Curtis Leibel 780-438-2500

The new real estate census for Edmonton Metropolitan Area was released at the beginning of this month, and you may be surprised to hear that local real estate sales showed a year of overall stability even in a year of economic turmoil and downturn.  All of the following statistics are taken from the Edmonton Real Estate Board.

Prices were quite stable throughout the year, with only a slight overall decrease in price and number of total sales.  Condos decreased marginally by 0.53%, and single family homes only 0.86%,  The one big decrease was seen in duplexes and rowhouses, falling 5.22% from the previous year.  To put this into a practical application – a $400,000 single family home in 2015 would theoretically have sold for $396,560 in 2016.

The number of units sold throughout the year decreased slightly from 17,325 units in 2015 to 16,170 in 2016.  The average days on market also increased slightly from 51 to 57…meaning on average it would have taken 1 week longer to sell your home last year, compared to the previous year.

And there is recent hope that we may have seen the worse and we are on the upswing:

In December 2016, sales of all residential properties were up 0.42% from December 2015. These increases were reflected across all property types, which showed little change compared to the same month in 2015. Single family home unit sales were down only 2.53%, condominiums were unchanged and duplexes/rowhouses increased 19.44% from December 2015.

Stay posted as I update you with the most recent numbers as we enter into what is typically the busiest time of the year in real estate.

Well we have finally been hit with a cold snap and winter has come.  As a new or existing homeowner, there are many maintenance tasks you should keep up with to make sure your home stays dry and warm throughout the winter.

Here are some tips listed in our Realty Executives blog : http://www.realtyexecutives.com/blog/winter-home-maintenance-tips/.

To summarize:

Ice Damming – be sure to clear any ice collecting on the roof – ice formation will most often be found along the perimeter where there is poor air circulation and also in the roof valleys.

Frozen pipes – make sure any pipes in exterior walls are properly insulated, keep the house warm, install frost proof hose bibs, and shut the main water off when leaving for extended periods of time.

Mold – check to make sure there is proper insulation and air flow in high humidity areas and keep an eye out for any dampness around windows, cracks, baseboards, etc…

Chimney – have your chimney inspected by professionals on a regular basis.  Build up of creosote can be deadly.

Falling trees – clear any debris, or heavy or dead branches away from the home before they break under the wind and weight of snow and cause damage to the exterior of your home.

These are just a few items that take a few minutes to check to ensure you stay dry this winter.

Further to the last few posts, one of the many points to consider when buying a home is conditions.  When a property goes “pending” we mean that an offer has been accepted by the seller, and it is pending removal of conditions.  During this pending state, there is a legal document in place, meaning the seller can not sell to anyone else at this time, and the buyer will only not proceed if one or more of their conditions are not met.  If the purchaser is not satisfied that their conditions have met, they will choose NOT to remove their conditions, and thus terminate the contract, have their deposit returned and allow the property to go back on the market.  If the purchaser is satisfied that their conditions have been met, they will choose to remove their conditions and officially complete the sale of the home.

A condition can be anything you want it to be (sellers can theoretically put conditions on as well).  The most standard conditions are:

1) property home inspection – the buyer to have a certified inspector to examine the property at the cost of the buyer.

2) finance condition – the purchase of the home to be approved by the lender in order to obtain a mortgage

3) condo document review – every condo in Alberta is a corporation, and thus must keep financial and property specific records.  The buyer has a chance to review these and ensure they are acceptable to them before proceeding.

These are the most common conditions, however like I mentioned before a buyer can put forth whatever condition they want to have the seller accept.  For example – purchase is conditional to review of the property by purchasers father (when a parent isnt able to attend an intial showing), or purchase is conditional to the buyer receiving and signing official job transfer papers (when the buyer is still waiting on confirmation they will be relocated to a new city).

Typically conditions run anywhere from 5-10 business days, although quite often 5 business days should be more than sufficient to complete everything, provided you have already been preapproved.

There is a bit more to negotiating the purchase of a home than just the actual sale price.  When placing an offer on a property as a buyer, we present an on offer to purchase on a contract.  The main items that are listed in the contract and may be negotiated include:

1)  Non – attached goods:  Quite often we want items with the home that are not part of the property itself, so we need to list them in the contract – these items may include fridge, stove, dishwasher, window coverings, garage openers, etc….

2)  Deposit:  To make a legal contract there must be some kind of financial compensation that must accompany the offer.  This amount will vary depending on the transaction.

3)  Purchase price:  Of course the most important for most buyers/sellers, this is the item we spend the most time negotiating.

4) Possession date:  The exact date when the property is turned over to the new owner

5) Conditions and condition dates:  Again these items will vary, as well as the time needed to fulfill them, but the usual conditions include property inspection, financing, and condo document review if necessary.

This list is definitely not inclusive, as many items can be added and deleted from the original purchase contract.  However, these are the items that will have to be considered with most purchases.

There are many different types of home buyers – downsizers, move up buyers,  investors and first time home buyers to name a few.  Although a lot of the characteristics of each group may be similar, it is important to recognize the individual needs of each.  I intend on doing a blog for each of the groups, but for now lets start with first time home buyers.   Are you looking for your first home?  Here are some important factors to consider:

1)  Timeline:  It is important to have an idea of when you want to be living in your new place by.  Ive had people living in a new house or condo anywhere from 1 week!! to 2 years from the day they started looking.  Once you have an idea of your ideal scenario you can set a general timeline of how to proceed (keep in mind no matter how prepared you are it still all depends on actually finding the right place).   On average it may take a typical buyer 3 -4 weeks of looking houses, 1 – 2 weeks of offering/negotiating and another 3-6 weeks til possession date.

2)  Location:  The one thing you will hear over and over is that no matter what house you buy you can not change the location once you buy it.  Even if you have your mind set on 1 community, its a good idea to look at a few different areas to see the pros/cons of each.  What neighborhood or location within the neighborhood (on a busy street, next to a pawn shop, etc…) will influence your ability to resell the home in the future.

3)  Financing:  Obtaining financing is usually most difficult for first time home buyers.  Typically they will only be putting 5% down, have to pay CHMC fees to insure there mortgage and will most likely be doing it on a lesser income than the investor/move up buyer groups.  Its a good idea to get preapproved by a mortgage broker- its free and gives you a letter stating you are qualified to purchase a home up to x dollars.  This way you know what price range you are comfortable going up to.

4) Associated costs:  There are costs that come with buying a home that you will want to consider.  Lawyer fees (average $1000-1200) a purchase, CMHC fees (varies depending on how much you put down), property home inspection (~ $500), title insurance (optional ~ $250) and potential utility hook up fees are costs you will want to budget for.  You may also owe the vendor back pay for property taxes/and or condo fees that they have already paid for the remainder of the year

5)  Characteristics of home:  It is important to decipher between cosmetic characteristics and the mechanical/foundational characteristics of the home.  Or in other words, wants vs needs.  Quite often first time home buyers can get wrapped up in the cosmetic beauty of the home while disregarding the operational aspect of it.  Paint, trim, doors, lights, taps – all can be added fairly easily at minor costs whenever the budget allows for it.  However, some expenses are necessary to keep your home dry and warm so it is important to look at these as well.  Windows, shingles, furnace, electrical panel, hot water tank, siding – all expensive fixes that may have to be completed whether you want to or not.

If you are looking at buying your first home it is important to have a Realtor you trust and respect to fill you in on everything there is to know about buying a home.

AREA ( Albert Real Estate Association ) just released their latest sales statistics and you may be surprised by the data.  The general mentality of the public is that our real estate market has taken a big dip, but the stats say that this is yet to happen.

The average residential sale price for the month of December 2015 was $389,486 – only down 0.3% from the $390,528 of December 2014.  Surprisingly enough, December 2015 sales were still 2.37% higher that that of December 2 years ago ($380,477).  To make matters better,6 of 10 real estates boards in Alberta actually saw an increase- including Edmonton which saw a 1% year over year increase.  Unfortunately, Calgary, Fort Mcmurray and Grand Prairie were the few communities to see a decrease in price.

As a whole, the number of sales were down for the month of December for the whole of Alberta.  Over the past 5 years, the province has seen an average of 2929 sales in December.  This December however, we only saw 2532.  Again the entire provincial numbers have been affected by a few of the markets that have seen a more substantial decrease.

All in all however, this is very encouraging news.  Ill keep you posted when the data from the first few months of the new year come out, but hopefully our real estate economy in Edmonton continues to remain strong, and maybe even continue to see some increases.

When looking to purchase a condo one of things you will need to consider is parking.  There are many different options that vary between condos – you will want to know if it is covered/uncovered, underground, leased, assigned, titled, powered, single/double/tandem etc….

Here are some things you may want to consider investigating before proceeding with a purchase:

Assigned parking – make sure to do your due diligence to ensure it is actually assigned at that it will be transferred to the new owner.  It would be prudent to have the condo board write a letter confirming that it will in fact be transferred to you.

Titled parking – This is easy to confirm.  Have your Realtor pull the title of the property.  If it is titled it will be listed here.  Also realize that you will most likely have to pay property taxes on the parking stall in addition to the condo unit

Leased – If leased, how much and for how long?  Will you be able to renew the lease as a different owner?

Powered – check to see if there is a plug for your stall.  Also ensure in the condo documents that you are not responsible for the energy fees for the plug (most often it comes from condo fees).

Condo plan – If the parking stall is legal and part of the property it must on the condo plan – which have to be provided as part of the condo documents package

Most importantly – when viewing the property try and find the stall/s in person so you can identify exactly where it is and what shape it is in.

There are many different costs that buyers may incur when purchasing a home – property inspections, appraisals, legal fees and Real Estate transfer fees among others.  Well, as of July 1st, expect to see buyers costs rise as transfer fees are set to quadruple.

Currently, Alberta’s land transfer fees are among the lowest in Canada.  Presently sitting at about 0.02% of the cost of the purchase, fees are now set to rise to 0.12%.  So how much extra can you expect to pay?

Assuming a $500,000 home with a $400,000 mortgage:

Land title registration:

Prior to July 1st 2015 – $150                    After July 1st 2015 – $675

Mortgage Registration;

Prior to July 1st 2015 – $130                    After July 1st 2015 – $555

So, an average home purchase in the city of Edmonton after July 1st 2015 will cost about $1230 in registration fees – almost $1000 more than it was previously.  Not that it makes it an easier pill to swallow, but even with this substantial hike, Albertas fees still remain significantly lower than other big markets such as Vancouver and Toronto.

So if you were thinking of buying a home in the near future it might be a good idea to start looking.  A closing date of June.30 or earlier will save you $1000.

Hi everyone — Ill be doing an open house at my beautiful listing at 4409 Wingfield CA so come drop by and check it out!