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Barrie, ON Real Estate News

By Mike Montague, "Who Moves You?"
(RE/MAX Crosstown Realty Inc)
Record February for home sales in Barrie region Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. numbered 371 units in February, rising 31 per cent from year-ago levels. This is the first time on record that sales have topped the 350 mark in the month of February.   As a result of the strong demand in February, seasonally adjusted sales activity jumped 24 per cent on a month-over-month basis.   Within the city of Barrie, sales activity was up by less than the overall trend for the region. The city of Barrie saw 243 residential sales in February, up 25 per cent from one year earlier.   On a year-to-date basis, sales activity was running 23 per cent ahead of the first two months of 2011, and stands roughly on par with the ...
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By Mike Montague, "Who Moves You?"
(RE/MAX Crosstown Realty Inc)
 I was at the new Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls over the weekend. An impressive facility. Over 1600 people from across the province were there for the PCPO annual general meeting, keeping the tills of hotels, restaurants and other merchants ringing over the weekend in this city of under 85,000 that is otherwise comatose at this time of year. As I watched people filtering into the Centre Saturday morning on foot from the various walking distance away hotels I couldn't help thinking how well such a facility would work in Barrie Ontario. We are within an hour of the GTA, home to millions of people and Canada's economic engine. We are almost 2 hours closer to the nearest international airport. Kempenfelt Bay may not hold the distinction of being one of the top 7 natural wond...
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By Peggy Hill, Broker - Barrie Real Estate
(Keller Williams Experience Realty, Brokerage)
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recently released their first quarter 2012 publication which gives us some insight into the state of the market at the end of 2011 and some shifts in the market which indicate changes to come in 2012 for the Barrie real estate market.   There are three main conclusions that the CMHC has drawn from the close of business in 2011. (1) New home starts shifting from single-detached to higher density dwellings, (2) An increase in existing home sales and (3) Barrie's real estate market continued to remain balanced.   (1) Higher Density Home Starts Increase New constructions has shifted away from single-detached homes and towards higher density dwellings such as rows or apartments. According to CMHC the ratio of single-detached homes to total...
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By Peggy Hill, Broker - Barrie Real Estate
(Keller Williams Experience Realty, Brokerage)
Thanks to our friends at Dominion Lending Centre www.MortgagetAndLifestyle.com we have an update for you on mortgage rates: Rates remained the same on both fixed and variable mortgages this past week. Bond rates continue to be extremely low and stable. We are seeing 5 year mortgages in the 3.09-3.39% range and variable rate mortgages as low as prime -.2%. The 10 year fixed special still seems to be the best deal out there at 3.89%. Today's rates are historical lows, making now a great time to buy or refinance. If you have a variable rate of any more than prime +.75 or a fixed rate of 4.25% or more, It might be beneficial to explore refinancing to a lower rate. Bank prime is at 3.00% and the next meeting of the Bank of Canada is on March 8, 2012. Why is it a Good Time to Buy? Mortgage R...
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By Mike Montague, "Who Moves You?"
(RE/MAX Crosstown Realty Inc)
    There is nothing new on this list that hasn't been emphasized in a number of earlier blog posts but good advice is always worthy of restating. Here are 11 tips to help you sell your home faster: Curb appeal – Keep falling leaves and dead shrubs out of the yard! You don’t want a potential buyer’s first vision of your home to be negative (“look how much work it’s going to be to keep up this yard”). Front door – At the very least, make sure it’s clean. You may want to replace or paint the front door as this is your potential buyer’s first up close look at the property. Make sure storm doors are clean and that all locks and door handles are tight and functioning. A loose or broken lock gives the wrong impression from the get-go. Light – Make sure you home looks spacious and light. If y...
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By Roy Boni, Sales Representative
(Sutton Group-Incentive Realty, Brokerage)
We’ve decided to sell our condo before we try to buy a home because we just can’t take the risk of carrying two mortgages at the same time.  Selling first is usually the way to go, but with more than a decade of rising real estate prices in Toronto, there is a temptation to buy first. Buying first has some advantages. For instance, it’s possible that interest rates could move higher in the coming months. There are some very tempting mortgage offers, such as 5-year rates of 2.99 per cent, that we will miss out on because we’re not buying yet. In our case, being able to buy a home first would allow us to move into a new place and then paint and fix up on condo from the comfort of our new home. With three young children and lots of stuff, we found this scenario very tempting.  But the big ...
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By Karen Hansen
(Pratt Homes )
The Pratt Homes Barrie Minor Pee Wee team are regular season Champs! They finished in first place a full 7 points ahead of second place Bradford. Way to go boys!
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By Karen Hansen
(Pratt Homes )
A recent article in the Barrie Examiner explores the land shortage issue and new home construction in Barrie where new home starts in 2011 did not keep pace with the rest of the province.
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By Mike Montague, "Who Moves You?"
(RE/MAX Crosstown Realty Inc)
Friday I was invited to meet with City staff at the Allandale Train Station. Myself and a few local Realtors were given a tour of the three conjoined buildings that make up this under restoration historic Barrie landmark. We were invited to share our thoughts on what, from a Realtor's perspective would be some of the better and more likely uses for these facilities. I had previously toured part of the north most brick building with Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman in January of last year on a similarly cold day. At that time the task of restoring the integrity of the foundation was well underway and virtually all of the exterior was hiden from street view by scaffolding and tarpaulins. Over the course of the past year the exteriors of the three buildings have been given a complete ground up fac...
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By Roy Boni, Sales Representative
(Sutton Group-Incentive Realty, Brokerage)
Economists predicting a correction haven’t yet decided whether to call it a blessing or something else, but a spate of condo projects in Toronto drove the country’s housing starts higher than expected in December – almost 15,000 above the previous month’s. “The increase posted in December was mainly attributable to the multiple urban starts, particularly in Ontario and in Atlantic Canada”, Mathieu Laberge, deputy chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre, said Tuesday. The exact numbers for 2011 are still being verified, but the Crown corp. is confirming the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 200,200 units in December, up from 185,600 units recorded in November 2011. That growth came from Canada’s cities, primarily in the form of condominium construction. The ...
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By Chris Smith, South Simcoe, Caledon, King, Orangeville Real Esta
(Re/Max Chay Realty Inc., Brokerage)
Live in or near Barrie?  ... or just passing through on the way back from a day trip to Central Ontario's near North?  ... and want some great Sushi? Akira Sushi, located just south of City Hall at 17 Mulcaster St. in Barrie, ON, and overlooking Kempenfelt Bay is the place to go! Great atmosphere, pleasant staff, fair pricing and the best Sushi and Sashimi in town await you, whether you stop by for lunch or dinner. There can be a wait during prime times (a good indicator that locals know it is the place to be), but you will find the wait worthwhile.  Among our favourites when we dine at Akira are: Enoki Mushroom Beef Roll, Seaweed and Kani salads, Miso and Seafood soups, Salmon & White Tuna Sashimi, and you definitely cannot go wrong with their Golden Dragon, Dynamite, Spider, or any of...
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By Mike Montague, "Who Moves You?"
(RE/MAX Crosstown Realty Inc)
Rental housing has traditionally been built in Ontario when there is financial incentive to do so. When there isn't, demand continues to increase but availability shrinks. If you go back to the 60's and early 70's there were allot of new apartment buildings going up all over Ontario. At that time there were many tax incentives and capitol cost write-offs along with assistance programs from CMHC for developer/landlords that disappeared around 1972 and when they did, apartment construction levels nose dived and have never recovered. As rental demands in the seventies climbed as a result of little new construction and a growing population, so did the rents landlords could command. This created financial pressures on individual renters as is to be expected in an industry whose existence ri...
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Work continued throughout the holidays and the buildings look great!   Extensive effort went into the selection of a beautiful faux “silk” wallpaper for the common areas in both buildings.   Professional wallpaper installers are currently on site hanging paper on the fourth floor of building 39 and doing a fantastic job!  
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By Don McAskin, "Everybody is Askin...for McAskin"
(REALTY EXECUTIVES Of Simcoe Inc.)
Buying or Selling Homes, Safe Social Networking for Realtors 11 Tips For Social Networking Safety. As the popularity of these social sites grows, so do the risks of using them.  Hackers, spammers virus writers, indentity thieves and other criminals follow the traffic. Read these tips to help protect yourself when you use social networks. Social networking websites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter an Windows Live Spaces are services people can use to connect with others to share information like photos, videos and personal messages, or when searching for Homes for Sale in Barrie Ontario. 1.  Use caution when you click links that you receive in messages from your friends on your social website.  Treat links in messages on these sites as you would links in email messages (For more informati...
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By Karen Hansen
(Pratt Homes )
Check out a video we made from a little while back. Can you spot your home? 
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By Don McAskin, "Everybody is Askin...for McAskin"
(REALTY EXECUTIVES Of Simcoe Inc.)
Home sales climb higher in November   Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. came in above year-ago levels for the fifth consecutive month in November 2011. Home sales numbered 321 units in November, an increase of 18 per cent compared to the same month last year. Momentum continues to improve. On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales climbed to thehighest level since April 2010. Within the city of Barrie, sales activity was onpar with the overall trend for the region. The city of Barrie saw 207residential sales in November, also up 18 per cent from one year earlier. “Sales came in slightly stronger than expected inNovember, following the fairly stable levels of activity we saw through thesummer and early fall,” s...
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By Don McAskin, "Everybody is Askin...for McAskin"
(REALTY EXECUTIVES Of Simcoe Inc.)
Advice for Real Estate Investors     Is managing an apartment right for you? With more Americans renting, the investment property market is booming, and with good reason. There’s money to be made in many types of investments, and a self-sustaining property that pays its own mortgage, builds equity while you sleep, and maybe sends a little profit your way sounds too good to pass up. Whether you’re looking at multi-unit dwellings, long-term home rentals, new construction, or improving and reselling, there’s a big potential upside, and timing has never been better. But here are a few cautions to keep in mind as you embark upon your journey. 1. Know Your Strengths. Are you a do-it-yourselfer with experience fixing and maintaining homes? Do you live near the investment property you’re lookin...
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By Don McAskin, "Everybody is Askin...for McAskin"
(REALTY EXECUTIVES Of Simcoe Inc.)
Six Tips Before Selling a Home Posted on December 8, 2011 by Realty Executives   Think twice before starting major improvements. Selling your home can be a long, grueling process in even the best market. To help you squeeze as much money as possible out of the sale with the smallest amount of hassle, we’ve listed 6 tips that will help smooth the ride. 1. Choose the right REALTOR© Having the right partner can make all the difference. You’ll be making a lot of very important decisions during the planning and listing phases–more important, in many ways, than your decisions during the offer phase. Find a REALTOR© with whom you make a connection–someone who understands your reasons for selling, your minimum requirements, and all the nice-to-haves. You’ll also be leaning heavily on your REALT...
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By Don McAskin, "Everybody is Askin...for McAskin"
(REALTY EXECUTIVES Of Simcoe Inc.)
Knowing When to Sell-Free Equity who wants some? Are you thinking about selling your home, but waiting for prices to rebound? You might be making a mistake. There are plenty of reasons you might want to hold onto your home for a while longer, but for most of us, market conditions aren’t usually one of them. The logic usually sounds something like this. “If I sell my home at a lower price, I’ll have less to invest in my next home, and I won’t be able to afford the property I really want.” That makes sense if your home’s property value is not being depressed more than the homes you’re considering buying, but since most of us tend to move locally, that usually just isn’t the case. If prices drop by a similar percentage, you’ll spend less money if you move up while prices are low. Here’s an...
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