Arizona setting ‘great getaway for Canadians’
Post courtesy of REM Online

If you have clients who are dreaming of a true western experience (down to horseback riding through the desert) who want the glamour of an authentic southwest-style home in a rugged and diverse landscape, yet want the option of being waited on hand and foot, you might want to tell them about a place you know in Arizona.

The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain is set high in the Sonoran Desert just northwest of Tucson at the foot of the Tortolita Mountains. The 800-acre resort community is on “high desert, with lots of vegetation and is tucked into the mountains,” says Dove Mountain’s community developer David Mehl, who bought 6,200 acres in the mountains in 1984. He says he chose “the best part of the mountain” for the Dove Mountain community. Work began in 1996 and is now about 40-per-cent complete.

The picture-postcard setting has thousands of majestic saguaro cacti and dramatic views in every direction. Some home sites are adjacent to a 27-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. Others are in open spaces showcasing the desert landscape and mountains.

Customizable and custom homes, which range from 1,900 to 5,400 square feet, are designed to bring the outdoors in. Highly customized plans are offered so buyers can make the home their own, Mehl says. Custom estate sites are available for those who don’t mind waiting 10 to 12 months for the home of their dreams. For those in a hurry to enjoy the serenity and beauty, there are some already-built spec homes for sale.

As you might expect with a property associated with the Ritz-Carlton, top-quality services and amenities are offered. Ownership in the Dove Mountain community includes access to The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Spa, which opened in 2009, and golf memberships.

The community has a 45,000-square-foot clubhouse that includes a fitness centre, tennis courts and restaurants. Housekeeping, valet, concierge and gourmet delivery services are available. The Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain Resort and Spa includes 225 guest rooms. Five restaurants within the community offer everything from causal pool-side grill and alfresco dining to gourmet.

Ritz-Carlton would not have come if this community wasn’t unique, Mehl says.

Buyers love the location, 25 miles northwest of Tucson and within 90 minutes of the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, but it is the serenity and spectacular setting they love most, he says. “It’s a great winter getaway for Canadians.”

Buyers range from 40 to 70 years of age and include professionals who are partially retired, retired or work remotely.

Canadians are allowed to live in the United States for six months of the year, and Dove Mountain residents stretch their stays to the max because they enjoy it so much, Mehl says.

The first person to buy a home in the mountain resort was from Calgary and other snowbirds have since followed suit, drawn by a combination of sophisticated homes, top-quality services, golf and other outdoor activities and a beautiful desert location.

It is adjacent to the 3,000-acre Tortolita Mountain Park and 2,400-acre Tortolita Preserve. Prices range from the high $600,000s to $2-million.

[Source: http://www.remonline.com/arizona-setting-great-getaway-canadians/?utm_source=REM+Inbox+Update&utm_campaign=3dcfb7d5e8-28_November_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3f4c7c7b65-3dcfb7d5e8-60773729]

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5 Ways Bargain Hunting For Homes Can Backfire
Post courtesy of Realty Times

It’s natural to want to save money when you’re making a purchase as large as a home. You want to buy the best home in the best neighborhood at the best price, and to do that, you may think you have to shop in the bargain bin.

FSBOs (for sale by owner,) foreclosures, and short sales aren’t as plentiful as equity listed homes — homes listed with a real estate agent by the seller. You may even scour the MLS (multiple listing service) for signs of desperate sellers, such as homes priced AS-IS, or homes that have been on the market for months.

While some people are successful buying a bargain basement home, you may not be so fortunate, if you put price first. Here are five ways a low price can backfire on you:

The home doesn’t suit your needs. A home is a good buy only if it suits your family’s needs for space, features, comfort, and function. If you buy a home without enough bedrooms or baths, it’s not as comfortable or functional.

A bad fit costs you later. To get out of a home that’s too small, too old, or too far from where you need to be, you’ll likely to pay more in transaction costs to sell the home and buy another than if you’d chosen more wisely in the first place.

Bargains are rare. If a home is priced lower than others in the area, there’s a reason. Sometimes bank-owned home will appear to be a bargain compared to other similar nearby homes, but you may notice a real difference in the way it’s been maintained. It’s not much of a bargain if you find out that all the appliances have been stolen or all the copper wiring has been pulled out of the walls.

The home needs updating. A home priced below market value usually requires expensive repairs or updates. Are you willing to perform the work or pay someone else to do the work? Any remodeling you do will be at today’s prices. Before you buy, get a home inspection and then talk to professionals who can help you bring the home up to today’s standards.

You lose ground trying to lowball the seller. Just as you want the home you buy to appreciate in value, sellers purchased their homes as investments, too. They want to net as much as possible, because they’ve already taken on the risks of buying and maintaining a home. That makes sellers less willing to negotiate on homes that are well priced and well maintained.

If a home has been on the market for a long time without a price reduction, there’s usually a good reason. You have an unmotivated, unrealistic, or upside-down seller, any of which could waste your time unmercifully.

An unmotivated or unrealistic seller simply won’t negotiate to your level. For example, for-sale-by-owner homes are typically priced the same as listed homes, even though the sellers aren’t paying real estate agent commissions, including for your agent, if you have one. Why would you pay the seller not to represent your interests?

Furthermore, a bank foreclosure or bank-approved short sale could take months to close. What if interest rates go up before you close? You may get the home at a bargain price, but the savings could evaporate in higher interest payments.

Right now, home prices are still below previous market highs. Mortgage interest rates are hovering near historic lows. And inventory levels are improving in most areas.

Under these circumstances, you’re buying a home at a bargain already. The best strategy for today is not to try to beat the seller down, but to offer a fair price for the home you think is best for your household.

 [Source: http://realtytimes.com/consumeradvice/sellersadvice1/item/31282-20141024-five-ways-bargain-hunting-for-homes-can-backfire]

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8 Ongoing Homeowner Expenses and How to Prepare For Them

Article courtesy of the Huffington Post

Interest rates remain historically low, and according to Trulia’s latest Trends Report, homes are affordable for the middle class in 80 out of the 100 largest metros. But let’s put it all on the table, just so there are no surprises: if you plan to purchase a home this summer, next summer – or ever, you’re committing to costs both upfront — and afteryou own. Home ownership is a major financial commitment, so you need know exactly what those costs are in order to be prepared.

When making the decision to buy, the most important component is determining what you can afford. So many first-time buyers make the critical mistake of assuming that if they can afford the mortgage payment each month, they can afford the house. But that’s only one piece of the puzzle.

Financial output does not stop the moment you walk away from the closing table, so make sure each of the following eight expenses are entered into your monthly housing budget.

1. Mortgage Payments
You’ll be able to figure out in advance what your monthly payments will be based on the price of the house, how much you’re putting down, and the interest rate you’re paying. Give Trulia’s Mortgage Calculator a try by clicking here.

2. Property Taxes
These are usually paid twice a year, but the property tax laws vary state by state and even by county. In Hunterdon County, New Jersey, for example, residents pay about 1.89 percent of their home’s value to property taxes, while in Westchester County, New York, homeowners pay about 1.45 percent. California residents, on the other hand, enjoy lower property taxes — typically around 1 percent of their original purchase price.

3. Homeowner‘s Insurance
This varies by state and region as well. Depending on where you live and what kind of coverage you buy, insurance can run you anywhere between $500 and $1,500 a year. It helps to bundle your homeowner’s insurance with other types of insurance, like auto and life, as many companies offer discounts for doing so.

4. Hazard Insurance
This entails coverage for earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes, depending on what area of the country you live in.

5. Condo, Co-op, or Homeowners Association Fees (HOAs)
If you own a condo, co-op, or town house, you’ll pay an annual or monthly fee to maintain the building and grounds. Single-family homes may also have dues if they’re located in a particular neighborhood or subdivision with common property. If you purchased in a gated community with security guards, a swimming pool, clubhouse, playground, tennis courts, and so on, you’re likely to incur regular expenses for those amenities.

6. Utilities
You’re probably paying them as a renter anyway, but chances are, you may have a few extra bills — including gas, water, sewer, and trash removal, in addition to electric — and they may be a bit more costly now that you’re running an entire home.

7. Routine Maintenance
Things break, things wear out, and unplanned expenditures pop up. It happens. You’ll want to keep some emergency money handy for a leaky roof, clogged kitchen sink, or dripping hot water heater. Budget a couple hundred bucks a month for these “unexpected” costs.

8. Pool And Yard Care
Depending on how much there is to maintain, you’ll need to earmark extra dollars to cover routine outdoor expenses. Even if you decide to take care of your pool or large back yard yourself, you’ll still need to hire professionals from time to time for heavy-duty tree trimming or the occasional repair of your pool’s filter system.

[Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-corbett/8-ongoing-homeowner-expen_b_5456371.html]

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Alberta home to top income earners
Article courtesy of the Calgary Herald

Realtor Corinne Poffenroth stands in the front entranceway of the house in Aspen Ridge that Sotheby’s Realty sold for $10.35 million, the highest ever in Calgary, on Thursday February 2, 2013.

Not only does oil flow in Alberta but money does as well.

That was clear Tuesday as Statistics Canada released new data on the nation’s top one per cent of tax filers.

In 2005, Alberta surpassed Quebec as the province with the second largest proportion of Canadians in the top one per cent, and has remained there since. Alberta was home to 12.7 per cent of the top one per cent of Canadian tax filers in 2000 and this share had increased to 22.8 per cent by 2012, said the federal agency.

“In Alberta, the income share of the top 10 per cent of Canadian tax filers living in that province went down after the recession, but, by 2012, it had recovered to reach 50.4 per cent, just shy of the 2008 peak of 50.8 per cent,” explained Statistics Canada.

But the federal agency said Canada’s top one per cent of tax filers saw their share of total income fall to a six-year low in 2012.

It said the top one per cent held 10.3 per cent of total income in 2012, down from 10.6 per cent in 2011, and well below the historical peak of 12.1 per cent reached in 2006.

Taxfilers needed to earn a total income of $215,700 to be among the top one per cent in 2012, a $3,000 increase from $212,700 in 2011, said the federal agency.

Statistics Canada said Ontario still had the largest proportion (41.5 per cent) of the country’s top one per cent tax filers in 2012, but this share has been declining since its peak of 51.7 per cent in 2000.

“Although Canadian men represent the vast majority of the top income groups, the number and share of women in top one per cent reached a 31-year high in 2012,” said the federal agency.

“Among the 261,365 top one per cent tax filers, more than one in five (21.3 per cent) in 2012 were women. That was almost twice their proportion in 1982.”

mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com

[Source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/alberta/Alberta+home+income+earners/10392103/story.html]

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Tuesday November 4, 2014 – RE/MAX Housing Blog

If you’re getting ready to sell your home, you want to get the most money for your investment, right? One of the key factors that will sell your home is price, and having a sound pricing strategy is a must if you want to find the right buyer.

Here are six common pricing mistakes all sellers should avoid.

1. Overpricing from the start – You might think your home is the best on the block and should command a price relative to the value you see. Wrong. You have to appeal to the value homebuyers see. Overpricing your home at the onset could leave out strong potential buyers, especially if recent sales and other factors in your neighborhood don’t justify your listing price. You also run the risk of needing multiple price reductions, which keep your home on the market that much longer.

2. Leaving out potential buyers in online searches – Entering a price range is the first search parameter most homebuyers use to narrow down their options. If a buyer’s price range is, say, $250,000 to $300,000, they won’t see your home if it’s listed at $305,000. It might make sense to list it right at $300,000 so that you capture potential buyers in the ranges above and below. Ultimately, this is up to you and your agent, but the range your home’s price falls into is certainly worth thinking about – especially if you’re teetering between price ranges anyway.

3. Not considering recently sold properties – To arrive at a listing price that will generate buyer interest, you can’t base your price solely on the prices of other homes in your area that are listed for sale. You also need to consider recent sales in your neighborhood and the final sale prices. An experienced agent can provide you with information on recent sales to help you see the bigger picture.

4. Getting too creative with your asking price – Make it easy for buyers and pick round numbers. Listing a home for $512,477, for example, will give potential buyers pause about your intentions and divert attention from your property to you, as the seller. Maybe it’s best to save the creative juices for the property description.

5. Not being open to negotiation – The quickest way to kill a sale is to dig in your heels on asking price before the for-sale sign even goes in the yard. Negotiation is a two-way street, and if you refuse to budge on pricing or other conditions, you might be in for very bumpy (and long) ride. Ask yourself: Is it more important to get full asking price, or can you make a few concessions to find common ground that will ensure a closed sale?

6. Ignoring your agent’s insights – The best route to the right price starts with picking a great agent and then listening to his or her advice. Your agent will look at your situation from all angles – your home’s features, the local market, recent sales and more – to help you make an informed decision about pricing.

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