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'The World Of Real Estate' Category

Will Your Home Be Bought Or Sold?

It’s The Same Thing Isn’t It?

I was reading Seth Godin’s blog today and one idea jumped out at me and is so relevant to real estate:

“Some things are bought–like bottled water, airplane tickets and chewing gum. The vendor sets up shop and then waits, patiently, for someone to come along and decide to buy.

Other things are sold–like cars, placement of advertising in magazines and life insurance. If no salesperson is present, if no pitch is made, nothing happens.”

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How Much Do Legal Fees Cost When Buying Or Selling Your Home?

“Plus Legal Fees” Doesn’t Always Prepare Buyers & Sellers For The Actual Costs

This recent newsletter from Wasaga Law here in Wasaga Beach will give all buyers and sellers a better idea of what to expect:

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Guest Post “Who is the best person to get to inspect a house ?”

Home Inspector David Cook Of Paragon Inspections Answers This Question

Contact David for more information:

email: [email protected]
phone: 705-790-3013
web: paragoninspections.com

“When people ask me if this is a good time of year to reshingle a house, I do advise them the low temperatures do not allow the shingles to seal well before winter storms and snow start to attack them. However this is a little hard to convince a homeowner when a roofer is getting sunburned in the middle of November. We have had a fabulous fall. 

As a professional inspector I hear so called experts give advice about who to hire to inspect a house. Some recommend getting an engineer to inspect a house. Some say you should get a contractor from each of the the different trades to inspect a house. Many say ” I have a relative who will inspect the house for me.”

Most would expect me to state that a “Home Inspector” should be the person of choice, simply because I am one. Read the rest of this entry »

Is Social Media Useful In Selling Your House?

Does Your Realtor Need To Be On Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn Etc?

I was on a course yesterday and saw the video below. It’s a few minutes long but stick with it, the numbers are quite incredible.

It’s interesting stuff; look at the figure for the fastest growing demographic Of Facebook users 90 seconds into the video. But what does it have to do with Real Estate? This may be simplistic but let me know if you agree with my thinking.

The content looks world wide and concentrates on Social Media. Canadians spend more time on line than any other nationality.

Now it isn’t a huge leap to say that these Canadians are spending a large proportion of this time on Social Media sites. These people BUY homes.

Should your Realtor be building relationships on Facebook, Twitter, LinkIn and the like? If he or she wants to meet buyers I would say YES.

Click the buttons on the left to meet me on Facebook, Twitter or Linked In

 

So How Important Is The Internet In Selling Your Home?

Does Your Agent Still Rely On The 3 “P”s?

1. Plant A Sign.

2. Place An Ad.

3. Pray.

Lets get straight to the point and study the information below:

Yes Canadians are numero uno, number 1, win the gold medal. We spend over 20% more time online than the 2nd place USA.

You can already see where I am going with this.

Sellers have control over 3 things: price, presentation and coverage. The REALTOR® may provide the coverage but the seller chooses the REALTOR®. So choose the right agent or be left behind. The current market is TOUGH in Wasaga Beach with less than 1 in 3 homes having sold in 2011. Your listing must have a huge internet profile and not just the MLS®.

The average Canadian user spends nearly 2 days a month on line.  Where do you think buyers are going to start their search for a new home?

Not only must your REALTOR dominate the web, the product (your home) needs to shine. Whats the point of a buyer clicking on your link and seeing 6 photos taken with a phone? Professional photos and a lot of them. A virtual tour. More photos.

Remember all age groups search the web and that means home buyers of all ages.

When you are talking to an agent about listing your home ask about any on line marketing plan and request actual figures.

You’re reading this web page aren’t you ?

ForSalebyOwner.com Founder Uses REALTOR® To Successfully Sell His Home

After 6 Months For Sale By Owner, Home Sold The Traditional Way

Yes I know gloating isn’t an attractive trait but to paraphrase Cling Eastwood this “made my day.”

Founder  of ForSalebyOwner.com, Colby Sambrotto, listed his  New York condominium on his own through online classified ads and FSBO sites. After six months with no action he used a REALTOR®  who immediately advised a price change as the listing was not attracting the right buyer.

With multiple offers the condo closed for $150,000 over the original asking price. I’m sure Sambrotto was happy to pay the 6% commission.

Ah that word “commission.” That’s what it all boils down to.

“Commission.” A very emotive subject.

Sellers don’t want to pay it and don’t think there is a need to. I fully understand this but would argue that is an emotional, subjective response. In a hot market maybe sticking your own sign up and going it alone works. Today with less than 1 in 3 listings selling in Wasaga Beach you need all the help you can get to sell your home.

There are bad REATORS®. In all professions there good and bad. There are very good REALTORS®.

The argument use to be that a real estate agent would sell your home more quickly, at a better price and therefore justify the commission. In the current market you could say just selling your house was an achievement.

I don’t want to sound like a gung ho advert but I believe the critical factor is that an agent will be totally objective and unemotional. This allows him or her to bring experience to the selling process and basically make the sellers life easier or should I say less stressful.

I won’t list all the work involved. Just ask the founder of ForSalebyOwner.com how he sold his home.

Do You Know Benefits Of Signing A Buyer Representation Agreement (Video)

Documenting The “Trust”

Remember when all it took was a handshake? Or is that just a figment of our imagination rather like Main Street at Disney World?

Nowadays everything has to be documented in the relationship between a REALTOR® and the buyer. BUT when is this agreement signed and does it matter?

Some REALTORS® won’t start dealing with a buyer until it is signed. This is understandable as to be blunt the REALTOR® knows the buyer is then “under contract” and the REALTOR® will get paid if a home is bought. I’m sure nearly every agent has worked with buyers and spent a lot of time and effort in showing them around only for the buyers to use another agent to buy through; all that work for zero pay

BUT how do you know you want to work with this REALTOR®? Isn’t it better to spend some time with him or her before signing?

Other REALTORS® don’t get the paperwork out till there is a deal in place. The work is done on trust but equally the buyers don’t have the protection of the agreement and the resultant agency relationship.

The Buyers Agreement is a pretty long document (no surprise there then) but next time you work with a REALTOR it would be worth asking about it and having it explained.  Don’t get focused just on the purchase agreement and know what your agent will do for you from the out set.

This video by the Toronto Real Estate Board is a bit sugar coated but none the less a good starting point:

Market Updates: The Importance Of Local Information

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

The monthly Market Updates on wasagabeachtalking.com concentrate solely on Wasaga Beach. This is the residential area I work in and need to know about (Barrie is purely for my investors.)

The Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board covers a huge area and the overall figures can have little meaning to someone looking to buy in Wasaga Beach. This was really bought home to me when reviewing today’s press release and market update.

Take a look at the Georgian Triangle update below and nearly every figure for 2011 is down from 2010 and the “Average Residential Price” is only up 1.6%.

Compare this to Wasaga Beach where the number of sales is only 1 unit less (regionally it is down 9.3%) and the average sales price is up 2.9%.

This brief overview highlights the need to look closely and locally at sales figures. Call me if you would like more detailed information.

Less Than 1 In 3 Listings Are Selling In Wasaga Beach. Make Your Home POP!!

Sellers!! There Are Hundreds Of Homes For Sale In Wasaga Beach. How To Make Yours Stand Out

I’ve recently been working with a number of buyers in Wasaga Beach. Now with the number of homes for sale you would think it is a “Buyers Market.” Paradoxically there is almost too much choice and Buyers are not making decisions to buy; there is no sense of urgency and always more homes to view.

It’s not easy to sell your home. In any market it needs to stand out but today it’s critical.       

What turns Buyers off ??

What Can Sellers do??

• Make sure your home doesn’t smell. Smoking is the number one turn off but don’t forget pet or cooking smells. You may love the smell of your dog or bacon but not everyone does.
• Ensure your home is as bright as possible. It doesn’t cost anything to clean all the windows and draw the curtains or blinds. You would be amazed at the number of homes I view where the blinds are down and there is no natural light.
• De-clutter. Surely there is no need to explain how important this is.
• Clean once. Clean twice and then clean again. Literally make your home sparkle AND keep it that way. You home is for sale, it is now a product to be kept in tip top condition. It’s not easy living that way but worth the effort.

So your home is fresh, bright and clean.  Viewings are booked. What else can you do?

LEAVE

There’s nothing worse for buyers than the home owner being present when they view the home. They don’t feel comfortable and if anything will rush through house. Buyers need to feel an emotional attachment to the home. Not easy with the current owners present. Remember people buy with emotion and then justify with logic. Make yourself scarce and let them fall in love with the property.

How Much Are The “Closing Costs” When You Buy A Home?

“Closing Costs”! The Bit People Often Don’t Think About

So you’re concentrating so much on buying the home and how much it is going to cost. With the offer price, the sign back and the acceptance it is so easy to forget the extra expense of the “closing costs.”

When asked for a rough figure I normally say  2% of the purchase price.

What is the actual break down of these costs?

(These costs do vary and there will be tax to pay as always.)

Before the purchase is final there is likely to be a home inspection at about $300 to $350.

Legal costs in the $1,200 range.

There may be a mortgage application fee and or appraisal. The last appraisal I had done cost $375. A mortgage application can run up to $1000 depending on your circumstances. Often the lender will cover the costs involved.

“Title Insurance” is highly recommended and costs $250 or so on a residential home.

Tax Adjustment. Depending on what the Seller has already paid for the year, there will be an adjustment based on the number of days you will own the house in that year.

Homeowners insurance and moving costs obviously vary tremendously depending on each individual case.

And now the one that makes you go “OUCH.” Land Transfer Tax:

“On transfers of residential real property in Ontario, Ontario Land Transfer Tax (LTT) is calculated on the purchase price (less a calculation regarding HST, if the property purchased is a newly built home). The Ontario land transfer tax is payable by the purchaser on the purchase price upon registration of a Transfer/Deed of Land in the Ontario Land Registry Office on closing based on the following upward sliding scale:

0.5% on the first $55,000 of the purchase price, plus

1.0% on the amount exceeding $ 55,000 up to and including $250,000, plus

1.5% on the amount exceeding $250,000 up to and including $400,000, plus

2.0% on the amount over $400,000.

Example:
The Ontario land transfer tax on a property transferred for $200,000 is calculated as $275.00 on the first $ 55,000 (0.5% = $ 275.00), plus $1,450.00 on the next $145,000 (1.0% = $1,450.00), for a total of $1,725.00.”

Oh yes if you are buying a brand new home there may be HST to pay depending on the cost involved but we can look at that another time.