Well, well, well. We have made it another full rotation around the sun’s orbit. Happy New year's everyone that reads this entertaining blog (I know it’s just my mom and family. I have come to grips with that. I will be ok lol).  

What a year has it been eh? How was your 2023? Mine had its ups and downs for sure. I won’t bore you with all Real Estate related material, but as a warning, there will be some! Buckle up and let's get going.  

My 2023 started off with a bang and a fantastic charcuterie board that I put together from Ratinaud. If you haven't been, I would recommend checking them out. They cure their own meats and have some of the best cheese you can find in Halifax. I would recommend the duck prosciutto, it’s my favorite.  

From there, I had a dry January, which I was surprised I lasted. That was a big win. For the next couple of months, it was slow in the market. Typically, we see a lull in the first few months of the year (listings and buyers). Then it starts picking up around March for the Spring market. 

Speaking of March, I had the great pleasure of bringing my partner's 92-year-old Grandfather down to Florida to see his daughter's house. That on its own was an adventure. Getting him in and out of airports and airplanes was an experience. He seemed to be having the time of his life and was in such great spirits the whole trip (with the help of Grand Marnier). While I was down there, we took a quick trip to Universal studios to play around in Harry Potter world and Jurassic world (the volicoaster is hands down my favorite ride in the world).  

After that nice little adventure, it was time to hit the ground running with the Spring market. I had a bunch of buyers running me all over this great city of ours. For example, of what I was talking about with a lull in the market, in January we only saw 300 new listings in all HRM, and then in May we saw 785 hit the market. This is typical year after year of how things transpire. I always say that the best time (I know it’s cliche) is in the winter months when there is little to no competition. It baffles me that people would like to “wait” on the market to see what it does. By waiting, all you’re doing is damaging your chances to negotiate a great deal! Why wait for everyone else to be in the market and more than likely have a hard time finding a perfect home (more people in the market, means potential for multiple offers).  

This advice is the exact same for 2024. I even think you have more of an advantage this year, because of the way the interest rates are right now. Every Financial person I'm talking to is predicting that in the second quarter, we are going to start seeing a decrease in the rates. This is fantastic news, don’t get me wrong, but all home buyers are waiting for that great news as well. If you are fortunate enough to be able to afford the rates as they are now (even if it’s a variable rate for the time being), I would say, what are you waiting for? Let’s get out there! Don’t wait for the rates to drop and all the buyers to flood the market once again. 

Another big event that happened last year was that Halipad rebranded itself into Coldwell Banker Maritime Realty. I was a little sad to see the local Halipad brand leave, but it was time. The best thing about the change is that there was no change, except for the name of Coldwell Banker. Although I was sad to see it change, I was more than happy to see all the new opportunities that Coldwell had to offer. We have more outreach than we did before, which is fantastic, and more of a network that we can leverage to provide our clients with the best service possible.  

Under the new umbrella, I was lucky enough to secure one of the most beautiful homes to sell. It is known as the Kutcher house, which was built by world renowned architect Brain Mackay-Lyons. If you haven’t seen this house yet, check it out on my website (which you are already on). It was such a beautiful home overlooking the shipping lanes of Halifax.  

That being said, I had a busy summer and was fortunate enough to have a couple more properties to list but had a challenging time selling them. I didn’t let it phase me, as that is my job to buckle down and start grinding. I was hosting open houses left right and center. One of the properties sits on a lake, so I was ok working on the deck overlooking the beautiful scenery.  

This brings me to the Fall where I was still trying to sell these properties, which was ok because I like a challenge.  One of the homes was just that. It had a total of 3 offers on it, which all backed out due to Buyer confidence or financing.  

With great luck though, just before the Holidays started, I got three properties sold. Which made for a great Christmas celebration. It was a great confidence booster to end the year with three sales in the month of December.  

I could go on and on about my year, but you have read enough, I'm sure. I tried to keep this lite but ended up rambling on. I hope you made it this far so that I can say thank you for sticking with me. Here’s to a fantastic 2024!  

Cheers,