This Week | Thursday, February 24,2022 durhamregion.com | 32 More than four years after her son was found murdered in an Oshawa rooming house, Susan Forsyth is still waiting for the man charged with the killing to stand trial. And now, as the result of restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she's being confronted with another delay. Forsyth said late last month that she has been informed a trial for Paul Jaglal, charged with murder in the death of Jeffrey Allan Johnston, will once again be rescheduled. That's because of an order that no new jury trials will commence at least until Feb. 28. Jaglal's trial, expected to last four weeks, was scheduled to begin Feb. 14. A notice posted online says the delays are necessary to protect court participants from the "highly transmissible" Omicron variant of the virus, which triggered a massive wave of new infections across the country. "The court will not commence any new jury selection in any court location until February 28, 2022," the notice reads. The body of Jeffrey Johnston, 31, father of a young son, was discovered when police entered a rooming house on Simcoe Street South on Dec. 17, 2017, two days after Forsyth alerted an officer about possible blood at the scene. It's believed Johnston was killed four days earlier, on Dec. 13. Since the arrest, Forsyth and other family members have awaited a resolution of the case. That appeared imminent some time ago, when a judge was informed a plea might be entered. But that failed to occur, and a trial date for the fall of 2020 was set. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the vacating of that trial date, and a new date was set for May 2021. That date also was abandoned, once again because of the pandemic. At the time, a new trial date in Feb. 2022 was set. Forsyth said she's frustrated with the ongoing delays. Courts ought to adapt to the reality of the pandemic, she said. "This is after two years of this," she said. "Adapt to this. There are things that can be done." The wait for a trial only extends the emotional limbo Forsyth said she and Johnston's loved ones find themselves inhabiting as they await resolution of the case. "I have dealt with this for four years. I have not had a chance to grieve for my son," she said. "There's no justice for my family." 'THERE'S NO JUSTICE FOR MY FAMILY' Susan Forsyth, with a box containing the ashes of her son, Jeffrey Johnston. Forsyth is deeply disappointed that the trial of the man charged with killing her son more than four years ago has been postponed yet again. Steve Russell/Torstar JEFF MITCHELL jmitchell@durham region.com NEWS MOTHER OF MURDER VICTIM FRUSTRATED AS TRIAL DELAYED AGAIN A study was done recently that profiled a group of real estate buyers, and some very interesting information surfaced. About a third of the buyers were remorseful that they purchased a home that needed more work than they anticipated, another third ended up with a home that was smaller than they had hoped for and a large percentage purchased in areas they first considered "out of area." In an overheated market with very little inventory, it can be a struggle to secure a property that meets the needs of a buyer. My experience with finding a "perfect" home is that for the most part, it rarely happens. Typically, when a buyer draws up a list of "wants and needs," they settle on a property that comes as close to the list as possible. Only on a rare occasion does the home meet all needs. A good way of starting the process of buying in a low-inventory market is to approach the home search in a logical manner with a list (we all love our lists). Create a list of features that you want in your new home. Map out a radius of the area you will consider. Go through the pre-approval process to determine exactly what you can afford. Become educated in the new way of marketing, where homes sell for dramatically more than asking price. This process works in a market where there is selection; however, with a few tweaks, it can work in a low-inventory market. The first change is to look at the list of "wants and needs" and number them from "must-haves" to "would love to haves." By doing this exercise, you get to what is really important to you and what would be great to have but are not deal-breakers. Looking at the radius you have determined is acceptable, it is worth looking another 10 to 20 kilometres outside of the chosen area to see how many more homes fall into your search. By doing this simple exercise, you may be able to dramatically add to the available choices. Having an agent help you understand how list-to-sale prices relate to each other is critical when determining what price ranges you choose to view. Over the past week, the average homes in Oshawa and Clarington sold for 38 per cent over the asking price. Whitby homes sold for 31 per cent over asking. Knowing these numbers helps you to know what asking prices will result in homes that fall into your pre-approved range. Flexibility is key when shopping for a home in a market such as we have today. Being open to a home that may be a 6 out of 10 for your dream home will allow you to get into the market. This is the third low-inventory, overheated market I have seen in my career, and the buyers who compromise on what is perfect end up the winners. The average semi-detached home in Oshawa is selling for around $887,000. If the market calms down and increases five per cent per year for the next five years, it will be worth around $1,130,000. Getting in is more important than an extra bathroom. Lindsay Smith is with Keller Williams Energy Real Estate Brokerage and has been a Durham real estate broker for 36 years. He lives in Oshawa and can be reached at lindsay@buyselllove.ca. HOW TO WIN AS A DURHAM REGION REAL ESTATE BUYER OPINION 'FLEXIBILITY IS KEY' IN TODAY'S MARKET, SAYS LINDSAY SMITH LINDSAY SMITH Column