Real Estate Curve

The confidence is coming back to the Canadian real estate market. The real estate curve in first time buyers as conducted by the Royal Bank of Canada is increasing, with majority saying it is a good time to buy. With over 2000 people surved in the second half of January 2009, 65% believe now is a buyers market, and 27% say they intend to buy a home this year or next.

Adults under 35 who do not own a property and rent will step forward and bring the market on a upward curve. Also in the same group 48% said they plan to buy, making this percentake 36% higher than last year.

Average prices are forcasted to fall 5.2% in 2009

As a real estate agent in the gta I find that more and more first time buyers are calling. Not too many people calling me to seel their house if they have too much equity in their home, why you ask? A lot of people that have that equity sitting in their home believe we are going to come back to 2007 and have the prices boom straigh up. I personally think they are smart for waiting and not selling at the moment but they don’t realize one thing. If you want to buy a bigger home, then sell your home now. If you lose 10% on your current home then you will get 10% off on a more expensive home, people don’t realize this that they can actually save some money now. Unlike people who want to down size waiting is the key.
Now a lot of people ask me what will happen in 6 to 12 months, no one has the answer, to me the rest of the year will go as started so far, the real estate has taken a curve downward. It good for first time buyers but for people who want to down size it is not time to sell. Use common sense when planning you can take this recession to your advantage. Use the real estate curve to you advantage.

With different factors happening in Canada and the US, the impovement of some provinces and some states and up and down. We are not living in a perfect world, everthing won’t happen at the same time but we are looking at some places improving their economy slowly. States like California, Arizon, Nevada and Florida have increase their activity by 6.5% which is a great factor, its not huge from what it use to be but it is a step.
Everyone says Canada follow what happens in the US, most of the time it is true but not in every case, Canada hasn’t suffer that badly as the US did in the real estate curve process. Time will only show if the curve for Canada will contiunue falling down or improving as months go by.
Stay tuned for what the economy will bring us all. First time buyers get out there and buy, it is your time.

US February 2009 video includes topics on: 6.5% rise on home sales includeing California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida.

Newest report on the Canadian Real estate curve affecting buyers and sellers, RRSP new restrictions for first time buyers, consumer confidence and more.

Another great short video talking about lower interest rates, who should buy and why to sell in the US.

Great short video on the Canadian Real Estate Curve Impact, talks about some provinces decreasing and some even increasing in sale and value. This report is for the month of January 2009, great short informational video.

Many first time buyers are calling and asking this question, I heard the market is down, is it a good time to buy? I myself hear many different things, like on tv they mentioned this recession may last 2-4 years, at the office they are saying this year will be slow but the next will be better. From what I see if that the last 2 weeks of Feburary were getting more people looking through the market which is a good thing. The more people in the market to look for a house the more chances of the economy getting back up slowly. The prices in the GTA area got into a down real estate curve of between 8-11%. It is a good time for first time buyers, you never know what will happen in six months, people are saying prices will stay the same, and other are waiting for the prices to drop, what is one to do? I say life is a gamble, do you research, ask the people you trust, look at the stats and economy and then make your choice.

Every time you buy new or used real estate, it is a good idea for a qualified inspection to take a look at all possibilities of something being wrong with the property. From wiring of electrical components to water drains and plumbing, lead pipes to copper and pvc pipes. It is important that you get the qualified experts advice on any problem the potential property may face.
When buying a new property, do a home inspection as well, some may ask why, its a brand new home. The answer to this is that most homes now are build on sub divisions, making them have less quality and time put into them. Most workers on sub divisions are paid by the job or by the piece, the more they do the more they get paid. A lot of new homes face problems which the new home owner wouldn’t pick up on his/her own. Simple problems like reverse wiring to outlets, electrical panel issues, plumbing draining going upwards instead of down wards, you get the idea.
For used homes, people are generally too excited to find problems themselves when buying the property there is too much excitement and emotion. Don’t make this mistake, always book your professional inspection.
Try not to be cheap and get your uncle or neighbor to help you out, an inspection may cost you anywhere from $200-$500 but the inspection can advise you of future problems or even get your price reduction on that home for any problems the home inspector finds.
Be wise and do your inspection on every real estate you buy.

Post all your open houses here free, and get it syndicated with Google, Yahoo and other search engines. Get the maximum exposure…

The more advertising for your clients the better

Agents or vendors post your open houses below…

The following video dementrated the real estate curve prices (+/- ) in several decades. It shows exactly when the prices and economy was up and when it was down. This is a great short video make sure you  check it out for all buyers, sellers and specially first time buyers.

Home staging is one of the more effective ways you can attract more buyers to you home. While having your home staged it can bring a lot of interest of potential buyers even looking online at the photos of your home. Some people don’t realize this but a lot of buyers get discouraged when looking at photos of homes with junk laying around and don’t even bother looking at those homes. Don’t be one of those people look at the video below of how a home should be staged. Hope this help a bit.

A few must steps in order to have your home showcased properly and effectively in winter time especially in the GTA with the current weather we are getting now.

• Shovel your drive way and steps (you don’t want the buyers falling and suing you)
• Put salt around the walking perimeter around the house and the sidewalk(if you have one on your side)
• Put the room temperature to a pleasant degree
• Put on some soft music to once entered it can feel right

• Always leave some lights on if a showing is around 5:00pm or later, you don’t want people looking and tripping while looking for a light switch

• Clear all junk that isn’t needed in the house specially the kitchen 

• Try not to be present during the showingFollowing these step won’t sell your home right away but they will help in the decision making process of the buyers. The less stress the buyers has the better the outcome will be. With the curve down in real estate your house must be top notch for the buyers to consider it.

When considering to sell your home remember than a agent has the latest tools and skills to determine how much your home is really worth. Your neighbor may tell you that he or she sold the same house on the street 3 months ago for x amount of dollars more but may not know what is actually happening with the current economy and latest buyers trends. Determining the value of a house is a tricky process, many factors must be considered. For example the time of the year, hot or cold market, buyers trends, economic health, job loses, house upgrades/updates, quality of work done to home, the current condition compared to recent sold (and not compared to currently listed properties). There is a lot more factors to consider, is it a corner house, or is there a school near by etc…There is a whole lot of other to consider. Contact a local agent to find what your home is actually worth in today market.

I am an agent working in the GTA area, based on what I see not all homes are priced or sell accordingly to the market right now(January 2009). People do get good deals with $40,000 – $60,000 lower purchase prices but only from the vendors that really have to sell.

There is alot of people still selling their homes way above the market value, their frame of mind is that if they don’t sell for what price they want to won’t sell at all. Some people made the mistake of buying first and then selling their home, at this time of the market if you buy something and your house isn’t selling, then you will have to reduce the price until you get it sold. This is not a typical way it should be but if you are stuck with 2 properties a price reduction is the only way. As I say to alot of people if something is priced right it will sell.