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Did You Hear Bidding Wars Are Back?

Dear Sellers:

Did you hear that bidding wars are back? They have been back for a few weeks now.. and with the new rate hold, guess is they are gonna heat up more.

So what does this mean for sellers? It means strategy. It means having an agent that is in tune with the market. It means knowing exactly how to price a home for the changing market.

If you have questions or are curious about strategy, reach out, we are here to help you.

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Donating To The The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation

Donate

What does it mean to be a top 1% donor to the Shelter Foundation? It means a heck of a lot. It means that through all the hard work that we do, we were able to contribute in big ways to the Shelter Foundation. We were able to help individuals who are escaping domestic violence. We were able to help build programs to educate youth on healthy relationships.

The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is there to help Women and children who are escaping domestic violence, and domestic violence has just been declared an epidemic. Through the pandemic we saw people having to be with their abusers more, shelters becoming over-full, and funding to help those in need decrease.

If you have the ability, please head over to my fundraiser link in my bio, donate to the shelter foundation, and help me continue to help those in need.

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FHSA - First Home Savings Account

A brand new bank account type where you can put away money each year to save up and buy your first home. An account where your parents can gift you money and you can put it in there and get the tax benefit.

A place to help people save on taxes while working towards their goal of home ownership. All financial institutions should have it for you, all you need to do is ask to set one up if you're over the age of 18.

If you're thinking of starting this account and working towards home ownership, reach out to our team! It is never too early to start the conversation, and we would like to start helping you work on your path to homeownership as early as possible so that all the right things are in the right places.

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Local Business Of The Week - One Family Fitness

Welcome back to episode ONE of Local Business of the Week!!

I have known Dino for years, and a few years ago we shot a local business video, but it was time to do another one because these videos are back and better than ever!

One Family Fitness is a privately owned gym in River Park South. Their goal is to help all ages get into fitness, whatever level they may be at. You can head over to our link in bio - watch the long version on YouTube, but Dino has everyone from kids to 60+ years old learning more about fitness and strength training in their inclusive environment.

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So Happy For This Couple And The Amazing Home They Found!

We spent one amazing day looking at homes, we saw a full range starting with a home that had water damage, an awkward layout, and a lack of closets - then to a home that had great space and layout, but was in much need of updating - then to one that was pretty darn good but just not exciting - then we saw this one.

As we walked through every single box was checked off that they were looking for, and it was abundantly clear how well cared for this home was.

We booked a pre-offer inspection knowing full well it was going to be super competitive, and the inspector was darn near bored. He couldn't believe how well the home was maintained and how perfect things were. With a very small list of things that needed to be addressed, we submitted our offer and ended up in competition with 6 other offers.

With 7 offers in total, we did exactly what it would take to win, and these two get the best trophy ever... a FABULOUS home.

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Have You Heard Of The UHT Tax??

It stands for Underused Housing Tax, and it just got introduced in Canada. What does it mean? If you own a rental property talk to your accountant immediately and find out if it applies to you. If you are a non-Canadain or permanent resident, you should also look into this. You should head on over to the CRA website and learn about it. See if you might apply, and then seek the right professional advice to ensure you don't miss any paperwork and get any fines.

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Return Of The Bidding Wars

This market is very quickly turning into serious stuff. It has been about 4 weeks now since the return of bidding wars. 4 weeks of paying very close attention to each and every detail, being perfectly in tune with what is happening.

We monitor days on market

We talk about how many offers houses out there are getting

We talk with our lenders about the mortgage rates

What are the trends across our city?

What are the trends across our country?

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This Time Of Year Is Awards Season

Tis' award season and Royal LePage Winnipeg did a great job putting on an event for us where we got to listen to Wade Miller and Adam Bighill talk.

For these events it isn't about the awards, it is the time spent together with our colleagues. Where we get to hang out, talk about things that aren't work and develop our relationships with other agents.

Those relationships are so important when doing transactions, knowing the person on the other side of it makes it so much easier to help our sellers and buyers.

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The Rates Stayed The Same

What does it mean when the rates stay the same? This is the first time in a year that the rate has stayed the same and has not increased after a Bank of Canada meeting.

It means that they feel our market can't take another increase and that we are also correcting and it doesn't need another boost.

It means a collective sigh from buyers, sellers, and Realtors

It means our Winnipeg market which was already heating up, will likely heat up more as buyers get excited over this lack of change in interest rates.

It means house prices will rise (although they have been for the last 4 weeks already)

It means we could be at the bottom of the cycle and could see rates go down in the future. Maybe months, maybe a year or two, but it could be at the bottom and ready to come back up.

It means a lot, and you need to pay attention to if you are a seller or a buyer... or better yet. head on over to the link in the bio and book a time to talk about it with our team.