Author Archive
Posted on: March 11th, 2013 by Chris Scott
Spring is almost here! The weather is getting a bit warmer, days are a little longer, and the real estate market is picking up steam. This is in large part due to the many military personnel who transfer into and out of Ottawa this time of year.
I am so lucky to have the pleasure of working with so many great military clients. Helping military families get settled in Ottawa is one of the best parts of my job. In many cases they are being transferred to a city they only know on a map. To be able to come in to town and 5-7 days later leave with a house is impressive. Then only a few years later do it all over again. It is really quite amazing what these guys do and the sacrifices they make for us. Not only on the work side of things but with their personal lives and families too. It really gives me a new appreciation and admiration for everything they do. That is why I really do everything I possibly can to make the transition to Ottawa as easy and smooth as possible. It is truly a privilege to help!
Chris
Posted on: March 5th, 2013 by Chris Scott
The Ottawa Resale Market is moving in the right direction!
If we compare sales for February 2013 with sales for February 2012, we see a decrease of 9.3% – a response to some of the government changes in an attempt to “cool down” the market. The good news, however, is that sales seem to be picking back up as we approach the busy spring season. February was a short month, yet 315 more homes were sold in February, 2013 than in January. “Even with the slight decline in sales year-over-year, Ottawa continues to be a great place to buy and/or sell your home,” says Tim Lee, President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in February in the Ottawa area was $346,774, a slight decrease of 1.1 per cent over February 2012. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $264,953, a decrease of 3.1 per cent over February 2012. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $373,337 a slight decrease of 0.6 per cent over February 2012.
Since each area is different, if you are interested in a specific neighbourhood or would like to know the value of your home on today’s market, please give me a call.
Chris
Posted on: February 5th, 2013 by Chris Scott
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 602 residential properties in January through the Boards Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 682 in January 2012, a decrease of 11.7 per cent.
“The Ottawa resale market, which started to flatten out in November and December maintained its steadiness into January,” says Tim Lee, President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. “January 2013 isn’t too far off from the numbers we’ve seen in recent years, and although the units sold are a tad lower, Ottawa remains a healthy market.”
An economic summary of expansion in Ottawa by Shore-Tanner and Associates indicated that the rates of growth in residents over the age of 55, and particularly in the formation of single and two-person households, will continue to rise in the coming years. Consequently, these trends indicate that there will soon be a strong demand for small apartments, condominiums, and retirement homes.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in January in the Ottawa area was $342,458, a slight decrease of 1.8 per cent over January 2012. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $268,604, an increase of 6.1 per cent over January 2012. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $364,011 a decrease of 2.5 per cent over January 2012.
If you are curious to know what is happening in your neighbourhood, please give me a call!
Chris
Posted on: January 17th, 2013 by Chris Scott
The Canadian Real Estate Association has been under recent pressure to allow for-sale-by-owner companies to advertise listings on MLS®. The idea is to give the consumer more cost effective choices. Since early 2011 the for-sale-by-owner companies have been given access to post “mere listings” on the MLS®.
The two largest companies competing for this type of business are Com Free and Realtysellers. They advertise that they can list your home on the MLS® for a flat fee (ranging from $400 to $2000).
Does this sound too good to be true? Read on.
Firstly, you pay for the flat fee up front whether your home sells or not.
There are also “add-ons”. If you require any assistance beyond the “mere listing”, they will ask for payment for those services. You, as the homeowner, are solely responsible for showings, offers, marketing, sellings, etc. You get exactly what you pay for and if a Realtor® is involved on the Buying side, there is still a 2.5% commission to be paid.
A recent study in Toronto showed that of the 708 properties listed in 2012 by RealtySellers, only 43% were sold – and of those sold, 63% of those were sold to a buyer who was working with a Real Estate Agent.
Looking at Comfree, of the 1287 properties listed in 2012, only 52% were sold and of those sold, 55% of them were sold using a Realtor®. In summary, only 23% of the 1287 properties listed were sold without the services of a Realtor®.
When you do the math, close to 1000 properties listed by these companies were never sold yet they collected a flat fee of, on average, $1,000 for doing nothing – that adds up to $1 million in revenue.
Talk to a Realtor® and understand the services that are offered.
If you are planning to sell your Ottawa Home in the next 3-12 months, please give me a call. I’d be more than happy to help.
Chris
Posted on: January 5th, 2013 by Chris Scott
Happy New Year Everyone!
We are fortunate to live and work in a city with a stable real estate market. While the number of residential units sold in December 2012 (618) through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system was lower than units sold in December 2011 (695), we are still on track to the five-year average for December sales (617).
The total number of homes sold through the Boards MLS® system in 2012 was 14,308, slightly down from the 14,389 homes sold in 2011 but still above the five-year average of 14,274. The overall average sale price for 2012 was $351,792, an increase of 2.3 per cent over 2011.
When we look back at 2012, home sales took off in the first half compared to the same period for 2011, but with the tighter mortgage rules introduced in July and potential government layoffs, the market cooled for the second half of the year. Ottawa remains steady and balanced, without some of the large fluctuations in resale activity you see in other Canadian markets.
The average sale price of all residential properties sold in December in the Ottawa area was $336,591, an increase of 1.3 per cent over December 2011. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $258,498, a decrease of 1.5 per cent over December 2011. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $358,211, an increase of 0.6 per cent over December 2011. Each neighbourhood can be different so please give me a shout if you are curious to know what your home might be worth on today’s market (or maybe even the home down the street!).
Referrals play a huge role in the success of my business so please think of me and do mention my name if you hear of any family, friends, neighbours or colleagues who are considering a move. I’d be delighted to have the opportunity to provide them with my real estate services.
Chris
Posted on: December 10th, 2012 by Chris Scott
There’s a lot of confusion about title insurance. Some people call title insurance the “surprise” insurance because they assume it covers any surprises with the property they’re buying. It’s only when there’s a problem that homeowners actually check what their policy covers. By then, it’s too late.
When buying an Ottawa home, it’s important to know what title insurance covers. Does it cover structure, hidden things in the basement, leaks? How many homeowners ask these questions before buying any insurance related to their home? Not enough, I can tell you that much.
Most people buy title insurance when they purchase a home. But it’s not required in Canada. It’s meant to protect homeowners from perils such as title fraud, unpaid liens, encroachments from neighbouring properties — anything that can challenge the ownership of your home or anything related to the title of your home. It also covers losses related to the title or ownership of the property. But it’s not a home warranty or home insurance policy.
Every insurance policy is different. And, as the insurance company makes up the rules, do you think they play to lose?
For instance, most insurance companies don’t cover a leaking foundation. Why? Probably because almost every single foundation leaks. Insurance companies would go bankrupt if they covered leaking foundations. That’s why they make the rules on what they will and will not cover. That’s just smart business. So you need to be smart, too.
Ask plenty of questions about what your title insurance covers (and what it doesn’t cover), up to how much and for how long. Also find out if you can pay extra to make sure it covers everything. It might be just $1,000 more, but I’d pay it for that extra insurance. Or you might need a different type of insurance altogether.
Before you buy title insurance, talk to a lawyer and the title insurance company. Make sure you understand exactly what you’re getting.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call.
Chris
Posted on: December 5th, 2012 by Chris Scott
Last year was the best November on record for resale home sales in Ottawa. This November, sales have come back down to their normal levels. Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 931 residential properties in November through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,023 in November 2011, a decrease of nine per cent. The five-year average for November sales is 890 so we are still in the ballpark. November’s sales included 208 in the condominium property class, and 723 in the residential property class.
In spite of a slight cooling in number of units sold, average sale prices continue to increase. The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in November in the Ottawa area was $350,020, an increase of one per cent over November 2011. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $258,500, a decrease of 2.6 per cent over November 2011. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $376,349, an increase of one per cent over November 2011.
If you are curious to know what your home might be worth on today’s market – or even the home down the street – give me a call and we can go over the numbers.
Chris
Posted on: November 12th, 2012 by Chris Scott
You will likely have recently received your property tax assessment in the mail from MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) and you might have some concerns in terms of the assessment accuracy – and what it might do to your property taxes themselves.
Firstly – if your home’s value has been accurately assessed – and it has gone up – this doesn’t necessarily translate into higher property taxes for you. It is when your home’s value has increased at a higher rate than others that you might be facing an increase in your taxes higher than the municipal budgetary property tax increase.
To establish your property’s assessed value, MPAC analyzes property sales in your community. This method is called Current Value Assessment. In addition to recent sales, they look at the key features of the property – location, lot size, living area, age and quality of construction. Other factors that may come into play are number of bathrooms, fireplaces, garages, pools, water frontage, etc. This analysis compares your property with sales of comparable properties in your community.
Go to the MPAC web site at www.aboutmyproperty.ca. You will need your 19-digit roll number and the website password provided in your recent assessment. Carefully review the information about your property to ensure its accuracy and compare your assessment to similar homes sold and unsold in your area. You can obtain information about your property and information on up to 24 additional properties of your choice and up to six selected by MPAC, free of charge.
If you feel your assessment is out of line, you can start the process of filing a “request for Assessment Review”. For the 2013 tax year, your deadline to file a RIR with MPAC is April 1, 2013. You can do this from the AboutMyProperty website or by sending a letter to MPAC with all pertinent information.
You can also call MPAC at 1-866-296-6722
MPAC
P.O. Box 9808
Toronto ON M1S 5T9
Toll free fax: 1 866 297-6703
If I can be of any assistance by, for example, providing you with a quick market evaluation, please give me a shout.
Chris
Posted on: November 5th, 2012 by Chris Scott
As the leaves and the snowflakes fall in Ottawa, the real estate market is headed in the other direction – up! Compared to the five year average, Ottawa is right on track, indicating we are not experiencing a real estate downturn here. Instead we continue to see a slow, steady increase in both units sold and average sale price.
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,073 residential properties in October through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,059 in October 2011, an increase of 1.3 per cent. The five-year average for October sales is 1,067. October’s sales included 237 in the condominium property class, and 836 in the residential property class.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in October in the Ottawa area was $346,492, an increase of 2.5 per cent over October 2011. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $267,037, an increase of 3.0 per cent over October 2011. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $369,016, an increase of 1.8 per cent over October 2011.
Although the Ottawa market is characterized as stable and steady, there can be significant differences from one neighbourhood to another. Please feel free to contact me if you are curious to know the value of your own home, or just want to know what’s going on in your neighbourhood.
Chris
Posted on: October 4th, 2012 by Chris Scott
According to the Ottawa Real Estate Board, September sales are historically on track in Ottawa. The market here has not experienced volatility in prices or number of units sold. Since 1956, the average price in the Ottawa area has decreased only five times (year over year) and has increased by 15% or more only five times as well. Our market can be characterised as stable and steady. This is a good thing!
It is possible that the new mortgage rules and continuing uncertainty about job losses in the public sector may have contributed to recent decreases in the number of units sold in the Ottawa market. The number of sales through the MLS® System in September, 2012 was 993 units, down from a near record high in September, 2011 of 1,201 units. The average price, however, was still up year over year at $351,585, an increase of 4.7% over September, 2011.
If you are curious to know what your home might be worth on today’s market – or what your neighbour’s house is selling for…do give me a call. I can always make time for clients – new or past.
Chris
