If you or someone you know is thinking about putting their house on the market, here is some helpful information for you. As I am sure you are aware, the way that a property is presented is first and foremost the most important factor when it comes to Buyers choosing to view your property. I have been working with a Home Staging Professional and together we are offering my Seller clients the benefit of her expertise. Please check this out and see what I mean; Getting Your House Ready For The Market
When Buying a house, avoid causing anyone grief, including yourself, the Seller or the Real Estate Representatives, by ensuring that you are 100 percent happy with your decision. Although it does not happen very often, there has been a few times that I have heard of situations whereby, after putting forth an Offer to purchase and having it accepted, the Buyers have second thoughts. When that happens, we have a problem especially if there are no conditions in the Offer. If this is the case, the Sellers will have to agree to ‘mutual release’ the Buyers and this is something that they do not have to do. In order to not have this happen, make sure that you have looked at enought properties to know exactly what you want and what you do not want. When you have found what you think to be the right one, take your time to make sure the right conditions are in the offer and make the offer price something that you know you will be able to manage.
Throughout the process keep in mind that this may be one of the largest purchases that you have ever, or will ever make. However, also keep in mind, that this is a very large decision for the Sellers as well so please do not take the decision lightly!
Bottom line; home prices were too high and fewer people could afford them. A correction is needed to bring prices back within the affordability range of most people. It’s called a property ladder for a reason. If no-one can get on to the bottom rung (which has been the recent situation) then no-one else can move up the ladder. Property prices coming down to levels that allow first-time buyers into the market is a good thing for all of us (apart from people who bought at the peak and need to sell soon, but even they will be able to buy a replacement place for less).
In looking at your house price; a good analogy would be an investment of, say $1.00.Over the years and in the good times, that increases to $20.00.Life is good, investments are good, the jobs are there, salaries are good; let’s spend (that’s what makes the world turn).However, this cannot continue; historically these ups and downs occur and now there is a blip on the horizon; the investment of $1.00 which went to $20.00 has now decreased to $15.00 and perhaps even $10.00.But, hey, you are still above your initial investment!It may not be what you would’ve realized in the last couple of years but you are still ahead.
Unfortunately, if you did purchase property in the last year or so, I hope that it was for long term use and not for a step up the ladder. In this case, you will need to sit tight and see where things are going to go. There are all kinds of predictions floating around but until we know where everything falls in relation to job losses, consumer confidence, government bailouts, etc. a fairly recent homebuyer just needs to take a step back (or take a loss)!
On the bright side for some people, the house prices are lower, the interest rates are lower and we do have the benefit of having Bruce Power here in our corner of the world.
How low can they go; I do not know but hopefully when we do see that plateau, the Buyers will start the process and get the market moving a little.
This little tidbit comes via a mortgage broker that I work with. To give him credit, his name is Jim Cook and he is with Mortgae Intelligence (519-389-6900 or 519-396-6800). Jim has been known to put in many, many hours in order to best serve his clients and does so with his client’s best interest in mind.
Yes, there are a number of people who are in difficult times because they have lost their employment and/or their stock portfolio is just not what it used to be.
Not to minimize these situations, it could be so much worse. If the auto industry collapsed, if the airline industry collapsed; what if the federal government fired all it’s civil service staff??
But as long as Southern Ontario wants electricity and as long as large, central nuclear stations remain the low cost provider of electricty in Ontario and as long as Bruce Power ontinues to require new engineers /operators, I think that we live in a good area financially speaking.
The commercial business keeps coming along to both Port Elgin and Kincardine; a new Boston Pizza in Kincardine and a hotel under construction, a WalMart about to open in Port Elgin, Crabby Joes settling in and now we are a town of 8(EIGHT) stoplights!!
Difficult times; yes! However, with the relative stability of our employment enviroment and the continued growth of our communities, I think we should all be thankful that we live and work where we do.
Michael Polzer from RE/MAX Ontario Atlantic Canada Inc. forwarded some information to us yesterday. It was about an incorrect story in our National Newspaper.
He wrote “The headlines screamed “Housing sales hit 20-year low as real estate slump widens” followed by huge sub-head noting an 11 per cent decline in prices and a 44 per cent drop in Ontario housing sales in large RED print, based on the December 15th press release issued by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
The only problem with the article is that it is incorrect. In the third paragraph, the author writes “Between May and November, the average price of an existing home in Canada fell by 11 per cent, matching the drop in 1990 that coincided with the onset of a painful recession. Housing prices would go on to fall about 20 per cent and it would be another decade before they managed to make new highs.” Unfortunately for the Globe, there was no 20 per cent drop. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the Canadian average price actually rose approximately 15 per cent from 1990 to 2000. There were three moderate dips in housing values in the decade – 1990 (3.4 per cent), 1995 (4.6 per cent), and 1998 (1.5 per cent). Average price in Canada has climbed consistently since 1998. It’s also important to note that the decline in national housing values have typically been modest and have bounced back almost immediately. Finally there are no two consecutive years of falling prices.
While the national housing picture has been a picture of stability, average housing values in Ontario have seen slightly more volatility over the past 27 years. There have been six decreases in average price noted – with five of the six occurring between 1990 and 1996. Prices fell 17 per cent during that time frame, after climbing a phenomenal 70 per cent between 1986 to 1989 ($107,158 to $182,186). Residential average price has been on an upward trajectory since 1996 – the longest uninterrupted period of growth since 1980.
My thoughts on this; perhaps the media should have all of their facts straight before they put their articles in the paper, on the radio, or the TV. After making sure that the info is correct and checking it twice, if the article is proven to be wrong, it should be retracted on the front page and not beyond the front page where it may not be seen. The world is going through a rough enough time at the moment, we do not need things made worse by relaying false and negative information.
I just happened to be ’surfing’ the web today and came up with a link that I found quite interesting. I was on the Craigslist site and, of course, as usual was browsing under the real estate. I saw where there are selling new homes, at what I think is a very reasonable price, in a place called Maricopa, Arizona. Now, I know nothing of the area let alone the state of Arizona as most of my travels in the US of A has been in the Florida area but when I went to this site, it certainly peeked my interest. If nothing else, just take a minute and contemplate what life might be like living in the sunny south during the winter months! Check it out at http://www.newhomecenterbytig.com/home_details.php?id=526
Once again the Toronto Star had some interesting reading on the state of the Florida housing market. There are entire sudivisions of new homes for sale. These are complete with landscaping and club houses. I am thinking that with the Canadian dollar being higher than it has been in quite some time and the low housing prices, there are likely some Canadians that are taking advantage of this buying opportunity. Perhaps this is the time to consider some year round sunshine; live in the property for the 6 months of Canadian winters (allowable time) and then rent out the property to help pay the expenses. For more insightful reading on this go to http://www.thestar.com/living/Athome/article/307688.
Of course, if you are contemplating a move either to the South or even just around our beautiful area, always call Cleo, your local RE/MAXReal EstateBroker.
If you or someone you know is thinking about putting their house on the market, here is some helpful information for you. As I am sure you are aware, the way that a property is presented is first and foremost the most important factor when it comes to Buyers choosing to view your property. I have been working with a Home Staging Professional and together we are offering my Seller clients the benefit of her expertise. Please check this out and see what I mean; Getting Your House Ready For The Market
This little tidbit comes via a mortgage broker that I work with. To give him credit, his name is Jim Cook and he is with Mortgae Intelligence (519-389-6900 or 519-396-6800). Jim has been known to put in many, many hours in order to best serve his clients and does so with his client’s best interest in mind. 
