Posts Tagged ‘Sold’

HIGH DEMAND AND LOW SUPPLY CONTINUED TO CHARACTERIZE VANCOUVER’S AND TORONTO’S HOUSING MARKETS THROUGHOUT 2016 AS COMPETITION FROM BUYERS FOR LIMITED INVENTORY OF SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES PUSHED PRICES HIGHER.

The average residential sale price increased 13 per cent in Greater Vancouver to approximately $1,020,300 and rose 17 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to an estimated $725,857. Although demand remains high in both urban centres, limited inventory in the freehold market, the new 15 per cent foreign-buyer tax in Vancouver and the recent tightening of mortgage rules by the federal government are expected to soften market activity in the short term. In 2017, RE/MAX estimates average residential sale price will increase by two and eight per cent in Greater Vancouver and the GTA respectively.

Regional markets in close proximity to Canada’s highest-price cities continued to experience steady interest from local move-up buyers and buyers from these cities (“move- over” buyers) who are looking to nd a balance between affordability and square footage. This year there were considerable year-over-year average price increases in Barrie (16 per cent), Hamilton-Burlington (20 per cent), the Fraser Valley (20 per cent) and Kelowna (14 per cent).

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The RE/MAX 2017 average residential sale price expectation for Canada is an increase of two per cent as Canadians continue to see home ownership as an important milestone as well as a good investment.

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Victoria

Greater Vancouver Area

Fraser Valley

Kelowna

Calgary

Edmonton

Saskatoon

Regina

Winnipeg

Windsor-Essex

Sudbury

Kitchener/Waterloo

Hamilton/Burlington

Barrie

Greater Toronto Area

Kingston

Ottawa

THE HOUSING MARKET IN CANADA’S CAPITAL REMAINED STABLE IN 2016 WITH MODEST INCREASES IN BOTH THE NUMBER OF SALES AND THE AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL SALE PRICE.

The average residential sale price grew one per cent year-over-year, from $367,632 to $370,940. The number of sales between January and October rose to 13,834 in 2016 compared to 12,964 during the same period in 2015.  For more information, please call the BGM Real Estate Team at 613-558-8000!

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Montreal

Quebec City

Saint John

Halifax

Charlottetown

St. John’s and Area

(more…)

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There are many life situations that may lead you to consider selling your current home and downsizing into a smaller one: Kids leaving for university, cashing in on a retirement plan, or the pressure of property upkeep. Whichever reasons you’re facing, make sure you’ve really done your homework before making any decisions. Here’s a list of 10 helpful hints to kick-start that conversation.

1. Facing Finances

Take a long, hard look at your financial input and output—especially if you’re on a fixed retirement income. If your savings aren’t substantial enough to constitute a “nest egg,” then tucking away the profits from the property may be the way to go. Downsizing may come down to finances but you should be able to show the evidence, one way or the other.

2. Community Connections

The costs of moving can go well beyond dollar bills. Consider your emotional wealth before taking any critical steps. Ask yourself, “Will this downsize take me away—intentionally or unintentionally—from the family, community and friendship supports I depend on or do I need new support systems for my physical, spiritual, medical and emotional well being?” Downsizing isn’t always about size and cents, sometimes it’s critical for your well-being.

3. Real Estate Market

Is your area a buyer’s market or a seller’s market? What can you hope to make on the sale? Finding the right real-estate agent to answer these questions is key. Ask friends and family members who’ve gone through similar transitions for referrals, and try to gather evaluations from two or three REALTORS® to ensure you’re getting a clear picture of the market.

4. Independent Thinker

Potentially selling the family home brings up a lot of emotions for everyone involved. Kids don’t want to see their childhood home go and family members are hoping for a chunk of change; it’s imperative that you seek out independent, unbiased advice. A REALTOR® can give you market feedback on your situation without any personal baggage.

5. Home Maintenance

Look at the work it takes to keep your current home clean, your garden weeded and your lawn maintained. It is too much to handle, or will it be in a few years? It’s best to downsize before it becomes imperative, because by then, a move will be even more physically challenging and emotionally draining.

6. Lifestyle Limitations

Maybe you feel a great wave of excitement at the idea of living near the ocean, or maybe the idea of leaving behind your veggie garden is too much. Moving comes with gains and losses, and you have to be prepared to give up certain aspects of your current lifestyle and adapt to new ones.

7. Square Footage

Think through your floor plan and look at different ways that square footage can be used. Can the kids’ old bedroom become a long-awaited art studio? Would the basement work as a private theatre? If you conclude that extra room is more hassle than it’s worth, maybe downsizing to a cozier home is for you.

8. Property Payments

Yearly taxes and property insurance payments can take a chunk out of a modest budget. Would those expenses be less if you downsized and lived in a different neighbourhood, on a smaller plot or in a more compact house?

9. Be a Realist

Think carefully about the realities of aging. Remaining in a family home as you age often means adapting your home and relying on the help of others. These things can come at a cost, both financially and emotionally. It’s important that you discuss your plans with any family members or friends that might be affected by your decision to downsize, and ensure everyone is in agreement with your plans.

10. Don’t Rush

Luckily, you already have a place to live, so take your time and assess all the angles before making such a profound decision. When you are ready to start looking, don’t rush into anything. Sit with your REALTOR® and write down criteria for must haves in your new place. When the time is right, you’ll know.

For more information, or just to chat, contact us anytime at 613-558-8000, or visit our website at www.myottawateam.com

(courtesy of RE/MAX Integra)

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It’s that F-word season again…FALL!

Fall colours

Air conditioners are turned off, gardens are put to bed, leaves turn into colours that become so vibrant you have to stop and stare. Mornings and evenings are filled with smells that are unique to fall…a mix of earth, water and summer campfires smoldering to their winters end. Sometimes we are more like bears than we think…dreams of warm sweaters and comfortable flannel bring small smiles and feelings of hibernation…and maybe hot chocolate!

BUT WAIT! 

Before Fall becomes winter

If you are anticipating a move, a relocation or a posting this coming 2017 APS, head on out to your front and back yards over the next week before fall officially begins and take some pictures of your green lawn, that pool you used all summer, the trees full of leaves, the flowers and gardens you spent hours tending to on your knees.

You will thank yourself, and we will thank you too, when you list your house in the winter or spring when the pool is still covered, frozen or green, your grass is brown or snow covered, trees are bare… you get the picture!

Grab those fall shots before its too late

Your summer and fall photos of the front and back of your yard will help to effectively market your home no matter how much snow is in the forecast! When we list your home in the “off” season it helps if we can show any prospective buyers how amazing your home looks in the spring and summer. It is particularly helpful in the dead of winter when buyers can’t even see the topography of your lot.

This is your mission, should you choose to accept it. 🙂 Have fun and don’t forget to call us at 613-558-8000, email us at info@myottawateam.com, visit our website www.myottawateam.com if you are considering a move in 2017!

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Here at BGM Real Estate Team we pride ourselves on the service we provide to our clients across the Ottawa region and especially the East end. We work from Carleton Place right through to Rockland. Now, we are proud to announce that we have a new home in the East End…a place for clients to visit, a place for us to coordinate our long days, a place close to the highway so we can get to all of you that much faster! We anticipate opening our new home in November 2016!

BGMs East End location 3B-2160 Montreal Rd.

While we service the entire city, we have worked just as hard to have an impact on the communities we live in. We are extremely fortunate to be the REALTORS® of choice for over 35% of the homeowners in Blackburn Hamlet, and we are now opening the office close to them so that we may continue not only our business service, but also our good citizen service to the community that has trusted us. We look forward to continuing our participation in Hockey Day in the Hamlet, the Blackburn Hamlet Fun Fair, the Cancer Chase and we look forward to new community participation…to be unveiled very soon!

As we set our roots in Beacon Hill North in the East End of the city, our wish is to become as big a part of the community as we are in Blackburn Hamlet. (Laurie is very excited to be back in the neighbourhood she grew up in!) We have lots of ideas for the community and we would love to hear from any of you in the area that may have even more ideas! We will start with small offerings as we begin to offer our expertise, knowledge and caring to our neighbours. So….

Big things coming to the East End!

But if you really can’t wait…you can check us out anytime at www.myottawateam.com or call us at 613-558-8000! We would love to hear from you.

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Here we are – a full 180+ days into the 2016 Ottawa Real Estate market and we here at BGM Real Estate Team have noticed both positive and negative aspects to our local Ottawa Market. As many of you have undoubtedly heard time and time again, markets are cyclical. They rise and fall based on supply and demand, interest rates and the global economic happenings in general, helped AND hindered in spots by government regulation.

So where is our market cycle right now? Are we up? (Sellers market) or down? (Buyers market) If you read the papers it would appear the market has gone completely mad with every home getting an incredible number of offers, driving prices ever higher. While this may certainly be the case for Vancouver and Toronto, it is most certainly not the case here in the Capital.

The Ottawa Real Estate Market is Balanced

We have a very balanced market at the moment, with a few areas of exception. But let’s divide that up into a few sections so we can discuss the various pieces that make up the Ottawa Market. Let’s talk about Mortgage money, geography and expectations. You will find the last item, in fact, to be the most integral to understanding Ottawa’s market.

The cost of borrowing money in order to buy property has never been so low. With slow US economic growth, weak Canadian exports, low oil prices and consumer spending, our interest rates remain attractive. As Stephen S. Poloz, Governor of the Bank of Canada has put it “For the past 18 months, the biggest issue for our forecast has been tracking how the Canadian economy is adjusting to low resource prices. In the first instance, this has meant a big drop in investment spending, especially in the oil patch. It has also meant a lower value for the Canadian dollar and two interest rate cuts during 2015.”

Historically low rates have allowed Buyers into property ownership in record numbers. Even with safeguards in place (every borrower must qualify for a 5% rate, 5 year fixed term amortized over 25 years) the demand for property is quite high. This is a definite positive for the Ottawa market and we have certainly met with an abundance of qualified buyers so far this year.

So we have one in the positive column – lots of Buyers out there looking for their first or next home. Now where are they looking? The good news is there are enough Buyers out there that all neighbourhoods are getting traction in the market. But there is certainly a lean towards the centre and west ends of the city. Given that Ottawa is a very transient town, cycling heavily through government relocations, private industry changes, new immigrant growth, as well as the normal ebbs and flows we see in real estate, the Buyers are very attentive to the fact they will at some point in their 3-5 year plan be a Seller. Therefore, they are attuned to the growth patterns in the city. With calls for sustainable building and reducing the carbon footprint the desire to live downtown in high.

In addition, the Canadian Forces are opening an enormous Campus in the west end, the RCMP already moved into their campus in the south-west of the city, Outlet shopping, sports venues and all that would appeal to folks on a day-to-day basis cropping up at incredible speed in the centre and west – those markets tend to be faster, and more expensive and have been for the last 3-5 years.

Does that mean the rest of the City is in a slump? Not at all. Buyers are shopping for the best fit – proximity to their employment, schools, activities and friends and family – so we have been shopping with them in all areas of the city.

But what is it we mean by faster or slower? Are the prices higher overall? Every area, indeed every neighbourhood, has its own market, its own flavour. We hope that this is one of the reasons you hire us – as expert guides to the investment values and personalities of those neighbourhoods. When breaking down the market into the various neighbourhoods, some are certainly hot, but as a whole the Ottawa market is nicely balanced, allowing Buyers choice in their investment.

Ottawa Market increase over time is very positive but not outrageous

The city has seen growth every single year in the residential class. Condominiums are having a rougher time, especially in the downtown area…but we think perhaps another article should explore this in greater detail.

For Sellers a balanced market can be a bit more of a trial, especially given the years from 2000-2013 were completely in their favour. Everything sold, in any condition for more than a decade! That is a difficult perception to turn around. Geographically, Sellers in many neighbourhoods are waiting longer to sell their homes. The timeframe in 2016 seems to be sitting between 60-90 days. By no means is it a tragically long time. When we became REALTORS® in the late 1990’s the market timeframe was up to a year to sell, with list to sell ratios sitting at about 90% of asking. (Folks were negotiating anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 off the asking price.) So on the geographic point we have both positive and negative. Positive for the buyers as there is more supply, negative for the Sellers for the very same reason.

Now we come to what we think is the most important point of this Ottawa market – Expectations. Perhaps some of what we have learned will help you – whether you are a Buyer, or a Seller.

Housing Expectations vs. Reality

Let’s start with what we have seen in Sellers expectations. They have diligently watched the news, seeing reports of rising housing prices, low interest rates and competition amongst buyers for a decent home. They have also loved their homes and have deep emotional attachments (for the most part) to the place where their memories have been made. It is hard for any Seller (us included) to detach from their home and put it in the framework of a “market” of homes and how they stack up against others on their street, in the their neighbourhood and in their general area. As professional REALTORS® we are the messengers of market reality – good and bad. In a balanced market, we tend to have difficult, yet honest discussions with our Sellers about how their home presents itself to today’s Buyers. It is a testament to our passion for our clients that we bring you not only the good news, but the bad. We navigate the experience together – from pricing, to home improvements, staging, marketing, feedback….good, professional REALTORS® are there for every step. If we have one comment for our Sellers, it is that our expertise stops short of a Crystal Ball. We have no supernatural powers when it comes to the market. The day we say we have seen it all is the day we should walk away. We give you the very best we have and hope the sale doesn’t take too long.

The other part of the expectation equation are the Buyers – what do they expect? We often laugh with our first time buyers that they need to stop watching HGTV immediately upon deciding to find a home. They have been conditioned to expect the last 5 minutes of any real estate related show in every home they see OR they see a problem around every corner. Homes are imperfect things – they are made with wood, bricks, drywall, vinyl. Things that can expand, contract, break, wear down. Homes are exposed to water, wind, and sun. They sit on rocks, and sand, and clay. Each house will have a personality that reflects its owner – we see it in their choices for flooring, paint, counter top and landscaping.

We understand that today’s buyers have even less time to dedicate to a home’s overall maintenance – the very nature of employment has changed. Work commands a staggering amount of time in people’s lives, so their priorities have changed as well – seeking more balance. We try to meet those expectations, as well as educate Buyers on the nuances the TV programmes leave behind. Things like – Not every house has a problem, educating between big problems and small ones, how cosmetics of a home can change for very little, and just because it is a bit dated does not mean it doesn’t work.

It is in the analysis of the expectations of both Sellers and Buyers that we can determine the type of market Ottawa is having. When we have to help manage the expectations of BOTH sides – well, that truly is the sign of a balanced market.

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Pride of ownership prevails

 Ottawa, Ontario

4 Beds 4 Baths

Offered at: $0

Four bedroom family home with four season fully excavated extension. Pride of ownership prevails. Backing onto walking path to Glen Ogilvie and Ecole Ste. Marie schools. Renovated kitchen, baths. 3 piece ensuite. Chef's will delight in the kitchen with oversized professional gas stove and double ovens. Island with granite. Family ro...

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3 Bedroom Home with fantastic private lot!

 Embrun, Ontario

3 Beds 3 Baths

Offered at: $0

Beautiful 3 bedroom home with rare private yard. Gleaming hardwood on the main floor. Gas fireplace in the living room. Open country kitchen with breakfast bar. 3 large bedrooms, finished basement with recreation room, den (potential bedroom), 4 piece bathroom. Lower level just needs a ceiling. Private backyard with hot tub!

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Ottawa Homes-Sold

 

5 Beds 3 Baths

Rarely offered redwood model with over $120,000 in upgrades! A true five bedroom home on a 60x100 lot in beautiful blackburn hamlet. Features include an updated kitchen with granite countertops and custom cabinets. Barwood flooring throughout main floor and stairs. All bathrooms have been renovated. Finished basement includes large ...

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Ottawa Homes-Sold

 

4 Beds 3 Baths

One of blackburn hamlet's most desirable layouts! The crimson king model has an open concept layout with eat-in kitchen, main floor family room and a large master bedroom with walk-in closet and four piece ensuite bath. Backing onto the blackburn hamlet's path system close to diceman park. This home may need updating but has been ve...

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Ottawa Homes-Sold

 

4 Beds 2 Baths

Welcome to beautiful blackburn hamlet, convenient to all amenities including transit, shopping, great schools and miles of green space. This 4 bdrm semi-detached home will not disappoint! New kitchen with granite counters, fresh paint, new siding all around(2015), stamped concrete patio in the backyard with no rear neighbors. Stone ...

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