Barrie Home Inspector

Home Maintenance and Tips for Home Owners

Tag: buyers

New Home Inspections

Home Inspection

New home inspections for Barrie ON. New home buyers in Ontario are protected under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act. This offers protection against defects in material and workmanship, delayed closings, unauthorized substitutions and deposit protection up to a total of 300,000 dollars. Many of Tarion’s material warranties do not compare well with any premier manufactures warranties.

In Canada hardly anyone buys a home without having a Home Inspection performed by a trained professional. This is to protect the buyer from buying a home with defects or problems that he or she would probably not have found themselves. CHMC says, “One of the best ways to see if a home is in good condition, livable and safe is to hire a professional home inspector. A properly trained home inspector will review your house as a system, looking at how one component of the house might affect how another component works or how long it will last.” It is strange that an organization which receives its money from the home buyer, as the fee is added onto the cost of the home, does not recommend a Pre-Delivery Inspection by a Qualified Home Inspector. One would think that maybe they did not have the best interests of the “Home Buyer” at heart?

Tarion currently operates independently of the government and any regulatory agencies. Although all the funding for Tarion ultimately is paid for by the Home Buyer, there is no protection for the Home Buyer other than the Tarion Ombudsman, which works at Tarion and is paid by Tarion. There have been Private Members bills submitted to the Ontario Government to have Tarion held accountable to the Ontario Ombudsman but there has been no progress against the powerful home builders lobby at this time.

The situation in Ontario concerning Tarion’s lack of accountability has spawned groups like the “Canadians for Properly Built Homes” (CPBH) which is fighting on behalf of new home buyers for some accountability for The Tarion New Home Warranty Corporation. In 2008 they issued a Press Release: “Canadians for Properly Built Homes (CPBH) is very pleased with the Ombudsman Ontario’s report “Building Clarity”: Investigation into how the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services represents its relationship with the Tarion Warranty Corporation to the public:, and supports its recommendations. With Ombudsman’s findings, the Government of Ontario and Tarion can no longer continue to deny the very serious issues with Ontario’s new home warranty system. It is clear that the current system of home warranty in Ontario has not adequately protected may Ontario purchasers of newly built homes. This have been devastating for many Ontario families.”

When buying a new home you are also incurring the cost of the building permit which is issued by your local building department prior to construction starting on your new home. As part of the building permit your home has specified inspections that are required for each stage of building. Many times deficiencies are either overlooked or the inspection is not made which allows the builder to provide a substandard product without proper supervision. Some of the items typically found by home inspectors on new home construction include: missing attic insulation, loose heat registers, drains to weeping tile left open, improper slope on furnace and hot water tank vents, damaged floor trusses, improperly nailed joist hangers, wrong nails used in joist hangers and improperly installed shingles.

Your Home Inspector and lawyer are the only persons involved in your new home purchase that work entirely for you. Everyone else that is ultimately being paid by you has a vested interest that is not with the buyers. When you attend your pre delivery inspection the home is still in possession of the builder, and is often not even finished, and this is the best opportunity for you to have deficiencies addressed and corrected. Do not listen to builders who ask that you put items on your 30 day inspection. This will only lead to disputes about who caused damage etc and can lead to endless paperwork and issues with the builder and Tarion. If you fail to produce on piece of documentation or fail to also send that documentation to both Tarion or the Builder, Tarion will disallow your claim, Bingo, you lose. Investing $300.00 for a Professional Home Inspector to accompany you on your Pre Delivery Inspection will be the best investment you make in your new home purchase.

Learn about What is a Home Inspection, then visit The Barrie Home Inspector’s site on Home Inspection Articles for all your projects.

Buying Older Home – Typical Problems

Basements, Exterior

Buying Older Home – Typical Problems.  When buying an older home you are usually buying a home with built in character which has withstood the test of time and is still in habitable condition.  There are some inherent problems that you might encounter when purchasing an older home.  I have listed a few basic ones just for consideration.

Your older homes foundation is probably constructed of cement and stone.  There would have been no waterproofing done to the exterior of the foundation and there will be no weeping tile draining into sump.  This inspection area is one of the most important and expensive to repair if faulty.

Knob and tube wiring was usually installed in all older homes and there is usually still porcelain insulators present even if it was all removed.  You have to have a home inspector or electrician check to ensure all the knob and tube wiring was replaced.  The knob and tube was usually replaced with older two wire which has no ground and unless a total rehab was done on building you will still find two wire at outlets on upper floors and other hard to access areas.

Asbestos and vermiculite can be found in many older homes.  Some older homes had hot water boilers with cast iron radiators.  This systems were typically insulated with asbestos insulation.  Vermiculite insulation may contain asbestos and was frequently added to attics in older homes.  Asbestos requires professional removal which is very expensive.

Lead plumbing pipes and galvanized plumbing lines can be very expensive to replace and were used on most older homes.  Most insurance companies in Ontario will not insure a home with galvanized plumbing pipes.  Galvanized pipes tend to corrode from the inside out so that there is no warning that a pipe is about to burst.

Older homes may have many layers of lead paint which has built up over the years.  Lead-based paint is a major source of lead poisoning for children and can also affect adults. In children, lead poisoning can cause irreversible brain damage and can impair mental functioning. It can retard mental and physical development and reduce attention span. It can also retard fetal development even at extremely low levels of lead.  Thus, young children, fetuses, infants, and adults with high blood pressure are the most vulnerable to the effects of lead.

Your house is old and gorgeous, as are those wonderfully ornate cast-iron radiators, but these days, energy prices are anything but old-fashioned. Older homes have radiators sized for a time when open-window ventilation was popular and insulation was uncommon. If you’ve insulated and updated your windows, your radiators are most likely larger than they need to be.  You should have your home assessed by a heating expert to evaluate the expense and available options if required to upgrade your heating system.

The Barrie Home Inspector has many years of experience in inspecting Century Homes and is also a Certified Building Code Official with the Ontario Building Officials Association.  Commercial Building inspections also entail the same problems as residential and buyers have to be aware of the risks and hazards involved in purchasing older properties.  Visit the Barrie Home Inspector’s site at www.barriehomeinspector.com to obtain more information and advice when dealing with older homes.

Have a Realistic Selling Price !

Real Estate

Have a Realistic Selling Price !   PRICING YOUR HOME RIGHT is one of the most important parts of listing your home. The biggest mistake that a seller can make when they place their home for sale on the Real Estate market is that they don’t price it right. This common mistake is often made because the seller listens to a friend or relative who professes to be an expert at selling homes instead of listening to their local professional Real Estate Agent who they should be hiring.

Your local Angus Real Estate Agent has the local knowledge and experience in the Angus market and has up to date statistics regarding prices for comparable listing and previously sold real estate. The friend or relative does not have access to the same information and is usually basing their price on perceived value that may be based on his imagined value of his own home. Not a very realistic method of ensuring your getting “fair value” for your real estate investment property.

It is always interesting to hear the argument that “with your home on a lot that size in the King City area, where I live, it would sell for ,000 more than the Real Estate Agent suggests.” Real Estate sales are based on location, style, condition and price. The location cannot be changed to the King City area, unless you own a mobile. The style of home is unchangeable unless you want to add an addition or a garage. The condition is a variable that can be changed somewhat inexpensively, with some paint, cleaning solutions and a bit of elbow grease, and possibly having a Home Stager come in for a consultation.

Your Real Estate agent can tell you accurately how you home compares to other homes in the area and what is strong and weak points are. The price of your home is the easiest option to change. The Real Estate Agent that you hire will assist you with making an informed decision as to what would be a fair market value for your home, in consideration of the current real estate market conditions. Make sure that you ask to see all of the sales that have taken place in the previous year, in the immediate neighbourhood that your home is located in. The price you place on the home should be within 3% of the expected sale price. If it is priced higher than this there will be few showings and probably no offers. If your home is on the MLS real estate listing system, it will get a lot of internet viewings by potential home buyers as well as Real Extate Agents that are dealing with these potential home buyers. If your real estate propert has more than 10 showings and no offers, your home is probably priced too high for the location, style and condition of the home. Now is the time to talk to your real estate agent about a possible price reduction. A price reduction should be in increments of ,000. If your home was originally priced at 9,900 a reduction to 3,900 is not going to create interest. Make your reduction stand out and make it 9,900, this will generate some immediate interest from bargain hunters. You may have missed the correct selling price when you first priced the home.

If your real estate property is on the market for 30 days and there are no showings, it is probably not the sales person’s fault, but is a good indication that the home is overpriced! Review your price with your local Angus Real Estate Agent and look at getting it down quickly to a more acceptable price which is inline with the value for the area. No home showings do not indicate that people don’t like your home, they most likely don’t like the asking price. If there are homes selling in your area, you need to know at what price, and what their price is based on so you can compete with them. Again you need to consult with your local Angus Real Estate Agent, he is worth his weight in gold when it comes to understanding the local market.

Getting the price right on your real estate at the very beginning the best bet for a smooth sale of your home. If the home goes on the market and you get several showings right away, and possibly an offer almost immediately, your sales representative has done a good job of pricing your home and marketing it to potential buyers that are looking for this area, style, condition and especially price. Do not think that the home is underpriced, as there are usually some buyers that are waiting for well priced homes to become available. These buyers are well educated in value for the area that they want, and they will not look at overpriced listings. There are many instances where a home is priced slightly under the market value for the area, and the interest that is generated by the price brings in several potential buyers and a bidding war is started. This is good for a seller as they may end up with a slightly elevated sale price if there are 2 or more buyers competing for the purchase.

In conclusion, don’t miss the price. A slightly overpriced home will be a lot harder to sell and most buyers are very educated as to market value for the area that the home is in. Price it right and you will be ready to move a lot quicker than those who don’t get the right price. Your buying power will be increased with the next home you are looking for, as you will not need to be conditional upon selling the one you just sold!

Beware of your real estate property becoming “stale”, after a while local real estate agents and active buyers stop looking at a house that has been on the market too long! People start thinking that the house has problems that is why it is not selling. Let your local professional Real Estate Agent put your real estate property for sale at the right price and save yourself needless worry and possible loss of value.

 

CREA Boosts Annual Resale Housing Forecast

Real Estate

CREA Boosts Annual Resale Housing Forecast.   OTTAWA – February 8, 2011 – The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has revised its 2011 forecast for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations, and extended it to 2012.

Sales in the second half of 2010 rebounded faster than CREA had previously expected. “The hand-off going into 2011, together with the highs and lows for sales activity posted in 2010, provided guidance for CREA’s revised forecast,” said Gregory Klump, CREA Chief Economist.

“Home buyers recognize that low mortgage interest rates represent a once in a lifetime opportunity. At the same time, they expect that rates will rise, so they’re doing their homework in order to understand what it could mean in terms of higher mortgage payments down the road before they make an offer,” said Georges Pahud, CREA President. “The housing market and buyer psychology is different now than it was at the beginning of last year, so buyers and sellers would do well to consult their REALTOR® to understand local market trends.”

The upward revision to CREA’s forecast for 2011 reflects recent improvements in the consensus economic outlook and a further expected improvement in consumer confidence. National sales activity is now expected to reach 439,900 units in 2011, representing an annual decline of 1.6 per cent. In 2012, CREA forecasts that national sales activity will rebound by three per cent to 453,300 units, which is roughly on par with the ten year average.

“Recent additional changes to mortgage regulations will further ensure that buyers don’t buy more home than they can afford when interest rates inevitably rise,” said Klump. “The announcement of the new changes to mortgage regulations will likely bring forward some sales into the first quarter that would have otherwise occurred later in the year, particularly in some of Canada’s more expensive housing markets. This is expected to produce a milder version of the volatility in sales activity that we saw last year which resulted from additional transitory factors.”

Three transitory factors contributed to volatility in sales activity last year: changes in mortgage regulations announced last February, the early withdrawal by the Bank of Canada of its conditional commitment to keep interest rates on hold until the second half of 2010, and the introduction of the HST in BC and Ontario during the summer of 2010.

CREA expects that home sales activity will gain traction after dipping in the second quarter as the economic recovery and job growth continue, incomes grow, and consumer confidence further improves. “Even though mortgage interest rates are expected to rise later this year, they will still be within short reach of current levels and remain supportive for housing market activity. Strengthening economic fundamentals will keep the housing market in balance, which will keep home prices stable,” said Klump.

The national average home price is forecast to rise 1.3 per cent in 2011 and 2012, to 3,300 and 7,900 respectively. Average price is expected to rise modestly in most provinces, reflecting the continuation of a healthy balance between supply of, and demand for, homes listed for sale. Although the supply of new listings is expected to trend higher, the expected continuation of sellers’ market conditions in Manitoba is forecast to result in a bigger percentage increase in average price in 2011 and 2012 compared to other provinces.

 

For more information, please contact:

Pierre Leduc, Media relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
613-237-7111 or 613 884-1460
Email: [email protected]

* Provincial weighted average price for Quebec; does not affect unweighted national average price calculations. Information on Quebec’s weighted average price calculation can be found at:
http://www.fciq.ca/immobilier-economiste.php

About The Canadian Real Estate Association

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 100,000 real estate Brokers/agents and salespeople working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.

Canadian home sales pick up in June

Real Estate

Canadian home sales pick up in June.  OTTAWA – July 15, 2011 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), home sales activity over MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards climbed in June 2011 compared to May.

Highlights:

  • Sales activity climbed from May to June, with a big year-over-year gain reflecting falling demand in June 2010.
  • Year-to-date sales remain in line with the ten-year average.
  • The number of newly listed homes also rose from May to June.
  • National housing market remains firmly entrenched in balanced territory.
  • National average price still being skewed upward by the value of sales in expensive Vancouver neighbourhoods, with price gains in other markets providing additional loft.

Seasonally adjusted national home sales activity rose 2.6 per cent in June 2011 compared to the previous month. Two-thirds of local markets posted month-over-month gains in June.

Activity remained stable in Toronto while declining slightly in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Major markets that saw gains compared to May included Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, London, Hamilton, and Victoria.

“Canadian housing demand remains resilient, thanks to low interest rates, job growth, and home buyer confidence in the economy,” said Gary Morse, CREA’s President. “That said, local housing market trends often differ from national trends, so buyers and sellers should consult their local REALTOR® to understand how the housing market is shaping up where they live.”

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 10.8 per cent above June 2010 levels, but this largely reflects falling sales activity last June. This was also the case for the year-over-year increase in activity in May. Year-over-year comparisons in July may also be stretched by falling activity one year ago, since July 2010 marked the low point for activity last year.

“The Canadian housing sector remains on a solid footing,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “The rise in monthly home sales activity at the end of the second quarter, upbeat business sentiment and hiring intentions, and signs that the Bank of Canada is in no rush to raise interest rates bode well for home sales activity and prices going into the second half of 2011.”

National sales activity was down 4.7 per cent in the second quarter compared to levels in the first quarter. This in part reflects how new mortgage rules announced in January and implemented at the end of March pulled sales forward into the first quarter at the expense of sales activity in April and May. Mortgage interest rates also rose in April and May, which may have moved some home buyers to the sidelines.

A total of 245,170 homes have traded hands via Canadian MLS® Systems in the first half of 2011. Year-to-date sales activity is running in line with the ten-year average, with monthly sales activity having come close to the ten-year average from January to June this year (Chart A). This highlights the relative stability of demand this year compared to the past three years, when activity swung significantly above and below average monthly levels.

The number of newly listed homes also rose nationally by 1.8 per cent from May to June. Gains in Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa contributed most to the national increase. The rise in new listings will be especially welcome news for home buyers in Toronto, where listings have been in short supply relative to demand this year.

The national housing market remains firmly planted in balanced territory. The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 52.6 per cent in June, little changed from 52.2 per cent in May.

About 60 per cent of local housing markets in Canada were balanced in June. Almost half of the remainder can be classified as sellers’ markets, based on a sales-to-new listings ratio above 60 per cent.

The seasonally adjusted number of months of inventory stood at six months at the end of June on a national basis, holding steady compared to May. The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and is another measure of the balance between housing supply and demand.

The national average price for homes sold in June 2011 was $372,700, up 8.7 per cent from the same month last year. The national average price is becoming less affected by the overall number of sales in some expensive Vancouver neighbourhoods, but is still being pitched higher by the value of those sales. Activity in these neighbourhoods has eased from levels reported in February and March, while sales elsewhere across Canada have risen in line with normal seasonal trends. As a result, property sales above $1 million in Vancouver West, West Vancouver, and Richmond now account for a smaller but still elevated share of national activity.

While the effect of Vancouver activity on the national average price has begun to wane, broadly based price gains in other housing markets are holding the national average price aloft. Close to 80 per cent of local markets posted year-over-year average price gains in June. This includes Toronto, where price gains reflect a tight balance between supply and demand.

PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national MLS® sales information from the previous month.

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighborhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

MLS® is a co-operative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 100,000 REALTORS® working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.

Further information can be found at :
http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/media.htm.

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For more information, please contact:
Linda Kristal, Director of Communications
The Canadian Real Estate Association|
Tel.: 613-237-7111 or 613-447-4532
E-mail: [email protected]

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