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Part of “Canada’s Economic Action Plan” includes a Home Renovation Tax Credit that could help you save up to $1,350 on eligible home improvements when goods are purchased or professional services are performed after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2010.


The Home Renovation Tax Credit is a federal non-refundable tax credit based on eligible expenses for improvements to your house, condominium, or cottage. The 15% tax credit applies to eligible expenses that exceed $1,000, but not more than $10,000. For instance, if you installed new windows at a cost of $5,000 and new shingles at a cost of $5,000 your tax credit is calculated as follows. ($10,000 - $1,000) x 15% = $1,350 tax credit.


You must get your contracts in writing, keep your receipts and claim the credit on your 2009 tax return.


Eligible expenses must be of an enduring nature and integral to your property.


Examples of eligible expenses

Renovation of a bathroom, basement, or kitchen
New windows, doors, or flooring
Building an addition, garage, deck, shed or fence
A new furnace, fireplace, water softener, or water heater
A new driveway, or a new surface on an existing driveway
Re-shingling a roof, or painting a house
Landscaping projects like new sod, perennial shrubs and flowers, trees, etc.
Swimming pools (permanent – in-ground and above ground)
Fixtures – blinds, shades, shutters, awnings, lights, fans, etc.
Associated renovation costs such as permits, professional services, equipment rentals, etc.

Examples of non-eligible expenses

Improvements made to rental units even if located with your primary residence
Furniture, appliances, tools
Audio and visual electronics
Routine repairs, maintenance and cleaning costs
Financing costs


For more information on the Home Renovation Tax Credit click here.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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In a five up, five down decision, Mayor Don Atchison broke the tie between Saskatoon city councillorsto move forward with a purchase contract for one of Jack Grover’s properties at a higher price than the two parties originally agreed to. Approximately six weeks ago Jack Grover agreed to accept $104,000 for the house at 408 Avenue P South from an undisclosed buyer. Upon learning that the City was the buyer Grover claimed that the deal was not done in good faith and threatened to withdraw from the agreement unless the City agreed to a higher price of $119,000.


City administrators recommended that council agree to the higher price to avoid the costs of litigation, as well as the time that could be lost to such an action.


Apparently the Avenue P house was the last holdout on land that has been set aside for an affordable housing project as part of the Pleasant Hillrevitalization project.


Some things are worth paying for.


Star Phoenix story here.
Pleasant Hill Revitalization Project Blog here.
Pleasant Hill Local Area Plan here.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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Some Rutherford Crescent residents are pushing city council for a solution to what they call “a recipe for tragedy,” claiming that the high density development on this Sutherlandstreet is creating a dangerous situation for children playing in the area.


They contend that a number of illegal suites are contributing to a problem caused by the large number of single-family homes that were built in the area just a few years ago. Often, cars line both sides of the street creating dangerous conditions in an area with a high population of children and a park that attracts them in droves.


Residents are calling for speed bumps, crosswalks, a reduction in the speed limit, an elimination of parking in front of the playground, and a clamp down on illegal suites.


Ward 1 councillor Darren Hill will present his ideas on solving the problem to council this evening.


See the Star Phoenix story here.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra


Update: At the September 28 council meeting Ms. Elizabeth Cooney was heard and "expressed concerns regarding the speed of traffic and parking issue in the Rutherfor infill area and provided suggestions on how to help alleviate traffic congestion." It was moved by councillor Hill, and seconded by Councillor Paulsen that the matter "be referred to Administration," and that motion was carried.


Meeting minutes can be found here.

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Saskatoon real estate week in review – Sept 21-25 2009
Saskatoon real estate sales retreated again falling to just sixty-seven properties, down eighteen units from last week, and just slightly short of production for the same week last year when seventy Saskatoon homes were reported sold. This is the first week that failed to beat last year’s numbers since the week of June 12.


New listing activity was also lower, but just marginally. Local agents brought one hundred and eight new house and condominium listings to the Saskatoon MLS system this week, three fewer than last week, and down fourteen properties compared with the same week in 2008.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Active residential real estate listings held steady at 1088, down just three units from last week, but well below the 1758 properties that were available during the same week last year when active listings reached their peak for the 2008. At this time, there are six hundred and thirty-three single-family homes and three hundred and seventy condos displaying an active status on our multiple listing service. Last year, those numbers were at one thousand and ninety-four and five hundred and forty-three respectively. Typically, unit sales and new listings both begin to slow in the weeks ahead, and usually we would expect to see active listings continue to decline through the fall.

Active Saskatoon real estate listings at September 26 2009


Canceled and withdrawn listings fell to just twenty properties this week and eleven of those came back for another run at the market as a “new listing.” Forty-seven Saskatoon home sellers adjusted their asking price.


The average selling price of a Saskatoon home remained steady at $273,700 while the six-week average fell roughly eight hundred dollars from last week to $284,114, lower than last year’s number by about $10,000. The four-week median increased eight thousand over the previous week to $273,000, ahead of last year’s number by just fifteen hundred dollars.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The average underbid was nearly identical to last week at $10,150, and about 3.3% of the asking price. The percentage of home sellers who managed to bag a sale within five thousand dollars of their asking price fell sharply from 39% last week to just 25% this week but fewer high dollar discounts kept 45% of all done deals in the $5001-$10000 discount category.



I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon real estate week in review – Aug 31-Sept 4 2009
Following one of the quieter weeks we’ve seen since late spring (65 units) Saskatoon real estate sales bounced back with a total of one hundred and two detached single-family home and condominium sales reported. This week is one of about six that managed to crack that one hundred-unit barrier in the past couple of years. While this week was unusually strong, the same week last yearwas remarkably weak, so home sales nearly tripled on a year-over-year basis from last year’s miserable thirty-six-unit tally.


New listings pushed forward as a number of properties that expired from the Saskatoon MLS system at the end of Augustfound their way back onto the market for another go. One hundred and twenty new listings made their way to the system, an increase of twenty-nine homes compared to last week, but well below the one hundred and sixty homes that were offered for sale during the same period last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The majority of the seventy-three Saskatoon homes that did expire last week haven’t been relisted, at least not yet, so total active residential listings took a pretty good tumble, falling seventy units from last week to finish at 1082. Inventory is sharply lower than it was at this time in 2008 when a total of 1704 homes were showing an active status on our system. Included in the active residential listings are six hundred and twenty-three single-family homes (houses) and three hundred and seventy-five condominiums.



Forty-nine home sellers adjusted their asking price this week, and sixteen of thirty-nine canceled or withdrawn listings re-appeared wearing the “new listing” banner, most at a lower price.


The average selling price of a Saskatoon home took a pretty good bounce this week to reach $295,070, nearly sixteen thousand dollars above last week’s number, and ninety-five hundred dollars higher than the same week in 2008. The six-week average took a turn climbing four thousand dollars from last week to finish at $285,679, three thousand dollars higher than it was at this time last year. The four-week median selling price stayed level on a week-over-week basis at $274,500, but pulled ahead of last year’s number by ninety-five hundred dollars. This is the first week since Marchthat all three price measures showed gains over last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The average underbid on Saskatoon homes that sold for less than the asking price made its way back to five-figure territory after dipping below ten thousand dollars for a few weeks. It came it at $11,430, or about 3.75 percent of the asking price. The percentage of sellers who managed to make a deal within ten thousand dollars of their asking price fell from seventy-seven percent last week to sixty-five percent.


All three of the “overbid” properties were new homes, and two of the three had been on the market for two and four months so the extra dollars that the seller received likely resulted from some additional improvements made to the homes.




I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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I’m feeling pretty good about completing the first phase of a project that I’ve wanted to get at for the past three years. It wasn’t a lack of enthusiasm for the project that kept me from completing the work before now, but rather, the scale of the work involved. At every given moment over the past few years the job just felt so overwhelming that I was often tempted to just forget about it. I’m glad I didn’t.


Over the past sixty days I have visited every school in Saskatoon, and I’ve walked every single park in every neighbourhood of our great community. It has been an excellent way to re-connect with the city that I grew up in, and that I love, but that was really a side benefit unrelated to my original reason for going. I went to take pictures. I went to capture these areas in images, hoping that they might be helpful to someone trying to choose a neighbourhood from afar in a city that they’re largely unfamiliar with.


Phase two of this project is a pretty major overhaul of our “Saskatoon neighbourhoods” pagesto include some of the best information available on every area of the city as well as a decent photo tour that gives the visitor a bit of a feel for the area. We’ve put a good dent in the work on most of the area pages, and a number of them are already complete. Over the next sixty days we will finish them all.


Our City Park pageprovides a pretty good idea of what we’re ultimately after for each Saskatoon neighbourhood if you’re interested in having a look.


Generally, I’m pretty happy with the way these are turning out but I can’t help think about how much better they could be with a little help from you. I can write about my impressions of an area, and even share some photos that provide a limited view of the neighbourhood, but nothing could be as helpful to a newcomer as the comments of someone who has lived in and experienced an area firsthand.


May I call on those of you who live in Saskatoon to share some of your thoughts on the neighbourhood that you live in? You can do that in the comments section of the page for your area. You’ll find your area on a list here. Feel free to tell us what you love about your neighbourhood, and don’t be shy about sharing something that you wish was different. No neighbourhood is perfect and all of your impressions have the potential to be helpful to someone.


Thank you for helping me with this project.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon real estate week in review for Sept 14-18 2009
Saskatoon real estate sales took an upward turn again but stayed well below the peak numbers that we hit just four weeks ago. Eighty-five houses and condominiums were reported sold last week, up from fifty-seven the week before, and doubling production compared to the same week last yearwhen just forty-two Saskatoon homes were sold.


New listings followed a similar pattern, bouncing back from just eighty-five in our last report to one hundred and eleven this past week. During the same week in 2008 there were one hundred and seventeen homes listed for sale. Since late March, new listings have consistently been well below the same week of the previous year. This is the closest we’ve come to a “same week last year” listing number since that time.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Active residential real estate listings saw some small gains this week after falling pretty steadily over the past five months. By the time the dust had settled from Friday’s activity a total of 1091 properties were showing an active status, up just seven units compared to the previous week, but down well over six hundred homes when compared to the same week in 2008. Last year at this time, inventory was just approaching its peak for the year. Still, it seems a little strange to see the sudden change on this graph, especially at this time of year. It will be interesting to watch what happens with the inventory in the weeks ahead.



Canceled and withdrawn listings continued to slow with a total of just twenty-six processed over the week. Sixteen of those homes made a return appearance to the Saskatoon MLS system as a new listing. Sixty-three sellers adjusted the price of their home in hopes of attracting a buyer during this final week of summer.


Average selling prices slid back to earth after a couple of weeks that were unusually high. The average came in at just $273,393 and more buying action in the lower price ranges pushed the median sale price for the week to $256,000. The six-week average selling price for a Saskatoon home took another small dip falling to $284,937 from $286,240 the previous week, to finish below last year’s number by roughly three thousand dollars. The four-week median selling price was pushed lower, falling eight thousand dollars from the previous week to $265,000, off from $272,000 for the same week last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The average underbid fell from $11,430 last week to $10,359 this week, while the average discount, expressed as a percentage of the asking price fell to just 3.3 percent, down from 4.6 percent the week before. Nearly seventy percent of this week’s sellers managed a sale within $10,000 of the asking price, and another twenty percent finished within $15,000.



I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here.Please feel free to call or email.


Remember, our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon real estate week in review – Sept 7-11 2009
Like a bouncing ball on its way back down Saskatoon real estate activity fell off big following one of our strongest weeks for the year. It was short week, and sales reports almost always drop off after a long weekend but with just fifty-seven house and condo sales reported, this past week is the slowest on record since the week of March 13. Sales tumbled from an incredibly strong one hundred and two last week but still managed to come up even with the same week last yearwhen fifty-seven Saskatoon homes also changed hands. It seems strange to say “we haven’t had such a quiet week since spring,” a time when housing sales should have been brisk. Real estate sales are about as mixed up as the weather has been lately.


An exceptionally slow listing week may indicate that the market didn’t just die, but rather, that people were busy and focused on other things. Just eighty-five new single-family and condominium listings made their way to the Saskatoon MLS service, down from one hundred and twenty last week, and well off of the one hundred and fifty-five properties listed during this week last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Far fewer expired and canceled listings kept the inventory of active residential listings pretty much level through out the week. We finished the week with one thousand and eighty-four homes, up just two from the previous week, but down six hundred and fifty-three units from the same time last year when 1737 residential properties were for sale.



The system registered just twenty canceled and withdrawn listings this week, with about half of those resurfacing nearly immediately with a new listing flag. Forty-five home sellers made a price adjustment. Just thirteen home listings expired after a period of time on the market with no sales agreement in place.


Prices were skewed higher this week by five sales above the $500,000 mark including one Varsity View home that topped one million dollars. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home came in at $301,072, about six thousand dollars higher than last week while the median sale price slid ten thousand from the week before to $265,000. The six-week average increased just slightly on a week-over-week basis to $286,240, lower than last year’s number by roughly twenty-seven hundred dollars while the four-week median sale price slid fifteen hundred dollars from last week to $273,000, just fifteen hundred dollars higher than it was during the same week last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The average underbid spiked higher climbing from $11,430 last week to $14,576 this week. That’s about a 4.6% discount, on average, a number which is higher than we’ve seen in awhile. There were a handful of large discount sales that definitely skewed the average higher but buyers did seem to bring more clout to the bargaining table. Overbids completely disappeared with nothing selling over list price.



I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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RBC Economics just released their fall Housing Trends and Affordability studythat shows house prices having returned to “pre-boom” levels nationally with Saskatchewan showing considerable affordability improvements, but remaining above long-term historical averages. At the same time, the graph on page eight of the report suggests that affordability improvements may level off as Saskatoon seems to be trending back towards “seller’s market” territory.


Housing affordability improved in Canada for the fifth consecutive quarter during the second quarter...At the national level, affordability has now been restored to pre-housing boom levels (that is, those prevailing in late 2005-early 2006)... However, this restorative phase of the affordability cycle is likely running out of steam. The two major contributors to the significant improvement during the past year or so — the decline in mortgage rates and the drift down in prices — appear to have reached turning points.


Homeownership continued to become more accessible in Saskatchewan in the second quarter with RBC’s affordability measures falling between 0.4 and 1.4 percentage points. The measures have retreated considerably since their peaks early last year. However, they are still some distance above long-term averages, although these averages might have been depressed by previously unfavourable migration flows that have since been reversed. Certainly, the current levels of affordability do not appear to have been an obstacle to buyers taking the plunge in recent months. Sales of existing homes in the province have rebounded smartly, up by more than 50% since their low in March. If sustained, this will eventually heat up property prices, which are still trending modestly, lower.


This graph shows the recent affordability trend for the four Saskatoon housing types that RBC tracks and reports on, in comparison to the historical norm for the area. The figures shown on the graph represent the “proportion of median pre-tax household income required to service the cost of mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes and utilities” on the various housing types. So, of course, the lower the figure, the more affordable the homes are.


Saskatoon housing affordability trend compared to long-term historical norm


Read the full RBC report here.


Thanks for the heads up to my friend Larry Yatkowsky who runs Yatter Matterswhere he blogs about the Vancouver real estate market.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

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Perhaps you’ve already heard that it’s Realtor® Community Safety Week in Saskatoon. If you haven’t, let it be known that His Worship Mayor Donald Atchison has declared it so, and so it is.


You’ll be reminded that it’s Realtor® Community Safety Week by a series of safety tips airing on C95FM and Rock102. I’ve also noticed some service announcements in the Star Phoenix. The highlight event for the week is a Neighbourhood Safety Fair that happens on Saturday, September 12 from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm. It will be held at Sonnenschein Way, just south of the Farmer’s Market. If you can find the time, it’s probably worth attending. Apparently, there will be children’s activities and prizes, self-defense demonstrations, home safety products and lots of good safety related information.


Whether or not you can attend you should check out a free publication that’s being offered by the City of Saskatoon. It’s called “Safe at Home” and it contains about a dozen pages of great tips for staying safe in your community and in your home. Please read it and be safe, this week and every other.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors recently reported August 2009 resultsfor the entire residential category of Saskatoon real estate, which includes single-family homes, condominiums, semi-detached properties, duplexes, mobile homes and vacant lots. Unit sales totaled 393 properties across all of these property types, at an average selling price of $281,871. Let’s have a look at how houses (single-family detached homes) and condominiums did in comparison to the entire residential category.


Saskatoon single-family home sales took a small dip in August falling to 268 units, down from 294 in July, but up significantly compared to the 150 properties that traded in August of 2008. The number of houses for sale within the city of Saskatoon also slid falling by ninety units compared to last month to finish August at six hundred and fifty-one, down nearly forty percent from the same month last year.



The average sale price of a house fell from $315,768 in July to $306,440 in August, which was just a few hundred dollars higher than it was in August of 2008. The median price took a similar slide falling to $290,250 from $299,000 the month before and finishing just $750 behind the median for last August. Following seven consecutive months of gains which moved the three-month average nearly twenty thousand dollars higher, this measure came in about $1400 lower on a month-over-month basis but lagged behind last year’s number by nearly sixteen grand.


Meanwhile, the average price per square foot for a Saskatoon house increased, climbing six dollars from last month to two hundred and fifty-two dollars, seventeen dollars less than the average for last August.



The number of Saskatoon condos that are currently for sale continued to fall, though far slower than the single-family home inventory has adjusted. At month end, three hundred and eighty-one condos showed an “active” status on the Saskatoon MLS system, down just twelve properties from July, but well off of the four hundred and ninety-nine condos available at this time last year. Unit sales showed some strength falling just seventeen units from July to finish at one hundred and twelve sales, nearly eighty-percent up on the same month in 2008 when just sixty-two Saskatoon condos sold.



The average selling price of a Saskatoon condominium rose for the third consecutive month, increasing nearly eleven thousand dollars from the month before to $231,042 and finishing up close to five thousand dollars compared to August 2008. The median took an even stronger jump increasing nearly fifteen thousand dollars to $224,950, up from $209,000 last year. The three-month average selling price finally moved ahead ending a year of declines and finishing at $221,965, sixteen thousand dollars lower than it was at this time last year. Condo prices were skewed higher by twenty-two sales above the $300,000 mark, including two that topped a half million dollars.


The average cost per square foot for a Saskatoon condo also made some gains climbing eight dollars from its near two-year low of $211 to $219, twenty-two dollars lower than it was in August of last year.



Remember, averages and cost per square foot numbers can provide some useful insights into pricing trends but they’re not as useful when engaging in an actual transaction. If you’re buying or selling you should be seeking current information on active listings and recent sales, which are most comparable to your property in terms of location, size, features and amenities.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) released the residential real estate statistics for August 2009today, accompanied by this release.


Saskatoon REALTORS® assisted 393 home buyers to fulfill their dream of home ownership in the month of August, up 76% from August 2008 when 223 homes were sold, and on par with August 2007 when 397 homes were sold. Year to date, 2697 homes have sold, also on par with 2008.



The average selling price stabilized at $281,871 in the month of August and was on par with 2008 when the average selling price was $279,722. Year to date the average selling price is $278,129, down 4% from 2008 when the average year to date sales figure was $288,924.



Inventory levels continued to stabilize in the month of August. Home buyers had 1148 homes to select from at the end of August, down 32% from August 2008 when 1676 homes were on the market. That number is also down from the 1291 homes available last month and down significantly from our record high inventory number of 1748 homes for sale in September 2008. REALTORS® listed 517 homes in August, down 36% from 2008 when 805 homes were listed.



Home sales in areas surrounding the city were also very active in the month of August with 96 properties sold, up 22% from 2008 when 79 homes were sold and on par with 2007 when consumers purchased 93 homes. The average price remained steady in these areas at $270,488, up 9% from 2008 when the average selling price was $248,556.


All indicators point to similar activity in the residential home sales market as we continue into fall. Consumer confidence remains strong; the job market is steady and interest rates are low, all necessary components for an active market. Inventory is expected to decline during the next few months furthering market stability.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here.Please feel free to call or email.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Read
The Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) IDX Reciprocity listings are displayed in accordance with SRA's MLS® Data Access Agreement and are copyright of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA).
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