The Spring market is on it's way!! If you have been thinking about selling you home, now is the time.  Buyers are active and looking for their new homes but the flood of new listings is yet to hit.  Beat the rush and get the most attention for your property by listing your home as soon as possible.  Interest rates have remained low and the banks continue to offer great deals with 5 year fixed mortgages as low as 2.99%!!  With these great products being offered to buyers, they are wanting to find their new homes sooner rather than later.  Also, if you are looking to sell your home to purchase a larger home, you too can take advantage of these great rates.  Call today to discuss your options as the spring market begins to heat up!!

The Bank of Canada announced that they are going to be maintaining the overnight rate at it's current level.  This is due to uncertainty in the world markets and the expectation that inflation rates will decline in the near future.  So long as inflation stay low there shouldn't be a need for the lending rate to be increased any time soon.  This is great news for those looking to buy a home as we are still seeing great rates being offered by lenders.  While the variables rates are not as low as we have seen recently, the 5 year rates have remained quite low. 

Source: Bank of Canada

    We are often asked whether or not you should list your home in the winter time or whether you should wait until spring.  While the answer to this question will be affected by your personal situation, in general, the spring market is the hottest market of the year.   That being said, the spring market also offers the greatest amount of competition for your home.  During the winter months, less buyers are out looking for a home but with the internet being a tool that most buyers are using in their house hunt, buyers are always keeping an eye on the market waiting for new homes to show up.  Over the holidays the market will usually die right down and January can be quite slow.  Once February comes around and we get a couple days of nice weather, buyers start to get excited to see homes and this time can be great to be on the market.  As a seller you will have less competition and can get your home sold before the flood of new listings arrive in March and April. 

    Call today to discuss your particular situation and come up with a plan to get your home sold.

Before starting your house hunt, be sure to visit a bank or mortgage broker to learn how much you can afford to spend.  By getting pre-approved for a mortgage you are then better prepared to begin your search for a new house and you are in a better negotiating position having that pre-approval in place.  Not only should you find out how much you can borrow, but also figure out how much you are comfortable borrowing.  Many times buyers will be told how much they can borrow and they go spend every last dollar of that pre-approval amount only to find out afterwards that they have gotten in over their heads and struggle each month to make their mortgage payments.  Living within your comfort range is important and only you can determine how much you are comfortable spending each month.  By getting pre-approved you can also get a mortgage rate locked in with a lender for a specified length of time (often 90 days).  This can save you a lot of money in interest if rates happen to go up while you are searching for a house.  The nice thing for you as a buyer is that if rates go down , then you will get the lower of the rates!  Visiting with a lender or broker will also let you know what you may need to do prior to beginning your house hunt.  Such things as paying off some debt, or saving more for your downpayment are better to be figured out ahead of time as opposed to finding this out after you have found the house of your dreams.  In short, visiting with a bank or mortgage broker will help you to be a more knowledgeable, and better prepared home buyer.

Welcome to the new home for all your real estate needs!  It is a  pleasure to unveil this newly designed website to better serve the real estate needs of those in Elgin, Oxford, and Norfolk Counties.  This new site has many new features and will be a valuable resource to all those looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate.  Be sure to check out the Buyer Resource Page and the Seller Resource Page to find plenty of information to assist with your real estate goals.  Buyers, be sure to Register to automatically receive the newest, hottest listings as soon as they hit the system.  Sellers, check out the FREE online home evaluation program to help you to determine the value of your home in today's marketplace.  As with all things in life, knowledge is power and this site intends on keeping you informed on everything affecting home buyers and sellers in our local area.  If there is a topic that you would like to see discussed in this blog or a resource that you would like to see added on to one of the resource pages, please reply with your suggestions on the Contact page.  Browse around and come back often!