It’s been a little while since I blogged about anything. We have had a busy past couple of weeks. I know, “Excuses, Excuses!!”.. Things are going well with the Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate market. We had a slow summer but the market has turned around over the past month. Sales are up again. We are also up over last year despite the slow summer.
Kitchener downtown is undergoing a major transformation with a bunch of new condominium projects. Waterloo also has serveral other condo developlments in the works. It is an exciting time for our area. Andrin homes is in the process of building their sales centre downtown. I think I read that the sales centre will open at the beginning of 2011.
Mel and I are looking forward to the 4th quarter. We believe the Kitchener Waterloo market will close strong for 2010.
This weekend the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest festival begins. The festival lasts for about a week and apparently is the closest to a German Oktoberfest festival you are going to find. There is a little of something for everyone. Food, drinking, games, parades and much more. This festival is the largest Barvarian Festival in North America. A couple of my favourite things about this festival are the beer nuts and Oktoberfest sausage! For more information, see http://www.oktoberfest.ca/
Tonight we are hosting a client appreciation party to give thank to all our clients who have worked with us in the past, present and future. If you read this blog, we have a few extra tickets available. If you would like to see a performance of “Separate Beds” in St Jacobs, please contact me and I will make sure that I get tickets to you.
Thanksgiving is also this coming long weekend. We hope everyone has a good weekend and eats lots of Turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving & Ein Prosit!
Thanks for reading!
Warren & Melanie McNeil | Sales Representatives, Team McNeil RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Brokerage ( 519.579.4110 | 519-498-8118
[OPEN HOUSE] Saturday Sept 25 between 1-3pm – 165 Duke St E, Unit 118, Kitchener
Luxury LeMarche condo in downtown Kitchener. Nearly new, main floor unit with rarely found private patio. Features include: 1 bedroom + den, open concept layout, hardwood floors, upgraded cabinets, built-in dishwasher and microvent, in-suite laundry, all appliances included, underground parking, upscale complex with courtyard. Within walking distance to Kitchener\’s Farmers Market, restaurants, shops and nightlife. Call Team McNeil at 519-579-4110 to view today! – View Listing
Thanks for reading!
Warren & Melanie McNeil | Sales Representatives, Team McNeil RE/MAX Twin City Realty, Brokerage ( 519.579.4110 | 519-498-8118
For the past little while I have really been wanting to write something about the team advantage and what it means to be part of a team. Over the past few days our team has been down in Niagara Falls to receive some team-based real estate training. We were very fortunate to go with our entire team. We felt this was benefical to us because we were able to take better advantage of all of the different breakout sessions and take in more information then we probably could of if we went by ourselves.
During the main keynote, the main speaker showed a video on team work. Please take a second to watch this amazing and hilarious video.
This video really hit home for us. Besides being very entertaining, it really demonstrates the power of a team. The first guy who started singing by himself didn’t make much of a song but as each singer came in, the song started to take more shape.. This is how we view our real estate team and the way it benefits our clients. We know that we can’t be everything to everyone but our team can be. The team advantage allows for us to share ideas as well as keep each other accountable. This in turn provides for a stronger environment for us to work in as well as enables us to better serve our clients. This is why we chose to work as a team.
Another experience we had was when Michael “Pinball” Clemens came on stage. What a powerful and engaging speaker. Pinball was a very successful CFL football player and coach for the Toronto Argonauts. He talked about his family, his experience as a player and coach. He was very modest and didn’t brag about his past successes. As a matter of fact, the reason he stopped coaching football was because he wanted to put his family first. I think the best thing I got from his talk was that when we work as a team, anything we do, effects what our team mates do.. For example, if I am not pulling my weight, then it is not only effecting me, but my other team mates as well. When we build up our other team mates, then we build ourselves up. I really liked the way he interacted with the audience on this point and I can see how he would have been an amazing football coach.
This quote from Pinball says it all:
If a team is one and you and I are on the same team, it means that I am you and you are me.
Check out this video and the above quote can be found at about 2:40 of the video.
If you ever get the chance to hear Pinball speak I think you will find that his message is powerful and motivating. He will definitely help you understand the power of having a strong team. A team that has team mates helping each other succeed. A team that is working for the same goals and not working independently.
A team should be a single cohesive unit that incorportates the efforts of every member to create a positive outcome and not working independently of each other.
Thanks for reading!
We are a full-time real estate team in Waterloo Region, Woolwich & Wellesley Townships. We enjoy assisting buyers and sellers with the purchase or sale of real estate in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Elmira, Wellesley, Wilmot, Drayton and everywhere in between. If you would like us to help you with your home search, please check out our brand-newfree search website or if you are thinking of selling, get a free market evaluation.
This is a question that gets asked almost every day. However the answer is a lot more complicated then just saying “it’s good” or “it’s bad”. Each area of the Kitchener-Waterloo real estate market is different. For example, according to the KW real Estate Board, condos in Kitchener-Waterloo had an increase in 2009 of 2.2% over 2008. Freehold condos increased by 2.2% and single detached homes increase was 0.3%.
In order to get a really accurate evaluation of the market, we need to isolate the area that you are most interested in. For example, lets look at freehold condominiums in Waterloo West less then 10 years old. The next thing we do is pull up all the freehold townhouses that sold within the last year. Feb 1, 2009 – Feb 1, 2010. I get the following information.
Freehold Condominiums in Waterloo West less then 10 years old (Feb 1, 2009 – Feb 1, 2010)
units sold 83
average sale price: 249,500
average list to sale price ratio: 98%
average days on market: 38
Now lets do the same comparison for Feb 1, 2008- Feb 1, 2009
Freehold Condominiums in Waterloo West less then 10 years old (Feb 1, 2008 – Feb 1, 2009)
units sold: 59
average sale price: $250.439
average list to sale price ratio: 99%
average days on market: 62
As you can see there is quite a bit of difference. Last year, there were 30 more freehold condos sold then in the same period in 2008. The average sale price was pretty much the same. In 2008 the list to sale price was higher then 2009. The average days on market was alot better in 2009 then in 2008.
What’s my point here? Well it’s simple, each area of the market require seperate analysis to get truly accurate data. From now on, my response when somebody asks the question, “How’s the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Market?” will be, it all depends on what information you are looking for. For Kitchener-Waterloo as a whole, I would say great!
Anyways, thanks for reading!
We are a full-time real estate team in Kitchener Waterloo area. We enjoy assisting buyers and sellers with the purchase or sale of real estate in the Kitchener-Waterloo or Cambridge areas. If you would like us to help you with your home search, please check out our brand-newfree search website or if you are thinking of selling, get a free market evaluation.
I put together another video that will be helpful for people who are thinking about selling their house. I give you 5 good reasons why you should hire a realtor to sell your house. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below. I hope you enjoy it!
Hello again, I’m Warren McNeil. Real Estate Agent with Re/Max Twin City Realty in Kitchener
Today I am going to talk about the “Top 5 Reasons to Sell Your House with a Realtor”. I know there are many sellers out there right now getting ready to sell their house this year. The primary goal when selling you house is to get the most money possible. And having a good realtor on your side will make sure this process is successful. Here are the “Top 5 Reasons to sell Your House with a Realtor”.
Number 5
Pricing: We know the real estate market and can recommend a price based on recent sales in the area. We also take into consideration the condition of the home and its location. Properly pricing your house could mean the difference between your house selling quickly or sitting on the market forever. The question you need to ask yourself is, do you want to sell your house or do you want to just put it on the market?
Number 4
Market Exposure: A good realtor will market your home to the fullest so that it gets the best exposure possible. The effectiveness of various marketing is always changing, therefore we must remain cutting edge and research what works and stay on top of current trends. In addition to the traditional marketing methods such as print advertising or direct mail we also utilize the internet and social media such as Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to name a few.
Number 3
Experience: A good agent who sells lots of homes will be able to provide a high level of experience that will ensure that you get top dollar for you home and will also make sure that the process goes as smoothly as possible. Our experience will help reduce your stress!
Number 2
MLS and realtor.ca. MLS or multiple listing service is a database created by realtors which keeps track of all the homes that are currently for sale and those that have sold. The data in this database is very valuable and provides the realtor, sellers and buyers with information about the local real estate market. Realtor.ca is the main interface to this database and is searchable. Having your house listed in the MLS database will ensure that your house gets the maximum exposure to all prospective buyers anywhere in the world. There could be a buyer in China right now looking to relocate and is using realtor.ca to search the MLS for homes for sale in Waterloo.
And the #1 reason to hire a realtor is to minimize risk and shift the responsibility. To act as a buffer between you and the buyer to ensure that emotions don’t get in the way. To protect your best interests and seek out qualified buyers. Dealing only with licensed realtors instead of complete strangers who may not have your best interests at heart. Shouldn’t you use a trusted professional to protect your single largest asset.
Thanks for reading!
We are a full-time real estate team in Kitchener Waterloo area. We enjoy assisting buyers and sellers with the purchase or sale of real estate in the Kitchener-Waterloo or Cambridge areas. If you would like us to help you with your home search, please check out our brand-newfree search website.
Filed under:
Kitchener-Waterloo — Tags: kitchener, octoberfest, oktoberfest, rant, Real Estate, thanksgiving, Waterloo —
wmcneil @ October 6, 2010 2:58 pm
.jpg)
SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline