Frank Steinhausen, Broker
FSteinhausen@REMAX.net
RE/MAX Rouge River Realty Ltd., Brokerage
Phone 905-428-6533
Fax 905-668-1850
Categories
- Real Estate News
- Home staging
- neighbourhood
- Neighbourhood fun
- Green Building
- Home Inspection
- Pickering Village
- Real Estate
- Real estate investment
- Buying real estate
- Selling real estate
- Ajax
- Pickering
- Whitby
- Oshawa
- Durham Region
- Area interest
- Mortgage
Archives
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
Blogroll
Realosophy - Pickering Schools, Home Prices and Neighbourhood Photos
Realosophy - Ajax Schools, Home Prices and Neighbourhood Photos
Realosophy - Whitby Schools, Home Prices and Neighbourhood Photos
Realosophy - Oshawa Schools, Home Prices and Neighbourhood Photos
Archive for March, 2010
Bedside Manner or Skilled Hands
March 29th, 2010 Categories: Selling real estate
In Canada, we are not experiencing the same pain that the US has been experiencing over the last 3 years. Our growing pains are different. Recent press about opening up the MLS to do-it-yourself realtors has caused a furvor in the real estate industry. Who do you want to handle your most valuable asset?
This article from Keeping Current Matters blog can give you some perspective:
Imagine for a moment that you have been told that you need surgery. You have a choice between two surgeons:
The first has a wonderful disposition. He holds your hand as he explains the procedure, the risks, the rewards, and the likelihood of success. He may even shed a tear as you deal with the shock. His bedside manner is incredible; however, his personal success rate for this surgery is 80%.
The second doctor is a bit of a jerk… cold, with a “just the facts” approach. She seems to look right through you as she delivers her strategy for your recovery. At the same time, her personal success rate is 99%.
Who do you pick to do the surgery?
Well, your choice may be swayed by whether the surgery is life-threatening or not. Are we talking in-grown toenails or brain surgery here? Let’s assume it’s somewhere in between, say eye surgery. Your life is not in danger, but I think we all want to be able to see.
When I pose this scenario to most people, they choose “excellence in execution” over “likeability” virtually every time. We choose PROFESSIONALS based on results, often by referrals from others who can vouch for the results.
Why would it be any different when choosing who to work with on the largest financial decision you are likely to make this year (the buying and/or selling a home)? Of course, we all want real estate agents and loan officers who are both likeable AND competent, but we should be leaning towards knowledge of the market, advice and specific strategies to achieve our objectives.
No longer should we be hiring an agent or mortgage professional because we know them from the soccer field or PTA. Forget the days of listing your home with someone who you think you will enjoy working with because if your home doesn’t get sold, you aren’t going to like them for very long. Don’t be making loan applications with your nephew, just because he is your nephew. You need more than that.
| Currently No Comments »
Pricing A House In Today’s Real Estate Market
March 26th, 2010 Categories: Selling real estate
Considering the press lately regarding do-it-yourself real estate sales, it is worth studying up on how the market value of your home is determined.
Most people have a rough number when asked what their home is worth. It is often determined by neighbourhood heresay or surfing the internet.
Consider: how important is it to know the value of your highest asset? And what are the consequences of you being wrong?
Although there is no set way of determining the value of a home, there are a few things that help narrow the price range down:
- Recent comparable solds: Your home is worth what a buyer will pay for it. Analyzing solds in your area of similar homes can give a good foundation for value.
- Expireds: Expireds are considered homes that have not sold. For one reason or another, the buyers determined that they were not willing to pay for that property. Examining what didn’t sell and why can give insight into the buyer’s mind in your neighbourhood.
- Currently for sale: In the real estate world, what is on the market now is really a fantasy price. It doesn’t necessarily indicate what buyers are willing to pay, but it will show what homes yours would be competing against. Determining market value is partly about making your home more compelling for the buyer. How does it compete?
- Improvements: Not all improvements to a home affect the value. Some will just allow it to sell in a neighbourhood that has a slow turn over. You will need to separate pride of ownership from investment realities. There is a simple charted estimate that can illustrate the possible return on the improvements you have made.
- What Ifs: Understanding what is going on in your neighbourhood is important when considering value. You might be buoyed by the possibility of double digit price increases that the media is highlighting. However, not all neighbourhoods fare the same in a hot market. You will need to add that flavour to the price range you can expect for your home.
As a realtor, I offer free market evaluations to show you the current value of your home. This can help with relocation decisions that you might be making.
| Currently No Comments »
One Good Reason To Buy That Home Now
March 24th, 2010 Categories: Buying real estate, Mortgage
There are any number of reasons that a realtor will give you to buy a home now. And looking back over the past year, if you had listened, your home could be worth up to 10% more than you paid for it last spring.
This spring things aren’t much different, except mortgage interest rates have never been so low.
There are now whispers about the possibility of interest rates going up. And quite honestly, there is no where else for them to go. When that happens affordability comes into question.
The following table shows you how a 1% increase in interest rates will dramatically change your monthly costs, or decrease the value of the house you can buy.
Interest rates will be going up. Will you be ready?
| Currently 1 Comment »
GTA Realtors Reporting March Mid-Month Housing Statistics
March 18th, 2010 Categories: Ajax, Oshawa, Pickering, Pickering Village, Real Estate News, Whitby
Toronto, march 17, 2010 - Greater Toronto Realtors reported 4,353 sales through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) during the first two weeks of March.
This represented a seventy percent increase compared to the 2, 562 sales recorded during the same period in 2009 when resale transactions had dipped markedly due to the recession. The mid-month sales total was also sixteen percent higher than the previous march mid-month high reached in 2006.
“The spring-like weather in the first half of March brought the first green sprouts of the recurring spring market. Every year, monthly sales climb steadily through May,” said the Toronto Real Estate Board President, Tom Lebour. “People are buying homes because they are confident in the current economic recovery and mortgage payments on the average priced home remain affordable.”
the average price for march mid-month transactions are $440, 153 - a twenty percent increase over 2009. New listings within the Toronto Real Estate Board boundaries were up thirty-four percent to 8,540.
“Look for double digit annual price increases to cease later in 2010, as new listings rebound from the low levels experienced in 2009,” said Jason mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “Increased listings will give buyers more choice, resulting in less upward pressure on home prices.”
| Currently No Comments »
Demand and Supply Coming into Balance in Resale Market
March 16th, 2010 Categories: Real Estate News, Selling real estate
OTTAWA – March 15, 2010 – With rising activity in Toronto offset by lower activity in Vancouver, the number of homes sold through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards edged lower in February. In recent months, national sales activity has slowed while new listings continue to rise, resulting in a more balanced national resale housing market.
According to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association, seasonally adjusted national home sales totalled 42,799 units in February 2010, edging down 1.5 per cent from January. Activity declined mostly in Vancouver, but this was offset by an equally large gain in Toronto. Sales were also down in a number of other British Columbia housing markets. Since there were no significant gains in sales activity elsewhere in Canada, the national figure for sales activity was pulled slightly lower.
“The Olympic Winter Games may have impacted February sales activity in British Columbia, so activity for the province in March will be closely watched,” said CREA President Dale Ripplinger. “Activity is expected to remain elevated in Ontario and British Columbia over the first half of the year, with buyers looking to beat the introduction of the HST and expected interest rate hikes.”
Across the country, actual (not seasonally adjusted) residential sales activity numbered 36,275 units in February, up 44 per cent from the same month last year. New records for February activity were set in Ontario and Quebec. The year-over-year gain in national activity was smaller than those of the previous three months. Since a year will soon have elapsed following the recessionary decline and subsequent rebound for the Canadian resale market, year-over-year comparisons are expected to continue shrinking.
The average price of all homes sold through Boards’ MLS® Systems in February 2010 was $335,655, up 18.2 per cent from one year ago. As with sales activity, this gain was smaller than in the past four months, and year-over-year gains are expected to become further subdued going forward.
The price trend is similar but less dramatic for the national weighted average price, which compensates for changes in provincial sales activity by taking into account provincial proportions of privately owned housing stock. It climbed 15.6 per cent on a year-over-year basis in February 2010.
The residential average price in Canada’s major markets was up 18.7 per cent year-over-year in February. As with the national counterpart, the price trend is similar but less dramatic for the major market weighted average price, which rose 14.7 per cent from levels reported in February 2009.
The seasonally adjusted number of new listings on Boards’ MLS® Systems across Canada climbed another 2.4 per cent on a month-over-month basis in February to reach 73,849 units, the highest level since October 2008. Five consecutive monthly increases have lifted new listings 16.3 per cent above where they stood last September, when they had fallen to the lowest level since late 2005. As with sales activity, new listings in February 2010 were up most in Ontario and down most in British Columbia. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of new residential listings was 71,197 in February, up 10.8 per cent from one year ago.
Strong resale housing demand continues to draw down inventories, but supply is shrinking at a decreasing rate because of slightly softer sales activity and an increase in new listings in recent months. There were 188,334 homes listed for sale on Boards’ MLS® Systems in Canada at the end of February 2010, a decline of 15.4 per cent compared to levels one year ago. This is the smallest year-over-year decline in active listings since last August.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of months of inventory in February 2010 stood at 5.2 months. This is well below where it stood one year ago (8.8 months), but on par with February 2008 and slightly higher than it was in the month of February in the years 2004 through 2007. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, months of inventory rose nationally for the third consecutive month. There were 4.7 months of inventory in February 2010; up slightly from 4.5 months from the previous month, and 4.3 months in December 2009.
“Housing markets are becoming more balanced,” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “There are still a number of major markets where sales negotiations favour the seller due to a shortage of inventory, but supply has begun rising. Further expected supply increases will continue to take the steam out of housing markets as the year progresses.”
http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/pdfs/media_feb10rpt_e.pdf
PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national MLS® sales information from the previous month. The Canadian Real Estate Association has previously released these separately.
CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighborhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.
MLS® is a co-operative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 96,000 REALTORS® working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations. Further information can be found at www.crea.ca.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Alyson Fair
Publicist / Publicitaire
The Canadian Real Estate Association / L’Association canadienne de l’immeuble
Tel: (613) 237-7111 X 2284 Cell: (613)884-1460
afair@crea.ca
| Currently Comments Off
8 Tips to Guide for Your Home Search
March 14th, 2010 Categories: Buying real estate
1. Research before you look. Decide what features you most want to have in a home, what neighborhoods you prefer, and how much you’d be willing to spend each month for housing.
2. Be realistic. It’s OK to be picky, but don’t be unrealistic with your expectations. There’s no such thing as a perfect home. Use your list of priorities as a guide to evaluate each property.
3. Get your finances in order. Review your credit report and be sure you have enough money to cover your down payment and closing costs. Then, talk to a lender and get prequalified for a mortgage. This will save you the heartache later of falling in love with a house you can’t afford.
4. Don’t ask too many people for opinions. It will drive you crazy. Select one or two people to turn to if you feel you need a second opinion, but be ready to make the final decision on your own.
5. Decide your moving timeline. When is your lease up? Are you allowed to sublet? How tight is the rental market in your area? All of these factors will help you determine when you should move.
6. Think long term. Are you looking for a starter house with plans to move up in a few years, or do you hope to stay in this home for a longer period? This decision may dictate what type of home you’ll buy as well as the type of mortgage terms that will best suit you.
7. Insist on a home inspection. If possible, get a warranty from the seller to cover defects for one year.
8. Get help from a REALTOR®. Hire a real estate professional who specializes in the area you are looking in and will represent you. Unlike the listing agent, whose first duty is to the seller, a buyer’s representative is working only for you. Buyer’s reps are usually paid out of the seller’s commission payment.
| Currently No Comments »
9 Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs
March 10th, 2010 Categories: Buying real estate
1. Raise your deductible. If you can afford to pay more toward a loss that occurs, your premiums will be lower.
2. Buy your homeowners and auto policies from the same company and you’ll usually qualify for a discount. But make sure that the savings really yields the lowest price.
3. Make your home less susceptible to damage. Keep roofs and drains in good repair. Retrofit your house to protect against natural disasters common to your area.
4. Keep your home safer. Install smoke detectors, burglar alarms, and dead-bolt locks. All of these will usually qualify for a discount.
5. Be sure you insure your house for the correct amount. Remember, you’re covering replacement cost, not market value.
6. Ask about other discounts. For example, retirees who are home more than working people may qualify for a discount on theft insurance.
7. Stay with the same insurer. Especially in today’s tight insurance market, your current vendor is more likely to give you a good price.
8. See if you belong to any groups—associations, alumni groups—that offer lower insurance rates.
9. Review your policy limits and the value of your home and possessions annually. Some items depreciate and may not need as much coverage.
| Currently No Comments »
GTA REALTORS® Report February Resale Housing Market Figures
March 4th, 2010 Categories: Ajax, Durham Region, Oshawa, Pickering, Pickering Village, Real Estate News, Whitby
March 3, 2010 — Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,291 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in February, representing a 77 per cent increase over February 2009. The average price for these transactions was up 19 per cent year-over-year to $431,509. Sales and average price increases represent both increased demand for ownership housing and the base year effect, which involves a comparison of economic recovery this year to a period of economic decline last year.
“Increases in existing home sales and average price were noted across the GTA in low-rise and high-rise home types. Similar rates of growth were experienced in the City of Toronto and surrounding 905 regions,” said TREB President Tom Lebour. “This suggests that first time, move-up and down sizing buyers are all active in the existing home marketplace.”
New listings also increased in February, climbing 24 per cent compared to the same month last year.
“Annual growth in new listings is expected to continue. New listings growth will start to outstrip sales growth as we move through 2010,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “As the market becomes better supplied, we will see more sustainable single-digit rates of price growth.”
Median Price
In February, the median price was $366,300, from the $312,900 recorded during February of 2009.
| Currently No Comments »
CMHC Suggests Housing Activity Stronger in 2010
March 3rd, 2010 Categories: Real Estate News
OTTAWA, March 2, 2010 — Housing starts rebounded in the second half of 2009 and will strengthen in 2010, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s first quarter Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition*.
Following a total of 149,081 units in 2009, housing starts are expected to be in the range of 152,000 to 189,300 units in 2010, with a point forecast of 171,250 units. In 2011, housing starts will be in the range of 156,400 to 205,600 units, with a point forecast of 175,150 units.
“Canadian housing markets will benefit from improving economic conditions and low mortgage rates,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist for CMHC. “As well, measures recently announced by the Government of Canada to support the long-term stability of Canada’s housing market will help moderate housing activity as some potential buyers will have to save a larger down payment or consider a less expensive home.”
Mr. Dugan also noted that the existing home market has shifted from a buyers’ market, at the beginning of 2009, to a sellers’ market. The relative lack of new listings for existing homes has pushed some of the demand into the new home market, which helps explain the forecast for higher housing starts activity in 2010.
The strong pace of MLS®1 sales seen in the second to fourth quarters of 2009 reflects, in part, activity that was delayed in the previous two quarters. The pace is not likely to be sustained as pent-up demand is exhausted and financing costs increase with anticipated higher interest rates later in 2010. As a result, existing home sales will be in the range of 455,350 to 509,900 units in 2010, with a point forecast of 486,700 units, and then move slightly lower in 2011 to be in the range of 426,300 to 494,600 units, with a point forecast of 469,950 units.
With an improved balance between demand and supply, the average MLS® price is expected to remain close to the average in the last quarter of 2009, for most of 2010, and then rise modestly in 2011.
As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making vital decisions.
* The forecasts included in the Housing Market Outlook are based on information available as of February 16, 2010. Where applicable, forecast ranges are also presented in order to reflect economic uncertainty.
Information on this release:
Charles Sauriol
CMHC Media Relations
613-748-2799
csauriol@cmhc-schl.gc.ca
| Currently No Comments »