May 2011

Wow what a month – politics, real estate and sunshine! Whew!  Here are a few quick thoughts.

Interest rates - Interest rates are very unpredictable right now with small fluctuations up and down.  It is safe to say however that they will not be going down.  Rates are currently predicted to continue a slow climb.

The Market -The market is very stable.  The current Graphstats clearly show stability since last August and the 1^st quarter of 2011 was very strong.  A few factors have created this strong movement in Real Estate.

Buyers – The listing season has arrived however the market has stabilized.  Many homeowners can’t lower their prices anymore, interest rates have started to increase, property taxes increased again adding to the current price value and the market looks stable.  That means if you have been waiting for the bottom of the market – it appears to be here.  Homes are selling.  If you have been watching a special home you may want to consider making a move on it as the market is moving quickly now.

Sellers – This is the season to clean up the yard, get the grass growing and show people just how beautiful your home can be.  The year homes are competitively priced so keep in touch with your Realtor and re-evaluate your price often.  No one wants to lower their price but watch who you are in competition with and compare your current price.

Website - The video market update will be online May 4^th.  Also don’t forget to watch my Facebook or Twitter feeds for weekly market information.  A home is the biggest investment most people will ever make – stay up to date with market trends and understand where your home is valued in case you need to know fast.

Well it has started to happen.  Everyone is reaching their bottom line.

In an exaggerated market like we saw in 2007 prices were inflated based on demand and emotion not on math.  IE I can afford that house - I have the money (real or credit) - there for I should buy it - but someone else might buy it so I should buy it now.  In 2007 multiple offers and huge negotiations were the way of the deal. 

Today things have changed.  While many people are still calling it a recession they are (to be polite) wrong.  It was projected that all markets would bounce along the bottom of their markets and Real Estate being a very "normal" market is doing just that - bouncing along the road to recovery like everything else.  The trick with a house is - not everyone needs to buy shares in Apple because of it has a massive build up of cash and is poised to buy stuff...but EVERYONE needs a roof over their head.  So if your buying a 1st time home, an investment for rental or just upgrading or downsizing - Real Estate is not going away.

WELCOME TO A BALANCED MARKET (relatively)

It has probably been so long since people have been in a balanced market they don't recognize it.  A balanced market starts to happen when buyers are buying houses for realistic prices and sellers are realistic about their price.  Negotiations are no longer about going back and forth over $40,000 - they are about $5000 - $10000 based on the property and what is included.  Look at the recent graphstats on single family home pricing.

Prices have started to fluctuate up and down or bounce on the bottom as we look at it.  The reason we call it the bottom is - they are not going back down to recession levels (which lets be honest were mostly caused by panic) and they are not skyrocketing back up to 2007 levels (even though I liked that market better:).  Also a note about statistics is probably in order - they are easily manipulated.  IE the rise in pricing we see for a couple months on that link does not reflect an improving market - what it reflected was the high end sales that were going on.  IE just a few homes sold over $800,000 and that was enough to change the stats in an upward trend.  

Today sellers are reaching their bottom line and bottom line usually means loosing money.  No one wants that. So the deals are gone.

Sales volume is also fluctuating.  Volume is defined as the total volume of sales in a given time period.  Here is the volume link for this month.

Sales are up and down and only just starting to stabilize after the recession.   Again watch how stats can be manipulated going into the winter.  We could look at the stats and say sales are up - but the truth is over time they are actually normal.  Next month it will look like sales are down but history in this area stats fewer homes sell Dec - Feb.  It also shows there are more serious buyers and sellers during that time so you need to plan accordingly with your Realtor.

So the bottom line is tricky.  Get professional help and support.  Realtors can look at your home or the home your buying and research it's history.  They can look at how taxes are being raised over time, comparable homes in the area, comparable prices and price history.  Buying or selling your home is not just about how it makes you feel the first time you see it or walk through it - we want you to feel good 10 years down the road when you wake up in the morning.  

Take care and give me a call if your buying or selling - let's take 30 minutes to talk about changing the way you think about Real Estate.

FYI - I can be wrong - you can disagree - and if the links dont work on your computer just goto twitpic.com and look me up at erikaleighhaley

Have a great November!

Erika Haley

erika@erikahaley.ca

250.202.1058

In part one I really focused on the Seller but today is about the buyer.  The same situation applies – we are coming out of the largest recession in history and over the last year to year and a half there have been some amazing price decreases for buyers.

The main message here is that those days are coming to an end or have already ended if your reading this in 2020 and we no longer use money…. Oh don’t get me wrong the stories of people buying houses for an amazing deal will always exist they just won’t happen on the large scale that we saw in the throws of the recession.  So for the buyers there are also things to be aware of as we enter the fall…

Price
Price is what you need to know – not what the house price is but what you can afford (as per a financial institutions opinion not your buddy down the street).  Go get pre-approve, it doesn’t cost anything and it lets you know what price range you can afford.  Due to the market Realtors® are filtering viewing based on buyer qualifications – ie, you don’t get to look at the million dollar house if you can’t prove you can afford it.

Keep your head on…
I know that sounds funny but the people selling houses are people too.  It is important that you don’t walk into an offer $150,000 less than the listed price because from your view in the driveway the roof is shot. (And hopefully your working with a Realtor® that tells you this)  Seriously we see this all the time.  Look at homes in your price range and don’t focus on what the Gardening Channel is saying – they have no budgets.  What you can do it working with the right Realtor® - make an offer – negotiate it and then make sure due diligence is followed.  Inspections, proper financing and more – your Realtor® has a complete system to make sure your protected.

Condition
Oh yes we see this all the time too.  The renovation channels are great at showing the before and after but they do not realistically present the truth about the costs and timelines involved.  Really…. they don’t.

I have personally bought, refinished and sold 13 houses that I lived in and worked on over an 11-year period.  I can tell you that the TV is full of bad information.  Think twice about a renovation of “fixeruper” if you have never done it before or if you’re not really prepared financially and mentally to take on these projects.  Getting a low price on a house with a leaky roof because you think you can fix it is not always the right choice over a slightly smaller house with a solid roof.  Without the proper inspections and contractor quotes you might find out later that there is a lot more damaged that just having a leaky roof.  Be careful – there is a lot to be said for getting into a house you don’t have to work on.  My last home was 2 years old and for 2 years we did not lift a hammer or a pint brush – it was awesome.

Summary
Get pre-approved ASAP so your not disappointed later in what you can and can’t buy.

Keep you eye out for the deals but realistically they don’t come along very often and it is usually a really sad reason why it is a deal.

Use a professional negotiator/Realtor® to get the offer done and protect yourself from the largest purchase in most peoples lives. 

Renovations – think twice –they usually take twice as long and double the money you planned if you don’t plan and execute it properly…trust me I know.

And as usualy remember - I could be totally wrong!

Take care and have a great week!

Erika Haley

As fall approaches in the middle of one of the biggest recessions in history there are a couple points to keep in mind when you’re selling a house.

If you have your house listed or find that you need to list in the winter months you need to be aware that we are no longer in 2007.  If I could go back to that time I would - and I have had many discussions about finding a flux capacitor - but sadly I can't find one.  Seriously though that means you need to pay special attention to a few things that are paramount to selling your home.

Price 

Ya you have heard it a million times but I promise - a good home will sell in any market if it is priced right.   That's a good fact, go ahead and Twitter that out to people you know.... I’ll wait....:)

In today’s market when a homeowner is presented with the need to reduce their price after listing, or needs to set their price lower than they had hoped while setting up the listing, the standard response from everyone is - I don't want to give it away.  

The bottom line is if you list your house and you're not getting showings - you're too high.  If you are getting showings but negative feedback and no offers - you’re too high and should address the negative feedback.  If you’re giving it away and the price is too low - several Realtors and private investors will be viewing your home back to back and you will be in multiple offers that day and you don't actually have to accept any of their offers...but wouldn't it be nice to get offers so you can make that call.  

Until then - you're not giving it away.  The market has changed and it is relative.  You may sell your home lower today it is very likely you will buy your next home cheaper than it was listed before.  Focus on the big picture and lets get you moving into your new home...

Condition 

The condition of your home needs to better than your competition - yup you heard right - your competition.  

Anyone selling a home in the same town for the same price point is your competition regardless of the home.  The public look at price first followed by...everything else.  That does not mean just the overall condition of the home but it’s daily condition too.  

Before listing you want to spruce everything up and make it the best it can be, put away all that extra stuff and make it a show home.  Take a walk through and pretend you’re the buyer - would you be impressed with the presentation of your home.  Go ahead try it, you will be amazed at how honest you can be - if not get some friends to go through....honest friends. Once that is done you have to keep it that way for short notice showings.  Let me be clear, you need to keep it that way until you sell your home.

Location

Ok there is nothing you can do about location but really focus on item 1 and item 2 and be aware of the value of the location and area you are in.

Check in next week for a few points on Buying in this market when homes are hitting their actual bottom lines and the deals are gone.

Have a great Thanks Giving Weekend

Erika

Well if you have not guessed it yet the new website is upon us and it is - awesome.  Ya I know it's my site and I have to say it - but I mean it.  I want you to check out everything the site has to offer. Sure I would love to list your home or help you buy a new one but this time the reason I want you to check it out is I want to hear from you.  I want to know what you think about it - good and bad and what you want to see to make it easier for you.  How to make it "the" place you want to go for Real Estate information.  I know - sounds like a tall order but it's already the place I want to go...and I am a full time professional Realtor.

I have a particularly good team of IT people helping me but all of our combined brain power focused day and night can't come up with what you are thinking.  I can sit all day thinking about things I would like to do on this website, for you and truthfully I may have done just that a time or two - but it is not done.

Here are a few of the things I hope you will take time to really check out.

The Menu

The menu will be tuned over the month of October 2010 but in general you should be able to get anywhere on the site by using the simple menu at the top of the page.  The menu items are simple and direct and get you to what you want to see not what I think you should see.

The Searches

My focus is all about finding you a home or getting your home found by a potential buyer.  This is setup for people at all levels of technical knowledge.

Simple Search - this search got it's name for a reason.  At the top of the page all you have to do is enter a couple very basic search criteria like say.....price and....well truthfully taht would be enough to get you going.  Click on search and your into an average of 300 listings here in Campbell River and area.  From there you will find lots of easy ways to search in more detail, save your searches for reference later and contact me direct to arrange a showing or ask a questions.  It's simple.....

Google Map Search - one of my new favourites comes directly from your comments.  The number one request last year was to have a search for a specific area.  With the new Google Map Search you can do just that.  Pull up the map of Campbell River, zero in on an area of Campbell River, a street of Campbell River and even a specific house - just double click the map to zoom in to the area you want to be in.

Mobile Search - oh yes we know the statistics.  80% of Real Estate is now using the internet in their transaction.  We know that 80% of you are using it - or you would not be here but we also know that about 50% of those people are now using internet enabled devices like, Iphones and Android phones.  Well we are ready for you too.  This new system for mobile phones is as simple as it gets.  Click on the link on the front page and a very simple screen comes up and asks you where you want me to send the link to the sites Mobile access.  You say email or your phone number and you automatically get the link sent to you.  You don't have to remember anything just click on the link when it arrives and away you go. Ya - it's that easy.  I am not even going to get into all the cool stuff it does once you start using it but it is all explained on the webpage when you get started.  Even if your not using a mobile device just go read about it - it's awesome!

Buyer and Seller information - in addition to this I am also posting the Buyer and Seller packages in the same area.  This is a simple way that we can get started working together and making buying or selling your home an enjoyable experience.  No guess work, no wondering what is next.

Well that is enough for now but over the next few articles I will jump deeper into each section so you can reference it anytime on this blog.

Take care and call me - I love Real Estate and I think you will too!

Twitter @erikaleighhaley

Friend me on Facebook 

It's a jungle out there - don't feel left out your not the only ones that are entering the jungle and need a good guide. Just like the Listing Survival Guide I have created a Buyers Survival Guide and you can consider me your personal guide to the home buying process.

The Buyers Survival Guide is a guide and checklist on how to look for a home, how to handle an offer and what to do once you get an accepted offer on your new dream home.  Even concepts on where the local market is at so we can plan the right offer for the right home.

When your looking for a home and your not sure what to do next - call me and lets go through the guide and get you happy.