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Home » Articles posted by Thomas Cook
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Could It Really Be This Easy – Meg And Toby
Meg & Toby contacted me as they were toying with the idea of moving. They had been in their downtown condo for a few years & in that time baby Cormac had arrived. Suddenly the condo was starting to get smaller & smaller & the idea of him starting to crawl/walk around was making it feel tiny! I went over and did the Room-by-Room review, with a few cosmetic-only suggestions to prep the condo to show at it’s very best…
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It Was The Worst Showing House But It Was Perfect – Mike
When we typically write up offers for our clients, we usually ask for the appliances, light fixtures, window coverings etc. The offer we did for Mike was the first time I had actually asked the seller to take everything out – he didn’t want a SINGLE thing! The house Mike bought was sooooo disgusting we wanted as much taken out of that place as possible as he was going to have to dump it anyway – to this day it
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I Loved That My Buyer’s Agent Was Working For Me – Leslie
After about a year of looking for a home on my own, I decided to take a real estate seminar hosted by Toronto’s Real Estate Team. It was there that I met David. I was so impressed with the whole Team and the information that they provided at the seminar, that I emailed David right away to enlist him as my Buyer’s agent. Within weeks of enlisting with David I purchased a condo townhome. I loved the fact that David
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Web Viewers Were Able To Visualize Our Suite Very Easily – Maggie & Greg
Maggie and Greg had purchased a house and decided that selling their condo was a better route for them to go rather than keeping it as an investment. After paring down some to their belongings from the suite, we did our usual digital photos, video of the suite AND amenities, got the floor plans done and created our on-site and online marketing for their condominium. A couple ended up purchasing the home but, just a few days before title was
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It Was Already Sold Conditionally But We Got It – Marvin and Simone
We recently worked with David to buy our first home. Not only were we in search for a home, but we were also in the midst of planning our wedding. Our plan was to move into our new home before the wedding so that we could just focus on settling in, once we returned from our honeymoon. David took us through a budget plan before we started looking for houses. It was a great feeling to know that he was
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He Was Very Meticulous And Professional – Smita and Sidd
From the very first interaction Smita and I had with David, we found him to be very meticulous and professional in his approach. David has a very good understanding of the GTA real estate market and he tries to understand the needs of his customers as well. He delved deeply into the specifics and helped us narrow down on our top priorities. The result was very quick and smooth finding of our dream home. From start to end he has
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The Marketing Really Made My House Show Well – Mike
Mike had selling his house on his mind for over a year before it actually came time to put it on the market. Sally and I both made a few visits to chat and review what still needed to be done and what he did not have to do to get it sold. During the warm weather he was able to get the front of his house freshly painted and get rid of some pesky pigeons. As usual, there were
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I Wasn’t Looking Forward To The Home Buying Process – Merrill
I am a single professional woman and recently worked with David to buy a home. This was not my first time buying a house; however, it was my first time buying a house on my own. While I was looking forward to owning a home again, I was not looking forward to the whole home-buying process, as I had heard some negative things about the real estate industry. Also, I don’t have a lot of background or interest in home
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We Trust You – Jobert and Lanie
The first thing we said to David when we hired him was “we trust you”. A difficult thing to do especially in real estate considering we are making the biggest sale and purchase of our lives. With David it wasn’t so hard to trust him. You will learn to trust him really quickly. He will not tell you the things that just makes you happy, he will tell what is going on in the market. He is very knowledgeable, experienced
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The Stress Of Selling Privately Is Not Worth The Potential Savings – Thomas
Here’s The Story As Told By Natalie Their Agent… I met Tom originally after he attended one of our Home Buyer Workshops back in 2005. He was a first time home buyer at the time and excited to get into the market! After some hunting, we found a great loft in King West for him. Shortly after he moved in he was transferred out of the city for work but the condo proved a savvy investment and was easily rented!
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I Didn’t Know Whether I Could Afford It Or Not – Nancy
Nancy came to me as a referral from a past client of mine who works with her. Nancy knew she wanted to buy something but didn’t know what, where, how or what she could afford. We met at my condo home office for a consultation and she mentioned at the time how much she liked the building and the neighbourhood. It was only about a week or so later after doing a Market Experience Tour of various other condo neighbourhoods
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Natalie Walked Us Through All The Details & Fine Print – Meg & Toby
I met Meg & Toby at one of our Home Buyer Workshops many moons ago when they were looking for their first home together. They were excited and nervous, as all first time home buyers were but they were really happy when we found them a great condo downtown with an oversized bedroom and plenty of space for all of their books and Meg’s piano! A few years later along came their beautiful baby boy, Cormac & suddenly their one
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It’s Been A Good Investment Property Relationship For 25 Years – Benny
I first met Benny in the mid-1980s when he was buying an investment property on Willow Avenue in the Beach neighbourhood. He bought and sold other homes over the years and, while he was a landlord, Benny came to me often for advice and assistance with checking out new tenants for his various properties. When Benny decided to sell his tenanted property near Dufferin and Dupont that he’d owned for almost 20 years, we met to talk about cosmetic improvements
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We Wish We’d Done All The Work Before – Sara & Dan
I Helped Sara’s Parents And Her Sister… Back around the early 1990′s, I helped Sara’s mom and dad sell their home in the Beaches and they moved up to the northern GTA suburbs. We kept in touch with the family over the years and back in 2003 Sara’s sister came to us when she was ready to purchase her first home. Now it was time for Sara and her husband Dan to sell their downtown condo and make the move
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I Was Really Pleased With The Price I Got – Melody
Melody decided to sell her condo and take a year to save up a larger down payment for her next home. We met a few months before her condominium was to go on the market and we decided what Melody would do to snazz up her suite before listing. Melody agreed to order her Status Certificate ahead of time so we’d have it available for the buyer as soon as an offer came in. That typically shortens the “conditional on review of the Status
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Sally Said That Wasn’t The House For Us – Sara & Dan
Dan didn’t have much of a chance in using his own agent since Tom and I had been the agent Sara’s family had used for years…. So glad we won him over and we had so much fun working together! In a time of so many homes going in multiple offers and selling way over the asking price, we were able to find them the perfect house and, with a great strategy, got it without a fight for less than
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We Were Really Confident Because Our Lawyer Had Referred Thomas – Lisa & Geoff
Lisa and Geoff were referred to me by my lawyer who I’ve known now for over 25 years. They had purchased a really interesting 3-storey freehold commercial-residential townhouse in the Liberty Village neighbourhood before it had become a trendy area. Both Lisa and Geoff ran their businesses out of the building and lived on the top floor in an amazing loft-like space with a roof-top deck. When we prepared the feature sheet for their building, the photos and videos looked
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Sally Would Disappear Behind The Furnace – Mark & Hannah
Happy Client Comes Back To Purchase With Toronto’s Real Estate Team Once Again We were eagerly looking to buy our first home together a few months ago. Mark had worked with Sally during a purchase of a condo a few years back and was so pleased with his experience that he would not consider working with anyone else this time around. Our first consultation with Sally lasted over an hour where she essentially got to know who we were: she
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I Was A Single Person Buying For The First Time – Melody
Melody was referred by a friend of hers who had just bought a house with me. I thought it was a good idea for her to first come to one of our evening home buyer workshops and then follow that up with an in-depth buyer consultation. Melody wanted a 2-bedroom condo with room for her pet but was restricted by her budget. We found a building in a great area that fit her financial restrictions and was only a bus ride
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David Spent A Lot Of Time With Me Up Front – Christine H
A Systemized Approach to Buying a Home “I was still new to Toronto and a first time homebuyer – not only did I know absolutely nothing about the home-buying process, but I did not have friends or family nearby to consult. By the Grace of God I found David to guide me through the process. I have immense appreciation for the time that David spent with me, educating me about the entire process of home buying, from budgeting and mortgage
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It Was Way More Than Just Business – Wilco & Meghan
Wilco and Meghan got a great opportunity to move to Atlantic Canada and decided to sell their home here first. After they had done all the cosmetic fix-ups we recommended in our Room-By-Room Review, we were ready to go. They notified their neighbours that they were moving and one of them said that their daughter and son-in-law were very interested in buying the house and could they give Wilco and Meghan an offer right away. They didn’t feel very comfortable
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We Love Our Downtown Toronto Lifestyle – Jennifer & Pete
Jennifer and Pete were outgrowing their first condo and needed more space. Jennifer first contacted me in 2009 since she was casually researching the Toronto real estate market. I advised her to follow my monthly real estate market reports and my real estate newsletter to keep abreast of our market. When Jennifer was getting closer to actively looking, she attended one of our Home Buyer Seminars. Even though Jennifer had already purchased a condo previously, she thought that the seminar
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Now You Have To Have An Excellent Web Presence To Get The Best Price – Dave & Shannon
I remember meeting Dave and Shannon at their home inspection in 2008 when Sally was helping them to buy their first home. When they called to tell us they were moving out of town we set a time for me to come over and see what work they’d already done. Dave had a lot of renovation skills and had done several things to improve their home and add value. I offered a bit of advice but they really had the
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Having A Buyer Consultation Was Important – Wilco & Meghan
I first met Meghan & Wilco after they attended one of our Home Buyers Workshop. Although it took a couple of years for them to get everything together to move forward in buying a home, attending the workshop allowed them to start their planning. I’ll never forget the first house we saw together. They had asked me to show them a house that they had seen on line and boy was it ever a dump!!!! After seeing the dump house
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With Twins Coming, Our 1-Bedroom Condo Was Going To Be Too Small – John & Marie
John & Marie were originally referred to me by John’s mother who had purchased a home with me back in 2001. I went to meet them at their condo near Yonge and Eglinton which all of a sudden was going to be too small as they were now expecting twins!! I’ll never forget the look on John’s face as we started talking about mortgage financing and their expectations of a new home to house them and their new family….. the
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The Buyer Workshop Was Quite Impressive – Dave & Shannon
When Toronto is not your home town, and you are fairly new to the city, it can be an overwhelming decision as to what kind of home and which neighbourhood to buy in…. this was the case for Dave & Shannon. Both Dave and Shannon were great at listening to advice and, with a bit of trial and error in seeing homes in several different Toronto neighbourhoods, we found the perfect home for them. Sally
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It Was Great How Good Thomas’ Marketing Made Our Place Look – John & Marie
John and Marie were happily living in their Yonge and Eglinton condo which John had bought from the builder when they got the happy news that twins were on the way. Suddenly they had a very specific timeline that they needed to meet to get their condo sold and buy a house with a yard and more interior space. John’s mom had used Sally to purchase her home several years ago and she recommended us to help with this sale
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It Was Very Exciting To Open The Door Of My Own Condo For The First Time – Audrey
At a time when the world was imploding and Canadians were fearful our real estate market would follow the same route as in the US, Audrey had the courage to buy her condo. So not only is she part of a growing demographic of single, professional women buying homes, she did it in a time when most Toronto house and condo buyers were running for the hills…. way to go Audrey !! Sally
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We Got The House After It Had Already Sold – Andre & Lisa
I had met with Lisa & Andre for a Buyer Planning Session about a year before they were actually ready to start the home buying process. They were so good in that one year period – they did everything we discussed in our planning session plus they got married too! When they were set to start, we met again to have a full buyer consultation to go over the complete home buying process. We set a time to go out
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It Was Very Exciting To Go Out And Look At Homes – Marcela & Ronen
I think Marcela & Ronen still carry the record for taking the longest time of all my clients to find a home. I also think they hold the record for having the most heartfelt, emotional and happy negotiations I have ever done! It took a while to get there but this home was so right for them and their family. Sally
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We Were Looking For A Home To Grow Into – Fernanda & Javier
A video testimonial from Fernanda and Javier for David Stoddard
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David Stoddard Home Buying Video Testimonial – Maureen & Mark
David Stoddard chats with Maureen and Mark about their home buying experience
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Going, Going , Going…..Got It! – Emily & Steven
Emily and Steven were outgrowing their condo and looking to purchase a home. I received a telephone call from Emily looking for some real estate counsel and advice. I suggested that the best way for me to provide advice and counsel to them would be to personally meet with me first for a 90 minute buyer consultation at our Team office so I could better learn about their personal situation. The clients I work with really enjoy learning about the
