Real Estate Auctions

I Figured it was high time to write about one of my other biggest real estate passions, Real Estate Auctions.

Back in 2006, when we did our first residential real estate auction, it was still considered a little taboo in the marketplace.  It all started in late February 2006, when some sellers of mine asked what they could do to set their house apart from everyone elses. 

We started the auction marketing process and within 1 week had multi-day front page coverage on both of Calgary’s major newspapers.  The three local television stations had picked up the story and were running it on all broadcasts.  The story even managed to gather national attention on CTV NewsNet which was then syndicated to other local markets. 

Sale day came and the traffic had pretty much brought the small community of Martindale to a standstill.  People were parking a kilometre away and walking to the house, the front of the property and the entire cul-de-sac were full of spectators and media.  Within 3 Minutes the home was sold for $222,000 and the new Buyers were completing the purchase contract inside with the sellers. 

Then one of the strangest things happened  – A random person walked up, picked up the microphone and said to the crowd “These guys don’t know it yet, but they are going to auction off my house in Falconridge at the same time next Sunday.”  And we did, he had a home that had been on the market for 3 months priced at $249,000.  We put it on the auction block and sold it within 3 minutes for $261,000.

We worked closely with both the Calgary Real Estate Board  to make sure we were able to post the auction on the Calgary MLS® system and the Real Estate Council of Alberta to make sure that we interpreted all of the rules and regulations and in some cases redefined the interpretations that had set previous precedence.

That’s how it all started, It’s been 5 years now and while I’m very proud that we’ve conducted over 65 Calgary Real Estate Auctions, I’m more proud that we’ve been 98% successful in helping sellers sell their property.

If you would like more information about Robb Leece or Calgary Real Estate auctions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

New Listing: Woodside Bungalow in Airdrie

Welcome to this beautiful bungalow located in the golf course community of Woodside.

Woodside Bungalow

You will notice craftsmanship in all areas of this home. As soon as you walk in you will be greeted by the warm fireplace in the large family room and the formal dining area. The kitchen is bright with upgraded appliances and a reverse osmosis water system feeding both the kitchen sink and ice maker. Enjoy your free time year round in the sunroom which is both heated for the winter months and air conditioned for summer.
Main floor laundry is just steps away from the two bedrooms which are roomy with large closets. The main Bathroom and en suite have been upgraded with extra cabinets and rich ceramic tiles. Downstairs is fully developed with wide open great room big enough for any family, full bathroom complete with a sauna and two more bedrooms perfect for when guests come over. For the handyman, the front drive attached garage is heated and insulated for those larger projects and their is a great workshop as well.

This property is listed by Robb Leece of Reliance Real Estate.  If you would like more information about this property, please contact Robb.

Real Estate Down Payments – A little can go a long way

This post is about a young, self employed buyer, who was just entering the Calgary Real Estate market.  He has been looking at properties online for the last 3 years while saving up a substantial down payment. 

Fast forward- We found him a home that was perfect for him, we negotiated a deal with the sellers at a fair price with terms that were favourable to the buyer.

The purchase price of the home was $409,500 and the buyer was putting a total down payment of $40000 to purchase the home thereby reducing his mortgage loan to $369,500 When we sat down to work out all of the mortgage details,  We noticed that CMHC Mortgage insurance seemed rather high.  $18,290?  Amortized over the duration of the mortgage thats more than $33,196.

After we ran all of the numbers, we concluded that by increasing his downpayment by $1000, from $40,000 to $41,000 we would bring down the CMHC fee from $18,290 to $11,423 which when amortized over the duration of the mortgage would have totaled $20733.89.

How much money did the buyer save with an additional $1000 down payment to purchase the property? ~$12,462.15

You see, the Buyer was a self employed person, which CMHC has a higher insurance fee for.  Less than 10% downpayment over 30 years meant he was charged a premium of 4.95%, simply by increasing his downpayment over 10%, we were able to lower his mortgage insurance premium to 3.1%

CMHC Rates

This post was authored by Robb Leece – Reliance Real Estate.  If you would like more information about Calgary Real Estate or CMHC Rates, please contact Robb Leece

Calgary Real Estate Market

This week was the Calgary Real Estate Boards 2011 Forecast.  It compares quite closely to Edmontons forecast in regards to Oil, Jobs, Migration and affordability.

Calgary real estate sales are expected to to stabilize this year with inventory levels slowing to a more natural amount.  With the federal government leaving the interest rates alone and changes to amortization rates and lending rules, buyers are expected to be acting soon to beat the March 1st, 2011 deadline.

Forecasters are predicting home prices to have a upward trend in the second half of 2011, with perticular emphasis on “green” homes in “walkable” mixed-use sustainable communities.

Feel free to contact me for more information about Calgary Real Estate,

If you would like to have a look at the CREB® Calgary and Area Housing Market Forecast 2011 Report.  It is here for all of your statistical, data crunching pleasure.