CENTURY 21 Colonial Realty Inc. - Blog

Century 21 REALTOR Ron Barrett Receives Liz Coady Award From PEI Real Estate Association !

Joel Ives — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Ron Barrett of Century 21 Northumberland Realty Ltd. is the 2009 recipient of the Liz Coady Award. The award was presented to Barrett on February 24 by the Prince Edward Island Real Estate Association (PEIREA) in recognition of his unselfish and untiring service to the real estate industry, the community and province of PEI. The Award is named in honour of the late Liz Coady, a Realtor who exemplified these values.

Barrett was nominated by Joel Ives, PEIREA member and owner of CENTURY 21 Colonial Realty Inc. in Charlottetown. Ives is a past recipient of the Liz Coady Award. “Ron has been an active professional member of our association and real estate broker for 25 years, and is a leader in our industry,” says Ives. “He is a person who willingly gives his time to his community. Ron sees the glass half full and always keeps a positive attitude.”

In addition to having served on the PEIREA Board, Barrett is a Past Board Member and Past President of the Summerside Regional Development Corporation. While President, he was very involved in the restoration of the historic, 100,000 square foot Holman’s Building and helped create new jobs in the downtown area. As a member of the Summerside Chamber of Commerce, Barrett developed a Lunch and Learn program and ran it for two years.

Barrett is current Chairman of the Summerside Sustainable Tourism Initiative, which promotes Tourism and revitalization of the community waterfront. For two years, he sat on the committee to develop a tourism marketing plan for the area, which culminated in a new brand and the ‘swish’ logo – now promoted around the world. Barrett is also a member of the Summerside Port Divestiture Committee, which is in charge of the three wharfs on the waterfront

Prior to becoming a Realtor in 1985, Barrett was a school teacher. As a volunteer hockey coach in Summerside, PEI, he led Three Oaks High School to its first interscholastic hockey championship. He also assisted in the development of the junior soccer program and sponsored many PEI equestrian events.

Despite his active business career, Barrett has always found time to volunteer for local causes. For two years, he was Chairman of the Easter Seals telephone campaign in Summerside. He travelled with students and school staff on the Timmy Tour along with the Easter Seals Ambassador, educating them about the important work of the organization. Barrett also volunteered his time to the Heart and Stroke Foundation Commercial Campaign, the development of Rotary Park in Summerside, and the International Children’s Memorial Place in Scales Pond Freetown, where he is still a board member.

Said Ives of Barrett’s nomination, “I truly believe that Ron deserves this award. May he continue to motivate, inspire and encourage others to follow his example – which is to leave things better than he found them.”

PEI Century 21 Real Estate Agents Receive Awards !

Joel Ives — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Joel Ives, owner of CENTURY 21 Colonial Realty Inc is pleased to announce that CENTURY 21 Canada recently recognized the following Sales Representatives for their hard work and success.

"These agents place their real estate wisdom and passion for life into their everyday business, helping to make clients more comfortable with the real estate transaction as they make what may be the most significant purchase of their lives," said Ives,

"These and all the members of Century 21 Colonial Realty are valued and trusted real estate resources for the community and a major contributor to the overall success of CENTURY 21 Colonial Realty in the PEI Real Estate market”

CENTURY 21 Colonial Realty Inc is a full-service brokerage located at 111 St Peter’s Road, with offices also located in Montague and Souris.

By choosing Century 21 Colonial Realty to represent you in the sale or purchase of real estate you get the benefits of the following:

Number 1 Office for 23 of the past 24 years within the PEI Real Estate Association for Sales !
Over 300 years of combined experience including 4 Past Presidents of PEIREA
3 Offices- Charlottetown, Montague and Souris
Exclusive ability to collect AIRMILES Reward Miles on your transaction
Extensive marketing with Print, TV, Google, Social Media, Sponsorships and numerous networking opportunities
Website generated over 100,000 vistors that viewed over 375,000 pages in 2009
Website with all listings in English and Chinese !
Showcase21 – 21 High Definition full screen photos to view properties
Google StreetView available on listings
Much more….

But above all…we produce results !

As local market experts, CENTURY 21 Colonial Realty sales professionals are uniquely qualified to help home buyers navigate the opportunities that exist in the local real estate market and provide sellers with an excellent marketing and exposure for their properties. To view property listings, please visit the website of CENTURY 21 Colonial Realty at www.5662121.com.

CONGRATULATIONS AWARD WINNERS !

Marilyn Kane- Centurion Producer 14^th Year

Jason MacKay Centurion Producer 2^nd Year

Rich and Cindy Beharrell – Masters Emerald

Kelly Lantz – Masters Emerald

Scott Miller Masters Ruby

Kay Trainor Masters Ruby

Kenny Power Masters Ruby

JP Robison Masters Silver

Gary Power Masters Ruby

John Ives Masters Silver

Robert Moffatt Masters Silver

Mark Rupnow Masters Silver

Anne McPhee Masters Silver

New Mortgage Rules

Ritchie Simpson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The new mortgage rules recently announced by the Government of Canada thru CMHC left a few lingering questions. For the most part the new rules raised the bar for most borrower classes with an eye toward making it somewhat harder to get mortgage financing. Speculators were hardest hit as the Down-payment threshold for CMHC coverage for non-owner occupied dwellings was lowered to 20%, speculators and pure rental properties will now require minimum 20% equity. Re-financers were also affected as the maximum equity they will be able to access from their homes will be lowered to 90% of appraised value (from 95%).

The most bothersome question was for new home buyers who were interested in a Variable Rate Mortgages (VRM); Lenders usually used their current 3 year rate to determine if a client was able to deal with a potential rate increase in their VRM mortgage. The Federal Government indicated that they preferred the use of a Standard Rate and they have recently announced that the Bank of Canada will announce a 5 Year Rate based on chartered bank Posted Rates weekly on their website that will be the benchmark for VRM eligibility.

This should close the circle on this round of tinkering with Mortgage Eligibility in Canada. For the most part these changes are prudent and effective without killing the Housing market.

For more information on your PEI Real Estate Housing needs or for mortgage information make sure you contact a REALTOR and a mortgage professional.

New Canada Mortgage Rules- Good or Bad ?

Joel Ives — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

On February 16 Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced changes to government insured mortgages. You can read the full release here

If you are like me..you read real quick and sometimes don't get the full explanation and can get bogged down by the details...so

First off---

YOU DONT NEED 20% DOWNPAYMENT TO BUY A HOUSE TO LIVE IN !

The changes are :

Require that all borrowers meet the standards for a five-year fixed rate mortgage even if they choose a mortgage with a lower interest rate and shorter term. This initiative will help Canadians prepare for higher interest rates in the future.
Lower the maximum amount Canadians can withdraw in refinancing their mortgages to 90 per cent from 95 per cent of the value of their homes. This will help ensure home ownership is a more effective way to save.
Require a minimum down payment of 20 per cent for government-backed mortgage insurance on non-owner-occupied properties purchased for speculation.

So...what does this mean to you if you are in the buying mode or thinking about buying a home this year. If you are buying a home on PEI...not much in my opinion. Our real estate prices don't get pushed through the roof that will not allow a choice in a house for a working couple but as with all things it depends on your own situation. I recommend discussing with a mortgage professional to determine what you can afford.

If you are buying a home for your own use and you need to borrow more than 80% of the purchase price than the only new rule to affect you is the first one...when you are getting qualified by your lender when they input your data (income, expenses, debts, credit score etc) you will have to be able to qualify based upon using the current 5 year mortgage rate. You can still pick a variable, 1 year, 2 year, 3 year etc mortgage but you have to qualify as a minimum on the 5 year rate.

Some lenders already were using these guidelines for their own lending regulations.

If you own a home now and you were looking to refinance it - the second rule says that you can only take out 90% of the value of your home instead of 95% which was allowed by some lenders. This does address the issue of having little equity in your home....like all loans at some point you have to pay it down...this is a bit of forced savings but since they are insuring the lenders money...it is a good thing...even though the collateral is the property if issues pop up and defaults occur...it doesn't take long to have 5% gone in expenses.

The third rule affects people who were looking at buying properties for speculation and they weren't planning on occupying it...this means that they now have to have 20% downpayment..some lenders prior to this announcement looked at insured properties with 10% downpayment but had strict lending guidelines.

Sure buying property is a scary thing and full of emotions and it doesn't help if you hear that the government is changing the rules but like all important decisions...do your research and consult with a professional.

At Century 21 Colonial Realty we have capable REALTORS and we also have a mortgage brokerage - CENTUM Advantage Financial Group Inc-on site with 2 very capable brokers to help you with your questions, concerns and will guide you each step of the way.

If you have any questions or need assistance...feel free to contact me with any questions and I will do what I can to get the right information to you.

Joel Ives-Owner 902-566-2121 office

Email joel.ives@century21.ca

Cell/Text 902 626 6970