Marg Scheben-Edey - Collingwood, Ontario

Today, we present another guest post written by my ever-so-talented assistant, Chris. (She sure writes better than I do!) It was precipitated by showing her the picture below of a laneway of a chalet in Blue Mountain that I tried to show. The four foot icy snowbank was a show stopper. How can you sell a house you can't even get into?

Here, just a few more dead honest reasons why maybe your house didn't sell:

1. This is a ski area, we know. People also like to snow-shoe around here. Buyers, however, do not come to a showing expecting to have to use their snowboard, skis or snow-shoes to get into your home for a showing. FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER-get that walkway shoveled. If you don't, please make sure your liability insurance is up-to-date.

2. Although your 36 year old son's kindergarten drawings may be of great interest to you, most buyers would prefer not to see them during a showing at your house: DECLUTTER

3. To you and yours, your home is priceless, just like in one of those Credit Card commercials, but to prospective buyers, being 25% overpriced just isn't just the seller adding in some negotiating-wiggle room - it's sheer madness: PRICE YOUR HOUSE RIGHT FOR THIS MARKET!

4. Speaking of the market, about 1 in 3 houses are selling. Guess what - that puts buyers in the driver's seat, not sellers. Do everything you can to attract buyers, because IT'S A BUYER'S MARKET! You can be part of the 70% of listings which are for sale or you can be part of the 30% that are sold. Which appeals to you?

5. There is a lot of information about everything on the internet. There are a lot of people you know who think they know everything about real estate. Knowledge is a great thing, but a LITTLE knowledge is a DANGEROUS thing. Even though your aunt's second cousin's sister is a mortgage broker in Calgary and she thinks you should be listing your Blue Mountain chalet for $600,000 when your home is probably more realistically worth $350,000, this might not be good advice for you to follow. Your local REALTORS® have experience in the local market and can provide you with some appropriate guidance. This is one of those cases when it may make more sense to LISTEN TO YOUR REALTOR® instead of your mother, brother, neighbour, uncle, bar tender, dentist...

6. There is an old adage, "cleanliness is next to godliness." Well, you may think that toast bits on the carpet, greasy finger prints on the wallpaper, beads circa 1970 hanging in front of a cupboard where a door should be and dog poop on the walkway are not a big deal, but to most buyers, they are. TIDY up, CLEAN up, and TOUCH up. Modernize where you can.

7. Lenders of mortgage money are tightening up their criteria for approving people for financing. If you're lucky enough to receive an offer on your listed home, work with it seriously. Don't let your ego get in the way. PREAPPROVED BUYERS - we like them... we like them very, very much!

8. Smoking. If you're a smoker, you are most likely in denial about the smell of smoke. It's on the walls and in the air. Many people have an allergy to smoke and won't even go into a house with a strong smoke smell. Combat the effects of smoking on a listed property by not smoking in the house. Wash down all the walls with TSP or put on a fresh coat of paint. Febreze® is a good air freshener to help mask the smell of smoke. A fresh dish of pot-pourri can help as well. Clean your ashtrays out, too, before a showing - they smell and are unsightly.

I could write a book about closing day stories. Some that were perfect, some that were funny and some that were nightmares.

I remember one situation where my buyer clients called me up at about 6:00 pm on the closing day saying, "Marg, we're in the driveway with our moving truck and it would appear someone is in the house watching TV." I went over right away and sure enough, the elderly couple who sold the house were relaxing in front of their TV set after having just enjoyed a nice dinner. It would appear that they got the closing date mixed up by a full week and obviously, their own agent was not keeping in touch with them very well.

Of course every home buyer wants to know when they will get the keys and, our home sellers always ask by what time they should be out of the house. I let people know that as soon as the deal closes, meaning that the lawyers have exchanged funds and registered the deed, then the buyer is entitled to vacant possession of the property.

Last year, Toronto real estate lawyer Bob Aaron wrote a good column on this very topic in the Toronto Star in which he reinforces the point that the sellers belongings must be gone at the point the keys are handed over. He cites case law to support that position and describes a case where the sellers had to pay costs to a buyer who was delayed in getting into their home because the sellers had not vacated on time.

I've had this very scenario happen a handful of times and most often, it is reasonably pleasant as everyone tries to accommodate each others plans. Sometimes, and even often, time IS of the essence to the buyer. I suggest that sellers pack up the night before except for a last minute kit and then book their movers for first thing in the morning at perhaps 7 or 7:30 am. If they are moving themselves, get the truck loaded the night before. For buyers, be careful about booking a mover who charges by the hour because you cannot control what time you'll get into the new house.

The most important point is that the REALTORS® should be communicating with their clients and with each other before the closing date to make sure everyone has a plan and that there will be no surprises on the closing date.

It's much nicer to get flowers or a bottle of champagne instead of a call from an angry lawyer.

Back about 18 months ago, I can clearly remember thinking that things would change in the real estate market. Fast sales, multiple offers, interest rates, home prices... they'd all change. After twenty years in the business, I've seen enough changing cycles of the market to know that nothing ever lasts.

18 months ago, buyers here in the Collingwood - Blue Mountain area were often frustrated because they had little time to think. When a suitable home came on the market, it would often sell before they could arrange to see it or before they could make an offer. They were often in competition with other eager home buyers and, they were anxious about getting into the market during a time of rising prices. If I had said, "Don't worry. Soon prices will soften, you'll be in a buyers market and you'll get a better interest rate," they would have called me crazy.

Well that day has arrived and buyers are in the drivers seat.
And...
... they've disappeared onto the sidelines. Waiting. The question is, waiting for what?

The most common reason I hear for buyers delaying a buying decision is fear. They are afraid that prices will depress further and that whatever they buy today may be worth less tomorrow. This is a valid concern but only to a point. There are many factors buyers should consider and one of the most important ones is interest rates.

Right now, interest rates are at an almost historic low. Here is a chart setting out the Bank of Canada overnight lending rate for the last decade:

The reason interest rates are so important is that they determine the bottom line of what is actually going out of your pocket each month in hard earned dollars. An increase of just 1 or 2 percentage points in the interest rate can wipe out thousands of dollars in equity over a mortgage term. Here's an idea. Go and visit a mortgage calculator site such as this one and play around with various purchase prices and interest rates. Take a look at the interest based over the mortgage term and see what just 1 or 2% will do to your bottom line.

In addition, the federal and provincial governments are currently offering all kinds of incentives for home buyers ranging from closing cost rebates for first time buyers to renovation and ecoEnergy grants for homeowners.

For many people, now really is a good time to buy and for others, it may be better to wait and see. A REALTOR® can help you determine the right options for you and you alone.

When it’s time to buy or sell real estate in the Collingwood, Blue Mountain or Georgian Triangle area, contact Marg, an experienced and competent Broker who’s ready whenever you are!

The local real estate market followed national trends by posting the lowest number of monthly sales in over a decade. The 46 sales reported in the Georgian Triangle last month represents a drop of 59% over January, 2008 and is lower than December 2008's 53 sales.

One interesting and slightly surprising trend is that, for the first time since March, 2008, the number of new listings for the month was lower than in the previous year. For the fourth month in a row, there was a tiny uptick in consumer confidence being reported and, the North American governments have both passed stimulus budgets this month. Could it be that potential sellers are hanging on expecting some improvements this spring?

The following information was obtained from the MLS® statistics provided by the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board. The first number is for January 2009 with January 2008 results in brackets:

Total Number of Sales in all areas reported: 46 (111)
Total # of Listings in all areas reported: 437 (454 )
# Active Listings as of January 31: 1714

Single Family Residential Only
(Data is limited to Collingwood, Clearview, Grey Highlands, Meaford, Blue Mountains and Wasaga Beach areas only):

# of Sales: 25 (69 )
Average Sale Price: $290,483 ($312,779 )
Sales-to-Listings Ratio: 12% (33% )
# Condo Sales: 8 (19 )
# Farms Sold: 1
# Vacant Land Sold: 0
# Commercial Sold: 0

In a nutshell: It's a tough time to sell but it's a great time to buy. Limited competition, lots of choice, a buyers market and most of all - low interest rates!

A few weeks ago, I learned a lesson in the obvious. It was a lesson about how easily we can sometimes take things forgranted.

While showing properties in Blue Mountain to some buyers who were here from Asia, one of them asked me what the difference was between a cottage and a chalet. It seems that in our discussions and in her research about Ontario real estate, the two terms came up at different times and she was curious.

It got me thinking about how I intrinsically just know the difference but it was challenging to explain in a way that made sense when I said it out loud. So, since then I did a little homework on Google and interestingly, the terms have different usages in different parts of the world.

Generally speaking, Webster's Dictionary defines a chalet as "A wooden dwelling with a sloping roof and widely overhanging eaves, common in Switzerland and other Alpine regions." In our part of Ontario, we typically refer to any mountain-oriented, recreational homes as chalets. For example, a stucco dwelling used for vacations and week-ends would typically be called a chalet around here. I've even heard many people refer to their condominium as their chalet.

In Canada, the term "cottage" usually refers to a vacation or summer home, often located near a body of water. However, according to a reference on Wiki, this type of property is more commonly called a "cabin" in Western Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, a "chalet" in Quebec, and a camp in Northern Ontario, New Brunswick and in some northern US states. Here in the Collingwood area, people tend to call a waterfront, vacation home a cottage. A small and humble rural property might be referred to as a cabin.

"I'm going to the chalet this week-end to do some skiing" or, "We're going to the cottage this summer" are phrases you'll hear often. Very generally, the location and seasonal use will dictate the default term used.

When you think about it, it's not a wonder that someone who grew up outside of Ontario may become confused about these terms. Either way, they are very nice to have!