How to Hold an Online Garage Sale

April 3rd, 2011

With Spring’s arrival, you may be thinking about emptying closets and ridding yourself of unwanted items. And if you’re thinking about moving, one important step is to get rid of clutter that may have accumulated around your home.

Organizing a traditional garage sale can be a hassle when you have to gather all your unwanted items, tag inventory, post neighborhood signs and online ads, and then spend your weekend haggling prices. If you don’t have that much time, consider holding your garage sale online.

Swap boards, donation directories and even online auction sites make it easy to do. Craigslist, Kijiji, and eBay are the best known of these sites, but there are many to choose from. What’s more, eBay once estimated that the average household has $2,000 worth of unused goods waiting to be sold. You may already be thinking of a few items that should find a new home casino online before you do.

Here’s how to hold a successful online garage sale:

Plan—or Not – The beauty of an online garage sale is that you don’t need to gather all your unwanted belongings at once. Instead you can post them online as soon as you decide to get rid of them.

Price It Right – Search online to learn prices of comparable items. Remember: if you don’t want to lug that item to your next home, it may be worth selling at any price. But if you’re still attached to it, you can set the price a little higher.

Show and Tell – Multiple photos are important—they draw attention to your item over similar ones. Also use them to answer anticipated questions. If you’re selling a piece of furniture, for example, include close-ups of unique details, dings and the upholstery pattern. Also provide detailed written descriptions.

Deliver the Goods – If you’re selling locally and have a vehicle big enough to hold your item, offer to deliver for a small fee. If you’re auctioning the item, you can add a flat shipping fee to the price, or allow buyers to compute and pay for shipping costs.

By getting rid of unwanted items through an online garage sale, you’ll have fewer items to pack when you decide to make a move.

Please contact us any time if you have any questions.

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March 2011, Calgary Real Estate Statistics

April 3rd, 2011

Another Strong month in the Calgary Real Estate Market.  To help you keep up to date with the Market we have posted some highlights from the Calgary Real Estate Boards March monthly Statistics package for Realors.  It is our belief that Real estate is driven by supply and demand so the areas we focus on include the inventory of listings, our sales and of course median sales prices.  

Calgary Listing Inventory:  As shown below our inventory in Calgary Metro increased by 683 listings this month.   This is very typical to see listings rise as spring arrives.  

Inventory  Feb 2011 March 2011 Change
Single Family Home 3504 4024 +520
Condo’s 1750 1913 +163
Total 5254 5937 +683

Calgary Sales: 

Calgary sales continue to trend upwards with single family home sales increasing by 15.9% over February and Condo sales increasing by 24.1%  over February.  Sales always tend to increase with the arrival of spring.  It is unknown at this point how much the changing mortgage rules have impacted sales but the feeling that I have is not very much which means sales could continue to be very strong in the upcoming months.   

Sales Feb 2011 March 2011 Change
Single Family Home 1169 1355 +186
Condo’s 468 581 +113
Total 1637 1936 +299

 Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices :    Prices for  Single Family homes remained constant this month while condo prices dropped by $11,000 which is almost exactly what we gained in February.    

Sales Prices Feb   Median Price March Med Price Change
Single Family Homes $400,000 $400,000 0
Condo’s $267,000 $256,000 -$11,000

 If you have any questions about this summary or about  Real Estate in general please feel free to contact us anytime.  

Gord Piper and Brent Wilcox

Century 21, The Professionals

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Insulation Update

March 1st, 2011

Does this winter have you wondering about your insulation? Everyone knows that home insulation provides tremendous energy savings, but most homeowners have questions about it. How do you know if you need more insulation? What can you do to improve it—without tearing your home apart?

The first thing to know is that for homes built before the 1970s, insulation was not a high priority in construction. These homes may benefit from adding insulation as well as filling the window and door gaps that naturally occur as the house settles over time. The good news is it’s easy to improve your home’s energy efficiency, no matter what its age.

Start at the Top – One of the first places to insulate is the attic. You can add loose-fill or batt insulation easily and cost-effectively. Just remember that if you think you may have vermiculite insulation, don’t disturb it—it may contain asbestos, so call a professional.

Fill the Spaces in the Walls – For your walls, you can choose to blow loose insulation directly into the wall. It’s fast and you’ll only have to patch the wall afterwards, rather than replace the entire surface. On the other hand, if you’re remodeling, you may have open walls and an opportunity to choose from many insulation options including blankets, rolls, rigid insulation and others.

Go Beyond the Walls – Many homeowners see savings from insulating electrical outlets, crawlspaces and doors. A rule of thumb is: a 1/8″ space between a standard exterior door and the threshold is equivalent to a two square inch hole in the wall. Realigning your doors and replacing the door sweep are easy fixes.

Consider Replacing Windows – Weather-stripping your windows can reduce energy loss. However, up to 50% of a home’s heating and cooling needs results from heat gain and loss through windows, so actually replacing your old windows may provide the most savings.

Insulation Adds Up to Big Savings – When you insulate, not only do you start saving money on your energy bills, the government also provides financial benefits to homeowners who make their home more energy efficient. Be sure to save your receipts.

Improvements like adding insulation can often add to the resale value: potential buyers will want to know all about them. And even if you’re not quite ready to move yet, you can still enjoy a cost savings and a comfortable home.

If you have any questions please contact us!

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Calgary Real Estate Board Statistics Febuary 2011

February 28th, 2011

Calgary Real Estate activity levels show substantial increase. 

Whenever I look at the housing market I always look at some key numbers – Inventory, Sales and the median Price .  Looking at these 3 areas in my opinion give us a great snapshot of the market.  Below you will find this information along with a few comments.  Information below is taken directly from the Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats Package for realtors.

Calgary Listing Inventory:  As shown below our inventory in Calgary Metro increased by 547 listing this month.   As suggested before this number will very likely continue to increase as it does every spring.  

Inventory Jan 2011  Feb 2011 Change
Single Family Home 3073 3504 431
Condo’s 1634 1750 116
Total 4707 5254 547

 

Calgary Sales: 

Wow, Need I say anything more – the numbers below speak for themselves.  In certain communities we are even starting to see the odd competing offer.   

Sales Jan 2011    Feb 2011 Change
Single Family Home 791 1169 378 or 47.7%
Condo’s 302 468 166 or 54.9%
Total 1093 1637 544 or 49.8%

 

Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices :   For this summary,  I only  focus only on the Median Sales Price as the average can be skewed by How long could treatment at a 7 Day Detox Rehab Program take? Treatment at a detox rehab program can take as little as one week for an alcohol dependence, and two weeks for a drug dependence. Realtors selling more of less million dollar homes and shows a better reflection of the market.  Prices for both Single Family homes and Condos showed increases this last month.  Truly a reflection of supply and demand – our supply (inventory) is still fairly low while demand (sales) increased substantially.

Sales Prices Jan  Median Price Feb    Median Price Change
Single Family Homes $390,000 $400,000 $10,000
Condo’s $255,000 $267,000 $12,000

 

**It is important to note that some of this demand may be due to mortgage rules changing as of March 17th where people can now only amortize a mortgage over 30 years instead of 35 years.

In other news:  The Bank of Canada announced today that it will not be changing it’s overnight rate.  Therefore the Prime lending rate remains at 3.0%

If you have any questions about this summary, the attached stats package or any Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us anytime.  

Gord Piper and Brent Wilcox

Century 21, The Professionals

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TD’s Mortgage Gamble

February 25th, 2011

The statement that not all mortgages are created equal came up again recently with regards to TD and how they register their residential mortgages. Effective October 11, 2010, TD started registering all their residential mortgages as collateral mortgages. These changes make it easier for homeowners to tap into their equity and harder for them to switch to another lender upon renewal. Here are some highlights with my comments:

1) Mortgages will be reported to Equifax

This is interesting since traditional mortgages in Canada do not report on your credit history. Lines of credit ( which are registered as collateral charges ) do appear on the credit history. So does this mean that these mortgages will?

2) Collateral mortgage can be registered up to 125% of the borrower’s home value upon close.

This allows you to borrow more money ( if you qualify and your home goes up in value ) in the future and avoid legal costs ( $600 to $900 savings ) – this might be okay but read on. One further issue with this practice is that Realtors will often pull title on a property prior to listing it to see if there is enough left over from the sale to pay their commissions. With a mortgage registered at 125% of the home value this could create concern in the eyes of the realtor.

3) The collateral mortgage is assignable

This means that TD will allow you to transfer this mortgage to another lender at maturity – here is the big negative – there are no lenders at this time that will accept a collateral mortgage for a mortgage transfer. This is important because these mortgages will not qualify for a NO-FEE transfer to a new lending institution – so the borrower must now pay legal and appraisal costs to move to another bank. Currently mortgages that are registered normally can be transferred to a new lender upon renewal at NO COST to the borrower. With TD’s collateral mortgage you will incur these costs to switch to get a better rate.

4) TD will not accept another lenders collateral mortgage charge for transfer

This pretty much confirms it – TD will not accept this type of mortgage at this time and no other lender will accept them either.

So, in summary, in my mind, these changes are more negative than positive because if you loose leverage to negotiate, it could cost you a lot in the form of higher interest rates upon renewal. This move again reinforces why mortgage clients should deal with a qualified Mortgage Broker to help consumers decide what mortgage product is best for them.

Canada Mortgage Direct

Bob Alexander, B.Comm, CMA, AMP

Phone: 403-875-5270
Email: bob@mortgagedoctors.ca
www.mortgagedoctors.ca

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Housing Market Outlook, First Quarter 2011 by CMHC

February 21st, 2011
Looking for excellent information on Canada’s Housing Market.  Here’s information you should not pass up.
C a n a d a M o r t g a g e a n d H o u s i n g C o r p o r a t i o n produces a quarterly report  broken down by provinces.  In these reports you will find:
  • National Outlook
  • Trends at a Glance
  • Provincial Outlooks including housing starts, resale homes and prices
Charts showing history and predictions on Housing starts, Resale numbers, Prices, Employment, Unemployment, GDP, Key Market Indicators including Rental Vacancy rates.
To view the latest report see CMHC.  If you like what you see you can also subscribe to receive this report directly from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
If you have further questions about the local Calgary Real Estate Market please contact us.
This entry was posted in CMHC Housing Market Outlook and tagged Business/Finance, Calgary, Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Bookmark the permalink.

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January 2011 Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats

February 2nd, 2011

Calgary Home Sales Rise Year – Over – Year – January 2011

If you would like to receive a the full statistics package from the Calgary Real Estate Board every month please contact us.

Below you will find a summary of some key areas with a few short comments.

Calgary Listing Inventory:  As shown below our inventory in Calgary Metro increased by 566 listing this month.   

Inventory December 2010 Jan 2011 Change
Single Family Home 2712 3073 361
Condo’s 1429 1634 205
Total 4141 4707 566

 Calgary Sales: 

 Single Family home sales increased this month and showed the first year over year increase since April 2010.

  Condo sales remained steady yet are still down from last year’s sales numbers.

Sales Dec 2010 Jan 2011 Change
Single Family Home 734 791 57
Condo’s 320 302 -18
Total 1054 1093 39

 

Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices :   For this summary,  I only  focus only on the Median Sales Price as the average can be skewed by After all, every casino offers secure transactions, a wide variety of games, and progressive jackpots. Realtors selling more of less million dollar homes and should be a better reflection of the market. 

Prices remained almost the same this month as in December. 

Sales Prices  Dec  Median Price Jan     Median Price Change
Single Family Homes $389,000 $390000 $1,000
Condo’s $258,500 $255,000 – $3500

 

Other:  We have certainly noticed an increase in activity with more active buyers looking to buy and with people getting their homes ready to sell.  Although we expect sales numbers to start showing more increases we also expect the inventory to continue to increase as many of the homes that came off the market last year did not sell and some of those will go back on the market.

If you have any questions about this summary, the attached stats package or any Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us anytime.  

Gord Piper and Brent Wilcox

http://www.gordpiper.com/index_home.php

Century 21, The Professionals

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New Year’s Resolution: Remodel the Bathroom?

February 1st, 2011

It’s no secret that bathrooms are a popular room to remodel—because of outdated features, different decorating taste from the previous owners or simply normal wear and tear on a very functional room of your home. If the New Year has you thinking about remodeling a bathroom, here are a few things to consider:

  • Timely or Timeless Style – Before you remodel, picture what it will look like in a couple years when you sell your home. Will you still enjoy that trendy sink? Make sure future buyers will, too. Otherwise they’ll factor in the cost of their own Joueur de casino internet en ligne et blogger. remodel when making an offer.
  • Costs—Good News – Right now many contractors are eager for work, and prices are lower for their materials and labor, so now may be an ideal time to make your bathroom more livable.
  • Resale Value – You may have heard during the housing boom that bath remodels add value to your home. These days you can recoup about 64% of the costs of a minor bathroom remodel, according to Remodeling magazine’s “2010-11 Cost vs. Value Report.” If your bathroom is especially in need of updates, you may recapture more.
  • Too Much? Think Small – If you’re not ready for a full remodel, then a fresh coat of paint, new towels and a pretty framed print can do wonders to update your bathroom—and give you a new look for 2011.

Remember: you and your family are the ones using your bathroom on a daily basis, so think about whether it makes you feel good when you brush your teeth every morning.

If you’d like more information about how a remodel can affect the value of your home, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Calgary Real Estate Board 2011 Market Forecast

January 24th, 2011

The Calgary Real Estate Board has released their market forecast for 2011.  Below I have highlighted some key areas you may find of interest.

MLS RE-SALE HOMES

MLS RE-SALE HOMES 2009 2010 2011 Forecast Change Forecaster
Single Family Sales 14,400 12,095 14,500 19.9% CREB
Single Family Listings 22,459 25,709 25,000 -1.6% CREB
Single Family Average Price $442,327 $461,144 $480,000 4.1% CREB
Condo Sales 6,328 5,181 6,000 15.8% CREB
Condo Listings 10,323 11,423 10,000 -12.5% CREB
Condo Average Price $283,734 $289,697 $295,900 1.8% CREB
Town sales 3,943 3,525 4,000 13.5% CREB
Town Listings 8502 8828 9,000 2.0% CREB
Town Average Price $352,704 $359,327 $368,500 2.6% CREB

 

New Homes

New Homes 2009 2010 2011 Forecast Change Forecaster
Starts – Single Family 4,200 5,600 6,000 7% CREB
Starts – Multi Family  1,350 3,600 4,000 11% CREB

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economic Indicators 2009 2010 2011 Forecast Change Forecaster
GDP -2.8% 2.7% 4.15 1.4% Govt of Alberta
Calgary Net Migration 12,920 -4,154 10,000 340% CREB
1 Year Mortgage Rate 4.05% 3.83% 3.5% -.33% CMHC
5 Year Mortgage Rate 5.5% 5.75% 5.75% 0 CMHC
Oil Price (USD) $60/BBl $79.BBL $90/BBL 13.9% Govt of Alberta
Gas Price (USD) $3.75/NMBTU $4.00/NMBTU $6.00/NMBTU 50% Govt of Alberta
Calgary Employment Growth -1.4% 1.3% 2.0% .7% City of Calgary

 

The entire package with detailed explainations is availiable at CREB FORECAST. COM

If you have specific questions about this report or about the Market today please contact me directly.

Brought to you by Gord Piper and Associates.

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Jan 17, 2010 Government of Canada Mortgage Changes

January 16th, 2011

The Government of Canada announced today that it is changing some of the rules for obtaining a mortgage.  

Personally I find it very interesting as last week there were a few rumors and all of a sudden its reality.

Changes include:

  1. Maximun amortizations will be reduced from 35 years to 30 years.
  2. Maximum loan to value for refinances will be reduced from 90% to 85% – March 18, 2011
  3. The Government will no longer offer insurance for lines of credit – April 18, 2011.

In my opinion the changes will not have a dramatic effect on Real Estate and will only affect mortgages with a loan to value of greater than 80%.

What this Means for an average mortgage.

  35 Year Amortization 30 Year amortization
Mortgage $350,000 $350,000
Interest Rate 4.3% 4.3%
Monthly Payment $1605.19 $1724.24

* For a  mortgage of $350,000 at 4.3% it will increase the monthly payment by $119.05 and will have your mortgage paid off 5 years sooner.

Brought to you by Gord Piper and Associates.  For more information please feel free to contact us.

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