Vehicle or House?

January 26th, 2008

I recently got a call from a company out of Manitoba that was soliciting people over the phone to get them approval for financing for a new car. While this sounds great to young people, it is harmful if they plan to buy a home in the near future…or the next few years.

I ask myself about priorities when I meet potential Saskatoon home buyers only to find that some of them are up to their eyeballs in debt, but after this phone call I understand why people get themselves into this debt. Car companies can arrange for financing for almost anyone so it seems like a good idea at the time, but when you want to buy a home or a condo in Saskatoon and you have a new vehicle, your chances are much lower due to your GDS/TDS (gross debt service ratio and total debt service ratio). They don’t speak to you about how it affects your capacity to buy a house in Saskatoon. They don’t warn you that you may, for however long your car loan/lease is, have to rent a house or apartment in Saskatoon. And we are all aware in the Saskatoon real estate market that rental properties in Saskatoon are dwindling due to the condo conversion projects in the city over the past few years.

So, what is your priority? Somewhere to live in Saskatoon or a nice car to drive? A home to call your own in Saskatoon or a car to drive around in? If you are looking on my website or shopping for a house in Saskatoon, I guess I know your answer and good for you! Hopefully you didn’t fall prey to one of these easy financing traps that dealerships get you into and you can afford to buy a house in Saskatoon now!

If you are looking to buy a house or condo in Saskatoon or call your Saskatoon Realtor® or Kari Calder today.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

Posted in Buyers, Saskatchewan Real Estate, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

First Time Buyers – You Won’t Buy Your Dream Home the First Try

January 23rd, 2008

I work a lot with first time home buyers in Saskatoon and the hardest thing for buyer to realize is that they have to step on ‘stepping stones’ to get to their perfect house. When you are getting into the Saskatoon real estate market a buyer must consider several things; this is your first home, this is not going to be your dream home, this is a way to start in the market therefore you should buy something that is appealing enough (especially in things that cannot be changed such as LOCATION) and that you need to start somewhere.

You can change the colour of the walls and you can change kitchens, bathroom, flooring, light fixtures, etc. You cannot change the location of where you live. If you have $200,000 to spend and you can choose between a nice condo in a safe neighbourhood in Saskatoon or a house in a less desirable area in Saskatoon, your situation will determine which one you will choose.

First time home buyers in Saskatoon have to start somewhere. Due to our market increases in 2007 it is much harder to get started, but there are options. Whether you start in a ‘fixer upper’ or you start in a condo, you best start out sooner than later. Unfortunately, there are many people looking for a fixer upper in the city of Saskatoon right now so this market is a bit lacking.

One of the mistakes first time home buyers in Saskatoon make is ‘saving for a down payment’. I have seen too many people wait themselves out of homes because of the misconception that they should save. If you have resources, line of credit, friends, family, anyone willing to give you some money or really good credit so that you can apply for the “zero down” option, get into the market in Saskatoon as soon as you can.

Another mistake people make when attempting to buy a home in Saskatoon is not wanting to settle. You are always going to have to settle on some things until you are in a financial situation where you can build a home in Saskatoon…even at which time it takes at least 3 tries to get it right!

So, recognize the limitations of buying your first home in Saskatoon but don’t let it get you down. Look at all options when purchasing a home in Saskatoon and weigh the pros and cons. Get on that first stepping stone and buy a home in Saskatoon soon! Don’t forget that there are also several small towns around Saskatoon such as Warman, Martensville, Osler, Rosthern, Asquith, etc where you can generally purchase homes for a bit less than the city.

For more real estate questions or to contact a realtor in Saskatoon, call or email me today.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

Posted in Buyers, Saskatchewan Real Estate, Saskatoon Real Estate | 1 Comment »

Saskatoon Condos

January 23rd, 2008

If you are just starting out in the real estate market in Saskatoon, buying a condo in Saskatoon might be the best start. Buying a house in Saskatoon as a First Time Home Buyer is a lot more challenging than it was a year ago. When you are looking at buying a house now and it is your first time and you cannot spend more than $250,000 and you want to be in a safe area, most buyers are finding that they have no choice but to purchase a condo instead of a house. There is nothing wrong with starting out in a condo in Saskatoon as this is a great way to get into the market.  As many of you know the Saskatoon Real Estate market has seen huge growth and buyers must take that into consideration when looking to get into the market.

Condos in Saskatoon have many positives such as not having to worry about exterior maintenance, some units include water, heat, etc. But you have to do your due diligence and make calls to the appropriate parties (Sask Power/City of Saskatoon/Sask Energy, etc) to confirm what is and is not covered under your monthly condo fees.

Condo living is easy in general and with the growing number of people living in Saskatoon but working out of town for days and weeks at a time, buying a condo in Saskatoon would seem like the best thing to do.

Young condo owners are also growing in leaps and bounds due to the affordability and many people don’t want to worry about a yard, shoveling snow in the winter, exterior maintenance, etc. With our hard working society and many people juggling jobs, school, kids, etc it is nice to live in a condo as it is easier and saves you time.

Older people are also buying condos in Saskatoon as they recognize their limitations in home ownership once they get to a certain age. Instead of fighting it, many people are getting out of their houses and into condos at an earlier age so that they can enjoy life a bit more.

It seems that many people are now buying condos in Saskatoon as both investments and as residences. Unfortunately, many first time buyers want it all but are realizing that they may have to settle for something smaller, just to get their foot in the home owners market of Saskatoon. I am a big advocate of purchasing condos in Saskatoon as that was my first purchase. It got me started in the market and I have since been able to move up to buying a house in Saskatoon.

If an investor is buying in Saskatoon and his or her purpose is to utilize the condo as a rental unit, they are generally helping our community out as our vacancy rate is so low. So, if you are sitting on the fence about whether to buy a house in Saskatoon or buy a condo in Saskatoon, ask yourself what your lifestyle suits best as well as what your bank account can afford.

Contact me for more information on buying a condo in Saskatoon.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

Posted in Buyers, Current Market, Saskatchewan Real Estate, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

Saskatchewan Population Growth!

January 22nd, 2008

It is no surprise that our Saskatoon Real Estate market has seen a 50% jump from 2006 when you look at the statistics of population in our province.

Average house prices have risen from $165,000 to over $250,000 which is a 51% increase.

The Saskatoon real estate market was directly impacted by the influx of over 15,000 people in the past year. This finally puts our province above the 1 million mark. You can check out more stats about Saskatchewan at http://www.stats.gov.sk.ca/.

Saskatchewan’s real estate market took a big jump across the province this year and almost every city and town felt the market go up. People who wanted to buy a nice house in Saskatoon for a good price decided to go to Warman, Martensville and other surrounding towns as they simply could get more bang for their buck in these communities. Due to the demand and the small town feeling next to a big city (big by OUR standards of course!) the prices also started jumping in the surrounding communities.

Saskatoon real estate has finally caught up to some of our neighbouring provinces and the demand for buying houses in Saskatoon has not stopped. One of the reasons there are not a lot of homes for sale in Saskatoon right now is because of the lull over the holidays. The buyer’s market did not slow down as there were plenty of people buying homes in Saskatoon over the holiday season, but the inventory of homes for sale in Saskatoon didn’t keep up.

We do not have enough good labourers in this province to keep up with the demand of new homes to be built.

Houses for sale in Saskatoon seem to be dwindling after the Christmas market as people were here buying but not many people were putting their homes in Saskatoon for sale.

Whether you are looking at buying or selling a house in Saskatoon or the surrounding area feel free to contact me at anytime for further information.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com
 

Posted in Current Market, News, Saskatchewan Real Estate, Saskatoon, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

Remember The Snow Storm?

January 10th, 2008

If you have been living in Saskatoon for more than a year I am sure you know the snow storm I am referring to.  On January 10, 2007 the city of Saskatoon was shut down by a massive snow storm.  For those of us who live in Saskatoon and are from Saskatchewan, we tend to pride ourselves in our ability to work through any sort of winter especially when we see cities like Vancouver being shut down with 1cm of snow.  The snow storm we experienced was unlike anything I have ever seen since living in Saskatoon.  I have found it very interesting that people still discuss that storm and what they were doing.  Luckily that day I was working from home.  Many of my friends, however, had to battle through the weather to try and get home.  In some cases people were stuck in traffic for 4 hours and others never made it home from work and stayed until late in the night until the weather broke.  Driving throughout the city the next day was like a scene out of the movie “Day After Tomorrow”.  Many Saskatoon houses were completely buried.  Cars were deserted on the side of the road and in some cases were completely buried in snow.  So where were you and what were you doing during the Saskatoon snow storm of 2007?

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Personal, Saskatoon, Saskatoon Events | No Comments »

Canadian Idol Skipping Saskatchewan?

January 2nd, 2008

Okay, so I am not a die hard Canadian Idol fan but I AM a die hard Saskatchewanian and I was very disappointed to learn that they are passing our province by this year; to do TWO tryouts in our neighbouring province of Alberta.

I know that our entire province has less people than Edmonton and/or Calgary, but come on! Their excuse: the Junos are being held in Calgary this year. I’m sorry, but that is very weak.

We have had an influx of almost 7000 people in only 4 months (from July of 2007) and a total of over 15,000 people since last year. The population of Saskatchewan is growing from somewhere, and Alberta is the direct impact of who is returning to this province. I know this from the real estate market in Saskatoon and who my clients have been and currently are. They aren’t from Halifax, they are from Calgary and Edmonton.

Alike the other 1003299 residents of this very talented province, and I wanted to voice that disappointment and hope that the Canadian Idol producers will take the time (I’m sorry, but the excuse of time is just weak) to include one of the FASTEST growing and most internationally talked about provinces in the competition. I’m not just talking about Real Estate in Saskatoon either, although our boom has recently put us on the map world wide. I have many friends overseas and they would email me and say “NOW we know where you are from! We just saw your city on the news today!”

If you would look at our economy and news coverage world wide they would recognize that our province should not be ignored. Not just in regards to talent as it is quite obvious we have a lot of talent here from seasons passed.

There can be scheduling changes as our province is outraged at their ignorance, and I for one will be boycotting the show and I hope others will do the same as apparently we don’t matter much in their eyes anyways (tell that to my mom who would spend HOURS watching and voting her support).

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

Posted in Personal | No Comments »

Saskatchewan Real Estate On Prime Time American TV

December 23rd, 2007

As most real estate agents, my schedule can tend to be quite hectic and unpredictable.  As a result I have invested in a PVR (personal video recorder) which is similar to TIVO for those people unfamiliar with what a PVR is.  This essentially allows me to record some of my favorite shows much simpler than trying to wrestle with a VCR.  I recently got a bit of spare time and started watching a few older episodes of some of my favorite shows.  While watching one of my shows (Las Vegas) I was very excited to hear some of the main characters of the show talking about trying to buy real estate in Saskatchewan for investment opportunities.  The scene actually consisted of 2 billionaires trying to butter up another wealthy individual to try and buy his existing land in Saskatchewan to go along with theirs.

Considering that just over a year ago many people in the United States have never heard of Saskatchewan, and now the real estate market is a topic on one of the most popular programs in the United States definitely shows that we are on the radar.  Saskatchewan has the fastest growing real estate market in Canada.  Our province has so many positive things going for it and real estate is just one of them.  2008 will continue to be a great year for real estate so make sure that if you have any needs in the Saskatoon real estate market or surrounding area you contact me.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

Posted in Personal, Saskatchewan Real Estate | No Comments »

Saskatoon Vacancy Rates at an All Time Recorded Low

December 18th, 2007

I think we all have heard about the condo conversions taking hold of our city, but the annual survey by the CMHC (Canada Housing and Mortgage Corp) has proven that our Saskatoon vacancy rate has fallen to an all time low with a 1.2% apartment vacancy rate. But, despite all that you hear about the rental increases, the average monthly rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in Saskatoon is just under $700; up only $85 per month since last year. The north end of Saskatoon as well as Nutana are both almost at 0% vacancy.

One of the reasons behind this is the booming housing market in Saskatoon we have been experiencing. Unfortunately it is harder for first time home buyers to get started in the Saskatoon Real Estate market now that prices have gone up, but there are still many options to get people started in the market. Just talk to a Saskatoon Realtor ® about how you can get started (and feel free to contact me!). Real estate in Saskatoon is still attainable for many people if you talk to the right professionals about how.

One of the ways of combating this low vacancy rate and increased housing costs in Saskatoon has been to build suites in homes to help pay the mortgage. This benefits both the home owners as well as the thousands affected by the rental shortage.

We hope that the new government will address the issue as if they do not, we will see a huge problem in Saskatchewan very quickly.

Any opinions out there? Please give me your points of view on this topic and how it can be addressed. As a real estate agent in Saskatoon I see every side of the topic and it is nice to get opinions from real people out there. Thanks!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

Posted in Buyers, Current Market, News, Saskatoon, Saskatoon Real Estate, Sellers | 1 Comment »

Saskatoon Real Estate Market – November, 2007

December 11th, 2007

The month of November proves the Saskatoon real estate market is still going strong.  Saskatoon real estate agents were extremely busy this month helping in the sale of over 316 homes.  The number of homes sold in November, 2006 was 230 which is a 37% increase this year.  This brings the total number of homes sold this year to 4,236.  This number is up 29% from last year when 3,273 homes were sold.

Remember when we talk about “average” selling price, it is a calculation of the total amount of homes sold by the total dollar amount between all sales across the city of Saskatoon.  Often people interpret the average selling price as the average for all homes across the city.  Just like any city there are some neighborhoods where homes cost much more than others.  It is important to do your research on the neighborhood or area that you are looking to buy or sell in to have a more realistic idea of the dollar amount you will be looking at.  You can review more detail and information about Saskatoon Neighborhoods by visiting my website.  Another factor in the “average” selling price is what type of homes where sold.  Typically condos are less expensive than a house.  In a month where there are a higher number of condo sales you may see a lower average price.  It is always important to consult a realtor to get more realistic numbers.

To date Saskatoon Realtors® have sold 1.3 billion dollars of real estate.  This is an all time high and is up 98% from 2006 when $656,491,0000.00 of real estate was sold.  The highest numbers of homes sold are in between the $300,000 – $400,000 with homes in the $225,000 to $250,000 coming in second.

Saskatoon real estate is still very competitive compared to the rest of Canada.  Our closet out of province comparison would be Calgary where a single family home average price is around the $420,000 range.  Saskatoon is still very affordable compared to the rest of Canada even though we have seen such a big increase in real estate property.  Whether you are looking to buy, sell or invest in the Saskatoon real estate market feel free to contact me for any additional information.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

Posted in Current Market, Saskatoon, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

Steps in Buying a House

November 15th, 2007

#1 Decide who is going on title of the house (important when you are purchasing a house with anyone other than your spouse or common law partner)

#2 Be pre-approved by a bank or a mobile mortgage specialist-online mortgage calculators can only do so much and a bank or other mortgage professional will be able to determine EXACTLY what you can afford to pay, so utilize their expertise…it is free after all!

#3 After you have met with a bank and have your limit, meet with me and I will go through the process and show you what is available in your range. We will discuss things such as what features you want in a property (what you can and can not live without), which area you would like to live in the city, importance of schools, and what price range you are comfortable with.

#4 Now that you know what you want and what you can spend, that is when it is time to start previewing properties and not until then. It is disheartening for people who think their credit is better than it actually is and they start looking at upper ranges of properties just to find out that they cannot afford this property. It is not a good use of time or energy, so don’t get ahead of yourself! Once you have your price limit I will start sending you listings and you can weed through those online or verbally and we can narrow it down from there and THEN get out and start looking.

#5 Start looking! But give yourself limits and guidelines and take notes as, after a couple of houses you will forget which one had which feature or special thing that stands out. Trust your gut and if it feels right, go for it! Remember, it may not have exactly everything that you like, even if you built your own home it could take you 3 or more times to get it completely right, but some things are quick cosmetic fixes and you have to decide what you can do and what you will not do.

#6 Now is the time to put in the offer. Your agent will help you determine if the asking price is fair or, if negotiating, how much is fair to negotiate and your agent should let you know that offering too low may offend the vendor and you don’t want to risk that as they will continue to think you are trying to take from them. Don’t wait a few days or a week, or even one day if you think it is the right property. Act fast as someone may beat you to the punch and you may be very disappointed and not find something you like again for a long time. The market generally goes up as well so you may even end up paying MORE than what the first one was listed for due to the market changes and having to wait to find something else.

As always if you have any questions please feel free to contact me at karicalder@sasktel.net or visit my Saskatoon real estate website.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

Posted in Buyers, Saskatchewan Real Estate, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

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