What Might We See From the New Budget Plan?

What should you expect from the new budget from the federal government this April? These are the most plausible rumors at this point.

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There's a new budget coming around in April and today, I wanted to address some of the rumors and how it could affect real estate.

There's so much pressure mounting for the federal government to do something to cool the red-hot market, and we're starting to see signs of that already. We don't know what they'll do, but the first rumor is that the capital gains tax will increase from the current 50% to 70%, 80%, or maybe even 90%. 

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The capital gains tax could go up as high as 90%.

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The second rumor is that the foreign buyer tax is being revisited. They're looking into bringing the tax from Vancouver and B.C. to here again. Hopefully they don't go through with it, though.

The third way the market could be affected is a law they're considering that would impose a tax on vacant properties. If you have a property that's been sitting on the market for six months or more, there will be an additional tax when you sell it.   

All these measures are efforts to cool the market and get flippers out of the market, which they say has caused inflation. We'd like the market to stay strong forever, but in reality, we always have to look out for when things cool down. We haven't seen any huge effects yet, but we're seeing some signs of softening.

If you have any questions about how this could affect you or about the market in general, you can always give me a call or send me an email. I'm happy to help!

The Power of a Personal Touch

A personal touch can go a long way in a competitive real estate market. Here’s what I mean.

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There’s a lot of power in a personal touch. 

This afternoon, we had a bully offer come in, which is a preemptive offer that comes in before the offer date. The listing is down on the beaches, and everyone wants to make an offer on it. 

The power of the personal touch comes this afternoon as one of the agents has met with his clients to prepare a letter from the buyers. They wrote it up themselves and included a photograph of their family to talk about how much they love the property and how it’s a perfect fit for them and how they fell in love with it. 

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There’s a lot of power in a personal touch.

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Sure enough, the seller who said no to all previous negotiations is now open to a conference call to discuss the offer. Remember, if an offer gets stuck, a personal touch can really help move it along. We see it happen over and over again.

If you have any questions about other things you can do to make an offer on a home stand out, give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you!

Assignment Sales Are Just Another Area of Our Expertise

No matter the type of sale, we can help. In fact, we are in the process of facilitating a tricky assignment sale of a new property.

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An assignment sale is when the original buyer of a property allows another buyer to take over their rights and obligations of the purchase agreement before the original buyer takes possession of the property.

I am in the process of completing an assignment sale for a brand-new unit. In fact, it’s still under construction. I’m holding a private open house for the property with a few select buyers that are looking for a unit just like this one.

The original buyer is happy because they are going to make a profit off of the sale. The new buyer is happy because they are going to get the first crack at this property and not have to compete with other buyers for it. If the property was listed on the MLS, the competition would likely be heavy. Everyone wins when we are able to coordinate an assignment sale like this.

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We’re always looking for win-win situations.

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If you have any questions for us or know someone in need of a buyer for an assignment sale, let me know. We may be able to help out. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How we helped Ryan McCartney by being on point.

"Excellent! Everything was great - he was on point all the time. He's always there and very attentive."
      Ryan McCartney

What Effect Is President Trump Having on Our Market?

Today I want to talk a little bit about something I call the “Trump Effect.”

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Call me at (905) 456-3232  for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

How is President Trump affecting our market?

So far, it seems that sellers are putting their homes on the market a lot quicker, instead of waiting until spring. It’s the start of February and people are putting their homes on the market right now, despite the cold temperatures, to get ahead of the market. It might not be happening immediately, but there will be a spillover of immigration from the U.S. into Canada and sellers want to be prepared.

Buyers are also purchasing homes more quickly. As soon as a home goes on the market, phone calls start pouring in and showings are set up. Buyers are rarely taking 48 hours to think about purchasing a home, and instead are prepared to pounce the second they find a home they want.

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We have a quick, strong, and healthy market to look forward to this year.

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Overall, our market seems to be quicker and remains healthy under President Trump.

If you have any other questions, please feel free shoot me a text, give me a call, or send me an email. I look forward to speaking with you!

3 Questions Nearly Every Seller Asks Us

Home sellers seem to ask the same questions year after year. Here are the three we hear from almost all of them.

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call me at (905) 456-3232  for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

I’m coming to you today from beautiful, sunny San Diego at the Mike Ferry Production Retreat with the top 1% of agents who were invited here to learn how to set up our year for 2017.

As dynamic as the real estate market is, there are many things that stay constant from year to year. One of these is the most common questions that we are asked by sellers. There are three of them, and I’m asked about them at nearly every listing appointment:

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The first thing we’ll do is figure out your home’s value.

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1. What is my house worth? In today’s market, everyone wants to know what their home is worth. That’s one of the first questions we answer in our market evaluation.

2. How long will it take to sell my home? Everyone has heard stories about homes that sell in mere days. We are able to answer that question within a day or two. Quite often, it’s very quick.

3. What are we going to do to sell the home? We have our plan fully written and typed out to show you exactly how we sell two homes per week on average. We provide this ahead of time so sellers like yourself can review it and have some of your most common questions answered.

If you have any other questions or know someone who has similar ones, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

How Is the 2017 Toronto Real Estate Market Shaping Up?

How is the real estate market doing right now? How are things shaping up for 2017? I’ll give you my market forecast today.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call me at (905) 456-3232  for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

One of the most common questions we get this time of year is, “How is the market doing? How will the market be this spring?”

First of all, I’m coming to you from our office. I’m here late because we’re working on another listing that we’re taking, as well as negotiating two offers. This pace has continued right through the holiday season.

A lot of that is driven by the fact that prices are still high, especially compared to 2014 and 2015. For the last couple of years, prices have grown. In fact, prices went up almost 24% across the greater Toronto area. That is a tremendous increase, and a lot of people are taking advantage of it by downsizing, moving up North, or moving to a cottage.

The market seems to be very strong right now. The changes in interest rates haven’t affected the market as much as we anticipated. Although a lot of first-time buyers got pushed out of the market because they couldn’t afford the rate increases, the markets in higher price ranges, like $600,000 and above, haven’t been affected.

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The market is very strong right now.

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As we continue into 2017, I expect that the market will be very strong. We have the lowest inventory that we’ve seen all year, so if you are thinking of selling your home, now is a great time to put your home on the market.

If you have any other questions about the real estate market or about selling your home, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

How we helped Fatemahj by always giving great advice

"He always gave us advice. I don't know English and he would wait for me to understand. And when we met first he always told me be patient, everything will be good. He's a good man. He's so humble, a very good man. All of my family liked him. And he is funny, was friendly to our neighbors. And he always gave us good advice. When we were looking for a house, he told me not to rush it. When we went to see a nice house and we liked it so much, he told me to go home and think about it. Then we put the offer in."
      Fatemahj - Home Buyer