Edmonton Homes for Sale | Edmonton Real Estate | Edmonton Homes | St Albert Real Estate | Morinville | John Carle

Why Did You Sell My House?

July 23rd, 2010 | Posted in Ask John Carle

Hi John;

Not to sound ungrateful because we really are happy that you sold our house, but I have a business related question for you. How did you do it? We’ve had 2 other agents try to sell this place but you didn’t seem to have any difficulty when they couldn’t do it in 6 months of trying. What’s your secret?

- Name Witheld

Hello ______,

Thanks for the compliment, I think. *laugh*

Yes, you did have a bad run of it for a while there. I’m glad that my team and I were able to take care of the sale for you. Maybe that’s my secret, my team is awesome. They work better and harder than anyone I know. I’ve spent the last 10 years of my career trying to put together the “perfect team” and I think I’m darned closed.

But the results of this team are the reason your home sold. We have a more reliable system for staying in contact with buyers, so finding the buyer for your home was that much easier… we already had their email address!

We do things differently, more focused, and never take our eye off the reason why you hired us. To sell your home. Nobody on my team will be trying to sell you Amway, junk jewelry, or miracle cure makeup. We sell real estate, and that’s all we do. No side businesses.

But I am glad that we sold your house. You handled the process beautifully; you had every right to be a LOT more stressed out than you were. I know I would have been! But you kept your composure, so I think you have every reason to be proud of yourselves.

Thanks again for having me as your Realtor!

John Carle
ReMax Real Estate
www.knock-knock.ca
(780) 701-9090

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My Mover Sounded Great on Craigslist…

July 15th, 2010 | Posted in Ummm... Yeah!

Here’s an interesting post that I found on Facebook, thanks to a great Real Estate Broker named Brooks Findlay in Regina, SK for posting it to Facebook.

Here’s the article…

You have to give Toronto real estate agent Wafa Masri full credit for her honesty.

It’s not everyday you see somebody in the real estate community admit their mistake. I’m not talking about a prediction the Re/Max Hallmark Realty Ltd. agent made about house prices. She might be making the smartest call of her life, taking some time off from the real estate market after 28 years to travel, now that it appears sales and prices have peaked.

No, Ms. Masri’s bad decision came about two weeks ago, after she sold her house and hired a company to move her things into a friend’s place and also into storage.

“I found them on Craigslist,” says Ms. Masri about the movers. Nothing wrong with looking online for a deal, as long as you check out whom you are dealing with before handing over your personal property. She didn’t — and only a phone call to police managed to get her belongings back.

“I don’t move a lot, but I move a lot of people, that’s the crazy thing. You’d think I would know,” Ms. Masri says. “But if my story can help someone, I’m willing to tell it.”

She waited until the last minute to hire a mover, so most of the good ones were already booked. If waiting until the last minute becomes a crime, I’ll be doing five to 10 years in a small cell.

“They sounded OK on the phone and really reasonable next to everybody else,” says the agent, making the sound of alarm bells to demonstrate the warning sign she should have spotted. “I was trying to save money, I’m a cheap person.” Who isn’t?

Her next bad move was no contract. She didn’t agree on a price before she hired them. “The moment they showed up they held me for ransom and then they said they needed cash,” Ms. Masri says.

I hate cash transactions. You can tell me all about the underground economy and paying no taxes — I won’t talk about the moral issue of doing that — but when you pay cash there is no paper trail. No one to sue.

She took out the money from the bank and figured $1,000 would be enough. “Then they started in with talk if there’s stairs, it will be more,” says Ms. Masri. At that point, she called the owner she had first contacted on Craigslist, but he was abusive.

In the end, she paid $1,600. Some of her stuff was shipped to a storage company provided by the movers. The problem is, when she tried to contact the company about where her stuff had been moved, they couldn’t tell her the location.

“I figured they’d stolen my stuff. I called the storage people and they didn’t knew where my stuff was,” she says, adding only a call to police, who had had previous contact with the movers in question, resulted in the retrieval of her things.

“I think the moral of the story is what ever you use, get it from somebody reputable,” says Ms. Masri, adding she’s now wary of transactions through an online source.

I’m not scared of transactions through the Internet, but they should be conducted with caution. In her case, she admits she could have easily demanded references from the moving company. As an agent, if someone asked her for customer references, she’d have no problem with it.

Calgary Police Service Constable Kathy Macdonald, who is charge of cyber awareness for the crime prevention unit, says there’s nothing to stop you from using the Internet to your advantage when researching a company.

“Learn as much as you can beforehand. Ask tons of questions. You can do your own investigation. That’s the beauty of the Internet. You can Google phone numbers, names, addresses, and see if anything comes up,” Const. Macdonald says.

A quick search of the moving company the real estate agent used served up plenty of complaints from unsatisfied customers. In hindsight, Ms. Masri should have done that.

And thanks to her sharing her story, maybe a few people will do just that before hiring a mover.

Financial Post

gmarr@nationalpost.com

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Realtors Association of Edmonton – June Market Summary – Edmonton Housing Market marked by high inventory

July 12th, 2010 | Posted in Market Review Edmonton

Edmonton, July 5, 2010: REALTORS® report normal client activity in the Edmonton real estate market with listings, showings and sales. The residential inventory is approaching record levels set in 2007 but prices held steady in the second quarter with the expectation that they will soften as usual through the fall and early winter.

“There was less external pressure on the market from incentives or rate changes last month and as a result the market seems to be operating in a normal controlled manner,” said Larry Westergard, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “It has been quiet on the news front but very busy in REALTORS® offices as they list client’s properties for sale, book showings for buyers and attend open houses. This has not resulted in immediate sales, however, and, in anticipation that this slowdown will continue through the year, we have reduced our 2010 sales forecast by 2,000 units from 21,000 to just 19,000.”

The slight rise in prices for single family residences in the Edmonton area in May continued in June. SFD prices are up to $391,497 – an increase of half a percent. In the first half of the year average prices are up over 7.5% and are tracking higher than 2009. Condominium prices peaked in April and then flattened out to match the prices reported in 2009. In June the average condo sold for $242,644 – down 2.4% month-over-month. Duplex and rowhouse prices of $306,905 were down 4.6% from last month. Overall, the average residential price was down $4,795 in a month. As usual prices are expected to soften in the second half of the year as sales activity slows. “With the increased choices that buyers have in the marketplace right now it is that much more imperative that sellers consult with their REALTOR® to make sure their property is priced to attract an offer,” said Westergard.

There were 9,406 residential properties in inventory at the end of June as a result of 3,473 new residential listings and sales of 1,539 properties. The sales-to-listing ratio was 44%. The average days-on-market was up at 47 days. The record inventory levels were set in September 2007 at 9,913 residential properties available through the Edmonton MLS® System.

“External influences pulled sales activity into the first four months of the year which reduced the demand in May and June. Overall there were 680 less residential sales in the first half of the year as compared to 2009,” said Westergard. “Consumers still seem interested in getting into the housing market or moving up but seem to be resting after a confusing period of uncertainty and change in the conditions that surround a property purchase.” He emphasised that despite seasonal changes the local market is stabilizing and operating in a normal manner. “The frenetic days of the past few years look to be behind us now and it appears that the more calm, cool and collected market that we are used to in Edmonton is on the horizon”.

There were 3,188 REALTORS® licensed in the Edmonton area at the end of June.

-30-

June 2010 activity Record for
the month*
% change from
June 2009
Total MLS® System sales this month 1741 -36.50%
Value of total MLS® System sales – month $591 million -35.80%
Value of total MLS® System sales – year $3.4 billion -2.60%
Residential¹ sales this month 1539 -37.10%
Residential average price $335,397 2.03%
SFD² average selling price – month $391,497 5.72%
SFD median³ selling price $359,000 2.57%
Condo average selling price $242,644 -2.05%

¹. Residential includes SFD, condos and duplex/row houses.
². Single Family Dwelling
³. The middle figure in a list of all sales prices

* Average prices indicate market trends only. They do not reflect actual prices, which vary from house to house and area to area. For information on a specific area, contact your local REALTOR®.

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Will Bank of Canada Raise Interest Rates? Ask the Bay Street Experts?

July 10th, 2010 | Posted in Mortgages, Videos

Here’s a link to a newscast about what the stock market thinks will happen with interest rates when the Bank of Canada meets on July 20, 2010.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/video/will-bank-of-canada-raise-interest-rates/article1632965/

I would love to have your opinion, so leave a comment below!

- John Carle
ReMax Real Estate (Edmonton)
www.knock-knock.ca
780-701-9090

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Lawyers as Real Estate Agents?

July 7th, 2010 | Posted in ben officer

I received this question from a client of mine.

“Hey Ben, I heard that some lawyers in Ontario want to cut out the real estate agent and do it all. What’s with that?”

I read something like that. Everyone on our “team” has an important role to play in the home-selling and home-buying process. Us, as licensed REALTORS®, do the work that we are licensed to do. Listing and showing houses, meeting with clients to write or negotiate offers… you get what we mean. Our office assistant keeps us sorted and organised.

Now it also the same for the Lawyers, Home Inspectors, Mortgage Brokers, they all have important roles to perform.

The Knock-Knock Real Estate Team (REALTORS® and assistant) provides the real estate expertise for our clients. We also rely on the expertise of other professionals like lawyers and home inspectors etc.. to assist in successfully completing a sale or purchase.

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Our iPads in Real Estate

July 5th, 2010 | Posted in Ummm... Yeah!

After 12 years in real estate, I’ve had all sorts of “revolutionary” products pitched to me. Every one promises to “change the face of real estate”. Guess what? I’m still doing this business in the same way I’ve always done it.

Sure, the mediums have changed. I advertise on kijiji.ca instead of the local newspapers. I get my email instead of faxes. Clients and realtors alike send me text messages instead of paging me. But realistically, it’s the same basic business.

Last month I bought an iPad. The talk online is that this device will change the nature of business. Life will never be the same. Entire sectors of business will be wiped out. Seriously?

I will admit that this device, that I’m typing on right now, is really cool. I love it. It’s going to be a major part of my day to day business and life. But will it change my business forever? I think not. It sure as heck isn’t going to “level the paying field for all agents” like a newly licensed agent claimed it would last week.

What makes me an effective Realtor is the skills I’ve developed over the last 12 years and the lessons I’ve learned from the mistakes I’ve made. No device or gadget will ever change the need for that experience and knowledge. Heck, let’s just call it “real estate wisdom”.

But the iPad is going to change how I interact with my business. It is already making me more efficient, and making me even more “plugged in” than I already was. Digital signatures are now a reality. Online document storage makes sense. The speed with which I can access property data just went way way up.

So yes, this cool new iPad is changing my business. But it isn’t changing the business I’m in!

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Seller Cash Back – Ask John

July 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Ask John Carle

Hi John,

We’ve heard that some sellers are willing to accept a higher price on their home and give a rebate to the buyer so that the buyer has a downpayment and can therefore buy the house. It sounds ideal! Is this something you can help us with?

- Steve

Steve,

That’s also called “mortgage fraud.” Don’t do it.

John Carle
ReMax Real Estate Edmonton
www.knock-knock.ca

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Help Buying Investment Real Estate for Self Employed

June 30th, 2010 | Posted in Buying Edmonton Real Estate, Mortgages

This is a guest post by Julie Cooper of Tower Wealth Management…

Hi Everyone!

I hope you have had a busy spring market!

Today I met with one of my lenders who is opening up their Stated Income mortgages for Rental Properties again! The borrower must be either Business for Self or a fully commissioned earner.

Requirements to prove are:

BFS – one document proving Business for Self at least six months

Commissioned – letter from person who writes the commission cheque stating borrower is 100% commissioned – no income amount to be reported!

With both, no Notice of Assesments or other verification is needed!

This lender will do these stated income for rental property mortgages in Edmonton and immediate surrounding areas for those with average credit (contact me for full details) and 35% down. The investors this may appeal to are those with large amounts of equity in their principle homes or who already have some investment properties with good equity looking to purchase more investment properties – at decent rates! (current 3 year rate is 4.70 and current 5 year rate is 5.99 – rates are subject to change without notice).

I am pretty excited to have a lender back in the rental property/stated income arena and wanted to let you know asap for any opportunities you may come across. Let me know if you have any questions!

Julie Cooper CMA, AMP
Tower Wealth Management/Axiom Mortgage Solutions
16406 100 Ave. Edmonton, Alberta T5P 4Y2
p.780.484.5777
f.1.866.891.7305
t.1.866.484.5777
c.780.982.1154
juliecooper@towerwealth.com

“We provide individuals and businesses with comprehensive wealth management solutions using our unique Wealth Navigation Program”

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Don’t Read This Blog Post

June 28th, 2010 | Posted in Selling Edmonton Home

If you break it down, our job as Realtors is to get people’s attention. Many agents get muddled in all of the other subsidiary duties, such as doing paperwork, or building websites, or tweeting/twittering/whatever-you-call-it-ing or designing a new brochure. But when you boil it all down, our job is to get people’s attention. When selling your home, we have to get buyers’ attention. When looking for a home for you, we have to get the attention of the sellers. But we have to get people’s attention!

Which is what the title of this blog did with you. It got your attention.

Often times a small thing, like a silly blog post title, will get a lot of attention. Sure, we could have spent huge money driving random traffic to a properly worded blog title “Getting The Consumers Attention”. But by thinking outside the box, we had the same effect with a lot less effort.

Getting people’s attention isn’t a new thing. It’s what made people rich on Madison Avenue in the big advertising firms. They’ve been “Getting people’s attention” for years. But HOW you get people’s attention has been changing, and requires creativity and thoughtfulness. What works 10 years ago, 5 years ago, and even last month, might not work today.

So when hiring your Realtor, make sure he/she can get people’s attention. ASK them “How do you get people’s attention?” If they start telling you all about how they designed their brochure and how they have good support in their office… they aren’t getting people’s attention.

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Do We Need An RPR? Or Will Title Insurance Do?

June 25th, 2010 | Posted in Ask John Carle, ben officer

Ben Officer on the team recently had an excellent question posed to him by a client that’s selling their home.

Ben,

Do we need to have an RPR ordered, or will Title Insurance be sufficient? We really don’t want to spend the $600 that an RPR will cost us.

- name witheld

Dear client;

In theory Title Insurance is perfectly fine. It’s been in existence for so long, as has become very widely used throughout the nation. It’s a reasonable vessel for closing a sale. However Alberta is one of the last marketplaces to accept Title Insurance and an RPR is still the “common practice” in this province. So while Title Insurance is perfectly fine, there are still people who are scared away by the idea of not having a formal surveyors report on their new home.

I’ve never met anyone who won’t accept a RPR, but there are people who won’t accept Title Insurance.

Given that your home is worth in excess of $550,000 I think it’s a small price to pay to order the RPR for the home. I’d hate to lose a solid buyer in this competitive real estate market over something as silly as an RPR.

- Ben Officer
ReMax Real Estate (Edmonton)
www.Knock-knock.ca
(780) 701-9090

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The Home is Pending. Can’t We Just Offer The Seller More?

June 23rd, 2010 | Posted in Ask John Carle

John;

If the house is pending, can’t we just offer the sellers more money?

- Ms. X.

Hi Ms. X.

We can offer the sellers whatever we want, but the current offer is in place and cannot be bumped out of the way by anything we can do. They have until their condition day to satisfy their sale and complete their purchase. If they don’t remove their conditions (aka subject-to’s) then we have an opportunity to buy the home.

The most proactive thing we can do on this home is to submit an offer as a “backup offer”. This way, if the current buyer doesn’t remove their conditions then we are in position to purchase the home ahead of anyone else. Think of it as a “right of first refusal”.

- John Carle

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June 22nd, 2010 | Posted in Uncategorized

Many of our clients inquire on properties that are listed as having an “assumable mortgage”, as the concept of just taking over a mortgage seem so appealing. However, there is a lot more to it than that, so I thought it was time to educate potential buyers on the facts and general concept of assumables.

In a nutshell, an assumable mortgage is a mortgage where a buyer can take over the amount and terms and begin making mortgage payments based on those terms once they take possession of the property. Nowadays, lenders require the assumer of a mortgage to qualify for the amount and interest rate of the mortgage, so you will still require a down payment (lenders will not finance 100% of the value of any property). This can be accomplished by having the appropriate amount of equity built in to the property so that there is the equivalent of a down payment in the property or, failing that, you must still provide a down payment out of your own pocket. With an assumable, you have to qualify for the mortgage the property comes with, so it is not as simple as just taking it over. So, if you wanted to buy a particular property and you are satisfied with the interest rate and purchase price, I would arrange for you to talk to a representative of the lender who holds the mortgage (ie BMO) about assuming the mortgage. They will take an application from you and assess your ability to carry that particular mortgage, and determine if you will require an additional down payment (by assessing the purchase price in relation to the market value of the home).

If interest rates have risen since the original mortgage was taken out by the seller, the buyer is the party that benefits the most from an assumable mortgage. However, lately, the situation can be reverse: interest rates are lower than what they were when mortgages of a longer term were taken out. So, in many cases, when you take in to consideration the pertinent factors when assessing a mortgage (principal, rate, and down payment required) there may not be any benefit for you to assume a particular mortgage when you consider the rate that your own bank or mortgage broker can obtain for you.

With an assumable mortgage, you take over the term, interest rate and payments from the seller, and the seller is liable to the lender for any default by you.

Regardless of whether a mortgage is assumable or not, we work with some of the best lenders in the business and are aware of the going interest rates and terms at any given time. So, if you are considering the purchase of any property, call me on my cell at (780) 934-8514 and I will ensure that you obtain the most competitive purchase price and the financing arrangement that suits you best, whether it be assumable or not.

Sarah Dulmage, Realtor.
The Knock-Knock Real Estate Team
Re/Max Real Estate

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The basics of assumable mortgages. To assume or not to assume?

June 22nd, 2010 | Posted in Uncategorized

Many of our clients inquire on properties that are listed as having an “assumable mortgage”, as the concept of just taking over a mortgage seem so appealing.
However, there is a lot more to it than that, so I thought it was time to educate potential buyers on the facts and general concept of assumables.

In a nutshell, an assumable mortgage is a mortgage where a buyer can take over the amount and terms and begin making mortgage payments based on those terms once they take possession of the property. Nowadays, lenders require the assumer of a mortgage to qualify for the amount and interest rate of the mortgage, so you will still require a down payment (lenders will not finance 100% of the value of any property). This can be accomplished by having the appropriate amount of equity built in to the property so that there is the equivalent of a down payment in the property or, failing that, you must still provide a down payment out of your own pocket. With an assumable, you have to qualify for the mortgage the property comes with, so it is not as simple as just taking it over. So, if you wanted to buy a particular property and you are satisfied with the interest rate and purchase price, I would arrange for you to talk to a representative of the lender who holds the mortgage (ie BMO) about assuming the mortgage. They will take an application from you and assess your ability to carry that particular mortgage, and determine if you will require an additional down payment (by assessing the purchase price in relation to the market value of the home).

If interest rates have risen since the original mortgage was taken out by the seller, the buyer is the party that benefits the most from an assumable mortgage. However, lately, the situation can be reverse: interest rates are lower than what they were when mortgages of a longer term were taken out. So, in many cases, when you take in to consideration the pertinent factors when assessing a mortgage (principal, rate, and down payment required) there may not be any benefit for you to assume a particular mortgage when you consider the rate that your own bank or mortgage broker can obtain for you.

With an assumable mortgage, you take over the term, interest rate and payments from the seller, and the seller is liable to the lender for any default by you.

Regardless of whether a mortgage is assumable or not, we work with some of the best lenders in the business and are aware of the going interest rates and terms at any given time. So, if you are considering the purchase of any property, call me on my cell at (780) 934-8514 and I will ensure that you obtain the most competitive purchase price and the financing arrangement that suits you best, whether it be assumable or not.

Sarah Dulmage, Realtor.
The Knock-Knock Real Estate Team
Re/Max Real Estate

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Just How Good Is Ben Officer?

June 22nd, 2010 | Posted in ben officer

So just how good of a Realtor is Ben Officer? Well, have a look at this email that came into our office over the weekend…

Hi Ben;
I just wanted to thank-you so much for the excellent service that you provided to me over the last three months as I bought my house.  Right from the first e-mail I sent, I was repeatedly amazed each time as you answered each of my many queries (e-mail, phone) in record time.
The process was long and a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, but your sound advice and advance preparation left me understanding the process and knowing what to expect.  That made all the difference.
I really appreciate your open and honest, friendly style.
I know that you worked very hard to deal with all of the details of this atypical purchase situation.  You put in a lot of extra time and effort to help things go smoothly.
I can’t thank you enough for helping me to get a beautiful house at a fantastic price.  I will recommend you to everyone I know!

Cheers,

Dr Krista Leicht

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CMHC Housing Forecast – June 2010

June 21st, 2010 | Posted in Market Review Edmonton, Real Estate News Edmonton

This morning CMHC emailed me their Housing forecast. If you want to have a look at it, here’s the link.

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/61512/61512_2010_M06.pdf

All in all, it’s a conservative an completely predictable view on where real estate is going over the next little while. I don’t think there are a lot of surprises in there.

- John Carle
ReMax Real Estate Edmonton
www.knock-knock.ca
(780) 701-9090

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