Edmonton Real Estate Blog

Lose thousands if you don't prepare! Observations from last week.

Last week we had clients in from New Brunswick looking to buy a home. Buying a home is stressful enough in this market where trying to find a property you love and you don't have to compete for it is extremely difficult, add the stress and time limits of relocating and it can be really tough. 

In this case we did find one and within hours of it being listed we helped this motivated couple make a deal with the seller.  The agent the seller had selected informed us that they had ordered the condo documents that we had requested.  For days we waited, with our diligent agent Lisa contacting the agent on the other side to find out where the documents are only to be told we should have them any time. 

Finally as the deadline to remove the condition the next day loomed like a noose, Lisa contacted the condo management company to see what documents were ready so that we could begin previewing them. Their answer to us was they were only ordered at 4:30 the previous night.  BAM! Our clients were heading  back home in a couple days so some serious decisions had to be made.  A back up plan was worked out and Lisa feverishly showed more properties.  A back up property was found and a new direction was taken, our clients successfully purchased another property. Fortunately our clients had a dedicated team backing them up through the entire process.  Unfortunately for the sellers, their property is still for sale.

My second scenario developed late last week when I brought a condo onto the market in the west end. Listed at $264,800. it sold for $280,000. The first five people who viewed it wrote offers on it.  The third people to see the condo were a really nice couple from the U.K. who knew absolutely nothing about buying a property in Edmonton. 

Although they had been in Edmonton for the past six months and had seen prices rise dramatically, they had not prepared anything or talked to anyone who really understood real estate in Edmonton. A couple of friends had given them some information about buying; when I heard the advice I could see how it made sense, but was clearly not related to our current market conditions.  I spent close to 30 minutes at the property explaining the steps they should take:

1. Speak to a lawyer
2. Speak to a mortgage broker and get pre-qualified for a mortgage
3. Review my buyers guide for buying for buying a condo in Alberta that discusses everything you should know and ask for when buying a condo, better yet, come meet with us and we can explain the who process to you. We can even go over the whole process online via a real-time web conference.
4. Most importantly, do steps 1, 2 & 3 before going out looking at homes and especially before making an offer on one.

We discussed the current conditions surrounding this unit and the market, and what's involved with making an offer.  In all my dealings with buyers from the U.K. I have learned one definite truth - the pace of the transaction is far more rapid here even in a slow market than in the U.K.

They had one simple misconception that caused them to lose the property, which in retrospect I think they wished they had gotten. They believed that no matter what they offered the seller would counter their offer. I tried to explain that may not be the case, and in fact would not likely be the case since there were so many offers; it would be up to the seller which offer or offers they would deal with. 

Their offer - while over list price - was the lowest of five offers and had some other issues with it which they did not understand, because they had never sat down with anyone before to understand the importance of terms and conditions in an offer.  Yet they were still somewhat put off that the seller didn't counter their offer, because a friend of theirs had told them that is what would happen.  I guess you can really only help those who want to be helped.

Real Stories: How to turn $1300 into $45,000

As with all the Real Stories we post on this blog, the following is a true story about our clients which they have read, approved and contributed to. Enjoy!

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Matt had a beautiful bungalow in West Edmonton; when work took him to the West Coast he decided to hang on to the bungalow and rent it out. Within six months the tenants had turned his beautiful bungalow into a not-so-beautiful mess and Matt decided it was time to sell.

He requested an online evaluation through our web site, and interviewed three real estate agents, one of whom was personally recommended to him. The first two agents recommended list prices of $310,000 and $315,000. He then met with us, and we explained our Sell Your Home For More Program and recommended he spend about $1500 updating the home. With the upgrades we recommended a list price of $324,800 and predicted our marketing program would generate a sale price well above the list price.

Matt was only in town for the weekend, so he was not able to replace the carpet in the basement, which was our number one recommendation to get more for his home. We knew that carpet could make the difference between a list price offer, and a multiple offer situation that would drive the price up. So we sourced out the carpet, and an installer and had the new carpet in place the following week for about $1300. With the help of Matt's parents painting a few areas of the home, making some minor repairs, and cleaning a blue streak, Matt's home looked fantastic.

A professional virtual tour, video home show, online marketing, and a killer negotiation strategy lead to a sale price of $355,000 - $45,000 more than one of the other agents had suggested and $90,000 higher than comparable homes in the area!

Real Stories - Sold for More

As with all the Real Stories we post on this blog, the following is a true story about our clients which they have read, approved and contributed to. Enjoy!

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Last fall we received a request for an online home evaluation from Darryl and Ruth for their condo near the U of A. A couple of months later they decided they would market their condo for sale through Comfree; after six weeks of advertising, they received 6 offers on their condo, all of which fell through.

They decided to give us a call, so we met with them and explained our “Sell Your Home for More” program, and proposed a specific marketing plan for their condo. They decided to list with us and we recommended a new asking price that was higher than they were previously asking.

The condo did have its issues – a leak in the ceiling, carpet badly in need of replacement, no elevator and no in suite laundry – but nothing our marketing and negotiating strategies couldn’t take care of. In fact, their listing received over 100,000 impressions as a featured listing on just one of the many sites we advertised it on, on top of MLS exposure.

In the end their condo sold for $250,000 - significantly higher than the average for comparable properties, all of which had extra features such as elevators, and in suite laundry. Best of all, Darryl and Ruth ended up with $7200 more in their pockets after paying our fee, than they would have if the best offer they’d gotten through Comfree went through.

Ruth and Darryl's comments: "We are so relieved to have our condo sold so quickly and for such an awesome price!!!  You really are a fantastic team!"

Real Stories – Getting an Inspection Condition

The second installment in our Real Stories series; these stories are the actual stories of our clients' real estate experiences.

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Jane and Ian were relocating from the UK to Edmonton and found us online. We met with them and explained some of the differences between real estate here and in the UK, and then began showing them homes. They were interested in an older “character” home in an established neighbourhood – being from England, a home built in 1920 was practically new to them!

The market at the time was booming, most homes were selling with multiple offers and no conditions. Jane and Ian had their eye on a storybook home, with a wrap around deck, original woodwork, mature trees, and all the beautiful things that come with an older home. They were well versed on the market and decided quickly to write an offer – they didn’t want to miss out on this one!

We advised them to include an inspection condition with their offer, even though it may make their offer less desirable to the seller. They took our advice, and wrote an excellent offer which the seller accepted. Now was time to find an inspector.

At the inspection a major crack in the foundation was discovered, that the inspector said could cost $90,000 to fix! The seller didn’t know there were any problems that serious and offered to find a professional engineer to have a look at it. The engineer agreed with the inspector saying the repairs were necessary and could cost $50,000-$90,000. Imagine if Jane and Ian didn’t have the inspection!

In the end the Ian and Jane had to pass on this property, but were able to find another with our help in the same neighbourhood. This time it passed the inspection.

Real Stories - Buying Comfree

This is a new feature on the Edmonton real estate blog called Real Stories. With our clients' help and permission we are posting some of their true real estate experiences here on the blog. This first installment is about a couple who relocated to Edmonton. Enjoy!

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Ian and Nicole were relocating from Hamilton, Ontario to Edmonton in 2006 and were referred to us by a Realtor in Hamilton. As most people know the real estate market in Edmonton in 2006 was crazy – stories of homes being sold in minutes, with multiple offers, for thousands over list - with prices increasing 50% by the end of the year. This was a difficult market for anyone to buy a home, especially someone relocating.

As with all our clients, we don’t only search the MLS when looking for potential homes, we search FSBO (for sale by owner) web sites such as Comfree and Welist as well. As it turns out there was a home marketed on Comfree that met Ian and Nicole’s needs.

When we arrived at the home, there were numerous buyers interested in the property; some were even sitting out front of the home scrambling to write offers. We showed the home, wrote an offer, presented it, and had it accepted before the other buyers even completed writing their offers. When we left the home one couple threw their paperwork on the ground and drove off in disgust – perhaps they should have had an agent working for them!

In the end, the seller agreed to pay our fee, Ian and Nicole purchased a home in one of the toughest markets for buyers, and they purchased it well under market value. The sellers realized the opportunity they missed by negotiating their biggest asset on their own and tried to pull out of the deal on a few occasions. Since we used the purchase contract put out by the Alberta Real Estate Association – a fair and neutral contract – as opposed to the contracts provided by Comfree which favour the seller, we were able to make sure the deal closed. Ian and Nicole had made money on their new home before they even took possession.

Ian sent the following recommendations based on his experiences:

1. Have the house inspected – it absolutely pays to have your eyes opened about the house you spent 10 minutes looking at before putting that huge offer down.  Having to replace windows, furnaces or walls due to mold can change your outlook on your dream home.
2. Hire a good lawyer – the difference between a good real estate lawyer and a bad one is probably $200, this is NOT where you want to save money.  Weeks of stress and potential litigation could have been avoided in our purchase had both sides hired good, real estate lawyers (hint: our lawyer was great).
3. Have a good real estate agent represent you – For buyers, it’s a free service and it allows you to tap into a great knowledge base.  For sellers, know that you can get caught with your pants down on the biggest sale of your life.  If you end up selling your house for $40K below list, was it really worth it to save $12K on commission fees?  I can’t count how many properties we looked at that were pending, then available, then pending, etc because people were writing and accepting bad offers that were falling through, costing everyone time, stress and money. It’s best to have someone skilled and knowledgeable represent you and protect your interests.