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About the Author Sheldon Johnston

Sheldon is very familiar with the ins and outs of real estate; he has been licensed to sell Real Estate in Alberta for over 20 years. Sheldon has served on the Real Estate Council of Alberta, the Real Estate Insurance Exchange and the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. Find Sheldon on Twitter @edmontonsheldon.

Here are my most recent posts

Edmonton Real Estate Market Weekly Update, Feb. 22/13

Edmonton Real Estate Market Weekly Update, Feb. 22/13

by on 22. Feb, 2013 in Edmonton Real Estate Market, Weekly Update

Here is our update on the Edmonton real estate market. (Previous week’s number are in brackets). For the past 7 days:
New Listings: 394 (396, 404, 329)
# Sales: 205 (204, 179, 157)
Ratio: 52% (52%, 44%, 48%)
# Price Changes: 137 (123, 104, 110)
# Expired/Off Market Listings: 109 (87, 222, 228)
Net loss/gain in listings this week: 80 (105, 3, -56)
Active single family home [...]

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What is an exclusive listing?

by on 12. Feb, 2013 in Investing in Alberta Real Estate, Tips for Home Buyers

A client contacted me the other day about viewing a home listed by another agent but was told that the listing was an “exclusive” listing. This doesn’t happen often but here is what it means in Edmonton.

This is basically an old phrase or way of saying this home is not on the MLS® system. It was very prevelant [...]

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Oh won’t you stay… Just a little bit longer?

Oh won’t you stay… Just a little bit longer?

by on 30. Jan, 2013 in For Sale By Owner, Real Stories, Tips for Home Owners

Linger. It’s not very often you want strangers to linger longer in your home. In fact, most people who don’t understand the art of showing a home actually kill potential deals, because the buyer feels so uncomfortable they don’t want to spend another minute in the home, let alone live there.
Once upon a time, when I started in [...]

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Another One Bites The Dust

by on 12. Dec, 2012 in Edmonton Real Estate Market, Weekly Update

Recently there was a big brewhaha at the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton over whether or not to hide sales data from the public and its own members until the title transfers. On the one side you had 9 board of directors committed to this change taking place by December 1st, 2012, and on the other hand you had hundreds of members expressing [...]

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Making sense of renovations

Making sense of renovations

by on 26. Nov, 2012 in Home Renovations, Tips for Home Owners

A client of mine recently asked the question of whether or not they should renovate their 40 year old bungalow. More specifically they were on different sides of the fence on one particular renovation. Their bungalow has only 1.5 bathrooms upstairs and they were considering removing their bathtub and putting in a very nice slate shower in the [...]

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A House United

by on 03. Oct, 2012 in Canadian Real Estate

This is a follow up to “A House Divided” ~ (Don’t Pin this one on the REALTORS®) that we posted a few weeks ago…
The issue: the board of Directors of The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton passed a new rule in February that will prevent REALTORS® and the public from accessing sales data on a property once conditions are removed until the [...]

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The Three S’s: Sex, Sleep, & Shoes

The Three S’s: Sex, Sleep, & Shoes

by on 24. Sep, 2012 in Home Renovations, New Homes

This is an article I wrote for the “Homes-Extra” Section of the Edmonton Sun – it was in the paper on Sept. 22/12.

These three S’s all reside in the master bedroom or what is commonly referred to now days as the master suite. The master suite sure has come along way. What does today’s consumer expect in a master [...]

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Don’t Pin this one on REALTORS®

by on 14. Sep, 2012 in Canadian Real Estate, Tips for Home Buyers, Tips for Home Owners

I’ll just comment quickly on today’s Edmonton Journal article: “Realtors Association of Edmonton a house divided over sales disclosure.” The article discusses a new rule from the board of directors to withhold sales information until the title transfers. This it the biggest change I’ve seen in the last 25 years when it comes to deciding how much to pay for [...]

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Tips on Choosing a New Home

Tips on Choosing a New Home

by on 04. Sep, 2012 in Tips for Home Buyers

Buying a new home is very exciting, especially if it’s your first time. It’s a moment you’ve dreamed about since you could draw your dream castle. Many people start their search by going from show home to show home picturing how they might live in each masterfully created space. The finishings and furnishings in the showhomes are so [...]

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Edmonton Real Estate Blog Weekly Update – Aug. 24/12

Edmonton Real Estate Blog Weekly Update – Aug. 24/12

by on 24. Aug, 2012 in Edmonton Real Estate Market, Weekly Update

Here is our update on the Edmonton real estate market. (Previous week’s numbers are in brackets). For the past 7 days:
New listings: 395 (459, 405, 429)
# Sales: 235 (229, 212, 261)
Ratio: 59% (50%, 52%, 61%)
# Price changes: 243 (255, 248, 302)
# Expired/Off Market Listings: 161 (192, 125, 360)
Net loss/gain in listings this week: -1 (38, 68, -192)
Active single family home [...]

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