On January 17, 2021 we received 7 offers on one of our listings that had been active for less than 48 hours!

As you can imagine, the seller was ecstatic. But you might be curious as to WHY we received so many offers?

The answer is because ALL OF THE ESSENTIAL components were there:

1. The property was properly prepared.

When we first viewed the property, it was still occupied and to understate the condition – it did not show well. The owners asked us if they needed to repair holes in the walls, paint and remove all of furniture and personal items from the home before they listed. We let them know that if the repairs were not made that the list price should not be more than $250,000. This was because the three most recent sales for similar sized homes which needed work sold for $225,000, $227,000 and $242,000. The sellers decided to undertake the work – which was significant.

2. Market conditions were reviewed on the listing day.

Some time had passed between our first viewing and the list date. In the meantime, the sellers removed all of the items from the home, repaired the holes in the walls, painted and cleaned. Market conditions had also changed. Although there were no new sales the listing inventory had come down and there was very little competition in the price range and area for a detached home. Because the subject property had a garage and the recent sales did not the owners decided to list the house for $265,000.00.

3. The home was well marketed.

Before activating the MLS® listing we had the property professionally photographed and measured, we determined who the target market would be and we created the listing copy to reflect the target market. We knew there would be lots of activity and boy was there! We had twelve showings in the first two days!

4. All interested parties were kept informed of the competition.

We eventually received seven – that’s right – seven offers! We kept each interested party informed of the number of offers including the REALTORS® who were requesting showings, thereby creating excitement and further demand. All those submitting offers were advised to submit their best offers because of the number of offers received.

5. The offer review, offer acceptance and counter-offer processes were conducted in line with industry protocols and the sellers’ legal rights.

We reviewed each offer with the sellers using a table to allow the sellers to easily sort the offers by superiority. The terms we reviewed were: Purchase price, deposit amount, closing day, conditions and the condition removal date. If an offer contained a financing condition, we reviewed the percentage of purchase price which would be financed as well as any other terms affecting the sellers’ position. In a perfect world there would be a clear winner with the highest price and zero conditions but that is not always the case. Three of the offers were for substantially less than list price. The sellers chose to accept the highest offer which contained one condition and made a counter-offer of price to a second buyer and to counter the offer in back-up position only. This second offer also had one condition. Because both owners were in assisted-living we emailed the two parties the intentions of the owners and informed them that signatures would be obtained the next day. In the meantime, the buyer from the second offer decided to increase their offer and remove their condition which made this offer the most attractive to the sellers. The buyer from the first offer was invited to change their offer but they did not.

What was the final outcome? A sale price of $290,000.00 and peace of mind for the sellers in knowing that the home was sold firm with no conditions.

Questions? If you would like to chat about multiple offer processes or about current market conditions, we would be happy to hear from you!

You can Contact Coldwell Banker Complete Real Estate online, call us at 403-686-1455 or book an online appointment.

Welcome to the first edition of TRANSITIONS Magazine!

Our online magazine will be published 4 times per year, with each edition featuring special interest topics we hope you will enjoy.

For our Winter 2021 publication, we have lots of articles for you!

You can click the image below to scroll though the PDF version, or click on some of the highlights we have linked below.

Featured Articles:

Decorating a Tween’s Bedroom

Find and Create Your Perfect Home Office Space

January sales signal strong start to 2021 – January 2021 Real Estate Statistics Report

Video – Meet Susanita de Diego

Watch for our Spring/Summer editions to be released in the next few months!

If you or someone you know has any real estate questions, we’d love to help!

Contact us here: https://www.cbcompleterealestate.com/contact

OR

Phone: 403-686-1455

Email: info@cbcalgary.ca

Thanks for reading!

January sales signal strong start to 2021

City of Calgary, February 2021

For those of us who are fortunate to still be working, many of us have been forced to work from home during the pandemic. Work spaces can be anything from a private, dedicated office space with doors that close, to a fold up table in a bedroom. Wifi can be strained due to the demand of many devices because of home schooling or couples working from home. We’ve all been in those Zoom meetings where screens freeze, pets and children wander in and out or embarrassing comments are made because someone has forgotten to mute. (Search for Zoom Meeting Fails on You Tube for some guaranteed laughs!)

Many companies have determined that they no longer require their employees to work from a downtown office building every day. This has created a new housing trend. Some home office workers are finding that their inner-city apartments are too small so they look for larger condominiums and those with families who no longer have to commute look for larger homes on larger lots further away from the core.

In either scenario the home office has become more important than ever. Which is why we have created a curated list of properties for sale with a variety of home office spaces in Calgary and area.

If you are looking to design your perfect home office, we found a great article on Entrepeneur.com entitled “How to Design the Ideal Home Office” by Professional designer Jo Heinz.

The article offers many tips – such as:

What are the most common mistakes people make when they’re setting up a home office?

There are five:

• Thinking you can “tune out” the plasma screen on the wall. Don’t hang it anywhere near where you’ll be working.
• Inadequate storage components
• Lack of space for reference materials
• Slow and inefficient equipment
• Inadequate wire management (cords and wire spaghetti everywhere)

Be sure to check out this article before designing your home office!

Ready to start looking at Calgary (& area) properties for sale with home offices?

CLICK TO VIEW HOME OFFICE SPACES IN CALGARY AND AREA

If you would like us to create a customized search for a property with the ideal home office space for you, including the location of the office within the home, please let us know.

We would love to help! Use the links below to book a no obligation consultation:

CLICK TO BOOK A VIDEO/PHONE CALL APPOINTMENT    CLICK TO BOOK AN IN PERSON APPOINTMENT

Amidst economic challenges, housing market ends 2020 on a high note

City of Calgary, January 2021

With December sales of 1,199, this is the highest December total since 2007.

Sales activity remains strong in November

City of Calgary, December 2020

View the full report here:November 2020 Statistics Report

Home sales rise along with supply

Home sales rise along with supply

September sales activity jumped to 1,702 units, the strongest September total since 2014.

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New listings in September improved over last month, but levels remained comparable to the previous year. The increase in sales relative to new listings did prevent any monthly gains in inventory levels, but supply in the market is still down 12 percent compared to last year.

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“The recent rise in new listings, combined with low lending rates and softness in prices, has helped support some of the recent upward trend in sales,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

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“However, conditions vary significantly based on the price range and property type.”

The adjustment in supply relative to demand has caused the housing market to move toward more balanced conditions. The current 3.7 months of supply represents the most balanced conditions seen for September in over five years. This has helped support some of the recent monthly gains in prices.

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Total residential benchmark prices have trended up over the past three months, resulting in September prices that are similar to prices recorded at the same time last year.

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Despite some of the recent improvements, the impact of COVID-19 is still present. Year-to-date sales remain nearly nine percent below last year’s levels, while city-wide prices are still over one percent lower than last year. Considerable risk also weighs on the housing market due to economic uncertainty and a struggling labor market.

View the full report here: September 2020 Report

August home sales consistent, but COVID-19 impacts continue

Total residential sales in August were relatively stable compared to last year with year-over-year gains in the detached and row sectors.

These gains offset declines in the apartment and semi-detached products. With 1,573 sales in August, this is consistent with levels over the past five years. Year-to-date sales activity remains nearly 13 percent below last year.

“Recent national reports have shown a bounce back to new record levels over the past several months. Calgary has seen improvements over the lows recorded during the lockdowns but is far from record levels,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

“The situation in Calgary has been slightly different as the job losses were not isolated to sectors that are typically associated with rental demand. We have started to see improvements in the job market compared to previous months as some jobs start to return.” However, the impact of COVID-19 on the economy is not over.

“There have been more than 100,000 jobs lost since last year and Calgary’s unemployment rate sits at 15 percent. This is well above the national average of 11 percent,” said Lurie. New listings are easing and is helping to chip away at existing inventory compared to the higher levels recorded last year. However, the pace of year-over-year decline has eased as inventory levels have trended up relative to levels recorded a few months ago.

The months of supply has also risen compared to the past few months and now sits at four months. This gain has slowed some of the monthly gains on prices. The residential benchmark price in August was $420,800 and is nearly one percent lower than last years’ levels.

View the full report here: August 2020 Newsletter