A kind of wheeling and dealing that should be illegal has been destroying the character of neighbourhoods and inflating housing prices more and more. Kathy Tomlinson of the Globe and Mail [click on image to see article] investigates “shadow flipping”.

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"Shadow flipping" is the practice through which realtors make multiple commissions and investors make a bundle as properties are traded more than once before a deal closes. Since the properties are not yet technically in their possession, these middlemen make easy money and do not have to pay the transfer tax that any buyer of property has to.