Know What You're Buying

While the local real estate industry has made good strides over the years to improve how people buy and sell homes, there's still a "caveat emptor" (buyer beware) aspect to it.

For example, in the case of buying a power of sale home from a lender, were you aware that the previous home owner (the one in default on the mortgage) actually has up to and including the closing day to come up with funds to redeem their house? It's called "Right to Redeem".

So if you bought one of these houses with say, a 60 day close, then sell your house firm, you could find out in that time period that you're not going to get the house and since you've already sold yours, you have no place to live, come closing day.

Another example - If you buy a house that's listed in "as is" condition, were you aware that that could mean that it's not even legally inhabitable?

Don't rush into a home buying decision that might not be right for you. Make sure that you and your Realtor both do your homework to help ensure that you find the kind of home that's right for you.

Home Insurance - Look Closely!

Here's a good article in TheStar.ca's "Your Home" section on the value of checking your insurance needs and coverage before/during an offer. People sometimes assume that every house is insurable and that it's a commodity. But insurance could also help you determine if there had been previous claims on that house that you might want to know about.
Read more here.

This Market Has Legs!

Housing Market on Robust Rebound

The numbers are in for August, and like June and July before them, TREB is reporting that sales were up 27% over the previous August.

Despite the very dismal first few months of the year, year-to-date sales for the first 8 months of the year are now running at 2% HIGHER than 2008. That's quite the catch-up from the start of the year!

The average price is up less than 1/2% over last year, currently at $385,978

Interestingly, active listings are actually down 37% over last year - which, to me anyway, explains the rapid sales that are happening; more buyer competing for fewer homes.

An example of this is a house in Whitby, on Lofthouse. I had still had it on my watch-list from some previous buyers and it sat on the market for 73 days at the original price of $349,900 and then all of a sudden, there's a bidding war on it and it sells over asking price!

In Pickering, the hottest market segment is detached houses in South Pickering. Last month, 100% of the 17 detached homes were sold, 75% of the semi-detached were sold.

In terms of buyers or seller's market, here's the guideline

• If less than 45% of available listings sell, it's a "Buyer's Market"
• If 45-65% of available listings sell, it's "Balanced Market"
• If over 65% of available listings sell, it's a "Seller's Market"

In E12 (South Pickering), for detached homes, it was 100%, for semis, it was 75%
In E13, for detached homes it was 48% and 100% respectively.

I've been showing some condos downtown recently, in C08 (south of Bloor, east of Yonge) and they've been flying out the door. Last month, 72% of listings sold for an average of 101% of list price!

A Word of Caution on Gift Cards
Finally, a word of warning when buying gift cards.
Especially if you pay cash.
It seems that some unscrupulous cashiers have not actually been putting the purchased amount ON the card and just pocket the cash.

When you buy a gift card with some money on it, ask the cashier to swipe the card and show you the money is there.