In Canada [...]]]> The U.S. Federal Reserve borrowed a play from Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney on Wednesday when they promised to keep interest rates low until at least the end of 2014. This is a good indication that Canadian rates will stay low as well, thus continuing the support of the real estate market here.

In Canada last year, the number of sales increased 2.2% over 2010 and the price of an average Canadian house increased 7.1%! In the GTA, the average house increased 10.8%.  Low interest rates will only cause this upward pressure to continue, just as our Bank of Canada has been warning that some real estate markets are overvalued.

This concern that low interest rates are increasing house prices beyond their reasonable value, will force Jim Flaherty, the Canadian finance minister, to make it harder for Canadians to qualify for a mortgage. He may have to reduce the CMHC insured amortization to 25 years or tweak the mortgage qualification in other ways to reduce the amount of new homebuyers.

I have seen clients choose to look for homes outside of Toronto, or even outside of the GTA, even though they work in Toronto because they consider the prices that homes are selling for inflated.  However, even on the fringes of the GTA house prices have ballooned to the same as they are here in Toronto.  A big drawback is the increased commute and plus out there you don’t get all the amenities like public transportation and availability of shopping like you would in Toronto.  Is there a winner in this situation?

The U.S. Fed also said they are considering printing more U.S. dollars, so expect the Canadian Dollar to raise above parity once again.  This will once again allow Canadians to take some of the equity out of their homes and purchase retirement homes in the sun.  Places like Arizona, Texas and the Mayan Riviera are sure to benefit.

Whether you are in the office or on-the-go, the new CMHC Mobile KIT provides quick and convenient access to tools and resources relevant to today’s busy mortgage professional. [...]]]> CMHC is pleased to introduce two new tools designed to provide you with flexible and convenient ways to access comprehensive CMHC information anytime, anywhere.

The CMHC Mobile Kit for Mortgage Professionals

Whether you are in the office or on-the-go, the new CMHC Mobile KIT provides quick and convenient access to tools and resources relevant to today’s busy mortgage professional. These tools and resources will help you stay informed and can easily be shared with your clients to help them make informed decisions.

Recognizing that you work in a fast paced, electronic and mobile work environment, the new CMHC Mobile KIT is a free application that can be easily downloaded to your mobile device and allows you to quickly access:

• Insurance product and premium information
• The latest news, including recent insurance announcements
• Calculators and tools (including The Mortgage Payment, Affordability and Premium Calculator)
• Your library of customized RESOURCE factsheets and CMHC housing guides to share
• Key CMHC contact information

The CMHC Mobile KIT is available 24/7 to mortgage professionals from across the country and can be downloaded to your Blackberry, Android or iPhone device at cmhc.ca/mobile.

The Premium Calculator

CMHC has launched its Premium Calculator, a new tool to support Canadian homebuyers. With this easy-to-use online calculator, potential homebuyers can quickly estimate mortgage insurance premiums allowing them to make better-informed home buying decisions. The Premium Calculator is the latest addition to CMHC’s suite of resources that support Canadian homebuyers.

The Premium Calculator helps estimate the CMHC Mortgage Loan Insurance premium payable when your clients are purchasing a home.  Simply enter the purchase price, down payment and the amortization period to calculate the applicable premium. The calculator is also available online through EveryThingYouNeed.ca and cmhc.ca.

For more than 65 years, CMHC has shared a wealth of knowledge, housing expertise, tools and guidance to help mortgage professionals stay informed and become trusted advisors to their clients.

First, I want to tell you that yes, the rumours are true, you do not need a realtor to sell your house in Ontario, or even Canada. You can sell it yourself – privately. This is known as private sale or for sale by [...]]]>
You have many options available when selling your home in Toronto, Canada. 

First, I want to tell you that yes, the rumours are true, you do not need a realtor to sell your house in Ontario, or even Canada. You can sell it yourself – privately. This is known as private sale or for sale by owner (FSBO).  There are a number of places available to you for support if you want to do that.  With a private sale, you should be prepared to conduct the open houses yourself, put the ads in the paper yourself, take the photographs, post your house details on the internet, do all the negociating yourself.  Its a very hands-on process. 

If you are going to use the private sale route, I suggest that in real life you be employed either as a sales person or a business person as the skills you use in these positions make selling your home much easier.  When you are a salesman you are able to pick up on unspoken cues that potential buyers will be making.  When they come to your open house you will also be able to better decipher any statements they make to you about the property.  You will also be better able to speak to them and sell them on your house.  Skills aquired as a business person are good too as one of the most important decision making ability you will need to use is the ability to decided where to put your advertising expense.  You have to think about the money you are investing in a particular advertisement, gage who will see it, and if you will see a return on that investment.  If you are not a sales person, (or can’t force yourself to be one for a few months) you wont be able to close the deal and make the sale,  If you are not a business person, you will spend money aimlessly going down alley ways that don’t lead any where.  My reccomendation is that if you are not one of these people, please don’t try to sell your house yourself. It’s not going to work out.

Once you have decided to sell yourself, harden yourself to this decision.  You cannot sell with a half effort, you must give it everything you have, your full attention.  It will likely take longer than you imagine and you will need great amounts of patience.  Patience will also come in handy when negociating as the buyer of your property knows that you are saving the real estate commission when you are selling privately and will want to split that savings with you. They will ask for a cost savings if they are to buy your property. I spoke earlier about some of the activities that you will be required to perform, but there is some good news here for you. You can contract out those activities that you do not do well.  There are companies that can make a yard sign for you,  a website if you are not sure, internet marketing can be done by others, so can the photography or videography.  So if you know you don’t do something well, hire someone else to do it. You can hire a for sale by owner company that have a lot of these tasks integrated into a package for you, but don’t be fooled into thinking that once you sign up with these companies that the work is done, in fact it has just began.  The price they ask for what they give in return is quite high, but If there is any reason to use them it would be to save you energy so you can focus on closing the sale.

The descision to sell your home shouldn’t be made lightly, and neither should the decision to sell privately.  Make the decision once you have weighed the pros and cons and knowledge you can succeed.  You should also seek assistance and regular contact from your lawyer.  This is important if you don’t know the steps that go into the sale of a home.  The trickiest part is knowing what step comes after which.  I don’t want to weigh this down with too many warnings. If you want some advice, remember I can come see your house and give you my assessment of your situation.  At one extreme, we have the people who want to sell their condo at Bay and Wellesley for sure, if you are in this situation, you don’t need a realtor, or much help from anyone.  Just print a little sign ‘ Condo for Sale’ and put it up on the notice board in your building and it will be sold in no time.  Well, just make sure its a reasonable price and that you are not too crazy a person.  For the rest of us some good tips include : knowing what your competition is selling, and how, knowing your limitations, and being open to ask for help when neccessary.   The most important is to think about what you are selling and develop a plan that will get the type of buyers you want and stick to the plan.

Some expenses you will incur are media promotion (print newspaper, flyers for the neighbourhood, etc) $1200 for 3 months. Your lawn sign should be another $100, the feature sheets that you will give to potential buyers and the all important website will be another $150. So for three months you will have spent $1450. So thats why I say, if your going to do it, go all out! It doesnt make sense to spend that kind of money and get no results.  Think like NASA astronauts : Failure is not an option!

Now, my part of the story, I am Marcus Assalone, a Real Estate Salesperson for Coldwell Banker Terrequity here in Toronto.  I run this investment newsletter ‘Real Value’ that this article was first published on at news.marcus-assalone.com . Coldwell Banker Terrequity is a full service real estate brokerage which means that we sell properties and make our commission based on a percentage of the sale price.  Different brokerages offer different services and also charge different commission percentages.  Obviously, the less they do, the less the percentage.

Being full service basically means we do whatever it takes to sell your property. I sell every home like it was my own, but I do give my client a choice in one thing, and that is weither or not to list their property on the MLS.  Everything else is the same, I still advertise in the the same places, I still tell my buying clients about your property, the only difference is that in one case, if I list it exclusively, without it being on the MLS I am able to save you the commission that would have gone to the other Realtor.  So, you can choose to list your home either exclusively at a total commission of 3% or with the MLS listing which will be a total commission of 5%. If your property is in a competitive market, we may have to raise the total commission to 6% in order to give the buying Realtor and added incentive to bring their client to see your property.

If you decide to list your property with me, all these fees are totally contingient on me selling your house! If i don’t sell it, you don’t owe me anything.  All I am concerned about is – success! My success will be your success.

As you are deciding what is the best course of action for you and your home think about ‘what is it that sells a house?’  Is it the location of the house? The amenities that location offers? The condition of the home? of the neighbourhood?  Is it the kitchen that sell homes? is it the bathroom? how useful are these rooms to the house? or is it knowing what price to sell the property for? knowing if it is staged well? does it have curb appeal? is it the high end finishes that sell the house? or is it the advice of someone who knows what buyers are looking for and can counsel you correctly on that sale – who can tell you the right things to do – the right moves to make? In different neighbourhoods the buyers are looking for different things.

As your realtor I will be legally obligated to look out for your best interests.   I will do everything in my power to sell your home for the most money possible.  When we meet and together we develop a plan for the sale of your home, I will tell you my ideas. You will have no doubt that I bring the best value to help you sell your home.

So lets start on the right foot, schedule an appointment and have me come see your house and we will start the planning. Once you have all the information you need you can decide as you please, I will not put any pressure to force you into any contracts. My job is to help you.  My email is marcus-assalone@coldwellbanker.ca my direct line is (416) 495-2362.  If you call, chances are I will be on the phone and you will get my voicemail, leave me a message with how and when to best contact you.