| Friday, February 27, 2009 1st time home buyers could lead rebound in Canadian real estateby Wade Allen on Fri, Feb, 27, 2009 11:26 AM How?
Thanks to lower prices and shifting demographics.
A combination of factors are attracting first-time buyers back to the market after they checked out in large numbers at the end of 2008.
National average home prices were down 11 per cent in January compared to a year earlier.
This, along with historically low mortgage rates and a buyers’ market, are working to attract first-time buyers.
And Scotiabank senior economist Adrienne Warren says baby boomers’ children will soon begin to enter the real estate market in droves, further boosting housing sales.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Remember the end of Shawshank Redemption?by Wade Allen on Wed, Feb, 25, 2009 01:38 PM One of my favorite movies of all time is Shawshank Redemption. A story of Andy Duffrain, a hot shot young banker, wrongly accused of killing his wife and sent to prison for life. After 20 years in prison he plans his brilliant escape, and tells his inmate friend Red about a place in Mexico where he wants to start up a charter fish company.
Do you remember the name of that place?
Zihuatanejo
Well this place actually exists. It is just south around a headland from Ixtapa, and is one of the most fast growing beach communities in Mexico. It's beauty, beaches, and seclusion make it very popular for tourists and its natives.
I had a meeting yesterday with the team at Pilot House Real Estate, a Vancouver based International Real Estate marketing company. They are currently ramping up the marketing for a new development down there between The Tides and Intrawest right on the beach.
Rooms at the Tides and Intrawest Resort rent out for on average 70% of the year, at a rate of $300USD a night and up. This development is being done by the same architect, and will have the same feel and opportunity as those.
The best part, they all have big patios on the front that face the water. Every unit steps back and has a gorgeous view.
Now the kicker. Prices? They start at $170K. 50% of the units are under $300K. And they aren't small.
Have a look at some pictures: PICSHere is a google map: MAP (it is the two white buildings on the beach)
For more info, email me HERETuesday, February 24, 2009 Let's Make a Dealby Wade Allen on Tue, Feb, 24, 2009 10:55 AM This weekend I was able to negotiate a very, very good deal for clients of mine. The tallest building in Vancouver, the Shangri La at the corner of Georgia and Thurlow completed late in 2008. Since then there have been numerous units come up for sale, making it a very competative building.
Unit 3108 is a beautiful 1134 sq.ft. 2 bed 2 bath suite, with exquisite finishings, and breathtaking views to the South, West, and East.
The unit was listed for $888,000. That is $783/sq.ft., a reasonable price for this building that has a world class 5 diamond hotel, shops, and amenities open to all it's residents.
I was able to negotiate for my clients a price of $792,500. A $95,500 reduction off the asking price, coming in at $699/sq.ft.
What a great deal!
Now is a fantastic time to get in touch with me and begin your search to find these amazing deals that won't be around for much longer.
Click HERE to view this listing. These pictures don't do it justice. Look at THIS listing 3 floors up. Thursday, February 19, 2009 Obama Unveils Plan to Stem Foreclosuresby Wade Allen on Thu, Feb, 19, 2009 04:23 PM President Barack Obama rolled out a bold $75 billion, three-part plan Wednesday to halt the soaring rate of mortgage foreclosures nationwide, one that seeks to encourage refinancing of homes now worth less than their mortgages and provides incentives for lenders to lower the debt load on struggling homeowners.
The Homeowner Stability Initiative, which Obama unveiled in Phoenix, seeks to address one of the triggers of the global financial crisis: the 2.3 million U.S. foreclosures last year that are protracting the housing crisis and helping to drive down home prices across the nation.
“When the housing market collapsed, so did the availability of credit on which our economy depends. As that credit dried up, it has been harder for families to find affordable loans,” Obama said. “In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen a crisis which is unraveling homeownership, the middle class, and the American Dream itself.”
Specifically, the Obama plan seeks to provide low-cost refinancing for as many as 5 million Americans. It seeks to help delinquent or at-risk borrowers get their mortgages modified so that no more than 31 percent of their income is tied up in their mortgages. And it provides financial incentives to lenders and even a new insurance program to promote more mortgage modifications.
Like the failed efforts under the Bush administration, however, the Obama plan doesn’t compel banks and other lenders to modify troubled mortgages. Instead, it provides a menu of incentives that may or may not prove sufficient.
“This is not just the treasury secretary going into the room and asking people to do the right thing,” said a senior Treasury official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak more freely. “This is the first time there has really been a systemic incentive strategy for them (lenders).”
Banks joined two prior voluntary efforts during the Bush administration Hope for Homeowners and the Federal Housing Administration’s FHA Secure but these efforts have resulted in relatively few mortgage modifications.
Now they’ll have a stick waved at them if they don’t comply with the subsidy plan. It will come in the form of Obama’s support for legislation pending in Congress that would allow bankruptcy court judges to modify the terms of a mortgage.
That’s forbidden right now, and banks and other lending institutions fiercely oppose what they call “cram down” legislation, warning that it’ll bring uncertainty for lenders, who will respond by restricting mortgage lending.
Banks may soon have to choose between the lesser of two evils. They could either modify loans - with a subsidy - to provide lower lending rates, and lose what they might have made from the higher lending rate over the life of the loan. Or they can do nothing and run the risk that a homeowner could file for bankruptcy and then have a judge order new loan terms that allow the borrower to stay in the home - and pay the lender less money.
The president’s plan also offers payments to mortgage servicers, who collect mortgage payments on behalf of investors who own the mortgages originally issued by banks but were sold into a secondary market. Servicers apparently would be offered a payment for modification on par with what they would collect in the case of foreclosure. Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Sales Are Improving!!!by Wade Allen on Wed, Feb, 18, 2009 07:41 PM
In January 2009, we saw an average of 38 sales per day across our Board area. As at the close of business on February 17, we’re averaging 77 sales per day for the month! February is typically a busier month for sales than January. Nonetheless, I thought you would appreciate this update. |
|
Email
