The Last Honest Realtor

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Your property isn't selling. So what do you do? Lower the price? Change the strategy? Or just keep doing the same thing over again and hope for a different result? In this episode, David Fleming looks at some of the strangest listing and pricing strategies he's seeing in the Toronto real estate market this fall.

David breaks down nine bizarre listing tactics, explains why they fail, and explores the bigger problem behind them: the disconnect between what sellers want their homes to be worth and what buyers are actually willing to pay. These situations raise an important question: Are the agents following a strategy, or are sellers and agents simply refusing to accept what the market is telling them?

In This Episode:

• 00:00 – Intro
• 02:01 – What is a real estate strategy, anyway?
• 05:34 – Making an impossible sale even harder
• 09:18 – Raising the price 
• 12:51 – Advertising a price the seller won't accept
• 17:05 – The dramatic price cut that wasn't really a deal
• 20:06 – Competing with an almost identical house
• 23:43 – The builder who keeps repeating the same mistake
• 27:04 – Trying to get buyer-agent attention with commission
• 32:29 – Listing a property for $1

A real estate strategy needs to have a purpose, and repeating the same failed tactic won't magically produce a different result. What’s the strangest listing strategy you’ve seen?

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Your house isn't selling. Your agent says you need to reduce the price, but you think your agent needs to work harder. So who's right? That's a constant dilemma in Toronto real estate, especially when some homes are attracting multiple offers while others sit on the market with barely any interest. In this episode of The Last Honest Realtor, David Fleming breaks down why some properties sell quickly while others don't, and why the answer isn't always as simple as blaming the market, the buyers, the listing agent, or the price.

David walks through the situations where sellers may genuinely be limiting their own exposure, making unreasonable demands around showings, presenting a property in poor condition, or accepting terms that discourage buyers. He also gets into one of the biggest psychological forces in real estate: confirmation bias.

In This Episode:

• 00:00 – Intro
• 01:53 – “You need to reduce the price” vs. “Work harder”
• 06:52 – The 5 elements of a salable listing
• 09:58 – You can't change location, but you can price for it
• 15:17 – How unreasonable terms can kill a sale
• 18:05 – What's really wrong with the house?
• 25:05 – Where buyers actually find properties
• 34:48 – When price becomes the only remaining issue
• 36:47 – Location + Terms + Condition + Exposure = Price

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The fall market is shorter, faster, and increasingly competitive, and this year there are some very specific things buyers, sellers, and market watchers should be paying attention to. But media coverage of the Toronto market rarely tells the whole story.

In this episode of The Last Honest Realtor, David Fleming breaks down what he expects to dominate the Toronto real estate conversation this fall, from interest rate holds to market recovery, inventory, and the stories unfolding behind the headlines. He breaks down the strategies, psychology, and stories to watch as Toronto heads into the fall market.

In This Episode:

• 01:38 – Fall 2026: Expect more sensational headlines
• 07:09 – Interest rates
• 10:24 – Mortgage rates
• 15:33 – The economy
• 17:56 – Market recovery
• 23:41 – What to expect if you're a seller
• 27:18 – Why buyers need to make decisions quickly
• 34:00 – Why the quality of inventory matters
• 37:30 – How media can manipulate the numbers
• 49:02 – The “cast of characters” this fall

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In this episode, David takes a hard look at the supposed connection between the Canada–U.S. trade war and the Toronto real estate market, and argues that much of the discussion is being driven by fear, confirmation bias, and headlines that don't actually explain how the housing market works. He breaks down what would actually have to happen for a trade war to seriously damage real estate: buyers losing their down payments, borrowing costs increasing dramatically, or mortgage payments rising enough to force homeowners to sell.

David examines recent headlines about the trade war and real estate, including stories focused on multimillion-dollar Toronto homes, “roller coaster” interest rates, and sellers supposedly preparing to take steep losses, but asks the question: where's the evidence? And if interest rates are relatively stable while the stock market is up, is the housing market really on the “roller coaster ride” we're being told about?

In This Episode: 

• 00:00 – Intro
• 03:15 – Confirmation bias and the housing market
• 06:45 – Who is actually affected by the trade war?
• 09:54 – Questioning the headlines
• 13:37 – Luxury real estate vs. the actual housing market
• 20:11 – Are sellers really “trying to bail”?
• 23:32 – The Bank of Canada rate reality
• 28:25 – Supply, demand and affordability
• 31:02 – Why the trade war may actually reduce rate-hike pressure

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In this episode of The Last Honest Realtor, David Fleming breaks down 10 of the most common real estate sales and marketing gimmicks he sees in the Toronto market and what they're really designed to accomplish.

Some of these tactics genuinely have their place. Others are mostly designed to make an agent look good, generate leads, or convince a seller that they're getting something special. David takes aim at everything from "coming soon" signs and "just listed" flyers to fake handwritten letters. Even though not every agent using these strategies is dishonest, homeowners need to understand what they're actually paying for with their agent's strategy.

In This Episode:

• 00:00 – Intro 
• 04:22 – #10: Marketing your property internationally
• 07:52 – #9: Sales stats
• 12:08 – #8: The "comprehensive database of buyers"
• 15:10 – #7: Coming soon signs
• 18:30 – #6: The "Just Listed" flyer
• 22:24 – #5: When the listing agent must be present
• 26:25 – #4: "I have a buyer for your home"
• 29:53 – #3: Toronto's rental market
• 36:15 – #2: "If we can't sell your house, we'll buy it"
• 38:21 – #1: The fake handwritten note

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Does buying a home in a top-rated school district actually increase its value? For many Toronto families, the answer is a resounding yes.

In this episode of The Last Honest Realtor, David Fleming explores one of the biggest drivers of home prices: public school catchments. Through real client stories, market observations, and the latest statistical data, he explains why invisible school boundaries can add tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to a home's value.

David discusses how parents make housing decisions years before their children even enter school, why some buyers purchase investment properties simply to secure a school address, and why supply and demand around desirable catchments creates powerful pricing premiums.

In This Episode:

• 00:00 – Intro
• 05:13 – The four neighbourhood factors every buyer should consider
• 07:46 – How school boundaries change home values
• 14:31 – What the data says about school premiums in the GTA
• 17:00 – Buying an investment property for the school address
• 24:16 – Why catchment lines can dramatically affect home prices
• 28:12 – Why school rankings don't tell the whole story
• 31:05 – What parents should evaluate beyond test scores
• 33:13 – The biggest takeaway for Toronto homebuyers

Whether you're a parent, a future homebuyer, or simply curious about what really drives Toronto real estate values, this episode offers an honest perspective on the intersection of housing and the city's public school system.

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In this episode of The Last Honest Realtor, David shares the advice he wishes every young buyer could hear: your first home isn't just an investment—it's the place that will shape your friendships, routines, career, relationships, and some of the most memorable years of your life.

Most first-time buyers obsess over price per square foot, interest rates, and trying to perfectly time the market. But after 22 years in Toronto real estate and looking back on buying his own first condo at 25, David Fleming believes those aren't the decisions that will matter most. Drawing on personal stories from his own move to downtown Toronto, David explains why choosing the right neighborhood often matters more than finding the absolute lowest price, along with other factors that often get overlooked. If you're in your 20s or helping someone buy their first property, this episode offers a perspective you won't find in market reports.

In This Episode:

• 01:28 – The condo I didn't buy
• 04:57 – The biggest mistake first-time buyers make
• 05:18 – Why location shapes your entire life
• 10:33 – Don't buy "somewhere", buy into a community
• 12:08 – Do you really need a real estate agent?
• 13:14 – Which condo amenities are actually worth paying for?
• 17:49 – Designing your condo around your lifestyle
• 26:40 – Should you wait for the market bottom?
• 28:03 – Why your twenties are worth more than perfect timing

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In this episode of the Last Honest Realtor, David Fleming draws on his own experience investing during the tech boom and bust of 2001-2002 to ask an important question: “How and when should you exercise a loss?”

David also analyzes a recent media article about sellers who exercised a massive loss on a home in Peel Region and explains why the loss never should have been that large to begin with. In this episode we explore why people struggle to "exercise a loss," how emotions cloud financial decisions, and why sometimes the best investment move is accepting a loss and redeploying your capital elsewhere.

In This Episode:

• 01:35 — The investing mistake that changed my life
• 09:32 — Why I wanted to sell—and didn't
• 15:16 — The danger of hindsight
• 16:23 — The Brampton home that lost $950,000
• 31:30 — Why sellers must stay ahead of a falling market
• 34:39 — Reinvesting instead of holding on
• 38:36 — Why real estate owners struggle to sell at a loss
• 40:08 — When selling at a loss can actually make financial sense

Whether you own a condo that's fallen in value, an investment property, or you're simply trying to understand the roller coaster of the Toronto housing market, this episode offers an honest look at one of the toughest decisions investors face.

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Has the Toronto real estate market finally hit bottom? It's one of the most searched questions in Canadian real estate, but it's also one of the most misunderstood. In this episode, David Fleming explains why market bottom can only be identified after it's already happened, why buyers almost always purchase on the way back up (even at higher prices), and how psychology—not statistics—drives most real estate decisions.

Using historical market cycles, media headlines, investment examples, and real Toronto housing data, David breaks down why trying to perfectly time the market is a game almost nobody wins.

In This Episode:

• 02:05 — Why nobody can identify the bottom in real time
• 04:17 — Why buyers always purchase on the way back up
• 13:18 — Are Toronto condos hitting new lows?
• 16:00 — Interest rates and the "affordability bottom" narrative
• 22:14 — Fear of losing more vs fear of missing out
• 31:12 — Condos, detached homes, and different market bottoms
• 33:26 — What the data actually says about Toronto condos

If you're waiting for the "perfect time" to buy in Toronto, this episode may completely change how you think about the market.

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This week is another crossover special as David Fleming is joined by friend and colleague Anya Ettinger (Who's In My House?) for their inaugural Spring Market Awards.

David and Anya dive into real stories from the trenches that defined Toronto's 2026 spring real estate market. From bidding wars and difficult negotiations to heartbreaking losses and unexpected victories, they hand out awards for the best, worst, and most memorable transactions of the season. Along the way, they discuss buyer psychology, multiple-offer dynamics, and the lessons that emerge when real people navigate an increasingly complicated housing market.

In This Episode:

• 02:11 — Best House
• 06:20 — Toughest Deal
• 12:43 — Best Deal
• 18:10 — Biggest Heartbreak
• 23:01 — Biggest "I Told You So"
• 31:37 — Best Villain Award
• 37:40 — My New BFF
• 43:28 — Best High
• 48:28 — Worst Low
• 55:34 — Best Turnaround

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