Archive for the ‘Chris’ Blog’ Category
Posted on: January 17th, 2014 by Chris Scott
Buying a home is likely the largest investment you will ever make. You want to ensure you have done your due diligence before you sign on the dotted line! The standard cost of a Home Inspection in Ottawa is between $400.00 and $500.00. This is a small price to pay for peace of mind. In the Ottawa housing market it is typical for the buyer to pay for these services.
A professional home inspector reviews the operating systems and structure of a home of any age—even new homes—and leaves a written report for the client to keep as a reference guide. Typically, the home inspector will comment on the condition of the foundation, heating and cooling systems, electrical service, roof, plumbing, and other significant structural factors and will outline costs of repair or replacement where needed, as well as comment on the condition of the property compared to others of the same age. The few hours that you spend with your inspector are the best time to learn the ins and outs of taking care of your property, and you should keep the reference book for as long as you live there.
I will add that every house has its issues. No inspection has been perfect. The objective of the inspection is not to find a house that has no faults but to educate the buyer on potential upcoming costs. I prefer a thorough inspector rather than one just pointing out the big ticket items.
As your Ottawa Realtor I can advise you on how to incorporate a home inspection as a condition of buying a property. Your offer can be conditional upon a professional home inspection being conducted and a satisfactory report being received by you, the home buyer. If the inspection report indicates some big expenses or anything you are not comfortable with we can terminate the agreement or look for abatement.
As an Ottawa Realtor who has been through hundreds of inspections, I have seen the need to have the right inspector working for you. I would recommend using someone who you know and trust completely. If you don’t have someone, I would be happy to provide someone that offers great service.
Chris
Posted on: December 9th, 2013 by Chris Scott
Condo sales fell 15.5 per cent from the same month a year earlier, pulling down the overall real estate market by 0.7 per cent even as sales of other housing types held steady. The drop came after three months of small gains in overall sales figures.
For the first 11 months of 2013, condo sales have fallen by 6.6 per cent, according to figures released Wednesday by the Ottawa Real Estate Board. Values have also declined, but only marginally. The average condo resale price so far in 2013 is $263,902, a 1.7-per-cent drop from 2012.
For other housing types, sales are down by 2.3 per cent for 2013, but the average price has risen by 2.1 per cent to $382,597, according to the report.
Chris Scott, a Keller Williams VIP Realty sales representative, said he hasn’t seen any major price softening in the apartment-style condos in which he specializes. Still, with new condo developments stalled and as many as 1,000 existing condos listed for sale — “almost a year’s worth of inventory” — he says pressure on sellers to reduce prices will only increase.
Without the foreign investors who are buoying the markets in Vancouver and Toronto, Scott predicts, Ottawa’s condo market will stay sluggish into 2014. But he believes demand will catch up and prices will firm as more people opt for the condo lifestyle.
“The fundamentals of the local economy are very strong,” he said.
Tim Lee, president of Ottawa Real Estate Board, said the stability long observed in the capital’s real estate market should give confidence to owners of condos and other housing types.
“We don’t have these wild fluctuations,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘Well we bought, we got transferred and now we have to sell and the market’s tanked.’ That happens in Toronto and Vancouver a lot because they can go up and down in a very short period, and in Ottawa it just doesn’t happen.”
This article was taken from the Ottawa Citizen….written by Robert Bostelaar, December 4, 2013
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: 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: 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
Posted on: September 7th, 2012 by Chris Scott
August was a bit slow compared to July, but still in line with the five-year average. Even with fewer properties sold, the average price continues to increase. Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,141 residential properties in August through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,328 in August 2011, a decrease of 14.1 per cent. The five-year average for August sales is 1,193.
Why the slight decrease in sales? The new mortgage rules that came into effect in July could have some people waiting to save a bit more money before purchasing. The exceptionally hot weather could also have been a factor in the market slow down. The Ottawa market remains steady with the total number of year-to-date properties up 2.8 per cent and the average sale price up 2.2 per cent from this time last year.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in August in the Ottawa area was $346,949, an increase of 2.5 per cent over August 2011. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $272,367, an increase of 7.6 per cent over August 2011. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $367,661, an increase of 1.7 per cent over August 2011.
Every neighbourhood is slightly different so if you are interested in knowing the value of your property on today’s market, please give me a call. I’m always happy to help.
Chris
Posted on: August 3rd, 2012 by Chris Scott
The Ottawa Real Estate Market generally remains stable with a slight increase in July sales and a slight decrease in average price – perhaps because lower priced properties continue to sell more quickly compared to unique or higher priced properties.
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,366 residential properties in July through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,321 in July 2011, an increase of 3.4 per cent. The five-year average for July sales is 1,360. The July sales include 304 condominiums and 1,062 in the residential property class.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in July in the Ottawa area was $337,518, a slight decrease of 1.2 per cent over July 2011. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $265,903, a decrease of 1.7 per cent over July 2011. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $358,018, a decrease of 1.4 per cent over July 2011.
If you are curious to know the value of your home (or that of the one for sale down the street), please give me a call.
Chris
Posted on: July 5th, 2012 by Chris Scott
The Ottawa real estate market is certainly consistent! There was a slight decrease in the number of residential properties sold in June 2012 compared to June 2011. Looking back over the past 10 years, a marginal decrease from May to June seems to be “the norm” and this year is no different. The general feeling is that our market continues to be a stable and steady one.
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,660 residential properties in June through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,719 in June 2011, a decrease of 3.4%.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in June in the Ottawa area was $352,800, a slight decrease of 0.1 per cent over June 2011. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $278,447, an increase of 0.8 per cent over June 2011. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $373,756, a slight decrease of 0.4 per cent over June 2011.
If you have any questions or would like to know the current market value of your home, please give me a call.
Chris
