TorontoRealtyBlog

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Satisfactory Solstice, Kwazy Kwanzaa, and Awesome Atheist Affair!

Or whatever else you’re into for which I can wish you a happy occasion, other than offering a lazy “Happy Holidays.”

I’d like to thank my regular readers/commenters: Appraiser, Chris, Kyle, Condodweller, J G, Derek, Professional Shanker, Marty, Bal, Libertarian, Ed, Verbal Kint, Clifford, Jenn, Paully, Jimbo, GinaTo, Julia, Marina, Francesca, Izzy Bedibida, RPG, Thomas, Daniel, TokyoTuds, Natrx, hoob, R, TO Planner, Frances, Andrew, J, McBloggert, Craijiji, Sigruper, Joel, other-Julia, Caroline, Pragma, Caprice, Billy O, Shana, Feerless Freep, Cyber, Geoffrey, not harold, Nathan, Mike, David, Jennifer, ChT, daniel b, KD, Peggy, Elle O’lelle, Nicole, Kramer, Karolina, Laurie, jeanmarc, Jeremy, JF, IanC, London Agent, John, Island Home Owner, Louisa, Graham, Johnny Chase, Crofty, and anybody else I may have missed after scrolling through 84 pages of comments from 2020.

Great to see both Potato and Krupo’s names appear on TRB after, I don’t know how many years.  And did my eyes deceive me, or did I see Long Time Realtor post a couple of weeks back?

Maybe now we send out a search party for Housing Bear?

This is the fourteenth December sign-off here on TRB, and that just absolutely blows my mind.

The idea for Toronto Realty Blog was conceived in a Toyota Corolla on Highway-48 in the summer of 2006, and here we are, fourteen years later, a community of real estate enthusiasts, interacting on a daily basis, sometimes even agreeing on a thing or two!

Somebody once told me that when you have children, you start to see your life and the timeline therein via the ages and stages of your children.  Now, having two children, I see how that’s true.  But my first “baby” was Toronto Realty Blog, and as it’s now represented 35% of my life, I actually see the latter half of my life, and those stages, through the various stages of TRB.

A few months ago, I asked a question in a blog post to the effect of, “How long have you been reading Toronto Realty Blog?”  The responses from the readers were fascinating, not only because of all the responses, and the answers from some of the notable commenters, but also because of the people I had never heard of who detailed how long they had been reading, as well as some folks I know, but haven’t heard from in a decade.

That merely served as yet another reminder of how long I’ve been doing this for, and I actually sat and smiled alone in my office, thinking about folks who have been reading this for more than a decade.

A decade?  Really?

I’m flattered, I honestly am.  I’m also honoured and humbled.

I continue to be grateful for the readership, support, and most importantly, the interaction among the readers, whether they’re commenting on my posts, or looking to engage one-another, all of which is done with a level of respect and intelligence that you won’t find anywhere else on the Internet.

That is truly saying something.

2020 was a really strange year, and we all felt it.  It was tough for some and downright brutal for others.  I believe, much to my surprise, that the real estate market didn’t accurately reflect the mayhem that existed across the globe, and save for a small downtick in the condo market, we escaped relatively unscathed.  As a result, I think a lot of readers turned to TRB every morning for a sense of normalcy in a world which simply wasn’t providing it, and as we turn the corner to 2021, and hope to eradicate COVID from both our lives and our vernacular, I’m hoping that the conversation returns to our city, our real estate market, and our lives that are affected by both.

On Friday, I start a six-day quarantine at home with my family so that we may then get COVID tests, which reflect the potential “six-day incubation period” for the virus, and then obtain the results in time to spend Christmas with my mother at home.  The week thereafter will be bliss, as my children get to interact with “Grammy” for the first time since the summer, and with the real estate market taking a break and Toronto Realty Blog on pause until the New Year, I may even find time to relax a little bit.

As tempted as I am, or any of us would be, to lament these circumstances in a “look what 2020 has come to” sort of way, I’m instead going to count my blessings, and be thankful that I get to spend a week with my mother and my family.

My unsolicited advice to all of you is this: we are way, way past the frustration phase of 2020 and the pandemic, so enjoy what you have, seek out that which makes you happy, and take it all in before we head down the arduous path to “normal life” in 2021 once again.

Have a wonderful holiday break, and I’ll see you all back here on Monday, January 4th.

David.

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