OK, I've just gotta say this................

[Adair]

I LOVE being able to wear shorts!! I'm so freakin' tired of boots and warm clothes!! Thanks to the weather gods for giving us an 80* day!!

[Laurel]

Ditto Adair!  We aren't as warm as Michigan, but we were 14C today with beautiful sunshine.  I had Tip out at the garden shops looking for more plants.  Unfortunately I will have to cover my plants tonight as we expect ground frost but Spring is here.  Tip got 4.0 L per 100 kilometers today (58 mpg) on some 40 kilometer trips.  That is the Canadian EPA prediction on my window sticker.

[Jus-A-CMax]

Huh...I am in shorts all the time :sing_rain:  I think the weather gods live over here... :rockon:

[Laurel]

Armoredsaint may lift his eyebrows over the year round shorts as he doesn't like withe socks and Jesus sandals, Jus I have an image of you running around appraising houses wearing bermuda khaki shorts with Jesus sandals (no white socks though) LOL.

Edited May 2, 2013 by Laurel

[Jus-A-CMax]

Armoredsaint may lift his eyebrows over the year round shorts as he doesn't like withe socks and Jesus sandals, Jus I have an image of you running around appraising houses wearing bermuda khaki shorts with Jesus sandals (no white socks though) LOL.

Don't laugh, my buddy appraiser does that all day long. However, I have to say, the high and I mean > $2M end clients require the trousers, short and leather shoes, presentation is a must. However, thats not to say a guy in the Bermuda short and floral hawaiian shirt can't do jus a good a job....jus sayin' ;)

 

It suppose to be really windy today but right now as I am posting this, it is gorgeous outside...*sigh* and I have reports to type up :doh:

[armoredsaint]

Armoredsaint may lift his eyebrows over the year round shorts as he doesn't like withe socks and Jesus sandals, Jus I have an image of you running around appraising houses wearing bermuda khaki shorts with Jesus sandals (no white socks though) LOL.

 

 

:hysterical:  :shift:

[Laurel]

Don't laugh, my buddy appraiser does that all day long. However, I have to say, the high and I mean > $2M end clients require the trousers, short and leather shoes, presentation is a must. However, thats not to say a guy in the Bermuda short and floral hawaiian shirt can't do jus a good a job....jus sayin' ;)

 

It suppose to be really windy today but right now as I am posting this, it is gorgeous outside...*sigh* and I have reports to type up :doh:

Jus how is the real estate market in your neck of the woods?  In Vancouver, we have some of the highest house prices in the world, but there is a huge correction happening here.  The Canadian government fears a big crash like  in the States so they have tightened up mortgage qualifications i.e. increasing down payments, shortened the number of years that it can be amortized over.  This makes it harder for first time buyers.  The average house price here is about $550,000 according to stats.  But that sort of low price only happens way out in suburbia.  In my neighbourhood, the average family home is about $850,000 for approx. 3,000 sq. ft.  The housing market is flat.  In the past, people would estimate the selling price on BC  Tax Assessments and add about 10% to get a listing price ie. tax assessment would be $775,000--so the owner would list for $850,000.  Now very little sells unless it is listed at the Tax Assessment price.  So in effect in the past year there has been at least a 10% drop in house prices.  Very few sellers out there right now, and even fewer buyers.  We sold our farm in 2011 and actually got lucky and got it sold before this correction occurred.  None of our neighbours can sell their farms now. I am just curious how real estate in your area as I watch a lot of HGTV and in certain places in the States so many of the houses are short sales (we don't have that concept here.  We do have some foreclosures, but it is very rare.)

[RachelnLa]

High today was 82. High tomorrow is 64. Capris with a sweater lol

[SnowStorm]

Looks like "Groundhog Day" weather in Virginia - highs of 69 or 70 for the next 6 days!

[Laurel]

Looks like "Groundhog Day" weather in Virginia - highs of 69 or 70 for the next 6 days!

Does that mean that you think that is cold?  Hey we are drinking beer and barbequing in celebration and we didn't hit 65 today.  You are spoiled.

 

Oops I just googled the conversion of 14C, and I guess I am hardier than I thought as it was only 57 F and I was out in shorts and tee shirt and was giddy with the warm temps and thrilled that my mileage got down to 4.0L.  You really are spoiled LOL.

Edited May 2, 2013 by Laurel

[Jus-A-CMax]

Jus how is the real estate market in your neck of the woods?  In Vancouver, we have some of the highest house prices in the world, but there is a huge correction happening here.  The Canadian government fears a big crash like  in the States so they have tightened up mortgage qualifications i.e. increasing down payments, shortened the number of years that it can be amortized over.  This makes it harder for first time buyers.  The average house price here is about $550,000 according to stats.  But that sort of low price only happens way out in suburbia.  In my neighbourhood, the average family home is about $850,000 for approx. 3,000 sq. ft.  The housing market is flat.  In the past, people would estimate the selling price on BC  Tax Assessments and add about 10% to get a listing price ie. tax assessment would be $775,000--so the owner would list for $850,000.  Now very little sells unless it is listed at the Tax Assessment price.  So in effect in the past year there has been at least a 10% drop in house prices.  Very few sellers out there right now, and even fewer buyers.  We sold our farm in 2011 and actually got lucky and got it sold before this correction occurred.  None of our neighbours can sell their farms now. I am just curious how real estate in your area as I watch a lot of HGTV and in certain places in the States so many of the houses are short sales (we don't have that concept here.  We do have some foreclosures, but it is very rare.)

It depends on the neighborhood as to how WILD the market is. Short sales/REO marketed in the MLS may be a factor especially in the > $500K markets. High ends see very little of these distresed sales and the market is basically holding values. There are odd ones where the guy spent $1.8M and its now down to $1.3M - big loss and this guy wants to refi, its ain't happening buddy. The Dodd-Frank act has basically done the same thing as what your govt is doing -its very tough and you need 20% regardless of your credit rating to qualify as a "compliant buyer" - we don't decide who gets the loans or not, we just assess if the guy/gal has overpaid or not for a refi or new purchase. The DF act has changed things, which was meant to be good for the market but like every other govt compliance, there are un-intended consequences where its hurting the good buyers. In the past, it was 10 1st and 10 2nd and you didn't need to have PMI so basically unless u have excellent credit, work history and huge deposit, its tough. We know the banks have the monies but they ain't lending - but u know what, on the otherside, home owners are not selling either which is why we have to sometimes go back 6 - 12 months for the comps, when a year ago, we had plenty of comps less than 1 month old...

 

As for selling price - I don't see people use the tax assessment values over here as selling price, but then again, I am not a realtor. Most people still use nearby sales and perhaps add 3% to 5%. The thing is that is the property being bought comes under value, the buyer is required to makeup the difference in most times. Occassionally, the seller may drop the price, it all depends but the trend over here is that buyer picks up the diff..making the deposit even bigger. I know one house I did was sold for $1.39 and it came in $1.30..thats 90K that now has to be made up...but thats the way the chip falls. Other cons with tax assessments is that a) it's an automatic model, so you have an average and does not consider any amenities or conditions b) over here people want their assessments low and sometimes they will order an appraisal to fight the tax guy c) using it, you are not utilizing the market especially on the increasing trends so you're missing out. I dunno, it sounds too weird to me to do that but I don't live in Canada nor follow the way of thinking there, not even sure if they have the same standard of appraisal practice.

 

On the flipside, where I live, its got zero arms length activity, lots of short sales (bad, bad, bad) and yes, it's the sub $500K areas so we are still getting hit. In 2006, my place was worth just a tad under $1M. C'est la vie.

Edited May 2, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[RetiredJohn]

I LOVE being able to wear shorts!! I'm so freakin' tired of boots and warm clothes!! Thanks to the weather gods for giving us an 80* day!!

Don't live here but visiting in Rochester Mn.  15 inches of snow today........no shorts here, other than those under my pants  :hysterical:

[Adair]

u

 

Don't live here but visiting in Rochester Mn.  15 inches of snow today........no shorts here, other than those under my pants  :hysterical:

I just saw pictures that my SIL posted on FB of the snow in Rochester!! Just glad I'm not there!!

[ScubaDadMiami]

It depends on the neighborhood as to how WILD the market is. Short sales/REO marketed in the MLS may be a factor especially in the > $500K markets. High ends see very little of these distresed sales and the market is basically holding values. There are odd ones where the guy spent $1.8M and its now down to $1.3M - big loss and this guy wants to refi, its ain't happening buddy. The Dodd-Frank act has basically done the same thing as what your govt is doing -its very tough and you need 20% regardless of your credit rating to qualify as a "compliant buyer" - we don't decide who gets the loans or not, we just assess if the guy/gal has overpaid or not for a refi or new purchase. The DF act has changed things, which was meant to be good for the market but like every other govt compliance, there are un-intended consequences where its hurting the good buyers. In the past, it was 10 1st and 10 2nd and you didn't need to have PMI so basically unless u have excellent credit, work history and huge deposit, its tough. We know the banks have the monies but they ain't lending - but u know what, on the otherside, home owners are not selling either which is why we have to sometimes go back 6 - 12 months for the comps, when a year ago, we had plenty of comps less than 1 month old...

 

As for selling price - I don't see people use the tax assessment values over here as selling price, but then again, I am not a realtor. Most people still use nearby sales and perhaps add 3% to 5%. The thing is that is the property being bought comes under value, the buyer is required to makeup the difference in most times. Occassionally, the seller may drop the price, it all depends but the trend over here is that buyer picks up the diff..making the deposit even bigger. I know one house I did was sold for $1.39 and it came in $1.30..thats 90K that now has to be made up...but thats the way the chip falls. Other cons with tax assessments is that a) it's an automatic model, so you have an average and does not consider any amenities or conditions b) over here people want their assessments low and sometimes they will order an appraisal to fight the tax guy c) using it, you are not utilizing the market especially on the increasing trends so you're missing out. I dunno, it sounds too weird to me to do that but I don't live in Canada nor follow the way of thinking there, not even sure if they have the same standard of appraisal practice.

 

On the flipside, where I live, its got zero arms length activity, lots of short sales (bad, bad, bad) and yes, it's the sub $500K areas so we are still getting hit. In 2006, my place was worth just a tad under $1M. C'est la vie.

I live in Foreclosure Central: South Florida.  Yet, nobody learned anything.  There are bidding wars in certain property sectors . . . again.  People are paying in excess of appraised value . . . again.  We went from 2 years of inventory to shortages (in certain property types).  There is a building on one side of the street that has all bank owned (REO) foreclosed properties, and a developer is going full ahead with new construction of another project just across the street from the first building.

 

It is just a matter of time before everything is back almost as it was.  (BTW, former wholesale account executive for companies like Greenpoint, Option One.  I am out of the biz since the crash, a sort of forced early retirement.  Now, I am a dive bum!)  

 

Now, back to your thread, and sorry for my participation in the hijack. 

[SnowStorm]

Does that mean that you think that is cold?  Hey we are drinking beer and barbequing in celebration and we didn't hit 65 today.  You are spoiled.

 

Oops I just googled the conversion of 14C, and I guess I am hardier than I thought as it was only 57 F and I was out in shorts and tee shirt and was giddy with the warm temps and thrilled that my mileage got down to 4.0L.  You really are spoiled LOL.

Sorry, I was referring to some movie by that name (never really saw it) where the guy kept re-living the same day over and over.  But with about 6C lows, 20C highs, plenty of sun, green grass, red buds blooming - nope, there's not much complainin' about the weather right now!

 

And I say stick with metric - we're the ones who should do the converting!  :headscratch:

[Jus-A-CMax]

^jus don't start quoting "stones" as weighting measurements ;)

[SnowStorm]

Or Furlongs/Firkin for fuel efficiency?