Perfect starter home or fixer upper. 1249 sq.ft. 4 bedroom 2 storey home on a large pie shaped lot with apple trees. Situated in a cozy cul-de-sac. There is a roughed in fireplace in the living room. There is a huge master bedroom with wall to wall closet. The basement is partially finised and has a 4th bedroom and family room framed and drywalled. Seller is open to all offers.
It might appear that the downward pressure on valuations are easing somewhat. With 3,065 single family dwellings for sale the amount of inventory is coming down. In the last 30 days there were 656 single family homes that sold.
That give us a listing to sales ratio of 4.67:1 which is down from the previous week and hopefully is a trend that will reverse and we will see valuation rise again as I expect them to do in early spring of 2012.
That makes now a perfect time to buy with the current low interest rates that are available. To check out todays best mortgage rates visit www.edmontonmortgagesource.com
With today’s interest rates being so low and the downward pressure on valuations right now I think this is an ideal time to buy before prices go back up as anticipated in the spring time.
To check out today’s mortgage interest rates or would like to get pre-approved for a mortgage check out www.edmontonmortgagesource.com
Well it is good to be back from my extende holiday from China. However I am a little sad to see how the market has changed since I left back in July. The market has soften significantly and has me somewhat concerned.
As of this morning there were 3,256 single family dwellings for sale in Edmonton proper on the Edmonton Multiple Listing Service. That is in itself is not a bad number and shows healthy inventory levels.
What has me more concerned is the number of sales that we have had in the last 30 days which is 646 single family dwellings that have sold in Edmonton proper.
This gives us a listing to sales ratio of 5.04:1 which is higher than the 4:1 needed in Edmonton for a neutral market. This indicates to me that we are going to see some downward pressure on valuations in the incoming weeks.
If you have a home listed currently you are going to want to make sure that you are very competitively priced if you want to sell.
It sure feels like summer time is finally coming to Edmonton. The weather is getting hotter, grass is turning green, flowers are out and real estate is in full swing…finally!!!
The real estate market continues to be strong with good sales activity. As of today June 10th, 2011 there are 3,127 single family homes listed on MLS® in Edmonton proper. The number of listings has been holding fairly steady of the recent few weeks.
The number of sale of single family homes listed on MLS® in Edmonton proper has increased to 855 in the past 30 days. With this many listings and sales we end up with a listings to sales ratio of 3.66:1 which is lower than we have seen recently.
This ratio is also lower than the 4:1 ratio that is needed for a balanced or neutral market. With a ratio of 3.66:1 I would expect slight upward pressure of valuations. If this trend continues expect prices to start rising.
If you are thinking of buying I would not hesitate and look at buying now before prices do go up and there is still the threat of interest rates going up this fall. Now might be the best opportunity to buy.
April 14, 2011 – Well just when you thought maybe spring was here we are being hit with a snow storm this morning with a forecast with between 5 – 10 cm of snow. I think we might just skip spring and move onto summer.
The spring marketplace continues to be strong. As of this morning there are 2,551 single family dwelling for sale in Edmonton proper. This is a pretty typical inventory level for this time of year. In the previous 30 days there were 661 single family homes sold in Edmonton proper.
This would give us a listing to sales ratio of 3.85:1 just slightly below the 4:1 ratio that we require for a neutral or balanced market. As long as this ratio stays below the 4:1 market expect valuations to continue to have upward pressure to increase.
I am experiencing this first hand as I was trying to sell a property to one of my buyers earlier this week and there were 6 offers written on the property before we could present. Ultimately we had to write an unconditional offer $12,000 over the list price in order to acquire the property.
This is our new reality again. Really good properties listed at a good price are selling within 24 – 48 hours and don’t be surprised to be in a multiple offer situation.
The average list price of a single family dwelling in Edmonton proper is $398,717 and the average selling price in the last 30 days was $386,028. The average number of days on market was 43 days.
Source: Realtors Association of Edmonton
Homebuyers usually worry that their dream home will turn out to be the lemon of a lifetime, and with good reason. It’s not uncommon to find that the foundation is secretly crumbling or that termites are eating the garage. Maybe it’s sitting on top of an ancient Indian burial ground? Not the greatest selling point for future resale.
Don’t get taken in by a pretty face. A house might look great, but do your homework. Research the house and the area, and if there is a major drawback, consider whether it’s worth the reduced price. With the help of industry insiders, realtors Kelvin Neufeld and Drew Scott, we give you a list of house flaws that require special consideration before signing your life savings away.
Marijuana grow operations are big money, with expert growers making millions of dollars a year. Setting up an operation in a basement or attic is worth the risk. Many communities target grow-ops by watching for a spike in a home’s energy usage. Grow-ops require enormous energy consumption to keep the greenhouse-type environment going round the clock.
Imagine what that kind of moisture and humidity can do to a home in terms of structural damage and mould growth. W Network’s “Property Brothers” co-host Drew Scott says if you can get the property for $100,000 lower than market price, for example, you might be getting good value. The lasting damage, though, is an image problem. “Even if the city says you’ve rectified the damage, and the house is safe, the stigma that comes with a grow-op is always there. That scares away the majority of buyers.” And if it was a crystal meth lab, forget it, says realtor Kevin Neufeld. “The carcinogens from those chemicals get absorbed into the walls.”
Another social stigma that scares away buyers is death. If someone died in the house, particularly in a violent way, it could reduce the resale value. Even if the house has a silly reputation for being haunted, it could worry the more superstitious type of buyer. W Network’s “Property Brothers” co-host and realtor Drew Scott says it’s his policy to always disclose such details to buyers. He’ll also refuse a listing if he knows it will be an impossible sell, unlike realtors who love the challenge of selling any house, even one that could be straight out of Amityville Horror.
It’s been more than 30 years since a fear of power lines was triggered in the general population. In 1979, a study suggested that power lines were causing cancer in Denver children. The issue snowballed in the media throughout the late ’80s and ’90s. Today, nobody knows for certain if power lines do cause cancer, but the perception persists that the area underneath power lines is a no-go zone. As well, says 34-year-real estate veteran Kelvin Neufeld, they’re just plain ugly.
W Network’s Drew Scott recalls the time that he was looking at a house for a client. The owners had failed to disclose that they were living next to a loud train that would roll by three times a day, morning, afternoon and night. Scott checked out the property himself at different times of the day and discovered the train noise. When he told his buyers, it killed their interest and saved them a lot hassle. Another way to check out a property, Scott says, is to “talk to the neighbours.”
Houses on busy streets are estimated to sell for 10 to 15 per cent less than the market value of comparable homes on quieter streets. If you do buy a home on a busy street, make sure you are getting fair value. And if you are selling one, make sure it’s got attributes that compensate for the high traffic. In order to get the most money for a home on a busy street, it should present perfectly and have an emotional appeal so that its major flaw is overlooked, say our industry experts. Installing double-paned windows would help, too.
It depends on the buyer, of course. Living across from a graveyard could either spell peace and tranquility, or a case of the jitters. Cities like Vancouver and Toronto are increasingly becoming home to people with diverse cultural backgrounds, according to a recent study released by University of Toronto’s Cities Centre director David Hulchanski. That means the mix of values is changing. For example, living next to the dead could be more of a no-no for some cultures than others. Consider your market, say the pros. Know who is buying the homes in your area, and what that market is demanding so you can gauge whether that house will have resale value down the road.
We all know the house. It’s a rental, full of university students who bust loose every weekend, sometimes throughout the week as well. When they throw a party, it seems like the entire university campus is invited, and the good times roll until the wee hours of the morning. Neighbours can call the police all they want. The city can levy fines. If it’s an absentee or negligent landlord, there’s little to be done but wait until they graduate. As well, the house probably looks horribly neglected, with hubcaps in the weed-filled yard. If there is any indication that your potential dream home is within vicinity of such a house, you might want to have a talk with the neighbours and get the lowdown.
For some cities, such as Vancouver, the buried oil tank has become synonymous with black mould and asbestos siding. It spells trouble. Back in the days when oil was the house’s fuel, everybody had an oil tank in the yard. Once it became obsolete, it was often just left to rust. If the oil tank is full it may require a permit and special environmental handling for removal. If the oil has leaked into the ground, including the neighbour’s property, the cost of remediation could go into the four-figure range. Buyers in areas where oil tanks are a concern therefore ask for certification as proof that the oil tank was properly removed. Disclosure is often required. If proof isn’t available, then the buyer or seller will often arrange for a search using a metal detector or samples taken from the soil. Oil tanks aren’t the end of the world, but they can be a major headache.
Source: Kerry Gold – MSN Money
To view the video for Edmonton’s First Time Buyer report just click on the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_djccXIHN8
Motivated by a strong Canadian dollar and what they perceive as bargain U.S. home prices, as many as 1 in 5 Canadians say they’d consider purchasing property in the U.S.
A new survey for BMO Bank of Montreal and conducted by Leger Marketing reveals that as home prices have dropped in the regions of the U.S. which are traditional destinations for Canadian snowbirds, interest in purchasing U.S. property has risen.
Want to know which Canadians to target? Regionally, those in Alberta (31 percent), British Columbia (28 per cent), and the Prairie Provinces (27 per cent) are most interested buying property in the U.S.
Bank of Montreal suggests that Canadians wanting to purchase in the United States should consider the questions shown below. While some of these are lifestyle questions which the prospects will have to answer for themselves, to answer other questions, a REALTOR’s input will be valuable. If you want to tap into this market, make sure you are knowledgeable and can refer prospects to tax advisors and others as needed.
Questions for Canadians Considering Purchasing in the United States:
It is looking like the Edmonton real estate market is improving. As of this morning there were 2,188 single family homes for sale in Edmonton proper. More importantly there has been 557 sales in the previous 30 days. That gives us a lsting to sales ratio of 3.93:1 which is basically at the level we need for the market the stabilize and become neutral. With this kind of ratio we can expect prices valuations to stop falling and normalize.
I anticipate as we get more along into our spring marketplace that we might see this ratio drop and if we do expect valuations to start to rise again. So if you are thinking of buying to hesitate do it now, especially before the mortgage rule changes on March 18th.
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