Fire Alarms and Fall update

It's been a busy few weeks.....

I have sold 507 Exmoor, a lovely 4 bedroom home in a fantastic neighbourhood. It sold for for than 97% of it's asking price in less than a week despite some home inspection issues that arose. My seller was thrilled and sent me these to thank me and replace the ones I got a few wks back! I am so spoiled!

I've done a few offers in the past few weeks. One on an overpriced condo for C. Between the property not being the ideal one for my buyer and the seller obviously not realizing the high price we just couldn't get a meeting of the minds on that one. So, we continue to look for C. We've expanded our search into homes that C can hire a company to do the yardwork and snowremoval, thus essentially offering some of the plusses that she was looking for in a condo.

Have also done an offer on a great property for R&S. The property was very well priced (even a little bit underpriced) and conveniently situated that we weren't able to present offers for the first few days. So, when we were finally able to present there were 4 offers (1 backed out at the last minute). There's a strategy used in the Toronto area where agents don't allow offers to be presented for the first week to allow a larger number of serious buyers through in hopes of getting multiple offers on the property. This situation apparently was not making use of this strategy but simply the sellers being out of town at a family wedding for the first few days. Unfortunately for my buyers, in effect it did the same thing.....allowed for a number of serious buyers to go through the home and resulted in numerous offers....and with a house to sell, it's hard to compete.

I received a great referral from my aunt to K whom hopefully I will meet in the next few weeks. She's hoping to sell an estate home in the spring after they've worked hard to spruce it up and update it. I've heard lots of great things about her and the property so I look forward to meeting with her soon.

I also finished up my last shift at the Grand Loft Condominiums. It was a decision I took a while to make, but now that I have I really feel it was the right one for me. After almost a year of working on the project I just found that the drive to the model and the weekend hours it was taking up were just not for me. The project is a good one and will eventually sell, but I have to put my time in my resale business which is more profitable at this point.

Well, that's the scoop on biz....KW real estate still moving along nicely for the fall. Seemingly a lot of buyers out there and not as many listings.

So, lastly, tip of the day.....if you haven't gotten your air conditioner ready for the winter yet, here's my tip. Don't use those lovely plastic covers the hardware store will sell you. They simply hold in moisture and can cause your AC unit to rust faster. Simply use a large piece of plywood on top of the unit with a brick to keep out debris and snow. Also a good idea to flip the breaker for your unit and turn off the electricity to your unit for the winter. You can actually save money doing this!

Thanks for reading!

Google Street

Well, it's confirmed. Google Street is a little creepy! But useful nonetheless. Do you use Google Maps? I do, quite frequently. I love the satellite view and often check it out for clients. It helps show where on the street a home is located and often gives an idea of what it backs onto.



Google Street has come to Kitchener Waterloo! You can now head to Google maps and drag the little yellow man to the area on the street you'd like to view and voila! You instantly (well, almost instantly!) have the view as if you were standing in front of the houses! Very cool!

Here's a link to a youtube video explaining Google Street. Have fun exploring!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGWfvHmS0wg&feature=player_embedded#

Reference

Received this today from some great clients I worked with this fall. What a joy!


"Thank you, Krista, for making our house buying experience an enjoyable and stress-free one. Your preparation and attention to detail both when viewing houses and when helping to draw up and negotiate an offer could not be bettered. As newcomers, and first time buyers, in Canada we really appreciated having an agent who was so patient and thorough in leading us through all the requirements for buying a house over here. Added to that we have found a new friend here!

With grateful thanks,

D&A

Busy Busy!!

Ok, so hardest question to answer from people is "soooooo, you been BUSY?". So subjective. In this job one can be busy all of the time if you wish. Even those with no clients are busy!

For me, this past week HAS been busy! With good stuff. Listed 507 Exmoor St. tuesday. Had 5 showings yesterday and received an offer this morning. We'll see........

Presented an offer this morning on a typical overpriced listing which neither the agent nor the seller realize is overpriced yet. No meeting of the minds quite yet. We'll see.....

Off to a 2nd showing this afternoon and possibly putting together an offer on that one later. We'll see....

Lots of fun! I was asked to write another article for the University Downs neighbourhood association newsletter. So, I have to start thinking up some ideas for the next one.....have already covered the history of our neighbourhood, and the benefit of some of the eco-energy grants available.

Got any ideas? let me know! :)

Thanks for reading!