Jeff Gingerich - Blog - Jeff Gingerich

Recent Blog Posts by Jeff Gingerich
The Bizarro World of Real Estate A recent encounter with a private seller on behalf of a buyer client left me dazed and confused. As a big Seinfeld fan, the closest I could come to describing it was the episode where Elaine makes a new group of friends and Jerry describes them as a Bizarro world. Here is the scenario. A buyer client expressed an interest in seeing a privately listed property. ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on November 3, 2011		More
How's The Market in Westvale? How's the market? As a Realtor, I hear that question a considerable amount. The answer varies depending on your location. Currently in the Westvale area of Waterloo, there are 11 resale houses for sale from $259,000 to $499,900. To put that number into perspective, in the Huron Village area of south Kitchener, I found 11 properties for sale ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on April 19, 2011		More
Top 10 Things I Love About Living In Westvale #4 Another week is behind us and it seemed everywhere you looked, protest and political upheaval dominated the news. This serves to remind Canadians how fortunate we are to live in a democracy. It also brings to mind another thing we sometimes take for granted. Here is another of the top 10 things I love about living in Westvale: #4 A Safe Neighbourhood ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on February 23, 2011		More
The Funny Side of Real Estate Real estate is a serious business and part of our job for our clients is to alleviate stress. One way to accomplish this is through laughter. While listening and laughing to Century 21 Colonial's Kelly Lantz get "punked" by a local radio station, I was reminded of my own moment of real estate apprehension. It was a cold January day in 1996. I was the "duty" agent ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on September 11, 2010		More
When You Pay Too Little, You Sometimes Lose Everything The home pictured above is currently for sale in the wonderful Westvale neighbourhood of Waterloo(note I'm biased as I live there). While attending an open house, I spoke with the listing agent who related a curious story to me. It seems in an effort to save commission, the seller initially chose a discount real estate brokerage to market the home. During one of the ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on July 13, 2010		More
I'm Just Saying... Part 2 I had the good fortune to visit Vancouver for the Century 21 Canada Conference this fall. It certainly is a beautiful city and I can definitely see the appeal of living there. However, I struggle with the cost of housing. Here is a current example. The home above is listed for sale at $795,000. It's described as "that perfect fixer upper in an amazing ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on December 8, 2009		More
Where Do We Go From Here? Real estate sales have defied expert predictions as evidenced by Vancouver sales rocketing ahead 117% year-over-year http://tinyurl.com/lmpz9g However, markets are local in nature so let's look at the Kitchener-Waterloo market year-to-date and where the market is heading in the months to come. Year-to-date MLS sales to the end of August '09 totalled 3422 ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on September 16, 2009		More
Let's Tell It Like It Is I get irritated when I see Realtors make misrepresentations in advertising. Unfortunately, they appear all too often and the reason is a lack of accountability. Gone are the days when the broker manager had to approve your ad copy before it saw the light of day. Today, I read about a great new listing that included among the features "backs on greenbelt". For many, this ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on August 10, 2009		More
Kitchener-Waterloo Sales Continue To Surprise Residential real estate in June 2009 provided a bit of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy economy. Kitchener-Waterloo shows approx. 569 sales through the Multiple Listing Service which surpassed June 2008's total of 564. Of note, 75% of sales were under $300 000 and new construction accounted for only 6% of the totals. The average days on the market ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on July 3, 2009		More
Recession Proof Your Housing In my last post, we looked at the consequences of higher interest rates upon the renewal of your mortgage. Here are 10 tips designed to protect you from becoming overextended financially in this event. 1. Don't buy too much home. Avoid the temptation to overspend based on what you qualify for. Downsize your expectations and upgrade when you have more equity. Remember ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on July 3, 2009		More
I'm Just Saying... As Realtors, we are certainly thankful for the resurgent real estate market Canada-wide. Low interest rates have been instrumental in increasing affordability to entice first-time buyers into the market. Real estate is local so let's look at a typical scenario in Kitchener-Waterloo. A couple buy a detached home for $250 000 with 5% down and get a 4% mortgage with a 5 year ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on June 25, 2009		More
Irrational Exuberance? The Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board reports 527 residential sales in K-W for May 2009 representing a 9% increase over May 2008 sales. The average price declined year-over-year by 1.4% to $261,628. Right about now you're probably thinking "What about the Recession?" This increase in sales is being driven by low interest rates resulting in increased affordability. ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on June 9, 2009		More
It's Caveat Emptor When Buying Privately Caveat emptor comes from Latin and embodies the principle of "let the buyer beware". When I think back to the tough times in real estate in the early '90's, I remember a number of new clients forced to sell who had bought a private sale during the good times in 1989-90. An analysis of their situation often revealed a number of issues. In many cases, they had overpaid ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on June 5, 2009		More
If I Had a Million Dollars In a sign of the times, million dollar residential sales in Kitchener-Waterloo are becoming increasingly rare. Currently there are 21 homes for sale in K-W with an asking price exceeding 1 million dollars. It certainly looks like a strong buyer's market as this price bracket has produced only 1 sale through the MLS this year. In 2008, the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on May 26, 2009		More
A Tale of 2 Markets Residential sales in Kitchener-Waterloo for the first 2 weeks of May show a 15% increase over the same period in May 2008. Of note, out of 257 sales recorded by the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board, 199 were under $300 000. The supply of homes in this price range is shrinking rapidly due to high activity from first-time buyers. Average days on ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on May 21, 2009		More
Who's Minding the Fort? Home security was the topic this morning at an education seminar offered by the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board. Kitchener-Waterloo Realtors in attendance were provided with excellent information from Divisional Inspector Doug Sheppard of the Waterloo Region Police Service. He indicated most break-ins are committed by males under 25 and the 3 things they're typically ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on May 5, 2009		More
Chicken Little There's an old fable about a chicken who thinks the sky is falling because he got hit in the head with a falling acorn. The moral of this fable is to have courage and not to be a "chicken". This "disaster is imminent" message is a common theme in the media today. It appears the residents of Waterloo Region know better. In what can best be described as a stable market, ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on April 3, 2009		More
The Pride of Waterloo Waterloo's top employer Research in Motion(RIM) defied analyst's expectations today in announcing fiscal 4th quarter profits easily eclipsed last year's results. RIM now has 25 million subscribers and is growing market share in the midst of a sluggish global economy. These results are a huge positive for the local economy and for Wateroo Region real estate. For the full ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on April 2, 2009		More
Wild Horses There is an emerging trend for city folk to become town and country folk. The reasons for this trend are many and varied. For some, it comes down to price - more house and land for less money and lower property taxes. For others, they want to escape - the houses that are too close together, the noise, traffic, air pollution, litter and crime. Others see their ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on March 30, 2009		More
Earth Day "Who Am I?" I am the basis of all wealth, the heritage of the wise, the thrifty and prudent. I am the poor person's joy and comfort, the rich person's prize, the right hand of capital, the silent partner of thousands of successful people. I am solace of the widow, the comfort of old age, the cornerstone of security against misfortune and want. I am handed down through generations, as a possession of ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on March 28, 2009		More
Just Say No! In the latest budget, the Ontario Liberal government intends to harmonize the Provincial Sales Tax(PST) with the Goods and Services Tax(GST) effective July 1, 2010. Century 21 Home Realty supports the Ontario Real Estate Association in strongly opposing this tax increase. We cannot afford added costs involved in buying and selling real estate at a time when ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on March 28, 2009		More
Business As Usual An analysis of early March MLS sales activity in Kitchener-Waterloo point to a relatively healthy market. Unit sales for the first 2 weeks of March totalled 151 versus 225 for the same period in 2008 representing a 33% decrease. However, the average sale price year-over-year declined by less than 1% and the list-price to sale-price ratio was a robust 97.6%. The average days on ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on March 19, 2009		More
February 2009 Sales for Kitchener-Waterloo Preliminary sales figures for February 2009 point to mixed results. The Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board saw 290 residential sales which paled by comparison to the 405 sales in February 2008. This equates to approx. a 28% decline in unit sales making it the lowest total recorded in this decade. However, in my opinion, the glass is half full. Active listings ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on March 3, 2009		More
February Bonus Air Miles Offer Century 21 is featured on the Air Miles home page for the month of February. Collectors can earn 121 Bonus Air Miles reward miles when buying or selling a property through Century 21. Gold collectors qualify for 200 Bonus Air Miles reward miles. For details and to print a coupon, visit www.Century21.ca/Air_Miles/bonus_offers Posted by Jeff Gingerich on February 12, 2009		More
January 2009 Sales Results for Kitchener-Waterloo Preliminary figures from the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board show residential unit sales in January 2009 totalled 217. This figure represents a decline of approx. 28% from January 2008's total of 301. Active residential listings in Kitchener-Waterloo total 1240 or almost a 6 month supply. This would indicate a buyer's market. However, to put our local real estate ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on February 3, 2009		More

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