Archive for the ‘Real Estate’ Category

Buy Smart

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

While the title  of this post may sound confusing at first, the meaning is simple: whenever you buy a condo, make sure it is a unit that would be easy to sell again in the future – even in a strong buyer’s market. This is advice is, especially for investor clients. May seem like common sense, but it is worth exploring a little further real estate listings.

Besides a brief 6-month window between October 2008 through April 2009, the Toronto real estate listings market has basically been a seller’s market for the better part of the last decade. Anything sells in a seller’s market, and hopefully when it comes time for you to sell you reap the benefits of a strong seller’s market, but what if you sell and the market is slow? What if there are 10 real estate listings for every buyer, instead of the other way around? Make sure you buy smart and buy a condo that will be easy to sell and sell quickly even in a buyer’s market.

More tips to consider when thinking about selling in a buyer’s market:

  1. Always buy a property that a wide range of buyers would be interested in.
  2. Avoid one-of-a-kind units. Cookie cutter condos are not always a bad thing when it comes to investment!
  3. Be wary of units with special features like terraces, multiple parking spots, customized kitchens etc. Not all buyers appreciate these features and therefore they will not be willing to pay extra for them.
  4. When in doubt, buy the smaller of two units. Smaller=Cheaper=More potential buyers
  5. Go as high as possible. The 25th floor will sell before the 2nd floor in a slow market.

In a hot market like we are in, it is easy to lose sight of the fundamentals of real estate investing. Buyer’s often ’settle’ for a property that does not meet the above criteria just to get into the market. Don’t settle and always think about what if you had to sell during a buyer’s market.

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Why do you need a realtor to buy a house ?

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

SHOULD I ASK FOR A REALTOR TO BUY A HOME?

When you start looking for a new home, what most people do is get in their car on a Saturday and drive around the areas they like looking for real estate listings( “For Sale” signs.) When you see something you like, you get out, look around a little, and if you’re still interested, you call the agents’ number on the sign in the front yard to schedule a showing. In the course of a day, you may have anywhere from 2-10 different agents lined up to show you properties. And you’re trying to keep track of who is showing you what real estate listings and so on and so on. I did this too before I became a realtor. And once you find something you like, what do you do from there? I had no idea. What I didn’t know is that YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO ALL THIS WORK YOURSELF!

Just like if you were selling a property, you only need ONE agent to help you with the buying process of purchasing a new home, preferably a licensed realtor. Using more than one can actually cause problems for you, especially if you sign any type of agreement with an agent. I don’t ask buyers to sign any kind of agreement. The way I see it, if I’m doing everything I can for my buyers to find them a new home, they will stay loyal to me. If they go to another agent, it’s because I’m not doing my job. I also wouldn’t want to force anyone to work with me who didn’t want to, whatever the reason.

All real estate agents are not the same. Realtors are committed to dealing honestly with all members of a transaction and maintain a strict code of ethics and a higher level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate.

Once you find someone you like, your realtor will:

1.) Help you determine what you can afford and find the real estate listings for you, getting some basic information from you and referring you to lenders who are best qualified to help you. It’s always good to be pre-approved before you start your home search. This way, you know what you can afford, and the seller knows you won’t have any snags come up when you purchase the property. It also saves everyone time and allows you to move fast when you find that perfect property.

2.) Your realtor has access to many real estate listings and resources to help you in your search for your perfect new home. If the property is listed, and at times even if it’s not being marketed yet, your agent will find it.

3.) Your realtor can help you weed out real estate listings you wouldn’t be interested in by providing information about each property before you use up all of your gas driving around. realtorS have access to loads of informational resources that can provide you with information about the communities, the schools, zoning, churches, etc.

4.) Your realtor will do all of the grunt work for you. He/she will call the listing agents of the properties you’d like to see and arrange showing times according to YOUR schedule. They will also find out from the listing agent any pertinent information you may need to know about the property and then show you the property.

5.) Once you find the real estate listing you want to make an offer on, your realtor will prepare all of the paperwork and take care of any negotiation factors including price, anything included or excluded from the sale, financing, terms, date of possession and much more. They will take care of getting the offer to the sellers’ agent.

6.) Your realtor can advise you what inspections and investigations are required before purchasing the property,and they can recommend qualified professionals to do these for you and provide you with written reports within the time-line mentioned on the purchase contract.

7.) Your realtor will obtain any disclosures about the real estate listing from the sellers’ agent.

8.) Your realtor will help you understand and guide you through the closing process, making sure everything goes smoothly. They will be there at the closing with you and will be smiling along with you when you get handed the keys to your new home.

These are many of the things your realtor will do for you in a nutshell. I hope this article has helped you, the buyer, understand the process of working with a realtor a little better. Happy house hunting!

Original source from http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Earl_Wilson

____________ More info on http://www.realestatepronet.com

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Real Estate – The In’s & Out’s

Friday, January 22nd, 2010


Real estate has made a lot of people very wealthy over many generations. Granted, we are now seeing price falls like never before (for some). Some start to question if they should still invest in real estate.

Consider that 91% of homeowners surveyed by real-estate-services firm Realogy Corp. thought that owning a home was the best long-term investment they could make, according to the Wall Street Journal. That is what the homeowners think – but what about the experts?

According to an article, most experts expect housing prices to level out over the next few years, and then regain a more historically balanced appreciation rate of between 2%-4% per year. The tone of the article—seems to imply that real estate is not really a good investment anymore. Do you think perhaps the growth that was experienced in the past decade was not only unparalleled, but unsustainable as well? Therefore, as ROI (returns on investment) come back to realistic levels, we suddenly interpret them as “not worth it”.

I think that they left out some important facts to consider. In the article Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for real estate at the University of California, Berkeley, advises that people should think of their own homes mainly as places to live, not as investments. In fact many experts will tell you that the house you live in is not an investment nearly as much as it is just a roof over your head.

Throughout the article the author evaluates the merit of real estate investment assuming solely that the “investment” is a person’s primary residence. Yet, when he interviews investors that talk fondly of real estate, they talk not about their primary residences, but about rental homes they own. There is a huge difference. Primary residences might not be your best investment. Rental housing however, can be an incredible investment if managed properly.

No one can predict which way prices will go, but true investors do not rely on appreciation estimates when evaluating the worth of an investment opportunity. Investors look instead at the cash flow numbers. Cash flow is something tangible, and can be budgeted for in the present and future.

Furthermore, the market drops are generally based on personal residences, not income properties. Properties that provide good cash-flow typically do not drop in price as much during market fluctuations. Dramatic price drops happen when people sell in desperation. They are forced to get out of their mortgage or other debt, so they drop the price until it sells. What motivation does an investor have to drop the price on their rental house if it is bringing in money every month? The answer is that they have very little motivation to do so, and so they probably won’t.

Investors can still make great money in the real estate market if they focus on the right things.

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