The Kitchener Waterloo real estate market is humming along nicely, so it was a busy week around the offices of KWhomesandhouses.com. We’re thinking because we really didn’t have winter, our Open House attendance has been way up so far this year as has our general sales activity – request to show, telephone inquiries…

GO Train

Cambridge is still a little miffed that Kitchener got the Go Train and Cambridge will have to wait another 15 to 25 years before they link up too. It’s been 40 years since a passenger train left the Malcolm Street station.

Breslau’s Hopewell Heights will almost certainly get a GO Train station before Cambridge. There are two major housing developments planned for area’s north and south of old Breslau.

The housing market won’t crash

According to a Reuters’ poll, the government of Canada is doing everything but raising the interest rates to ensure Canada’s housing market will not crash. If you’re thinking of buying a house you might want to get your butt in gear though because our Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will likely be making it more difficult to get a mortgage this year. The budget, which is expected in late March is expected to tighten the requirements for government backed insured mortgages.

Flaherty could also raise the minimum down payment to buy a home from the current 5% or reduce the maximum amortization period from 30 years.

365 Business Network

The Agents of Change with our partners have started a unique and popular network group 365 Business Network. Meeting once monthly, the 365 Business Network is an extension of our community site 365 things to do in Kitchener Waterloo. One of the things that makes living in Waterloo Region great are the wonderful businesses that are here. 365 Business Network aims to be the place where we can get to know each other better and promote our businesses through building strong connections. If you do business in Kitchener Waterloo, you should check it out.

In related news 365 things to do had a surge of visitors last month and recently went over 1000 facebook likes.

Two condos, two agents, one Sunday

122 Mansion Street, Kitchener is an executive town home located in the heart of Kitchener’s East Ward. This beautiful and spacious condo townhouse will be open to the public for viewing this Sunday 2:00-4:00pm. The Kitchener Waterloo real estate market has some great condos and this is one of them!

29-49 Cedarwoods is a well located and desirable condo close to Fairview Park Mall. It’s freshly painted and has a shiny and new engineered hardwood floor. This beautiful and spacious condo townhouse will also be open to the public for viewing this Sunday 2:00-4:00pm.

Links I like

I read a lot of news every week about Kitchener Waterloo real estate, real estate trends, mortgage interest rates, home design, cities, transportation social economic trends… so I’m adding links I like to my weekly updates.

Waterloo’s rusty bell

Car free Sundays 

Giving up on Baltimore’s neighbourhoods 

Living with mom and dad

No school time change 

The psychology of home

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This week in KW real estate:

February 25

February 18 

February 11

February 4

Filed under: 365 things to do in Kitchener Waterloo, Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, condo, editorial, for sale, interest rates, mortgage, open house, this week in real estate by Keith Marshall
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Official Plans

We were at the City of Waterloo last week, peeking at the draft version of the Official Plan. Alasdair and I were looking into possible zoning changes to a Waterloo neighborhood for some clients. We got most of what we needed. When you ask the right questions, the cities in Waterloo Region are happy to help. If you’re interested in Cambridge zoning, our friends at Wonderful Waterloo posted the Cambridge Official Plan. Here it is.

How bad Waterloo taxes?

Waterloo municipal taxes are ranked middle to high, the second highest ranking in the province, on par with Kingston and Oakville. Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa have higher taxes.

But how does Waterloo compare to Kitchener and Cambridge?

According to estimates by a Hamilton consulting firm, the average Waterloo home pays up to $647 more in taxes than the average home in Kitchener or Cambridge.

And what do you get for your taxes?

According to an annual survey of Waterloo Regions cities,  Kitchener provides the highest level of service for the lowest cost. Cambridge is ranked second and Waterloo is third with the lowest level of service at the highest cost.The survey considers 138 measurements on firefighting, roads, libraries, parks and recreation, water, sewer and planning.

Interesting (and related to the first story about the Official Plan), the survey found that Kitchener is the best at protecting farmland. Waterloo is the worst.

Breithaupt Block

Similar to the Tannery, a project that is getting a lot of attention is Brethaupt Block. I happened across the website for the architecture firm so I thought I’d share it here. Keep you eye on this project. It’s a good example of how our cities are intensifying.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, this week in real estate by Keith Marshall
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King and Louisa Development

Kitchener Waterloo saw a lot of Real Estate news this week. A new 8 storey multi-residential building and a 3 unit multiple dwelling unit is being planned for the corner of King and Louisa Streets in Kitchener. This is consistent with our mixed-use and intensification objectives. I predict we’ll be seeing a lot more of this type of project along the future LRT route.

Spur line bike path

The development of a spur-line trail is the region’s top priority for off-road pathways. The trail will run from Regina Street in Waterloo to Wilhelm and Weber streets in Kitchener. It will cost about $2.5 million. There already exists a path along side the tracks but this new trail will encourage more foot traffic and cyclists  as it will connect to the Iron Horse Trail and Laurel Trail in Waterloo and to the new multi-model Hub in Kitchener.

Former car dealership site might be redeveloped for residential use

Most of us remember the site as Gary Stockie’s GM dealership. But that closed down in 2009. Then Mitsubishi moved in. But now there is speculation that a major change in land use could be coming to that section of Ottawa Street (between King and Weber) near downtown Kitchener. The neighbouring Olivet United Church has also been approached about selling its land. this all looks good for this long neglected part of Kitchener.

Mansion Street – Open House

122 Mansion Street, Kitchener is an executive town home located in the heart of Kitchener’s East Ward. This beautiful and spacious condo townhouse will be open to the public for viewing this Saturday and Sunday 2:00-4:00pm.

Come out and see us.

If you like this post, please share it.

This week in KW real estate:

February 11

February 4

January 27

January 20

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, for sale, open house, real estate, this week in real estate, Uncategorized by Keith Marshall
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Often when I’m talking with people about real estate (everyone loves talking about real estate) someone will say something like “the housing market is going to crash”.
I always have to disagree. And here’s why.

1) We are the USA. Things crashed there, especially in Florida and parts of Arizona and California. The subprime mortgages offered in the USA was much more aggressive (dodgy) than what our banks and other lenders will offer here. Furthermore, lenders have better recourse to go after people who walk away from their mortgages. We get a lot of news filtering in from the USA. It does not apply to us.

2) Some people argue that when (if) interest rates rise, a lot of people will get caught in a credit crunch and wont be able to afford their mortgages. This will cause sudden and severe downward price pressure on housing prices. Sounds reasonable. There has been a lot of news about Canadians spending beyond our means. But if you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that the Bank of Canada is holding the rate down, allowing it to climb slowly with economic activity, job growth and income levels.
3) In real estate, we like to say the three most important things are location, location and location. In two cities – Toronto and Vancouver there is a bit of a housing bubble taking place (especially in the condo market) and the regulators are trying to let the air out of these markets slowly. But in Waterloo Region we have a very stable market where houses priced right sell within 60 days and multiple offers occur, but not as often as a few years ago.

4) Price-to-rent and price-to-income ratios show over-valuation in the Canadian market, but valuation levels are not usually good indicators of turning points. Over- and under-valuation can persist for years in currency and financial markets. Indeed, the U.S stock market has been over-valued for more than a decade going by several yardsticks—yet it’s still holding up.

5) It’s wishful thinking. Many first time homebuyers would love to see housing prices fall by 30% overnight. Buying a house seems so much more expensive than it was ten years ago – because it is. Since 2000, housing prices nearly doubled but wages remained about the same. Hope is not a plan. House prices will not crash simply because you want them to.
source

Filed under: advice, Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, investing in real estate, mortgage, Selling Real Estate by Keith Marshall
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122 Mansion Street, Kitchener is an executive town home located in the heart of Kitchener’s East Ward. This beautiful and spacious condo townhouse has two bedrooms, a den, a large open concept kitchen, dining room and living area.

There are two bathrooms.

On the 2nd floor, upstairs, you’ll find the well designed, bright and airy master bedroom. It has a walk-in closet and well appointed bathroom as well as a large private patio.

This unit has a full basement.In the basement you’ll find the washer and dryer, two of the five included appliances.

The kitchen appliances: refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher are stainless steel.

On the main floor, the front entrance opens onto Mansion Street, in the heart of Kitchener’s East Ward.122 Mansion Street is a five minute walk to Kitchener Public Library, kw/ag and Centre in the Square. It’s a seven minute walk to Frederick Street Mall, where you’ll find the Frederick Twin Cinemas Theatre, Total Skin and Body Clinic, Frederick Billiards, and Zehrs.

The Conestoga Parkway is moments away. And it is an easy walk into downtown Kitchener and all of the restaurants and nightspots it has to offer. Some of these spots include THEMUSEUM, Victoria Park, and a new favorite Mexican restaurant - Holy Guacamole.

122 Mansion has a walk score of 72 which is considered “very good”. It has a transit score of 50 which is considered “good”. Of course 122 Mansion also comes with two places to park your car, a reserved spot in the lot behind the building and in a private single garage.

If you are looking for a comfortably spacious, cosmopolitain and urban lifestyle, this might be exactly the place.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, condo, for sale by Keith Marshall
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