Losses - Disaster - Lower - Declining - Falling but Wait!

Losses - Disaster - Lower - Declining - Falling but Wait!

These words all sound like doom and gloom. This is an unprecedented time in Calgary's history, Covid-19, job losses, oil prices, fear, yes but what if you still want to sell your home or buy one? The housing market has, over the last few weeks, adjusted to the pandemic.

The Facts - Should You Buy Now?

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, April sales hit 573 units, a decline of 63 % over last year. CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie, said, "The combined impact of COVID-19 and the situation in the energy sector is causing housing demand to fall." But she also stated, "Demand is also falling faster than supply. This is keeping the market in buyers' territory and weighing on prices."

Buyers have Power

A greater share of home/condo sales has occurred in the lower price ranges. A homebuyer household earning $99,000, which is the median Metro Calgary household before-tax income, could get a mortgage that would be enough to buy for example a small condo. Maybe a $475,000 house is now achievable. Many sellers are uncertain about the state of the economy and more nervous about selling their home, which gives buyers increased power they normally don't have.

When will it End? Who Knows?

When the news of the world turns negative, you may be tempted to stop. During a shattered market economy it seems like the world is ending when you are in the middle of it. Time and again, when terrible events occurred, the same thing always happened, they ended. Throughout history when people seem to think the situation is hopeless, we always pulled through. This time should not be different.

Two examples of market extreme, is the internet bubble of the late 1990s and the stock market crash of 2008. In those moments, we saw the same headlines of doom and gloom. The trends kept going in the downward direction—until, that is, they didn't.

After the storm you may be happy you invested in something stable like a home. 

Several Incentives Help Cushion the Blow

There are many risk factors with Covid-19. Risks are events that may or may not happen. People need to live someplace. Why pay rent? A home is something many first-time buyers can now be hopeful for. The Federal Government, the Bank of Canada and the country’s biggest commercial banks are pulling out all the stops to try and head off a serious recession.

The central bank has cut interest rates spurring mortgage rates lower.  Banking regulators have loosened bank capital requirements to free up C$300 billion of lending capacity. Robert Hogue, senior economist at RBC Royal Bank says, "In all likelihood, this will be a temporary hit with a rebound taking place later this year once the COVID-19 situation settles down."

The Facts - Should You Sell Now?

Given the current recession combined with the pandemic, sellers may want to push ahead and sell. Home prices may not regain the current low levels because a Coronavirus-induced recession may inflict long-term economic damage.

If you're selling a home during the pandemic, you can expect technology to play a big role.  

For details on restrictions and challenges see my blog on What I Am Doing - Virtual Touring. https://yourhomeinalberta.blogspot.com/2020/03/what-i-am-doing-during-covid-19-pandemic.html

Carry on and Keep Calm and…

If you have questions give me a call, Chris at 403-680-4479

Holiday Greetings – A Recipe – Some Jokes

Holiday Greetings – A Recipe – Some Jokes

We will be enjoying our 1^st Christmas in our new house. It is an incredible dream-come-true. Our young children are especially excited and are assured that Santa has our new address.

Some of you may have been following my blogs about the trials and tribulations of a custom built home. They are a collection of real-life stories, honest and sincere and interesting to say the least.

We have some news. Although the wedding is some time in the future, Nancy and I are officially engaged. We are very happy. Life is good.

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas in all its formality, it has become a multi-denominational joyous time of the year. If you are lucky enough to live in Canada, it is a holiday. I hope you take this time off to have fun with your loved ones. Stay warm and safe and have a happy and healthy New Year in 2019. Please enjoy the recipe and jokes.

Our best wishes to you,

From Chris, Nancy, Meah and Nick (also in the picture are friend, Miles, Baba and Papa)

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN CURRY

INGREDIENTS

10- bone-in chicken thighs 2-3/4 lbs or 1.2 kg

1 Jar (650ml) thick and chunky salsa – mild or medium

1 onion chopped

2 Tbsp Curry Powder

½ cup Cream Cheese

DIRECTIONS

Place chicken in slow cooker.

Combine salsa, onion and curry powder and pour over chicken

Cook on Low 8-10 hours (or High for 5 hours)

Transfer chicken to platter. Cover and keep warm. Add cream cheese to slow cooker. Whisk until cream cheese is melted and sauce is well blended. Spoon over chicken and serve with rice or your favourite pasta.

Why don’t crabs celebrate Christmas? Because they’re shell-fish.

Where does Santa keep all his money? At the local snow bank.

What do you get when you mix a Christmas tree and an iPad? A pineapple!

Albi Custom-Built Home – Post-Possession Craziness

Albi Custom-Built Home – Post-Possession Craziness

Our New House – What a Mess

Our new house is a mess. There are SO many boxes everywhere. There is still furniture to build, TV’s to mount and we don’t know where anything is! On move-in day we we're crazy busy trying to get the essentials setup and put away, build the kids' beds and our own, get food in the fridge for breakfast and the kid's lunches for school the next day, everything in a rush. All day Thursday, both Nancy and I had been driving back and forth from the old house on 'E' in our vehicles with not a minute to stop at the gas station that we kept passing on every trip! At 11PM, going back to the other house for yet another load of little things, I ran out of gas… right in front of my driveway! It’s a lucky spot and I am also lucky that the Petro is open 24 hours so I am soon on my way with a Jerry-Can full of gas.

Drapes – Just in Time – Impressive Service

Window coverings are an important thing to consider. When your windows are completely open to the viewing public you feel exposed, especially at night! We plan for the drape company to be there right on possession-day to install our custom drapes!  They arrive just as the movers leave at 7:30PM. They continue installing drapes until almost 11:30 PM… what service! I have never been so impressed with the work ethic and care put into making sure we were all 'covered' up. The drapes look absolutely amazing and we are so very happy, Lynne’s Window Treatments gets a 10-out-of-10 from me, just superb.

 Closets / Pantry / Barn Doors – Looking Good

We removed all the wire shelving from the master closet and the pantry. These are major storage areas so without the shelves installed right away we had nowhere to put our stuff! We have Cherish Storage Solutions there on possession day at 11:30, right as we wrap up our possession walk-through and leave to rush off to meet the movers. They work hard all day and get things about half done but need to come back on Friday to finish. We are incredibly happy and impressed. I can't believe how good they look! Friday we also have the barn door people from Liken Woodworks arrive with our two barn doors, one for my office and one for the ensuite entrance. The office door is absolutely massive and very heavy! They struggle with it but it all fits perfectly. I thought to have backing installed prior to the drywall going up so they glide nice and smoothly! Everything is really coming together now!

Deck / Screened-in-Room / Fence – Wait We Need to Unpack!

There are still many other things to get done. We didn't intend to time this so closely together. The fence is scheduled to start in two weeks, the deck in three weeks and the screened-in-room in four weeks. Now that we are finally in and the interior work is basically done, we continue to unpack, organize, and unpack some more. We have a bridal shower planned here in eight days for a friend of Nancy's. Nancy is back to work and busy as ever with report cards to write and year-end preparations. She works until midnight every night and goes in on the weekend, too.

Bonus Room – A Bonus if You Have Kids

I do what I can during the days, juggling the kids' school schedule and my own work. The nice thing about the bonus room is that I can continue unpacking in the kitchen/dining room and still hear the kids playing upstairs in the bonus room. I guess that's a bonus! We manage to get most of the house ready for others to see it just in time for the bridal shower party!

Comments from Friends

Some of the comments from friends are, "Wow," McMansion!!! lol," and "Did you guys win the lottery?" The truth is, almost two years ago, now, we did some calculating and figured out that if we had a legal rental suite, it would help pay for the mortgage. The tenant moves in a day after us. So now rent is coming in. How else could we afford such a luxurious house? More on that in a future blog...

To view all my blogs visit Experience Counts: www.yourhomeinalberta.blogspot.com