Ottawa is a great place to purchase investment properties. Our vacancy rates are low. As real estate prices in Ottawa continue to increase, some buyers are looking at ways to supplement their mortgage payments.
Owner-occupied main levels, with tenants renting out the basement, is a common cost-efficient approach to maximizing your profit margins.
Two common beliefs are that a basement bedroom becomes legal if there are
1) a closet in the room, and
2) a window in the room big enough and accessible to be used as a means of exit in case of emergency
In reality, this is not exactly correct. A window in the room is required but its dimensions are more to ensure that natural light covers at least 5% of the total floor area. It is also important to note that, while no height restrictions are included in the code, it is recommended that homeowners use furniture or other means to increase accessibility to windows that are higher off the ground, should there be a need to use them as an exit. There are also stipulations regarding minimum square footage required, with and without built-in closet space.
The most important thing to remember is that there must be a viable means of egress available on the same level as the bedroom, either by window or door (other than those that lead upstairs). If you choose to have a bar installed in front of the window, it must have one of two options. The keys must be within arms reach or the ability to be unlocked and opened without tools. This is to increase the likelihood of a safe exit in times of emergency.
Ensure you are comfortable with leaving a loved one in any circumstance created by your renovations. Keep abreast of any Building and Fire Code changes that occur. Ensure everyone in your home is aware of all possible means of exit, just in case. For more information, contact the City of Ottawa, or be in touch with us anytime and we can help!
As part of a full-service real estate team, each week I preview and show several properties to various buyers, and host open houses for our seller clients whenever possible. The 2 most common questions I hear day-to-day are:
1) Why are the current owners selling?
2) What is the square footage of the house?
Interestingly, as licensed members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board, we are not permitted to display the square footage on any listing. Whatever the reason behind this rule, the fact remains.
Square footage can be important when comparing the property value of the property with another, or even just to assess if there is enough space to hold all of your current furniture and effects (and growing family members). For appraisals and assessments, it is often measured by simply multiplying the length and width of the exterior walls of the house. When you consider this, overall useable Living Space can become a more essential factor to consider.
What are the reasons that are motivating you to make a move?
Do you need more overall space, more closet space, or a more open-concept space?
Some homes have unique jogs and cut-outs along walls and ceilings, reducing the amount of space you are able to occupy or renovate. An older century home may have a large den, parlour, and dining room, and therefore an increased footprint, yet also have a long hallway upstairs and 3 bedrooms with gabled ceilings that are a nuisance to you and your growing children… and no master en-suite. Or, a previous owner may have blown out a bedroom wall to create their dream en-suite + walk-in closet, and now Mr & Mrs Buyer are handcuffed because despite 2000+ sq ft above grade, what they really need is another bedroom. Or, 4 large bedrooms and a loft upstairs might not be enough if there is no room on the main level for the home office you really need.
There are many things to consider when buying your next home. A deal-breaker to one buyer may be a non-issue to another. A great idea for everyone is to take some time to write a list of your Wants and Needs in a new home, get on the same page with everyone involved, and enlist the service of a licensed Realtor who can help you stick to your plan and make informed, objective decisions in order to achieve your individual real estate needs.
Buying a new home in Ottawa can be stressful. There are so many builders and options to choose from. Each offering different value propositions and with varying degrees of quality. Our team can help you navigate all the difficult choices. We can help you choose your perfect lot and neighbourhood. Most builders are happy to work with Realtors on the purchase. It never costs the buyer anything to have a professional guide them through the process.
One question I get all the time is what should we upgrade with the builder? Much depends on personal preference. We have surveyed over 100 people and asked them which upgrades they regretted not doing.
Here were the most popular answers.
Walkthrough shower (no cleaning of glass needed)
Finishing the stairs to the basement
Christmas light outlet outside with on/off switch inside
We had a chance to sell a wonderful house for some relocating clients. They tried previously to sell their home with another brokerage. I want to share with you the pictures that were on the MLS.
Previous MLS
Our MLS
The photo themselves are of weak quality and the house was not staged or prepared by the Realtor. It matters who you choose to sell with. Here is what we did for the house:
The Ottawa real estate market had a great July. We have not had this kind of activity in a July for 15 years. Typically after a busy Spring market things slow in the summer. This year is the exception. We had over 1800 sales on the MLS system. There is just so much demand out there right now for Ottawa real estate. I am starting to see more inventory come to market which is good news. Hopefully, this will lead us back to a more balanced market. Right now there is around a 1 months supply of housing. This is deep into a sellers market. We would need to get to at least a 3 month supply to start getting closer to something more balanced.
The condo market had another strong month. Condo prices have fully recovered and you can see by the sales numbers that this segment of the market is having a resurgence. This is good news for condo owners and builders. Lots of optimism surrounding the Ottawa market right now. I anticipate a very strong fall market. If you are curious to know what’s happening in your Ottawa neighbourhood feel free to get in touch.
The average price of a residential-class property in June was $500,700. This is the first time we have ever eclipsed the half-million mark in Ottawa. When I first started in real estate 15 years ago 500k was a big number! People would say half a million like it meant something! Hard to believe it is now just average. Many first time buyers are now buying at this price point. It is just the nature of a really healthy local economy, immigration, and the increasing appeal of our real estate market to investors. Maybe in the next 10 years, 1 million will be just an average number. At this pace, you never know!!
Inventory has been sliding in Ottawa. In June our inventory was down 23% from the same time last year and over 30% from just two years ago. Condo listings were down 50% from 2017. Just the drop in this inventory is enough to put upward pressure on prices. Combine that with growing demand and we are seeing double-digit increases in some neighbourhoods. It is definitely a seller’s market but for the most part, buyers are restraining themselves a little bit. They understand the value, many homes priced on the high side of the market can continue to sit.
May is typically the busiest month of the year for real estate sales. This year was one of the most active Mays I can remember. We had higher sales volume while dealing with a freefall in available homes for sale. This meant that many of the listings available were sold in multiple offers for the above-asking price. Our team in just the past few weeks have been involved in over a dozen of these situations both on the buyer and seller side of things. There has never been a more important time to have a Realtor guide you through these difficult and stressful situations. There is lots of money on the line on both sides of the equation. Our market is constantly changing. What sold 5-8 months ago in some neighbourhoods is totally irrelevant to what’s happening now. There are many micro markets in the city that I am seeing different trends. Same can be said about price points. As an example, the 350k to 500k price point accounts for 42% of all Ottawa sales. If you want to find out what’s happening in your area feel free to get in touch.
It is no secret that Ottawa is the hottest housing market in the country right now. In Ottawa, one of the most active segments is the $400,000 to $480,000 price range. Our team was engaged by Heather and Byron who were relocating to Ottawa. Unfortunately for them, they were in this HUNGER GAMES price range. This is their story!
Day 1
We spent all day looking through various neighbourhoods in the city. We found a great house in Chapel Hill. It was a bit underpriced and judging by the multiple showings during our visit we knew it was going to be competitive. In the end we were notified there was 11 offers on the table! Let the games begin.
Offer 1
List Price $400,000
Our Bid $426,000
The winner was $451,000 with no conditions in the offer. 11 offers total. We were told our offer was in the top 1/3 of offers.
Me learning the news:
Day 2
More viewings and a new listing came up in the afternoon that we are the very first buyers into see. Excited at potentially doing this quickly. It is a holiday Monday and we figure this gives us an advantage. Beauty house on Steeple Chase in Kanata. We have our offer in within hours of listing. Afterwards, 3 other offers come in that afternoon. We know we have to go high to secure it. We make a very strong offer.
Offer 2
List Price $489,900
Our Bid $521,000
We felt very good about our offer. Unfortunately, they get a higher offer and we lose out again! The hunger games continue…
Pretty sure this is what the seller looked like:
Day 3
Time is starting to play a factor here. We need to secure something. A listing comes on the market at 9:30 am in Stittsville. We are in the house at 10:30 am and can’t believe our luck! It is a beauty. It is grossly underpriced for today’s market. They basically priced it at last years numbers. We head back to the office to chat about it. Before we can do much the agent calls and they have an offer on the table already. An hour later they already have 4 offers. They are presenting that afternoon at 4:30 pm. This is a bit of a problem because another house we liked was presenting at 6:00 pm. What one do we choose? We ended up putting an expiry of our offer of 6:00 pm for the first one so if we lost we could pursue the next. We go way over asking on this one!
Offer 3
List Price $439,900
Our Bid $476,000
Feeling a bit overconfident on this offer. Really strong but we ended up in second place! Luckily we found out just before 6:00 pm and bid on another home.
A surprising loss, time for a drink!
Offer 4
List Price $424,900
Our Bid $441,000
The house was really one of their favourites all along. We just didn’t want to overpay and felt our offer was a bit conservative. Funny that we were all not feeling overly confident on this one and then the call came in that the house was secured!! The hunger games were complete!!
WINNER!
The inspection was flawless and my clients went home happy.
Imagine all of the showings, paperwork, emotions, and stress of the 3 days above. It is not easy buying a house on any HHT let alone one in this market. At the end of the day, we got the job done and the clients are super happy with the process and the house they secured. That is what it is all about and why I love my job. It can be long days but it is hard to have a more rewarding feeling than making the call to let my clients know they have secured their dream home.
With our team the odds will always be in favour of our clients!
Last week was an interesting one for me. I was in 3 different multiple offer situations in various price points and areas in the city. The pressure was on because all of my clients absolutely loved each of these homes. We were able to secure each of these clients their dream home. It matters who you work with!
KEY TO SUCCESS
Only agent presenting in person, clients did pre-inspection, had no conditions.
✅ Presented in Person
✅ Pre-inspection
✅ No Conditions
KEY TO SUCCESS
Clients did pre-inspection and provided approval letter of financing to sellers.
✅ Pre-inspection
✅ Financing Approval Letter
KEY TO SUCCESS
Understanding the market by recognizing the house was underpriced and a strong financial offer was warranted. Sometimes paying over asking doesn’t mean paying over market value.
✅ Understanding Market Value
The real estate market in Ottawa is a very competitive place to purchase real estate. This year multiple offers are commonplace in almost every neighbourhood. Here are a few tips if you ever find yourself in this situation.
1. Representation
I think getting the right Realtor® working for you will be the most important step. Someone who can be a guide through this complicated process. A thorough review of the market is also very important. Often times multiple bids are created because a house is under-valued as compared with other listings that have sold in the area. This means that even though a buyer might pay more than list price for a home they are not necessarily paying over market value.
2. Presentation of Offers
For most people, there is a human element in selling their house. I like to present my offers directly to the seller in multiple bids. Basically, tell them how wonderful my clients are-which is true! I have had sellers more than once choose my clients’ offer that was less money. One time over $3000 less!
3. Price
Of course for many people, price is the most important factor. Finding a price that is going to be competitive and also not overpaying is a delicate undertaking. This is where the buyer’s discussions with their agent can really help figure out just how much they want the house. Generally, it is best to put your best offer forward in these situations because you usually don’t get a second chance.
4. Conditions
These will always be a factor for sellers. In this market, many buyers are getting their home inspection done prior to the offer date. Having this condition out of the agreement can make your offer more appealing. Also, if you can get an approval from your bank before the offer date and have an unconditional offer this will set you up in a position to succeed. The challenge with this option is that if you get the inspection done and lose the multiple offers you are out about $500.
The Ottawa real estate market continues to hit new highs. Multiple offers across the city continue to put upward pressure on prices. There is no secret that Ottawa has a supply issue. Housing inventory remains at record low levels. Sellers are hesitant to put their houses for sale because there is not much to purchase on the other side. It has created a bit of a catch 22. This low inventory appears to be a trend likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
The BIG QUESTION I am getting lately is will prices continue to go up or is there a bubble near? I don’t have a crystal ball but I do talk about this in our monthly report. You can find it below.
