Posts Tagged ‘Military Realtor’
Posted on: January 14th, 2020 by Chris Scott
3 Biggest Challenges Facing CAF Members on their HHT’s
Our team has specialized in helping military families buy & sell their Ottawa homes for over 15 years. It has always been the most enjoyable part of what we do. The current market conditions in Ottawa have created some real challenges for our military clients relocating the capital. It is a seller’s market and the absorption rate is at an all-time high. Here are the 3 biggest challenges facing our HHT clients in Ottawa:
1: Available properties to buy
In many neighbourhoods within the city there is not much inventory available. It is even more prevalent in the areas our military clients like to purchase. Kanata, Stittsville, and Nepean are all grappling with a shortage of available listings. These are historically low levels. The graph below illustrates this well. When supply is down and demand is strong it puts upward pressure on prices. It also tends to make house-hunting trips a bit more stressful!
2: Speed of Sales
Homes in Ottawa are selling at record speed. Before you arrive on your HHT the properties you may hope to see are sometimes sold. It is challenging when we have a full list of houses to look at, only to discover that many have been put under contract. It also means that when you are on the ground here the houses can sell quickly. Decisions on properties need to be made quicker than usual.
3: Multiple Offer Dates
This was the biggest hurdle for my military clients in 2019. Many sellers in Ottawa are not entertaining offers until a certain date and time. For instance, a house may come for sale on a Wednesday. Showings will begin but there will be no offers until the following Monday. Then on offer day, you may be competing against 3-5 other buyers for the house. I don’t have to explain the logistical concerns involved for clients coming in for a few days on their house-hunting trip. It is something that we had to overcome in 2019 for sure. All our HHT’s were successful last year.
Ok, so I have given you a few of the challenges that one might face. It is also important to know the solutions. Here are some of the solutions to tackle this challenging house hunting trip environment:
Relocating to Ottawa? Fill out our HHT Buyer Criteria Form to start your Ottawa home search today.
Want to know what your Ottawa home is worth? Fill out details of your home below to receive a complimentary home evaluation.
Posted on: January 14th, 2020 by Chris Scott
How to have a successful Ottawa HHT in a tough market
First let me say that 2019 was the most challenging posting season ever in Ottawa. In these extreme market conditions, we managed to secure over a dozen houses for our clients and nobody left empty-handed or even settling for a house. I think a reality show on my client’s HHT experiences this year would win an Emmy for best reality show!! We had some adventures for sure and it wasn’t always easy but we got the job done. Here are a few keys to success in this market:
Adaptability to Conditions:
We need to act fast in this market. Whether it is reorganizing a day of showings to get into a new listing first or having an offer prepared and ready the instant our clients need it. We had one client purchase only 3 hours after they landed because that is when the offers were being presented. Clients need to be adaptable too. In that particular case, our clients beat out 5 other offers and secured the house. They love the house and neighbourhood to this day! Trust was important for them. They needed to trust us that the house was a good value and a good fit. They got a perfect house because they were adaptable to the conditions and our team was prepared to act fast with them.
Exclusive off-market opportunities:
We plan our whole year around the HHT season. We are determined to find off-market properties for our incoming military families. Here is an example of a letter we sent out to over 20,000 households.
We do targeted Facebook ads and postcards for Kanata and Stittsville. Both areas have been very popular for our military clients. Each year we have many clients who buy our off-market opportunities. In many cases, they are outgoing military clients who love selling to incoming CAF members. It works out great! Our team is proactive in creating the best experience possible.
Experience:
Simply put, there is no team better equipped to handle house-hunting trips. We work together on our HHT’s and are extremely organized to make sure every detail is taken care of. There is no team that knows BGRS policies or can get quick information on them faster than us.
Adaptability to market:
Every HHT is different and requires the ability to adapt to different situations. Let me give you a quick example of this: In 2019 posting season Andrew and Liv were about to put an offer on a house they didn’t really love in multiple bids. On the morning of the offer date, we are getting a pre-inspection done to give us the best chance. We are sitting there and this perfect house comes to the market (send to us via email). We booked the appointment for the inspection. We raced to the house and we were in there 30 mins after it hit the market. The clients loved it!! I knew the other agent really well and we had an offer in the seller’s hand within an hour (we have Steph in the office coordinating things). It was accepted an hour later (we had a tight timeline). Interestingly, another offer came in just after ours was already accepted. We dodged a bullet for sure. The moral of this story is that we do what it takes to get our clients the best house possible. If it means switching gears completely then that is what we will do. Andrew/Liv got their dream house! We need to adapt to the market conditions that are presented to us.
Communication before you arrive in the city is also very important. If you want to connect with our team and talk about your real estate needs or have any general questions please feel free to reach out.
Relocating to Ottawa? Fill out our HHT Buyer Criteria Form to start your Ottawa home search today.
Want to know what your Ottawa home is worth? Fill out details of your home below to receive a complimentary home evaluation.
Posted on: August 27th, 2019 by Chris Scott
I recently had some clients in from Edmonton on their HHT. They thought they found the perfect house for their family. Unfortunately for them, the inspector discovered some serious issues and our clients walked away from the deal. We were fortunate to have the expertise and guidance of an industry leader. This is the kind of support we make sure our clients have when they come to Ottawa for their HHT. Our preferred inspector is on the approved list and uses an infrared camera inspection as part of his package. He is the best in the business.
Many Ottawa military house hunting trips are during the busy spring market. This is the time where inspectors are also hard to book, especially on short notice. As an extra service to our clients, we have our home inspector tentatively book us a time. We are one of the few teams he does this for because we work with him so often.
Other inspectors that we use on HHTs when needed:
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Water Inspectors
Our guy will test the volume of the well, the water treatment equipment, and of course have the water tested. |
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Septic Inspectors
We want to test the system to make sure it is in working order. It is one of the most expensive home components so we want to make sure there are no unexpected costs coming up. |
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Pool Inspectors
If you have a pool it is a good idea to have this inspected prior to purchasing. We have a company that specializes in this. |
Whatever your needs are on your Ottawa house hunting trip, our team has you covered! Call or text us anytime if you have any questions 613-863-6999.
Relocating to Ottawa? Fill out our HHT Buyer Criteria Form to start your Ottawa home search today.
Want to know what your Ottawa home is worth? Fill out details of your home below to receive a complimentary home evaluation.
Posted on: June 19th, 2019 by Chris Scott
Special thanks to all our 2019 Ottawa military clients who bought and sold with our team. Our house hunting trips took us to every corner of Ottawa and the surrounding area this year. Colin and I worked as a team to make sure everyone was well taken care of. It was a challenging Spring house hunting season in Ottawa but I am proud to say that everyone left with a house they were happy with. If you are relocating to Ottawa and need some assistance with your move always feel free to reach out.
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Arnprior
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Stittsville
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Tunney’s Pasture
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Findlay Creek
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Emerald Meadows
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Playfair Park
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Kemptville
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Orléans
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Fallingbrook
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Kemptville
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Fairfield Heights
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Stittsville
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Orléans
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Casselman
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Riverside South
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Stittsville
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Fairfield Heights
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Fallingbrook
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Half Moon Bay
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Renfrew
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Morgans Grant
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Avalon
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Posted on: June 18th, 2019 by Chris Scott
It is no secret that Ottawa is the hottest housing market in the country right now. In Ottawa, one of the most active segments is the $400,000 to $480,000 price range. Our team was engaged by Heather and Byron who were relocating to Ottawa. Unfortunately for them, they were in this HUNGER GAMES price range. This is their story!
Day 1
We spent all day looking through various neighbourhoods in the city. We found a great house in Chapel Hill. It was a bit underpriced and judging by the multiple showings during our visit we knew it was going to be competitive. In the end we were notified there was 11 offers on the table! Let the games begin.
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Offer 1
List Price $400,000
Our Bid $426,000
The winner was $451,000 with no conditions in the offer. 11 offers total. We were told our offer was in the top 1/3 of offers. |
Me learning the news:
Day 2
More viewings and a new listing came up in the afternoon that we are the very first buyers into see. Excited at potentially doing this quickly. It is a holiday Monday and we figure this gives us an advantage. Beauty house on Steeple Chase in Kanata. We have our offer in within hours of listing. Afterwards, 3 other offers come in that afternoon. We know we have to go high to secure it. We make a very strong offer.
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Offer 2
List Price $489,900
Our Bid $521,000
We felt very good about our offer. Unfortunately, they get a higher offer and we lose out again! The hunger games continue… |
Pretty sure this is what the seller looked like:
Day 3
Time is starting to play a factor here. We need to secure something. A listing comes on the market at 9:30 am in Stittsville. We are in the house at 10:30 am and can’t believe our luck! It is a beauty. It is grossly underpriced for today’s market. They basically priced it at last years numbers. We head back to the office to chat about it. Before we can do much the agent calls and they have an offer on the table already. An hour later they already have 4 offers. They are presenting that afternoon at 4:30 pm. This is a bit of a problem because another house we liked was presenting at 6:00 pm. What one do we choose? We ended up putting an expiry of our offer of 6:00 pm for the first one so if we lost we could pursue the next. We go way over asking on this one!
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Offer 3
List Price $439,900
Our Bid $476,000
Feeling a bit overconfident on this offer. Really strong but we ended up in second place! Luckily we found out just before 6:00 pm and bid on another home. |
A surprising loss, time for a drink!
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Offer 4
List Price $424,900
Our Bid $441,00
The house was really one of their favourites all along. We just didn’t want to overpay and felt our offer was a bit conservative. Funny that we were all not feeling overly confident on this one and then the call came in that the house was secured!! The hunger games were complete!! |
WINNER!
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The inspection was flawless and my clients went home happy.
Imagine all of the showings, paperwork, emotions, and stress of the 3 days above. It is not easy buying a house on any HHT let alone one in this market. At the end of the day, we got the job done and the clients are super happy with the process and the house they secured. That is what it is all about and why I love my job. It can be long days but it is hard to have a more rewarding feeling than making the call to let my clients know they have secured their dream home.
With our team the odds will always be in favour of our clients! |
Posted on: April 12th, 2019 by Chris Scott
The DND at the Nortel complex is starting to fill up with civil servants and military personnel on route to the estimated 9300 people that will eventually work there. This has created a parking shortage. There are only enough spots for about half of the employees that are expected to work there. In May of this year, all parking passes will be revoked and a new lottery system will be put in place. Essentially you will have to win your parking space (you still have to pay $35/month). It is designed to make it fair to everyone. This has angered some civil servants who feel that the location is remote and poorly served by bus routes. DND personal fired back that they have no obligation to provide parking and that having a space is a privilege, not a right.
If you carpool you will be able to get a pass much easier. DND is encouraging people to carpool and has even set up a site where people can sign up for it. This is the only sure-fire way to get yourself a parking pass.
Posted on: April 10th, 2019 by Chris Scott
Being posted to Ottawa this year could mean a fairly challenging house hunting trip. Statistics released from the board in March revealed that sales were down almost 12% over last year. This is due to the lack of houses available for sale. There are so many buyers just waiting for houses to get listed. The lack of supply and strong demand continues to put upward pressure on prices. It also brings a unique set of challenges for our military clients. Many homes this year are listing on one day and then holding offers for about 5 days. This is something to take into account when you are planning your Ottawa HHT. We could always do what’s called a bully offer whereby one submits a strong offer before the presentation date but many sellers might not go for it.
FaceTime showings?
I had a recent military client put an offer in, based on a FaceTime walkthrough we had. This strategy is not for everyone but can help narrow some houses down before you arrive for your Ottawa house hunting trip. We will do everything we can to make your HHT as smooth as possible.
Relocating to Ottawa? Fill out our HHT Buyer Criteria Form to start your Ottawa home search today.
Want to know what your Ottawa home is worth? Fill out details of your home below to receive a complimentary home evaluation.
Posted on: March 8th, 2019 by Chris Scott
There is no sugarcoating that if you are posted to Ottawa this year, your HHT may be challenging. Our inventory is down 20% over last year and 40% over 2017 numbers. It is bordering a housing crisis, considering the insatiable demand. Prices are still affordable but buyers are competing and putting upward pressure on prices. I really believe this could be the last year or two of prices that fall within the affordability index with average income levels of the city.
As you may know, we work with dozens of military buyers who get transferred into and out of Ottawa each year. I have been proactive in building up a database of off-market listings. This weekend we have 2 properties that we are showing to a couple on their HHT that are exclusive listings. They will be contenders for them. As an example of our proactiveness, we have sent this letter to 10,000 households in the West end of Ottawa:
Our team is serious about making your house hunting trip in Ottawa successful. Please get in touch to discuss how we can be of service to you.
Posted on: February 12th, 2019 by Chris Scott
With DND now located in West Ottawa and the operational headquarters slated for Shirley’s Bay, military buyers have shifted as well. Many of my relocation clients still have Kanata, Barrhaven, and Stittsville at the top of their list. However, many others are starting to look at better value options in Carleton Place and Richmond. Here is a quick comparison of the two locations for you.
Richmond
Richmond is a quaint village that is just south of the Kanata/Stittsville area. There are about 4400 residents and lots of new development happening in the area. This will be a very fast growing community over the upcoming few years. What used to be a small farming village is now becoming a bustling place as new restaurants and amenities are coming in to satisfy the new demographics. The Richmond Fair is not to be missed. Nice small town community feel. Still part of the city of Ottawa.
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Distance: The commute to DND is about 21 minutes |
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Average Sale Price: $467,131
Based on MLS residential sales from Jan 1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2018 |
Carleton Place
Carleton Place has been growing at a record pace ever since the highway between it and Ottawa was extended to 4 lanes. It is now home to over 11,000 residents. Military buyers are attracted to this location because of the relatively affordable prices and the fact that Carleton Place now has all the big box stores and amenities that many buyers are looking for. Please note that unlike Richmond, Carleton Place is not part of the city of Ottawa. You do pay slightly higher property taxes on average.
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Distance: The commute to DND is relatively painless at about 28 minutes in no traffic |
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Average Sale Price: $326,781
Based on MLS residential sales from Jan 1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2018 |
Posted on: February 12th, 2019 by Chris Scott
Our team has just invested in a moving concierge program that will be a game changer for our clients. This new platform will assist our clients with everything from changing addresses, transferring home services, updating identification, and getting helpful advice. This can include anything from setting up short term Airbnb accommodations to organizing moving company quotes. Each client will have a dedicated concierge agent. We are completely committed to the client experience. We hope this new service will bring value to our clients and make the transition into the new home as easy as possible.
