Bridlewood Housing Market Today – MLS® Listings
As of this morning, 28 residential units are for sale in the Bridlewood area (MLS®area 9004) - 23 detached and 5 row units. The prices range from $232,500 to $565,000.
In the past 90 days, 56 homes sold at an average sold price of $354,751 and an average Days on the Market of 13.
These statistics do not include condos and private sales.
Build Your Ottawa House Buying / Selling Team
Think of your house buying and selling as one huge project and you are the project manager. Project Managers will tell you up front that they are not necessarily experts in every area of the project but that they can find the resources, create a team, set a project schedule with milestones and, in the end, be able to evaluate the success of the project. Now you, the home Buyer/Seller are going to be the manager with your own PMBOK – Project Management Body of Knowledge, including creating the team.
Who do you need?
- You – Project Manager along with your spouse, significant other
- Your investors - Your mortgage broker / banker/ Mom and Dad
- Your trusted “experts” - People who your believe will give you an honest opinion about your choices because they have no vested interest. These people could be your uncle the builder, cousin who lives in the area, your contractor who has been working with you for years, etc.
- Your REALTOR®
- Your home inspector and any other certified inspectors needed for specific analysis such as well and septic, electrical, engineering, fire.
- Your lawyer
- A property appraiser – especially in the cases where the value of the home is in question (usually during a marital breakup, estate settlement or where more than one person will profit from the purchase or sale of a home)
- Your movers – Remember to keep them in the loop. You may need them during the showcasing of the home (to remove things to storage) and again when you make the final transition.
- Your friends and family – People who may be needed to help you pack, move furniture, unpack, drive you around and crazy, be supportive, provide babysitting services, etc. Never underestimate the value of friends and family during a sale and move.
- Your neighbours – Who will let you park in their driveway when the vans are there, take in your kids, bring over a batch of cookies, take in your mail while you own both homes, watch over the place as part of Neighbourhood Watch, buy some of your stuff during your yard sale, tell you about the good schools, doctors and hair stylists and finally, provide you with a bit of insider knowledge of who is who in the new neighbourhood.
Don’t be afraid to call upon people to be part of your “team”. Buying, selling and moving are huge endeavours and it is unrealistic to think that you can do all of this alone.
Photo credit: Project Management Plan @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/perhapstoopink/467087455/
Zingers #100 – Represent and warrant
In the Offer to Sell, the owner usually is required to represent and warrant that all fixtures and finishings will be in working order when the new owner takes possession. If there is a pool, the period may extend until spring when the new owner can determine that the pool is in full working order. If you are selling, ensure that you leave everything in good repair.
You will not want to make many unhappy returns to your old house.
Happy Victoria Day
Photo credit: GREAT BRITAIN, QUEEN VICTORIA—1885 HALF CROWN a @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodysworld1778/3345617880/
Listing Your Home – Things to Do and Consider
I have added a new publication to my site (under the top banner – My Publications). This booklet is a series of articles previously posted about things to do and consider before listing your house. I hope you enjoy the articles and find them useful as you think about selling your home.
Photo credit: Help is on the way, elevator, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL.JPG @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/2496308570/
R Rated Pictures – Inside Ottawa Houses
As Buyers you are concerned that you will not remember every house that you are going to see. You plan to take your camera or your phone camera and use it while you go from room to room in each house. In fact, this is an invasion of the Sellers’ privacy, a security issue and just impolite. Yes, the house is for sale and yes there are photos available on the MLS® / Realtors.ca but…. These photos have been carefully taken to ensure that personal information about the owner is not posted. You, a potential Buyer, are there by the grace of the Seller and under the supervision of your agent. Put yourself in the Sellers’ shoes and ask yourself if you would like strangers taking pictures of the interior of your house.
In lieu of photos, keep the feature sheets for each house and write down any thing you need to remember on the sheets or in a notebook. Track by the MLS® number and the address. If you are really interested in the house and are not sure of something, ask your agent to go for a second booking and then confirm what you need to know. You may, if required (such as sending photos to parents who will be helping to buy the house), have your agent ask the Seller if it is permissible to take some photos. If you are at the stage of having the house inspected as a condition of purchase, ask if you can take photos. There is often a lag between when you buy and when you possess so Sellers usually say yes.
A picture is worth a thousand words – with permission.
Photo credit: signs=no signs @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/neoliminal/518031835/
Zingers #99 – More about abundance
No one wants to appear cheap. Buyers don’t want to buy a house where the owner may have made the wrong economies. When showing your home, make sure that there are full rolls of toilet paper, kleenex in the boxes and the jars visible on the kitchen and bathroom counters are full. You want the Buyers to refer to your house as:
House Bountiful
Civic Hospital Area Housing Market Today – MLS® Listings and Sales
As of this morning, 13 residential units are for sale in the Civic Hospital area (MLS®area 4504). 3, semi-detached, 1 duplex up/down and 9 detached homes. The prices range from $379,000 to $1,135,000.
In the past 90 days, 24 homes sold at an average sold price of $563,954 and an average Days on the Market of 9.
The Civic Hospital area looks fantastic in the spring and summer when all of the older trees are in leaf and the flowers and flower pots in bloom.
Increasing Mortgage Rates – Paying to Buy a House
With the recent increase in fixed rate mortgages, home owners are questioning what to do with their current mortgage – lock in now if they have a variable mortgage, stay put on the existing mortgage or convert to the new fixed rate. Certainly a trip or call to your mortgage broker / bank to ask these questions is advised.
If you have a great rate and it is fixed for a few more years, why not follow some wonderful advice from the mortgage industry – start paying your mortgage at the new higher rate (even if some of the money is put aside for single payments). This will do two things for you.
1. You will get accustomed to the higher mortgage payments so there will be no surprise when your existing term if over.
2. You will have increased your principal payments so that when you renegotiate your mortgage, you will own more of the house – thus reducing the number of months or years of your mortgage.
There are many ways to reduce your mortgage. This is one tip that has two advantages – for you.
Photo credit: 3D Realty Handshake @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/lumaxart/2136953043/
Zingers #98 – Freebies
Everyone loves something for free. When your house is for sale, you might include a bowl of candy by the front door up to a house inspection. Be generous and gracious. Put out a plate of cookies and coffee for second or third bookings. You want people to stop, sit and imagine themselves living in your house. It is time for the Buyers to…
Wake up and smell the coffee.
Welcome
My name is Valerie Zinger. I am a Realtor in Ottawa. I look forward to listing your property or helping you find your home.
Phone: 613-723-5300 Click here to contact Valerie by Email at:
vzinger@royallepage.ca-
