AT WAR

Calgary homebuyers return to housing market bidding wars
BMO report says Canadians willing to pay more to get what they want
BY MARIO TONEGUZZI, 
CALGARY HERALD MARCH 5, 2014

CALGARY - Prospective Canadian homebuyers are more willing to enter into a bidding war this year for properties they want to purchase, says a new report released Wednesday by BMO.

And Calgary’s hot housing market is proving to be a good example of that as nearly 20 per cent of MLS residential sales in the city in February were for above list price.

The BMO Home Buying Report said 34 per cent of Canadians are willing to enter a bidding war when it’s time to buy a home, an increase of six points, or 21 per cent, from a year ago.

The report, conducted by Pollara, said that in major city centres, the appetite for competitive bids is the highest in Toronto and Vancouver (44 per cent and 41 per cent respectively). In Calgary, it is 38 per cent and in Alberta, it is 30 per cent.

“While many suspect bidding wars are triggered by sellers who deliberately price their homes below market, the report shows that just 15 per cent of owners have that motivation, with those on the Prairies and in Toronto the most likely to pursue this strategy - but even then the numbers are modest at 24 per cent and 22 per cent respectively,” said BMO, which says average home prices across Canada continue to rise, gaining momentum in the past year, with the average transaction price up nearly 10 per cent year-over-year in January. The average home sale price in Canada is currently just over $400,000.

“Calgary’s market continues to see the strongest fundamentals; Vancouver has rebounded from a soft patch; while Toronto’s market remains relatively balanced overall, though the condo market is more amply supplied,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, in a statement. “Overall, sales are expected to hold relatively steady in the year ahead, with price growth in the low single-digit range, below the rate of income growth.”

Laura Parsons, mortgage expert with BMO Bank of Montreal, said the competition for real estate in Canada, particularly in hotter markets, can be fierce and turn into an emotional frenzy.

“A shortage of inventory is driving a lot of it,” said Parson of the Calgary market. “It’s such an emotional thing. When you see it, you get it. I remember the days when there were lineups of people behind each other. The minute you see that your heart starts to race and you want to not lose.

“Lots of people are prepared. They know what their high is . . . Calgary has the biggest income so we’re willing to spend more if we have to and hopefully we’ve been conservative before we go in and we know we have that room to bid higher.”

Parsons said many people don’t understand that they can renovate a home and build it into the purchase price.

For some people, she said, there’s a need to move before spring and they’re feeling the pressure.

Data released Monday by the Calgary Real Estate Board indicates all-time records, for any month, were set in February in the average city sale price ($482,530) and the median city price ($424,900) as well as in the single-family sale price ($550,312) and the single-family median price ($480,000).

“Calgary has been in a statistical sellers’ market since February 2013,” said Robyn Moser, a realtor with CIR Realty. “As time has passed, the sellers’ market has become increasingly aggressive. This has caused buyers to see lower and lower levels of inventory, placed into competing offers and homes selling in days if not hours. This cause is speculated to be the lack of available new home inventory due to Calgary sewer lines that are needing to be upgraded. This has placed metro Calgary real estate values into statistical unsustainable levels until the sewer line upgrade is complete.”

According to CREB, as of Tuesday, there were 2,893 active MLS listings in the city which was down 20.15 per cent from a year ago. Year-to-date, sales have increased by 11.77 per cent to 3,551 transactions.

Mike Fotiou, associate broker with First Place Realty, said Calgarians were so determined to buy a home in February that nearly one in five paid above the asking price.

“Of the 1,854 properties that sold during the month, 364 or 19.6 per cent of buyers paid higher than list price. Compare that to the 10.4 per cent of buyers from a year ago or the 6.1 per cent from February 2012 that paid above asking,” Fotiou wrote on his blog.

“As sales rise and inventory continues to decrease year-over-year, it’s to be expected that buyers will find themselves in more situations where multiple offers are involved.”

WRESTLING UP A DEAL!

15 tactics to win a real estate bidding war
Business Insider
Aug 22, 2012

Canada’s housing market is slowing, but bidding wars are still common in major markets like Toronto.

And as the U.S. housing market shows signs of recovery, homebuyers are flocking to snap up deals on bargain properties across the country.

That means running into competition is par for the course — and the weakest bids will not survive.

“If you are serious about buying, it becomes a bit of a part time job,” says Zillow.com real estate expert Brendon DeSimone. “This is your home and your only investment.”

We asked DeSimone to clue consumers into how they can make their bids stand out.

Don't wait for the open house

DeSimone is quick to advise clients to see as many houses as possible on weekends––whether or not they're invited.

"With the Internet, information moves so quickly. [Sellers] could do a private showing Wednesday [days before a scheduled open house]" he says. "If it looks good online, go see it."

Check email hourly for listing updates from your broker

"If you're a serious buyer, you make it a priority in your life and you're going to get email alerts from your broker every other hour," he says.

"Be in touch with your agent and know about new properties as they hit the market."

Don't be intimidated by higher bidders

These days, investors and average joes alike are flocking to snatch up deals on homes. Don't let them psych you out, DeSimone says.

"Don’t spend too much energy trying to figure out what’s really going on with the other offers. If you love the property, keep moving forward, but at your own pace. Make the offer you’re comfortable with, and only when you’re comfortable making it."

Make sure your broker is local and well-known

That's because 80 percent of business is done by just 20 percent of brokers. The more respected they are within the community, the better shot they have at wooing listing agents.

"My clients (win) because the listing agent knows me," DeSimone says. "In a competitive situation, working with a known broker will make the listing agent feel better and boost your chances, especially if two offers are close."

Get in the listing agent's good graces

Why? Because the listing agent is the only person who meets all the parties involved in a sale.

"Though the seller ultimately decides and signs a contract, the listing agent has a giant say in who gets the property in a competitive situation," DeSimone says. "If you make a good impression with the listing agent, you are in much better shape. Acting like a jerk to the agent tells the sellers to work with another offer."

Line up an appraisal even before making an offer

Per DeSimone:

"One thing I once did was to have the bank try to get an appraiser lined up and on their calendar before an offer was made. That way, the buyer could tell the seller that the appraisal would happen within x days of signing a contract. If you tell the seller two or three weeks, your offer looks weaker."

Look for the WORST house on the block

It may sound counterintuitive, but you're better off looking at a fixer-upper than going for the McMansion next door. Chances are competition won't be as fierce.

Says DeSimone:

"You can always improve the property and therefore increase its value. And because it’s on a great block, improvements you make to the home will be practically guaranteed to give you a top return on your investment. Just don’t get carried away and turn the worst house on the block into the biggest and most expensive one."

Keep tabs on your mortgage lender and rates

Once you've been pre-approved for a loan, have your mortgage broker or lender write a letter saying as much.

"Even reference the property so that the listing agent knows that the lender/mortgage broker is up to speed," DeSimone says.

Keep an eye on current mortgage rates

"Sometimes the rates drop or increase significantly from the time you first spoke to the lender and the time you write an offer," DeSimone says.

"If rates have decreased, maybe you can afford more. You should know this."

Know your neighbors––and what their homes are worth

Getting to know the neighborhood you're hoping to call home one day goes far beyond scoping out local schools and seeing who prowls the streets at night.

"When you are ready to seriously write offers and compete, you should know what is going on with the local neighborhood market," DeSimone says. "Follow what has recently sold, what was competitive and what was not."

Try bending the rules a little

Per DeSimone:

"One thing I did in the past was with a very serious and motivated buyer. The home was vacant [sellers moved out]. So, we went in with an inspector because the home had a lock box. The buyer did their inspections before writing the offer. This way the buyer could make an offer knowing what the issues were, if any. And, for their offer they could waive their inspections contingency. No inspections means no risk for the seller."

Hire an inspector within two days

"Order the inspection before you write the offer. It doesn’t necessarily have to be two days but your offer should show the seller that you are prepared to move quickly," DeSimone says.

"If you wait two weeks and then the inspector finds something and you walk away, the seller is left out to dry. The seller wants to know this is out of the way quickly."

Use cash to put your bid over the edge

More often than not, most homebuyers simply can't afford to plop down $180,000 in cash on a new home.

But when it comes to sweetening your bid, offering to pay at least the deposit in cash could push you over the edge.

"The more you offer, the better," DeSimone says.

Put your passion into words

Once you've had the chance to get to know the current owners, don't be afraid to appeal to their interests the old-fashioned way.

"I've seen buyers Google the owners and see that they have a love for horses, so they wrote them a letter talking about their love for horses, too," DeSimone says. "Sometimes it'll work [to give you an edge]."

Don't get distracted by what you can't afford

As with any bidding war, it's important to be quick on your feet. People slow themselves down when they don't stick to what they can afford, DeSimone says.

"Know your limits on the high and low end. Knowing this will allow you to act fast," he says, as it'll help your broker weed out properties out of your range.

Photo By: Fabbio

SAY NO TO WAR

Most Canadians would balk at bidding war
Sheila Dabu Nonato
Postmedia News Apr 19, 2012

About a quarter of Canadians say they are willing to enter into a “bidding war” in Canada’s housing market and pay up to 120% of the asking price, according to a BMO report released Thursday.

The BMO Buying Report said Canadian respondents in the Prairies, Ontario and Alberta are more willing to enter into a bidding war than those in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

In the survey, 22% of Canadians said they were willing to enter into a bidding war when making an offer on a home.

“Of those prepared to fight, half would pay up to 110% of the asking price, while a quarter would be willing to bid up to 120%,” the report said.

Those surveyed in Manitoba/Saskatchewan ranked first in eagerness to enter into a mortgage bidding war (32%). They were followed by respondents in: Ontario (28%), Alberta (25%), B.C. (23%), Atlantic Canada (13%) and Quebec (10%).

The study also noted that 52% of Canadians surveyed said they’re willing to pay between 100 and 110% of the asking price, with Quebec ranking first at 62%. It was followed by: Alberta and B.C. (53%), Ontario (51%), Manitoba/Saskatchewan (48%) and Atlantic Canada (44%).

Meanwhile, 27% of Canadians said they would pay between 100 to 120%, with the highest in Atlantic Canada (33%), then Ontario and B.C. (30%), Quebec (25%), Manitoba/Saskatchewan (22%) and Alberta (17%).

John Pasalis, broker owner of Realosophy Realty Inc., a Toronto-area real estate brokerage, cautioned that the bidding wars may not be as lucrative as they seem.

“One thing to keep in mind is the houses that are getting pretty crazy bidding wars are underpriced anywhere from five to 10%,” he said. “The list prices aren’t always an indication of what they’re actually worth.”

Pasalis said his company has seen “multiple offers almost non-stop for years now,”including as much as 10 or more buyers bidding on a house.

“You just get these spikes and valleys in the market where things get a little bit more heated and demand starts outstripping supply as things get faster,” he explained.

However, the mortgage wars may backfire on owners if the bank’s appraisal of the home is lower than what a buyer pays for the home, he said.

To avoid this, Pasalis cautioned that homeowners need to know the actual market value of the property they want to buy as opposed to its listing price.

Nationally, the average home sale price is $369,677, the report said. The average home prices across Canada are “rising modestly,” it said, except in Toronto ($504,117) and Vancouver ($761,742).

“Toronto prices have risen 11% over the past year, while Vancouver’s have fallen 3%,” said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist for BMO Capital Markets.

The survey was completed online by Leger Marketing from March 19-22 with a sample of 1,000 Canadian home or condo owners. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.

Photo By: Kamilerner