Quote:

---

Originally posted by Gapodi
Did you get home inspection done on the house before buying? Yes and guess what........what will it cost me to sue the home inspector vs what I will get back from him?

---

Quote:

---

Cost of maintaining garden and Back yard Over $500/year. How big is your backyard and garden and what are you doing that is costing over $500 a year? Not too big but I have a side and back yard plus big front lawn.
Have you bought seasonal plants and flowers P.? How much do they cost every year?

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."

-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"

In response to some recently asked questions:


Is this really a buyers market? And if so what type of buyer should be aggressive?

Yes, definitely it is a buyers market http://www.realestate-ontario.com/realestatemarketconditions.htm and all types of buyers can be aggressive! Say, if someone is looking to buy a $400,000 home, this person can choose from many out there. The trick is to find a property with the lowest price in its category, something that offers best value for money and matches buyer’s unique needs.

Just yesterday, I showed a 600 sq ft (approx.) condo at Tridel Ovation, being offered for sale at $188,000. Last year, similar unit use to sell for a median price of $204,500. This is just one example of a motivated seller in a buyers market looking for a quick sale. Also check out two POS listings: http://www.livingmississauga.com/

What areas in Mississauga are the hottest for real estate right now?

The question to ask should be: Which areas do you want to move in? In every price range there are opportunities out there. Not every seller is desperate to sell at any price. Those who are selling for financial or other reasons, offer great buying opportunities.

What if I am selling and buying?

This is probably the best time for people who want to ‘buy up’. Prices at the lower end have held their values better than the prices at higher end. E.g.; if your property is off by $25,000-$40,000 from its peak, what you want to ‘buy up’ has probably come down by more than the above range. Again, the trick is to sell first http://www.realestate-ontario.com/buying-and-selling-home.htm and not get stuck with two mortgages to pay for.

What are your thoughts on flipping houses in this market?

Not the right time in my opinion. There are so many listings out there. Some belonging to those flippers who cannot sell. Buyers may be able to find one of those flipper properties that may have all upgrades already. This can result in savings of thousands of dollars in future upgrades.

I recently bought a condo from the builder in pre-construction sale. Is it possible to sell before completion?

You can only sell if you have an assignment clause. This clause will allow you to flip before completion, i.e.; before building/unit is registered. The new buyer will buy the right to close and register their ownership of the condo. The assignment fees are paid to the builder by either the buyer or the seller. In absence of assignment clause, you need to close first, before selling. I can imagine what price you may have paid. I feel sorry, but no one could have seen a plunge in real estate and the economy as it stands to date. Going forward, you may hope to see a steady recovery in real estate prices. If you have enough down payment, your goal should be to keep your property rented to a good tenant.

What do you think about real estate prices in next six months?

I am bearish about real estate prices for next 5-6 months. Having said that, fire sale opportunities like the above are present in every market. The key is to work with a real estate professional who knows his/her markets well enough and finds you deals that you are looking for.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Amit Kalia, Broker, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Real Estate Centre., Brokerage
independently owned & operated
100 City Centre Dr, Unit 1-702
Mississauga, ON L5B 2C9
Phone No.: 905-339-5111
Website: https://www.realestate-ontario.com/
Condo Blog: https://condopundit.com/blog/

U.S. housing market has further to fall-Goldman

The U.S. housing market may have much further to fall because of the huge supply of unsold homes, and the time may be right for large-scale government intervention, a top Goldman Sachs economists said.


In a paper released on Tuesday night, economist Jan Hatzius said total credit losses may exceed $2 trillion, up from his March 2008 forecast for losses of around $1.2 trillion.


More than half of the total represents losses on residential mortgages, with the rest coming from commercial real estate, credit cards, auto loans and corporate debt.


Hatzius said the Case-Shiller index, which tracks home prices in 20 major cities, may have another 20 to 25 percent to fall by the third quarter of 2010.

http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=e6cacaba-a828-42cd-a6bd-3384b5975f85

It is better to wait and watch.

Keep well,

Cheers!

Existing home sales in 2008 fell to their lowest annual level in six years, according to a report released Thursday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090115.wcreasales0115/BNStory/Business/home

Vancouver yes- The company is slashing prices by about 40%. Reason? “No one could never have imagine the real estate market would drop as much as this,” says company veep Chris Evans.


http://www.greaterfool.ca/2009/01/15/back-to-the-future/#comments

But, again, no surprise here. We’re retracing the American experience, which we lag by about two years. Media types and realtors can argue all they want that our market is not identical to the US one, but we made the same mistakes. Prices surpassed incomes. Affordability plunged. Lending standards were trashed. People who should never have bought homes did. When we let folks without money buy houses, it’s bound to end badly.


US foreclosures, we just heard, jumped 81% last year. Two and a half million houses were taken, as 2.6 million people lost their jobs. It’s now estimated 10 million families have negative equity, that five to 8 million new foreclosures will happen over the next three years, and real estate values will fall until at least 2010. Home prices have dropped every month for the last 12 and are lower by 18% than a year ago. The average home price in southern California is down 50%.

Over 74,000 Canadians lost a full-time job last month, and another 70,000 the month before that. On a per capita basis, we are tossing people aside far faster than the US, where an economic crisis is in full flower. If we were more honest with ourselves, we’d see the same harvest here.


---------------------------------------------------------------

Look south. This is the Canadian future too if you don't trust then wait for spring listings. You know the 1980 dustup had R/E collapses up to 60% price reductions, commercial and private bankruptcies, low car sales , hopefully it will be no worse this time.

As new home sales slip into a deep freeze, even Canada's No.1 house builder is having to remodel - Mattamy Homes

Monarch Homes searching for buyer
Country's oldest home builder burdened by parent company's debt, troubled global market



Peter Gilgan shuffles a clump of paper on his large wooden desk. "These are all the bills," he jokes to a photographer.

As the largest house builder in Canada, Gilgan has taken proactive steps to avoid those looming bills as sales slow in the North American real estate market.

His company, Mattamy Homes, laid off 50 staff in November.

In a memo to employees, Gilgan called it "the most difficult and humbling" action he has had to take in his 30 years as a business leader.

"The housing market is certainly not going to be as buoyant as it was. There are different expectations today than expectations from a year or two ago," says the developer, sitting in his Oakville boardroom.

On a crisp January day, Gilgan, 58, is suffering from a cold, but he is genial when greeting guests for a rare interview. Despite the fact he's the CEO of the country's largest builder of detached homes, with more than 40 sales and construction sites up and running throughout North America and more than a billion dollars in annual sales, the chartered accountant has always preferred to remain behind the scenes.

But Mattamy's fortunes are in many ways symbolic of what is happening in Canada's softening real estate industry, especially because of its leadership position.

According to the latest figures from the Building Industry and Land Development Association, total new-home sales in the GTA for the first 11 months of 2008 were down by 35 per cent. For low-rise homes, which Mattamy builds, industry-wide sales were off by 39.1 per cent. New-home companies have slashed prices and given away free trips and cars to entice buyers. Taking a page from the beleaguered car industry, Mattamy introduced "employee pricing" at select American sites last year, extending the same discounts to the public as to their employees.

According to Gilgan's figures, his company is doing much better than the average builder, closing 4,031 homes in 2007 with $1.5 billion in revenue and "just under" 4,000 homes in 2008 with $1.4 billion in revenue. The company has some 1,000 full-time employees.

But all bets are off for this year.

"The scope of the economic change is way beyond anything I anticipated," Gilgan said in his memo.

One could argue that because of the company's size, as goes Mattamy, so goes the nation – or at least the fortunes of municipalities in the GTA. So far, a greater-than-expected drop in the real estate markets has taken a toll.

Over the past couple of months, Mattamy has consolidated administrative staff from across the GTA into its Oakville headquarters, and has also closed its Markham office.

"The decision reflects an anticipated further decline in volumes in our order book," says Gilgan. "The net result is that we will cease to operate as three distinct divisions in the GTA and will manage as one organization from one location."

Gilgan says that to move homes during the downturn, the company has been "aggressively re-pricing our products and addressing design and quality processes."

Meanwhile, concerns are mounting about the financial impact the housing downturn will have on home builders across the board. Mattamy expanded aggressively in the United States. The company has multiple sites in four states including Florida, which has become ground zero for the subprime crisis.

Gilgan insists Mattamy is actually in "better" shape than it has been in the past, despite the credit crunch that has crippled some developers.

"We continue to owe less money so I'll say things are better," he says. "I lament that there aren't more opportunities to invest."

He points out that ratings agency Standard & Poor's recently left his company's rating unchanged at BB.

"There aren't too many builders out there that can say the same thing," he says. "We require very little outside financing and we have a willingness of lenders who continue to lend to us."

(According to Standard & Poor's, a BB rating goes to a company with "marginal financial security characteristics. Positive attributes exist, but adverse financial conditions could lead to insufficient ability to meet financial commitments."

In the U.S., meanwhile, sales are "starting to climb out of the basket," says Gilgan. "Sales were down significantly." They were, however, better in December, and January has been looking "positive," he says.

Sales in Canada have also dropped because of delays in getting some projects off the ground, Gilgan says. He blames a progressive tightening of requirements by municipal and regional governments that has made it difficult for developers to accurately predict when their land will be approved.

"As developers we're not expecting a handout, but we're hoping that government can help us to expedite land development in a cost-effective way."

Gilgan warns that delays in some GTA projects caused by red tape could mean more layoffs at Mattamy this year.

"Are we going to lay people off? Maybe. But it wouldn't necessarily be because of the economy or the market," he says. "If I can get my communities approved, then we'll have growth. If not, then we'll have shrinkage."

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/572607

Monarch Homes searching for buyer
Country's oldest home builder burdened by parent company's debt, troubled global market

Monarch Homes, Canada's oldest home builder, has been seeking a buyer as its British parent company struggles under a crushing debt load.

The Canadian arm carries an asking price in the range of $200 million (U.S.), says one source familiar with details of the sale.

Finding a buyer for a major home builder in this economic climate may prove difficult, however, as home buying continues to slide.

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/572606

Keep well,

Cheers!

The slump has begun, just wait and watch, within the next 6 to 9 months, property prices will sink 30% more.

Luckily, after immigrating here in 2007, we decided to rent instead of buying, after anticipating what's happening at the moment.

Now we are rubbing our hands in glee, secure in the thought that we will have a field day, buying a house in the future.

Lots more catastrophic news to follow in 2009.

My advice - DO NOT BORROW AT ANY COST AND LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS !!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!!!