James Clear recently wrote something that stayed with me.
“Whether you have ten years left or a hundred years left, your life is an incredibly brief moment. We know for sure you won’t be here in a century. But today? Today you are in the Great Game. And this moment you have right now might as well be the most important moment in the universe. Your time is thin. Go out and live fully now.”
It struck me because, after decades as both an architect and a real estate broker, I’ve watched people spend years waiting for the perfect moment to buy a home. They wait for interest rates to fall. They wait for prices to soften. They wait for the economy to improve. They wait until they feel completely certain.
Often, they wait so long that they postpone the very life they were hoping to build.
James Clear also shared a quote from the Chinese philosopher and writer Lin Yutang that I immediately loved:
“The enjoyment of leisure is something which decidedly costs less than the enjoyment of luxury. All it requires is an artistic temperament which is bent on seeking a perfectly useless afternoon spent in a perfectly useless manner.”
That, to me, is luxury.
Not marble countertops.
Not a six-car garage.
Not the biggest house on the street.
Uncover more insights about luxury and real estate here:
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Luxury is a home that invites you to slow down. It’s the front veranda where your morning coffee somehow lasts an hour. It’s the library where rain against the windows becomes entertainment. It’s a terrace overlooking the city, a deck above a lake, a favourite chair beside the fireplace, or simply a garden that encourages you to stay outside until the sun disappears. A beautiful home doesn’t just shelter you. It quietly shapes how you spend your days.
I’ve been fortunate to experience this throughout my life.
My parents believed in it. They stretched themselves more than once to buy properties they truly loved. They weren’t reckless, but they weren’t timid either. They saw potential where others saw work. They valued neighbourhoods with character, architecture with integrity, and homes that could be crafted into something special.
I’ve followed much the same path.
There were certainly moments that felt uncomfortable. We borrowed more than felt entirely comfortable at the time. We took calculated leaps of faith. But those decisions weren’t based on speculation. They were based on understanding. Character. Location. Good neighbours. Architectural merit. Construction quality. The ability to improve a property over time. Those things endure long after market headlines have faded.
I’ve lived through recessions, soaring interest rates, financial crises and periods when everyone seemed convinced that real estate had become too expensive or too risky. Every cycle creates its own reasons to wait.
Yet when I step back and look not at months but at decades, the overall trajectory has been remarkably consistent. Markets rise and fall, sometimes dramatically, but well-chosen properties in desirable locations have rewarded patient owners over time. More importantly, those homes became the backdrop to family dinners, Christmas mornings, children growing up, friendships, celebrations, quiet evenings and countless ordinary moments that turned out to be extraordinary.
That’s a return no investment statement can measure.
This doesn’t mean people should throw caution to the wind.
Quite the opposite.
The biggest financial decisions of your life deserve informed judgement. They deserve someone who understands neighbourhood evolution, architectural quality, renovation potential, construction, planning, resale appeal and long-term value. Buying a home isn’t simply about finding a property that fits your budget today. It’s about recognizing which homes and neighbourhoods are likely to reward you—financially, emotionally and socially—for years to come.
That’s where experience matters.
After spending my career as an architect, builder, investor and real estate broker, I’ve learned that the best purchases rarely happen by accident. They happen because someone recognizes qualities that aren’t immediately obvious. Sometimes it’s a street that hasn’t yet reached its full potential. Sometimes it’s a house with exceptional proportions hidden behind dated finishes. Sometimes it’s simply knowing the difference between a temporary market correction and a permanent flaw.
Good advice doesn’t eliminate risk.
It helps you choose the right risks.
I sometimes worry that we’ve become so focused on timing the market that we’ve forgotten why we buy homes in the first place. We don’t buy them simply to outperform an index or maximize quarterly returns. We buy them because they become the setting for our lives.
Choose well, and you’re buying far more than bricks and mortar. You’re buying Saturday morning walks through your favourite neighbourhood. You’re buying the café where the staff know your name, the park where your dog insists on stopping every afternoon, the neighbours who become lifelong friends, and the quiet satisfaction of coming home to a place that genuinely belongs to you.
Those “perfectly useless afternoons” that Lin Yutang wrote about often become the most valuable hours of our lives.
Life is surprisingly short.
Find a home that encourages you to live it fully. Stretch when it makes sense. Be optimistic—but be informed. Surround yourself with people who can help you see opportunities as well as pitfalls.
And when you find the right place, don’t just buy the house.
Buy the life that comes with it.
Do you have questions about buying or selling unique homes in Toronto? Get in touch with me today by calling me, emailing me, or filling out the form on this page.
Find Your Life of Luxury
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