"For the buyer and seller that wants to make and save money"
Coming from a family that built homes and developed real estate, it seems that hardly a day has gone in my life where there wasn’t some discussion of buying and or selling some particular, new, interesting either piece of land or house.
Buying and Selling today, is totally different than it was yesterday, and totally different than it will be in times to come.
Today we see buyers and sellers that are both knowledgeable in the market prices and totally understand what costs are involved to complete the transaction. With the internet and all that the market does to educate its consumers there is a " market load of information " out there…But how can we put that knowledge really to work for YOU?
Its easy to say, and difficult to achieve, but buying and selling, keeping to the basics is what Terry Hashimoto is all about…The market in Winnipeg has been great now for a number of years and like a lot of people my age ( born in 58 – you can do the math ! ) I remember 1981-1982…21 % interest rates, an apparent gas shortage, and the housing market was not like today.
It was passion that sold houses…
It was "CREATIVE SOLUTIONS IN CREATIVE MARKETS" that made the difference. It was the passion of an agent that could make those so few many interest buyers that interest rates would not stay that high for that way long and educated them that all things being equal, high rates mean lower prices and low rate means higher prices, that in effect, they’d be getting perhaps and even better deal if they bought NOW !
In a strong market, housing prices are both high and yet at the same time there is not a lot of inventory, nothing to sell…In these times it seems some builders may over build, bring to market too many lots and sure enough, boom once again there is a overabundance of houses. Prices start being slashed, and all of sudden there is again a different value on your home,.
The message here is that over time your investment can go and or down in value but over the long haul the investment value of your home will increase. I can just hear you asking but what has that got to do with things now Terry ? This market is on fire…
The market is what the market is…
The best thing that a buyer can do, is with their agent, review pricing and statistics of houses sold in the market that they are looking to invest in. Detach themselves of emotions and put in an offer that is established by cold hard facts, and allow yourself what I refer to as a "granny tank".
The "Granny Tank" in the case of multiple offers may be that little extra that you keep in the back of your head that you may be prepared to offer up, should you be given more time to rethink your initial offer. But don’t let your passion for a home turn into emotions. At the end of the day it is just a home. Your agent can find you another one…
It is my own estimate is that the average home buyer in this market will spend 2-3 months in earnest looking for a house and of that time half of it will be on their own. If I am prepared to work 1 day a week for each of my customers maybe I can service well, 5-7 customers at a time, but not much more.
Time is the only thing we can’t have an effect on. There is only so much of it as a component and we have to use it wisely. Allowing one day a week per person means that at max I can show 1 family homes per day and that means 7 families a week are all I can work with at one time… That i’s why all my buyers that I work with have buying agreements. I take my job seriously and I want to work with serious buyers…that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, because we certainly will. However, the more prepared we are :
- the more we understand what it is that we are looking for
- the more we understand specifically what area we definitely want to look at is
- the more we understand about our financing, how much we are prepared to pay
- the more we understand what our closing and total costs to purchase are
- the more we understand that we may not get every house we offer on
- the more we understand, the more enjoyable the experience will be.
When you are ready, and I the time has come to get serious, then we will review the "buyers agreement” and get down to business.
It’s a good thing to initially look at as many houses in the price ranges that you are interest in, in the areas you are interested in…this will help you understand market values, what is available and certainly by now our financing should be in place.
At the end of every session together, I will ask you if there are any homes that you’d like to put an offer on, and review the homes we visited. But be ready to pull the trigger.
We can discuss a lot of things, environment concerns, politics, even religion but when if comes to selling and buying a home, long term there is no question :
- Homes that are clean sell better than untidy homes
- Homes with great kitchens and open spaces do well better than those in its comparative market
- Homes with more than 1 full bath have an advantage
- Homes that have nice yards inspire and denote quality
- Homes with great decks are great, but have pictures ready if selling in the winter
- Homes that are quality " pieces " within their market will always be worth more.
Repairs, non structural can often be a great opportunity. Not just paint either, that’s the easy one most agents will tell you about, but things like not so great windows, average doors, all things that in my view don’t add to immediate value.
People, rightfully, often ask about insulation values…but in reality, most well insulated homes don’t cost much less to heat than similar sized homes in the same area. Focus on what will make and create value.
Cabinets are a costly install if done correctly. Does the home you are looking at have good hinges for the doors, and if so is it just the doors that I don’t like…are they laid out properly I a’m in a house in Charleswood, that when it is sold will bring a good price because of the openness of the house and the quality of the kitchen. It is automatic…when you have a house party where does most of action happen ? The kitchen. When you have a family dinner where is the action ? The Kitchen.
All homes have inadequacies, but stay focused, and be prepared to look beyond the skin of the house.
Turns out buying a house is like life itself. Its what inside that counts…
I have a friend that spent what I know to be a lot of cash on an indoor pool. We talked about it, and he didn’t care about the investment side of his house…it was his personal view, that his home is where his business life emanated from, and he has been very successful.
This man does 20 laps every morning, is not a health freak, but rather has a structured life and probably takes 100 – 150 calls every day, before lunch. He starts work at 7 am, and works everyday until 4 pm. In the summer golf’s every day at 4:30 –5 and plays 18 holes 3 days a week, with time for his family every weekend at the lake…
The pool cost him 150,000 and he will never recover that cost, and he simply doesn’t care. He recovers that on the other side, his life, of "Living In".
In this example, it is important to note, that everything should be considered an investment. The gentleman with the pool viewed his investment in his pool was an overall view that took into consideration how his home impacted his business life.
WE WILL GET IT RIGHT…IT MAY TAKE TIME, but WHEN YOU ARE MY CUSTOMER, YOU ARE # 1 PERIOD, NOTHING ELSE COUNTS