#WednesdaysatHomeLove – Cottage Living

#WednesdaysatHomeLove – Cottage Living. “Confessions of an awestruck cottage country realtor” via Toronto Life.

“It’s been a seller’s market in Muskoka for the last four seasons, but since the pandemic hit, the market has gone from hot to raging. Suddenly, everyone was like, ‘I want a cottage and I want it yesterday.’ We were seeing massive bidding wars, cottages going for hundreds of thousands over asking—sometimes close to a million over. People were buying properties sight unseen. I guess Torontonians are used to fighting tooth and nail over real estate—now we’ve got that same energy here.

We get the odd ‘money is no object’ buyer, but mostly it’s people who have been on the fence. Now they’re motivated. Covid-19 has forced people to face their own mortality. I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, ‘Life is too short,’ before putting in an offer. There’s a lot of gawking over offers that go way over asking, but honestly, long-term value isn’t an issue. There is never going to be more lakefront property on Lake Joe or Lake Rosseau, so when those properties come up, it’s a free-for-all. What’s funny is that we’re seeing the same kind of frenzy over non-waterfront properties. I recently put in an offer for a client on a place in Bracebridge, which is fine, but it wasn’t even on the water. We were the 18th offer!”

To read the whole article, click here.