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imagine-loki · 6 years

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Monsters and Magic

TITLE: Monsters and Magic CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 40/? AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a vampire who helps the Avengers defeat an evil seethe of other vampires, and Loki befriends you after you end up in their custody RATING: T (so far) NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 click here

“Bossy noodle,” you teased as you snuck your phone from your pocket to steal a picture of you kissing Loki’s cheek before you sat down to eat your dinner and drink your wine. Loki smiled and stole a kiss for you to take a picture of too. He enjoyed you taking pictures of the pair of you.

“Don’t post that pic or his army will revolt,” Stark teased.

You huffed and rolled your eyes. “Stark, I can’t post it, except to tumblr, the rest of social media thinks I’m dead, remember? Especially my family who needs to continue thinking I’m dead,” it was a miracle that they hadn’t believed yet that it was you hanging out with the Avengers. You figured that it was just that they knew you were dead that they didn’t question your doppelgänger. Either way, they hadn’t contacted the team asking about you and you tried not to be too much in the press. “And I’m not dumb enough to post it to tumblr and piss off his army,” you added quickly before anyone questioned you about your family. They couldn’t know you were alive. The vampires would kill them. Luckily, they lived outside the city, so you didn’t risk running into them.

“Has Lady Natasha gotten you a new identity yet?” Loki asked. You’d told him she was going to.

You nodded. “Yes, as Stark’s niece. It gives me an excuse for living here and working at Stark Industries,” you explained. Nat had been very thorough with your new identity. “But in all seriousness, if I go playing around too much on social media people might start figuring out who I am. It’s better if I don’t make a huge specticle of myself…” Before they could make a big deal about it you added. “Don’t worry about it, I’m perfectly happy keeping adorable pictures of the noodle to myself,”

“I like having you all to myself too, kitten,” Loki told you warmly and kissed your cheek.

You laughed. “You just don’t like other men looking at me,” you teased and stuck your tongue out at him while the others groaned at how adorable you were being.

Once dinner ended you used magic to summon clothes besides pajamas to wear, since pajamas are not outside clothes. “Where would you like to go, darling?” Loki asked you when you were dressed.

You looked over at him surprised. “Oh! I dont know. I assumed you had a plan. We could go get ice cream? No wait, you cant eat ice cream in public… um…”

“Are there any movies out that you would like to see?” he asked.

“We always go to the movies. You’ll be bored going to the movie theater again,” you reminded him. You checked the time and smirked. “I have an idea, but we’ll have to hurry… or not care if we’re there illegally after close…” Loki smirked at that last. He didn’t care one bit if you stayed wherever this was illegally after the place closed.

You took his hand and led the way, dragging him to a nearby zoo and grinned at him in delight when you dragged the poor confused god inside. “Behold, the creatures of Midgard!” you announced and beamed at him. He lit up in interest and you took his hand to lead him around and show him the animals in the zoo. He watched them in their enclosures in awe, though you saw him glance at you and seem relieved to see the smile on your face.

You did get concerned that he wasn’t having fun. These were pretty mundane creatures compared to things like bilgesnipe. Then you finally had an idea. “I know what you’ll like!” you told him brightly, trying so very hard to make sure he had fun too and dragged him into the snake house. “Lots of danger noodles!” you informed him brightly gesturing around to all the snakes in the snake house. Loki grinned in delight at all of the snakes and apparently decided to turn into one in solidarity, because the next instant there was a snake where your boyfriend had been. “Silly noodle,” you teased as you knelt to pet the snakes’s head. He slithered up your arm, resting across your shoulders, his tail wrapped around your arm. You giggled and carried him around the snake house so he could say hi to all of the other snakes. Some he stuck his tongue out at, some he hissed at, but he greeted every single snake in the snake house and seemed happy at doing in.

He eventually got bored and slithered back down to the floor to turn back into himself. At least you thought he was going to turn into himself. Instead, he was a gorgeous raven-haired lady instead. You knew Loki was genderfluid, you just hadn’t seen the evidence of it before. Loki was shy and reserved and Lady Loki was no different. Worse, she was scared that you would take it poorly. You could see it in her guarded expression, in her body language that was hunched in on herself nervously. You had to admit you were surprised since she hadn’t warned you, but you had accepted this part of your Loki without even having seen it. You gave her a bright smile and hugged her, leaning up to kiss her cheek. You took her hand. “C’mon, Lokes! I wanna see the big meows!” you told her brightly as if absolutely nothing had changed.

You saw Loki relax and light up in delight that you had accepted her just like that. It warmed your heart to see your gorgeous Lady Loki so happy. You wrapped your arms around one of hers adorably and dragged her over to the cat-house. You didn’t think about it as you stepped inside the dim building and didn’t even notice that your eyes started glowing when you stepped inside. You were too busy cooing over the cats.

Loki, however, noticed and leaned down to whisper in your ear. “Your eyes are glowing, sweetheart.” She gave you a warm, loving smile, adoration in her eyes.

“Oh, shit. Sorry!” you told her quickly and waved your hand in front of your eyes to put the illusions back over your eyes to hide them from the mortals.

“No need to apologize, little one,” Lady Loki purred affectionately in your ear. “Your eyes are quite beautiful when they glow, though they and you always are,”

You blushed at the compliment, but rolled your eyes. You didn’t quite believe her since she wouldn’t have pointed out that your eyes were glowing if she was speaking the truth. “You’re an incorrigible flatterer even as a woman,” you informed Loki before you slowly, tentatively kissed her. You were unsure if your kisses would be welcome with Loki in this form.

Loki pulled you into a deep kiss, reassuring you that she wanted to kiss you just as much in this form as her other. “You are just too beautiful for words, kitten,” she told you warmly when she finally ended the kiss.

“Hardly in comparison to you, lady love,” you purred in reply and stole another kiss before you returned to cooing over the cats, Loki’s hand in yours. She seemed more interested in watching your interaction with the cats than with the giant cats themselves.

You pouted when the announcement came throughout the zoo that it was closing. “They don’t stay open much past dark,” you explained to Loki as you wandered with her back to the entrance. You didn’t feel like staying here illegally tonight. Maybe another night. Loki was a bad influence on you on certain things. “So I haven’t been to a zoo in years,” you told her as you walked.

“Then I am glad we could come now,” Loki told you warmly in reply.

“You had fun? I mean, I’m sure the creatures on Asgard are more interesting…” you asked worried that your dully Midgardian creatures would be boring to the god who had studied so much over her long life.

“I did have fun. Midgardian animals are not at all similar to those on Asgard,” Loki reassured you and sounded like she really was telling the truth. She did tend to avoid lying to you.

“Good!” you replied brightly and swung your clasped hands as you walked back to the tower. You did pause outside the tower when you made it back. “I don’t mind, and I love and support you no matter what you decide to do, but do you want to face the others in this form?” you asked Loki tentatively. You weren’t sure the rest of the team would be as accepting of Loki as you were. “I’ll kick their asses if they’re mean to you!” you added quickly, though you weren’t exactly in the shape to carry out that promise.

“It’s alright, darling. I don’t care what the rest of the team says or thinks. The only person whose opinion I care about is you,” she told you and gave you a soft sweet kiss.

“I’ll still kick their assess if they’re mean,” you offered after the kiss as you headed inside with your Loki.

“The kitten has claws,” she laughed and you couldn’t help lighting up at the melodic sound.

“I dont like them making you sad,” you replied firmly, punching the button for the common room floor a little harder than you needed.

“I’ll be alright, kitten,” she told you warmly. The elevator doors opened onto the living room and the rest of the team. They looked over automatically to welcome you home, but their mouths all fell open in surprise when they saw Loki.

Except Thor. Loki’s wonderful oaf of a brother just sauntered right over and kissed each of you on the hand in turn, because that’s just how ladies on Asgard were greeted. You could’ve kissed him for his open acceptance. The others would follow his lead. Loki gave her brother a small smile and spared a glance for the rest of the team, who were still all surprised. “What?” she asked innocently.

Nat grinned as she, and most of the others, jumped from surprise to shrugs of acceptance. Stark looked like he wanted to make a sarcastic comment, but Nat spoke up first before he could get himself defenestrated. “Some of the girls are coming over for ladies’ night tonight. I didn’t invite you two because sestricka is about as ungirly as anyone can get, but its margaritas, stupid girly movies, too much junk food, and nail polish if you want to join us?” Nat offered the pair of you with an accepting smile for Loki. You would have argued, but you were about the ungirliest girl ever. And spent most of your time working as a grease monkey/engineer in Tony’s lab.

Loki considered the invitation and seemed touched that she was even invited. “It sounds like fun,” she turned to you, knowing that it probably wasn’t your idea of a fun time. “How do you feel about it, sweetheart?” she asked you. She’d give up her fun for your comfort and you knew it.

You shrugged. “Could be fun,” you answered. You were willing to give it a shot. You gave Stark a glare, seeing the sarcastic comment on the tip of his tongue. You didn’t want him to make your Loki sad.

“Great! We’ll be taking over the living room at 7!” Nat told you both kindly.

Stark couldn’t hold it in anymore and opened his mouth to say something stupid. You turned, making a quick movement with your wrist in the same movement and your very unassuming watch turned into a repulsor on her palm, charged with its usual obvious sound and pointed at Stark. “I would highly reconsider whatever you’re going to say,” you warned him while everyone just stared that you had a repulser at all, much less one this high tech. Even Stark’s emergency repulsers weren’t this nice.

Loki just laughed and gave you a proud look. “I think he gets the picture, kitten,” she told you kindly, amused at your defense of her.

You looked over at her. “Are you sure?” you asked innocently.

Loki gave Stark a wicked smile, which looked somehow even more wicked on her female face. “If he tries to say anything, you are quite welcome to shoot him, but until then, we’re fine,”

You gave her a bright smile and leaned up to kiss Loki’s cheek. You shook your hand and the repulser turned back into a watch. “When did you make that?” Stark finally asked, shaking himself out of his stupor to come up with the question. He was as surprised as everyone else when you suddenly had tech for yourself. “And why is it nicer than mine?!” he demanded after he rushed over to taken your hand to investigate the tech and its construction.

You shrugged and let Stark look, though you realized quickly that he was touching you longer than your overprotective Loki would be comfortably with. “Made it a couple days ago when I was in the lab,” you replied a bit sheepishly. You weren’t forbidden from making weapons for yourself, but you usually made stuff for the team..

Loki moved to stand closer to you, glaring at Stark to remove his hands from you. Stark completely ignored her, his entire focus on the piece of tech on your wrist and asking questions about it as he manipulated it to transform again. Your wrist and hand remained firmly clasped in Stark’s callused grip. Loki summoned a dagger in one smooth movement. “Stark, I would remove your hands now before I sever them,” she told Stark dryly and too calmly.

Stark just looked at Loki confused. “What are you talking about, reindeer games?” he asked, apparently over Loki being female.

Loki got even more aggravated. “Let my little vampire go, Stark,” she growled, sounding even more menacing.

Stark made a disgusted face but dropped your hand quickly. “Seriously? She’s a kid, like I’d even be interested…” Stark growled. Loki just smirked at Stark and vanished the dagger from her hand. Stark grumbled something unflattering about overprotective aliens who fancied themselves to be gods. You wisely removed the unassuming watch and handed it to Stark so he could examine it without getting his hands sliced off.

You plopped down on the couch with one of the video game controllers. “Anyone fancy a game?” you asked, teasing as Loki sat next to you on the couch. He wanted to enjoy watching whoever challenged you get pummeled. Thor was the first to rise to the challenge as long as he could play as the thunder-mouse. You grinned and set up the fighting game. You let the poor oaf think he stood a chance before completely trouncing him. More people jumped in and out of the game each round, finding fun in the stupid silly fighting game.

Clint stuck his tongue out at you when you continued to win. “How are you so good at this?” he whined.

You laughed “It was the only thing my little sister and I could agree on. We’ve been playing this stupid game since the N64…” you explained. Seriously, it was the only thing you and Bree had everbeen able to agree on.

“Shouldn’t you be resting, little one?” Loki asked when you’d killed her brother in the game for about the hundredth time. Thor was persistent, even if he did suck at the game.

“I slept all day and I am resting,” you protested with a whine. “Kicking your brother’s ass at video games isn’t strenuous at all!~” you reminded her, still whining while Thor laughed at your ability to defeat him in such a spectacular manner.

Loki giggled “If you say so, darling. Have you had any blood today?” she continued to pester and mother-he.

You rolled your eyes. “Yes, I had that mug before I introduced you to your army,” you reminded her. “Overprotective noodle,” you grumbled under your breath.

“Feisty kitten,”

“Can I go back to beating up your brother now?” you teased while Thor protested that he’d win.

“By all means, my love,”

You grinned in reply and proceeded to crush Thor. Multiple times. Until the pizza arrived. Nat was about to automatically tell Loki to go get it. She usually did, since she was amused by watching him deal with the delivery guys. She smirked at Loki though. “You’re excused from the manly job of carrying things,” she teased Loki, her tone making it clear that her teasing was friendly and in no way malicious. Loki could accept teasing from the team as long as they weren’t teasing maliciously. “Thor! Go get the pizzas!” Nat ordered instead. Loki giggled in delight at the fact that Thor was forced to go get the pizzas instead.

Thor grumbled, but goodnaturedly went to collect the pizzas. He returned with not only pizza, but accompanied by ladies with even more snack foods. Pepper has arrived with the margaritas, Jane and Darcy had junk food, Maria Hill brought even more booze. And the boys somehow find themselves kicked out of the living room. Thor kept trying to avoid getting kicked out by making out with Jane.

Unfortunately he did this right in front of Loki, who waved her hand and Thor vanished up to his room, where he was banished for the night. “Now, what shall we start with?” she asked pleasantly while Jane ineffectively spluttered that Loki made her boyfriend vanish.

“Who’s the new witch?” Darcy asked a bit densely with an approving smirk at Loki. The pizzas and a selection of DVDs were set out while Loki smirked at how oblivious Darcy was.

“That’s Loki, Darce,” Jane told her grumpily. She was still upset that Loki sent Thor away. She got over it quickly, though when she pulled a bottle of alcohol from her bag. “Thor gave me this for our evening,” she told you all, holding up the bottle of Asgardian booze to the cheers from the others as glasses of the stuff are poured and passed around.

Loki grabbed the glass from your reach before Jane handed it to you. “Be careful. This stuff is not meant for mortals,” she warned you firmly. Her tone was worried.

“She’s not mortal, Loki,” Nat reminded her gently. “Stop being so overprotective. We dont even know if she canget drunk. And if she does, she’s safe with us,” Nat reminded Loki reasonably. It wouldn’t do to have Loki make you be a prude. Loki sighed, conceding to Nat’s point and handed you the glass with a reminder to pleasebe careful.

You nodded and took the glass, sipping on it carefully through the evening. They started a movie, and it wasn’t the typical chick flick that you were expecting. Instead, it was a superhero movie with a female lead. The pizza was devoured and the nail polish came out. Somehow Loki ended up on the floor in front of your couch with you brushing out her long hair while Nat painted her nails jet black. You sat around with them gossiping about the boys on the team and other various silly topics. It was nice just to be accepted, and even nicer that they accepted Loki just as easily. Loki admired Nat’s work on her nails and seemed so very happy to be accepted by this odd group of women.

At one point during the evening, Darcy told Loki the story of tasing Thor while you contentedly brushed out Loki’s hair. You knew how much Loki loved having her hair played with usually. You figured that she would like it even better now that it was longer. Loki purred softly at the brush moving through her hair and laughed in absolute delight at the story of her brother getting tased. “And Jane hit him with her car! Twice!” Darcy added at the end of her story. She was having fun getting Loki to laugh.

Loki just started laughing harder. “My brother always gets himself into the worst situations,” she said between spurts of laughter.

“Though I have to admit he’s hot as hell. And his hammer,” Darch laughed at Jane’s horrified expression.

“HOW?!” Jane demanded angrily, wondering how Darcy had even seen that piece of Thor’s anatomy.

Darcy laughed at Jane’s indignant spluttering. “Your boyfriend has no shame and trapses around our apartment in nothing but his birthday suit. Not my fault!” Darcy protested. “And he’s a god if he’s traipsing around nude it would just be rudenot to appreciate the view,” she added conspiratorially.

There may have been quite a bit of booze consumed at that point of the evening.

Loki cringed at where the conversation was going. She didn’t want to hear anything about her brother’s ‘hammer’. Darcy laughed at Loki’s expression and drunkenly decided to make it even worse. “So, vampirina, what about that boyfriend of yours, surely he’s well endowed,” she teased, trying to make you blush, or come to Loki’s defense, or possibly make Loki blush. She was too drunk to tell properly.

You laughed and covered Loki’s ears with your hands. You knew it was completely ineffective and Loki could easily hear through your hands, but it was funny to the others to pretend she couldn’t. “A lady does not kiss and tell,” you told Darcy, while Loki pretended that she couldn’t hear a thing. She was shy, though, and didn’t want your activities aired in front of the others, especially this group that she didn’t know particularly well. Being seen making out around the tower was one thing, airing more private information than that wasn’t something she was comfortable with.

/Don’t worry, I’m not stupid enough to tell them anything/ you reassured your Loki and went back to the pleasant activity of brushing her hair, ignoring the boos from Darcy that you wouldn’t tell her anything about Loki.

You leaned down to whisper in Loki’s ear. “Are you going to be upset if I braid your hair? You can tell me not to, I won’t be offended,” you promised quickly. You knew how Loki was with her hair.

Loki smiled warmly up at you. “Do as you please. I don’t mind,” she told you warmly. You smiled in return, kissed Loki’s cheek, and began to carefully braid her hair.

Quite a few hours, multiple movies, too much junk food, and way too much booze passed and you ended up all quite drunk and happily passed out on the couches and cushions around the living room. You were curled on your usual couch with your Loki, protectively held in her arms. You were too giggly and kept stealing kisses from your love. In short, you had come to the conclusion that you could, in fact, become drunk.

Unfortunately, you were extremely drunk by the time you came to this conclusion.

Loki chuckled and gave you a softly, sleepy kiss. “Rest, little one,” she told you warmly, holding you securely in her arms and it wasn’t long before the amount of booze had you happily sleeping in your Loki’s arms.

It was much too early when the menfolk came stomping into the room. They could manage to be all quiet and stealthy on missions, but managed to stomp like a herd of elephants when trying to sneak past a room of hungover women.

Loki opened her eyes to glare at the annoying men, curling herself better around you as she closed her eyes again to try to sleep off the hangover. You mewed softly and hid your face against Loki, covering your ears with a whimper. Nat and Maria both drew their guns at the loud men out of reflex. They also appeared to have done this without bothering to open their eyes. Loki tried to soothe you, but the idiot men wouldn’t stop being clumsy and making noise.

Nat actually got off her couch and stormed to the herd of loud men. “Shut. Up.” She snarled firmly, leaving no room for question before she killed them all. “The tiny vampire is hung over for probably the first time ever. If you lot make her cry, there is nothing on god’s green earth to stop Loki from killing you where you stand. And she would take absolute delight in it. So shut up,” Nat snarled.

Loki gave her a grateful smile. “You should listen to Lady Natasha. If my kitten whines from a headache because of your noise, you will not like what happens,” she threatened while you mewed in her arms.

The menfolk all rushed to promise to be quiet and somehow ended up making even more noise on their way to the kitchen and still more while they attempted to make breakfast. You tried not to whimper or whine in order to save their lives. But you already had enhanced hearing and being hungover just made the situation worse.

Even hungover, Loki managed to summon and aim multiple daggers with magic and they flew toward the rowdy men.

“See if we make you breakfast!” Clint whined as he ducked under a table to avoid getting stabbed.

The only one who wasn’t affected was Bucky who had the art of moving silently down to a T. He came over with as many glasses of water as he could carry and began passing them and the good pain drugs out. “C'mon Striga, this’ll help,” he promised you softly and goaded you into sitting up. You whined and mewed and just wanted to close your eyes and sleep forever, but he eventually got you into a sitting position and soon had a glass of water and pain meds in your hands.

Loki gave Bucky a warm smile. “Thank you Sergeant,”

Bucky nodded and handed the bottle of pain meds marked in runes to Loki. “These ones are for you… your brother said the Midgardian medicine doesn’t work on you. He also said ‘Friggadotir’ is the correct form of address?” Bucky replied. He was trying to hard to be proper and show his support of Loki’s current gender by asking Thor how to be supportive. Loki gave him a warm smile and a nod, touched that Bucky was trying. Bucky turned back to your pathetic form and placed one of ht many pair of tinted glasses that were scattered around the tower for you on your nose. “I know it’s only just past dawn, but your eyes are sensitive enough. Its going to be worse hungover…” he told you softly and gently. “Drink your water. Breakfast will be ready soon and then you can go to bed,”

Bucky left you for a moment and returned with plates of eggs and toast for all of you, though there was also bacon on Loki’s plate since she seemed the least hungover of all of you. Lucky Asgardian and her crazy metabolism. “Thank you, Bucky,” she replied, trying out Bucky’s nickname since she considered the man a friend and was tired of being so formal and using his title all the time. She’d have to give him a nickname of his own at some point, but for now he could keep ‘Bucky’

Bucky nodded. “Don’t worry about it, Doll,” he replied without even thinking or realizing what he said. He turned his attention back to where you were staring absently at your plate of food. “Eat, Striga, you’ll feel better. And then you can go to bed with those nice blackout curtains you have,” he told you kindly. You managed to eat the food in front of you without throwing it up. That was a good sign.

Loki moved when you had finished eating and started to pick you up so she could get you to bed. Bucky placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “You’re off carrying things duty, remember?” Bucky asked, lightly teasing, his voice kind. “I’ve got Striga. You need to rest too.” Loki seemed to notice that she was a bit unsteady on her feet and allowed Bucky to pick you up instead. “You alright, doll?” Bucky asked, noting Loki’s unsteadiness.

“I might have had a little too much mead last night…” Loki replied sheepishly.

“I think it’s safe to say you all did ” Bucky replied dryly and somehow managed to get you both tucked into your bed. He closed the blackout curtains once you were safely settled in bed and didn’t seem inclined to wander off. “Sleep it off, dolls,” Bucky told you warmly.

#Loki #Lover #Submitted fic #submission #monsters and magic #chapter 40 #nekoamamori

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rebeccahpedersen · 6 years

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Should Buyers Have The “Right” To View Competing Offers?

TorontoRealtyBlog

What’s that famous line from The Godfather?

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

That’s how I feel sometimes when I complete a blog post, publish it, and then the comments and emails make me realize there’s more to the story.

One member of my team is always telling me, “Your ‘follow-up posts take the subject matter too far! Readers want variety! Come back to the topic next week, or next month.”

Fair point, but, like, um, have we met? I’m so obsessive-compulsive, and I like things done immediately. I can’t leave this for a week! I was the guy in university who did my dishes after I cooked dinner, but before I actually ate it.

One of the comments on Wednesday’s blog referred to a Toronto Star article from last month, and read, “I would be curious to get your thoughts on the idea of making it a buyer’s “right” to view competing offers.”

I had linked four articles to Wednesday’s blog about the proposed changes to REBBA and the corresponding added transparency, but I didn’t include this one as it was from January.

So here’s that article:

“Ontario Looks At Revamping The Rules Of The Real Estate Game”

Now to be fair, this article talks about more than just the suggestion that terms and conditions of competing offers should be allowed in multiple offer scenarios. It’s a round-up of many real estate practices currently being examined, including multiple representation and “double-ending,” as well as real estate discipline.

But as with the other articles from Wednesday’s blog post, the prevailing theme is disclosure and transparency in multiple offer situations.

As the reader commented on Wednesday’s blog, the very first sentence of the article offers up a whole other talking point

Should consumers have the right to see competing offers on the same property?

Wow, a right?

Really?

That’s a strong word; “right.”

I mean, my inner old-man wants to go off on a rant about how everything is a “right” in today’s entitlement society, but you’ve heard enough from me on that to last a lifetime.

There are certain rights that every man, woman, and child should enjoy, but when too many things become “rights,” then the word loses all meaning.

In the case of real estate buyers, should it really be a “right” to see competing offers? Are we at that point?

On Wednesday, we had talked about revamping REBBA to allow the seller the option of directing his or her agent to disclose the terms and conditions of other offers. But how many steps away is that from the buyer having the right?

Well, step one would be going from the seller having the option to making the disclosure mandatory.

Is that, it itself, giving the buyer the right?

Because if it is, then I would question whether buyers should have the right to keep the terms and conditions of their offer private. And then we’re right back where we started.

The right to keep an offer private, versus the right to see a competing offer.

Double-edged sword, catch-22, I’m not sure how to explain this.

There’s an element of NIMBY’ism here, or “do as I say, not as I do.”

The best of both words, perhaps.

A buyer doesn’t want other buyers to see his or her offer, but does want to see theirs.

How in the world do you balance those conflicting ideas?

And as for the exact verbiage, it opens the door to more questions. “Should consumers have the right to see competing offers on the same property?”

What is meant by “see,” exactly?

Be informed of some terms, or be informed of all terms?

Physically see the other offer?

Maybe put up a scoreboard at the listing brokerage with the price, deposit, closing, inclusions/exclusions, clauses, and conditions of each offer?

Or are we merely talking about price?

While I don’t think the buyer has a right to “see” competing offers on a property, or even the right to know all the terms and conditions, the government of Ontario wants to know if you think they should.

The Ontario.ca webstie currently has a survey running:

Survey: Modernizing The Rules For Ontario Real Estate Professionals

I encourage you all to click the link, and maybe even take the survey!

The deadline is March 15th.

I would love to be on the other end of the survey to see how they’re analyzing this data, because the very first questions are as follows:

So what does this mean, exactly?

Does it mean they are weighting the answers in the background? Or dividing the responses into categories?

If somebody clicks “yes” button to say they are a real estate agent, then their answers go in a different bucket?

If somebody rents, then they are more likely to hate on the real estate process?

If any of you work in polling, I’d love to hear how you think they use this data.

Now the crux of the survey itself can be found right in the middle of the page, and the first two questions have to do with disclosure and transparency in multiple offer situations, and the second question has to do with multiple representation:

Is it just me, or are the first two questions basically the same?

How would your answer differ in question #2 after answering question #1?

And is the survey affected (or in pollster langauge, is it tainted, skewed or altered) by including the third question along with the first two? The third question is a different topic from #1 and #2, and the presence of the word “fairly” makes it less likely for somebody to disagree with the first two questions.

The last question basically asks the public how much they hate real estate agents, which I think is totally fair:

I love how they throw the third option in there. Who the hell is going to pick that?

That’s essentially the end of the survey, but interestingly enough, there is another “qualifier” question, as I see it:

What’s the deal here?

Are we looking to see how the rich and poor answer these questions differently? Again, if anybody works in polling, I’d love to know.

This survey by Ontario.ca is obviously confidential, but I would love to know how the public respond, and of course, I’d love to know how they respond according to the qualifiers that the survey includes, such as ownership rate, household income, experience levels, etc.

I think we could accurately jump to some conclusions, such as those who haven’t bought any properties, or have bought one, being more likely to answer that “competing offers should be disclosed” than somebody who has bought/sold over 5 times, as per the survey.

There was a lot of discussion on this subject after Wednesday’s blog, but as a follow-up, I would love to know how you guys would answer this survey.

Yes, it’s supposed to be confidential.

But where’s the fun in that?

For the record, my responses:

“Everyone involved in the real estate process, including competing buyers, should be able to see and evaluate other offers.” STRONGLY DISAGREE.

Define “everyone.”

Define “see.”

Define “evaluate.”

Put a time, place, and method to “see” and “evaluate,” because this is far too aloof. Who is “everyone” anyways? And how does this take place?

“Making all offers open for everybody to see would be better overall for buyers and sellers.” STRONGLY DISAGREE.

You can’t answer anything but “strongly disagree,” because to suggest that sellers would be better off would entirely incorrect.

A real estate professional can fairly represent both a buyer and a seller in a real estate transaction. I’M NOT SURE.

I’m not sure because I would need to know which real estate professional this was, and who the buyer and seller were, and the property, and the situation, and all the facts.

It’s not possible, in theory.

But in practice it can be.

And Ontario can never do away with multiple representation, because it would severely handicap sellers outside of any hot market. God forbid a seller in rural Ontario had an interested buyer after six months, only to find out that the interested buyer was represented by the same agent who was listing the seller’s home, and thus the agent had to take that buyer elsewhere.

As for the last question, I would select the answer:

The rules that govern how real estate professionals practice should be strengthened to increase protection for consumers.

I can’t see any other answer, in this case.

The real estate industry lacks regulation in many areas where regulation is severely needed, and I for one am open to change.

As I said, I welcome your answers to the above questions as well.

The post Should Buyers Have The “Right” To View Competing Offers? appeared first on Toronto Realty Blog.

Originated from http://bit.ly/2SBYrML

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joshuasm28 · 7 years

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Tockr Air Defender | Hands on Watch Review

Tockr Air Defender

I have a soft spot for German style inspired watches, so when I saw the Tockr Air Defender, I needed to check it out. I will get into the inspiration for this watch later on, but I wanted to talk a little bit about how this company came about. I have had a few conversations with Austin Ivey, part owner of Tockr Watches and he did something that is rarely seen these days in the watch world; he funded the company himself. No Kickstarter or crowdfunding was used, he invested his time and money and started Tockr Watches. I know everybody is not able to do that, and it for sure is a big gamble, especially with how competitive the watch market is these days. His partner is located in Switzerland overseeing manufacture and assembling while Austin resides in Texas and works on design, customer service, marketing and more.

Tockr Air Defender Specifications:

45mm Stainless Steel Case

50mm Lug to Lug

15mm Thick

22mm Lug Width

Sapphire Crystal Front and Back

Valjoux 7750 Automatic Movement

100 Meters Water Resistant

Stainless Bracelet or Leather Strap

Price $1250 on Leather, $1450 on Bracelet

Use code watchreport25 to save 25% at Tockr watches.

https://tockr.com/products/air-defender/chronograph/748613435415

So, obviously the Tockr Air Defender is inspired by Sinn and Tutima Watches, as both brands have a model similar to this. The Sinn 140 ST is where the Tockr Air Defender draws most inspiration in my opinion and while the dial is very similar because of the type of watch and movement used, the case is different, though same shape and it is slightly larger measuring in at 45mm. If you can find the Sinn, it is more than double the price of the Air Defender on the stainless bracelet, and while not made in Germany, the Air Defender is produced in Switzerland. If you are someone that does not like homages or similar designs, this watch will probably not appeal to you. If you have always wanted the Sinn, but it was far out of reach, this is another option now available.

There are a lot of great watches these days and you can find a lot of different reviews on the internet, at many different sites. What I try and do here is not just tell you about what you can see in the pictures and video, but actually discuss the good and the bad. Overall, the Tockr Air Defender is very good, and I love how it looks on my wrist. It is a heavy watch, especially on the bracelet, but it does seem to balance out. The crown and pushers all function well and have nice winding or firm clicks in the case of the chronograph pushers, which is what you expect of a watch at this price point. I will say the least favorite attribute of the Tockr Air Defender is the choice of the high polished finish on the case sides and bracelet center links. This style of watch just begs for an all brushed or bead blasted case in my opinion.

Years ago I loved a clean dial. I never even thought about a chronograph. Full disclosure, I can count on my hands how many times I have used a chronograph to time something, but I do find myself drawn to a chrono more often these days. Because I have always loved Sinn Watches, the type of font and markings on the dial of the Tockr Air Defender draw me in and I love the little orange accents for just the right amount of color on the dial. Unless modified, most Valjoux 7750 watches have the day and date and this is something I appreciate, because while it might sound odd, I sometimes forget what day it is. Date I know, but I like having the day feature for when my brain gets muddled and I don’t know what day of the week it is.

Another area of contention for me is the bracelet, but more specifically the clasp. The bracelet of the Tockr Air Defender is substantial, and while it uses standard friction pins to hold the links, all seems sturdy. I have a feeling they did not want to outright copy the Sinn H link bracelet, so they went with something similar but not exact. I somewhat wish they did though, as I love that style of bracelet and do feel it compliments the watch head. Overlooking that though, the clasp is just not up to par with the rest of the watch. It is a pretty standard push button locking clasp and while signed, is just meh. With a watch such as this and with a beautiful custom rotor seen through the display case back, I just expected more. Austin did inform me they are looking into replacing the clasp, so we will see if that ends up happening on future stock. Also available is a leather strap, which is very nice quality, and will lighten the weight of the watch for sure. The leather strap model is also $200 cheaper than the bracelet version.

As I mention the display case back above, now is as good of a time as any to discuss the movement and custom rotor. Powered by a Valjoux 7750 automatic movement, this is an area Tockr decided to go all out on. Not only is the movement decorated and has a badass custom rotor, but the steel around the sapphire crystal on the back is very nicely machined and engraved. This is definitely one of those watches that even your non watch friends or family would be impressed with when you show it off to them. This is what I like to see when I see a display back. So many just show off a plain movement, with nothing done to it. If you are talking a super high end in house one of a kind movement, I get it. When it is just a plain ETA or Valjoux and you went with a display back just because, I shrug my shoulders. When I look at a display back, I want to be wowed. This absolutely has the wow factor.

Tockr Air Defender Lume

The Tockr Air Defender and Tockr in general is another brand that is bucking the perception that just because you are a “microbrand” that you have to be $500 and under when you start out. While the $1450 price tag is a big chunk of change to shell out, the Air Defender is not what I would call overpriced, especially for what it is. The design is for sure borrowed, but it is a great design and with the movement and movement decoration, sapphire on front and back, above average lume and a comfortable fit, it is equal to many in its price range. If the black dial is not your thing, a blue dial version is available as well, and while there are a few things I do not love, they are a new brand and can only get better with each new model. I feel they are on the right track and while I love this design, I cant wait to see some original designs from Tockr down the road.

Use code watchreport25 to save 25% at Tockr watches.

The post Tockr Air Defender | Hands on Watch Review appeared first on WatchReport.com.

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techlad-org-blog · 7 years

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Create Whatsapp with Virtual phone number & Bypass Whatsapp verification

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Create Whatsapp with Virtual phone number

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