Real Talk!

As usual, today started with coffee and email… then, on to research.
I pour over the news and the internet, searching for potential value enhancing acquisition opportunities for prospects.

I review new listings, mindful of these prospective Buyers, all with the same strategy: opportunistically investing in properties with the potential for significant capital appreciation.

They come out, in droves, during every economic downturn.

I research for Sellers, too. I look at trends, indicative of what’s happening in the broader housing market. The most pressing questions: What trends have been surfacing in the real estate market? Where is the housing market headed? How have current market conditions impacted the buying/selling process? What advice should be given to those entering the market for the first time?

Today’s big nugget:
In Toronto, the demand for homes priced at more than $1 million has been on the rise since January. In May, 273 homes were sold for more than $1 million each, compared to 258 sold in the same month one year earlier. That’s a difference of 6 per cent and it has set a record for the highest number of luxury home sales in the history of the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Ya, I’d say the rich are getting richer.

And then, I was derailed… (I suppose it’s not really that unusual- in fact, those are moments I relish)… when I noticed that the word snollygoster was showing up, twice, in today’s Google hot trends.

A funny long word, snollygoster was brought to us by the United States in the nineteenth century. The word is thought to have connections to German “schnelle geister” which means “quick spirit”, a snollygoster may be a mythical being that lives inside the body and steals all nutrition from the food you eat, leaving you hungry.

In earlier times, snollygoster was used to describe a mythical monster (half bird & half snake) that was said to swoop down, principally attacking chickens and small children. The story of snollygosters (the bird sort) is alleged to have started in Maryland, as a clever hoax, intended to keep the ex-slaves from going out to vote.

Other various (none of them particularly nice) definitions include:

crooked and flamboyant

One who is guided by personal advantage rather than by consistent, respectable principles

One who uses unprincipled or immoral methods

A shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician

A shrewd person not guided by principles

a rotten person who is driven by greed and self-interest

terrible storms that hit the eastern seaboard

A fellow who wants office, regardless of party, platform or principles, and who, whenever he wins, gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnacy

I stopped there… not wanting to explore or try to explain Talknophical Assumnacy.

Back to more serious matters….

A report from the Bank of Canada says household finances remain "reasonably healthy”. And most markets claim that prices, have for the most part, leveled off this year.

And… further to my recent blog about Gen X’ers: “The younger generation, whether they can afford it or not, go out and buy", a cottage area sales representative with RE/MAX reports, "They want it now."

Other reports confirm it's the more modestly priced properties that are in the greatest demand. Second-tier cottages, in particular, have seen an upswing in popularity due to affordability and supply. (second-tier meaning not directly on the water). Seasonal cottages are more sought after, as well… and for the same reasons.

The 2009 Royal LePage Recreational Property Report (a nationwide survey of Canadian attitudes towards recreational property and a market analysis of recreational property prices, trends and activity in selected leisure markets across the country)was released yesterday.

According to the poll:

The three most important features of a recreational property are peace and quiet (58 per cent), access to utilities (50 per cent) and four-season use (39 per cent).

Other highly rated features include access to boating and fishing (23%), proximity to amenities (18%), ecologically friendly or "green" sites (17%) and year-round activities and sunsets tied with 16%.

Rounding out the top 10 were docks (15%) and deep water (9%)

Nine out of ten Ontarians love the cottage life.

Two-thirds(68 per cent) think a cottage is a good investment. More than half are willing to make financial or lifestyle changes to own a recreational property, including making a cottage their primary residence (17 per cent), renting out their cottage (15 per cent) and purchasing with family and friends (13 per cent).

“To pursue their dream of buying a recreational property,
55 per cent of Canadians would be willing to make compromises with regards to their financial or lifestyle choices, such as purchasing a property with family and friends, renting out their cottage, making a cottage their primary residence, buying a fixer-upper, or moving into a smaller principal home in the city.”

RLP says “Recreational properties still considered a safe long-term investment.” … and that most consumers believe that owning a recreational property is “the ultimate, no-hassle 'staycation' and one that presents an opportunity to invest while they enjoy."

Last year “staycation” became the buzzword as budgets tightened and plans to travel were curtailed by gas prices and soaring airfares. This year, staycations are being seriously planned, filled with activities exploring and enjoying the things people don’t normally have time to do.

& this all fits into the greater Haliburton, Bancroft, Barry’s Bay areas. After all, we have a cultural paradise right here, in our own backyards.