Cambridge / KW Homes

Clemens Mill / Saginaw, North Galt  -  We invite everyone to visit our open house at 80 Burnett Ave on December 6 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. This all-brick home is ideal for your family and is located within walking distance of Clemmens Mill PS, St. Maragret CS, and St Benedicts HS.

Property information

Clemens Mill / Saginaw, North Galt  -  We invite everyone to visit our open house at 48-199 Saginaw Parkway on November 21 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Awesome condo townhome with 2 ensuites, finished basement, garage, party/club house, pool.

Property information

Did you ever notice that some homes sell quickly while other, similar homes sit on the market for months? It's not luck that sells those homes. It is the result of a systematic process in which all parts of the process work together. If one part of the process is missing, the home will not sell at full market value, or it may not sell at all.

So what is this systematic process? Well, I call it a Full Marketing Plan, though there is more to it than just marketing. It starts before a home is placed on the market and continues until the home is sold. Following is an overview of the process. Follow this process and your home will sell. If you miss any part of the process, your home may not sell for the highest price or sell within a reasonable timeframe.

Before Listing Your Home For Sale

• complete any overdue repairs and clean your home inside and out.
• call a Realtor. Have the Realtor do a preliminary inspection of your home and advise you of what, if any cost-effective improvements should be made. The preliminary inspection will also aid your Realtor in completing an accurate CMA (Competetive Market Analysis).
• be open to the advice of your Realtor. Your Realtor deals with sellers and buyers all the time, and objectively knows what buyers like and what buyers dislike.

List Your Home For Sale

• your Realtor is legally bound by a Code of Ethics to look after YOUR best interests, which includes confidentiality.
• your Realtor will have completed a CMA to determine the market value of your home. Asking the right price for your home is crucial for many reasons which will be discussed in a separate blog entry. Essentially, you should "lead the market" with your price. If prices are rising, you may list your home at a higher price than recently sold homes. However; if prices are declining, you will need to price your home accordingly. In a declining market, the worst thing you can do is price your home higher than the market will support, only to reduce the price at a future time. You will be following the market, not leading it, and if you are not careful, you may find that you are always 2 weeks behind the market.
• follow your Realtor's advice with regards to home staging. Some people have the decorating knack and don't need to have their home staged. The rest of us should carefully consider the advice of a professional Home Stager. Most Realtors have home stagers who they work with all the time and a home staging consultation is often included with your Realtor's services.
• don't take it personally. If your Realtor or Home Stager recommends some changes, they are doing it from a professional, objective point of view. The idea is to showcase your home so that potential buyers can see themselves living in your home. While you may love your family pictures or beer bottle collection, these things can make it difficult for buyers to visualize their own family living in your home.
• discuss your expectations with your Realtor. Be open with your Realtor with your expectations. If you need to sell before the end of the month, or if you cannot allow showings on Sundays, your Realtor needs to know this. Having your expectations out in the open make the selling process work much smoother and with less stress.

 Your Home Is On The Market

• well, now it's no longer your HOME. It's a HOUSE that you need to sell.
• keep it clean and tidy. Your Realtor is working hard to promote your house with advertising, online marketing, office and MLS tours. Your house needs to be ready for a showing at any time.
• if you have pets, consider boarding them with family or friends. If this is not possible, your Realtor should have a game plan for dealing with pets during showings. Ideally you will remove the pet during the showings or open houses.
• do not smoke in your house and eliminate offensive odours from cooking
• be accomodating for showings. To sell your house, people need to see it.
• arrange to be out when showings are scheduled. Buyers never like to see a house while the owner is home. They always rush through the house and make a dash for the exit.
• if you must be home during a showing, don't interfere with the showing. Let the Realtor do his or her job of showing the house. Do not offer any information. Even a small off-handed remark may offer information that may work against you.
• seek feedback from your Realtor. Many Realtors ask for feedback after showings. (Feedback may not be given by the people who viewed your house.) Feedback may reveal a common objection from buyers. Perhaps decor or minor repairs are turning the buyers off.
• many Realtors have access to web statistics for your house. They may reveal the number of viewings of your property on various websites. These statistics can be very helpful in determining whether you house is priced correctly.

What If You Have Not Recieved An Offer

• if your home has been on the market for a reasonable time period (compared to the "average days on market" for your area, you should have received at least an offer.)
• if there is a common objection from buyers who have viewed your house, perhaps you can overcome the objection. If they feel the rooms are too small, maybe you can remove or re-arrange furniture. If decor is the problem, perhaps you can decorate. Some objections are beyond your control. (Your house is beside an apartment building, train tracks or industrial building.)
• if you have had lots of viewings online, and you have had showings at your house, you can rest assured that your property is being exposed to the market.
• if your property has been exposed to the market, and you have addressed feedback issues (or if you cannot), then only the price is left to be addressed.
• any property will sell, at the right price. The right price is whatever a buyer is willing to pay in an open market.
• if you are not able to adjust your price to meet the market, perhaps you should put off selling or look for other solutions. Your Realtor can help you achieve your goals.

The process of selling your home includes:

• staging the home to show off it's best features and benefits
• pricing it very close to it's realistic market value
• exposing your home to the market
• allowing a reasonable amount of time

If any one of these components is lacking, the others will have to compensate.

For more information contact Jim Danson, Sales Representative with Royal LePage Crown Realty Services - Brokerage at jim@jimdanson.com or www.JimDanson.com   

The Cambridge, Ontario real estate market is rebounding strongly, along with the rest of the local economy.

The Real Estate Board of Cambridge, Ontario reports that sales were up in July 2009 for the third consecutive month, and that this was the second busiest July on record. The number of homes sold in July was up 11% over the same month last year.

The average price for residential homes was $250,396. This is down 2% from the same month last year.

There were 409 new listings in July, down slightly from last year. The total number of active listings was 11% higher at the end of July, but July had the smallest increase of active listings in more than a year.

Inventory during July stood at 3.6 months, below the recessionary peak of 8.9 months in December. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell all current listings at the current rate of sales activity.

Historically, Cambridge and the Golden Triangle area has not been subject to the dramatic market swings of other markets. This is due to a relatively stable and diverse economy that includes advanced manufacturing, high-tech, auto manufacturing, transportation and academics, along with a very convenient location on highway 401, Canada’s busiest highway.

For more information on Cambridge real estate, contact Jim Danson, Sales Representative with Royal LePage Crown Realty Services - Brokerage at jim@jimdanson.com or click on www.JimDanson.com .

Paris, Brant County  -  We invite everyone to visit our open house at 29 Brant Rd (HWY 24) on August 16 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Located just north of Governor's Rd, this nicely updated bungalow sits on 2.57 acres and could be ideal for your home-based business.

Property information

The most common question I am asked is, “How’s the real estate market?”.  Given the present state of the economy this is a very valid question. For most of us, our home is our greatest investment.  

House sales in Kitchener / Waterloo were up in May 2009 compared with the same month last year. According to Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Board statistics, 478 single detached homes sold in May. This represents a 14.4% increase. Single detached homes made up almost 70% of all sales.

Sales in the range $275,000 - $300,000 increased by 86.4%. The most popular price range iswas $200,000 - $250,000.

The total number of residential listings available decreased by 7.8% in May 2009 compared to a year earlier.

These statistics indicate a very strong market. With fewer listings available, it’s a great time to sell your home and make that next move. Historically low interest rates make this an excellent time to buy.

'Banking crisis over' says CIBC economist

Jobs and housing still must recover

May 16, 2009 Julian Beltrame The Canadian Press  OTTAWA

The financial crisis that plunged the world into the worst recession in decades is showing signs of having righted itself.

A proclamation of the welcome development came at the same time that data showed the Canadian economy took another hard knock in March, with manufacturing sales falling 2.7 per cent, reversing a February pickup.

The cheerier harbinger is a steady reduction in global credit spreads -- the gaps between interest rates on low-risk government bonds and higher-yielding corporate and other debt -- which suggest that the financial meltdown is on course to being resolved.

"The banking crisis is over,'' declared the headline in a note yesterday from CIBC World Markets chief economist Avery Shenfeld.

"Nobody now expects there's another Lehman out there,'' Shenfeld wrote, referring to the mid-September collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, which jolted financial markets around the world.

"Nor will banks be pushed into a fire sale of assets that would depress valuations of like assets on other banks' balance sheets.''

The three-month London Interbank Offered Rate, a benchmark for lending between banks, was down 10 basis points on the week to 0.84 per cent, reducing bank funding costs.

Some base rates were the lowest since the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis erupted in the summer of 2007.

Pointing to narrowing credit spreads and improved interbank lending, Shenfeld said a turning point in the U.S. crisis was reached with the Obama administration's rescue measures.

Bank of Montreal economist Sal Guatieri said he also was encouraged by narrowing credit spreads.

"It means borrowing costs will be coming down for a wide range of borrowers, because a lot of variable-rate mortgages and a lot of personal and business loans are tied to the LIBOR rates,'' he said.

Guatieri cautioned that weakness remains in the economy and he is not ready to declare an all-clear until he sees improvement in job creation and housing, particularly in the United States.

Yesterday's data on Canadian manufacturing showed that the recovery will not be a "neat, straight-line'' move, noted economist Derek Holt of Scotia Capital.

The surprising 2.7 per cent tumble in factory sales in March left them down 23 per cent from their peak last July, despite a bounce in auto shipments following assembly-plant shutdowns in January and February.

The retreat was widespread, and with more auto sector retrenchment on stream, the manufacturing picture only looks bleaker down the road.

"Manufacturers are reining in production, but not as quickly as sales are plummeting,'' said Grant Bishop at TD Economics.

"Downward pressure on Canadian manufacturers will continue throughout the next two quarters.''