Posts Tagged ‘relocating’
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: 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: 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.
Posted on: June 28th, 2018 by Chris Scott
House hunting trips can be challenging for buyers who are not familiar with Ottawa. We really only have a few days to explore its neighbourhoods and secure a house. In the east end of Ottawa, many of my military clients are comparing the markets of Orleans and Rockland. Here is a brief summary of the two locations:
Rockland: This is a rapidly growing neighbourhood that is outside the city of Ottawa boundaries. It is situated about 40 km to downtown Ottawa. Housing prices are much more appealing to families looking to stretch their dollar. You drive further but get more. In many cases, you can get a detached home for the same price as a newer townhouse in Orleans. For many this is enough to take on a longer commute each day. It is, however, important to note that resale can be a bit more challenging in Rockland. Houses tend to stay on the market longer.
Orleans: This is an Ottawa East suburb with a population of over 100,000 people about 16kms to downtown Ottawa. Always, a very popular location with lots of amenities, schools, and good transit connections to downtown. The future LRT line will make access even easier in the years to come. Resale is much easier when compared with Rockland but prices can be 100k more than Rockland for the same detached 2 storey/double garage house.
In a recent house hunting trip, my clients who were up from Washington ended up looking in both Orleans and Rockland. He was posted to Letrium and felt like Rockland would be the better choice because of its value proposition. They ended up securing their dream house there for $425k. That house would have been 550k plus in Orleans. It really is that big of a price difference depending on the style of housing.
If you are debating between these two locations on your relocation to Ottawa please feel free to get in touch. I would be happy to send you options in both locations.
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: May 24th, 2018 by Chris Scott
DND has announced plans this week for a new operational headquarters that will be home to some 4500 civilian and military personnel. The plan right now is to have this completed by 2029. The site has not been finalized yet but DND spokesperson said it will be in close proximity to the new headquarters at the Nortel campus. It will centralize operations and involve vacating the Star Top Road facility in the East End. In the end, this will mean that this area will house over 13,000 personal when you include the 9000 that will be at the new DND headquarters when it is fully operational. Personally, I think this makes sense as it will make communication/synergy much easier and provide long-term savings. Having so many buildings scattered throughout the city has not been the most efficient way of running things.
This new building will have an interesting effect on real estate prices in Kanata and Stittsville. These areas will continue to be the locations of choice for military families. Add in the LRT line that will be operational out that way by 2029 and I believe the long-term growth of these real estate markets will be awesome.
If you are relocating to Ottawa or have any questions, please get in contact with us. This is what we specialize in.
Posted on: May 16th, 2018 by Chris Scott
Ottawa is the most challenging place in the country to buy a property right now. According to the Canadian real estate association, Ottawa is the hottest market in Canada and it’s not even close! This presents an interesting set of challenges for military buyers. They have only limited time on their house hunting trips. There is much less to look at and you really can’t start favouriting too much before you arrive because the good houses are usually sold. I have been trying my best to get off-market listings ready for my clients before they arrive. This past week we had some great success with Corey and Marie who bought a house that was off-market. It was a brand new house that had closed only a few weeks earlier. It was the first place they looked at on Monday and it stood up against everything else we looked at. These exclusive opportunities are one way I am trying to give my military house-hunting clients a leg up over the competition. It is the second off-market deal we have done in this regard this year. In both cases, it was a win-win for everyone involved.
If you or someone you know is relocating to Ottawa please feel free to get in touch. This is what we specialize in.
