Hey everyone it’s Free Talk Friday which means I’ll be firing off a few real estate related topics that sometimes keep me up at night! Let’s get started…

The Revisit

A revisit happens once you’ve bought a property and are waiting for closing date. I always work in two revisits into an agreement for my clients. 

The first revisit is generally used by people to take measurements, get a better idea of the space to visualize what furniture they’ll be buying or often times to check up on work that was agreed to be fixed by the seller. 

Here are some things that a revisit are not meant for:

1. Bringing both sets of extended families who inevitably make snide comments on everything and act like they’re experts in real estate because they bought a home 20 years ago.
2. Bringing in a set of contractors to give you quotes.
3. Bringing in any type of inspector to go over things again.

Unfortunately, I’ve had all three of these things happen to me at some point in my career (hint: very early on). It’s a mistake you don’t make twice – trust me. 

Technically the only people allowed to be in the home for a revisit are the buyer(s) and the real estate agent. But, in reality, most agents will let you bring a parent or a friend but keep the number to no more than two people and you should be fine. 

The second revisit is normally used a couple of days before closing. Basically you’re going there just to make sure the place is in one piece! If there are issues you then have a couple of days to contact your lawyer and have them sorted out. This is a visit a lot of people skip but I have my clients do them no matter what.

And here’s why…

I’ll never forget the story of a client of mine who, with another agent, didn’t do a second revisit to the property shortly before closing. 

On closing day, the home closes and he receives the keys from his lawyer. He’s got everything on his truck and at around 5pm shows up at his new home to move in. Except there’s just one tiny problem. When he opens the door he sees that the sellers are right in the middle of their dinner!

I’m not making this up. For some unknown reason the sellers didn’t think they had to move out on closing day. So there they are right in the middle of a huge meal with the entire place still full of boxes. On top of that they had taken away light fixtures that were meant to stay and left live wires just dangling from the ceiling!

Needless to say the buyer is furious. He tells them they have to leave but the family refuses. He basically had to call the police to force them to leave as they were technically trespassing at that time.

So, yes, always do a second revisit. 

Now, that’s a bit of a horror story and doesn’t normally happen but it does happen unfortunately and you don’t want to be part of a terrible statistic.

Waiting for the market to crash 

Back in the spring of 2013 I was working with a couple who had a pretty hefty budget but they were looking in a location and wanted things in the home that even their budget couldn’t afford. They looked into buying land and building their own home but that proved to be even more costly.

So, they decided to wait until the market crashed (I finally caught up with them again last week and of course they’re still waiting…).

There are a couple of issues with this line of thinking. One, they already own a home so if the market crashes the value of their home is going to plummet and they’ll have less to put towards a purchase. And two, we live in the GTA. 

The GTA and Vancouver’s metro area are two completely different beasts. Real estate, in my opinion, is fueled by employment and there’s no stronger job market in Canada than the GTA. Couple that with a continuing long-term forecast of lower interest rates and those sitting on the sidelines are going to be waiting there for a very long time.

And there’s nothing wrong with that! Everyone has a plan, a goal and an opinion. I think the dangerous part is setting your expectations up for disappointment. If your taste in a home brings you to places worth $1.6-$1.7 million and you have $1.3 million to spend, it’s probably not realistic to hope that homes drop between 18.75%-23.5% overnight.

That’s a LARGE drop in value and as home prices continue to rise, you’re basically hoping for an even larger drop in the future (say from $1.8 million to $1.3 million). 

As a realtor I know there is an inherent bias to promote urgency but at the same time it’s now two years later and the gap is widening and I feel like it will only get wider. Eventually things will slow down but I don’t believe they’ll come back that far.

Getting your financial house in order

The dreaded phrase I hear almost daily – “the money won’t be an issue”. 

Trust me. It’s always an issue and if you find yourself saying that I guarantee it’ll be an issue for you. Please, save yourself the trouble and speak with your bank/mortgage broker and set a plan of action. The people that do that ALWAYS have an easier buying experience. That is a fact.

Holiday Season Shopping

We’ve reached that time of the year where everything just completely shuts down but you’ll still see sales creeping in and even multiple offers held right up until a few days before Christmas. 

But, for the most part the real estate industry suffers the same fate as most other industries and things tend to really slow down. And it makes sense. Real estate is heavily based on emotion and most people take this time to wind down and just relax before the overwhelming expectations of the new year roll in.

But, if you’re one of those people that doesn’t care about the holiday time then you can often find yourself a little bargain.

Now, you’re not going to get a steal, but it’s sort of like vacationing off season. Everything will generally be around the same price but it’ll be quieter and more enjoyable. You’ll be able to appreciate it a lot more and go home with a nice new home for the new year. So, if you’re still in the market don’t wait until after the new year to keep shopping.

That’s it for this edition but if you have any questions or comments please leave them below or contact me!

Happy Holidays everyone!