Muskoka Real Estate Blog

My wife Sandra and I have been on a mission to buy a good camera. I need it for professional reasons and I also have extremely cute children that need to be photographed regularly!

So we started the debate – do we give our business to the small local guy or do we save money by traveling down to Barrie to one of the big electronic store chains?

We started with Don Spring at Cavalcade Colour Lab – and then went no further. There was absolutely no need. On our third visit, Don was just as open and patient about answering all of our questions. He quickly identified our needs and match them with the proper camera.  On his insistence we took our new camera home, charged it, and then brought it back for a tutorial on how to use it. It was service that we never could have gotten from a big electronic store. He never tried to upsell us. Never tried to sell us extra things we didn’t need. All of his predictions of why the camera he recommended was the correct choice have proven true.

What’s more I know we can always go back and ask questions and he will stand by his product and his advice.

Further research revealed that the price would not actually have been any different if we had purchased the product in Barrie – though of course we would have had the expense of driving there..

Sandra and I have always been big believers in shopping locally and this has just re-inforced our beliefs. Makes you wonder what other treasures Huntsville has – locally. 

Picture taken on our Nikon D5000

From Jim Gillespie:

I just got back from the Canadian Business Conference in Vancouver.  I’m sure most of you who watched the recent Olympics on TV will understand why I think Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  It was great to be back there again to talk to hundreds of our Canadian colleagues.  

Canada has been enjoying a great real estate market with double-digit appreciation for most of the last five years.  The only exception was a brief downturn at the beginning of last year with the onset of the global economic crisis.  That downturn only lasted a few months (if you blinked, you missed it!), and since then the market has come roaring back with record-breaking prices from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  The average MLS® house price in Canada now sits at just over $335,000, with Vancouver being the nation’s ‘hot spot’, with prices for a single family home downtown approaching a million dollars!

Canadians – and the Canadian news media – are intently interested in American real estate right now.  So much so, that I had a chance to talk about it in two different TV newscasts that aired right across the country.   The big news in Canada last week was the Canadian ‘loonie’ reaching par with the American dollar.    This increase in the buying power of the Canadian dollar, along with U.S. home prices that seem like a relative ‘bargain’, have made American real estate more affordable than most Canadians can ever remember.   Like the U.S., Canada’s demographics are shifting due to the aging ‘baby boomer’ population.  Watch for a heightened interested in American property from Canadian buyers in the months ahead, especially in those sunshine destinations most favored by retiring Canadians.

Jim Gillespie is the President of Coldwell Banker Real Estate and is respected worldwide as an expert in the Real Estate industry.

Please read below a letter published in the Globe and Mail on Saturday April 10th. Never before has the Coldwell Banker brand and our team of award winning Realtors been more valuable.

To: All home buyers and sellers in Canada
Re: Ultimate Service

There’s been a lot of attention in the media recently regarding the Canadian real estate industry. As consumers, you all want – and expect – quality service. That kind of service is at its best when it’s delivered within a sound and lasting business relationship. At Coldwell Banker Real Estate, we understand that business reality, and we have the outstanding people and resources to achieve it.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate has a very powerful service platform to offer the Canadian consumer. It begins with a unique concept called Ultimate Service.

Ultimate Service is far more than just a marketing program or a slogan dreamed up in some corporate “ivory tower”. It is a tangible real-world customer satisfaction process that includes a signed pledge to quality service. It is the cornerstone of our business philosophy of listening to the customer, determining their specific needs and delivering a value proposition to meet those needs.

When you work with a Coldwell Banker Real Estate professional, you get two assurances that outstanding service will be delivered.

• First, our agents offer a personal commitment to your satisfaction – in writing.
• Second, you have the validation of what real, live customers all across Canada had to say about the service delivered.

That’s why I’m so pleased to announce that, based on the survey results of over 50,000 Canadian home buyers and sellers, and tabulated by an independent third-party service, Coldwell Banker Real Estate has achieved a 98% overall customer satisfaction rating. And perhaps even more importantly, we’ve now achieved that 98% satisfaction rating for 13 years in a row! No other real estate brand in Canada can make that claim. If you want to know about the quality of service that Coldwell Banker Agents deliver, don’t take our word for it, just ask our customers.

There are many reasons why Coldwell Banker Real Estate professionals deliver outstanding service. At a time when the real estate landscape is changing, in education. Coldwell Banker professional agents deliver, don’t take our word for it – just ask our customers! Coldwell Banker sets the standard for excellence.

Coldwell Banker was ranked highest among all real estate companies by Training Magazine in their Top 125 ranking. Our sales representatives benefit from a world-class education platform and use their knowledge and skills in the service of their customers.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate has a proud history of over 100 years of providing quality service, and we continue to build upon that legacy. You don’t get to be a leader in this industry for more than a century without having something of value to offer that sets you apart from all the rest.

If you’d like to know more about the quality of service delivered by Coldwell Banker Real Estate professionals across Canada, just talk to your local Coldwell Banker sales representative. You can find them by visiting our award-winning website www.coldwellbanker.ca.
Sincerely,
John S. Geha, Sr.

With an anticipated interest rate increase around the corner you may be considering breaking your current mortgage to take advantage of current historically low interest rates. The fact that current interest rates will most likely not be around when you renew your mortgage is certainly justification to at least consider breaking your mortgage.

My best piece of advice is to consult a mortgage specialist before making any decisions, they are the professionals that deal with issues like this everyday. However, it doesn’t hurt to arm yourself with information and knowledge beforehand. There is certainly some research you can do all by yourself right on your home computer. Visit your financial institution’s website for several different calculators to help make decisions concerning your mortgage. You will need several pieces of information for these calculators: the current balance on your mortgage, the original interest rate, the time remaining on your current mortgage and the rate currently available to you should you start a new mortgage.

The following two websites have calculators that you might find useful but you can do a google search and find many more:

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/products/mortgages/mortgage_calculators.html

http://www.scotiabank.com/cda/content/0,1608,CID13594_LIDen,00.html

Let’s face it, what it all comes down to is whether or not you can save enough money with a new mortgage to justify the penalty you would have to pay for breaking your current mortgage. These calculators help you figure out these details. Mortgage penalties today can be quite substantial so the savings will have to be considerable for you to make the switch.

Keep in mind that the bank will take the higher of either 3 months interest or the IRD (interest rate differential). The IRD is the difference between the amount of interest payable remaining on your current mortgage minus the amount of interest that the bank would earn over the same time period at the mortgage rate that is currently available. With the drastic decrease in rates over the last few years the IRD will most likely be higher.

As mentioned earlier, these calculators are for information gathering purposes only and shouldn’t be used as the sole basis for making such a major financial decision. Consult a mortgage specialist that you trust to assist you, if you need advice on which mortgage specialist to choose, contact a Coldwell Banker Sales Representative, we can offer contact details of several very qualified mortgage professionals.

Good luck with your decision and remember, we are here to help, call our office at 705-789-4957 and put us to work.

Although this news is a couple of years old it is still very useful. Please the information below taken from the Ontario Real Estate Association’s website. Most importantly, note that your registration on the do not call list automatically expires after 5 years, which will be coming pretty quickly for some of us.

In June 2006, Bill C-37, An Act to Amend the Telecommunications Act came into force. It gave the Canadian Radio-Television Communications Commission (CRTC) the authority to establish and enforce a national Do Not Call List (DNCL).

The legislation allows individuals who do not wish to receive unsolicited telemarketing calls to add their phone number to a single centralized list that telemarketers are required to respect and to update regularly.

In Telecom Decision 2007-48 (July 2007) the CRTC established a comprehensive framework for the creation of the DNCL and set out the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. These include the National DNCL Rules, the Telemarketing Rules, and the Automatic Dialing-Announcing Device Rules, as well as provisions about express consent and record-keeping.

In Telecom Decision 2008-06 (January 2008) the CRTC delegated the investigation of complaints under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules to a third party – Bell Canada.

The national DNCL and related rules all took effect September 30, 2008.

The national DNCL is a registry of consumers’ telephone and fax numbers that telemarketers are prohibited from contacting without their express consent.

Consumers:

■can register any Canadian telephone and fax number at no cost. The registration will automatically expire five years after the effective registration date
■must re-register their numbers after the five-year period or if their telephone numbers change during the registration time
■can file complaints about unsolicited telemarketing calls to the national DNCL operator
■may ask to have their name and numbers added to a telemarketer’s own DNCL (often referred to as the “internal DNCL” or “office Do Not Call List”).

When listing your home make sure to ask your Coldwell Banker agent how you can further protect your privacy, right on your listing agreement.

Kids at the Cottage

It’s that time of year again. The Spring Cottage Life Show is happening the weekend of March 26, 27 and 28 and Coldwell Banker Thompson Real Estate will be there. This show typically kicks off the spring cottage buying market and with the weather we have been having it should be busier than ever.

If you have been contemplating listing your waterfront property for sale, you will want to be at the Cottage Life Show.

With 475 exhibitors showcasing real estate, dock systems, boats, contractor services and much more, there are plenty of reasons to attend. If you are considering a waterfront purchase this year you will find everything you need at the show. It is happening at the International Centre in Toronto. Click this link or cut and paste it in your browser for more information http://www.cottagelife.com/index.cfm/ci_id/2312/la_id/1

How does Jim Flaherty’s much anticipated announcement impact the housing market?

The prevailing opinion is that there is nothing to worry about. Some of the more drastic measures that were on the table, raising the minimum down payment to 10% and shortening the maximum amortization period to 25 years were not adopted.

There were two main changes that have been adopted that will affect the real estate market.

Firstly, purchasers will have to qualify for a mortgage based on the 5 year posted rate as opposed to the rate that the bank may give the them.  All this will do is make sure that home buyers aren’t taking on more debt than they can handle, this is good for everybody at the end of the day.

The second change is the increased minimum down payment for investment properties.  This change has been adopted to curb speculation.  Investors will now have to put a minimum of 20% down when purchasing rental or investment properties.  This will prevent speculators from purchasing mass quantities of properties while having a small amount of their own money invested.

In the end, these measures are intended to prevent Canadians from being granted mortgages that they won’t be able to afford when interest rates inevitably rise.  This can only be seen as a good thing for the real estate market.

The Canadian banking system is being applauded around the world, our mortgage default rate is less than 1%, pretty amazing in what is considered to be a very tough economic period.  Jim Flaherty’s recent changes simply show that Canada will take whatever steps necessary to keep our impeccable international banking reputation intact.
These measures take effect on April 19th so if you are considering a real estate purchase in 2010 it would be a great idea to get pre-approved prior to that date.

Contact one of our qualified realtors for professional, friendly advice on how these changes will affect you.