Spring is approaching, and the real estate market, after a unique start in 2024 with hesitant buyers and sellers, is showing signs of optimism. Check out why we expect a pickup in activity as confidence grows, anticipating a dynamic and bustling season ahead. If you have questions about what’s happening in your neighbourhood, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. My team and I would love to have a chat with you.
Why settle for just any realtor when you can choose a team that truly understands your unique needs? Our focus is crystal clear – we specialize in serving the military community, making us the top choice for your real estate journey in Ottawa.
Navigating the intricacies of military relocations is our forte. Our team members bring invaluable experience from countless house-hunting trips and seamless transactions involving military purchases or sales. When you choose us, you’re not just getting a realtor; you’re gaining access to a network of BGRS-approved vendors, ensuring a smooth journey from the beginning to well after your deal is closed. With an impressive track record of dozens of military deals under our belt, we proudly stand as Ottawa’s leading military real estate experts.
What sets us apart is not just our focus but the people we bring to the table. We have carefully curated a list of top-tier professionals, from specialized BGRS lawyers to inspectors well-versed in the intricacies of the military process. Having the right people at every step ensures a seamless and stress-free transaction for you.
But we don’t stop there. We proactively search for the perfect home on your behalf. Annually, we dispatch over twenty thousand letters to the most coveted neighborhoods, giving our military clients exclusive access to homes in Ottawa that aren’t available to the general public. Our proactive approach has proven successful, creating matches that go beyond what’s readily available, making your real estate experience truly exceptional.
In a sea of realtors, choose the team that not only knows the military but also has the expertise, connections, and dedication to make your real estate journey in Ottawa a resounding success.
When military clients get transferred to Ottawa, they are often looking in the core 5 Suburban neighbourhoods. Much depends on where our clients will be posted to within the city. Popular areas now tend to be West Ottawa due to NDHQ being in the Nortel complex in Nepean. For a helpful reference, we publish monthly stats for these suburban neighborhoods. There is so much to know before you start looking. Get in touch with us as we specialize in helping military clients purchase in the Ottawa area.
This year, Colin, made us proud by participating in the Army Run, where he excelled in both the 5K and 10K races. Notably, he achieved personal best times in both events and ranked 58th out of 715 participants in the Sergeant Majors Challenge. Colin’s dedication extended beyond the race, as he also raised significant funds for the military.
Our commitment to supporting military families in Ottawa is unwavering. We understand the unique challenges they face during relocation, and our local expertise and tailored services ensure a smooth transition. Colin’s exceptional performance exemplifies our dedication to making a positive impact on our military clients.
House hunting in Ottawa can be an intimidating endeavor, particularly due to the city’s extensive spread. Many buyers now seek better value by exploring the outskirts of the town. Recently, we had some wonderful clients who preferred locations such as Rockland, Limoges, Embrun, and Russell. These neighborhoods offered approximately $100,000 in savings when compared to a similar house in Ottawa’s closest suburban area, Orleans.
While going through a list of around 30 properties to consider, I made an executive decision to prioritize the property that I believed provided the best value and fulfilled most of my client’s requirements. This property became our top choice for the first day of house viewings. This strategy worked remarkably well, as my clients instantly fell in love with the home. After leaving the first house, they were convinced that it was an excellent option for them. Over the course of three days of showings, no other property came close to matching their needs. It’s rare to find a home that aligns so closely with one’s requirements during a house-hunting trip. Comparing every subsequent house to the first one greatly benefited us and provided clarity to my clients. Knowing that finding a second alternative was not desirable, it became crucial to secure this house.
Fortunately, we successfully acquired this property at a great price. I believe that adopting the tactic of starting the house-hunting trip with the top property can be an effective approach. My philosophy has always been to showcase the best properties on the first day, as there’s a high chance that if you like something, someone else might too. Additionally, this strategy allows you to respond promptly if one of the top properties receives an offer while you’re exploring secondary options.
When relocating to another city it is important to know what is going on in that real estate market. We wanted to share our most recent update and video, to assist you with planning for your house hunting trip to Ottawa.
Things are picking up as we head into the Spring season. We have seen a 52% increase in transactions from January to February of 2022 via MLS. This is a strong indicator that the Spring market has sprung.
The number of new listings in February (1,762) offers some hope for prospective Buyers. At 4% higher than the five-year average and 12% higher than February 2021, it resulted in an almost 10% increase in residential-class property inventory compared to last year at this time.
There is hope that the trend of increased new listings will continue so that the housing stock can be replenished.
We are now sitting at less than a month’s worth of inventory, which is still looking like a seller’s market. This means buyers need to have all of their financing set up so that they can move quickly in this market.
Our team has strategies that can help both our buyers and our sellers in this type of market. Please reach out if you have any questions about the current market or anything else we can help with.
I know that one of the biggest challenges with real estate and house hunting in Ottawa is the lack of available homes for sale. Rest assured our team is doing everything we can to find off-market opportunities for our incoming military buyers. We were able to pair up a few military clients last year with off-market deals. We have just proactively sent out over 25,000 letters for this express purpose to our local communities.
The system does work. Here is an example:
A seller in Jackson Trails, Stittsville got in contact with us about selling their detached 4 bedroom home. On the outside, it looked like most others in the area. On the inside, the house was extremely cluttered. Writing that I almost feel like that is an understatement. Lots of religious artifacts throughout the house and it would have needed a total staging overhaul. I presented each option to the seller and they said they would consider an offer off market if they could get a very specific price. The price was about what they would have got if it was staged.
On the other side, our buyers were coming in as a military transfer from another Canadian base were getting fed up with the process of offering against 15-20 other offers. It can be overwhelming, to say the least. They were happy to pay a slight premium for the exclusivity of the deal. This allowed everyone to leave happy.
We also had another past military client sell exclusively to an international military transfer to Ottawa. Again, they had a price they wanted and we delivered. In both cases, the process was smooth with only one showing each. In both cases, the buyer did not actually see the home in person until we showed up on closing date. We took care of every detail of these purchases and sales for our clients. House hunting is stressful enough, add on top of that relocating to a new city, we pride ourselves on being there every step of the way.
In closing our team is proactive with trying to produce options for our military clients relocating to Ottawa. If you are posted to Ottawa feel free to get in touch with our team. We are here to help!
I am so excited about our new military division coming to Keller Williams! We are the first major brand to have such a division. It reinforces the importance our company places in supporting our troops with their real estate needs.
It was such an honor to meet Levi Rodgers. He is the new head of the Keller Williams military division. He is a veteran with an incredible story of bravery and determination. During his deployment, his vehicle was hit with an IED. He was the only one to survive the attack. He was heroically dragged to safety and there was not much hope he would make it. He was in a coma for weeks and had years of recovery ahead of him. Suffering from injuries and PTSD he left the army to start a career in real estate. He now operates one of the largest real estate teams in North America with over $900M in annual sales. Incredible achievement. Talk about perseverance!
I am so thrilled to work with and learn from Levi. Our team is proud to serve so many CAF members as buyers and sellers every year who relocate into and out of Ottawa. This new division will provide training and networks not available anywhere else. We will have the best connections across Canada and North America for our Ottawa clients who are posted out. I am so proud to be a part of this company that is so aligned with what we do. This new division ties so nicely to a core pillar of our business, assisting members of our military with their real estate needs.
It has been a successful year for us so far at the Chris Scott team with Military Relocations. The only way we are able to make these military relocations work is as a team. Chris, Colin and Rachel take a team approach to ensure we are providing the best client experience for both our buyers and sellers.
We helped relocate 18 military families so far, this year alone. We thought it would be of interest to share the neighbourhoods in the Ottawa area where they are located. As you can see from the map below, we work in all areas of the National Capital Region.
Wherever you are most comfortable looking for a home in Ottawa, the Chris Scott Team has the knowledge and experience to help with your relocation- before, during, and after your HHT. Our mission is to turn every client into a Raving Fan!
Ottawa has many rural areas that are of interest to our house-hunting military clients. Estate lots can provide privacy and space to spread out. It is important to note the directive on lot sizes if you are considering buying this type of property. Brookfield may not cover a portion of your land transfer tax if the house is over 1.25 acres.
Per CFIRP Directive 8.1.05 Lots and lot size,
The reimbursement of expenses is limited to a lot size of:
• 1.25 acres (½ hectare); or
• up to four acres (2.47 hectares) where required by zoning laws and city bylaws.
If additional land is sold or purchased, CF members are entitled to reimbursement only for that portion of costs which would have been reimbursed within the above limitations.
If there is a zoning bylaw for your area that requires this larger lot size in order to purchase in this area, then you can submit proof of this and resubmit the claim.
If not, the requirement is that you supply 3 comparables of properties in the area at 1.25 acres or less. If this is not possible, as you note, you will need to have an appraisal done of your own property at 1.25 acres to show that the additional acreage adds no extra value. Despite the letter provided, it will need to be an appraiser and not a realtor who provides this information. If the appraisal shows no additional value, the claim can be processed as submitted. If there is additional value, the reimbursement will be capped at the value of 1.25 acres.
As a trusted military Realtor in Ottawa we will work with BGRS to provide the letters and comparable properties they need in order to pay out the refund. This year we successfully defended 2 properties. In one case we had to go through the process a few times to get the exception. There is no guarantee. This is something that BGRS is getting more strict about and is something that military buyers in Ottawa should be very aware of.
