Latest Stats from Calgary Real Estate Board

The last half of 2017 seems to be dragging along. However, compared to the 2016 year, this year is pretty good. Last year, in the 3rd quarter, there were 15 sales in Vulcan County. This year, there were 22. That is a 46% increase year over year. The number of listings in 2016 for the 3rd quarter were 45, compared to 50 this year. That is an 11% increase. Last year there was a 13 month supply of inventory on the market, while in 2017 there was 11.5 month inventory for the same quarter. Average days on market for the 3rd quarter last year was 138, compared to 88 days in the same time frame this year. Nice to see a bit of an improvement, but we should note that we are still trying to get back on our feet when the market took a downturn in the last half of 2013. Maybe this is a sign of good things to come in the new year!

Latest Market Activity

May and June of this year were active months in the real estate market in Vulcan. Since then, I have found there have not been many viewings of residential listings. It is frustrating for those trying to sell their properties, as well as for us as real estate professionals. Checking with other agents in other districts, this does seem to be a common issue. In the meantime, though, inventory of properties on the market is picking up, so when the buyers do start shopping around again, there should be more selection. Thus, it depends on which side of the fence that your are on as to whether this is a good thing, or not.

Still Standing - Vulcan, Alberta

If you missed Still Standing on CBC where they came to Vulcan, Alberta, here is the link to watch on the CBC website: http://www.cbc.ca/stillstanding/episodes/season3/vulcan-alta

Feedback on Listings

It seems like not that long ago, when an agent showed someone your property, there was an unwritten rule that you would receive feedback on the listing. Sometimes it was helpful. For example, they might say that the potential buyers were concerned with spots on the bathroom wall and think that there may be mould issues. The seller could then address the issue however they chose to do it. (treat the spots, as they may not have noticed them before, or let the buyers know that you had already seen them, had the spots tested, and found out that the kids had just been colouring on the walls!) There was more communication. Today, however, as a seller's agent, we are lucky if we get feedback on 50% of our listings. Buyer's agents do not have to give any feedback whatsoever. This may sound a bid rude, but our real estate "higher ups" decided that if a buyer's agent gives feedback, it may put them at a disadvantage during the negotiation process. For example, if the buyers say that they like the house, after being asked for feedback. They say that it showed well and that they are interested. When it comes time to negotiate on an offer, the buyers submit a low offer, stating that the house "needs a bunch of work". But they said it showed well and they seemed to like it, after they had viewed it! Wait a minute. Were they just telling us stories after they view it, or are they just now trying to say that the house magically turned from being nice to becoming a "fixer upper"? Hence, the distrust can start before the negotiations really get going. Do I give feedback on properties that I have shown? Yes, with my client's permission, and sometimes it can be very vague feedback, but at least it's something. I find that sellers want to hear something. "They do not like the colour scheme". "The garage is too small." "The house shows very nice. Very modern looking." "My clients are just starting to look and want to see more properties before they make a final decision." It can be a bit of a grey area at times. A little frustrating too. Then again, sometimes buyers give feedback that the sellers may not like. "The place is a tear down. It needs too much work." I have had that when the agents just finished renovating! They were not too happy to hear that. No one wants to hear someone tell them that their place is a dump, or that someone thinks that their workmanship is subpar. At times, we need to be careful what we ask for because we may not like the answer. And if someone who said that your handyman work is crap puts a low-ball offer on your home, that can make for hurt feelings and the negotiation process may not go so well. My point is, if you want feedback on your listings, you may not always get it, AND, be prepared, because if you do get feedback, you may not like what you hear.

Establishing boundaries - Great article regarding real property reports

Establishing boundaries

Why List with a Local Real Estate Agent?

Why would a person choose to list their property with a local real estate agent, when they can hire someone from the city from a larger, well-known real estate brokerage? Very good question. First of all, is the local real estate agent part of a real estate board, such as CREB (Calgary Real Estate Board)? My brokerage, Magnuson Realty Ltd. is part of CREB. There are over 5000 real estate agents part of this real estate board. Being part of CREB, we are also members of AREA (Alberta Real Estate Association) and CREA (Canadian Real Estate Association). The benefit of being part of CREB means that those other 5000+ agents who are part of this board have access to any of our listings. The general public views listings on individual brokerage websites, or on the MLS system on www.realtor.ca. However, within our local real estate board, we have access to more information for the listings. So, once again, why would a person choose to list their property, or buy a property, with a local real estate agent? Just like the weather can be different from one area of the province, county, or city, from another, so is the market. Local agents know (or should know) the local economy, what potential developments are about to take place, local concerns, information about schools, community groups, town/village councils, and so on. If you are looking to purchase a family home close to schools, you will want to know where those schools are located, what grades are in those schools, and if the schools have a good reputation? Do they have a good sports program, such as ruby, if your child is into that? Or maybe your child is very interested in music. Does the school have a music program? A local agent should also be able to give you an idea of how long it may take to sell your property. For example, the average days on market for a residential property in Vulcan last year was 134 days. That is a big difference from larger centres where properties on the market for over 30 days can be deemed stagnant. And price...a local agent who has been around for a while will know the market and have a price point in mind whether you are looking at selling or purchasing. Last year, the average sale price for a single family house in Vulcan was just over the $200,000 mark. People can purchase a house backing onto the golf course for under $400,000. In larger centres, a residential lot may be valued at more than $500,000, let along one with an actual house on it. For these reasons, I get calls from out-of-town real estate agents, asking me to help them with their clients. These are called referrals. I do the same for people looking for properties outside of my immediate area. Clients are making one of the largest financial investments or sales in their lifetime, so I feel that they should get the best people working on their behalf. Whether it is me locally, or I refer them to an agent in Calgary, Lethbridge, Edmonton, or where ever, I suggest using a local agent. There are lots of good agents out there. We just can't be experts in every area of the province all of the time. If you are thinking of moving away, ask around for recommendations, from the public, and from a local real estate agent. In my 15+ years in the industry, I have met agents whom I am very comfortable recommending friends/family/clients to. On the other hand, I also know some that I would not recommend either.

Lack of lower end inventory

As of the end of April, there is only one house listed for sale in Vulcan that is priced below the $100,000 mark. The next lowest price house is listed at $167,000. From there, four more properties are priced below the $200,000 mark, and they go up from there. We do seem to be lacking in our inventory. I am hoping that as we transition from spring to summer that we will see the numbers of properties on the market pick up so that our buyers will have more selection.

Rumours and the real estate market

It has been said that if you really want to know what is going on in a neighbourhood, speak with the locals, the neighbours. After 15 years in the real estate industry, I believe this to be true. You can find out "the feel" of a community by speaking with the people who live there. Drive by the parks, schools, downtown, and see what is going on. How clean do the parks look? How well maintained are the streets? Is snow being removed, or are there lots of ruts made from packed snow? Do the downtown businesses look like they are actually in business, or does it look like a ghost town? And when you are talk to the people, talk to the PEOPLE, not just one person. A prime example of this happened in our town recently. An out-of-town real estate showed one of my listings. He told me that his clients were really interested and that they may be writing an offer. However, a couple of days later, I received a message from the agent stating that his clients had been speaking with a neighbour of this property, and this neighbour told his clients that they should "just turn around and run". This neighbour said that the foundations of the properties in this area were all collapsing and that the person who built them did very poor work. I was shocked to hear this, as I remember when these properties were first built, and I have listed and sold properties in that area. Not once had there been an issue raised about the structure of the properties. Hence, I suggested to the agent that if his clients had concerns, that they should hire a property inspector. When I represent buyers, I suggest getting a property inspection no matter how old the property is. I also spoke with several neighbours in the area and they have not heard of any structural issues. My guess is that this "neighbour" who brought up these "issues" may have been someone who was either having a bad day, had issues with the builder (these were built back in the 90's), or just did not have any idea of what they were talking about. Anyhow, my clients lost a potential sale, and now the area is in damage control because someone started an unfounded rumour. ANOTHER example occurred this week. One person told me that there sure are a lot of houses for sale in town these days, while another told me there sure does not seem to be much on the market. Both people claim to have bought and sold many properties and are very familiar with the real estate market. Well...I eat, sleep, and breath real estate, as I have been working in the industry for over 15 years. I do feel like I know a thing or two about it. So, here is what's going on...not just from me, but from the numbers from the real estate board and MLS system - Vulcan has a low inventory of single family residential properties on the market right now. There is only one property listed for under $100,000. If you are hoping to see your property for over the $300,000 mark, you have a very small window of buyers who are looking in that price range. The majority of the properties that have sold so far in 2017 are in the $200,000 to $250,000 price range. These are the statistics, not rumour, not the local coffee shop info. My suggestion is that if you want to know information, whether it be in real estate, construction, retails sales, or whatever, talk to the people who are actually in the industry.

Crawling into the Spring Market

The real estate market for 2017 has been up and down so far this year. In January, the market seemed to be getting some traction, but then it fell off again. However, April has been a busy month for me so far. And, according to the Alberta Land Titles Registry, March was the busiest month for residential home sales within the Town of Vulcan, with seven sales closing. That is exciting news because before March, there were a total of five residential sales within the Town of Vulcan. Is this a sign of good things to come? Is the market picking up? Well, it did for one month, and it seems to be carrying over to the next, so...hopefully yes! There are still some signs that we are not out of the woods yet though, as there seems to be some rental vacancies in town. Plus, there is a lack of inventory on the market, but the inventory has been low for a while now. The snow is gone (at least for today), and the weather is starting to warm up, which is making the plants green up...so I am feeling positive about the upcoming spring/summer market!

Cautiously Optimistic?

Happy New Year! And I mean it. The start of 2017 is showing some positive signs on the local real estate market. Compared to last year, we are off to a good start. Personally, I have averaged just over one sale or conditional sale per week in the first month of the year. So why the "cautiously optimistic" title? Last year was weak. Comparing 2017 to 2016 is somewhat unfair...so far. The market did not have much choice but to go up this year compared to 2016. Thus, I remain cautious. Our total number of single family residential sales in the Town of Vulcan dropped quite a bit from 2015 to 2016. Yet, the average house price that sold went up from around the $182,000 mark to right about the $200,000 mark. The reason for this is that there were only a couple of houses that sold under the $100,000 mark, but there were a few new builds that sold above the $400,000 mark. Houses selling above $400K have been few and far between in our area over the past five years. However, they did sell in 2016, and those sales helped drive up our average sale price. What does that mean for 2017? The builder of those new houses plans to construct a few more this year, and if they sell, that could keep our average sale price up higher. Then again, we will need to see what comes on the market, because if there are some much lower priced properties that sell in town, that could affect things too. Anyhow, in the meantime, we will hope for a good selection of houses to come on the market, and that we have a good variety of qualified, and motivated buyers, ready to make a move this year!