RSS

Free Real Estate Apps to Amp Up Your Home Search!

Modern technology has given us wonderful tools that can make our lives easier in so many ways and Real Estate is no different. 
 
Most people know they can search the MLS® on the website of their favourite REALTOR®, however you have more power at your fingertips and on your iPhone, iPad or Android Smartphone than you probably realized!  Here is some info on a very cool, free application that once installed, combines real time GPS capability with the Calgary and surrounding district MLS® system, allowing you to search thousands of listings while on the move, quickly, easily and instantly!  
 
What’s so unique about this?  If you are a serious home buyer, it brings an entirely new dimension to looking for your new home.  Once activated, the system uses GPS technology to create a map showing you all current listings within a 1 kilometre radius of your current location. 
 
See a home you like while you are out for the evening and would like to know the listing details?  Open your mobile MLS® app and click on the pin indicating the home on the map. The price, listing details including photographs and all related information is there for you instantly.  If you would like to know more about the listing or schedule an appointment to view, simply click on the Inquire button or call the phone number provided.  It’s as simple as that. 
 
To obtain the app, simply visit HouseHuntingAdventures.com, click on the Mobile Web App and follow the installation guide.

Your Own Personal and Private Online Real Estate Office

Your mobile app can also be combined with your online VOW Virtual Office Website, another freely available service.  People are often hesitant to “sign up” because they are unaware of what it is, and are concerned about personal privacy, however sign up simply allows the system to create file space for a system personalized to you, allowing you to take advantage of more than just the simple MLS ® search engine.
 
Setting up your personalized system is quick and easy, and provides you with the ability to do custom searches for homes or properties.  When you sign up for a free account the system creates your personal real estate virtual office where you can organize your home research, organize folders for your searches and much more.  You can save your searches and compile lists of potential homes for you to compare quickly and easily. It's your own personal MLS® service, customized specifically to you and your needs. 
 
 If you would like to set up your own personal space, visit HouseHuntingAdventures.com/vow.html and click the sign up button to set up your private online Real Estate office.  The service is free, easy to set up and use.


 

Read

 
Selling Your Home For Market Value!
 
Even in today’s market, you don’t have to under value your home in order to generate buyers.  At the same time, if you want your home to sell in a reasonable amount of time, it is important that you don’t price your home over market value either.  In the end, it is entirely up to you how you price your home, but it is important to determine what outcome you want to have and what your goals are when determining what your final listing price should be.
 

Some clients prefer to list on the high side to test the market in the hopes they will make more money from the sale of their home. In the end, the home stays listed for many months with few if any showings, and no movement because the home owner has chosen to over price their home.

In the end, if you want to sell your home and progress to the next stage of your real estate goals, it is important to price your home fairly, with a marketable price that is competitive, but without under valuing your home just to get a quick sale.
 
Pricing your home fairly is always a fine balance!  In the end, the correct selling price of your home is the highest price the current market will bear. Your home will always sell for the current market value if you are patient, price it right and have a REALTOR®  who is working in YOUR best interest.
 
I am frequently contacted by home owners who request a free market evaluation of their home. More often than not, I am requested to provide an online evaluation or Comparative Market Analysis and to email the report. 
 
Unfortunately this does not provide the home owner with information that is accurate enough to make a proper determination of the true value of their home, and in many cases the estimate of the value of their home will be undervalued.
 
For this reason, I prefer to do more than providing a standard comparative market analysis. Consider the following questions:
 
Do you know how much your home has appreciated over the last few years?  Do you know how much CASH is tied up in your home?  What your REAL equity is?
 
Serious sellers should request an on site evaluation to determine the most accurate potential value of your home.
 
Why?  Because any  CMA provided by using the standard tools available to Real Estate professionals cannot take into account what the REALTOR® is able to add into the equation by attending and viewing specific upgrades, taking accurate measurements and comparing what they see on site to other homes they have been to that are in a similar category as your home.  For this reason, an on site Maximum Home Value Audit provides you with a more accurate calculation of what the fair market value is for your home.
 

 

 

 

 

Read

It was disappointing to see prices and home sales slide again last month after a slight increase in September.  Home sales in the city of Calgary were down month-over-month in October 2010. The number of single family homes sold in October dropped 7% from September.

Buyers are still remaining cautious, keeping the market soft.  The year over year sales continued to decline in October. 

The average prices of single family homes in the city of Calgary in October 2010 decreased 3% from September 2010, when the average price was $460,278, and a 4 per cent decrease from October 2009, when the average price was $462,465.

The fact remains that the market is still soft and sellers need to be cognizant of this as it affects what they can reasonably expect to list their homes for if deciding to sell.  

On the up side, there were 22% fewer listings of homes in October than September, lowering inventory (number of homes available for sale) which in the long run will help to balance the market.

These stats were released on November 1st by the Calgary Real Board (CREB ®).

Read

I frequently receive requests for Market Evaluations from clients and potential clients.  In today’s market it is so important to know what our options are, and what the true value of our home is before putting it on the market.  Each REALTOR® has a different way of determining what price they will recommend to their clients when someone requests a market evaluation.  Often the home owner is surprised at the price they are provided by the REALTOR® who they have requested the information from.

I thought in this month’s newsletter I would provide some very basic information as to the process I go through when determining home prices, and how I come to the price that I provide when fulfilling requests for evaluations.

Most of my requests for evaluations come to me via my website.  The home owner provides me with their address, and basic information about their home and request for a price evaluation of their home.

When I receive this information I do a full market analysis for the area specific to the neighbourhood in which the home is located. 

An analysis will include research into the pricing of homes that are actively for sale in the area, as well as the prices of homes recently sold. It may also take into consideration nearby amenities such as schools and shopping facilities.  (Homes near a school will sometimes have a better potential for sale than those that are not, and therefore may command a better price than the same home that is not near such amenities.)

Once I have all the figures and have determined a price range for a home, I then send the home owner an email advising them what I believe the true value of the home is based on the information they have provided for me.

Now comes the insight that every home owner needs to know and understand about the options REALTORS®  have to consider when we are providing home evaluations to potential sellers.  There is a reality to realty!

I think the easiest way to explain how a REALTOR® may work in providing initial evaluations to a home owner is to give you an example:

Upon receiving the information from a home owner about their home, I research the area, the current market, the number of homes that are currently for sale in the area with their current listing prices, and a list of homes recently sold in the area and the prices those homes have sold for.  All the homes I research are based on the same criteria of information the home owner has sent to me, so that I can determine as closely as possible the most appropriate price based on similar homes.

It might look something like this:

Homes Actively For Sale – 9 homes found listed in the surrounding area that are similar in size and structure with similar finishing as the home owner.  They are on the market at prices ranging from $445,000.00 to $499,000.00.  Upon closer look, two of the homes have lowered their prices recently to the lower range of pricing.  Most of the newer listings are priced in the mid-range, and have also lowered their prices from their initial prices, and most of the homes have been on the market for over six months, with one of them being on the market as long as two years.

Homes Recently Sold – Two to five homes that have been the most recently sold that meet the same criteria were sold at prices ranging from $410,000.00 to $439,000.00.  In looking at the original listing prices of these homes, they had been listed from $440,000.00 to $470,000.00.  Four of the five homes sold only after the owners relisted at a lower price. Most sold at the upper range of the sold prices however were on the market for over 6 months before being sold.

Looking into sold properties is more important than comparing the pricing of active listings (properties that are currently for sale).  Sold properties indicate how much buyers are willing to pay for your home given the current market. Therefore when receiving comparable home prices from your REALTOR® is more important to put more weight on the pricing of homes being sold than the prices of those being listed when looking for an accurate price point.

My Pricing Determination – As a REALTOR® I have an obligation to anyone who contacts me to provide them with the best and most accurate information possible. However I also have to consider the position of the home owner. 

Price Determination Example 1 - On home evaluations for potential clients, knowing that they want to get the most value for their home as is possible, if I really want to obtain them as a client I can take the information I have gleaned from my research and price their home in the high range and send them a recommendation of listing between $460,000.00 to $470,000.00. 

By doing this, the home owner may get excited about using me as a REALTOR®  and choose to list their home with me.  I can then initially list the home at that price, however I know from my research that unless there are special circumstances, it is unlikely the home will sell at that price, so why would I want to give my client unrealistic expectations?  Well, if I price the home at a higher price, and the price is similar to other homes that are actively for sale in the area, it is more likely that the client will decide to list his home and that he will list his home with me.

However, experience has proven, time and again that in the end, the homeowner will in most cases over time, agree to lower the price to a level that is more reasonable to potential buyers.  He or she has to in order to get buyers to come through the home.  REALTORS® know this and often when providing initial market evaluations can use this practice to obtain the initial listing.

Price Determination Example 2 – Taking the same information and research, I determine that the home is likely to sell at a price that is within a price range of $430,000.00 and $450,000.00 depending on upgrades and other information that can only be determined upon viewing the actual property.  I know that by keeping the price estimate truer to the reality of what the current market is at, there is less likelihood for disappointment for my home owner.  They are not going to have unreasonable expectations and if the price has to be lowered, it will not be as significant a drop in order to sell the property as it would have to be in Example 1.

When I provide estimates, I prefer to look at what I believe the true value of the home is and provide my recommendations to the home owner based on what I believe I can sell their home for in a reasonable period of time.  I prefer to be conservative in my estimates as it is always easier to explain to a client reasons why they should increase their listing price once I have actually attended their home, rather than try to explain why my online evaluation is over estimated and that they need to lower the price when the time comes to list!

Every REALTOR®  has their own reasons for pricing homes the way they do, however regardless of what pricing is done, the fact remains, the market always sells at the market  price regardless at how the initial listing is priced.  It’s imperative that in order to get the best price for your home that you remain competitive, yet flexible in pricing.  How flexible is entirely dependent upon how quickly you want to move your home in the market.    

Think of it from a buyer’s perspective.  If you have the option of looking at 9 homes in the area you want to purchase in, and all those homes fit the same or very similar criteria, and all are in similar condition, are you going to spend an extra $50,000.00 you don’t need to spend?

True Pricing Determination – The most accurate way to determine what you should list your home for in order to get your highest price in the most reasonable amount of time is to have a REALTOR® attend your home to do an onsite home evaluation.  REALTORS® know what upgrades in your home can accentuate the value of your home and physically attending the residence and viewing your home is the only truly accurate method of determining the most realistic price of your home.  It also provides you an opportunity to ask questions that are important to you in regards to not only potential listing price, but also market timing.  An experienced REALTOR®  can often provide you excellent insight that can help you meet your personal goals.

Many of you who are recipients of my monthly newsletter are actively researching the market to either buy a home or sell your current home or both.  I hope this newsletter helps to explain why an online evaluation often seems on the lower end of the market and have been curious as to why your home is evaluated at the low end of the market. 

Current Market Trends – It is important to understand the significance of the current market trend when pricing your home as well.  Without taking into account current market trends, many homes are overpriced and simply won’t sell if they have not priced themselves according to the current market trends.  Remember too, that when you sell at lower prices, you are also in a position to buy your new home at a lower price as well.  Timing is important, but swings both for selling and buying.  These are important things to factor into your decision to sell and what price point to set.  Good advice from a realty specialist can help you make those decisions.

Free Onsite Evaluations - If you would like an accurate evaluation of your home and recommendations based on the current market I would be pleased to visit your home and provide you a full onsite appraisal, provide you a package with the latest in market information to help you make a sound decision regarding your home and answer any questions you might have regarding the market.  There is never any obligation and I am always ready to help.

If you would like to have a current market evaluation done on your home to determine what your next step should be, I’m here for you.  My business is made from sincerely helping people achieve their personal goals, not trying to convince them to sell if it is not in their best interest.  Nor will I suggest an unreasonably high listing price in order to obtain your business.  I will give you straight facts and advice and the rest is up to you!

Please don’t hesitate to call me at any time.  My personal cell phone number is 403-399-0809, or if you prefer, my personal Email of Natasha@HouseHuntingAdventures.com.  There is never any obligation and I understand and respect that you may only need an evaluation for current interest and that you may not even be in the market to sell your home.  I welcome any opportunities to do onsite market evaluations and enjoy meeting people and providing any market insight you may be in need of.

Read
RSS

Free Real Estate Apps to Amp Up Your Home Search!

Modern technology has given us wonderful tools that can make our lives easier in so many ways and Real Estate is no different. 
 
Most people know they can search the MLS® on the website of their favourite REALTOR®, however you have more power at your fingertips and on your iPhone, iPad or Android Smartphone than you probably realized!  Here is some info on a very cool, free application that once installed, combines real time GPS capability with the Calgary and surrounding district MLS® system, allowing you to search thousands of listings while on the move, quickly, easily and instantly!  
 
What’s so unique about this?  If you are a serious home buyer, it brings an entirely new dimension to looking for your new home.  Once activated, the system uses GPS technology to create a map showing you all current listings within a 1 kilometre radius of your current location. 
 
See a home you like while you are out for the evening and would like to know the listing details?  Open your mobile MLS® app and click on the pin indicating the home on the map. The price, listing details including photographs and all related information is there for you instantly.  If you would like to know more about the listing or schedule an appointment to view, simply click on the Inquire button or call the phone number provided.  It’s as simple as that. 
 
To obtain the app, simply visit HouseHuntingAdventures.com, click on the Mobile Web App and follow the installation guide.

Your Own Personal and Private Online Real Estate Office

Your mobile app can also be combined with your online VOW Virtual Office Website, another freely available service.  People are often hesitant to “sign up” because they are unaware of what it is, and are concerned about personal privacy, however sign up simply allows the system to create file space for a system personalized to you, allowing you to take advantage of more than just the simple MLS ® search engine.
 
Setting up your personalized system is quick and easy, and provides you with the ability to do custom searches for homes or properties.  When you sign up for a free account the system creates your personal real estate virtual office where you can organize your home research, organize folders for your searches and much more.  You can save your searches and compile lists of potential homes for you to compare quickly and easily. It's your own personal MLS® service, customized specifically to you and your needs. 
 
 If you would like to set up your own personal space, visit HouseHuntingAdventures.com/vow.html and click the sign up button to set up your private online Real Estate office.  The service is free, easy to set up and use.


 

Read

 
Selling Your Home For Market Value!
 
Even in today’s market, you don’t have to under value your home in order to generate buyers.  At the same time, if you want your home to sell in a reasonable amount of time, it is important that you don’t price your home over market value either.  In the end, it is entirely up to you how you price your home, but it is important to determine what outcome you want to have and what your goals are when determining what your final listing price should be.
 

Some clients prefer to list on the high side to test the market in the hopes they will make more money from the sale of their home. In the end, the home stays listed for many months with few if any showings, and no movement because the home owner has chosen to over price their home.

In the end, if you want to sell your home and progress to the next stage of your real estate goals, it is important to price your home fairly, with a marketable price that is competitive, but without under valuing your home just to get a quick sale.
 
Pricing your home fairly is always a fine balance!  In the end, the correct selling price of your home is the highest price the current market will bear. Your home will always sell for the current market value if you are patient, price it right and have a REALTOR®  who is working in YOUR best interest.
 
I am frequently contacted by home owners who request a free market evaluation of their home. More often than not, I am requested to provide an online evaluation or Comparative Market Analysis and to email the report. 
 
Unfortunately this does not provide the home owner with information that is accurate enough to make a proper determination of the true value of their home, and in many cases the estimate of the value of their home will be undervalued.
 
For this reason, I prefer to do more than providing a standard comparative market analysis. Consider the following questions:
 
Do you know how much your home has appreciated over the last few years?  Do you know how much CASH is tied up in your home?  What your REAL equity is?
 
Serious sellers should request an on site evaluation to determine the most accurate potential value of your home.
 
Why?  Because any  CMA provided by using the standard tools available to Real Estate professionals cannot take into account what the REALTOR® is able to add into the equation by attending and viewing specific upgrades, taking accurate measurements and comparing what they see on site to other homes they have been to that are in a similar category as your home.  For this reason, an on site Maximum Home Value Audit provides you with a more accurate calculation of what the fair market value is for your home.
 

 

 

 

 

Read

It was disappointing to see prices and home sales slide again last month after a slight increase in September.  Home sales in the city of Calgary were down month-over-month in October 2010. The number of single family homes sold in October dropped 7% from September.

Buyers are still remaining cautious, keeping the market soft.  The year over year sales continued to decline in October. 

The average prices of single family homes in the city of Calgary in October 2010 decreased 3% from September 2010, when the average price was $460,278, and a 4 per cent decrease from October 2009, when the average price was $462,465.

The fact remains that the market is still soft and sellers need to be cognizant of this as it affects what they can reasonably expect to list their homes for if deciding to sell.  

On the up side, there were 22% fewer listings of homes in October than September, lowering inventory (number of homes available for sale) which in the long run will help to balance the market.

These stats were released on November 1st by the Calgary Real Board (CREB ®).

Read

I frequently receive requests for Market Evaluations from clients and potential clients.  In today’s market it is so important to know what our options are, and what the true value of our home is before putting it on the market.  Each REALTOR® has a different way of determining what price they will recommend to their clients when someone requests a market evaluation.  Often the home owner is surprised at the price they are provided by the REALTOR® who they have requested the information from.

I thought in this month’s newsletter I would provide some very basic information as to the process I go through when determining home prices, and how I come to the price that I provide when fulfilling requests for evaluations.

Most of my requests for evaluations come to me via my website.  The home owner provides me with their address, and basic information about their home and request for a price evaluation of their home.

When I receive this information I do a full market analysis for the area specific to the neighbourhood in which the home is located. 

An analysis will include research into the pricing of homes that are actively for sale in the area, as well as the prices of homes recently sold. It may also take into consideration nearby amenities such as schools and shopping facilities.  (Homes near a school will sometimes have a better potential for sale than those that are not, and therefore may command a better price than the same home that is not near such amenities.)

Once I have all the figures and have determined a price range for a home, I then send the home owner an email advising them what I believe the true value of the home is based on the information they have provided for me.

Now comes the insight that every home owner needs to know and understand about the options REALTORS®  have to consider when we are providing home evaluations to potential sellers.  There is a reality to realty!

I think the easiest way to explain how a REALTOR® may work in providing initial evaluations to a home owner is to give you an example:

Upon receiving the information from a home owner about their home, I research the area, the current market, the number of homes that are currently for sale in the area with their current listing prices, and a list of homes recently sold in the area and the prices those homes have sold for.  All the homes I research are based on the same criteria of information the home owner has sent to me, so that I can determine as closely as possible the most appropriate price based on similar homes.

It might look something like this:

Homes Actively For Sale – 9 homes found listed in the surrounding area that are similar in size and structure with similar finishing as the home owner.  They are on the market at prices ranging from $445,000.00 to $499,000.00.  Upon closer look, two of the homes have lowered their prices recently to the lower range of pricing.  Most of the newer listings are priced in the mid-range, and have also lowered their prices from their initial prices, and most of the homes have been on the market for over six months, with one of them being on the market as long as two years.

Homes Recently Sold – Two to five homes that have been the most recently sold that meet the same criteria were sold at prices ranging from $410,000.00 to $439,000.00.  In looking at the original listing prices of these homes, they had been listed from $440,000.00 to $470,000.00.  Four of the five homes sold only after the owners relisted at a lower price. Most sold at the upper range of the sold prices however were on the market for over 6 months before being sold.

Looking into sold properties is more important than comparing the pricing of active listings (properties that are currently for sale).  Sold properties indicate how much buyers are willing to pay for your home given the current market. Therefore when receiving comparable home prices from your REALTOR® is more important to put more weight on the pricing of homes being sold than the prices of those being listed when looking for an accurate price point.

My Pricing Determination – As a REALTOR® I have an obligation to anyone who contacts me to provide them with the best and most accurate information possible. However I also have to consider the position of the home owner. 

Price Determination Example 1 - On home evaluations for potential clients, knowing that they want to get the most value for their home as is possible, if I really want to obtain them as a client I can take the information I have gleaned from my research and price their home in the high range and send them a recommendation of listing between $460,000.00 to $470,000.00. 

By doing this, the home owner may get excited about using me as a REALTOR®  and choose to list their home with me.  I can then initially list the home at that price, however I know from my research that unless there are special circumstances, it is unlikely the home will sell at that price, so why would I want to give my client unrealistic expectations?  Well, if I price the home at a higher price, and the price is similar to other homes that are actively for sale in the area, it is more likely that the client will decide to list his home and that he will list his home with me.

However, experience has proven, time and again that in the end, the homeowner will in most cases over time, agree to lower the price to a level that is more reasonable to potential buyers.  He or she has to in order to get buyers to come through the home.  REALTORS® know this and often when providing initial market evaluations can use this practice to obtain the initial listing.

Price Determination Example 2 – Taking the same information and research, I determine that the home is likely to sell at a price that is within a price range of $430,000.00 and $450,000.00 depending on upgrades and other information that can only be determined upon viewing the actual property.  I know that by keeping the price estimate truer to the reality of what the current market is at, there is less likelihood for disappointment for my home owner.  They are not going to have unreasonable expectations and if the price has to be lowered, it will not be as significant a drop in order to sell the property as it would have to be in Example 1.

When I provide estimates, I prefer to look at what I believe the true value of the home is and provide my recommendations to the home owner based on what I believe I can sell their home for in a reasonable period of time.  I prefer to be conservative in my estimates as it is always easier to explain to a client reasons why they should increase their listing price once I have actually attended their home, rather than try to explain why my online evaluation is over estimated and that they need to lower the price when the time comes to list!

Every REALTOR®  has their own reasons for pricing homes the way they do, however regardless of what pricing is done, the fact remains, the market always sells at the market  price regardless at how the initial listing is priced.  It’s imperative that in order to get the best price for your home that you remain competitive, yet flexible in pricing.  How flexible is entirely dependent upon how quickly you want to move your home in the market.    

Think of it from a buyer’s perspective.  If you have the option of looking at 9 homes in the area you want to purchase in, and all those homes fit the same or very similar criteria, and all are in similar condition, are you going to spend an extra $50,000.00 you don’t need to spend?

True Pricing Determination – The most accurate way to determine what you should list your home for in order to get your highest price in the most reasonable amount of time is to have a REALTOR® attend your home to do an onsite home evaluation.  REALTORS® know what upgrades in your home can accentuate the value of your home and physically attending the residence and viewing your home is the only truly accurate method of determining the most realistic price of your home.  It also provides you an opportunity to ask questions that are important to you in regards to not only potential listing price, but also market timing.  An experienced REALTOR®  can often provide you excellent insight that can help you meet your personal goals.

Many of you who are recipients of my monthly newsletter are actively researching the market to either buy a home or sell your current home or both.  I hope this newsletter helps to explain why an online evaluation often seems on the lower end of the market and have been curious as to why your home is evaluated at the low end of the market. 

Current Market Trends – It is important to understand the significance of the current market trend when pricing your home as well.  Without taking into account current market trends, many homes are overpriced and simply won’t sell if they have not priced themselves according to the current market trends.  Remember too, that when you sell at lower prices, you are also in a position to buy your new home at a lower price as well.  Timing is important, but swings both for selling and buying.  These are important things to factor into your decision to sell and what price point to set.  Good advice from a realty specialist can help you make those decisions.

Free Onsite Evaluations - If you would like an accurate evaluation of your home and recommendations based on the current market I would be pleased to visit your home and provide you a full onsite appraisal, provide you a package with the latest in market information to help you make a sound decision regarding your home and answer any questions you might have regarding the market.  There is never any obligation and I am always ready to help.

If you would like to have a current market evaluation done on your home to determine what your next step should be, I’m here for you.  My business is made from sincerely helping people achieve their personal goals, not trying to convince them to sell if it is not in their best interest.  Nor will I suggest an unreasonably high listing price in order to obtain your business.  I will give you straight facts and advice and the rest is up to you!

Please don’t hesitate to call me at any time.  My personal cell phone number is 403-399-0809, or if you prefer, my personal Email of Natasha@HouseHuntingAdventures.com.  There is never any obligation and I understand and respect that you may only need an evaluation for current interest and that you may not even be in the market to sell your home.  I welcome any opportunities to do onsite market evaluations and enjoy meeting people and providing any market insight you may be in need of.

Read
Categories
Data is supplied by Pillar 9™ MLS® System. Pillar 9™ is the owner of the copyright in its MLS®System. Data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by Pillar 9™.
The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA. Used under license.