Wednesday, May 16, 2012 6:13 PM EDT
Week 2: DIY mistakes a turn-off for house hunters
Dianne Nice
Two weeks into their search, our Buyer Diaries bloggers have learned a few things about what they don't want in a home.
In Winnipeg, Corey and Angela were discouraged by a water-damaged garage and some sloppy do-it-yourself renovations, including crown molding that just didn't look right.
"There were gaps between the moulding and the ceiling all the way around the room," Angela wrote. "Is this the sign of a problem or of poor workmanship?"
One house had a kitchen with retro charm that appealed to her, until a reader pointed out the dirt that would get trapped in the tiled countertop.
In Vancouver, Kristin took some time out to rethink her house hunt. She listened to Rob Carrick’s Google+ hangout, in which he suggested buyers wait to see whether Vancouver's high prices would drop. "One or two other commenters have also suggested now isn’t a good time to buy, and we are certainly paying attention," she wrote.
During a weekend visit to see family in Nanaimo, Kristin decided to check out some houses in the area. "Though none of these homes are actual contenders in our search, they demonstrate the range of possibilities available."
In Toronto, Carl addressed readers' suggestions that he broaden his search out of the downtown core and into the suburbs. He defended his decision to stay downtown, saying he didn't want to have to buy a second car or add to his wife's commute.
"My wife would like to see more of our daughter, not less. A daily commute is going to make a big hit on family time. So, while the burbs will work for many people, they aren't on our radar," he wrote.
We hope you're enjoying our Buyer Diaries feature and will continue to follow along with our bloggers. Please keep your comments coming.
For tips, stories, videos and live chats about what's going on in the real estate market, check out the Globe's Home Buying section for daily updates.
Link to this post
Friday, May 18, 2012 2:25 PM EDT
Changes coming to Globe Investor's toolkit
Sonali Verma
We’re upgrading our publishing system -- and as part of that, we’ll be retiring some of Globe Investor’s older data pages and tools.
Some of these pages run on an old software platform that is expensive to maintain and doesn’t support new functions. Switching to a newer system will help us build a more dynamic site and better investing tools in the future.
As a result, we will be retiring some of the less-used pages and we will be redirecting you to others on our site, beginning this month. So, when you visit a familiar page, it might look a bit different -- and you can still find whatever you’re looking for.
Here’s a list of pages that will lead you to better tools:
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 10:43 AM EDT
Week 1: House hunters not impressed by what a hefty price tag gets
Dianne Nice
It has been a week since we launched our Home Buying section, and our Buyer Diaries bloggers are still on the hunt for their dream homes - or at least something decent they can afford.
In Toronto, Carl was taken aback by the cheap wiring on a house with a $1-million asking price. Carl said the first thing he looks at is a home's electrical system, and this house had 100-amp service with only one free slot on the panel.
"That's way too little for a brand new build and, in my own opinion, way too cheap for a million-dollar house," Carl wrote. "I'm left to wonder, if they cut corners on the service panel I can see, what other corners may have been cut?"
Carl was left shaking his head after viewing a $600,000 bungalow he felt would need to be totally gutted.
"Time will tell if they get the $600K+ they are asking. Personally, I can't fathom it, but that doesn't mean that someone out there won't pay it. If this is the thin edge of the wedge then a crazy market just got worse."
In Vancouver, Kristin received a lot of suggestions from readers about the best places to search for a detached house within her $500,000 budget.
By expanding her search a little, Kristin found some detached homes in Squamish and Port Coquitlam for under $500,000 that were better suited to her family's needs. "I’ve appreciated the comments that suggest alternate locations such as Squamish, or even Bowen Island. Having grown up on the island, I know that the 'pace' these places offer is more aligned with our family."
She also looked at plans for a $449,000 1045-square-foot condo to be built beside her current building in Burnaby. "It definitely was not the single-family detached home we dream of, but in Vancouver, we have to be realistic about what we’ll be able to afford," she wrote.
And in Winnipeg, Corey and Angela settled into their rental unit and began their search. They attended several open houses, but could only find one home worth consideration within their $350,000 budget.
"Unfortunately, it didn't give us that 'we have to live here' feeling, so we already don't foresee going above the asking," Corey wrote.
We hope you're enjoying our Buyer Diaries feature and will continue to follow along with our bloggers. Please keep your comments coming.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 3:07 PM EDT
The real house-hunters of Vancouver, Toronto and Winnipeg
Dianne Nice
Today, Globe Investor launches a new month-long Home Buying site, filled with stories, videos and expert opinions to help readers navigate the Canadian real estate market.
We’re trying something new with this special section. For the first time, we’ve added community bloggers to our coverage – a select group of readers who will blog about their personal experiences searching for homes in major urban markets.
We did a recent call-out on our site looking for readers interested in sharing their home-buying stories. From the submissions we received, we selected four readers we felt would have some interesting tales to tell.
There’s Kristin, a 33-year-old mechanical engineer and new mom, who’s looking for a large property for under $500,000 in the Vancouver area.
Corey, a 35-year-old military officer, and Angela, a 33-year-old restaurant manager, have just moved from Halifax to Winnipeg and are trying to find their footing in an unfamiliar and past-paced real estate market with a $350,000 budget.
And Carl, a 41-year-old information security manager, is questioning what he can get with his $750,000 budget in the Toronto market.
We hope you’ll enjoy following along as these readers chronicle what it’s really like to be in the trenches of Canada’s hottest real estate markets.
For tips, stories, videos and live chats about what's going on in the real estate market, check out the Globe's Home Buying section for daily updates.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 2:40 PM EDT
Empty Watchlist? Here's how to solve the problem
Sonali Verma
Watchlist users, we've received some emails pointing out that you can't find your Watchlists when you log in.
The good news is that your old Watchlists are still there. You simply have to go to the dropdown menu and click on the Watchlist that you are looking for.
We are sorry for the inconvenience. Our technical department is working on fixing the problem as quickly as possible so that your usual Watchlists will once again show up on the screen as soon as you log in.
Friday, April 6, 2012 11:47 AM EDT
Get new and improved Globe newsletters delivered to your inbox
Claire Neary
The Globe and Mail has recently improved its electronic newsletters. They’re now easier to read, with a cleaner-looking and mobile-friendly layout.
We offer 11 free newsletters on various topics including news, politics, business, investing, technology, hockey, lifestyle, wine and driving. Our newsletters are delivered by e-mail to thousands of subscribers on various days of the week.
They’re a great way to stay up to date on Globe stories about topics you’re interested in or to get a quick rundown of the top headlines of the day. (Find simple sign-up instructions at the bottom of this article.)
Monday, March 26, 2012 6:41 PM EDT
Find out what smart investors are saying about your stocks
Darcy Keith
By now, you probably have noticed StockTwits on Globe Investor, to the right of articles on our news pages or at the bottom of our stock quote pages. It’s a community of investors who share their trades, ideas, tips, and more -- and their comments are curated so that you only see the ones that pertain to the stocks you are following.
Think of it as a valuable tool in an investor’s pocket, helping gauge the latest sentiment on a stock and finding out what has the market talking, in real time. Postings and conversations are often smart, lively, informed and immediate. You can find knowledgeable reactions to corporate announcements moments after they are publicly made. Unlike other chat boards that you may have seen in the past, spammers and promoters are kept out of StockTwits so that real investing ideas can flourish.
Thursday, March 29, 2012 11:51 AM EDT
Your stories: Report on Business marks 50 years
Dianne Nice
For 50 years, Report on Business has been covering the people and events that shape Canadian business. Today, we’ve published a special report highlighting some of the key moments in our coverage and our history, including a look back at the biggest business stories since our launch in 1962.
We’re not the only ones who have been poring over Canadian business news, however. Our readers have been with us every step of the way, some from the very beginning.
Earlier this week, we asked for readers to send in their own stories about how long they have read Report on Business and how our coverage has influenced them. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say.
“There isn't a day that goes by that I do not check in on the ROB, usually a few times a day. Even though I retired two years ago I still cannot break the habit, most probably because I don't want to. The ROB has always been my first source for quality business news and information. Thank you ROB!
Dale Palmer, Kelowna, B.C., ROB reader since 1969
Thursday, February 16, 2012 6:21 PM EST
The latest analyst views - at your fingertips
DARCY KEITH
You’ve probably read our blogs and the Eye on Equities daily summary of key analyst actions, but did you know that Globe Investor also has a wealth of analyst information on the stocks that matter to you?
Simply do a stock search by entering the name of a company or its trading symbol in the quote box at the top of the site. Click on the stock you want to research from the pulldown menu. (Or, if the stock is already on your Watchlist, simply click on the symbol or company name.)
You’ll now be on the main stock summary page. Click on the “Analysts” tab, and you’ll get an instant snapshot of the latest thinking on the Street.
Monday, February 27, 2012 7:26 AM EST
Get to know our Investment Ideas section
JODY WHITE
How familar are you with Globe Investor? We'd like to help you find some of our most interesting, insightful columns.
Regular readers may already know that our blogs -- Streetwise and Market Blog -- provide expert coverage of the institutional and retail investing sectors, while our Investor Clinic section is home to a vast array of investor education articles and videos.
However, this is merely scratching the surface. We've got helpful content for just about any type of investor, sophisticated or not.
Take our Investment Ideas section, for example.
Globe Investor Blog Contributors
Scott Adams
Scott Adams is the Executive Editor for Report On Business. He was previously the Managing Editor of Globe Investor. He has been a business journalist for more than 12 years and also worked as an associate analyst on Bay Street.
Pierre Javad
Pierre Javad is the Product Manager, Digital for Report on Business. He has been a contributor to eight Report on Business magazine Top 1000 issues and has worked on feature enhancements and launches of the Globe’s websites for over five years.
Sonali Verma
Sonali Verma is digital editor at the Report on Business. She has worked as a reporter, editor and producer of business news at Reuters, CNBC and Bloomberg News since 1995. Before moving to Toronto, she worked in New Delhi, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Manila.
Darcy Keith
Darcy Keith has been a business journalist since 1992 and joined the Report on Business in 2010 from Yahoo! Canada, where he was the senior editor overseeing its finance site.
Previously, he was the business editor for CanWest News Service and a senior correspondent for Knight-Ridder Financial News. He has worked as a reporter and editor in three major Canadian cities, as well as in New York and Hong Kong. His stories have appeared in major publications across Canada and the world.
Jody White
Jody White is a web editor for Globe Investor. He previously worked as a senior editor at Canadian Business Online and has written for Maclean's, the National Post, and other national newspapers and magazines on topics from business to human rights to institutional investing.
Roma Luciw
Roma Luciw began her reporting career at the Victoria Times Colonist. In 2001, she started writing and editing business news at the fledgling globeandmail.com site. In May of 2009, she became the web editor of the Globe Investor personal finance site.
Dianne Nice
Dianne Nice is the Report on Business community editor and can be reached through Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. Previously, she was the Globe's online editor for Careers and Personal Finance and has written about these topics for Report on Business and Globe Investor.
