First-time sellers of Kitchener Waterloo real estate often struggle with this question. Twenty-two years of selling real estate has taught me there is an ideal time to sell every home. Choosing the wrong time of the year to sell can cost a seller thousands of dollars in hard earned equity. Other times, it can result in an expired listing or a ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on April 6, 2011
When I was a kid, I used to read a series of mystery books involving the Hardy Boys. Each book would see the brothers tackle and solve a mystery. Real estate doesn't have many but recently, when a client took possession of their resale home, a mystery ensued.
Remember the excitement of buying your first home? As a Realtor, the experience ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on January 21, 2011
At the risk of sounding self-serving, the answer is no. While conventional wisdom suggests you have 3 agents in to price your home, there is a potential pitfall to this approach. It's human nature to want to get as much as possible when selling your home. Unfortunately, the simple act of having 3 Realtors in to price your home will often result in an inflated asking price. ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on January 4, 2011
While November has a reputation for dismal weather, real estate sales in the Twin Cities this past month were bright and sunny. Residential MLS sales for Kitchener-Waterloo totalled 365 in November versus 413 for November 2009. For those keeping track, this represents a 12 per cent decline. However, it's interesting to note that in November, ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on December 2, 2010
Regular readers of this blog will know by now that this monthly update is designed to answer the frequently asked question "How's the market?". The residential real estate market in Kitchener Waterloo continues to be a sellers market. Active residential listings on the K-W MLS at the end of October stood at 1251. Of this total, 403 were new homes and 848 were resale properties. ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on November 2, 2010
There are days in real estate and in life where you come across things that just don't sit well. I usually try and think things through but sometimes I still end up like the photo above...puzzled. I found this gem while searching MLS for suitable properties for a buyer client.
I was equally puzzled by an article in today's National Post entitled "Variable ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on July 28, 2010
Residential real estate sales in Kitchener and Waterloo continued a strong run in May with 480 sales reported through MLS. Sellers remained in control of the market with an average list to sale price ratio of 98% and a brisk average of 34 days on the market. Resale homes accounted for 94% of these sales.
So how does this compare to May 2009? Unit sales actually declined ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on June 3, 2010
I had the good fortune to visit Vancouver for the Century 21 Canada Conference this fall. It certainly is a beautiful city and I can definitely see the appeal of living there. However, I struggle with the cost of housing. Here is a current example. The home above is listed for sale at $795,000. It's described as "that perfect fixer upper in an amazing ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on December 8, 2009
Today's post deals with the challenges of buying a home in a seller's market. First, let's look at a bit of recent history. In November of 2008, fear and uncertainty were in the air. Overextended sellers were anxious to unload their properties at a discount. Buyers, following years of a seller's market, were finally in control. Unfortunately for buyers, ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on November 28, 2009
The local improvement in economic conditions appears to have led to fewer Power of Sale properties in October. Active listings under Power of Sale as of November 15th totalled 11 versus 12 in mid-October. Of these, 10 are in Kitchener and 1 in Waterloo.
Properties bought under Power of Sale in October declined to 10 versus 17 in September. Of note, there ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on November 17, 2009