The 5 Most Common Pricing Mistakes Made by Home Sellers ...

Pricing is one of the three key factors determining the success of a home sale (marketing and accessibility to the property for viewings are the other two).

 

The price determines the number of potential buyers who will even see the home on the MLS, of those who see it, it determines what their inital assessment of value is and whether they personally view the home.  Once they view the home they compare the value of the home based on what other homes are available at the same price.

 

It's critical to get pricing done right.  Here are 5 ways NOT to price your home:

 

1. Basing your price on another home’s asking price

2. Basing your price on recent renovations

3. Basing your price on how much money you need

4. Basing your price on a different type of home or a home in a different location

 

5. Starting with a “Let’s Try This” price

All of these pricing "strategies" will lead to less activity on the property, disappointed buyers and frustration in dealing with a property that won't sell.  And, eventually, when it does sell, the final price will invariably be lower than what could have been netted with proper pricing at the outset.

Contact me today for a free Market Evaluation of your home or to chat about the current real estate market.  I'm here to answer your questions, you don't have to be moving to contact me!

New Condo Rules in Ontario will Affect over 1 Million Condo Owners....

 Some 1.3 million Ontario condo dwellers will be better protected and have more rights under long-awaited new provincial legislation that has passed unanimously at Queen’s Park.

In a province with 700,000 condominium units — and 10,000 different condo corporations for their residents.  The licensing of condo managers was one of the top priorities (and) establishing some kind of regime for condo managers so they would have training and those sorts of things.

A new Condominium Authority will be established in 2017 to prevent common disputes and serve as a cheaper alternative than the court system to resolve problems. It will be an independent, not-for-profit corporation self-funded by a $1-per-unit monthly fee and will fall under the oversight of the provincial auditor general.

There will be mandatory licensing and education requirements for condominium managers. The new administrative authority is designed to regulate condo managers and property management companies through a compulsory licensing system and a code of ethics.

Governance requirements for those on condo boards will include training of directors. Boards would no longer have to pass a by-law in order to hold a conference call or virtual meeting online. And they would be required to update owners regularly on insurance and any legal proceedings.

There will be clearer rules to protect owners from sticker-shock costs after purchasing newly built units. Developers will be required give buyers a guide to condominium living at the time of sale and the Ontario new home warranty will soon also apply to some condo conversion projects in older buildings.

Improved regulation for condo corporations should help curb financial mismanagement and organizational bungling and reduce fraud. It would forbid condo corporations from finalizing some maintenance contracts unless they have sought competing bids for work and give owners more information about their corporation’s finances and clarify rules about reserve funds.

Contact me today for a free Home Value Report or to chat about the market!

Thinking of Buying the Playboy Mansion? Buyer Beware!

 

This interesting article comes from the Real Estate Magazine.  Apparently buying Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion isn't all it's cracked up to be!  I hope whomever buys it reads the fine print!

 

 

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, January 12, 2016

The famous Playboy mansion—home to Hugh Hefner—is reportedly going up for-sale in the next month but the sale will be contingent on having a “life estate,” media outlets are reporting.

The six-acre Beverly Hills estate boasts 29 rooms (six bedrooms) and is rumored to be hitting the market for $200 million. The listing reportedly also will stipulate that 89-year-old Hefner a “life estate,” which means he would be able to continue living there until he dies.

That prompted realtor.com® to look at the history and liabilities of “life estate” arrangements.
“Life estates go way back to the earliest roots of the common law, and they are great for providing for someone to live in his or her own home until death,”  says David Reiss, research director at the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship at Brooklyn Law School. “Effectively, a life estate grants the [original owner] many of the indicia [characteristics] of full ownership for the rest of his life. Upon death, complete ownership of the property can pass to another. A common example would be where a husband bequeaths a life estate in the home to his wife, with the remainder to his children upon her death.”

Hefner’s deal would differ in that he’s not bequeathing his home to family members but to an unknown third-party.

“This seems like a version of a reverse mortgage, because it frees up equity in the home during the owner’s lifetime without interfering too much with his use and enjoyment of the property,” Reiss says.

Reiss says a contract coming with a death-till-we-part tenant likely will bring down the $200 million asking price. Many experts put the mansion more at $80 million to $90 million.
“The life estate would likely significantly reduce the fair market of the property, because the purchaser must defer taking possession as well as other aspects of ownership—renovating it, for example—until the death of the life tenant,” Reiss says. “Moreover, the purchaser must deal with the uncertainty of the life estate: Will it end in a year or in 10 years?”

Life estates can also raise a host of legal problems, such as questions over liability.
“What if there’s a fire and the place burns down? What if Hefner falls down and breaks his hip?” Wendy Flynn, a real estate professional in College Station, Texas, notes to realtor.com®. “After all, it is known as a party house.”

Source: “Playboy Mansion for Sale – With One Tenant for Life,” realtor.com® (Jan. 11, 2016)

How can a small investment of less than $300 can save you thousands in home repairs?

Spending time now on minor exterior touch-ups — like replacing caulk and refreshing paint — can prevent major repair costs down the road.

Cringe at the thought of major repairs to your home? It’s the little preventative maintenance things you do throughout the year that’ll keep big repair bills at bay. In fact, you can keep your entire house fit and healthy for a mere $300 per year. Here’s how.



1.  Get Up Close and Personal with Your House

Annual cost: $0 to $10

Trust me — you want to be on intimate terms with your house. The more familiar you are, the easier it is to spot potential trouble spots before they get out-of-hand — and expensive to fix.

You don’t have to be a pro inspector; just take the time to stroll around. A DIY inspection costs nothing — and could save you thousands. Look for:

• Cracks in the foundation. Hairline cracks are fairly normal, but keep an eye on them and note if they’re getting larger. If so, your foundation may be settling unevenly. You can make a small mark with an indelible pen across the crack; over the next few months, if you notice the mark is moving apart, call in a foundation expert.

• Proper soil grading. Foundation soil should slope away from foundation walls at least 6 inches in 10 feet. More is better.

• Downspout extensions. They should reach at least 5 feet away from your house. A flexible extension is about $10.

• Roof damage. Use a pair of binoculars to look for shingles that are curled, torn, or missing, and rust spots on flashing. 

• Shaggy bushes and tree limbs. Keep plants at least 3 feet away from your house. Branches can channel water right to your siding; during a windstorm, they may bang against your house and cause damage.

Branches near your roof are squirrel highways; trim them back to prevent critters from reaching your roof. You don’t want pests in your attic.

2.  Make Caulk Your BFF

Annual cost: $24

Your home’s No. 1 enemy is water; your home’s best friend is caulk.

Cheap and easy to use, caulk seals openings and prevents water from getting inside your home, where lingering moisture causes rot and mold. Caulk seals air leaks that can rob you of precious heating and cooling energy.

As caulking ages, it may come loose as your house settles slightly. Every year, inspect window and door frames for cracked and missing caulk. Check around exterior dryer vents, hose bibs, and electrical wiring to make sure openings in your siding are sealed tight.

You won’t be caulking the whole enchilada — but bet on using three to four tubes of top-quality exterior acrylic latex caulk ($4 to $6 per 12-ounce tube) every year.

3.  Give Your House a Facial

Annual cost: $0 to $32

As you make your inspection rounds, look for blemishes — chipped or peeling paint, small chips in stucco, and missing mortar between masonry. A little spot repair prevents moisture from doing more damage.

• Keep paint in good repair and help your exterior paint job last longer by touching up chipped or peeling areas so water can’t penetrate. Keep a close eye on trim, porch columns, and stair railings. Annual cost: $16 for one quart of color-matched exterior latex paint.

• Plug holes in stucco with pre-mixed latex stucco patching compound ($7 for a one quart tub).

• Repair missing mortar using textured, masonry mortar repair compound ($3.50 for a five-ounce tube).

• Clean your exterior. All types of siding benefit from an annual cleaning to remove dirt and grime. Use buckets of warm, soapy water (1/2 cup of trisodium phosphate — $4.95 for a one pound box — dissolved in one gallon of water) and a soft-bristled brush attached to a long handle. Or, use a homemade green cleaner from 1/2 cup baking soda dissolved in one gallon warm water.

4.  Coddle Your HVAC

Annual cost: $50 to $164

• Change furnace filters. Have you looked at them lately? They’re filthy! They’re cutting down on your heating and cooling efficiency and making your furnace fan work overtime trying to push air through stuffed-up filters. Keep allergy-causing dust to a minimum and give your furnace a break with regular HVAC maintenance that includes changing your high-quality filters every three to four months.

• Get an HVAC tune-up. For this annual HVAC maintenance chore, bring in a pro to clean out furnace parts and recharge your refrigerant levels. Signing a contract for an annual inspection lowers cost per visit.

5. Show Your Water Heater a Little TLC
Annual cost: $0

• Remove sediment and gunk in the bottom of the tank by hooking a garden hose to the drain valve and draining the tank until the water runs clear. That helps your water heater warm up quickly and more cheaply.

• Test the pressure relief valve by quickly opening it two or three times (catch the spillage in a small bucket). After testing, watch for any leaks from the valve.

6.  Clean Your Gutters
Annual cost: $0

Clogged rain gutters cause overflows that damage siding and soak the soils around your foundation. That mean foundation problems that lead to expensive repairs. Clean your gutters at least twice each year to remove clogs and debris. Like you didn’t know that!

Contact me today for a free Home Value Report if you have any real estate questions - you don't have to be moving!

KITCHENER-WATERLOO HOME SALES FINISH STRONG IN 2015 - Average home price up 3.9% over 2014

 

In 2015 the Region saw 5,563 residential sales processed through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® (KWAR), an increase of 4.9% percent compared to sales in 2014 which ended with 5,302 residential sales.

Unlike 2014, which remained slow almost half the year, 2015 only lagged behind in home sales for the first two months of the year when we were experiencing colder than normal temperatures. Residential sales wrapped up the year with 293 home sales in December compared to 262 in 2014. This equates to an 11.8% increase in the number of sales for the month in Kitchener-Waterloo and area.

December’s sales included 168 detached homes (down 4.5%), 80 condominiums (up 53.8%), 20 townhomes (up 33.3%) and 23 semi-detached (up 21.0%) , with the average price of all homes sold this month coming in at $367,121 (up 8.2%).

"It’s been a fantastic year for home sales in the region," said Charlotte Zawada, President of the KWAR. " This speaks volumes about the depth of the economy here, the diversity of opportunities and the innovation taking place in Waterloo Region that keeps drawing people to our community,"

Total residential sales in 2015 included 3,576 single detached homes (up 4.9% from 2014), 409 semi-detached (up 4.6%), 398 townhomes (up 2.3%) and 1,180 condominium units (up 5.9%).

Markets like Toronto and Vancouver still had people talking about housing bubbles and market corrections, but real estate is very local. Locally, Waterloo Region remains a strong and stable housing market. The excitement surrounding the area from the ION, the burgeoning tech sector, our unique rural and urban blend, position Waterloo Region as a highly desirable place to live and invest.

The average sale price of all residential sales in 2015 increased 3.9 percent to $348,888 in comparison to 2014. Single detached homes sold for an average price of $400,456 (up 3.5%), semi-detached for $268,400 (up 3.4%), townhomes for $301,005 (up to 4.1%) and condominiums sold for an average of $237,735 (up 7.3%).