Listing a Home in Jan/Feb?

[PIX]

I read about the news on Monday regarding the Federal Government imposing tighter mortgage rules to address concerns over high Canadian household debt. In light of this announcement I am considering accelerating my time-line for my home listing.

Any thoughts regarding listing my freehold town-house in the January/February period? Aside from the obvious issues of muddy traffic and snow coating the beautiful sod around my home are there any thoughts regarding listing 6 weeks prior to the busy RE season

 

[LordWanker]

If your property is in a desirable location, there really isn't a "bad-time" for a listing. Question is, do you have a new place to stay already?

 

[interested]

I would put in on the market now. Serious buyers will be out.
LordWanker's point is a good one. I know someone who sold 4 weeks ago and now has to get out and can't find anything. So I would have my alternate location/new home ready to go and leave yourself 48 hours to firm up your deal if possible.

 

[Willy Wong]

PIX,

The real estate market is still very healthy despite sales and listing being down. It is still a seller's market in my opinion, especially if the home shows well and is located in a desirable area as "LordWanker" indicated.

There is no harm in listing the home now as serious buyers as eluded to by " interested" will be out there and will buy if your townhouse is priced right.

Where will you be moving too? Have you had your townhome evaluated?

Go to www.howsthemarketinyourneighbourhood.ca to see what the housing market is like in your neighbourhood.

btw, are you working with a realtor?

PM me if I can be of further help to you.

 

[restate]

Hi Pix, listing now is fine, the closing date can be negotiated for a later reasonable date for you to find another property if needed, contact for more info how you can be assisted. Tony 416-887-9168

 

[PIX]

Thanks all very good points people. I will push to list within a week's time. My neighbor's home sold in less than two weeks just before the snowfall. I'm in a new development in the St. Clair/Warden area. My nestled area appears to have higher resale value than the surrounding area perhaps because it's proximity to the Warden subway?

I had hoped to time the transition to a resale, downtown condo but it unlikely that I will find something that suites my needs. Lord Wanker it just so happens that I do have a place to stay upon closing. Perhaps I can wait-out the RE market for better sq-ft value and save my pennies so I can get that top floor I wanted? Thanks for the offer Willy, Tony but I already have a RE salesman. Just have to buy a bigger mat for the foyer when potential buyers shake off their snow-covered footwear

 

[Willy Wong]

PIX,

No problem, good luck with your listing. Every home is unique and pricing it right so that you net what you want is important.

Make sure your RE salesman does a good comparative market analysis of homes in your area to give you the lay of the land and the required information to make an informed decision. Resale value varies with each home/market.

I am very familiar with the St. Clair/Warden area, are you in the Mattamy development or across at Warden Woods?

 

[PIX]

Two towns just sold within 20 yards of my home over the last week or two for $450k/465K. I guess I will be the only listing in my neighborhood when I setup the deal with my RE agent. Apparently this just re-enforces the idea that this is a good time to list

Danny

 

[Willy Wong]

PIX,

Like I said the market is healthy despite the numbers, there are areas where it is down and other areas that are just "nuts".

Good luck with your listing and quick sale and if you need help or an second opinion, by all means ask.

 

[PIX]

As I mentioned previous ideally I would like to transition from my current town-house to a top floor condo (mid-rise or podium OK) in proximity to Cityplace. I have been checking the MLS and it doesn't look like any units fitting such a description are available even when searching to maximum of $2 million -just for curiosity's sake

It appears I may likely have to go pre-con if I want dibs on a top floor unit. Can someone suggest some new developments going forward (1-2 years closing) in the downtown area? My budget is up to 450K. I know top floor units like Studio Condos on Richmond have upper floors going for $700 a sq-ft. which is way too rich for my blood. Any advanced pricing on Back Stage Condos on the Esplanade?

 

[AKS]

pre-con is not worth it. It's gone beyond affordable. You might be better off with Parade Podium or midrise (buying assignment). Those who bought in 2007 got it for cheap. So you might be able to get it cheaper than a pre-con especially with so many units going on sale later this year. You can check out city place parade condo to see how many units the podium has for the top floor. There's also parade 2 which has a large podium as well. Midrise price is more expensive than podium by a bit I think.

Backstage VIP passed already. Starting prices were around $600 psf.

 

[interested]

One silly question.
Where are you going to live assuming you sell in the next few weeks.
Are you planning on renting or living with family because with precon, unless you are buying an assignment, you are years behind.
Of course you could buy resale but with such a specific request, you are limiting your options (top floor). I assume you don't want anyone walking above you.
Make sure no amenities above you and if an older unit, make sure that the roof is well insulated. Sometimes people hear roof mechanicals from the top floor condo.
Good luck Pix. I hope your hunt is successful.

 

[PIX]

AKS Perhaps an assignment might present itself at Parade1/2 in Spring? I plan to be patient and wait for either lower pricing on pre-con or a resale that meets my needs. In the meantime I can stay with family. Thanks Interested you are correct that I don't want to take a chance that I might end up with noisy tenants above me so I am making the top floor a major factor in my home search. I'm not looking to live in an older building. A friend of mine bought a 20 year old penthouse in South EtobicoKe the same time I moved into my town -6 months ago. He is still renovating and his original budget estimate has gone up.

 

[interested]

Renovating budgets always go up.
If you can go with family, that makes perfect sense.

I am in the camp that believes we will have a correction but I am not convinced any more that it will happen in the near term (next 6 months). I think it may well be in the late 2011 but more likely 2012. While there is a slow downward correction (if you look at baby have we got a bubble thread Simuls has done a nice analysis showing it may be 11% from the very peak in May 2010) I think we may continue a downward drift but I think we will not see a sudden dramatic drop. If that is to occur, I believe it is now probably close to a year or more in the offing.

 

[AKS]

I think people will be selling assignments middle of the year. Parade 1 has interim closing between April and June I think for the podium, mid rise and tower. The podium will be the cheapest you can probably get if you want the top floor. Mid rise top floor will cost much more and way more for tower. Parade 2 I suspect might be 2013 occupancy. They're only up around the 8th floor of the podium. Parade 1 was sold cheaper than Parade 2 so you get an idea what to expect.

If you want top floor for pre-con, expect to dish out a lot of cash. Prices downtown are crazy.

Some other options maybe Freed. They are low rise, so it won't cost as much as a penthouse in a tall building. I don't know when the freed condos will complete. I know there are several buildings under construction on King West (between Bathurst and Spadina) but I haven't been there for awhile. I also notice a Tridel building north of Parade. I think it's sold out but there may be assignments. I think they should be finishing late this year or early next. I can't see the building anymore cuz my view of it is blocked so I can't really estimate it's status.

I think Eastbay Front might be coming up this year. They also have low rise but it's on the east end and it probably will cost an arm and a leg for top floor of lowrise. From the rate the precon prices are going. They might be well going for over $600-700 psf

One thing to be careful of though if you're on a top floor. Don't buy anything with a swimming pool above you. You might have water leak into your unit if the pool leaks like flux is having the problem. There's the possibility of the roof leaking but I think that's an issue in old buildings probably. My previous work place had a water leak from the roof but the building was old.