Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Tips for Spring Home Buyers


Today's Globe and Mail has an article on home buying. It cautions people to check to see if the renovations on the home you are hoping to buy are well done. The best way to gauge this is to put a home inspection into the offer to purchase. For $400 you can find out how much life is left in the furnace the roof shingles and how airtight the windows and doors are. It's never a waste of money. If something is halfway through it's lifespan you can plan to replace it in 5 years if you know that's how long it should last. Planning takes much of the risk out of a home purchase.
If you need more information on home buying, I have some videos and brochures from CMHC on renovating, buying and budgeting for a home. Contact me at my website and I'll send the info to you. Happy Spring house hunting. /
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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Beating the Wave


We've all seen those movies where surfers frantically paddle their boards towards the shore in front of a desirable wave. Why? In order to take advantage of the full power of the wave they need to be ahead of it. The same is true about buying real estate. You want to be ahead of the wave. The problem is anticipating when the wave will arrive. CDC Consulting Inc. just put out an Economic Outlook forecast that includes a formula for anticipating the wave.

The Economic Formula to predict the future is as follows:
GDP growth >> Job growth >> Population growth >> Increased rental
demand (12 months later) >> Increased rents >> Property purchase demand
(18 months later) >> and eventually leads to property price increases.
Where is Alberta on this progression? Alberta Economy is set for solid growth in 2011: RBC
Reports 4.3% hike in GDP forecast for this year, TD projects 4.2% hike in GDP forecasts for this
year. The Conference Board of Canada states Alberta will lead the country in growth in 2011.
After being particularly impacted by the recession and late to the recovery, the Alberta economy
is once again hitting its stride. Owing to robust crude oil prices, an increase in drilling activity,
and a healthy inflow of inter-provincial and international migrants, Alberta is slated to be among
the provincial economic growth leaders in 2011 and 2012. As well, Calgary and Edmonton are
forecasted to lead the country in GDP growth for major cities for the next 3 years. Good growth
is 3%; however they are predicting a whopping 4.3% growth for Alberta. Alberta is leading the
country in employment gains, as 14,000 jobs were created in February.
But even more important is the projected number of construction jobs being created over the
next 8 years are expected to surpass 2007/2008 levels
This sounds like great news. I know that I have been getting more calls and email inquiries from first time home buyers who feel it is time to make the leap and buy a home. If you are interested in buying a home most realtors will not deal with you unless you have a preapproval from a lender or mortgage broker. If you have any questions or want to apply for a preapproval contact me .
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