Tag: Real Estate – ANALYSIS

Market Update, Suburb Series, Video

Market Update – Orleans

 

Hey Everyone,

In this segment I’m going to go through the beginning of the Suburb Series, which means this week I’m going to go through the stats year over year for Orleans, and in the coming weeks you’ll see me and my team go through Barrhaven, Kanata, Stittsville, Nepean etc.

Here goes for Orleans:

Year over year, prices were DOWN 2% on average.

For the same time period, days on market were UP 46% on average.

Here are the stats:

 

April 2015

Detached   113 @ 443K in 31

Towns       54 @ 311K in 26

Condos       41 @ 311K in 47

 

April 2016

Detached   125 @437K in 41

Towns         55 @ 309K in 33

Condos       34 @ 219K in 51

 

What does this mean? If you are thinking of selling, you need to invest in a GOOD agent who can do some damage control and make sure you are getting as much money as possible. If you are looking to Buy, it’s a GREAT time to buy as prices are down on average and sellers are hurting a bit.

If you want some specific information on any type of home in any type of area – please call me at (613)739-5959 or email at Mevans@evanselattar.com

 

See you soon!

Real Estate - ANALYSIS

To Flip or Not to Flip?

We are well aware of the flipping craze that is taking both our nation and TLC by storm, and we have all certainly heard the perks and the drawbacks to pursuing these types of projects. We have heard many stories about impressive sums of money being both made and lost, and even our fair share of horror stories when it comes to the actual work that is done on the property. There is however, one aspect of a flip that I seldom hear anyone speak of : the COORDINATION efforts involved in making a flip a success. A word of warning for those contemplating a flip – this can become a full-time job! If you have a busy lifestyle as is – you may want to reconsider.

Not only does one person have to have done their homework in finding the right opportunity (a daunting task in itself), but the actual execution of the flip can require over a dozen different parties! Between architects, general contractors, bankers, mortgage specialists, realtors, and a half dozen subcontractors (minimum) – the amount of meetings and volume of correspondence is mind boggling. This doesn’t include the due diligence phase of hand picking the team members from a long and detailed list of potential candidates.

When you add up all the projected revenues and expenses from the project, do not forget to factor in the value of your time! When you figure out your initial projected timeline, factor in how valuable that time is to you, and subtract it from your profits to get a better idea of the true profit. Don’t forget to pay yourself!

 

Thoughts?

Real Estate - ANALYSIS

Lowest and Best Use?

Those familiar with Real Estate certainly know about the Highest and Best Use Principle. It states that the highest and best use of a property is one that produces the highest property value. Now while `highest` here doesn’t necessarily mean to build up, when I say LOWEST, I do however mean to build downwards – a little play on words. Now I have worked in buildings that had office space, workshops and gyms atleast 60 to 80- feet underground. If one watches the beginning phases of the construction of office towers, they will see what I am talking about. Now what if this principle was applied to other types of buildings? What if industrial buildings were to keep their warehouses underground? What if residential buildings had basements with 12 foot ceilings? Grocery stores and their stock, retailers and their clothes etc. With current technology, architecture and design, underground space need not be limited to boiler rooms or parking garages anymore – and it isn`t. If one spends about 5 minutes on GOOGLE, they can find magnificient examples of how the ground below us is being developed in certain parts of the world. What I am suggesting is thinking about how everyday development projects may make use of this concept. If landowners are looking to maximize the use of their land and make use of its potential – they should not only consider building up to maximize the surface area, but also those aspects of the development that may be just as well suited below ground.

What are your opinions on building underground?

Real Estate - ANALYSIS

Agricultural Innovation out of Necessity?

I have a Global Environmental Challenges class at the University of Ottawa, and we are currently focusing on population dynamics and the strain it is causing on the earth. It got me thinking… what may need to occur, or what would `save` the world if you will, is another agricultural revolution. With the whole `green movement` as of late, there has been a tremendous focus on innovation in Real Estate development. What is missing (in my opinion), is architectural innovation with respect to agricultural land development – building UP instead of OUT for example. I know there are already people working on these types of ideas – I have seen a picture or two. My question is… what do you think will happen to the value of agricultural land if (or maybe WHEN) there is another agricultural revolution, and new and innovative development is ALLOWED on agricultural land?

 

Is this something that you think could ever happen?

 

Global trends would have me believe that such an event may happen out of necessity (main driver of innovation), and when it does – the currently low valued AG land may skyrocket.