Ten Steps To Making More

by Darrin DeRoches March 13 - 19, 2014

This winter has been brutal for weather but the real estate market is still hopping. Next week it is officially spring and the weather may not be co–operating but the market is. The phones have been ringing all week and once March break is over the market will be in full spring fling. So what should you be doing?     Get your property ready for the spring market by doing these ten steps. Begin by donating something. Take a look around your home and make a pile of clothes, furniture — whatever — and donate it away. You will feel good about it and your home will begin the positive purge.     Next, trash all of the stuff that is not worth donating and get it out of your life. The third step is to sell something. It may too valuable to just donate so list it online or have a garage sale. The money you will raise from this will give you a “piggy bank” to invest in the supplies you need to do the next steps. Fourth thing to do is paint something. Take the money you made and freshen up a room or the whole house. This fresh step will give you pride in your property and it will show once you put the property up for sale. Once that is done, clean something. It may just be all the windows that are dirty from the harsh winter, the yard from the ice storms or the winter grime from all those grey days. Get serious and scrub the property clean and once you’re done — do it again. A clean property sells faster than a “staged property”. That said, now it is time to do the sixth step and organize — it can be your kitchen cupboards or your basement storage. Make things neat and tidy so that your property looks ready to move into.     Next, renew something that is tired. It can be a simple project but a little update goes a long way. Now try to update something in the home. By adding a new trend or even colour, a simple change can bring todays style into your home and give potential buyers the push to see how the home can be updated. The ninth step is to plant something. Bring in a little colour and freshness to your property. It can be a simple pot or a whole new yard of grass. Take a look around and update your landscape.     Lastly, take a look around your now clean, freshly painted, de–cluttered property and spend the last dollars you made by selling off your unwanted items and buy a new “upgrade”. Reward yourself for the hard work and buy something that may upgrade the property or better yet something that you can take to the new property as yours will be selling for top dollar since you did all ten steps. Come on sunshine! 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.

Seller List For Spring

Sellers List For Spring

by Darrin DeRoches March 6 - 12, 2014

I wrote about what the buyers are doing to get ready for the spring market and now we can focus on what the sellers need to do. First thing you need to do is declutter.  This winter has been brutal and we are stuck in the house so you might as well use the time to start throwing out the accumulation of stuff. Get everything packed up and ready to either be stored or, better yet, thrown out once the weather clears.  The second thing to do is fix up all the little bumps and scrapes that your house has weathered over the winter.  The little fix ups will make it really easy once the market starts to heat up and you will be ready the minute it stops snowing.  Once the snow finally melts, clean up from the ice storm and make your outside as tidy as the inside.  Then call you broker and get ready to list early.     Homes are still selling fast in this cold, miserable market and once the weather clears up, the market is going to be fast and furious.  Think of it as cabin fever and once the buyers get ready to buy, it will be early spring. Talk to your agent about the best way to market your property and how they will be able to control the sale in a fast paced market.  If you make a mistake it may cost you dearly.  You only come on the market once and you really want to hit it the right way.  A great broker knows how to control the sale and get top dollar without getting greedy and pissing off the buyers.  I once sold a cottage in competition for top dollar after sitting on the market for the whole winter with no calls. Timing and marketing to the right market made a huge difference to the bottom line and profit.     You should be contacting your broker soon so that they can help you prepare your property for the spring market.  The weeks following March Break are when everyone has settled down from their holidays and are looking to make a move.  If your house has a pool, you should be booking the earliest opening so the property will stand out amongst the others.  No one has to swim in it but it will sell your home over others with a pool covered up. If your roof has been leaking in the fall, book a roofer now so that you can have a new roof to sell the property.  All these trades people have been waiting all winter to make money and you should book them now or you will be waiting to set up your property for the spring market and may in fact miss the best opportunity be waiting to the last minute.  Take the time now to get things ready and booked so that your property will shine amongst all of the others that are going to hit the market when spring comes. 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.

Debt And Real Estate

by Darrin DeRoches February 27 - March 5, 2014

I have written about personal debt and real estate a few times in the last year but a new wrinkle has surfaced and it may help more people out of tough times so I think I should write about it.  Debt is a part of life and when it becomes overwhelming, people look at their home as a piggy bank. The problem is that more and more people have “sucked out” all of the equity from their homes and they are left with no assets. The phones are ringing and collectors are knocking on your doors but you still think everything will be alright.     Banks will lend you up to 90 per cent of the value on your home and in some cases they over extend that amount. If you default on your mortgage for three consectutive months, they will take the house back.  In most cases the bank does not want to take your house but most people just try to avoid the issue until it is too late to take care of the problem.  This is when they will call an agent and try to sell their house fast.  Then they try to reduce the commission since there is no money left in the house and everyone is in a panic.  People will also call the signs on poles that say they will buy your house for cash today but of course they will not pay what the home is worth and this also is a mistake.  Some people call lawyers but they also want to get paid and this is usually a waste of time.  So what should someone do when they are in such a situation?     Negotiate. The bank wants to get paid. The credit card companies want to get paid.  The government wants to get paid.  So negotiate with them and find a solution for everyone.  Unfortunately, most of these debtors will not want to negotiate with you and they will give you terrible advice to borrow from family or sell your home.     Your first call should be to a Debt Councillor.  I work with a great one and recently observed a situation where a client was looking to sell their home and get out of debt.  Once we looked at the numbers we realized the best situation was to negotiate – keep their home, reduce their debt from over $70,000 dollars to about $30,000 dollars and before it was all wrapped up they were able to trade in their five year old car for a 2014 model within the same monthly payment.  Everyone gets paid and through a Consumer Proposal they will pay the debt down in five years while their home increases in value.  If you look at the numbers they wrote off over $40,000 dollars in debt, kept their home which will most likely value up over the $30,000 grand they will pay off in five years and they are driving around in a new car.  Every situation is different and in some cases selling the home is the only option. Either way a Debt Councillor can help you work out the best solution. 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.

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.