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Our Bloggers
	Frances Hinojosa I am a Mortgage Specialist with BMO Bank of Montreal who is passionate about helping customers achieve their homeownership dreams. I have 14 years of personal lending expertise, and have been very successful in my current role as a Mortgage Specialist for the past 7 years. I achieved top honours for mortgages sales in Canada in 2008, 2009 and 2010. I enjoy travelling, golf and spending time at the cottage with my family which includes my husband Tom, my daughter, dog Jalapeño and cat Lily. The Hinojosa family currently resides in Oakville.
	Mike Juhl I am a career banker, started in 1981 and have had numerous positions within BMO, currently Area Manager for Mortgage Specialists, Central Ontario District. My primary focus has been within Personal Lending, enjoying roles both within the branch network ( Loans & Mortgage Manager) external sales with builders( Mortgage Development Manager) as well managing the Credit Dept for all Mortgage Specialists in Canada. Along with assisting clients with all aspects of mortgage financing, I have had first hand experience purchasing, selling and renovating many, many homes in the last 20 years. Hobbies/Interests - Golfing, fitness, home reno's, coaching.
	Carly Maga Growing up in our nation's capital of Ottawa and spending my young adulthood in our nation's other capital of Toronto, I've developed a serious adoration for the stories of my fellow Canadians. With such a variety of backgrounds, opinions, and stages of life - we all have a story to tell. And I love being the one to tell them. At Ryerson University I studied journalism and earned a degree in asking questions and writing puns, which now comes in handy as a writer, blogger, Facebook-er, and Twitter-er. Social media is an exciting new tool for sharing more stories, faster, and to a wider range of listeners, which I find embarrassingly thrilling. As a twenty-something, I find the house-hunting-and-buying process fascinating, and am excited to discover its ins-and-outs, ups-and-downs, and everything in between.
	Jesse Merson Jesse Merson is an award winning Mortgage Specialist with over 10 years experience in the financial industry. He specializes in home purchases, vacation home purchases and investment property purchases, as well as residential re financing and renovation financing. Jesse grew up in Toronto and has witnessed first hand the evolution of the mortgage and real estate industry. His personal interests in style, design and architecture lend a hand to his overall expertise. He is an avid cyclist and enjoys days at the park with his retriever named Hugo.
	Mark Twynham I was born in London, Ontario and raised in a small town near London. I attended Wilfrid Laurier University and graduated with a BA (Economics major) in 1981. I also joined BMO Bank of Montreal in 1981. During my career with BMO, I have held many different positions during career including Branch Manager, Commercial Account Manager, Area Manager in our branch network as well as our "In-Store" branches. I held also worked in Automotive Financing in a Headquarters role before moving to Regional Sales Manager. I have spent the past 6+ years working with our Mortgage Specialist team in the GTA as an Area Manager. I currently manage a team of 27 Mortgage Specialists.
	Katie Archdekin I grew up in Victoria BC and studied Mechanical Engineering at McGill University in Montreal. If 10 years ago you had told me that today I'd be living in Toronto and working as a banker I would have laughed out loud. Yet here I am and I love it. After graduating from engineering I went into strategy consulting with the Boston Consulting Group. I moved into financial services when I opportunistically followed one of my colleagues from BCG to the Toronto Stock Exchange. I joined BMO six years ago and have worked in our corporate strategy group, as the Director Payments Strategy and Business integration and for the past year as the Head of Mortgage Products. I enjoy doing rock climbing and doing karate with my two kids who are four and seven.
	Laura Kershaw I have been helping people with their home financing goals with BMO Bank of Montreal for the past six years as a mortgage specialist, and before that as a financial services lender for four years. I love my job and helping people with their home ownership dreams. My husband and I moved to Vernon, B.C. six years ago to enjoy the city's many lakes, ski mountains and beauty. We love to snowboard, swim, camp, and barbeque in what we consider nature's playground. A year ago we celebrated the birth of our son, Kade, and look forward to raising him with all that Vernon has to offer.
	Saffron Quist According to my mother, I've been an entrepreneur since the age of 8, soliciting the neighbours to purchase whatever I was selling. At 15 I became an independent contractor teaching dance classes, and at 17 a costume designer. But at 19 I became a homeowner, purchasing my first property in Vernon, British Columbia. With the rising market I was able to become a Real Estate Investor buying, selling, and renovating properties. Once I recognized my passion for this field, I decided to re-direct my post-secondary studies to Real Estate.I have now been a licensed REALTOR for nearly six years, and in that time I also received my Accredited Buyer's Representative designation and studied Interior Design. Real Estate is a career choice from my heart. I'm a natural entrepreneur, I love my city, and I truly believe in homeownership.
Guest Contributors
	LoriAnn Toplak LoriAnn Toplak is a sales representative of Sage Real Estate and brings with her years of experience in both the Toronto and Etobicoke markets. Her ABR® (Accredited Buyer's Representative) designation gives her access to tools and resources that provide her with a competitive edge. LoriAnn works with buyers and sellers, using her specialized training, to ensure her clients receive the best service and results.
	TheRedPin TheRedPin.com is the new way of searching, discovering and buying new condos in Toronto and the GTA as Canada's first online brokerage and Toronto's only one-stop condo shop. Our model is to give you all the information and let you do your own searches by bringing you all the new condos, with their images and floor plans and, if needed, local businesses, school rankings, and even real estate stats. But we also make it easy for you to contact us when you need the advice of a sales representative or have questions about unit availabilities or prices. So now you only work with one brokerage but save anywhere in the city.
	Financialized.ca Financialized.ca is a Canadian personal finance blog published by Art Branch Inc. that aims to offer an unbiased perspective on personal finance topics including investing, budgeting, saving money, insurance, borrowing, real estate, Canadian economic trends, and more.
	Bernadette Somerville SuitablyStaged.com My interest in home staging came after I successfully staged my own house and sold it with an increase of $44,000 over the recommended asking price after its first open house. Since then, I have become an accredited Home Stager and Re-Designer after graduating from Haverhill Institute of Staging & Design. My first home staging job after graduation resulted in a home being sold the day it hit the market for its exact asking price. I possess over 15 years of design experience ranging from clothing design, merchandising and production to wardrobe assistant for television and film. The combination of my experience and focus on visual presentation plays an integral role in how I evaluate and stage homes.
	Matthew Blackett Spacing Magazine Matthew Blackett is the publisher, creative director and one of the founders of Spacing magazine. As publisher, Blackett has helped shape the magazine into one of Canada's top small magazines: Blackett was named Editor of the Year for 2007 by the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors and Spacing was named Canadian Small Magazine of the Year in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Matthew often speaks at urban issues and magazine conferences, while his articles on a variety of city-oriented topics can be found on Spacing Toronto, the magazine's daily blog. He has also contributed to The Toronto Star, The National Post, Eye Weekly, and Azure. From 2004 to 2006, Blackett was a member of Toronto's Roundtable on a Clean and Beautiful City, a citizen advisory committee to Mayor David Miller. Blackett was awarded a 2007 Canadian Urban Leadership Award for "City Soul" by the Canadian Urban Institute.
	David Reimers David is a full-time REALTOR® specializing in the marketing and sales of Greater Vancouver real estate including houses, townhouses and condos. David works with both buyers and sellers and consistently ranks among the top agents in the industry. He's a member of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Medallion Club and a Royal LePage Platinum award winner.