The Montreal Real Estate Blog

Easement
Restriction of the right of ownership for reasons of private interest, general interest or public use. Right of access or use of land by others, for a defined purpose (passage, parking, public utilities, etc.).

Equity
The difference between the price for which a home could be sold and the total debts registered against it. Equity usually increases as the mortgage is reduced through regular payments. Market values and improvements to the property may also affect equity.

Evaluation
Process which consists in estimating the market value of an immovable based on the general condition of its components and its specific features. The evaluation is often the result of a comparison with similar immovables up for sale or having recently been sold in the same area.

To Stage or Not to Stage – that is the question!
by Sveta Melchuk

Staging a Home for sale will cost you money. Is it worth spending time and effort on it? After all, once the decision to sell has been made, you just want to get it over with as fast as possible, right?

First, did you determine the «right» price for your house? It should be based on certain objective criteria, such as the location of the property, sale price of comparable homes in your neighbourhood and today’s market conditions. But don’t forget the desirability factor…
While you can’t control some of the other criteria, you definitely have a say in the way your property looks, feels and is perceived by prospective buyers. Increase the visual/emotional value of your property and you will increase its desirability, therefore the price and the urgency to buy it from potential buyers. Why?

It’s the perception of the value that counts. The first impressions make a big difference in the way we perceive a person, an object or a service and, subconsciously, the decision is taken within the first 90 seconds on whether we’ll be «buying» and what value we assign to it.

Even before the prospective buyers set foot in your house, they are probably shopping on the Internet, checking the photos of the properties available in the selected neighbourhood and within their budget. They will make an opinion about your property based on what they see in the pictures and they will decide right there whether it’s worth their time to visit in person. If you have not managed to draw them in at this stage, you might have lost dozens, maybe hundreds of visitors to your house!

Your strategy should be to make the BEST first impression possible, in the Virtual world and for all the prospective buyers who will come to your door. Once they are visiting, make them focus on the property’s best features and show them the value of what they are getting. Choosing a particular house is a largely emotional decision, so make them choose yours. Statistics clearly demonstrate that a clean, spacious and well decorated home sells faster and for more money than other comparable properties.

Staging uses some simple but highly effective techniques to make your house look its best in preparation for sale. So, by spending a few hundred dollars on preparing your house properly, you will be gaining a lot more at the sale time. And staging services cost much less than a price «adjustment» on the house!

So should your house be staged before you sell?

This article was written by Sveta Melchuk from www.Home-Staging-Montreal.com. A Montreal firm specializing in Home Staging and Interior Re-design services.

Average home sale yields $32,200 in additional consumer spending.

OTTAWA – June 12, 2007

The resale housing industry in Canada generated more than 158,000 jobs and an average of $15.3 billion annually in the period from 2004 and 2006, according to a study prepared for The Canadian Real Estate Association by Altus Clayton.

The report says each residential MLS® transaction generated an average of $32,200 in additional consumer spending in the period from 2004 to 2006. This included the purchase of furniture and appliances, moving costs, renovations, services, and taxes. From 2002 to 2004, the average transaction yielded $24,697 in additional consumer spending. In the period from 2000 to2002, it was $19,760.

The new study says the economic impact of each MLS® sale varies by province or region, from a high of $40,450 in British Columbia to $20,325 in Atlantic Canada. The report notes the spending relates to the cost of moving from one home to another and for renovations after moving in – it does not include any renovation expenditures by sellers to prepare properties for sale.

“Real estate continues to be one of the major engines driving Canada’s economy,” said CREA President Ann Bosley. “This study shows the tremendous contributions Canada’s resale housing industry makes to the economy above and beyond the actual cost of the home. When Canadians move, they typically buy new appliances or furnishings, and renovate in various ways to tailor their home to their specific requirements.”

“Purchases and sales of homes trigger additional expenditures that have broad economic impacts,” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “Job creation is also a major factor of the sale of a home. The study shows that more than 94,000 jobs are created in Canada each year as a direct result of resale housing transactions.”

The economic impact of the market for existing homes is also reflected in the sales processed by MLS® systems in Canada in 2006. The 2006 national MLS® report from The Canadian Real Estate Association says there were 483,917 residential properties sold through the Multiple Listing Service® last year.

The complete updated Altus Clayton report here.

For more news on the housing Market Subscribe to the Montreal Real Estate Blog !

Once you have found the home you would like to purchase, you need to present the vendor with an Offer to Purchase or an Agreement of Purchase and Sale. As your home is probably your biggest investment, it would be wise to work with your real estate agent and/or a lawyer/notary in preparing your offer. Remember that the Offer to Purchase or Agreement of Purchase and Sale is a legal document and should be carefully prepared.

Any offer or agreement will typically include:

• Your legal name, the name of the vendor and the legal civic address of the property.
• The purchase price offered.
• The chattels that will be included in the purchase price (e.g.: window coverings, appliances or a satellite dish). Whatever items in or around the home that you think are included in the sale should be specifically stated in your offer.
• The amount of deposit.
• The closing day (date you take possession of the home)–usually 30 to 60 days from the date of agreement. It can also be 90 days or longer.
• Request for a current land survey of the property.
• Date when the offer becomes null and void.
• Any other conditions that go with the offer, including property inspection and approval of mortgage financing.

The process of making an offer, receiving a counteroffer and then revising it again is not uncommon. The whole process can seem like a roller coaster ride – exciting, but stressful. It’s all part of making the deal work best for you and the vendor.

Source: CMHC. Subscribe to the Montreal Real Estate Blog

Early on and even before you start home shopping , you need to determine the price range that suits you. If you plan to finance your purchase with a mortgage loan, sit down with your lender or mortgage specialist to discuss your needs and get mortgage pre-approval. That way, you know exactly how much you can spend on your new home.

• Pre-approval means that your lender commits to giving you a mortgage loan up to a specified amount at certain terms and conditions, including the interest rate.
• Pre-approval are only valid for a specific period.
• Pre-approval doesn’t lock you into the mortgage. You are still free to pursue other arrangements, including getting a mortgage loan through another bank instead.

The benefits of having a pre approval letter with you before starting the home hunting are numerous since it gives you advantage over those home shoppers who have no clue on what their factual financial limitations are.

Read more »»

Is the air in your home making you sick?

It can be as innocuous as a persistent cough, rash or headache. But, for the very young, the elderly and those with respiratory disease, the effects of indoor air contamination can be far more serious. The very air you breathe could be affecting the comfort and health of your family. Recognizing the symptoms of poor air quality is the first step toward fixing the problem. Bad air can be the cause any of the following symptoms:

• fatigue
• headaches
• cold or flu symptoms such as coughing, congestion and sneezing
• redness or irritation of the eyes
• irritation of the nose or throat
• dry, chapped or irritated skin
• allergies
• asthma attacks

Your home may have bad air if you or your family continuously experience any of these indicators, primarily when spending time at home. Read more »»

Deposit
A sum of money that accompanies a promise to purchase an immovable. The deposit must be placed in a trust account and will be deducted from the balance payable at the signing of the act of sale, or it will be returned to the proposer if the sale does not go through.

Description sheet
Document on which a real estate broker or agent has presented the features (construction year, taxes, measurements, etc.) of an immovable covered by a real estate brokerage contract.

Depreciation
The decrease in value of something because it is now worth less than when you bought it.

Down payment
Personal contribution of the buyer to the financing of an immovable. Cash portion deducted from the selling price, which determines the amount of financing required to complete the purchase.
Note: If the deposit for the purchase of the immovable is less than 20% of the purchase price, the loan must be insured by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) or by GE Capital Mortgage Insurance Canada.

Home Staging – the MUST HAVE marketing tool for your property

By Sveta Melchuk

MSN Encarta dictionary defines Home Staging as the act of “beautifying a home for sale: cleaning, repairing and updating the decor and furnishings of an older home to make it more attractive when shown to potential buyers.”

The concept dates from 1970s, when a California Realtor and decorator noticed that the properties she took the time to «stage» sold faster and for more money than the average. Today, it’s an important marketing/merchandising tool in the USA (and spreading to Canada from the West) for the Realtors and the home owners alike and it’s especially important in a slow market, where you need every advantage over your competition. TV shows, such as Designed to Sell and Flip that House demonstrate that a bit of effort and a small investment can transform a property and make a BIG difference at sale time!
The logic is strikingly simple: when you decide to sell your used car, wouldn’t you clean, wash and fix it up before reselling it? You should do the same for your house, which is probably your biggest investment and presents an opportunity for a biggest return.

First impressions count for a lot, especially today, when most buyers pre-select the properties they are interested in on Internet. If your photos don’t show your house at its best, you are probably missing out on dozens of potential buyers. The same is true for the visitors – when they come, make them feel «at home», create that first impression which will make them fall for YOUR house.

A professional Staging consultant looks at your property with a buyer’s eye and will recommend some easy and inexpensive solutions to enhance its value – such as decluttering, depersonalizing, and reorganizing your furniture and artwork.
The end result: your house «shows» better than its competition and it sell faster and for more money!

This article was written by Sveta Melchuk from www.Home-Staging-Montreal.com. A Montreal firm that specializes in Home Staging and Interior Re-design services.

Dramatic run-up in the dollar means business can now look for bargains Mark Zilbert, a former Montrealer who now runs a real estate agency selling million-dollar condos in Miami Beach, is quite content that the U.S. dollar is tanking against the loonie.

He says the amount of business he’s doing with Canadian clients is up about 20 per cent over the past six months.

“There’s always a number of factors that influence the spurts in business that we see - interest rates, property taxes. Currency has definitely had a substantial impact on Miami real estate,” said Mr. Zilbert, the 43-year-old president of Zilbert Realty Group.

“When the dollar was doing very poorly, we saw our Canadian business just drop off. Everybody wanted to wait and see what happened,” he said. “Clearly, a lot of Canadian buyers are taking advantage right now, and are starting to look around and shop.”

They’re even willing to book trips during the month of July to go condo shopping in Miami, something that Mr. Zilbert says he has rarely seen.

It’s one example of how Canadian consumers and companies are digging into their pocket books to see whether they can take advantage of the high loonie.

“With the Canadian dollar as strong as it is, it’s a bit like a gigantic sale sign going up,” said Simon Nyilassy, the chief executive officer of Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust, which is in talks two retail centres in Oregon. “It will definitely encourage us to look at more,” he said.

The favourable exchange rate isn’t the largest factor that Calloway would consider as it weighs U.S. acquisitions, but it certainly helps, Mr. Nyilassy suggested.

Stephen Suske, the co-CEO of Chartwell Seniors Housing Real Estate Investment Trust, said the REIT is still digesting a recent acquisition. But, once that’s done, it is very interested in expanding its U.S. platform and “the rise in the Canadian dollar, that is good for acquisitions.”

Colin Walker, managing director at investment bank Crosbie & Co., suggested he doesn’t expect Canadian firms to go on a full-blown shopping spree for major U.S. companies as a result of the higher loonie.

Most large acquisitions are made for strategic reasons, he said. “The truth is, I don’t think people make acquisitions due to currency.” Even if they did, there’s an offsetting factor at the moment, Mr. Walker said. The government’s decision to change the rules governing how companies can deduct interest on borrowings for foreign investments is causing Canadian companies to hold off on acquisitions, and that’s outweighing the impact of the loonie, he said.

Read the complete Globe and Mail article 

The first time you see the ad Scotia Bank 100% Mortgage Program, you may ask yourself…What’s the catch?
Perhaps Scotia Bank still requires the 20% down, but gives you the option of a line of credit?
OR…they really offer to finance you 100% BUT with rates a lot higher than the regular mortgages?

Something to ponder about.

The real answer is none of the above and it was confirmed this afternoon, after speaking with a mortgage specialist Nadine Emony from the Scotia Bank who informed me that the only thing needed in order to be eligible for a 100% Mortgage is to have very-good credit.

Not bad, uh?

In addition to that, you need to:

· Have a min of 2 years of good credit history with one of the major credit cards: Visa and/or Mastercard.
· Have a steady job.

There probably are a few more requirements to be eligible for a 100% mortgage, but for the most part, these are the two most important factors.

Information and link was kindly provided by Mortgage Specialist Nadine Emony. Visit her page for more details.