This week I toured a home for sale in a desirable neighbourhood in Victoria. It was listed at the exact price I bought my home at four years ago. In considering the swap it highlighted everything that home buyers ignore when buying a home - the cost of selling it! Consider this:

Since I spent thousands of hours and dollars upgrading my home I can sell it for $415,000, $25,000 more than I purchased it and I could buy the other home for $390,000. How much money would I be left with? Consider these costs:

Realtor fees of $8,000 - $16,000. Assuming I went with a traditional realtor I would pay fees up to $16,000, some to go to the selling agent that I’d work with and some to go the buying agent. Did you know that when you’re buying, your realtor is making as much as the selling realtor?  If I went with a company like 2% Realty I could cut those fees in half at least.

Legal fees of $1,000 - $2,000. When buying and selling a home you’re transferring a huge sum from one bank to another and title of a property from one person to another. Lawyers and notaries help “convey” this sale in the matter of minutes through their very refined processes and make a mint. It’s possible to minimize this, but not much when you need a mortgage.

Bank fees of $500 - $2,500. This is what I was told I would pay to cut my mortgage short of its due date (only 200 days away!). Be careful when you’re getting a mortgage to review the penalties for breaking the mortgage. You might not think about ‘breaking’ a mortgage but what if you wanted to sell your home before your mortgage term ends? Fees may also come into play when you need bridge financing, aka when your home sells after your new home is purchased.

Moving expenses $500 - $2,000. You have a great deal of control over moving expenses, unless the home you want to buy currently has tenants (which was an issue in my case). This could mean temporary housing and temporary storage on top of moving trucks, movers, cleaners and miscellaneous change of address expenses.

Land Transfer tax $6,000. The tax is charged at a rate of 1% for the first $200,000 and 2% for the portion of the fair market value that is greater than $200,000. This might be ignored by first time home buyers when the house is under $475,000 the fee is $0, but once you buy your second house the fee applies! It was a huge barrier to making the switch in my situation.  

How much was I looking at? If I sold my home and bought the other one for $25,000 less then I would lose $1,000 - $3,500!

Years of home improvement and care, not to mention inflation, all gone. Consider this math a basic lesson in the perils of prematurely buying a home without considering when and why you’ll be selling.

While reading Dale Carnegie's "How to stop worrying and start living" I came across this poem by Kalidasa and wanted to share it:

Look to this day! 
For it is life, the very life of life. 
In its brief course 
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence: 
The bliss of growth; 
The glory of action; 
The splendor of achievement; 
For yesterday is but a dream, 
And tomorrow is only a vision; 
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday 
a dream of happiness, 
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

In the book Sugar Fat Salt author Michael Moss narrates the story of Pop Tarts, the popular “breakfast’ treat sold by Kellogg. The story of its creation is part of the general story of the 20th Century and what I’d call, crimes of convenience.
​
The goal of both Kellogg and Post, their arch rival, was to expand into the breakfast market beyond the success of their cereal products such as Fruit Loops, Mini-Wheats and Apple Jacks. They wanted to create a quick and healthy breakfast mom’s could hand their kids as they’re running out the door.

The vision: convenience, convenience, convenience, and one of the executive’s daughter’s wish for dessert at breakfast.
​
Pop-tarts were invented in 1964 and are TODAY the most popular product in Kellogg’s portfolio.

Later the book details products like Lunchabes and other successful moves to eliminate food preparation and increase convenience. The cost has been an obesity epidemic that continues to spiral. 

The solution? Inconvenience and lower spending. Examples:
- prepare meals with their base ingredients instead of prepared or fast food meals (or better yet garden!)
- use a push mower instead of a gas/electric machine (or worse ride on)
- walk or pedal around town instead of driving
... and so much more. 

What are you doing to curb the crimes of convenience?

As an entrepreneur, you’re constantly focused on deal making and persuasion. It begins when all of your finances become connected.

You don’t have a salary anymore and company spending is literally eating into your take home pay. If my company spends hundreds or thousands extra, I make hundreds or thousands less. So, it comes natural for entrepreneurs to want to shave costs where possible.

And, money doesn’t make itself either. Friends become referrals, family become lenders, and you become cheap labour. Without restraint you can become a pig sniffing out truffles in the woods, sensing money around you everywhere waiting to be spent on you and your company.
​
Fear leads to hustling. Fear corrupts relationships and disrupts peace. It’s hard for entrepreneurs to get beyond fear but that’s truly where success lies, not in achievement or reward, but in peace.

If you’re not an entrepreneur, look out for the hustlers. If you can’t spot the mark, you’re it.