Collaborative Recovery

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A short while ago we talked about how the real estate’s market recovery will more likely than not depend on full societal collaboration and participation within the market, in a post called ‘To Stabilize We Must Equalize’. If only those who are in good shape participate, then top-end properties circulate freely while mid-level properties stay put and depreciate.

Looking into the future, this concept is seemingly being applied to various markets already, which is a huge step in the right direction. Participation is going to be the key to market re-stabilization.  In the US, it’s showing that dual-income households are helping largely in this aspect. Therein lies the example that multiple participants working towards a common goal within their own households are improving the market in its entirety. An annual study by NAR showed that about 65% of all buyers are married couples, as opposed to 58% the year before. This increase in efforts is exactly what we need to see.

According to a recent Scotiabank poll, an impressive 77% of Canadians view home purchasing as an investment as opposed to an expense. With this mentality, Canada will hopefully follow-suit with our neighbours to the South in investigating the proper investment methods that will not only benefit the buyers and sellers, but the market itself. Recovery is close, now it’s just a matter of harnessing interests and investment strategies to collaboratively force a market recovery.

For more real estate and environmental news, follow on Twitter @enviromint.

 

image courtesy of Ken Jarvis Photography

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Prepare for the Worst

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If Hurricane Sandy has taught us anything, it’s that disaster can strike at any moment in the most unforeseeable and traumatic ways imaginable. Perspective is always provided in moments of crisis; it makes us realize how temperamental our habitation of Earth can be, and that we are always at the mercy of the elements. We seem to lose touch with this concept after being securely located in specific areas for a long time without experiencing any disasters. The ‘It won’t happen to me’ factor is most certainly a prominent one. But if there’s anything we can take away from this experience, it’s that disaster can strike anywhere, at any time, no matter how many times you tell yourself it won’t happen to you specifically. So where do we go from here? Back to the drawing board to assess our ‘worst-case-scenario’ options and plans – the likes of which are probably limited for many of us.

A recent Zillow article highlights the importance of having a ‘backup plan’ or ’emergency fund’ but providing readers with two unique stories from Hurricane Sandy survivors who discuss their experiences during the disaster, and their new-found appreciation for planning for the worst.

The biggest theme derived from this article was the importance of having a savings account or ’emergency fund’ at the ready. No. Matter. What. Whether you’re living inland or coastal, bad things happen to good people. That’s the reality of the climate-disaster we call a planet. We’ve been pushing our limits with nature for quite some time now, and it’s starting to push back.

Be prepared. Nobody likes getting caught up creek without a paddle, or in a storm without a backup plan. As we mentioned in our post ‘Hate To Say We Told You So…‘ climate disasters are increasing at an alarming rate with no signs of relenting the onslaught. To avoid disaster, implement prevention tactics. You just might need them one day.

For more environmental and real estate news, follow us on Twitter @enviromint.

 

image courtesy of 401(K) 2012

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To Stabilize We Must Equalize

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Speculations around market recovery are many. The desolate state in which the property market resides is remaining stagnant, with fragments of measurable recovery being made. Therein lies the question of how to inject some life into the current market; enough to drive a full recovery.

A recent Vancouver Sun article highlighted a very interesting and probable theory put forth by Vancouver’s Mayor Gregor Robertson. The concept he proposes is that more low to middle-income housing must be implemented in order to develop an efficient housing market recovery. Reason being is similar to a concept we covered in a previous blog post – Here We Go Again – that covered the principle of a market recovery being impossible wherein the lower-income citizens couldn’t participate in the market themselves. If only the wealthy are purchasing and rotating properties, then the market only fluctuates above a particular income bracket, as opposed to that of a fluid recovery that encompasses the efforts of all classes within a particular society.

The concept of introducing affordable housing for the lower and middle-class is quite ideal. In order to stabilize the property market, we must first even the playing field. If implemented successfully, this methodology could quickly yield beneficial results, as a rounded market recovery rather than a weighted one would increase and stabilize real estate across the board instead of augmenting the values of high-value properties for relatively elite citizens to exchange amongst themselves like poker chips.

For more real estate and environmental news, follow us on Twitter @enviromint

 

image courtesy of Antanith

 

 

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One Page At A Time

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Real estate, according to a recent article, is responsible for the fall of one tree per 17 transactions completed. This may seem like a lot, and it may appear as an overzealous assumption, but rest assured that this is most certainly no exaggeration. Real estate, while putting roofs over peoples’ heads, rapidly destroys potential wildlife habitats and is responsible for a vast amount of paper waste.

Technology’s progressions over the past decade are now sophisticated enough to allow for the replacement of paper resources entirely – so that’s exactly what we did. Digitization of documents has never been easier, so why not take a page out of our book and go paperless? Not only is this an efficient way to refine your business’ efficiency, but to make a conscious social decision to take a stand against the waste created by paper in our industry. With the elimination of paper documents, no longer are the days where sheets and forms go missing, become inaccessible, or need to be mailed. By switching to a digital business model you can refine your business process, access documents from virtually anywhere, distribute and share information instantaneously, while having a rested conscience from taking a personal stand against environmental destruction and paper waste.

For more environmental and real estate news, check us out on Twitter @enviromint.

 

image courtesy of Horia Varlan

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New York Dodged a Bullet…Financially

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Though it may be bitter-sweet, New Yorkers will fortunately not be subject to an even further ‘worst-case-scenario’ in terms of dealing with the aftermath of the notorious Frankenstorm, better known as Hurricane Sandy. According to a recent CNN article insurance claims for hurricane Sandy actually have an up-side…sort of.

Let’s face it, nobody likes paying insurance deductibles, but in this case the deductibles due by New York residents could be far worse, whether you can believe that or not. Typically, hurricane insurance deductibles are weighted as an amount variant between 1% and 5% of your entire property’s value. So, if you had a residence worth $300,000, and you had to pay a %5 deductible, there goes $15,000 of your hard-earned dollars just to get the insurance company involved. However, since Hurricane Sandy did not sustain 74mph winds long enough to be considered a Class 1 hurricane, the above framework doesn’t apply, and instead regular deductibles (generally between $500-$1,000) are all that will be required of New Yorkers.

The situation isn’t great, but (despite the obvious damages and destruction) the outcome, in this sense, could be even worse.

Our thoughts and hearts go out to the Hurricane Sandy victims.

 

image courtesy of david_shankbone

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Home Renovation – Real Estate’s Booster Shot

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We’ve said it before, so we won’t drone on about it , but we have to start somewhere. Housing has been in an obviously crippled state as of late, and in the spirit of exploring methods to instill stability, let us examine a theory that may in fact aid market recovery: home renovations.

The housing slump has forced many of those who were planning on selling their homes to stay put as a result of prices taking a nosedive. However, this may be a blessing in disguise. Why? Because if homeowners decided to use this time to their advantage and put more money into their homes, there may in fact be a chance that markets may begin to raise in average price. Reason being, is that these homeowners, instead of sitting on the time that’s been given to them before they can sell their home, should invest some time and effort into renovating and remodeling their current homes before finding a new one to increase the market value of their home.

If done on a large scale, markets could raise in appraised value thanks to some due diligence. If all the house values in a particular area are rising due to come renovation projects, then they will collaboratively raise the appraised value of all their properties…Just something to chew on.

 

For more real estate environmental updates stay tuned to the blog and check us out on Twitter @enviromint

image courtesy of eye of einstein

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Weather Insurance – The Untapped Resource

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Considering that the past year has been the warmest year on record in many portions of the world as a result of climate change, property investors and insurance brokers alike should be using this key indicator to promote what may be an overlooked area of consideration – weather and natural disaster insurance.

Homeowners in the UK are already receiving forewarning regarding these types of insurance due to homeowners making weather and storm-related claims that are being rejected as a result of their lacking maintenance of their properties, as opposed to suffering extensive storm damage.

Climate change wears a cape of natural disaster – in other words, things are only going to get worse from here until climate stability is established worldwide. Examples of speculated natural disasters caused by climate change are the “two tropical storms, Alberto and Beryl, formed before the start of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, the first such occurrence since 1908.”  Another indicator of this phenomenon is the “12 natural disasters in the United States that each caused more than 1 billion in damage, ranging from wildfires in the Southwest to a blizzard in the Northeast.” Yes, that is correct, 12 natural disasters in only one year.

So now that all the key indicators are in place, we’re gonna go out on a limb and say that over the next few yours as our climate situation gets progressively worse, do yourselves a favour and look into weather and natural disaster insurance. At this point these events are unpredictable and unpreventable, and nobody likes being unprepared, so this is our fair warning that these insurance policies, though they may not seem to be of immediate importance, they very well could be.

Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or on Twitter @enviromint.

 

image courtesy of http://www.arteyfotografia.com.ar/18613/fotos/419503/

 

 

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Thanks Again – RLPNSC

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Last weekend we were lucky to take part in an amazing weekend conference for the Royal LePage National Sales Conference. Upon our return – in typical fashion – we were bombarded with extra work, and only just got a moment to catch our breath.

That being said, we’d love to extend a thanks to those of you we were lucky enough to meet and talk with. We had a wonderful time and hope to have the opportunity to return next year, so hopefully see you next year!

For those of you who still have questions for ourselves or our associates EstateVue (with whom we shared a booth) please reach the following contacts via e-mail.

EnviroMint – Eric Joseph – [email protected]

EstateVue – Cory Alexander – [email protected]

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The Market’s Flip-Flops

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It seems the market analysis of the current North American real estate situation isn’t in agreement with anyone in particular. One day we’re hearing that everything’s doing better, but with some digging you can scratch beneath the hopefuls and figure out what’s really going on. The issue being that it appears nobody wants to accept what’s probably coming next.

As we discussed in a previous article – Are We There Yet? The Long Road To Recovery – the Canadian market is (according to some) going to experience another dip wherein housing value losses up for 7.8% may occur. Well, as it turns out, these predictions are being proven more and more accurate. For example, the Globe an Mail just published an article declaring a softening of the Canadian market – an indicator that the worst is yet to come. Part of the speculated reasoning behind the slowing growth of the Canadian market is the tightening of mortgage restrictions over the past year (another issue we talked about in our article Buyers Beware) in combination with low employment rates.

Another contributing factor we’re speculating could be the same as that of economist Dean Baker’s speculation for the economy and the real estate market’s suffrage in the US – over-production of housing during the bubble. Now, this reasoning seems feasible to apply to the Canadian market as well, as the lack of growth in the market and slumping sales could indicate and over-stock of properties which are in turn doing nothing positive for the market. It may have been productive to commence the construction of new properties now, or even after the next market tip to encourage more affordable housing (if these places were constructed with economic and real estate rehabilitation in mind) but at the moment it’s not looking like any of these places will be filled up quickly.

It seems as though the market’s at a current stale-mate with itself. On the one hand we have the sellers who are holding on to their properties for dear life, and on the other hand we have buyers who want to do nothing but pillage the market. It seems like to move forward the sellers need to cut their losses immediately before the market dumps again, or we’re never going to recover.

let us know your thoughts and ideas on how we can stimulate the market into a state of recovery in the comments below, or on Twitter.

 

image courtesy of Steve A Johnson

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Are We There Yet? The Long Road to Recovery

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Unfortunately, no, we aren’t even close.

BC, and quite possibly the rest of Canada, are presumably about to experience what economists are calling a double-dip recession, meaning that housing prices are going to drop once again, and this time in a very aggressive way. Despite being thought to have stabilized, the Canadian housing market is in fact quite vulnerable at the moment, and though prices have been “bottoming out” it appears the barrel goes even deeper than most expected. How much could values potentially drop? Vancouver Sun reports that they could drop as much as another 7.8% lower than the already frighteningly low prices we see today.

Now, this isn’t to say that every house in BC will depreciate this much, however we can already see the market slowing down quite a bit, which is a pretty good indicator of this theory coming true. For example, home sales in Vancouver are a whopping 30% down from this time last year, and August’s sales were 21.4% down from July…unsettling would be an understatement at this point.

Experts are divided on whether or not the housing market will actually take the 7.8% dive, but one thing is for certain – the seller’s market isn’t looking hot. If you were thinking about listing in the near future, it might not be a bad idea to sit on your property for a little longer and try to do some value-added home improvement projects to pass the time. We aren’t there yet…but hopefully we will be soon.

For more real estate and environmental news be sure to follow us on Twitter and to check the blog regularly.

image courtesy of breahn

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