Frank Steinhausen, Broker
FSteinhausen@REMAX.net
RE/MAX Rouge River Realty Ltd., Brokerage
Phone 905-428-6533
Fax 905-668-1850
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Archive for October, 2007
3 Reasons Why Toronto’s Land Transfer Tax Bite Could Help Push Buyers Out To Durham Region
October 26th, 2007 Categories: Buying real estate, Durham Region, Real Estate News
It was interesting to watch, as an outsider, the political maneuvering that 
Mayor David Miller in Toronto employed to get is cash-grabbing municipal land transfer tax passed into reality.
In a nutshell, the Toronto city council voted to defer the tax vote earlier this year. Not to be deterred, the mayor as much said if I can’t collect the tax, I have to cut services. Hitting them where they live, the government closed community centres and libraries to save money. Cue public outcry. Fast-forward to October 22. The tax vote was re-introduced and passed. As of January 2007, home buyers will have to fork over thousands more dollars in closing costs to buy their dream home.
How can Durham Region be the beneficiary of this tax?
- Every area in Durham Region has an average price that is lower than the average prices in the Greater Toronto Area. As affordability becomes the watch-word for the real estate market, Pickering, Ajax, and Whitby are the more affordable, easy-commute alternative to Toronto. Average price in downtown Toronto: $490,279 (year-to-date, TREB data) vs. Durham Region: $284,485 (year-to-date)
- Not only can you get a bigger home for less money in Durham Region, your closing costs are less. Toronto: closing costs (lawyer’s fees, etc) + $3700 vs. Durham: closing costs + $0
- Toronto are on their way to a record year for murders in 2007. Durham Region, not even close. The smaller communities offer a safer, family-oriented neighbourhood to raise your kids.
Particularly over the next year, when the new land transfer tax, and a proposed 10 – 12% jump in property tax, is hardest to swallow, FOR SALE signs in Durham Region could be snatched up by disillusioned buyers.
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Meet me in Pickering Village
October 25th, 2007 Categories: Ajax, Buying real estate, Pickering Village, Selling real estate
I want to present you with an opportunity. An opportunity to buy one of the best deals in Pickering Village today.
My listing at 103 Kearney Drive is a beautiful dream home, possibly for you. I could wax poetic on all the great features of this home. I would like to show you instead. I am holding an open house there on Sunday, October 29 between 3:00 and 5:00PM to show you this family home.
Here is the link to the property information.
See you there.
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Bank of Canada Wants You To Buy A House In Durham Region
October 24th, 2007 Categories: Buying real estate, Durham Region, Real Estate News
To the surprise of no one, the Bank of Canada held its overnight interest rate.
What does that mean to you and me, the average consumer?
Your bank uses the overnight interest rate as a guide to setting their prime lending rate—the rate for their best customers. When the central bank increases the overnight rate, the banks tend to follow suit. The banks make less money if they don’t.
Variable mortgage rates and other floating loan rates, like your line of credit, move up and down with the prime lending rate. Usually, the banks will set your rate at prime plus or minus some amount.
If you are looking for a fixed rate mortgage, you need to look more at the bond market, which is where the banks look. The bond market is a bit more volatile so those fixed rates can have more frequent changes.
What’s the bottom line?
It means that, for now, the banks will hold tight on their interest rates keeping the cost of borrowing money for your new house in check. Of course, that means when you move in you can buy new furniture and paint the place, keeping the rest of the economy going too.
Happy 
!
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5 Steps For Getting More Money Than You Need To Buy A Home
October 20th, 2007 Categories: Buying real estate, Real Estate News
Many people are hearing about the surrender flags that are being waved throughout the US from lenders who backed the wrong people. Canada is not quite in the same spot because our credit rules were never as lax as our southern neighbour. That being said, it seems that lenders in Canada are becoming a little cautious about making sure they don’t become home owners, only money lenders.
Here are 5 steps, you can take that will have banks climbing over 
themselves to loan you money for your next home purchase:
- Save YOUR money. Historically, banks would give you a mortgage only if you could present them with 25% of the purchase price. Today, 5% down payment is an option for a lot of purchasers. Even a small segment can get 100% financing. You want to get more money than you need. Ante up 25% of the purchase price to secure the loan.
- Get a job. And not just any job. Get a job that you stick with long term. Banks look for stability. If you have been in your job for 15 years with the same company, they know they can find you for the next payment.
- Pay your bills. Your credit rating is dependent of how you pay your bills. If you pay all of your bills on time and in full, the banks can relax because they know you will pay them. Even paying your phone bill late a couple of times can affect your credit score.
- Get credit. Paying your bills one thing. The banks also look for whether you have a history of paying off loans and credit cards. They will think that you are good steward of their money if someone else has taken a risk with you before and you kept your word in paying it back.
- Pay it back on time, in full. Your credit score goes up if you pay off your credit cards every month, in full. It tells the banks that you are not a wild spender who might get into trouble down the road with your impulse purchases.
It is a good idea to check your credit score before you call the bank about a mortgage. Credit monitoring companies have been known to make mistakes. Checking your score will allow you to make the corrections before the banks question you. Here is a link to get your started:
https://www.econsumer.equifax.ca/ca/main?link=OPIEM&lang=en
Still not sure what your next step is? Call me and I will walk you through it.
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Re/Max Prognosticators Weigh In For The Housing Market In 2008
October 18th, 2007 Categories: Buying real estate, Real Estate News, Selling real estate
‘Tis the season for trend watching. As we march through the last quarter 
of 2007, whether to sell now or in spring 2008 is on a lot of people’s mind. The forecasters oblige by offering up what they think the market will be like in 2008. Earlier, I had discussed the value of looking to forecasts. CMHC put their fortune teller caps on earlier to present their thoughts on the matter. Each of the major players in the real estate market usually weigh in at this time of year to tell you their thoughts.
This is what Re/Max thinks:
“Markets in Eastern Canada continued to make headway, posting healthy increases on unit sales and average prices in spite of manufacturing woes. By year-end, some of the greatest percentage increases in unit sales will be reported in Ontario-Atlantic Canada markets like Kitchener-Waterloo (+13), Toronto (+10), St. John’s (+11), Halifax-Dartmouth (+12), and Saint John (+19).”
Toronto is the catch-all for the greater Toronto area. Durham Region is showing healthy gains, but not to the level that is seen in Toronto proper.
“All system are go for 2008, given a continuation of low interest rates and economic well-being. Residential home sales in the GTA are expected to match 2007’s record performance, while average price climbs five percent to $390,600 by year-end. Inventory levels are expected to remain relatively tight, especially in high-demand areas, keeping upward pressure on prices. Demand is forecast to remain consistent across the board, from first-time buyers to more experienced move-up purchasers.”
I’ll throw in an asterisk for the small details. Durham Region, although part of the GTA, is a different market. It has seen some incremental gains this year. Our average price is has risen 3% so far this year. You can use that lens to interpret the rest of the information.
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Buyers, Buyers…Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are…
October 5th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate News, Selling real estate
If your house is on the market now in Durham Region
, you might be wondering where the buyers have gone. In fact, unless you live in South Pickering, there is about a 70% chance that if your house was for sale in September, it is still for sale in October.
Statistics released by the Toronto Real Estate Board for the month of September showed that only one in three detached homes sold in Pickering (north of the 401), Ajax and Whitby. In Oshawa, it was 1 in 4 homes.
If you happen to live in south Pickering, you had a 65% chance of selling—double the odds. Time to call a mover.
The large discrepancy between the areas, particularly in north and south Pickering could be a factor of price. The mature areas of Bayshore, West Shore and Petticoat Creek registered an average price of $286,126. North Pickering was almost $100,000 more expensive, with an average price of $384,144. Ajax and Whitby, although more affordable, still came in with an average price of about $325,000.
Curious about how these variations affect the value of your home? I can tell you.
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All The Home’s A Stage, or If you dress it up, I can sell it
October 3rd, 2007 Categories: Real Estate, Selling real estate
The popularity of television shows, like Designed to Sell on HGTV, means that more and more people are becoming aware of how important first impressions are in selling your home. When your home goes on the market, it becomes a house, or a product for someone to buy.
Imagine a consumer going into a big box store, or mls.ca, and wonders up and down the aisles, looking at all their choices (pictures say a thousand words). They are in the market to buy a house. Perhaps your house. Latest estimates are that almost 100% of the purchasers of houses today are first looking on the internet, to pick which houses they want to see. They decide whether to include your house in their selection by the impression it makes. With a click of a mouse, the purchaser decides if your house is worth it.
How do you make a good first impression?
36% of buyers said that they would pay more for updated decor.
Our goals are the same: to get a buyer to see and want to buy your 
house. I want to help you get to sold quickly. We do that buy employing a home stager who enhances your home by sparkling up its presentation, removing non-essential items and repositioning furniture, as necessary.
She will depersonalize your home into a house that the buyer can imagine moving their furniture into.
And it works.
Then it comes to me. Your house becomes a marketable product which will sell, on average, faster, and for more money than a cluttered, busy home. And that’s what you want isn’t it.
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Racing Car gimmick–It’s not a gimmick. I am the fastest realtor in Pickering.
October 1st, 2007 Categories: Area interest, Durham Region, Pickering
I was talking to a neighbour in Pickering Village about the new scar I am sporting on my forehead. I mentioned that it came in a racing car accident at Mosport a couple of weeks ago.
He said that he thought the race car in my ads was just a gimmick. It’s not. I have been racing most of my adult life, and my wife would say, I still haven’t had any sense knocked into me. I have been racing in a Formula 1200, or Formula V car for 7 years when I decided that racing on 4 wheels was safer than racing on 2, which I did when I was younger.
E-formula-car-news had a write-up from a recent race.
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