The Spring Thaw

by Darrin DeRoches February 20 - 26, 2014

It may be too soon to talk about the spring thaw when it comes to the weather, but in the real estate market the spring is going to be super hot! The market has stayed strong during this brutal winter in Hamilton, compared to other markets, and all indications show that the spring market is going to come on very strong. The abundance of buyers and fewer properties on the market is causing prices to rise and is creating stiff competition among buyers. If you are thinking about buying in the spring, be prepared.     Buyers need to be ready to act fast and go strong if they want to get their dream home this spring.  First things first, hire a great broker to get you ready.  Make sure that they are on top of the market and are ready to move fast.  If you have to wait for a return call or the secretary is “paging” them for you — get someone else.  Your agent should be available to you “in minutes” and be available at all hours.  A house may come up at night and your broker should be on the phone setting up an appointment first thing — ahead of the others — so that you can get first crack at the property. Once they have their foot in the door, they also have to know what to do to get the deal done. This only comes with experience and a business background so if they cannot make things happen, find another broker. The spring market is going to be so hot you have to have the best or you will find yourself bidding on properties and not winning.     To make your offer strong you should also not only be pre-approved, but you should have your mortgage broker prepared with the entire proper paperwork sitting, waiting for you to send them an accepted offer.  Being able to close the property quick will also work to your advantage and having the right mortgage broker working with you can make or break the deal.  The mortgage broker should also be available to you at a moment’s notice and if they are not willing to do the work, meet with you and have your total package together, then hire someone else.  The right team of professionals will make the difference between getting your dream home or sitting on the sidelines watching home after home going to the buyers who have done their homework and hired the right team to get the job done.     The spring market is going to be blazing hot and you only have a few short weeks to get ready to buy. It is a sellers’ market so as a buyer you must be ready to get the job done.  Hire the right team of brokers and prepare yourself to be in competition to come out on top.  Next week I will write about what the sellers need to do to get top dollar for their property in the coming spring market. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca

Hamilton Is Up Almost 10%

by Darrin DeRoches February 13 - 19, 2014

The numbers are in for the first month of the year and they are great. The real estate market in Hamilton – Burlington increased by 9.3 per cent for the month of January. This is an almost 10 per cent increase in the price of your home from a year ago. This, plus the number of listings went down by 9.5 per cent in the same period, creates a greater demand for quality properties where people are willing to pay a little more so they do not lose out. The month of January was bitterly cold and even this did not slow down our strong market. The average sale price is now $395,445 and that alone is huge news and I would bet we will hit $400,000 by March.     The interesting part about all of this is trying to convince Hamiltonians that their home is worth more than they think. Ninety percent of the time the home owner thinks their home is worth more than it really is. I had two different clients this week that I had to convince to raise their price since the market will pay it.    One client had their property appraised by a bank and it came in at $200,000. He figured if he was to sell, he could at least break even and walk away with no debt. I had to explain to him that the number the bank will finance is not the number the market will pay. I know we can get at least $20,000 more than the appraisal and since his property is located in a desirable area, it can probably go up to $229,000 – if we list it now. The other client contacted me about six months ago about listing their condo and asked for advice on what to improve before putting it on the market. We discussed all of the simple upgrades from new appliances, to paint and a new sink in the bathroom. At this time they were happy to list it at $149,900 and we waited for them to do the improvements. I went there yesterday to take a look at the upgrades which cost them about $2000 dollars in total and we pulled the comparables and realized the market will now bring an asking price of $159,900.     There is no competition in the market for this area or product and if we wanted to push it we could ask even higher but they want to sell fast and buy a new home – before the prices jump again. Usually we are trying to convince people to lower their prices and be realistic but the opposite is true in today’s market. This being said, you still have to be realistic and take the comparables from last year, add 10 per cent and you will be selling fast and getting top dollar! The cold has not dampened the market and it is paying the highest returns we have ever seen so give us a call if you are considering selling and reap the rewards of a strong market. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca.

Bayfront Improvements by Darrin DeRoches February 6 - 12, 2014 This week the city of Hamilton announced plans for the piers on the bay. These are plans that will develop the unused lands for commercial and residential uses in the coming years. They are also looking to improve the area in regards to sewage, streets, sidewalks and lighting to the tune of some 35 million or so. The city can justify this spending with the increase of taxes and development fees so everyone is voting ‘yes’ on the issues. There are a lot of things happening down at the bay and it seems like no one is really making a big deal out of it when this can actually be a huge success story or a huge flop. Major developments have come and gone in our city over the past few decades – some with great success and others being called failures or white elephants.     People complained about Copps Coliseum being built with no hockey team to fill it but now we can look back at all of the great events that have entertained us over the years and the income spin off that it brought to our city. In my eyes, it was a great success, not a white elephant.     Jackson Square seems to be regarded as a failure since they demolished heritage buildings and built it to be a fortress rather than an open mall that could have brought downtown together. I believe that the design of the mall was its greatest downfall but we have made the best of it and it has a resurgence happening with new tenants and investment. Overall it may be a failure in design, but winning by default.     The location of the new football stadium is also debated and will be knocked up and down until we realize what we have received with very little of our own money invested. The stadium will again provide our community with years of use and entertainment and end up being a success story.     The new vision for the bay is opening up land for development from the private sector as well as government use. The city has an absolute jewel that will either be developed with great success or squandered into a failure depending on how much of it we allow to be developed. The private sector will usually find the right use and mix for an area by listening to the market and building what they need without any interference from politicians. Hopefully the city will just do their job and develop the infrastructure, zoning etc. and allow the bay to continue to develop into the jewel it is. This will take decades to play out, as will the development around the airport and downtown.     There is a lot of money to be made in real estate in these developments and the city should just keep opening the doors of opportunity and see what comes. The next ten years will continue to shape our city. Invest in the right spot around the bay and you will see great returns – the doors are opening. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca.

Our High End Has The Best Value

by Darrin DeRoches January 30 - February 5, 2014

The luxury home market in the Hamilton – Burlington market is hitting the top of the market. A report done by Remax shows a 31 percent increase in luxury homes, which brings us into the fourth spot in Canada. Sales were up a staggering 173 percent since 2009. The Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto markets are obviously above us but it is an amazing trend to see how we are not only killing it in the real estate market overall, but now also in luxury. A property to be considered luxury it is priced over $750,000 in our market. A couple of years ago if you listed a home over $500,000 dollars it would take almost double the average time to sell than a home below that mark.     I spoke with a client this week who was concerned about selling his property around $650,000 dollars, since he felt it may take a while to sell, but the data shows high end homes are selling. There was a home in Mississauga that sold this week for six million and it was a bargain. They had an auction this week with a home listed over 11 million dollars for years with no takers. The builder had to realize he may have over developed the property for the area. Everyone has their opinion, but the market spoke and it sold for six million dollars. Some say it is a bargain while others think that they paid too much, but in the end the market dictated the price and it sold. The developer may lose a little money on the deal but the comparable properties in the area are in the six to eight million dollar value so why would you think you can get over 11 million? This is high end real estate just down the road. Build the same property in our market and six million would be insane. The same materials and on a great piece of land it would never reach the six million dollar mark let alone the 11 million.     Hamilton’s high end market is the best value in all of Canada and it will only go up. There will be money to be made in the high end of the market if you know where to buy and what the market is looking for. Is it a huge garage, acres of land, pools, high end kitchens or all the above?     The developer in Mississauga may look like he just lost five million but the reality is that he probably broke even. Take that same investment of money and develop multiple high end properties in our market and he would have made up that “lost” five million.     So when you start to think about the Hamilton real estate market, you should realize that we are number one in the country and now we are entering the high end of the market too. This, plus the future of commercial investment, will take our market to heights we could never have imagined just a few years ago. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca.

Giddy Up

by Darrin DeRoches January 23 - 29, 2014

People always ask when are the best times to sell your home is. The answer is January and September.  But what most people don’t realize is that it takes a few weeks into the month to really hit the right time. Last week I listed a property in a small town and had three offers on it. A new client I spoke with a year ago called to list their commercial property.  Another blast from the past called and asked for help with selling their home. I received a call from an elderly client looking to buy a retirement property and wanted to move quickly. A potential commercial tenant is going over a lease to be signed this week and the government, banks and credit companies all settled an ongoing mortgage to be closed this week.  All of these deals, leases, sales and buyers all have the same thing in common – they finally got back to work!     The funny thing is that of the three offers we received this week, two of the agents are going on vacation this week. Seriously? The third week of January is always the jump off point for the New Year and money waits for no man or woman.  Most agents have been sitting at their phones just waiting for them to ring for over six weeks and now isn’t the time to take a vacation.  Sure it must be cheap flights and it is freaking cold outside but the market is starting to rock and roll and, hey, let’s take a vacation.  Anyway, not my problem. The point is that the market is starting to move and if you are considering selling or buying a property in this market get ready to move fast.  First things first – hire the right agent or, better yet, a broker.  The market is going to be moving very fast with no slowing down in sight.  A great broker will get you into potential homes before they hit the market or even sell your home before it hits the market.  People want to move fast and not have to shovel snow or have a parade of people going through their homes in this weather. If you try to do it on your own you will surely miss out on the best that the market has to offer.     So saddle up with a real estate professional and lasso the market by the horns or risk getting left in the dust.  The new year is starting out at a canter and will be in a full on gallop once it warms up a little. So get on your horse and ride into the New Year! In case you didn’t know, it is the year of the horse, hence the metaphors. Seriously though, the real estate market is going to be a wild ride this year so be prepared and you may come out with the blue ribbon – I think that means first place – maybe one too many horse references. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca.

Heritage Vs. Progress

by Darrin DeRoches January 16 - 22, 2014

I have written about heritage properties before but it seems to be a popular subject as Hamilton’s downtown slowly gets redeveloped. You can go back to the seventies when they tore down everything and destroyed some of the best buildings Hamilton ever had. Today’s problem is the row of buildings in Gore Park that have been slapped with a heritage designation as a last minute ditch by councillor Farr. The owners of the properties – Wilson Blanchard are submitting a notice of objection to the heritage designation and trying to “push back” against the city. Everyone can have an opinion on the matter but one must really look at both sides.     First let’s take a look at the city’s side of the problem. They offered a million dollars to help with the costs of saving the façade, to be incorporated in the final design. Councillor Farr had many meetings with the owners and tried to come to a resolution but in the last moment, tabled the heritage designation and stopped all demolition of said properties. I applaud his efforts and on this alone he should be voted in for a second term. The next side of the problem is the owners of the property. They invested a ton of time and money over more than a decade to assemble the properties, maintain them and put together a plan to “revitalize” an important area in our downtown. They have done a great deal of investment in our city and almost everyone would agree they have done a great job in the past.     I personally believe as a real estate investor myself that they should be allowed to do what they want with the property. I strongly believe that all significant heritage buildings should be preserved and they should be allotted money to aid in the cost to save such important facades. Blanchard has preserved heritage buildings in the past and I would love to know the real reason in their reluctance in preserving these buildings. I understand the buildings themselves are beyond saving but the facades are worth every effort and investment to save. I do not know the reasons behind their decisions but everyone who understands a “heritage property” realizes the value of the façades and the return on investment they bring.     The city may have allowed the school board building to be demolished and they are trying to get the Baptist Church to save its façade but why can’t they find common ground with Blanchard? I hope the developers take a second look at their properties and find a resolution that serves everyone in this stalemate. The façades should be saved and they should use all the resources the city has offered and develop the properties with these in mind. They will get a better return on their investment than building another “glass block” that may have more square footage but no “soul”. Sometimes you have to be the caretaker of a property and this very property will take care of you by giving you a better return. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca.