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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If you’re looking for a home in Kitchener Waterloo and don’t know where to start, you should start with a lender and a real estate agent.

You know yourself that after you’ve been doing a job for awhile, it becomes easier. The same is true with real estate. Good agents know the answers, the process and where to look, who to ask if we don’t. I always encourage my clients to ask questions, whatever is on their mind. there are no stupid questions. Buying or selling a home is a process of learning so that you can become comfortable in making the big decision.

I encourage questions when visiting homes and through my website and facebook page. Alasdair and I always invite clients into our office to get a better idea of where they are on the learning curve and how we can help. Sometimes we make tea.

From time to time, I post a couple of questions that have come up. Here are two recent questions:

Where to get a mortgage

Q: My husband and I are starting to plan on buying a home in Kitchener Waterloo, but we don’t know where to begin. We aren’t from here. We are just married and have good credit. We are trying to find out who we should contact to arrange a mortgage.

A: You should start at your bank. You can get pre-qualified with a quick trip to your bank. They’ll tell you how much house you can afford. After that, the second step is to find a realtor that will help you identify houses that match your budget, help you understand neighborhoods, development plans, transportation and amenities, schools…

If you don’t have a banker, then start with a realtor. He will introduce you to two or three lenders who will help you understand your financial picture and the current mortgage options.

When to start

Q: We are looking to move into our first home by July. We’ve just started looking. When should we find a realtor?

A: Many people find their realtor as they are looking for their house. They meet them at open houses, or when they call on a listing. They are sometimes introduced through friends and colleagues. It’s important to find a realtor early in the process – you don’t really want to be dealing with the realtor who is selling the place you want to buy. A good realtor will help focus your search and find your next home easily, without having to see everything on the market.

A: Short answer. Next month – March. Depending on how much time and what’s on the market, it can take two months of effort to find the right house. A 60-90 day closing date is common. If you want to move in in July, starting in March will all but guarantee success.

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Filed under: 365 tips for buying or selling a home in KW, advice, Buying Real Estate, mortgage, neighborhood update, Q&A, Selling Real Estate by Keith Marshall
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As both a long time marketer and blogger, one of my favorite daily reads is Seth Godin. He wrote the other day that he was picking out the mat for a framed photo and there were a thousand colors to choose from. The framer uttered the scary invocation, “It’s completely up to you” putting the choice back to him.

That’s a problem.

We live in a very complicated world, full of choice. We are forced to make decisions all the time, everyday. Some are easy (until this week) “large double double”, and some, like picking out a mat for a picture frame or buying or selling a house are more difficult.

Maybe these are more difficult because there is more to lose if you guess wrong and the fact that you don’t make decisions like this everyday, you don’t have the experience and enough information to be comfortable in deciding.

I meet and talk to people every week that look for houses on their own. I think that’s great, we have the tools (like MLS) and the opportunity (like open houses) to educate ourselves about the Kitchener Waterloo real estate market. Although it would be easier to hire an agent right from the start its another of these decisions that are difficult because we make them so rarely.

How do I find an agent?

What do I look for in an agent?

What do agents do that I can’t do for myself?

Anytime we do something we don’t normally do, we’re on a voyage of discovery. We have to move along the the rocky coast of the learning curve, educating ourselves. We have to make little decisions that will help us make the big one.

Seth Godin goes on, “If you think you have no choice but to do what you do now, you’ve already made a serious error.”

Sooner or later, when you buy or sell a home, there is a 90% chance at least one realtor will be involved. If you are comfortable enough to find yourself a trusted advisor early, you can learn what you need to know a lot faster. After all, your decision is completely up to you.

Filed under: About me, advice, Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, editorial, general news, life of a realtor, real estate, real estate trends, Selling Real Estate by Keith Marshall
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Alasdair and I were holding a couple of open houses over this past weekend. There are a couple of things we learned and the impressions we got from our visitors that we’d like to share.

One of the main impressions from conversations we had this weekend was that people are struggling to understand property values and how different properties compare in the current market place. This is hardly surprising considering that for one family that we spoke with, the properties visited ranged from 1960’s bungalows to much newer construction. Trying to draw a link between different property types in different but adjacent neighborhoods, and arriving at a reasonable opinion of value, based upon very little detailed information and analysis is challenging.

This is where having the services of professional, knowledgeable and service oriented realtors like Alasdair and I will help you make sense of the pricing and value of the properties visited.

It’s surprising to me that people try to learn about the market on their own, when we are here to help. If you’d like to sit down with Alasdair and I to plan your approach to the market, let us know and we’d be glad to meet you and help you as early in the process as possible. Sooner or later it is likely that a realtor will be involved in the sale or purchase of your home. You want great value in your home, you might as well get value out of your realtor as well. the earlier you involve a realtor in your home search, the more value you are receiving and the more help we can be to you.

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Filed under: advice, Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, editorial, open house, real estate trends, Selling Real Estate by Keith Marshall
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…and how is this related to real estate?

In the dark of night in your local supermarket, from canned vegetables and salad dressing to fresh fruit and deli meats, countless items are being removed from store shelves. They are expired or expiring, past their prime.

What happens to them?

Much of the meat and, fruit and vegetables end up at the deli counter. Food banks get some of the can and dry goods, some gets marked way down for a quick sale and some ends up in the dumpster behind the store. It’s just the way it is, the cost of doing business, oversupply and under-demand…

In happens in real estate too. The majority of houses sell, most within about 90 days, but many don’t sell.

They don’t sell for many reasons: the agent didn’t market the home properly, the home is flawed or stigmatized or overpriced, the timing was bad, or perhaps it wasn’t on the market long enough, or too long, maybe there are too many similar homes on the market. These are all possible reasons. And there are more.

What’s important though, is that you the seller does not take it personally. It’s hard not to do. You’ve gone to the trouble of getting your house ready for sale, you’ve kept it neat and tidy, you’ve been asked at short notice to be absent between 7:00-8:00pm because there are some people who want to see it. You’ve been told to stay away on weekend afternoons for open houses. You’ve signed all the paperwork, talked to bankers and lawyers. Your neighbors know you want to move.

It’s frustrating. But like I said. Don’t take it personally. It is what it is.

You still want to sell. What should you do now?

The best thing to do, is to find out why it didn’t sell, address that issue and try again. Invite real estate agents like Alasdair and I over for a chat. We’ll be able to tell you why we think it didn’t sell. We’ll give you the advice you need to get your house on the market again and this time, learn from your mistakes and sell it in 90 days.

That’s what I’d do.

Filed under: home, home owners, real estate, real estate trends, Selling Real Estate by Keith Marshall
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