Quality Selling Fast

by Darrin DeRoches September 27 - October 3, 2012

Fall is officially here and it is starting to get cold but Hamilton’s real estate market is getting hotter by the minute. We should all know by now that we are number one in Canada and Ontario for real estate and investment (if not hit up viewmag.com and look at my past articles) but all I see around the city is “sold” signs. I am getting calls about properties even after we have a conditional offer with people hoping the deal falls apart so they can jump in and scoop it up. This is not just happening in one part of the city, it is happening all over.     One agent listed a property in Rosedale area with three bedrooms, garage, driveway, deck, steel roof, new windows, new kitchen and 2 baths. I am familiar with the property. Since I was doing a market analysis for a property I am listing it was a great comparable. I called the agent who informed me that the seller had already purchased a new home and wanted a quick sale – so they decided to list at $264,900. They put the property up on the market in the morning and within 9 hours it sold for over asking. Since I knew the agent, I had to ask if they had priced it low to get multiple offers? He stated it was priced to sell fast since the client had already bought and did not want to wait to sell. This only confirmed that my new listing can ask even more than what the seller was thinking.     Later in the week I was talking with a colleague who had a property sell in Ancaster. It was priced over a million dollars but sold within days for top dollar. It was a beautifully built builder’s home and worth it’s price tag but to have a home over million dollar sell that fast was impressive. The common thread in both of the properties – Quality.  If you have a property that is in good shape, and priced right, it will sell fast. There are other homes in both of these neighbourhoods that have been listed and sit on the market, but properly marketed homes, staged and priced right are blowing them out of the water.     So if your property is worth 100 thousand or over a million dollars, consider the time it will take to properly market the property and the rewards you will reap in time and money. Take a little time to do the staging, cleaning, painting etc. Since the market is moving fast it will be time well spent. You can only make a first impression once, make it count and you will sell your home fast and you can then spend your time counting the extra money you made on selling your home in a hot 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 mail@uniquerealty.ca.

Your Fifteen Minutes

by Darrin DeRoches September 20 - 26, 2012

Fall is just around the corner and the casting calls are coming in. We had our first episode debut this week on the W networks’ My House Your Money  and we received two new casting calls this week.      The first show is a new show with Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan who are looking for a couple who have found their dream home, but find themselves scrambling to put their current home on the market. Are you stressed about viewings & deadlines? Does your old home need a face-lift to make it more appealing to buyers and maximize its value? Let their team of design experts help speed up the sale and get you into your new home. Families moving within and around the Toronto area are invited to discuss the possibility of obtaining a renovation completed on their current home.     The second show is a new program called: Inside Outside Upside! From the producers of Sarah’s House - Inside Outside Upside! is a new HGTV series currently looking for homeowners who have recently purchased their dream home and need help fixing up their existing property before it goes on the market. They are looking for couples located in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) who have a minimum of $12,000 to put into interior and landscaping renovations and are available to go through renovations in September/October. Participants will receive a sizable amount of product and donated labour for participating on the show. Participants must be willing to appear on air.     If you or someone you may know is interested in one or both of these show just give us a call or email and we can answer all your questions and put you in touch with the right producer to make it happen for you. Filming a real estate TV show can be a very fun and insightful time. The excitement and exposure can also help the resale of your home. They use the top designers and production people to create an amazing end product that will definitely put more dollars in your pocket when selling. We enjoyed filming our episode in and around Hamilton and there is no better way to create a buzz about a property than filming a television show and being able to put the stamp of their designer on your listing.     We also have a close friend who just shot a pilot real estate show produced / directed by Mike Holmes about renovating the space of a single father to set up their place for their children. When this pilot gets picked up they will be looking for single fathers looking to renovate.     So tap into the magic of television and take advantage of all it has to offer. Your home will be the leader in the market and you will get top dollar! Give us a call or email for more information. 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 mail@uniquerealty.ca.

Number One Again

by Darrin DeRoches September 13 - 19, 2012

Hamilton has been named the top city in Canada to invest in. Hamilton has attracted more industrial and commercial development than any other city in Canada over the past year. The Site Selection Magazine analyzed projects with at least one million invested and at least 50 new jobs created or at least 20,000 sqft of new construction.  I will now include a typical email I received after writing about the accomplishments of Hamilton:     “Hey Darrin, enjoy your column, especially the recent one on REIN’s selection of Hamilton as the top investment market in Ontario for the next few years. First I need to check some facts with you. I read recently, I think it was in the Downtown BIA newsletter, that Hamilton had been picked as number one in Canada. Was that last year? Were we not number one in Canada this year, but still number one in Ontario? Can you clarify this? Secondly, and I’m going to be a bit of a skeptic here, but don’t take that personally – I’m skeptical about everything. I’d be curious to know what cities had been picked by REIN in the past, and did those cities actually experience substantial growth and increased market values in the ensuing years after they were picked ? Thanks for shaking the Hamilton pom poms. Regards, Mike”     This email is exactly what I would expect after writing about we are now number one in Canada not just Ontario and, yes, we beat Quebec City who have 16 projects and also that little town down the road called Toronto with 15 projects. We had 20 projects over a million dollars in the last year and we are on track to have a great year with Navistar and the downtown hotels and condos.      So to clarify our recent accomplishments we are number one in Ontario for the top place to invest in according to REIN’s data and we are number one in Canada for the place to invest according to Site Selection Magazine.      We have all the infrastructure, highways, railways, ports, airports, in place to grow inside of our city’s boundaries to become a force to be reckoned with. Stop living in the shadow of the city down the road because their tower isn’t even the biggest in the world anymore.      I do not blame Mike for being a skeptic and I do not take it personally but the city has to start realizing what we have before someone comes in and buys it all up. If you look at what other cities have accomplished by moving forward instead of dragging their feet, you will see the rewards.     Brantford’s casino has proven its worth and we should consider our opportunities. The harbour is the next jewel to be reckoned with and let’s keep the ownership as local as we can. Invest in your own real estate market before outsiders buy it all up and you miss the boat. 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 mail@uniquerealty.ca.

Picking Up More Steam by Darrin DeRoches September 6 - 12, 2012 First bread, now auto parts – Hamilton business parks are picking up some steam. It was announced today that Navistar, which is International Harvester, is bringing a parts depot to the Redhill business park across the street from Canada Breads new plant. It is planned to be up and running in 2014 and will replace their present plant in Burlington. The plant will be 250,000 sq. ft. and will bring 50–60 jobs. This very company left Hamilton years ago and the fact that they are returning is the big deal behind this development.     The mayor was quoted “To have this company return to our community is another major step in our continued renaissance. It also demonstrates that the investment this Council made in our Economic Development function was money well spent as it continues to provide measurable returns in non–residential assessment and jobs.” To put this quote in layman’s terms, it is good to see the city actually doing their job. The Economic Development has been doing an excellent job by moving fast and not allowing the councilor’s time to screw things up by grandstanding and prematurely letting the cat out of the bag.     The NHL and the placement of the new stadium for the Tiger Cats are prime examples where the past and some present councilors put their agenda and egos before the needs of the city. They spent more time getting press and puffing out their chests than actually doing their jobs and they screwed it up. The Canada Bread development was all done before the councilors were even told about it. They had a meeting, gave them all the information and asked them to vote. This is the way it should be done and this is why we have these developments.     The developer of the project, Mr. Joe Hamadi, stated “On Friday, May 4th we requested a meeting with the Mayor, City Manager and Senior Staff. That meeting was convened on Monday May 7th and a pre–consultation meeting for the project was held with Senior City staff four days later. This is clearly a municipality that wants investment and can deliver service.” This quote says it all and does not have to be deciphered as a politician’s quote does. Taking care of business is what the business world wants, not a dog and pony show. The city responded in a businesslike manner and nobody was scared away from grandstanding in the media. Take a second to close the deal – then tweet about it to your heart’s content.     These developments are bringing jobs and people to our city which creates a strong real estate market. We have a great base to build on and it seems that city hall is finally getting it right. I hope they are learning from their recent success and we will be making the right choices for our future. If they pick the right company to run Copps and Hamilton Place, future hotels, condos and maybe even a NHL team may come out of this decision. These developments impact everyone's taxes, equity etc., and if they keep going in the right direction we will all be winners! 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 mail@uniquerealty.ca

To Buy Or Sell First

by Darrin DeRoches August 30 - September 5, 2012

To buy or sell first? That is the question. Usually I would always tell a client to put their house up for sale first and then begin looking at possible homes in the market. I have a great house in the Gage Park neighbourhood ready to go on the market but we are waiting till mid-September to list the property since there are absolutely no desirable properties on the market for my client to buy. We have searched three different areas that they would consider moving to and not one property comes even close to their wish list. Therefore we have to come up with a new game plan.     We met for lunch this week and after a long conversation we have laid out the perfect plan for today’s market. First my client is meeting with a mortgage broker and their bank to set up “bridge financing’ which is exactly what is sounds like. This line of credit is basically a mortgage that will bridge the time it will take to buy a new home and sell the old home. We want to have our money straight so when a quality property comes on the market we can make a strong offer with no conditions and successfully acquire the property. We will likely be facing competition and I for one do not like to lose, so with our “bridge financing’ in place we can make an offer most people cannot compete against.      The second part of the plan is to have the system set up when a new listing comes on the market we are able to be the first one to the door. Speed is of the essence and we put in place a couple of things which enables us to do just that – first people in with an offer ready to go.     The last part of the plan is to have their house ready to be put on the market the second we have a new home secured. The pre-planning, pictures, marketing, signs, internet ads etc. have all been set up and only need a push of the button and a phone call or two to have their property on the market within minutes. This will show the sellers that we are not only ready to buy but their property is on the market, priced well and ready to sell!      The fall market is coming fast and will be hot. As a broker you must be ready for anything and with these clients we are not just ready – we are going to knock it out of the park. The market changes daily and you have to be ready so you not only get top dollar for your property, you will have bought your dream property. My clients will be sitting in the back of our company limousine writing the offer with no conditions beating all others to the door before they even realize it was on the market. Everyone else will be out in the cold when they cannot find a suitable property in September while my clients will be enjoy the holidays in their new home. 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 mail@uniquerealty.ca.

Hamilton Is Number One!

by Darrin DeRoches August 23 - 29, 2012

This is not just a fluke but a second year in the number one spot for the best city to invest in all of Ontario. Who is number two? Who cares? We are number one! The Real Estate Investment Network of Canada considers a great deal of factors to come to this determination. The biggest indicators are Real Estate and Jobs and our future looks pretty bright in these important factors.     R.E.I.N. founding partner Don Campbell states “known formerly as a hard–working steel town, the city has quickly shed this image in the eyes of potential investors – as indicated by the record breaking building permit values Hamilton has experienced in recent years” He also went on to talk about the potential of the city and why high tech jobs will come to our city. R.E.I.N. believes we are good enough to be number one for a second year, so it is about time for us to start tooting our own horn.     Twitter explodes every time a new food truck rolls into town or new artists step onto James Street, but we need to be promoting our city for more than this. By the way, I follow all the food trucks on twitter and loved the chicken poutine on Dirty South this week and I have supported artists for 20 years – my point is we need to promote our business (jobs) and real estate to people outside of our city. We have to stand up a boast a little.     I’ll start. Tonight I saw a promo for season 2 of My House Your Money which featured my episode the DeRoches family episode #29 Tuesday Sept 18 2012 at 7:30 on the W network. We shot the show a couple of months ago in and around Hamilton. The crew was very impressed with the city and kept asking about the real estate and our “cool” streets. They went on and on about having an amazing lunch at the Bread Bar on Locke and this is coming from the “hipsters” from Toronto. They keep calling me looking to shoot another episode in our city but it’s hard to find families who are willing to be on camera.      Our city has so much to offer and we need to work it all together and promote everything. Locke, Hess and Augusta streets, waterfalls, Supercrawl, Ticats, Bulldogs, Innovation Park,  top hospitals, farms, airport, food trucks, film and animations studios, busy water port, well priced properties, parks, Mohawk, McMaster – you name it, we not only have it, we have the some of the best! So stand up Hamilton and say it with me – “We are number one.”     The phones have already started ringing from investors outside of the city and they will continue up to next year when we go for the three peat! So start blowing your horn Hamilton and when they come here for a new high paying job and buy a reasonably priced home let’s take them to Art Crawl and hit up a food truck – I’ll be there. V

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

by Darrin DeRoches August 16 - 22, 2012

Breaking up is hard to do. Well, not really. In today’s world, it seems that breaking up is the easy part. Settling the assets is the real hard part. Divorce was the big thing in real estate a couple of years ago, but more and more people are buying houses without the marriage part. So when the relationship fails, who really gets the assets? If you are in the process of a separation, one of the most important things to do is “keep up the status quo”.     Separation is always hard and it can get pretty nasty, but keep in mind your financial position. You can always hate each other later; take care of your assets now. First thing’s first – make a plan. If you want to keep the house, talk with a broker to assess the value and he or she will be able to recommend a good mortgage broker who will be able to refinance the property and one party can “buy out” the other party’s half. If this does not work, you can start by getting separate bank accounts and keep paying the bills equally until one party is able to establish credit to be able to refinance the property. A third option is to sell the property and divide the assets.     Most people are usually separating over money issues so the best option is to sell but this also brings in problems with renting, schools for the kids etc. The best plan is to keep things as normal as possible and combine all three options. Separate your money and accounts, establish separate credit scores and keep paying the mortgage – jointly – until a time when the financial picture is better. At this time both parties may be able to purchase new, yet smaller, properties that will work for everyone. It may sound crazy to work together with a partner who you obviously do not like anymore, but the downside is huge for everyone involved. If children are involved, you are going to be paying support anyways so why not use that money to “support” your biggest assets and move forward separately but with a common goal – good credit, home ownership and secure financial future.     Common law and child support will usually override any other squabbles you will have so why not take care of your home? A good real estate broker along with a mortgage broker can sit down and help both parties settle their assets and they can even bring in credit councilor to aid in the process. Once you have come to terms with the reasons why you are separating, sit down with a cool head and move forward with a strong financial outlook. You’d be surprised how much money you can save in the separation if you can keep things moving for the short term and stay amicable. You have a whole life ahead, so enjoy your financial future. You can still hate on your ex once it is all settled and you are enjoying your home – not your ex! V