Crazy Real Estate market !!!

[davepratt]

Re: Crazy Real Estate market !!!

Can someone tell me what 48 Lavington Drive, Etobicoke went for? It fits the bill for languishing on the market since the new provincial rules were introduced and sold just recently. Interesting case study.

$740,000 0n 6/3

[Ignatius Reilly]

Dave,

I would have posted this on your RE Q&A thread, but I can't find that easily while we're in transition to the newlook TGN. So....

My elderly (80 y/o) single neighbour is in hospital for the 3rd time this year. She has no kids, but does have a brother and a sister whose families both live nearby.I visited her last night and she has come to realize she can no longer live on her own and will sell her house.

It's a small house on a corner lot. She and I are 100% sure it's a teardown. Personally, that will suck for us, but that's life.

Another neighbour is a small developer. She and her husband buy, teardown, and build throughout the hood. She wears the pants in that business, he's a laid-off management guy who looks after the kids and house and also has gotten his real estate licence.

So here's the issue: My neighbour said she will use him for the sale. My concerns are i) he's new to the biz and doesn't seem to have a lot of sales in this red-hot market, ii) his wife will want to develop the property for profit. She'd make more profit if the house sold under fair market value, duh! iii) I don't distrust him, but I really distrust her, and iv) he gave an off-the-top-of-his-head guesstimate of $1.2 million which seems more than a little bit low.

So... I told her my concerns and volunteered to find her a 2nd agent to give a 2nd opinion.

Anything else I can do? I'm particularly concerned if the "bad" agent double-ends the deal. IIRC you can specify that as a condition in your contract with them, but I'm sure clever agents can collude to get around that.

TIA

[davepratt]

Dave,

I would have posted this on your RE Q&A thread, but I can't find that easily while we're in transition to the newlook TGN. So....

My elderly (80 y/o) single neighbour is in hospital for the 3rd time this year. She has no kids, but does have a brother and a sister whose families both live nearby.I visited her last night and she has come to realize she can no longer live on her own and will sell her house.

It's a small house on a corner lot. She and I are 100% sure it's a teardown. Personally, that will suck for us, but that's life.

Another neighbour is a small developer. She and her husband buy, teardown, and build throughout the hood. She wears the pants in that business, he's a laid-off management guy who looks after the kids and house and also has gotten his real estate licence.

So here's the issue: My neighbour said she will use him for the sale. My concerns are i) he's new to the biz and doesn't seem to have a lot of sales in this red-hot market, ii) his wife will want to develop the property for profit. She'd make more profit if the house sold under fair market value, duh! iii) I don't distrust him, but I really distrust her, and iv) he gave an off-the-top-of-his-head guesstimate of $1.2 million which seems more than a little bit low.

So... I told her my concerns and volunteered to find her a 2nd agent to give a 2nd opinion.

Anything else I can do? I'm particularly concerned if the "bad" agent double-ends the deal. IIRC you can specify that as a condition in your contract with them, but I'm sure clever agents can collude to get around that.

TIA

Where is the house located?

[Pingeye2_fan]

Is the market calming down a bit, we had our agent in to assess our house and that's what he tells us.

[davepratt]

Is the market calming down a bit, we had our agent in to assess our house and that's what he tells us.

Not a bit. A LOT!

[bogey5]

"The Toronto Real Estate Board released survey data on Friday showing 30 per cent of households in the Greater Toronto Area say it's likely they'll list their home in the next 12 months."

Not sure I'm buying this. Seems they may just be trying to stir up sales for their members.

Do we expect to see a followup report a year from now on how this forecast worked out.

[gimmeabogey]

If she doesn't get ripped off by the real estate couple in house selling process, her siblings family eventually will. 1.2 million is a lot of money for an 80 yo anyways, she can't spend that much money in that age.

[davepratt]

Dave,

I would have posted this on your RE Q&A thread, but I can't find that easily while we're in transition to the newlook TGN. So....

My elderly (80 y/o) single neighbour is in hospital for the 3rd time this year. She has no kids, but does have a brother and a sister whose families both live nearby.I visited her last night and she has come to realize she can no longer live on her own and will sell her house.

It's a small house on a corner lot. She and I are 100% sure it's a teardown. Personally, that will suck for us, but that's life.

Another neighbour is a small developer. She and her husband buy, teardown, and build throughout the hood. She wears the pants in that business, he's a laid-off management guy who looks after the kids and house and also has gotten his real estate licence.

So here's the issue: My neighbour said she will use him for the sale. My concerns are i) he's new to the biz and doesn't seem to have a lot of sales in this red-hot market, ii) his wife will want to develop the property for profit. She'd make more profit if the house sold under fair market value, duh! iii) I don't distrust him, but I really distrust her, and iv) he gave an off-the-top-of-his-head guesstimate of $1.2 million which seems more than a little bit low.

So... I told her my concerns and volunteered to find her a 2nd agent to give a 2nd opinion.

Anything else I can do? I'm particularly concerned if the "bad" agent double-ends the deal. IIRC you can specify that as a condition in your contract with them, but I'm sure clever agents can collude to get around that.

TIA

I've answered in a pm but for everyone else, the best solution is to list the home at around $1.2M and hold off viewing offers for 7 days. That way, the market will tell you what it's worth.

[Ignatius Reilly]

I've answered in a pm but for everyone else, the best solution is to list the home at around $1.2M and hold off viewing offers for 7 days. That way, the market will tell you what it's worth.

Thanks for that Dave.

My big fear is her agent won't present offers that aren't a lowball from his wife or their surrogate.

You also looked up a small bungalow (another obvious teardown) on a small lot about 7 houses away that sold for $1.88 a month or 2 ago.

[davepratt]

Thanks for that Dave.

My big fear is her agent won't present offers that aren't a lowball from his wife or their surrogate.

You also looked up a small bungalow (another obvious teardown) on a small lot about 7 houses away that sold for $1.88 a month or 2 ago.

PM sent. Yes this situation is quite scary.

[davepratt]

It's not crazy anymore! It's a great time to be a buyer as so many sellers bought another house firm a few months back thinking selling their homes would be a no brainer. OOPS! Now they are panicking about owning 2 homes. We originally said inventory was up, sales volumes were down but prices were holding. Not anymore and I've verified it with top agents from Durham, York and Toronto. I'm also hearing of firm deals not closing as banks are doing appraisals that reflect current conditions and all of a sudden, the buyers don't qualify. I attended an open house in Durham on the weekend that was priced 15% lower than the identical one that sold 3 months ago and hadn't closed yet. The buyers of the home came through the open house and the agent thought they were going to have heart attacks because of what they paid.
I went through 12 homes last weekend and every agent said they were getting virtually no showings.
This is expected to be a temporary situation so if you're in a buying mode, keep your eyes open for bargains.

[Ignatius Reilly]

PM sent. Yes this situation is quite scary.

Thanks for the PM and info.

I ended up calling my neighbour's SIL and sharing my concerns.

She knew the guy was new to the RE business, but was unaware that his wife made her (their!) living buying low, tearing down, and selling high. So we all seem to have come to the agreement that that's a bad idea - a clear conflict of interest.

It's going to take some time to see if my neighbour is able to walk again after rehab. And it can be a long wait to get into a preferred retirement residence or assisted living arrangement, so everything seems to be on hold for now.

Her other next-door neighbour just sold last week. It's one of the new builds in the 'hood. Talking to the owner he said they had an open house with few people through. Then 4 bids and they took the highest. Their agent had talked them into asking a bit lower than they originally wanted. He may have gotten lucky. Closes end of August, so I suppose anything can happen between now and then.

[Frorose]

Newmarket has been hit hard. They did have the highest gains though in the region so no surprise there. Mississauga is holding it's own. Appraisals still coming in. Not a lot not closing. (at least at our brokerage) I have a couple of closings coming up and zero concerns from all angles. Still had a bidding war last week but not crazy. Some great buys out there right now. I have been saying for several weeks now to my buyers that we should move soon. Once the fall hits I suspect we will be back into lower inventory. Can't guarantee that obviously but suspect it. My condo listing out in Oakville has been getting showings and great feedback but just like my clients the buyers don't feel pressured to pull the trigger. Fortunately my guys aren't in a rush to sell either so it is what it is. It's going to be interesting to see where my luxury listing goes when it hits the MLS. Custom home, simply gorgeous going to list at $3.4M (in the fall). Condo sales are still solid (prebuilds and resales) if they are priced right. Transit City sold out two or three buildings in just two weeks or so. Nobu is almost sold out from what they told me, any of the developments I have been part of have been selling super fast.