Ajax Pickering Real Estate Blog

Archive for the ‘Semi-Detached Homes’ Category

By Tony Wong – Toronto Star

Next to public speaking, buying or selling a home is at the top of many people’s fear and loathing list. It’s understandable. A home is the biggest investment you’ll ever make and while exciting, the potential for things to go wrong is pretty big. That adds up to enough stress to keep you awake at night thinking about all the what-ifs. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are 10 things to consider when buying a home.

1. The housing market isn’t really a market

At least not in the way you might think. While housing analysts like to compare real estate returns to stock market returns, it is a misleading comparison.

The first big difference is that a stock market is a place where you can by and sell immediately. In the real estate market you can wait months for the home you want to come on the market and just as long to find someone who wants to buy yours. The price you expect may not bear any resemblance to the one you get.

The long run return on stocks is also a lot better. The average stock in the Standard & Poors 500 index, a basket of blue chip U.S. stocks, has returned about 7.5% a year after inflation in each of the last 25 years. The average increase in the value of a Canadian home over the same period petty much tracks the rate of inflation which during the same period was 2.5%.

A home is also more than an investment. It has all kinds of intangible qualities, including a neighbourhood you want to live in, a spot with a particular view or landscape, a type of architecture that you enjoy. So, while it’s tempting to think of your primary home as a profit centre ripe for a flip, that shouldn’t be the main purpose.

Besides, your Microsoft stock can’t keep you warm at night. (Unless you bought it when Bill Gates was still working out of his garage. In which case, you probably have your own heating company.)

2. It’s always a good time to buy

No it isn’t. People who bought at the height of the market in the 1989 real estate bubble, didn’t break even until prices bounced back in 2002. That’s 13 years. And even then they didn’t make their money back. Factoring in inflation, they actually lost money. House prices don’t go up forever. Buy when your circumstances dictate, not because your neighbor the agent says it’s a good time to.

3. Location, Location, Location.

Yah, they’re right. You’ll pay more initially, but investing in a property in the good neighborhood close to transit will pay dividends down the road when it comes time to sell

4. Buy the cheapest house on the street

Some people argue you shouldn’t, because the home will compare poorly to the other homes when you sell.

I say go for it. It may already be discounted because it looks like a shack compared with other properties and provides far more upside if you spruce it up in the future. A rising tide can also help to lift all boats. As the street gentrifies, infill housing will continue to keep property values high. Getting your foot in the right address is half the battle. Hello Park Place!

5. Do I need an agent?

No, you don’t. While a good realtor can be a huge asset, not everyone needs professional advice. If you have time, selling your own home can save you a ton of money on commissions. With the advent of the internet, and the opening up of the Multiple Listing Service there are many more services for the do it yourselfer to choose from.

6. If you want an agent…

If you don’t have the time, or would rather use professional advice, a good realtor can be a boon, because they know the neighborhood and can potentially get you top dollar. But like any other service, the results will vary. So make sure you interview several before choosing.

7. Renovating will give me huge return

Stop watching all those television shows where some fancy designer redos the entire house in a week with faucets that cost more than your BMW. Okay, I like them too, but that doesn’t mean you have to gut your kitchen to sell your home.

Most experts say you’ll get the best bang for your buck by redoing the kitchen and washrooms. But even for the most sought after features by homebuyers, the return on investment is anywhere from 75% to at best 100%. That means in many cases if you spend $10,000 you’ll only add that much vale at best and maybe far less.

8. It just needs a coat of paint

When it comes times to sell, you may have been living in your home for so long that you don’t notice the coffee stains on the couch and the Sponge Bob wallpaper in the washroom. Get a second pair of eyes to have a look around. This could be friend, relative or your agent and hopefully they’ll tell it like it is.

You may want professional help in the form of a home stager who can arrange your furniture and make your place look showroom ready. But you don’t need to pay big bucks. Start by asking a friend. She’ll tell you why Sponge Bob must go.

9. Don’t try to time the market

I know people who sold their home at the peak of the market, and rented a condo while riding out the crash.

After the crash, they repurchased near the same neighborhood for substantially less. This is the dream of every home investor. I also have friends who thought the market was going to crash, so they waited for four years to buy a home. Prices kept going up and they finally threw in the towel and bought at a higher price than they expected. Then the market crashed. Housing is a long term investment, and sometimes you just have to commit.

10. Keep your perspective

My friends think think their 1,500 square foot semi is worth a bundle, because they spent hours building the deck and hand painting the cute gold cherubs on the walls.

Being emotionally attached to your home means that when it comes time to sell, your objectivity is compromised. In a down market, with more competing listings, your home is going to be difficult to sell and the price less than you expect. Can you accept that?

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information  -  416-388-1960

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Tom Lebour – Yourhome.ca

The Greater Toronto Area’s spring real estate market is just weeks away and many analysts anticipate that it will be a busy one.

It is expected that the number of properties available for sale will increase as homeowners react favourably to activity in recent months. It’s also likely that the market will have more homebuyers, prompted to make a purchase before the added costs of the Harmonized Sales Tax take effect on July 1.

If you’re planning on making a foray into the market this year, now could be the time to undertake improvements, which, if carefully planned, can increase the value of your home considerably.

Most of us know that kitchens, bathrooms and a fresh coat of paint inside and out, offer the best return on investment. According to the Appraisal Institute of Canada, you can expect to get back 75% to 100% of what you put into kitchens and bathrooms. Painting can return 50% to 100% of your investment.

While these are typically low-risk investments, a number of factors can influence the gains you achieve with other types of renovations. Location is one such consideration. The completion of a basement recreation room for example, can generally return 50% to 75% of expenses, depending on the preferences of future buyers in your area. In a predominantly seniors’ community, its value could be considerably limited.

It’s also important to consider your home’s most crucial needs. Window and door replacement may offer a return of 50% to 75%, but if your existing units are broken, this home improvement should take priority on your project list. Where glaring needs are concerned, the value associated with your home’s overall impression outweighs specific project returns.

When deciding whether to proceed with functional renovations though, it’s also important to consider that significant government rebates are available for many energy efficiency improvements.

There are some improvements that we undertake simply for our own enjoyment, like a swimming pool, from which you can get back up to 40% of your investment or landscaping, which is likely to offer a 25% to 50% return. Despite the limited gains they may offer individually, these types of improvements can also make an important contribution to your property’s overall image.

Consider, as well, that not all of your renovations need to be sizable. Even minor improvements like new light fixtures, cabinet hardware or faucets can give your home a contemporary look.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information  -  416-388-1960

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Teranet-National Bank index sees month-over-month gain in December for Toronto

Helen Morris, National Post

Last week saw Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announce changes to mortgage qualification rules in an attempt to cool down the housing market.

Home prices in Toronto have continued to climb since the market entered recovery mode last year. Resale prices rose 1.2% month-over-month in December, according to the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index released this week. This amounts to a 7.1% rise on a year-over-year basis.

However, analysts suggest that factors other than stricter borrowing rules will likely rein in future gains.

“The pace of increase, especially in the Toronto area, might not be lasting,” says Simon Cote, managing director, property derivatives, National Bank of Canada. “New listings and new housing starts recently have both increased significantly. This added supply should at least reduce the rate of price increase in the Toronto area.”

(Only homes that have sold at least two times are counted in the Teranet index.)

At the national level, the composite index of six metropolitan markets also rose 1.2% month-over-month, pushing the index to a new record above the pre-recessionary peak. Nationwide, according to the index, resale prices rose 5.2% year-over-year. This represented the third consecutive month in which prices were up from a year earlier, after 10 consecutive months of year-over-year deflation.

“For this month, I would concentrate on the index value itself (rather than monthly or yearly increases). The national index (132.15) has reached a higher level than it was, pre-recession in 2007,” says Mr. Cote. “The supply will increase in the coming months [and then there's the] the Flaherty measures. All of this should at least reduce the pace of increase.”

In addition to Toronto, three other cities experienced rises in excess of 1% for December: Calgary (1.6%), Vancouver (1.3%) and Montreal (1.1%). Montreal recorded its first healthy increase in four months. The Vancouver price gain was the smallest in that market for the seven months since prices started to rise again.

Halifax prices saw their first decline in six months, falling 1.9%. Ottawa remained steady, inching up 0.4% month-overmonth. On a year ago basis, prices in Calgary edged up 0.1%, the first year-over-year rise for 18 months. All the other markets that make up the composite index saw 12-month rises: 6.2% in Ottawa, 5.1% in Vancouver, 5.0% in Montreal and 2.9% in Halifax.

South of the border, there was better-than-expected news as resale home prices edged up 0.3% month-overmonth in December. This represents the seventh consecutive monthly rise in the S&P/ Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index.

“The message here is that the stabilization in the housing market itself has continued apace in the U.S.,” says Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities. “The housing market recovery remains on track but . . . we do think that probably by the middle to the end of this year the momentum may lose some steam.”

Too many houses and not enough people with jobs may hinder a more-rapid recovery in the market.

“The inventory of unsold homes remains huge and that has continued to put some downward pressure on prices … that has been offset by the fiscal support” from Washington, Mr. Mulraine says. “When that support is removed, the soft underbelly of the U.S. housing market will be exposed. Particularly given that we don’t expect the recovery to pick up any significant level of momentum, nor do we expect any massive job gains. These are the things which would likely provide some offset from the adverse impact of the removal of that stimulus.”

Comparing the numbers from a year earlier, prices dropped 3.1%; this follows from the 5.3% drop recorded in November. Some areas showed gains but perhaps not for the healthiest reasons.

“A number of depressed places are beginning to show year-over-year gain, such as San Francisco, San Diego,” Mr. Mulraine says. “That’s because they’re now a year displaced from when prices declined at a cataclysmic rate.”

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information  -  416-388-1960

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