It's Happening Again

Hello Hockey fans from coast to coast, the NHL season is here the Leafs are stumbling, the Real Estate market is hot and for some all is right with the universe. First things first, the Real Estate market remains a hot seller's market. Inventory doesn't stay on the shelf long. A week ago during our office meeting we had three new listings to look at on our Wednesday morning tour and all three were gone by Monday morning. Without getting into numbers the most expensive property sold for 102 % of asking, the next one full asking price and the third one 10 thousand under asking. These three properties were in the 580,000 to 680,000 range. If you want to sell now is the time, if you want to buy do not mess around, be very proactive, find an agent, ( I would like to apply for the job) sign a deal and strike fast. So many people I have met at open houses over the last 2 months feel they can latch onto the listing agent and get a good deal. Not a good plan. Buyers get your own agent and get agressive. That might be something I should pass along to the Maple Leafs.

A Record is a Record

The numbers are in and the month of June was great for Real Estate transactions. All the reports are true. June 2009 was better than June 2008. You already know that June 2008 was before the financial tidal wave hit. Resale transactions up 27 percent and prices up 2 percent from one year ago, from a time when business was booming. Does it get any better than that, the asnwer NO. A quick tip to those looking to buy, make sure your finances are in order before you get serious about making an offer. Multiple offers on properties happens more times than not, so you have to be ready to pounce, be ready to pay more than the list price and be ready to put your best offer in first with a limited number of conditions. I know that flies in the face of common sense but that is what wins in a multiple offer situation.
Now to sports..an aspiring broadcaster asked me yesterday why I don't write about sports in this blog. Quite frankly I find it boring. I only love hockey these days. The Roy Halladay saga with the Blue Jays reminds me so much of the Montreal Expos I can't bear it. There, I said it. We will talk again soon.

jt

THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING

I have always been fascinated by life transitions. Media people like to spend hours talking about what may happen and they can go on about what has just happened with endless hours of retrospective analysis but few can actually nail what is happening at the moment it changes. You wake up one day and find a buyer's market in Real Estate, fueled by low interest rates and many first time buyers, quickly has changed into a seller's market.

You may recall me mentioning in an earlier blog about multiple offers hitting the Toronto central market in the spring. That trend has moved north and York region is getting socked with multiples. That's the great thing about the Real Estate market. It always seems to make its own adjustments. What looked bleak when the New Year hit has rebounded twice and made its own self correction. Its too bad your local stock broker can't sing the same tune

Think About It

..I was sitting at my desk at RE/MAX HALLMARK, doing some paperwork on a listing of mine that was going through the "sold conditional"stage when I got a call from a prospective buyer asking about the same property. After I told him the status he quickly switched to other available properties in the same area. After a few minutes he made it clear that he wouldn't be signing a buyer agreement until I found him the property that he wanted. While that makes sense on the surface, once you sit back and realize what the prospect has said you quickly come to the conclusion he has put himself in a self defeating situation. The odds of finding the right property fall off rapidly because there is no commitement to find the property. Lets take it a step further, if that caller had signed a buyer agreement a week earlier he would have had an excellent chance of landing the property he was calling about. He would have had a working knowledge of similar properties in the same area, he would have been prepared . This is a big investment, it's hard to understand why some buyers want to leave such an important purchase to chance and not carefully explore all options. The serious buyer signs and agreement with a Sales Representative and lands the right property, the "tire kicker" hopes luck will smile his way.

DON'T LET THE FACTS GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY

It is fascinating to watch after so many years in TV and Radio newsrooms, just how long it takes for the real story to emerge. From the pages of "The Toronto Star" Thursday May 21st, the headline reads "Realtors making merry in May".The caption says it better and more accurately,mid month transactions are up 3% and house prices are on a par with a year ago. All of that of course is true. I might stand corrected but I doubt it, some of my blogs said as much over the past few weeks, yes there are fewer listings, money is oh so cheap to borrow and many first time homeowners have hit the market. All of this fuels multiple offers and higher prices for those looking to sell. Simple economics yes, but very effective. You have to love the economics of the housing market. It is self correcting, too bad some of our other issues can't say the same.

The Power of Positive Thinking !

It is my favourite time of the year. Spring has sprung, the golf course is open for business and the Real Estate market like everything else perks up. While struggling through an early round at The Summit Golf and Country Club I came up with this thought. It seems that those of us that struggle in the mid 90's always come up with a shot or two per round that drive us back as soon as we can get out again. Think about that. 94 shots fired and only two are carried forward as building blocks to a better round. So here is the thought, why can't we carry forward that same optimism in everything we do. The Baseball Hall of Fame is full of players that were able to record a basehit 3 out of 10 times, 2 out of 94 shots for some of us is the tonic we need. Something to think about the next time a situation appears more negative than it actually is.

I was asked by another agent in my office recently what the difference is between my career as a sportscaster and buying and selling Real Estate. He seemed shocked when I said not much. As a sportscaster I had to do many hours of preparation so that when I had to refer to something "live" I had to present the answer with a quick response and of course sound as if it was on the tip of my tongue. When a client or prospect ask me a question, I have to present the answer the same way, so guess what, I have to do a lot of "prep" work. As a sportscaster I did not fill my head with statstistics because I wanted to be able to present the information to my viewers in a natural manner . As a journalist I developed a skill of knowing where to look for the answer .Too many sports fans memorize stats and then at some point recite incorrect information. Credibility is based on factual correctness. In Real Estate it is the same. I will never to profess to know everything but I do know where to look to find the answer and because no two cases are exactly the same, that skill I developed as a journalist of constantly looking for the answer pays off. As for the thrill of doing a live TV show, well it can be matched when I complete a win-win transaction for my client.