Jeff Gingerich - Blog - Jeff Gingerich

Recent Blog Posts by Jeff Gingerich
I get Air Miles when I sell my home in Kitchener Waterloo? Many of my clients are pleasantly surprised when I tell them they'll receive Air Miles travel miles when they sell their Kitchener Waterloo home. In fact, if they are buying real estate in Kitchener Waterloo, they also receive Air Miles. Choose your Realtor carefully as unfortunately, the offer only applies to Century 21 clients and not to those buying a Century 21 home ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on May 19, 2012		More
When Is The Best Time To Sell My Kitchener Waterloo Home? First-time sellers of Kitchener Waterloo real estate often struggle with this question. Twenty-two years of selling real estate has taught me there is an ideal time to sell every home. Choosing the wrong time of the year to sell can cost a seller thousands of dollars in hard earned equity. Other times, it can result in an expired listing or a ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on April 6, 2011		More
The Mystery of the Disappearing Toilet When I was a kid, I used to read a series of mystery books involving the Hardy Boys. Each book would see the brothers tackle and solve a mystery. Real estate doesn't have many but recently, when a client took possession of their resale home, a mystery ensued. Remember the excitement of buying your first home? As a Realtor, the experience ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on January 21, 2011		More
When Selling Your House, Should You Get 3 Opinions? At the risk of sounding self-serving, the answer is no. While conventional wisdom suggests you have 3 agents in to price your home, there is a potential pitfall to this approach. It's human nature to want to get as much as possible when selling your home. Unfortunately, the simple act of having 3 Realtors in to price your home will often result in an inflated asking price. ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on January 4, 2011		More
Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Update November 2010 While November has a reputation for dismal weather, real estate sales in the Twin Cities this past month were bright and sunny. Residential MLS sales for Kitchener-Waterloo totalled 365 in November versus 413 for November 2009. For those keeping track, this represents a 12 per cent decline. However, it's interesting to note that in November, ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on December 2, 2010		More
Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Update October 2010 Regular readers of this blog will know by now that this monthly update is designed to answer the frequently asked question "How's the market?". The residential real estate market in Kitchener Waterloo continues to be a sellers market. Active residential listings on the K-W MLS at the end of October stood at 1251. Of this total, 403 were new homes and 848 were resale properties. ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on November 2, 2010		More
Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Alive and Well There are days in real estate and in life where you come across things that just don't sit well. I usually try and think things through but sometimes I still end up like the photo above...puzzled. I found this gem while searching MLS for suitable properties for a buyer client. I was equally puzzled by an article in today's National Post entitled "Variable ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on July 28, 2010		More
A Merry Month of May For Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Residential real estate sales in Kitchener and Waterloo continued a strong run in May with 480 sales reported through MLS. Sellers remained in control of the market with an average list to sale price ratio of 98% and a brisk average of 34 days on the market. Resale homes accounted for 94% of these sales. So how does this compare to May 2009? Unit sales actually declined ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on June 3, 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
What a Difference a Year Makes Today's post deals with the challenges of buying a home in a seller's market. First, let's look at a bit of recent history. In November of 2008, fear and uncertainty were in the air. Overextended sellers were anxious to unload their properties at a discount. Buyers, following years of a seller's market, were finally in control. Unfortunately for buyers, ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on November 28, 2009		More
Kitchener-Waterloo Power of Sale Report November 2009 The local improvement in economic conditions appears to have led to fewer Power of Sale properties in October. Active listings under Power of Sale as of November 15th totalled 11 versus 12 in mid-October. Of these, 10 are in Kitchener and 1 in Waterloo. Properties bought under Power of Sale in October declined to 10 versus 17 in September. Of note, there ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on November 17, 2009		More
Kitchener-Waterloo Market Update September 2009 The Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board reports 375 sales in K-W for September 2009 which represents a 15% decline over the 441 sales reported in September 2008. Of note, the end of $0 down and 40 year amortization program was rapidly approaching in September 2008 and sales were artificially high as a result. The median price for September 2009 sales in K-W was a September record ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on October 4, 2009		More
But It's New, What Can Possibly Be Wrong With It? I get asked this question often by buyers and sellers of new or newer homes. Why should I spend $400 for a home inspection? Isn't it covered by the Ontario Tarion warranty program? My answer is always the same...spend the money. It will give you peace of mind and may save you grief at resale time. I recommend taking a home inspector along for your pre-delivery ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on August 26, 2009		More
Kitchener-Waterloo Power of Sale Report August, 2009 Beginning today, I'll report mid-month on the MLS power of sale activity in Kitchener-Waterloo. We can use this information as one indicator of the health of the local market. As of August 15, 2009, there are 19 active MLS listings under power of sale in the Twin Cities. Of note, 18 are in Kitchener and 1 in Waterloo. July saw 488 residential ... Posted by Jeff Gingerich on August 16, 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
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
You Only Get One Chance to Make a Good First Impression Saturday was a beautiful spring day. I was showing homes in an upscale Waterloo neighbourhood. Upon opening one front door, we were greeted with the following: I've since discovered the house has been for sale since March 2008. Coincidence...I think not! Posted by Jeff Gingerich on April 27, 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

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