Is Canada immune from a housing bubble?

Homes in a Bubble.
There’s a line from Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” that says, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I’m inclined to say that that’s also broadly true of bubbles. Apart from some superficial differences that may convince participants that it’s somehow different this time, bubbles seem to follow some familiar patterns.

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Investissement immobilier : les choix à faire

 

L’investissement immobilier peut se révéler aujourd’hui particulièrement attractif. A condition de faire les bons choix avant d’investir.

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What Does “Market Value” Mean?

balance_money_houseWhen a real estate agent talks to you about listing your home, you’ll hear a great deal of talk about “market value,” but just what’s meant by that term? In this article, we’re only going to be considering your single family home, because different standards and calculation methods apply to commercial and investment property, but let’s examine what market value is, and how it’s determined.

Market Value of Single Family Homes

Put simply, a home’s market value is the price at which it should sell once it’s put on the market for a reasonable amount of time, which generally means thirty to ninety days.

Within that definition are two main variables that affect a home’s market value: the house itself, and the time period during which it’s to be sold. First, let’s look at the house itself. Every home sits in some kind of neighborhood, whether it’s in the middle of downtown or way out in the country, and the location of a house will have a large influence on its market value.

The neighborhood is important, but condition of the house is also an important factor when it comes to determining its market value. The nicest home in the neighborhood normally will have the highest market value, while a house that needs a great deal of renovation will be worth less, even if it’s in the best neighborhood in town.

The condition and location of a home will affect the market value in proportion to how quickly the owner wants to sell it. In order to attract a greater number of buyers and to sell the home more quickly, the price will need to be lower, which brings us to the second factor in the market value equation: time.

Regardless of where it may be located, if a house doesn’t sell with the one to three month marketing period, the chances are that it was overpriced. Even brand-new homes, in brand-new subdivisions, in the most desirable part of town won’t sell within thirty to sixty days if the price is too high. (On the flip side, if a home sells in a week or less, the chances are that the marketing price was too low. But most of the time, errors in calculating market value are made on the too-high side.)

Determining market value is both an art and a science, and a skilled real estate agent, armed with information about the area, other listings, and previous sales, can generally come quite close to a price that will get the home sold within one to three months. After all, it’s their job to help get you the best sales price possible – in a reasonable amount of time.

Source : http://www.canadarealestatedirectory.com/articles

 

«Home staging» – faire ou ne pas faire?

Alors que les délais de vente s’allongent, il est essentiel de présenter son logement sous le meilleur jour. C’est tout l’intérêt du «home staging», une pratique qui se développe.

Cela vous semblerait normal de vendre une belle voiture toute sale ou avec une grosse rayure? Eh bien, une maison ou un appartement, c’est pareil. Le home staging est une technique de mise en valeur d’un logement ou d’une maison pour mieux les vendre. La pratique consiste, entre autres, à désencombrer le logement, à en retirer les éléments de décoration trop personnels et à redonner un coup de fraîcheur aux murs et aux sols.  Il s’agit de neutraliser le logement, de le reconditionner pour que l’acheteur potentiel puisse immédiatement s’y projeter. Le cas de figure classique est celui d’un appartement occupé de longue date par des personnes âgées et qui correspond aujourd’hui au budget de jeunes couples. Pour peu qu’il y ait d’autres offres comparables, les biens trop «typés» trouveront difficilement preneur. Après avoir éliminé tous les éléments de décoration et de mobilier qui surchargent les pièces, les surfaces ont droit à un coup de neuf et les pièces sont parfois réaménagées avec une partie de l’ancien mobilier.

Un coût compris entre 0,5 et 4 % du prix de vente.

S’il s’agit de séduire le futur acheteur, ce n’est pas à n’importe quel prix. Normalement, la fourchette s’étend de 0,5 à 4 % du prix de vente. Les principes sont simples, il suffit d’avoir le temps et le courage de s’y mettre. Un peu d’huile de coude et quelques bras supplémentaires pour désencombrer les pièces. Puis il s’agit de réparer les petits dégâts habituels: robinet qui fuit, fenêtre qui coince, peinture écaillée… Une petite touche de déco sobre et le tour est joué. Parmi les astuces à moindres frais particulièrement appréciées par les acheteurs, il est recommandé de remettre à neuf la robinetterie, de relooker les pièces d’eau, de remplacer les anciens WC par des modèles récents. Et surtout de bien soigner la porte d’entrée, lieu de la première impression.

PRENEZ EN NOTE :  tous mes clients bénéficient de consultations gratuites pour le “HOME STAGING”!

Source : http://www.lefigaro.fr/immobilier/2012/09/28/05002-20120928ARTFIG00506-home-staging-un-bien-a-vendre-ca-se-prepare.php

New mortgage rules hit first-time buyers. Maximum amortization period is cut from 30 years to 25.

dumaBuying a first home or taking out a loan against an existing residence will be more difficult for Canadians under new rules announced Thursday, but Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says it’s for their own good.
For the fourth time in as many years, the finance minister moved to tighten the mortgage and lending landscape – changes that mean up to 5% of Canadians who might be considering buying a new home will likely no longer qualify.
This time Flaherty’s cutting the maximum amortization period for government insured homes to 25 years from the current 30 years, and limiting how much homeowners can borrow on the value of their homes to 80% from 85%.
Those are not the only changes the government is making.

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