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!

Baby it's cold outside!

The winter weather finally decided to show up this week! After being spoiled with above average temperatures this fall, the snow has finally come to stay (at least for a while), and we welcome back the term "windchill" to our vocabulary. Highs in the minus 20's and windchills in the the minus 30s will keep people inside, at least for a little while. But then, after all, we are Southern Albertans, and when the temps creep up to minus 12, we will think "Hey, this is not so bad. Time for some fresh air!", and the sidewalks will be busy again, and we just carry on. Real estate wise, there was one house that sold this past week, for under the $100,000 mark. Not much going on for showings, which traditionally happens this time of year. With the holidays coming up, and the cold weather, not many people are prepared to make a move. This slow time usually goes until the middle to end of February, much of it weather dependant. Then again, now that I have said it, we may be busy with people making some New Year's resolutions about relocating. Vulcan is still an affordable place to buy property and to live. We have a very good hospital/healthcare system, recreational facilities, and located only one hour from larger city centres. The surrounding communities in the County have a lot to offer as well, including that small town community spirit that many folks from the city can only dream of. Plus, with the surrounding lakes, McGregor Lake, Little Bow, Travers, Twin Valley, and Badger Lake, the excuse of "there is nothing to do" is really not valid. With 2016 wrapping up, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and best wishes for 2017!

Tough year for sales so far in Vulcan County

According to the statistics provided by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB), the year over year sales for Vulcan County are down by 37% so far in 2016. This is the third year in a row that the percentages are in the negative numbers. New listings are down by 27% compared to the previous year's numbers. There is just over 13 months of supply on the market, with average days on the market being 129. Yes, it is a challenging market for sellers. Some properties just are not getting any showings, or at least very little. Challenging and frustrating. Yet, this is a common theme throughout much of the province. Numbers are down, as people seem to be keeping their wallets in their pockets, waiting for the economy to improve.