The City of Toronto is increasing developer fees by 46 per cent over the next two years, but what does this mean for our ability to create new housing developments for the average Canadian home buyer? In this episode, Richard Lyall, President of RESCON, meets with Ready to Real Estate podcast host and TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer to discuss the impact of these increased costs on housing affordability and supply in the GTA and GGH.

In this special bonus episode of Ready to Real Estate, entrepreneur, philanthropist, Spanx Founder and Executive Chairwoman Sara Blakely chats with TRREB President Kevin Crigger about how she got her start. Aspiring and established business owners alike will appreciate her perspective on failure – mainly, that you need to experience it – and her introduction to the four types of buyers you might encounter when making a sale.

With record-level rates of immigration expected on top of an existing housing supply deficit, it’s critical that the GTA makes more and varied types of housing available to its new residents. On this episode of the Ready to Real Estate podcast, City of Toronto Chief Planner and Executive Director Gregg Lintern met with host and TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer to discuss initiatives implemented by City Council that allow for expanding the number and types of housing in Toronto.

Ready to Real Estate podcast host and TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer acts as moderator in this housing policy debate between two candidates in the upcoming Ontario election. Abhijeet Manay, Green Party candidate for Beaches–East York, and Lisa Patel, Liberal Party candidate for Scarborough–Southwest, discuss their parties’ approach to housing affordability, increasing supply, the missing middle, exclusionary zoning, real estate transactions, and more.

With vested interest, economists, lenders, and mortgage holders are all watching the Bank of Canada’s recent decision to stave off inflation by increasing its policy interest rates – twice in the past year. In this episode, with more potential rate hikes on the horizon, Ready to Real Estate podcast host and TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer meets with Rob McLister, mortgage columnist at the Globe and Mail and editor of mortgagelogic.news, to discuss the impact on borrowing heading into the next year.

Since COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdowns hit in March 2020, GTA residents continue to spend more time than ever in their homes. Increased time at home has also meant an increase in home renovations. Lou Orazem, Chair of the Building Industry and Land Development Association’s Renovator Executive Committee and Principal of Inspire Homes, joins Ready to Real Estate host Jason Mercer in this episode to discuss changing trends in home renovations, available incentives to homeowners looking to make improvements, and how to find the right contractor.

The ill effects of climate change threaten to impact our entire way of life, and that includes our ability to protect our real estate investments. This is why it’s imperative for homeowners to reduce their homes’ impacts on climate change and make them more resilient to climate change-related disasters, such as fires and flooding. To discuss climate change, on this episode of the Ready to Real Estate podcast, Managing Director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction Glenn McGillivray and Vice-President of Federal Affairs at the Insurance Bureau of Canada Craig Stewart join TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.

In an ideal world, real estate transactions would be cut and dried. But as REALTORS® know, this is seldom the case – and that’s where real estate lawyers come in. On this recent episode of the Ready to Real Estate podcast, Mark Weisleder, a Senior Partner and Notary Public at Real Estate Lawyers.ca LLP, joins TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer to walk through several real estate scenarios, and what legal obligations the buyer, seller, and REALTOR® must watch out for in each.

Disclaimer: The information discussed in this podcast is not intended as legal advice nor reflective of TRREB’s views. Always seek the counsel of a legal professional when conducting a real estate transaction.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of the real estate market in the GTA, and the rental market is no exception. On this recent episode of the Ready to Real Estate podcast, CMHC Senior Specialist Dana Senagama meets with TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer to examine trends in the GTA rental market brought on by the pandemic – including purpose-built versus condo rental units and a higher-than-usual vacancy rate – as observed in CMHC’s February 2022 Rental Market Report.