Real Estate & Real Life: A Sutton Realtor's Blog: Buyer brokerage

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

GTA Real Estate Mash Up

Latest Headlines:

Reported by the Canadian Press Wed. March 19: Loonie lower, Bank of Canada chief says interest rate cut can't be ruled out

Reported by Globe & Mail Tues. March 18: First-time home buyers’ average budget rises to $316,000: BMO

Reported by the Toronto Star Wed. March 19: Real estate association trims 2014 home sales forecast as year off to slow start

Taken all togethor it certainly sounds like Mortgage rates will drop in the up coming Buyer's market where your first property will cost you more now than it did a few years ago.

Everything is all speculation until it is fact. It's that simple. Interest rates MAY go down. They haven't today though. Eventually they will go up, it's the nature of the cycle. When? Who knows. Do you bank on the interest rate? No. Bank on your income and your ability to make mortgage payments. If you can afford a mortgage of say, $400 000 at 3.49% with payments that are $1994/month can you afford $2104/month? - that's the difference between a closed and variable. Sounds simple and easy enough but you really need to make sure you can. When rates rise so do your payments. Careful not to borrow so much that you max out on your monthly payment affordability. You need a cushion. One day that mortgage will come up for renewal - will you be able to weather that, should rates increase dramatically? Don't bank on what could happen, just bank on what you know about YOU and YOUR finances and what the rate is doing now. The rate will always go up and always go down.

First time home buyers average budget increases? Well ya. Of course. It's called cost of living, inflation and the nature of the market. No one buys property in hopes that it will depreciate so naturally prices all over Canada will nominally increase year to year. What that percentage increase amounts to varies from City to City and area to area. I think the biggest key here is 1st Time Home Buyer education.

There's been a dramatic shift in today's generation from generations prior. Today's 1st time home buyers want it now, want it all and want it cheap. What ever happened to a starter? The one where the buyer works their way up, puts in some time and effort and slowly collects resources to renovate slowly as budgets permit, their first house. Today, that first Buyer thinks they ought to be able to move into a 3 bed, with hardwood, granite, stainless, finished basement, attached garage with a fenced yard in a good neighborhood for next to nothing. Why? Because they see it on HGTV. Lower your expectations. Realize the value of compromise and know that the first home is not typically forever. It's the first. It's the one that helps you see what you want next.

Trimming the forecast for 2014 on home resale? Well glad they are finally becoming realistic. As an agent, I find too often it's the media, not us, who fuels the fire. Reported statistics and media create a frenzy of want, need, have to sell, need to buy, get in before it's too late, have to price it 100K over value... then the agent steps into the picture after frantic client calls and we must, please don't laugh, be the voice of reason. Yes sales were down in January in the GTA - why? Because it was freakishly cold and we had an unusual amount of snow. It's quite simple. But back in January, those same statistics people were reporting above average sales. Why? Stats are numbers. Mathematical equations. One large or luxury home sale skews those figures. One home that is undervalued by $50K and then sells at 125% over asking, skews those home sales.

I certainly wish the stats would compare apples to apples when they release numbers. Show the figures for say, the 'average bungalow'. How long on the market, average. Average listing price. Average sales price. How many were sold. Do the same for 2 story. The same for luxury. The same for condo's - 1 beds compared to 2 beds. More often than not real estate statistics are a stew, what you are looking for are individual dishes.

In this media age all buyers and sellers are far more savvy & intelligent than ever before and that is most definitely a good thing but too much information, too much competing information, too many numbers and all the info becomes a mash up which does not create a more intelligent real estate client, but a more confused one.

Finally, in the great words of Benjamin Franklin, "do not believe everything you read online, some of it is just not true". Good guy that Ben.

As always, questions, comments or if you are just plain curious about the value of your home,
email nicole@gtalisted.com,
visit our website at www.gtalisted.com,
our facebook page at Sutton West Realty,
follow me on twitter: GTAListed
or text me at: 416-388-7384

Would love to help.

Nicole Kreutzberg
Realtor

This blog is not intended to solicit those under agency agreement and has been written as the agents own opinion not to be used as legal advice or otherwise

Friday, December 6, 2013

The Right Real Estate Agent: How Do You Choose?

Your home or your purchase is possibly going to be the single greatest purchase or sale you make. Trusting that kind of money to someone is a big deal and should be treated as such. It’s that simple.

First: Talk to a few Agents, there’s many of us and like with any purchase you want to compare. See who’s right for you. Who’s listening to YOUR needs and who understands what YOU want to do, where you want to go and how much you want to spend. The Agent must respect YOUR money.

Second: Ask to see the numbers. As agents we all have access to the same figures. The same Data, the same Sold statistics and when pricing your home, ask to see what has sold in your area and ask to see the homes in your area that are comparable to yours. Comparing a bungalow to a 2 story is not accurate and not the same.

Third: Don’t be swayed by the Agent who gives you the highest price they can sell your home for. They may be telling you what you want to hear and it may not be what the actual reality is. Ask the Agent who tells you that your Detached can be sold for $500 000.00 when 2 others have stated $475 000.00, where or how they arrived at that number. The biggest disappointment doesn’t happen when the For Sale sign goes up, hit happens 2 weeks later when they tell you that you need to reduce the price and then 2 weeks later they tell you the same thing again. Next thing you know, you’ve arrived at the $475 000.00 price you were quoted by 2 other agents and it feels like you were mislead.

Fourth: When you see the numbers, accept them. You may think that your home is worth so much more but the reality is the numbers. If Bungalows are selling for $500 000.00 on your street or neighborhood, chances are you will not be selling your bungalow for $600 000.00. It’s all about the numbers and they don’t lie. I’m not stating that you won’t make more, that you shouldn’t list it higher as every home has a unique and special quality to it that can translate in to higher sales figures but trust that the data you’ve asked to see is correct.

Please keep in mind that timing is also everything. Will you generate higher offers in November verses April? Which months are the best to sell or buy? Seasons are important and can impact the sales figures. Homes sold in the spring typically generate higher sales figures than those sold in the late fall. Selling in December is more difficult than choosing February or March. There’s a Buyer and a Seller in every season, the question is, how many of them are there?

Fifth: Yep, Commissions are negotiable. That’s the truth. Some agents won’t drop theirs and others do so without blinking an eye. If you don’t ask and they don’t offer, you’ll be charged, as a seller, the “standard” rate.

The reality is this, most agents will reduce their sales commissions when the Seller is also buying, what we don’t want to reduce is the commissions paid out to the Buyer of your property. When a home is listed on MLS, what the Agents see and what you see are generally 2 different sets of information. As agents we see what the commission rate being paid out to the Buyers agent is and if it’s less than industry standard, then many agents won’t show the home when there’s a comparable listing whose commissions being paid to the Buyers agent are full. That’s the truth. Is it right? No it’s not. But the reality is, you want to expose your home to the maximum amount of agents and buyers possible and that may not happen if the Buyers commissions are reduced. So when you see that sign or hear from an Agent that they will sell your home for 1% - what they mean is this: They will charge YOU 1% to sell but still will pay out the 2.5% to the Buyer for a total of 3.5%.

Sixth: Finally, how do you feel with the person across from you? Did they listen to you? Did they show the figures? Will they be there for the Open Houses personally or will they send someone else? Did they explain the contracts to you so that you understand them? It’s about trust and about how you feel with that agent. Instincts are important.

I’ve often been told I am an amazing Buyer’s agent because I listen, I follow through and provide all of the information. I take the time to explain all of the contracts and I get answers when I am asked questions. I typically don’t show my Buyer’s properties well over their budgeted price because I respect that it’s their money and when heading into a multiple offer situation, I have a game plan that prevents my Buyers from overspending. I treat all of my clients with respect, I negotiate fiercely and finally I treat all of my clients as clients for life, not just one sale. I put 100 percent into everything I do and if my Buyer is looking for a property that is worth $200 000 or $1 500 000, of if my Seller’s property is worth $175 000 or $2 000 000, everyone gets treated with the same amount of dignity, honesty and respect because that's just who I am and that’s what everyone deserves.

NicoleKreutzberg

Sales Rep.

Sutton West Realty Inc.

(416) 388-7384

www.gtalisted.com

nicole@gtalisted.com