Michael Ireland Real Estate Podcast Michael Ireland

There are a few different ways to determine the value that a home inspection will bring to your specific property. I hear a lot of questions about inspectors. Who are they and what do they do? How do you know you’re getting good value for what you’re spending?  About two decades ago, home inspectors were virtually nonexistent. Today is a far different story. About 90% of buyers hire a home inspector. So how can a buyer know that they’re getting a good value and a good inspector? Well first of all, inspectors go largely by reputation. Be sure to ask your agent to recommend one that they think will be best for you and your situation. Also remember that inspectors do not hold liability in the event they overlook something, which is something most buyers might not be aware of. Inspectors will, though, be able to bring information to the buyer which will play a key role in calculating the long-term costs associated with the home as well as any repairs that may be needed.  In many cases, the buyer and the agent will be using the inspector’s report to revisit negotiation terms with the seller. Sometimes this can result in some form of compensation. About 90% of buyers hire a home inspector. However, when it comes to attached homes like townhomes or apartments, the value of the inspector is inherently limited because they will only be able to focus their inspection on the interior. The exterior of the property is under the jurisdiction of the strata. In this case, the information provided by the strata managers will often be more valuable than the inspection report.  The services of an inspector can be valuable on the other side of the transaction, as well. Sellers may want to consider having an inspection done on their own property before listing so that they can take care of any issues before the buyer sees, and likely also inspects, the home. This way, the seller can present the inspection report, as well as any invoices proving repairs have been made, to the buyer.  This will give the buyer confidence, and could potentially lead to a quicker offer.  If you have any other questions or want more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

I'm back with an update on the real estate market for the Fraser Valley. What's been going on here in the Surrey real estate market? Recent trends in the market should give us a good idea of what we can expect moving toward the summer and beyond. We saw 5,302 sales in May, which was a 21% increase from April. Compared to last year, it was the best month on record since last June when the market was one fire. It is also the second-best May we've seen in the history of our real estate board. That's good news. Inventory is down by 9.5% in our market compared to this time last year. Looking at the new listings gives us an idea of how the market has replenished, and it was virtually the same as this time last year with 3,712. The average days on market—which tells us how quickly homes sell—is at 23, which is well below the historic average of 51 days. That's a sign of very strong demand here in our market. So where is all this demand showing up? A lot of the stories we hear about high demand and multiple offers are happening in the apartment market. First-time homebuyers are creating much of this demand. Townhouses—which have become the new standard for younger families that can't afford a single-family home—also have high demand from people downsizing.  We expect the strong demand to carry through the summer and well into August. With detached homes, inventory is doing well in price points up to about $1 million. You actually see a slowness in the market when you get into the nicer neighborhoods with homes in the $1.5 million range, or the luxury market. This segment tends to be the slowest to recover from a market correction like the one we saw last fall. This strong demand will carry into the summer, but remember, most buyers want to buy their house before August, which is traditionally the slowest month of the year. It's when they need to transition into the school year. Given the current momentum, we actually expect strong sales activity going well into August.  There will still be opportunities in the market, however. With the vacancy rate below 1%, we've seen renters struggle to find a place. This has not only driven up rental rates, but also demand for multi-family rental units. This is where investors seemed to be focused right now.  If you or anyone you know is considering buying or selling a home in our market, give me a call or send me an email soon. I'd be glad to help!

Multiple offer scenarios are pretty common in a hot market like ours. Whether you're a buyer or a seller in this scenario, there are a few things you can do to prepare yourself to come out ahead. We always associate multiple offers on a property with a really hot market like the one we're currently in, but a property could receive multiple offers in any market with the right pricing and promotion. Of course, the goal is always to get the highest price the market will bear.  If you receive multiple offers, it will probably be in the first few days on the market. In order to leverage them, it’s important for your real estate agent to have a pre-market routine to build up the demand for the property while fielding inquiries like disclosure statements, title searches, or a bank appraisal. Since the majority of offers will happen in the first few days, it's important to have this routine because if they don't, the seller could accept the wrong offer. If that offer falls apart, the seller will have to try to resurrect all the interest in the property a week or two down the road, which rarely results in another multiple offer situation.  If an early offer falls apart, it's hard for a seller to resurrect that early interest in the property. We've been involved in enough of these situations where all parties have been informed, allowing our sellers to get up to hundreds of thousands of dollars more than their asking price for their home. On the buyer's side of the equitation, their agent needs to be sure they are pre-qualified for financing and allow them to review all documentation regarding disclosures on the property in a multiple offers situation. Remember, many sellers will accept a lower offer price if the offer is firm and gives open dates or doesn't have conditions attached. Buyers need to be just as well prepared. If you or anyone you know is thinking of buying and/or selling a property, just give me a call or send me an email. I'd be honored to serve you!

What do our market numbers tell us about what we can expect to see in real estate this year? I’ll go over those numbers and answer that today. What can the latest numbers tell us about our real estate market? There were 2,230 sales in the month of April, which is a very strong performance of the market. In fact, last April only saw 2,213 sales. Of those 2,230 sales, 438 were apartments, 567 were townhomes, and 1,225 were detached homes. As far as prices go, we saw a 5% increase in detached homes compared to last fall.  There were 4,913 active listings in April, down 13% from last year, which made it the lowest inventory for April in 10 years. 2,950 new listings came on the market compared to 3,942 last April. That means new listings were down 25%.  Buyers have fewer options and as a result, their offers are higher. Over the past year, detached home prices rose 14.5% to $888,900, townhome prices rose 26% to $446,000 and apartment prices rose 29% to $285,400. So what’s influencing the market? Unfortunately, the production of multi-family homes is lagging. First, we’ve got a lot of first-time homebuyers taking advantage of new government down payment options. Then we’ve got people who are downsizing. Unfortunately, the production of multi-family homes is lagging. We probably won’t see production start to catch up until later in the year.  If you’re a buyer in our market, you need to be really well prepared with your financing and well represented when you negotiate on a home in case it turns into a multiple offer situation.  As a seller, you want to make sure that you’re getting the right price for the product that you have. You also need to make sure you are represented by the right agent to ensure your home sale goes successfully.  If you or anyone you know is planning on purchasing or selling a home, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’m happy to answer any of your questions.

Here are some little things you can do as a home seller to make sure yours sells for top dollar. Today, I want to share some little things you can do to sell your home for top dollar.  That might sound like a cliche, but let me tell you a quick story. We recently listed a home that had been sitting on the market unsold for months. We moved in our professionals, did some basic merchandising, repairs, and cleaning, and sold that home for $22,000 more than what the previous company was asking for.  What little things can you do to achieve the same effect? To start, examine how your yard looks. Are all the garden beds trimmed? Is the lawn mowed? As buyers walk up to your home, they’re usually walking on concrete or exposed aggregate, so make sure that area is power washed and glazed so it has a fresh look. As they approach your front door and look around, the trim must be clean and freshly painted. The front door must also be clean and freshly painted with polished hardware.  Pay careful attention to your home’s curb appeal. Don’t forget about the threshold—every buyer looks at one before they step over it. As they enter the foyer, they’ll make the decision to buy your home or not based on a couple of different factors. As they look through the home, it needs to be uncluttered and have good passage. All the lights must also be bright and working properly. Lastly, get rid of the old doormat that you wipe your feet on and buy a new one.  If you’re considering selling in this spring market, don’t hesitate to reach out to us so we can get these things dealt with in a professional manner. The difference will be remarkable in terms of how your home looks and what goes into your pocket when you sell it. Just give us a call or send us an email, and we’d be happy to get started.

Looking at the market's numbers from March always provides a good idea of what we can expect from the Spring market. Taking a look at the market from March always gives us a good idea of what will happen in the Surrey spring market. The good news is that March was an extraordinary month! In fact, it was the second-best sales month in the last decade with 2,213 sales. Townhome sales made up 638 sales and apartments made up 526. Basically, attached housing made up about half of everything that sold over the month. That's a lot of demand for that type of home, much of which is fueled by the first-time homebuyer program brought in by the government. As a result of this kind of absorption rate, what can we expect? Well, looking at the inventory levels in March, we can see that we peaked at 808 homes, which is fairly low compared to previous years. With supply this low and demand this high, prices will move up. With supply this low and demand this high, prices will move up. In March, attached housing prices continued to rise from more than 5% from January. With detached housing, there has been a rebound after last year's bad news in the wake of the market correction.  This all tells us that consumer demand in the housing market is clearly very strong right now, suggesting that we're in an inflationary environment for the year. This should keep sellers very alert that if you plan to sell in this market, you need to work with a great agent to get the right price for your house and to make sure you know where you're moving and that you have enough time for that purchase.  If you're buying a home, it's vital to have your financing prepared to capture the opportunity. We're now seeing a lot more time required from lending institutions to get these deals approved, so buyers need to be ready to write an offer when their agent finds a home.  If you or anyone you know is thinking about making a move this season, we'd love to help you. Just give us a call at 604-908-0804 or send us an email, we're always here to help!