Winnipeg's Real Estate Podcast (Audio versions)

Hey there, home buyers!

Here is why waiting for rates to adjust is not a winning strategy.   Rates will go up, down or stay the same.  But no matter WHAT they do, buyers who sit on the fence now may end up losing .

Lets take a look at how The numbers of sales and listings for houses and condos on August 1st, stack up against the previous month, and also against the previous year.  For sales figures, we look at the sales that occurred during the month of July, but this year, and 2022. Currently in Winnipeg, we have 1282 houses listed and available on the MLS,  That's up from the 1196 on July 1st, and its actually VERY similar to the number of houses available on Aug 1st LAST YEAR, which was 1263. During the month of July, we sold 693 houses in Winnipeg, with an additional 17 still showing as ‘Pending' so a potential total sales of 710. Compare that to the 843 sold in June, and you can see we're down  around 15% over the previous month. Even more important however, is comparing the stats year over year.  So the number this year was 710, in in July '22 that number was 789,  so we are down 10% over last year as well. In addition, Winnipeg REALTORS reports that the average detached home price is up 2% from same period last year. During July we sold 8 homes at 1 million and more.  The most expensive home sold was in Tuxedo at 4.7 million, and it only took 14 days on the market. To summarize the housing market, let me say this:  The numbers of available listings are at a normal level, while sales are down 10 to 15%.  Winnipeg is currently a much more buyer-friendly market, especially in the 250K to 500K range.  Sales in THIS range are actually down 20%, which makes it a little easier for buyers to find and get a home.   So now lets turn our attention to the condo market in Winnipeg. On august 1st,  we have 369 Condos available for sale, which is up from the 349 on July 1st.  This year's 369 is very comparable to last years 365, so the amount of available inventory is pretty stable, year over year During July we sold 171 condos with another 13 showing as pending, so a potential total sale of 184 units.  While that's down 10% from the 206 we sold in June this year, its actually UP 10% from the 160 units we sold in July of LAST YEAR. This year, condos have been bucking the prevailing trend, and have outperformed houses in Winnipeg.  I maintain that a 300K condo will be a nicer place than a similarly priced house. And with interest rates a little higher than we've been used to, condos offer a reasonably priced alternative to houses in Winnipeg.

Is spring 2023 turning into a great 'Buyers Market'? When comparing listings and sales, year over year, there is no doubt that numbers are looking favorable for home and condo buyers in Winnipeg.  Let's take a look at the stats of the month of April 22 and April 23. As we can see from the 'ALL MLS' graph, active available listings (all types of houses and condos) are up 70% over last year, same time. They are actually right in line with the 5-yr average of available listings (3,548) At the same time, property sales are down by 24% from last year......  as well as being down 17% from the 5 yr average. Detached Homes in Winnipeg The numbers for stand-along houses (detached homes) is even more telling.  The active listings for the Winnipeg Real Estate Board area are 1,761, which is nearly double (+84%) of the active listings in April 2022, which were 956. At the same time, sales are off by 25% when compared to last year.  So these numbers alone would suggest a nod towards a buyers market.  Since there are MORE HOMES for sale, and FEWER sales happening, buyers overall face less competition, more choices and fewer bidding wars.  But the story does not end there.  Take a look at the average prices: Last year the average detached home sold for $447,295 while this year its $409,286,  a drop of 9%.  A third sign of a buyers market. Increased Inventory Lower buyer activity Lower home prices Attached Homes in Winnipeg How about the so-called attached homes.  These are side-by-sides and townhomes.  Home builders have been constructing these as an alternative for first time buyers.  Since they use less land, and less building material, they are quite a bit cheaper to build.  Let's see how those are faring: Here active listings are actually more than double, going from 122 in 2022 to 252 this year.  Sales are off 28%,  from 109 last year to 79 in April 2023.  And prices are also down 28%, to an average of $326,995. So the story is very much the same as it is with detached homes.......more availability, less competition among buyers and lower prices to boot. Condominiums in Winnipeg Does the story repeat for condos in Winnipeg as well? Yes, but not the same extreme. The 484 available condominiums are a 42% increase over last year, which sales are off by 24%.  Last April we sold 224 condos, whereas this year we only sold 171.  However prices have remained fairly stable, dropping just 1% for the average sale, from $261,802 last year to $258,571 this year. What about interest rates? While all those numbers point to a more buyer-friendly environment, some folks point to the higher interest rates as a deterrent.  Here is another way to look at this "Interest rates will go up and down, but the purchase price is forever." Unless you're lucky (or wealthy enough) to pay your mortgage off in 5 yrs, you will most likely have to re-new it a few times.  Each time you will be subject to the current interest rates of the day. Your mortgage payment will, of course, be based on your current outstanding debt.  And right now, you can buy a house for around 10% less than last year.  PLUS have more homes to choose from, AND fewer bidding wars than last year. All of this adds up to an encouraging sign for home buyers. If you're interested in exploring your options, and see how much home your current pre-approval will buy for you, call me to set up a free buyer consultation.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Saturday, May 6h, 2023…   Today is National Homebrew Day and International No Diet Day.   As a home buyer, do you know the difference between being a customer and being a client?   If you're going to open houses or calling different agents asking them to show you their listings, you are a ‘customer'.   The agent you are speaking with is required, by law, to do his best for his home-seller.  As such, the agent only owes you honest answers to direct questions. The agent is actually required to tell his home-seller any information he learns about you.    However, if you are working with your own home-buyer agent, you are now, in law, considered a client.  YOUR agent owes you certain responsibilities and duties, such as protecting your privacy and financial interest.   Here is the kicker:  There is no monetary cost to being moving from being a customer, to becoming a client.   Thinking of buying a house or condo?  Call me right now to set up a free home buyer consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Sunday, April 30th, 2023…   Today is, National Oatmeal cookie day, Nat. Bugs Bunny Day and National Adopt a shelter pet day   Let's give a shoutout to that last reference, the Shelter-Pet adoption day. Here in Winnipeg we are privileged to have Western Canada's largest ‘for-life' pet shelter in the form of D'Arcy's Animal Rescue Centre, located at 730 Century St. In operation for over 22 yrs, D'arcys ARC has saved over 16,000 cats and dogs.   As a registered charity, your donations are tax deductible, so please join me in supporting this wonderful cause.   Winnipegs spring market, although delayed, is starting to heat up.  Here are a couple of sales in the past week:   2 story home in River part south was listed at $400K and sold for 61K OVER asking.   A side by side in All Seasons Estates sold for $320K,  which was 30K over asking.   A 900 ft bungalow in West Ft Garry sold for 77k over asking   Even homes outside of the city are getting some love:  1300 ft bungalow near Ile Des Chenes on a 1 acre lot sold for 30K over asking.   A common refrain I hear from buyers  is:  “I'll never get involved in a bidding war”.  Truth bomb:  don't kid yourself.  If you go out and LOVE a house, most buyers would put in an offer and voila….you're in a bidding war, like it or not.   Who is winning these bidding wars?  The buyers who are best prepared and ready to go.  Call me right now to set up a free home buyer consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Monday, April 24th, 2023…   Today is National Bucket List Day and Pics in a blanket Day   Today, let's talk a little about home staging.  When hearing the word, a lot of people might envision a long, involved process, including movers, decorators and stagers. In reality, even a few touch ups and clean ups can make a huge impact. Over the next few days we'll look at several areas where a little diy and elbow grease will go a long way to make a great first impression.   For today, I'll focus on an often forgotten aspect of staging….  Offensive odours:   Odours are usually traced to any of 3 sources:  Pet, smoking or cooking. The problem is that home owners often no longer notice these smells, as they get used to them. But a non-smoking buyer, for example, will immediately pick up on the distinctive smell of cigarettes or cigars.   I just showed a house that had an overwhelming cat odor it was like a punch in the face stepping into the home.   Adding to the problem is the fact that many listing agents just don't feel comfortable addressing this issue head-on.  How do you tell a home seller that their home has offensive odors?  Doing so might cause the owner to go with a different agent, one who is more effusive and complimentary and tells the seller just how beautiful their home is.   Take it from me…..  offensive odors can cost you serious money in lost offers, and lowball offers.    Thinking of selling?  Call me right now to set up a free home seller consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Saturday, April 22nd, 2023…   Today is National Jelly Bean Day and International Earth Day   According to a new RateHub research, Canadians will need an annual income of $217,000 in Toronto to finance an average home.  That's a lot of jelly beans   Even though the city's average home price has dropped by more than $200,000, the income required is actually 6,250 more than was required a year ago.   According to RateHub co-CEO James Laird, Canadians now need to earn more money to buy a home due to rising interest rates and a 7.54 percent stress test rate.   According to the survey, homebuyers in nine of ten Canadian cities must earn between $5,650 and $21,360 more in annual income than they did last year in order to afford a home.  The only city where you can buy a home with less income than a year ago is Hamilton ONT, which requires nearly 5K LESS in annual income than a year ago.  Reason is that Hamiltons average home dropped around 20% in value, which more than makes up for the rise in interest rates.   Lets take a look at some of the cities in this report   The average Vancouver home dropped by $119,600 March over March, but the income required rose by 21K  to   221,220/year.    Calgary got the double whammy.  House prices went UP 5,600 on average  (the only city with an increase in property values).  Add the higher interest rates, and required income went from $91  to $110,000/year   The only 2 cities in the report with home values below $400K where Edmonton and Winnipeg. In Edmonton, you need an annual income of just shy of $82K, while in Winnipeg, $75,650 is enough to buy an ‘average home'..   Thinking of buying?  Call me right now to set up a free home buyer consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Thursday, April 20th, 2023…   Today is National 420 Day, Volunteer Recog. Day and Nat. Cheddar Fries Day   You may be wondering where the housing market will go from here as it continues to evolve. You've probably heard something about a price crash on the horizon in the news or on social media.   According to a recent Zonda survey, 53% of millennials are still renting because they are waiting for property prices to fall. But here's the thing: according to the most current data, housing prices appear to have bottomed out and are now on the upswing. CoreLogic's Chief Economist, Selma Hepp, reports:   "U.S. home prices rose by 0.8% in February... indicating that prices in most markets have already bottomed out."   So, should you hold off on purchasing a property till prices fall? If you consider what the experts say, you probably shouldn't. According to the data, prices are rising rather than falling across much of the country.   According to the most recent Home Price Expectation Survey data, experts predict that home prices will grow slowly and revert to more normal levels of appreciation after 2023.   Working with a local real estate professional who can provide you with the most up-to-date information and expert advice is the best approach to understand what house values are doing in your region.   Thinking of buying?  Call me right now to set up a free home buyer consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Monday, April 17th, 2023…   Today is National Crawfish Day and Bat appreciation day   (the mammal, not the stick)   Just a few weeks ago, we were wondering if cheap credit and government-led relief measures would stop Canada's real estate market from going down.   According to figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) that came out this morning, the benchmark home price went up a lot in March. Canadian Real Estate Prices Jump $12k Last month.   In March, the average home went up 1.7%, or $12,300, to $727,700.   It comes after a 1.0% rise (+$7,100) in February and is the second increase in a month since the correction started.   Even though two months doesn't seem like much, it's enough to change the direction of the annual trend.   In March, home prices dropped by 15.5%, or $133,300 as compared to last year.   The 12-month drop is the biggest fall in CREA's benchmark's history. Since the standard only goes back to 2005, it's hard to say how this compares to the correction in the 1990s.   At the same time, this might be the fastest rate of turnaround. Prices of properties don't move in a straight line, so it's too early to tell what will happen.   For more on this report, go to https://boknows.homes/8c2f1d90   Here in Winnipeg, we should also focus on one figure that I just mentioned:  The benchmark home in Canada sits at 727K???   Not around Winnipeg, where you can get a really nice, detached bungalow for about half that amount.  In fact, I just listed a nice 1300 ft bungalow on an acre property just south of Ile des Chenes for $350K.   Thinking of buying?  Call me right now to set up a free home buyer consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Saturday, April 15th, 2023…   Today is Nat. Laundlry Day, Glazed Spiral Ham Day and take a guess…..its Nat. Take  a wild guess day   Should you consider buying a brand-new condo?  Wanna make some quick cash by buying pre-construction units?   We've all heard the stories of real estate investors and speculators purchasing pre-construction condos in major markets such as Vancouver and Toronto.   The story goes like this:  They buy a $700K unit before they are even built, and at possession time, the units are worth 800K, 900k or even more.   I know of some Vancouver investors who came to Winnipeg back in 2008 and tried that with a brand new condo building along wellington Cr. They were sorely disappointed when they tried to sell a year after possession and couldn't even get their money back.   Winnipeg's new condo market can be compared to the new car market.  We all know what happens when you drive your new car off the lot, right?   Same thing happens to your brand new condo.  Live in it for a year, and it's no longer brand new, but if you try and sell, you'll be up against other units in the same building, still being sold by the builder at the brand new prices.   There really is only ONE situation when you should consider buying a brand new condo in Winnipeg:  It's when you plan on living in that unit for at least 6-10 years.  Why?   There is actually a drop in your value for the first couple of years, which should correct itself over time…..say 6-10 yrs.     So if you are certain you'll own and enjoy your new condo for at least that long…I say go for it. But if there is a chance you need to sell in the next 5 years, consider a resale condo, where the values have already stabilized. Thinking of buying?  Call me right now to set up a free home buyer consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Friday, April 14th, 2023…   Today is National Gardening Day, National Pecan Day and National Ex Spouse Day.   Yesterday we opened up the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board Market report for March 2023, and saw that listings were up, sales were down, and prices of detached homes were down by 12%   Total let's look at attached homes and condos.  First, attached homes which are side by sides and townhouse style buildings.   Here, available listings are more than double the number last year, up 132% while sales are down around 31%,  Prices have dropped around 6 % from an average of $349k to a little over $328. Itt should be noted that  builders love to build these townhouse style homes because they are more cost-effective.  The property size is smaller, and thus cheaper, and these 2, 3 and 4-piece units are cheaper to construct.   Next, condominiums are in a similar boat.  Numbers of available listings are up, although not as much as attached homes.  Listings are up 35% and sales are down by the same 35%.  Prices are also down 6% over last year, from an average 260K to just $245K.   Condos also offer a great way to get into home ownership at a lower cost.  However, BEFORE you buy a brand new construction condo, listen to my next episode as I will share a couple of thoughts on this topic.  You are NOT going to want to miss this, so please listen BEFORE you make that type of decision.   Thinking of buying?  Call me right now to set up a free home buyer consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Come back tomorrow when we'll dive into the attached homes and condo market stats for the month.   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Thursday, April 13th, 2023…   Today is National Peach Cobbler Day and National Scrabble Day   The Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board has just released it's MLS stats for March.  While sales and listings are on the increase when compared to the previous month, they still lag well behind the craziness of 2022.   In March we saw a total of 1,014 MLS sales in total, which is down from the over 1400 in March last year, and also down from the 5 yr average, which sits at 1300 sales for that one month.   The largest difference is in the sales and prices of stand-alone houses, called detached homes.  Sales in March of 698 homes is down 28% from the same time last year, and 21% lower than the 5 yr average.   As for prices, the average detached home sold for $386,800, which is down 12% from the average last year, which sat at $439.900.   Active listings in this type of home are up over double from last year. So definitely the bright spot here is for home buyers:  More than double the numbers of available listings, prices have gone down 12% and fewer competing buyers in the market. All this means that right now we are in a much more buyer-friendly market here in Winnipeg.   Thinking of buying?  Call me right now to set up a free home buyer consultation, either in person or via zoom.   204-333-2202   Come back tomorrow when we'll dive into the attached homes and condo market stats for the month.   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Monday, April 10th, 2023…   Today is National Siblings Day and National Cinnamon Crescent day   A newly published article in Better Dwellings reports the fact that Canadian real estate owners are not selling right now, and examines the reasons why.   The article reports that two of Canada's trend leading markets, Toronto and Vancouver, saw new listings in March fall by 44% and 34% respectively.   They identify the main reason as being ‘little reason to sell'.  Higher interest rates ‘normally' cause prices to drop, but that's not happening this time around.    The report somewhat falsely claims that the shortage of listings is a country wide phenomenon, affecting all markets.  For the full report, go here;  https://boknows.homes/4b74e290   But again, Winnipeg is bucking the national trend.   On April 1st this year, Winnipeg had 961 houses of all types, styles and sizes available for sale.  That was more than double the numbers available on April 1st last year.  While we can agree that last year's 426 houses was an abnormally low number, April 2021 still only had 615 available.  We have to go back to the very start of the pandemic, to find over 1,000 listings on any April 1st date.   So Winnipeg right now is actually seeing more choices for buyers than at anytime in the past 2 yrs.  How about prices.   The most recent report from Winnipeg REALTORS shows that the average house in Feb. this year sold for $375k,  which is down 13% from the average of 429K the same period of the previous year.   The March sales stats should be out in the next day, and I'll be happy to report them here…     Looking to buy or sell in Winnipeg?  I am a, Accredited Buyer Representative, AND Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and can help you buy or sell any  house or condo in Winnipeg and surrounding areas.  Call me anytime at 204-333-2202 Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Friday, April 7th, 2023…   Today is Good Friday, National Beer Day and Nat. No Housework Day   According to new research from Zillow, some luxury features may help you sell your home for more money or faster than you thought.   The real estate website looked at 271 design terms and features that would be included in nearly 2 million home sales in 2022.   Two chef-friendly features that helped homes sell for more were steam ovens and pizza ovens. Steam ovens helped push prices up by 5.3% compared to similar homes without them, and pizza ovens helped push prices up by 3.7%.   Professional appliances, "she sheds," quartz counters, and hurricane storm shutters where among the top 10 features which helped increase the prices.   Zillow also looked at which features helped houses sell faster than expected.   The top of that list was doorbell cameras, open shelving, heat pumps, fenced yards, hardwood; and gas furnaces.   Looking for a luxury home in Winnipeg?  I am a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and can help you buy or sell any luxury property, house or condo in Winnipeg and surrounding areas.  Call me anytime at 204-333-2202 Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Thursday, April 6th, 2023… Today is National Burrito Day, New Beers Eve and Nat. Employee Benefits Day Growing demand for homes has made its way up to the higher end of the Canadian real estate market. In most of the country's major markets, luxury sales went up in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.   RE/MAX Canada looked at luxury market patterns in 15 locations across the country, from coast to coast. They discovered that the significant loss of home stock is pushing up prices at lower price points and increasing demand.  10 of the 15 markets that were looked at are on par with or ahead of Q4 2022. As sales and temperatures rise, this pattern is likely to keep going until the second quarter of 2023.  Calgary and Hamilton saw the largest jumps at 34% and 39% respectively.   A lot of the activity is thought to be due to demand that has been building up since the middle of 2022. Buyers are taking advantage of the chance they have right now to buy a property. Listings, on the other hand, are hard to come by in most parts of the country, making it hard to find the ideal home. In summary, the report identified 3 trends:  1)    Overall national demand for luxury homes has increased 2)    Sidelined buyers are back, and 3)    The activity is expected on continue and rise. Once again, Winnipeg is one of 5 cities bucking the trend, although just barely. Luxury home sales were down in St. Johns NFLD by 68%, Edmonton AB by 30%, Kelowna BC by 17% and London ONT by 9%.  Winnipeg saw the smallest drop at only 3.8%.   Looking for a luxury home in Winnipeg?  I am a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and can help you buy or sell any luxury property, house or condo in Winnipeg and surrounding areas.  Call me anytime at 204-333-2202 Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Wednesday, April 5th, 2023…   Today is First day of Passover, Nat. Deep Dish Pizza Day and fittingly, Nat. Walking Day   The largest oceanfront single-family property in Miami came back to the market on Tuesday. They tried selling this thing last year, and despite the jaw-dropping 100-million price, the 1.5-acre estate is being marketed as a teardown.  BONUS: the new owner will also receive approved plans for a new 10-bedroom, 30,000-square-foot home.  (the contruction of which is NOT included)   The property is currently owned by Edith Newman and her late husband, Joel Newman, founder of Craig Electronics, since 1995 and has been custom built with nine bedrooms and 12 bathrooms across 25,867 square feet.   Golden Beach is known as a very upscale community, with a small population of approximately 364 households, and celebrity residents include Bill Gates and Eric Clapton.   For more info, see the article here  https://boknows.homes/91ea0500     Meanwhile, back on earth, the largest home on the market in Winnipeg is a 5900 sq ft 2-storey home in E St Paul.  Built in 2002, it is currently asking 2.5 million and has been on the market for 81 days   The most expensive house in Winnipeg is a newly listed, 4400 sq ft 2 storey home in Tuxedo, built in 2022 and asking 4.2 million   To see these or any other house or condo on the market, contact me anytime Bo Kauffmann with REMAX at 204-333-2202

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Tuesday, April 4th, 2023…   Today is Nat. School Librarian Day, Vitamin C Day and Hug a Newsperson Day  (or podcaster)    At least one major Canadian Bank thinks that house prices in Canada are poised to dramatically go up.  Scotiabank points out that the Band of Canada and the Fed Government are acting in opposing fashion, and that the Federal Govt might just win this race.   While the Bank of Canada has been keeping interest rates higher to cool the housing market, the Fed's policies are stimulating the real estate market.  Policies like increased immigration and the new Tax Free Home Buyer Savings Plan are encouraging buyers to enter a housing market that is low on supply, at least nationally.   For more info, read this article here:  https://boknows.homes/e6988560   Speaking of housing affordability…   RBC has devised an ‘affordability measure'  which is based on the percentage of income a typical household would spend on home ownership costs.    Nationally, the average is at 62.8%.  But in the late stages of 2022, Vancouver hit the ridiculous mark of 98.1%, making it the most unaffordable city in which to own a home.  The average MLS price for a home in greater Vancouver is 1.2 Million dollars.   For more info, read this article here:   https://boknows.homes/9d515310   Meanwhile, back in River City, the average house is around $340,000, and the average condo around $240,000. And unlike the national average, our market has plenty of homes to choose from….at least for now.   Add us to your Daily Routine on Alexa.  Go here to add to Alexa in the Canadian Skill Store. Are you interested in more in-depth real estate information?  Check out our podcast, available on most podcast platforms. Do you have an Android Phone?  Add our Free Podcast App Here. Do you have an I-Phone?  Here is our iOS version of the podcast app.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Monday, April 3rd, 2023…   Today is World Party Day, National Choc Mousse Day and here it's Market Monday.   Being the 1st Monday of the month, lets take a look at the local market conditions.   On April 1st, we had 961 houses of all types, styles and price ranges available for sale in Winnipeg. Last year that number was 426.  So we have more than double the number of homes for sale than we did last year same time.   On the sales side of the equation, we sold 520 homes in March this year, compared to 773 same time last year.   So available homes are up over 100%, while sales are DOWN around 35%.  It's a great market for buyers.  And with interest rates having stabilized in the past month, things are looking great if you're interested in buying a home.   What about Condos?  On April 1st, we had 318 Condos available in Winnipeg, compared to just 247 same day last year.  So again, inventory is up nearly 30%   During March we sold around 100 condos, compared to 214 last year same period   Condos represent an excellent opportunity to get into the home ownership market in Winnipeg, and now is a GREAT time to buy one.   For a more historic and in-depth look at the Winnipeg Real Estate Market, go to https://blog.winnipeghomefinder.com/winnipeg-housing-market-report/

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Celebrity Sunday, April 2nd, 2023…   Today is World Autism Day, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, and National Reconcilliation Day.   Whenever a huge event, like a Super Bowl comes to a city, rental rates go thru the roof for that week or month.  But this is ridiculous   Turns out the owner of a 6,000 sq ft home in Paradise Valley  , an affluent area in Phoenix, had no intention of renting his home out, let alone rent it during super bowl. But then the agent for Rhianna came calling with a sweetheart offer.  As you recall, Rhianna performed at the Super Bowl this year and needed a pad to crash between rehearsals.  The offer:  $500,000 for ONE WEEK.    Singer Avril Lavigne has put her 3500 sq ft Malibu Home on the market for a cool 12 million.  The home was built in 1968 and sits on just over half an acre.   Over the past 2 decades, actor Brad Pitt had purchased several adjoining properties amounting to just under 2 acres.  This week he sold the whole thing to an unidentified buyer for 40 million dollars.   Closer to home, a 3500 sq ft Tuxedo home sold for just shy of 2 Million dollars.  Noteworthy:  The wine cooler in the basement was specifically excluded..

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Saturday, April 1st, 2023…   Today is April Fools Day, National Sourdough Bread Day  (No foolin)   As of today, Canadians are supposed to be able to start contributing to a Tax-Free First Home Savings Account.  Here is how that works:   Canadian Citizens who are at least 18 yrs old, and no older than 71, open up an FHSA and start contributing money into it.   The yearly limit is $8,000 with a lifetime limit of $40,000.   Just like an RRSP, contributions are deductible from your income tax, so this makes a great tax-avoidance option.   Unlike RRSP's, when you pull the money out to buy your first home, you do NOT have to replace that money into the account later.   Definition of first time home buyers are those who have not owned a home, in which they live, for the past 5 years.   Started this briefing by saying that Canadians are ‘supposed to be able to start using this vehicle'  but it would appear that financial institutions are not yet ready for this.  Check with your investment professional or financial institution now.   Interested in more indepth real estate information?  Download our free podcast app, available for IOS and Android devices, by going to boknows.homes/apps….  You can also receive daily briefings on Alexa by going to boknows.homes/alexa

lo…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your flash briefing on Feel Good Friday, March 31st 2023   Today is National Crayon Day, National Prom Day and National Tater Day   Ready for some ‘feel good stories?”  I've got two of them   A friend of mine owns a house painting company and had been searching for workers, unsuccessfully,  for the past couple of years.  He finally found some,  in the form of a Ukrainian father-son team who had just landed in Winnipeg a few days earlier. My friend reports that they are eager to work and, best of all, experienced painters.   Different setting, similar story:  Another friend runs a exterior home renovation company and has also had problems finding workers.  Problem solved when he found 3 ukraininan males who are not only eager to work but have decades of experience in aluminum siding installation. That same company is also offering a 10% discount on booking any exterior reno project this spring.  Contact me for details… 204-333-2202   Im planning to make ‘Feel Good Friday” a regular thing.  Let me know how you ‘feel' about that?   Interested in more indepth real estate information?  Download our free podcast app, available for IOS and Android devices, by going to boknows.homes/apps….  You can also receive daily briefings on Alexa by going to boknows.homes/alexa

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Thursday, March 30th, 2023…   Today is National Doctors Day, National Take a walk in the park day and national turkey neck soup day.  Where do they get this stuff?  National walk in the park day….phaw.   True North Real Estate Development has filed a request with city council to be given 1 yr to investigate the possibility of purchasing Portage Place Mall.  What was once a jewel in downtown, Portage Place has been “a large, cumbersome and mostly vacant asset in a state of continuing decline in Winnipeg's downtown for many years”, the filing claims. In national real estate news, The Canadian real estate association reports that on average, house prices have fallen 19% from their HIGH in Feb. 2022. As BMO chief economist predicted they would fall a total of 20-25%, realtors are now seeing buyers coming back into the market.   While new listings are down 26% nationally, here in Winnipeg we are again bucking the trend.  The 867 houses available on March 1st was more than double the number available the same day a year ago. With the Bank of Canada apparently signalling no further rate hikes, now is a good time for buyers to check out their options.    Interested in more indepth real estate information?  Download our free podcast app, available for IOS and Android devices, by going to boknows.homes/apps….  You can also receive daily briefings on Alexa by going to boknows.homes/alexa

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Wednesday, March 29th, 2023…   Today is National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day, and Manatee appreciation day.   The sharp drop in headline inflation in February suggests that rates have reached their highest point and that the next move will be a cut.   In February, the annual rate of change in the consumer price index slowed to 5.2%. This was the biggest drop since February 2020. Most economists think that the drop in inflation makes it almost certain that the Bank of Canada will not change interest rates at its April 12 meeting.   Some people want at least one 25-basis-point rate cut before the end of the year. This would drop the Bank's overnight target rate from 4.50% to 4.25%.   Canada is especially vulnerable to the risk of a housing market correction when interest rates are going up because people there have more debt.   If inflation rates go down, the Bank of Canada will be able to respond by loosening monetary policy. This is especially true since Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has said that her next budget will "exercise fiscal restraint" to help fight inflation.   Interested in more indepth real estate information?  Download our free podcast app, available for IOS and Android devices, by going to boknows.homes/apps….  You can also receive daily briefings on Alexa by going to boknows.homes/alexa

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Tuesday, March 28th, 2023…   Today is National Weed Appreciation Day and suitably, National Black Forest Cake Day…..dude!   Real Estate brokerage Royal LePage did a study recently to see how much home you could buy for a million dollars.   On average, Canada wide, a million will buy your nearly 1800 sq feet, with 3.2 bedroom and 2.6 baths.   As you can probably guess, that's not happening in Vancouver, where a cool mil gets you less than 1,000 sq feet, and not even 2 bathrooms.  If you want more house, You'll have to live on Kraft Dinners.   Toronto is next, where you'll get 1230 sq feet, nearly 3 bedrooms and still less than 2 bathrooms on average.   Best bang for your buck?  You guess it:  Winnipeg comes in as one of the most affordable cities.  Last month, a 2300 sq ft home with 4 BR and 3 baths sold for 1.15 million And a newer 2300 ft home in E St Paul sold for 975K….enough money left over to buy a nice chesterfield….or an ottoman.   Incidentally, right now there are 44 homes on Winnipeg's market priced at 1 Million plus.  The 4 most expensive ones are all located in Tuxedo.   The Luxury Home Marketing Institute defines a luxury home as one which is worth 1 million or more.   Add us to your daily routine by going to boknows.homes/alexa

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Monday, March 27th, 2023…   Today is National Spanish Paella Day and, I cant read this……..oh yeah, National Scribble day.   If you own investment property in Canada, listen up:  New rules enacted by CRA may require you to file special forms by April 30th.   Its called the Underused Housing Tax and has a nasty surprise built in.  You see there are two parts to this:  One is the question of whether you owe any new tax on your properties.  If you're a Canadian citizen or resident, you may be excempt from the tax, however that's not the nasty part:  The surprise is that you may likely be required to at least FILE a special form by April 30th this year.  And failure to simply file this form can result in up to $10,000 fine PER PROPERTY.   So my advice:  If you own rental property, check with your accountant or tax professional about the Underused Housing Tax….  My accountant tells me that a LOT of people are unaware of this new rule.   I want to thank Garret Wong of Upper Edge Property Management for bringing this to my attention.     Interested in more indepth real estate information?  Download our free podcast app, available for IOS and Android devices, by going to boknows.homes/apps….  You can also receive daily briefings on Alexa by going to boknows.homes/alexa

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for… Sunday, March 26th, 2023…   Today is Epilepsy awareness day, and National Spinach Day and National Nougat day. Spinach doesn't deserve a day…….but I digest Spring time Sundays mean Open Houses. If you're planning on attending an open house in your city, remember that the agent there, works for the Seller. Try to keep your oohhs and aaaahs to a minimum, as they may weaken your negotiating position if you do want to make an offer. Also remember that you do have the right to be represented by your own agent, even after visiting the open house. Here are 6 questions you should ask the open house agent.   1)   How long have the sellers lived here? You want to determine whether this is a flip house, or a loved family home.   2)   How long has the home been on the market? If it's been up for a long time, have they had price adjustments?   3)   How much are the heating costs? Especially important in older homes, which had originally been insulated with newspaper clippings.   4)   Has the seller done any renovations or additions? If so, have they pulled the necessary permits, and obtained the follow up inspections   5)   Is the seller making any disclosures? Sellers must make disclosures of ‘hidden defects which could affect structure or health issues”.   6)   Has the seller had any offers? Good to know if they've turned down offers or how much action there has been on the home.   Don't let heavy foot traffic intimidate you into thinking that the house will sell today. Spring time open houses see a lot of action, and much of it is by tire-kickers. If you're interested in the home, thank the agent, and call your own realtor asap to book your private showing for a 2nd, more indepth look.   https://blog.winnipeghomefinder.com/open-house-questions-to-ask/   Interested in more indepth real estate information? Download our free podcast app, available for IOS and Android devices, by going to boknows.homes/apps…. 

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  Friday, March 24th, 2023… Today is National Cheese-steak day, and National Cocktail day.  Spoiler alert;;;  I'll be celebrating BOTH. Good news for home-owners:  The provincial budget for 2023 has been announced, and the cost of education is being increasingly funded from general revenues, and less from homeowner property taxes. This is something our real estate board has been advocating for a long time.  In this years budget, homeowners will see a 50% refund of the education tax portion of their property tax bill.  An estimated average saving of $775 per home. Tomorrow is the day of Earth Hour.  In addition to turning off our lights for 1 hour in the evening, here are a couple of tips to help us all be a little more eco-friendly. Replace any remaining incandescent light bulbs with long lasting, power friendly LED bulbs Buy reusable shopping bags and don't forget them in the car, like I always do Stop using single-use plastics.  If you have plastic cups, wash them and reuse them. Install low-flow shower heads and take shorter showers. Instead of buying drinking water in plastic bottles, invest in a good quality filter, and fill reusable bottles. Don't throw out old clothes and household goods:  Donate them to a local charity such as Annie's Attic Thrift shop at 1560 Main St.  They will resell these items and use the money to support their animal shelter. Interested in more indepth real estate information?  Download our free podcast app, available for IOS and Android devices, by going to boknows.homes/apps…. 

What is a Special Assessment? Hi, Bo Kauffmann of REMAX in Winnipeg here to explain this term. A special assessment relates to the condominium reserve fund. When a condominium requires repairs, maintenance or upgrades and there is not enough money in the reserve fund, additional money has to be raised from all condo-owners. The act of raising this additional money is called a ‘Special Assessment'. If it is a relatively small sum of money, for example a few hundred dollars, this special assessment is usually collected as a one-time payment. However larger sums may require an ongoing monthly installment plan, which is added to the owners monthly Condo Fees.   For a deeper discussion on this and other real estate topics, check out my blog at boknows.homes/blog or scan this code.

Hello…this is Bo Kauffmann of Remax in Winnipeg, with your real estate news for…  March 20th, 2023…   Today is the first day of spring, but also International Day of Happyness, World Storytelling day, and National Ravioli Day…..mmmmhhh  ravioli.    Total Moving Winnipeg has acquired pod company Easy Stor.  This enables them to bring a 12' or 16 ft pod to your home where you can fill it with excess furniture and other stuff. An excellent idea if you need to declutter your home before putting it on the market.  The pod is then picked up and safely stored in a temperature controlled, secure facility.   Spring is the time we can pay attention to our home's exteriors again.  Advance Exteriors, who specialize in windows, doors and roofs, are offering a 10% discount if you book your roofing job now.  Don't delay, they do book up quickly.   And in mortgage rate news, a 4 yr locked in mortgage can now be had for as little as 4.64%.  What does that mean? Bi-weekly payments on a $350,000 mortgage would be a shade over $900.  Good Times.   Interested in more indepth real estate information?  Download our free podcast app, available for IOS and Android devices, by going to boknows.homes/apps

When you look at house or condo listings, you will see the price, the size of the home and then the ‘price per sq foot'. But how relevant is that number?  Buyers might think that a $200 per foot home is a better value than a $300 per foot. Not so fast.  Even if both homes are in generally the same condition and in the same neighbourhood, there are a lot of other factors that go into pricing. For example, a 2-storey home is cheaper per foot than a bungalow.  And a Bi-level or raised bungalow is the highest priced of all. Also, finished basements and garages add value to the home, without adding actual square footage, so this increases the ‘dollar-per-foot' figure as well. When buying a home, in any market, make sure you have an experienced agent in your corner.  In Winnipeg, call me at 204-333-2202 to help you find your next house or condo.

Winnipeg's real estate market stats .  Available houses and condos on Feb. 1st, and a look at sales uring January

November 2022 Market Update We're into the last couple of months of 2022, so let's see if the buyers market continues into the winter, shall we? Hello, I'm Bo Kauffmann a residential real estate agent with REMAX Performance realty, and your host of Winnipeg's Real estate podcast. A few days ago, Winnipeg REALTORS reported that sales in October were off (down) by 30% compared to last year.  This is certainly true. Whats different about their report and this one is that I focus on Winnipeg only….while Winnipeg REALTORS cover the entire south east quadrant of the province. It's important to remember that when I say “the market”, it covers many different segments.  Not all segments react or act the same way.  For example, 400K condos are very different from 400k houses.  Transcona's housing market will be different than the River Heights market. A side by side in St James will enjoy a different response than a detached home in Garden City, and so on. My monthly market report attempts to separate some of these markets along different price points, 4 for houses and 2 for condos. But NO real estate market report would ever be able to replace individual analysis and advice a real estate agent can give you in a one-to-one setting. That's why, if/when you're ready to buy or sell, a house or a condo in Winnipeg, call me for a free consultation anytime. With the availability of zoom, we could even hold this consultation online, from the comfort of your own home. If there is one thing you should take away from this month's report, its this:  As you will see by the following numbers, availability of homes is UP, and sales are DOWN, making this a perfect time to buy. Don't wait til spring when prices traditionally jump, as a result of increased competition among buyers. On Nov. 1st, there were 1228 houses of all types available in Winnipeg.  Compare that to 1336 on Oct. 1st, and only 802 on November 1st ,  last year. As for sales, in October we sold 555 houses with another 22 ‘pending', meaning that potentially a total of 575 house were sold.  That's nearly identical to the 577 sold the month before, but down significantly from the 756 last year same time period.  In fact, that's down 24% year over year. As I said earlier, we will find that available homes are UP, and sales are DOWN. Ok. Let's take a look at the first segment of the housing market, which is entry level homes priced under 250,000.   Houses under $250,000 Currently we have 335 houses available, which is nearly the same as 339 on Oct 1st.  And on the other side of the equation, we sold 117 homes in October, with another 7 pending, for a potential total of 124.  That's about the same as the 121 sold during September, but down significantly from the 155 we sold during October of last year. I find that comparing year over year has more significance than going month to month.  So a drop from 155 sales to 124 is noteworthy. Lets look at Winnipeg's most active price range, homes between 250 and 500K Homes 250-500K On November 1st, we had 495 houses available in this price range, which is down from the 591 on October 1st. We see a similar, perhaps more drastic difference in the sales.  During Oct., we sold 326 houses plus 12 pending, for a potential sale of 338 houses.  In September, that was pretty much the same, 339, but a year ago in October we sold 445.  So about a 25% reduction in sales, year of year, for the month of October. This makes for a great time to buy.   Ok, next, we look at some of the higher end homes and how they are faring in this market Homes 500-1 Mill In homes priced between 500K and 1 million, we don't find a huge change in availability month over month.  The 344 homes available right now are nearly the same number as was available on Oct 1st.  On the sales side, we sold 110 plus 4 pending, making for potentially 114 sales.  That'snearly identical to the 115 sold in September, but down significantly from October last year, when we sold 156 homes in this price range.  (about 27% fewer). The picture repeats itself.  Availability up, while sales down 27%....  more choices, less competition make this a great time to buy. 1 Million Plus In the luxury home market, we currently have 54 homes priced at 1 Million dollars plus.  This is up from the previous month, when we had 48 available.  In this price range we sold 11 last month, more than the 7 we sold in September, and more than double the number we sold in October of last year, which was 5.. In most price ranges, outside of the Million dollar plus range, availability is UP and sales are down.  Don't wait til spring.  Call me right now to help you secure a great deal on your first, or next home   When we come back, we'll check out the condo market.   Ok, lets look at the condo market in Winnipeg. On Nov 1st, we had 377 condos available in all price ranges, which is down from the previous month of 408.  During the month of October we sold 121 condos, with another 10 showing pending, for a total of 131 potential sales.  That's down from the 146 we sold in Sept., and way down from the 191 we sold in October of last year. Lets see how that breaks down along the price ranges. Condos under 250 For entry level condos, under 250,000 dollars, we have 216 available, which is about the same as the previous month, when we had 220 available . On the sales side, we have sold 69 units with another 9 showing as pending, so a total of 78 units.  While same as the 77 units we sold last month, it is significantly lower than the 105 last year, we can see that sales have dropped off quite a bit in this range.   Condos over 250K In the more luxurious condo price range of above 250K, we have 161 units for sale on Nov 1st, down from the 188 on October 1st.  Sales have dropped off here as well, with 53 potential sales,  that is 52 sold and 1 pending.  Those 53 sales are down from the 71 of the previous month, and also down from 86 sales the previous year, same time period. So we see that overall, the condo market is reacting similarly to the housing market:  Sales are slower, but availability is plentiful. Thinking of buying a condo as your first or next home?  Or perhaps an investment condo to rent out?  Call me for a free condo consultation anytime.

[00:00:00] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Thinking of owning and managing rental properties. Today I'm gonna talk to a property management company and get some advice for you on this episode of Winnipeg's Real Estate Podcast. [00:00:13] You're listening to The Bo Knows Real Estate Podcast, Tips and Advice for home buyers, sellers, and owners with award-winning reax agent Bo Kauffmann. [00:00:27] Hello everybody. Bo Kaufman Remax Performance Realty, your residential real estate agent. Are you thinking of buying one or more homes or condos to rent out and make some money? Real estate has always been considered a very stable and safe investment. But before we call my friend Jackson Ham of Pillar Property Management, I do want you to be aware of a few things. [00:00:47] I get calls from buyers in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, thinking of buying homes to use as rental properties here in Winnipeg. They're always excited by the fact that you can still buy a house around the $250,000 mark, but when they learned that most of those homes would rent for only about 1600 a month, they're a lot less enthusiastic. [00:01:06] Buying and owning rental properties is not a get rich quick scheme. That's a tongue twister. You can't buy one or two homes and expect to make a grand per month profit each. That's just not how it works these days with five and 6% interest rates, you may be lucky to break even. So I'll give you an example. [00:01:23] There was a house in East Kildonan on the market for $260,000 and it advertised that it came with a tenant who would love to stay. That tenant was paying 1,450 a month. Now do the math, mortgage payments plus taxes, plus home insurance, that'll all add up to more than 1,450 a month. So how can an owner make money? [00:01:41] The answer is that the current owner bought that house for around $130,000, and at that price is now making a few hundred dollars a month in profit. So when considering buying a rental property, investors need to take the long view. It's not $500 cash flow, you don't see those kind of numbers, not these days in Winnipeg. [00:01:59] So let's call Jackson of Pillar Property Management and ask him a few question. All right. Hello Jackson. How are you doing today? [00:02:06] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: I'm not doing too bad, Bo. How are you doing? [00:02:08] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Excellent. Excellent. So let's get right into it. Pillar Property Management. How long have you guys been around? [00:02:14] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: Pillar Property Management. We were established in 2007 and we recently celebrated 15 years in the industry. [00:02:19] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Nice. Okay. And how many homes do you have under contract at the moment? [00:02:24] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: We're managing between 400 to 450 doors. And. I'd say that's a mixed bag between single family, multi-family apartment buildings, and condominiums included. [00:02:34] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay. All right. So what's your average client look like? Do they have six or eight properties or are they mostly startups with one or two? [00:02:40] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: On average we get a lot of startups people with about one or two homes who aren't really quite sure what to do with them and maybe have never done property management themselves. [00:02:47] They come to us to of help them out and we do get a few outliers here and there that have about six or seven units. But by and large, I'd say most of them are about one or two just starting off small. [00:02:55] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Right on. Do you guys offer different levels of service or is it just all inclusive. Like finding the tenant and then managing everything? Or do you have different levels. [00:03:03] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: So we only have one level of service here at Pillar. And the reason being is we believe that all of our clients should be treated with the same level of quality as as all the rest of them. And at Pillar we do this because we feel that the work we do should reflect the high standards we hold ourselves to. [00:03:17] Which is why we only really want to go for one. Cuz you know, we only want to provide one, which is would be the highest level of service. [00:03:24] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay, so let's just briefly walk through this. Let's say I have a property that I wanna let you manage. There's no tenant in it right now. I come and see you.  We sign a kind of a contract. What do you guys do? You guys even go out and advertise and find a tenant. You guys take pictures of property, that kind of thing. [00:03:41] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: Yeah. So what we'll do is we'll go out and we'll photograph the property for advertisements, but while there's times of vacancy in the property, especially when we do take new tenants or new clients on, we wanna make it very clear that with our clients, we don't charge any sort of management fees during times of vacancy so that they can be they can feel comfortable knowing that we're only gonna be making money when they are, and we're always acting in their best interest to do okay, [00:04:01] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: that's good. So then you find the tenant, you do the background checks and all that kind of. We sure do. And what do you charge for your service? [00:04:07] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager:  We charge a 10% management fee for the service. [00:04:10] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: So it's 10% of whatever the rent is. [00:04:14] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: That's correct, yes.   [00:04:14] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay., Now since interest rates have gone from two to 5%. Does it make sense to go out and buy a property to rent out right now? I would say, [00:04:21] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: I would say it does. And the reason being is because it's never a bad time to buy real estate. And when you wanna mention that the interest rates were, sitting pretty high right now at around seven. [00:04:30] Historically those are still quite low. Compared to the double digit numbers we used to see in the seventies and the eighties. I would say that don't let these interest rates discourage you. With the rates being as high as they have been in the last decade or so I can understand why people would be hesitant to do but that said there's been a lot more the renter's market has been quite flush with the applicants. So you're gonna see pretty low levels of vacancy across the board, and it won't be too hard to find yourself a really nice applicant to fit yourself in your home [00:04:55] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR:   What do your recent clients look like? Uh, You and I had a brief discussion about that and you said you're getting a lot of homeowners who are unable to sell their houses for one reason or another. Is that your main new client [00:05:06] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: right now at the moment with the interest rates the way they are, it is a lot of our clients are coming in because they aren't able to find buyers for their homes. [00:05:13] And so they decided to turn it into a bit of a nest egg investment and put their real estate into their portfolio and make money off of it. A lot of the people that come in these days, a lot of our clients recently have been a lot of young people that are just starting out their careers and looking to diversify their investment portfolio. [00:05:27] As well, we're seeing quite a lot of new Canadians who are, new to the country, but understand that Winnipeg has a really healthy real estate markets and can be uh, pretty profitable to jump into the rental property industry right from the GetGo. [00:05:39] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay. Now, if somebody wanted to get into buying rental property, what would you advise 'em how to? [00:05:43] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: In Winnipeg if you were to, wanted to get into the rental property industry, I would say start looking for a house that has three bedroom. I think that's a lot of a lot of the times it's the most attractive home renters can look for really attractive to families for one. [00:05:55] And it's going to give you a bit of a higher ROI because you can charge a bit higher rent for something with three bedrooms as opposed to two. And generally it attracts a wide range of applicants as opposed to a two bedroom, which you might see more maybe small families, single renters, that kind of thing.   So the three bedrooms would probably be the good place to start if I had to give my opinion on that. [00:06:12] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: What about neighborhoods? Are there any neighborhoods that you would recommend that would fit the right price range? [00:06:18] Jackson Hamm - Pillar Property Manager: Any neighborhoods off the top of my head I could think of, be maybe around the Logan and Keewatin areas. [00:06:22] The North End has got a lot of really good investment properties there. And it's often pretty low cost of entry there, if you were starting small, I would recommend, checking with the north end of Winnipeg. There's great real estate around there. And it's usually a low cost entry to get into that market. [00:06:36] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR:  Not the bidding wars. You don't wanna get involved in the bidding war if you're looking for a rental property. Exactly. That was my interview with Jackson Ham of Pillar Property Management, and I have some final words when I come. [00:07:18] After we stopped recording, I asked Jackson what he considered to be the sweet spot of buying rental properties at what price would a home give you the best or the most decent roi? He said that they have a few nice bungalows with double car garages that fetch around $3,500 a month in rent. [00:07:35] And if you can find such a home around the $350,000 mark, there's definitely a demand by tenants for nicer homes. Now 3,500 is way above the average Winnipeg rent. What you get here is you get professionals that have been temporarily transferred to Winnipeg for one or two years and would like to live in a nicer home, and they don't mind paying that, that level of rent. [00:07:56] Just some food for thought. I hope you've enjoyed listening to this episode as much as I've enjoyed creating it, cuz I really do. If you found the information helpful, why not download my free podcasting app? That way you never missed another episode, and I've made it super simple too. Just go to Bo Knows dot home slash apps. [00:08:15]  And finally, please give this podcast a five star rating. Again, we've made it super simple. Just go to love the podcast.com/boknows. Thank you so much for listening. Let's do this again next week. [00:08:38] You've been listening to Bo Kauffmann of Remax Performance Realty. Are you thinking of buying or selling a house or a condo in Winnipeg? Call Bo at (204) 333-2202. Remember, Bo knows real estate.

Is this a good time to buy, or sell, a house or condo in Winnipeg? Listen to the latest listing and sales stats for houses and condos in Winnipeg and find out.

Should Buyers get a home inspection? How do Sellers choose a real estate agent? What are 3 things to check at possession time?   These and more tips , plus current mortgage rates, in this episode.

Instead of replacing your plugged, cracked or blocked underground sewer line, listen to this alternative.   Relining your sewer is cheaper, cleaner and can be done at anytime of year.

Is  now a good time to buy or sell a house or condo in Winnipeg? Listen and find out

3 Real Estate Fact #1 [00:00:00] Host Ryan Peterson: Get ready for three interesting real estate facts you should know coming up in this episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast. Cue the music [00:00:11] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: you're listening to the bone knows real estate podcast tips and advice for home buyers, sellers, and owners with award winning Remax agent Bo Kaufman. [00:00:26] Host Ryan Peterson: Hello, I'm your host, Ryan Peterson. Welcome to another episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast with my friend and real estate expert, Bo Kauffmann of Remax Performance Realty [00:00:35] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Hey Ryan thanks for the great intro and anybody who's listening to this will notice right away that there's a bit of a change in the format here. Ryan and I did a series of episodes a few years ago that were called a real estate round table. And what I always liked about him was the little back and forth and two different voices talking. So I wanna recreate that here and I thank you, Ryan, for agreeing to do this with me. [00:01:04] Host Ryan Peterson: My pleasure. It's great to be back Bo. All right. So let's get right into it with three different facts about real. Okay, You must hear this first question a lot from home buyers. When my possession data is coming up, how do I get the keys and get into my new home [00:01:09] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: All right. So it really depends on where you are. I hear that a lot of places in the states and different provinces and the real estate agent actually has the key and meets you at your door, but here in Manitoba, it's all done through the lawyers. So here's what happens is about a week before you possession date, you the. Meet with your lawyer, you sign a bunch of papers. You give him a suitcase full of money that he's gonna tell you, just how much to bring and you sign the papers and then you just sit back and wait. At the same time, the seller meets with their lawyer signs, papers, and gives him the keys. And then the day before possession. The lawyers talk to each other and exchange those two items. The buyer's lawyer sends the money. The seller's lawyer sends the key. You get another phone call and the day before possession, you show up at your lawyers and he'll give you the key and with strict instructions not to go into the house. Until right at the time that stated on the offer. I remember, [00:02:01] Host Ryan Peterson: Getting my first home in 2000 and yeah, it was a plain Manila envelope that I got the key in. And honestly I was expecting a little bit more fanfare, what are you gonna do? You're still excited about the new home now. Bo is the date usually hard and fast or is there some flexibility, say a buyer wants to swing by and get some measurements to make sure that the furniture is gonna fit certain way. [00:02:20] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR:   Okay. That's a really good question. Answer that question. The date is hard and fast. Now, if it's important to you to take some measurements or to go in for one more, look, make sure that you're a real estate agent. That's the buyer's real estate agent writes that into the offer because the seller does not have to let you back in until let's say it's nine o'clock and not Tuesday morning when you're taking possession, you don't have the right to go back in there. If you, some people want to do not only measurements, but they also might wanna get a contractor to go through. They might wanna be ready to do a new kitchen, make sure you write that into the offer. And that way the seller when they agree to it, have to let you in. [00:02:55] Host Ryan Peterson: worst they can say is no. That's right. And it's not one of those things that's gonna make or break a deal or make you lose out on a house, right? Nope. That's right. Okay. Great now. Okay. Let's look at the other side of the equation. Do home sellers get their money right away when the keys are handed over? [00:03:08] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: All right. So Manitoba again was one of the worst provinces until about six or eight years ago. You could basically wait a month. For your money. So if you're possession it, if you're moving outta your house on August 15th, you probably didn't get the money until mid-September that's. Because here in Manitoba, the new owner, which is the buyer, their lawyer has to register that house with land titles office. And that is a slow, arduous time consuming process. That also depends on whether the lawyers are on break or whether they're on holidays or how busy they are, et cetera, but it usually takes a month. There's a new system came into place. Actually the system's been around for a while. Manitoba just came on board with it a few years ago. It's called the Western Canadian protocol, otherwise known just as protocol. And now you can get your money within a few days. So best case scenario. If you move out on the 15th, you might have the money on the 18th or 20th. But it can take a couple of weeks still. [00:04:05] Host Ryan Peterson: I remember my last move.   I ended up owning both homes for a couple of months with some bridge financing. I know I couldn't wait to get my money fast enough. When it finally sold. Now Bo, is there a season or time of year when it's better to buy or to sell? What picks market does seem hot all the time, but there's ups and downs that can be predicted or taken advantage of. [00:04:25] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Oh you betcha who was it that was credited was saying when everybody else is buying, sell, when everybody else is selling buy, I think that was Warren buffet, but I'm not sure.  Certainly the spring is the best time to sell your house. Now that being the case, that also makes it the worst time to buy your house because you are pretty much guaranteed to be up against eight, 10 other people. It seems like in our market here, everybody waits till the spring to go out and buy a house. Start the year fresh. Worst time to buy. Best time to buy is right now, that's be like late summer, early fall. Anybody who wanted and needed a house is moving right now to start, the school year for their kids, buyers have really taken a, a break right now, and there's a lot more inventory on the market. So best time to buy is the late summer, early fall. And that's just the way it is in Winnipeg. That's always how it's always been. It's [00:05:13] Host Ryan Peterson: a you really put yourself in more of a power position at the end of the summer as a buyer, because at that point they're desperate to move on to the next thing they [00:05:21] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: have planned. Oh, absolutely. And just think about it this way. If you're up against 10, 10 offers in the spring, your offer has to be clean. It has to be big, it has to be stand out. So now we actually get listings, come on the market where they've had one or two showings, not offers just showings in a week. Wow. So it's definitely a great time to. [00:05:40] Host Ryan Peterson: And you're probably likely waving a home inspection in the spring. Where you could get that luxury in the fall. [00:05:43] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: That's right. Absolutely home inspection, better financing condition longer time to make a decision. So it's better all around [00:05:51] Host Ryan Peterson: My wife and I are always keeping an eye on E saying Paul, and it seems rare when something goes up for sale. What do you recommend to people that are in the market buyers that are in the market that want an. But there's not a lot really going on there. What can they do to get on the radar so that the first person in, when [00:06:06] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: something pops. Okay. So the best thing to do is get ahold of a real estate agent, somebody, or somebody you've heard of, or somebody you've worked with in the past, get 'em to set up a search and they can do it by geography like geographical location. So if you only want a house in a certain radius, right around Cher farm roads, or around hot, not or birds hill or whatever they can set up a search and anything that comes up. Comes directly to your computer and you can see the listing come fresh. [00:06:31] Host Ryan Peterson: That's excellent. And fortunately, I know a great real estate guy who happens to be sitting across the table from me. Okay. Thanks Ryan. before we sign off, what are the current mortgage rates doing? [00:06:39] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Ryan for that, I'm gonna turn to my mortgage expert. That's Mike Schroeder with mortgage architects. When we come right back, we'll be right back after this short announcement. All right. We're here with Mike Schroeder of mortgage architects to talk about some of the lowest rates available at this point in time, which is like mid August, 2022. Hi, Mike. How you doing? Hey, doing well with yourself. Excellent. All right, let's get right to the point. So you've got somebody that comes to you and says, Hey, I wanna buy a house. And I need a $300,000 mortgage. So what is the absolute lowest rate you can get? [00:07:40] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Expert: So lowest rate I have is a variable rate. You're looking at about 3.8% effective today. And on a $300,000 mortgage gives you a pay of about  $1,545 a month.   [00:07:51] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: And that's principle and interest taxes of course would be extra. [00:07:55] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Expert: Yes and that's on a 25 year amortization [00:07:56] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: And that was 1545, correct? Yes. Okay. So now what if I'm nervous and I'm not the kind that wants to keep an eye on the mortgage rates every day.  What are fixed rates right now? [00:08:09] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Expert: Youre looking at about4.59% and so same mortgage amount, same terms. You're looking at about 1675 a month. [00:08:16] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: So that's about $130 a month. Difference between the two. 130 for what some people might think is peace of mind, but of course there's ups and downs. There's a downside to being locked in for five years. [00:08:26] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Expert: At the end of the day, you want to have a full conversation with your lender. You want to go over your risk appetite, your credit, your income likely changes the next five years and get a solution customized for youy [00:08:37] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Risk appetite. That's gotta be the term or the day. [00:08:42] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Expert: absolutely [00:08:43] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: absolutely gun to your head. Where do you think rates are gonna go? Like right now, the variable is lower than the fixed. Do you think that's gonna stay that way? No, I don't. [00:08:53] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Expert: So there's the next bank account rate announcement's coming up in September. I believe it's September. The seventh. Most predictions are, is that the rate will increase that month. Now it may increase by lower amount due to the last inflation numbers, but by whatever does increase. The gap between fixed and variable is gonna be reduced to a very slim margin. There are still other reasons to pick variable or fixed, and that gets down to your risk appetite. So all part of that bigger conversation. [00:09:16] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Thanks a lot, Mike. We'll talk to you next time. Anytime. Take care. Bye bye. All right. Ryan, I think that's it for this week. [00:09:24] Host Ryan Peterson: It's been fun as always Bo and we've learned a few things about real estate this week until next time. This is Ryan Peterson with Bo Kaufman of Remax performance Realty, reminding you that you're never alone when you're buying or selling a home, as long as you tune in to the next episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast, take care. [00:09:41] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: All right. Take care. Byebye Ryan. I hope you've enjoyed listening to this episode as much as I've enjoyed creating it. Cause I really do love. If you found the information helpful, why not download my free podcasting app? That way you never missed another episode and I've made it super simple too. Just go to Boknows.homes/apps. That's A P PS available for apple and Android devices. And finally, please give this podcast a five star rating again. We've made it super simple. Just go to love the podcast.com/boknows. Thank you so much for listening. Let's do this again next week. I. You've been listening to Bo Kauffmann of Remax performance Realty. Are you thinking of buying or selling a house or a condo in Winnipeg? Call Bo at (204) 333-2202. Remember Bo knows real estate.

Find out how dramatically the real estate market has changed in Winnipeg in the past 2 months. Have we gone from an insane sellers market to a strong buyers market now?   Is now a good time to buy a house or condo in Winnipeg? Listen to find out.

Fed Budget Discussions [00:00:00] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Let's separate fact from fiction about the upcoming federal budget proposal. That's coming up next to Winnipeg's real estate podcast. [00:00:26] Hello, everybody I'm Bo Kauffmann Remax performance Realty with another episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast. You know, the real estate market is super hot, so naturally everybody thinks that that's a good thing for all real estate agents. And it's just a wonderful thing. Well, it's not a great thing because it's, so one-sided the only one who really benefits is anybody who wants to sell their house and not buy another one. [00:00:48] So if you're retiring and we're gonna move into an apartment, this is a great time for you. But for buyers and especially first time buyers, it's not a great time. Houses are selling for not only 60, 80, a hundred thousand dollars above asking, but they're selling for 80,000, a hundred thousand dollars over what they would have sold last year. [00:01:07] So if you're a first time buyer you're struggling, it's a, it's a tough time to get into the housing market. So naturally the federal government is going to step in and fix this issue for us with some of their proposals. So I had a friend call me last week and say, Hey, I heard that the blind bidding is coming to an end, the federal government's going to outlaw it. [00:01:25] And I had to kind of look it up and see what they were talking about. And it's part of their proposed budget is that they are looking for a way. To make this whole process of house purchasing more fair. So let's take a second here and talk to somebody who knows a lot more about this, somebody who is in the financial game, and that is Mike Schroeder of mortgage architects. [00:01:50] Let's give him a call. [00:01:55] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Good morning. Hey Mike, how are you doing it's Bo Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Excellent. Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR:  I thought I thought today we'd talk about the proposed budget. Because about a week ago, a relative of mine called me and said, Hey, have you heard that blind bidding and sealed bids are a way of the past are going away? And I'm saying. No, actually, I haven't heard that's so I had to look into it and that's one of the proposals that the government, the federal government would like to do away with, uh, to put it in perspective and to put some history behind it is when you put your house up for sale right now in most provinces, you can put it up for sale and then buyers enter bids that are private and sealed and only  the seller gets to open them. Well, what, what can happen is somebody, the winning bidder can overshoot all the other bids by quite a bit great for the seller. Um, but you know, the federal government says, Hey, we don't like this. So they, you know, Talked about maybe finding a way to put an end to it. [00:02:57] The problem is these real estate laws are set provincially in the federal government has very little authority. They can try and work with the provinces on this stuff. Uh, but so far from what I've heard, the provinces had told the federal government to go pound sand So, um, I know there's a lot of rumors out there. [00:03:15] There's a lot of, uh, things that we might be doing, but it's not even voted on yet. So, Mike, what have you heard and what do you take away from this proposed budget? Well, let's start [00:03:25] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: with, what's actually been talked about details. So the first one is actually a proposal. I like it's called the tax-free first home savings account. [00:03:35] So most people are familiar with the fact that you put money into your RRSPs. You can take money out of your RRSP's. For the first time home buyer, they catch of course is that you have to put the money back into your RSP for the next 15 years. Okay. Well, most people are also familiar with the tax-free savings account. [00:03:54] You put money in there and it grows tax-free. You could pull it out. Penalty free. Well, what this product does is actually combines both of those things together. You can put your money into this account. It is tax deductible, meaning it lowers your taxable income tax return at the end of the year. Right? But now you can pull money out of the tax free for your first time buying a house. [00:04:18] And the best part is you don't have to replace it. [00:04:21] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: That's right, because, um, I, I think we glossed over it that the TSA, the tax-free savings account, your money grows in their tax-free, but it's after tax dollars that you put in, correct. [00:04:34] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Well, it's not tax deductible. That is tax deductible. [00:04:41] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR:   So that if that passes, that would be an awesome thing. Is there what's the limitation or what's the limits on that? How much can anybody put in there per year in Israel? [00:04:50] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: So the proposed limit right now is $8,000 per person. And there's no limit for household. So husband, wife, maybe adult children in the house, um, siblings down and whatnot can all contribute together. [00:05:01] So $8,000 per year per person, and up to a total lifetime limit for individual of $40,000. [00:05:10] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay. So husband and wife or boyfriend, girlfriend, they start saving. They get engaged, married. Then they buy a house. They could have up to 40,000, which has been tax deducted throughout the years. So that's, that's, that's an awesome benefit. And then they can put $80,000 towards the house and that's, they, they can take it out without having to pay income tax on them. Exactly. [00:05:38] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Consider it another benefit for friends with benefits. [00:05:41] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Excellent. That, that would be a good thing.  What else have they proposed? [00:05:46] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: So now it's easy to forget is that when you're a first time home buyer you get a tax credit which lowers your taxable income. Um, so the current credit is $5,000. Now that doesn't mean you get $5,000. That means a lower your tax bill by five grand. [00:06:04] They're increasing that from 5,000 to 10,000. So it doesn't actually help you get into a house limited. It takes away some of this thing at tax time as you buy that first home, that would be good. [00:06:12] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Yeah. Okay. That's another good proposal. Anything else? Uh, that they've said that, that you like, or don't. [00:06:20] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Well, one of the things that I'm interested in and mostly from the side of unintended consequences, is there a talking about some sort of ban on foreign ownership? I guess that leaves the question of defining foreign ownership, right? Is that someone who's new to Canada? Does that mean a refugee, a student and immigrants?  We don't know. This is simply a big proposal and so. [00:06:44] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Well, yeah, exactly. I'm thinking back on somebody, I don't know, six, eight years ago somebody called me or emailed me, hi, I am the, uh, um, finance minister for, and then this is African nation. And of course you get these emails, please send me money, you know? Um, but no, this really was the finance minister. [00:07:03] He came to Canada and he bought a condo for his daughters to go to school. So would that be considered foreign? He doesn't live here, but his daughters go to school here and they have a place to live. So if, if that's the kind of a thing that they are proposing to stop, that probably wouldn't be a good, it would not be a good thing. [00:07:20] But, um, yeah, it's, it's the federal government, right? They, they kind of have their fingers in everybody's in everybody's business and sometimes it's not a good idea. [00:07:29] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: One of the additions supposedly set up might not apply to students, but then does that apply to the student, gets to get to know payments.  So I don't want to speculate you on some things that we don't know about. It's just not worth our time to do so. [00:07:37] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: What about interest rates? Hey, I just heard that they talking about another hike in June. [00:07:45] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: So that's the speculation right now. I can tell you on the fixed rates that ever since the government announced, I want to say it was yesterday, uh, where the inflation rate is that right now, um, that caused the bond market to spike, which raised the by fixed rates. [00:07:59] And so we're now seeing five-year fixed rates of at least 4% while some lenders don't need a little bit higher. Okay. Uh, variable rates are still considerably lower than the fixed, but you're right. The federal government has said they may increase the overnight rate in June. So that's definitely watch for, uh, for a lot of reasons. [00:08:17] I still think variable is a better choice than fixed, but at the end of the day, that's a personalized conversation that we need to have with people want to know the mortgage nature. Then you understand the risks and benefits of that. [00:08:27] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Gauging their comfort level and, and their, you know, what, what they know their future to be. [00:08:33] If they know it. So what our open rates right now are variable rates. [00:08:39] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: So it's a fixed range, about 4%,…… variable rates around about two, 2.1%. So there's still a gap right now between the two. Um, and that gap isn't, uh, isn't narrowing at all is the fixed rates to Nicholas. [00:08:50] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Yeah. It's just to put that in perspective, if there's a 2% difference, if you've got a $400,000 mortgage, 2%, that's $8,000 a year. [00:09:00] Right. So divided by 12 that's what does that? 680 something like that. $675 per month difference. That's huge. [00:09:10] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Well, don't forget as well that the higher the interest rates, the more you're paying the lesser paying towards principle, right? So one of the benefits of home ownership is principle reduction. [00:09:19] Every time you make that payment, you are lowering the amount of money, all the house, and therefore you are increasing your equity. If you have a lower interest rate, you're building equity that much now. [00:09:29] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay. All right. Well, Mike, thanks a lot. Hey, listen. Um, you had another topic in mind that maybe we'll talk about in two weeks from now, and that is new. [00:09:39] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Correct. And so there's a number of programs and principles in place to help people who are recent immigrants to Canada, uh, getting the homeownership will be easier. And so these are the things that those, if we don't know about. And so that's something we thought would cover in the future. [00:09:51] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay, good. [00:09:52] Well, look forward to that again. So, uh, thanks for coming on the show, Mike, and, uh, uh, it was, it's an interesting subject and I appreciate your time.  

[00:00:00] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: Do you have too much stuff in your house? What do you do with it? Today? Would talk temporary storage solutions. That's coming up next to Winnipeg's real estate podcast. [00:00:26] Bo Kauffmann: Hello, everybody Bo Kauffmann from here from Remax performance Realty with another great episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast.  It's been said that the more room you have, the more stuff you accumulate, I can verify that, but there'll come a time when we all run out of room. My current hobby is scotch and cigars. and luckily that doesn't take a lot of room By the way, we have an upcoming fundraiser, a scotch and cigar sampling right here in Winnipeg on June 18th. That's the father's day weekend, but it's a Saturday.  And it has a twist to it. I know there's lots of scotch and cigar events around, but this one has a bit of a bonus. You actually get to enjoy the cigar because we're holding it inside. Thomas Hinds new sampling lounge, and they're licensed to allow smoking. So tickets are very limited because there's only 46 seats. If you're looking for tickets, give me a shout. They're going fast. June 18. And there was a five o'clock sitting and an eight o'clock sitting.  And the eight o'clock is just about sold out. Maybe you've got a hobby collecting sewing machines, or your collection of old pinball machines are starting to take up too much room. What do you do? Or perhaps you're going to sell your house and you need to just temporarily declutter a need some temporary storage. Whatever your reasons. There are storage solutions that have popped up all over town, ready to serve your storage needs. And today we're going to speak with Claire Coppens business manager of total storage right here in Winnipeg. I'm going to ask her a few questions. Hi, Claire. How are you today? Excellent. [00:01:52] Bo Kauffmann: Okay, let's get right into it. What kind of people are, are your customers who use a storage facility? [00:01:59] Clair Coppens  I would say that the most popular reason people are coming to tool storage, like for a self storage unit are big milestones in their lives, like buying a new home or waiting for a new home to be built. Or oftentimes we have see like death of a loved one.  And they're trying to find space to put those belongings for a shorter or long time. [00:02:17] Bo Kauffmann: Right. Okay. Yeah, certainly I can get behind the idea of using storage to put your extra stuff, especially if you're downsizing or even up-sizing like your, you want to store it until you find a new home and then decide what you want to do with about you've been around for 10 years, you're telling me, but what do people look for when they want to select a self storage facility? [00:02:36] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: So I would say that the first thing to look for, if you're going to see a unit is if the facility is clean, like, are the hallway swept, are the units dusted and, you know, Ask other tenants there too. Like if they find the facility clean, the second thing I would say is, do you feel safe there? You know, you're putting a lot of your, your special items there. Is there a gate? What's the security like, is there cameras, do you need a code? What kind of locks are they asking you to put on the unit? And then third, it's just, do you feel welcomed there? Right. Do you feel like the staff cares that you and your items are there and you're not just a customer of theirs, you know, are they going to go the extra mile to make sure that your belongings are safe and well taken care of while you can't take care of them? [00:03:16] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: Okay. So a question came to mind is do people have access to their stuff 24 7? Or are you just open during certain business hours? [00:03:23] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: Once you've rented a unit at 12 strategy, you have 24 hour access that's included in your rent and you can come and go as you please. But of course we do have those security features that you need to get through before you can go to your unit. [00:03:33] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: Excellent. Okay. Good. Excellent. So, and I understand you have climate control. Do you also have non climate controlled and really what's the difference? So we offer [00:03:41] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: both climate control. The non-climate control would be more of like a garage style where there's a roll up door and you put your items in and there's no control of temperature, humidity. [00:03:51] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: And the climate controlled is, is more like storing an items in a house. So they're there in an interior space. The temperatures controlled [00:03:58] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: now, obviously one's going to be more expensive than the other. And we don't have to get into dollars, but if you have a garage that's not climate controlled or a similar space, that's climate controlled, roughly how much more would the climate control be? Would it be double or will it be 20% more? [00:04:15] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: No. The prices is pretty similar actually. Like, so for example, our, our five by fives and non climate controlled, the $70. And the climate controlled is 75. So it's comparable. [00:04:24] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: The price you quoted was per month. [00:04:28] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: So a total storage when you move in is your anniversary date and your payment is always due on that date. [00:04:33] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: Okay, cool. Now, besides self storage, do you guys offer anything else? [00:04:37] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: Yeah, absolutely. We sell boxes and packing supplies, like mattress bags, tape Reusable tote. So rather than having to, to purchase that yourself you can rent them. And then if that is green, right, we're recycling the boxes. We make sure that they're clean. [00:04:49] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: We also do this service called marketplace, where if you are looking to get rid of a few items, we will do like. Like picture taking and posting and dealing with all the offers and sell it on your behalf or a commission. And then we donate 20% of that sale to charities. Okay. Oh, [00:05:04] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: nice. Okay. Yeah, I understand. [00:05:06] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: You guys are like a sister company to total moving. [00:05:10] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So we have the storage space and total moving is the brawn., [00:05:14] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: I suppose. Excellent. So do you ever auction stuff off like they do on storage wars? [00:05:18] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: We do get, it's not nearly as, as dramatic storage wars. It's of course we want people to have their items, right. [00:05:26] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: The last thing that we want to do is auction it, but if it does get to that point we do auction our items. It's on bid 13, and if you want to see our past auctions, you can visit our website. Total moving, excuse me, toll storage, wooden pig.ca. And we also have an email list if you wanted to be notified of when our next auction is [00:05:43] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: Okay. Now I assume that these auctions would be mostly for people that kind of abandoned their stuff, stop paying, or, or just left, left stuff behind that might not even be valuable to them anymore. They just left it right. Abandoned. [00:05:56] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: Yeah, if they stop paying and then we can't contact them to set up a payment plan to reunite them with their items. [00:06:01] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: Okay. So is there a final tip that you would give anybody looking for storage? [00:06:06] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: Absolutely. Yeah. I think the number one thing that people are not taking advantage of in storage is making use of all the vertical space in the units. Right. So you're laying your items out on the ground. Like it gets some shelving, you know, use the reusable tote so you can stack them easily and make sure you're using every square foot. People have to, I guess, provide their own shelving kind of thing. These units are not shelved. [00:06:25] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: Yeah, there is no shelving in the units. We're actually looking for like, looking into like offering shelving as something that you can purchase or possibly rent from us. So that could be a next step….makes sense. [00:06:34] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: Are they all the same height? Like five by five by how tall? [00:06:41] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: So some of them are a little bit taller than others. They range from about eight to 11 feet. [00:06:44] Bo Kauffmann - Real Estate Agent: Okay. Where are you located at? [00:06:47] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: We're at 21 Bloomberg trails, about two minutes past the perimeter on the number one in Headingley. We're right across the motel six. Okay. And you guys have a business phone number? [00:06:56] Claire Coppens - Business Manager: People can reach you at 2 0 4 8 3 2 8 1 8 1.

What are Cash-Back Mortgages? Whats the catch, and how do they help? Interview with Mike Schroeder of Mortgage Architects   How much is your Home Worth?  Home values are on the rise with the low inventory of housing on the market!  That makes it an excellent time to sell right now.  Contact ❤️

Home Buyer Tips & Etiquette [00:00:00] BoKauffmann-REALTOR: Let's talk about tips and home buying etiquette. On this episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast, All right. Welcome to this episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast. Today, we're going to talk about some tips and etiquette for home buyers to follow. What do I mean by that? So you're looking at houses and likely on a Saturday afternoon, let's say you're going to go out and look at four or five houses back to back with your agent. We call that a home viewing tour. And today we're going to talk about tips to make that, that whole tour go a little smoother, a little less troublesome just make the whole experience a little bit better for you. But also some etiquette and some rules to follow. Because as a buyer in this hot sellers market, you want to stand out for the great offer you make, not for the rules. Your break sounds like a song in there. So let's we're going to break this episode down into three different sections. The first one is going to be what to bring and where during these home showings, second one is going to be what not to bring what not to do. And the third one is how to act in sponsor inside the house. So let's go. All right. So remember it says, like, let's say a Saturday afternoon, you gotta look at four or five houses in a row. And this first tip is really helpful in the winter wear comfortable shoes you can slip on and off. If you've got these big mukluks that tie up halfway to your knee, you'll spend a lot of time taking them off and putting them back on from going from one showing to the next. So we're comfortable. Slip-on shoes next, bring a pen and pad. Now each listing will probably have a listing sheet waiting for you so you can grab that, but there's always going to be questions or things that aren't on there that you might want to mark down for yourself. If you're looking at five houses in a row, it's easy to get them. You know, you end up forgetting which one needed the new bathroom upgrader, which one had the really ugly floor here or there. So it's good to mark that down. So bring your own pants. And last bring a mask and sanitizer. Yes. COVID is still a thing. I remember you going into other people's houses. So we are still expected to wear masks because people live there and there's showings after us. So once inside you're going to be touching the fridge. You're going to be touching doorknobs, closets, stuff like that. Plus there was people there before us, so you might want to sanitize going in and coming out up next. We're going to talk about what. We'll be right back after this short announcement. This episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast is sponsored by urban top code, paint and design. Bring in quality fine finishes to your home. Whether you're planning to sell, have just settled in or looking for a robust color refresh urban top code, paint and design has your home covered. There's quality in their hands and they leave it in their work call. Rob white today at 2 0 4 7 9 1 8 0 2 4. All right. So let's start with some of the things that not to do. Leave the food and the and the drinks in the car. Let's say you picked up a cup of coffee on the way to your showings or a sandwich or a banner, a hoagie. Leave those in the car. Don't bring food into somebody else's house. As I can hear the eyeballs rolling. Oh my God. Bowl where you're telling us that it's because it's been done and then coffee gets spilled and it, it's not, it's not a good thing. Next is keep the the viewing group. Now if you're a young couple chances are you want your parents' approval, maybe they're even putting money in for the down payment. They're definitely want, want to have a look at the house. And I encourage that. In fact, if we're looking at 20 houses, I would encourage that you bring all decision-makers to as many of their showings as possible. Because the last thing we want to do is get into a situation where we looked at 20. You like one and you bring your parents back for like an approval and they haven't seen the other 19 and they go, oh my God, this house is 400,000 no way. Well, it's a good thing to have them along for the other viewings as well, so that they get a sense for the market. Having said that if you're a young. You likely have two sets of parents. Maybe you have an uncle that's knowledgeable in construction, and you want to bring your sister along for approval too. Before you know, it there's eight or 10 of us going into a showing. And that becomes unmanageable. You see your agent is responsible for that house for the entire time that you're in there. And ideally your agent will keep the whole group. That way when, when the homeowner complains that something's damaged or something's missing, your agent can honestly say, well, look, my whole group, I was with them the entire time. So you can imagine if there's eight of us and two people go up to the second floor to go into the basement. Obviously you lose control of that situation. Bring the decision-makers, but keep it as small as. In fact, during the height of COVID, there were many listings, which specifically said only three people into the house at any one time. That is the buying couple and their agent period. They weren't allowing kids in. Now, some of these things have changed and some of the rules have relaxed. There's still a limit. So keep the groups manageable which brings us to the next one, leave the kids. Look, let's talk, honestly, here, your three-year-old is not going to decide whether or not you liked the house. Maybe the, maybe your, your boy or your girl hate the house. You still going to buy it. So when you have one or two kids along, it is just another pair of shoes to put on and take off. It's another hand to hold onto because you do have to keep control of your child. And if you go into a bedroom like a sellers, child's bedroom, there's toys there. Guess what your kid wants to. And they can't children want to jump on furniture or jump on beds. And every time you say no, they start getting a little, little less interested in looking at more houses because they can't go play in these things anyway. So I've had situations whereby the third showing by the third. One of the parents had to stay in the car with a three-year-old while the other parent came, looked at the house and had a quick, you know, a quick look and then went and tagged off so that the second parent can come look at the house. Very cumbersome. It interrupts the whole flow and interrupts the showing best. Leave the kiddos at home with a sitter, with a parent, with a neighbor. And if. Hey, make me the bad guy. Just tell him the agent won't and the agent doesn't allow it, but it makes for a whole better viewing experience. Funny story here while it's funny. Now it wasn't at the time I had a listing up in Amber trail, so I was representing the. And an agent called to book showing. Now I don't meet the agent. I certainly don't know who his buyers are, but they booked a showing for let's say a Saturday, two o'clock. So my sellers leave the house. The agent goes in, my sellers came home at a reasonable time, like almost 45 minutes later, but the people were still inside. So my sellers hung back. They stayed in their car and they watched everybody come out. So after it was all done, my sellers called me and said, The front door opened, the agent comes out and after that, it was like a, like a circus clown car, about 10 or 11 people came out to make matters worse. The seller goes inside and finds that somebody has been laying on their bed, on their marital bed. You, you don't do that. So I call the agent, the buyer's agent expecting that maybe the kids had jumped on the bed, turns out no one of the uncles thought it was a good idea to lay down on, on somebody else's. So again, keep groups small, keep the kids at home and it makes for a better viewing time, better showing time all around and last we can have time be on time because I'm showing times are limited. So if you've got a, a showing window from 10 till 10 30, that's your entire window. So if you only show up at 10 15, you're only hurting yourself. You're cutting back. You're showing by 15 minutes because at 10 30, somebody else will be knocking on the door and wanting to come in. So. Keep, keep the group small. And when we come back, we'll talk about what we can and can't do inside the house. We'll be right back after this short announcement. This episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast is sponsored by Mike Schroeder of mortgage architects. If you are serious about buying a home, then contacting a mortgage specialist is an important. Mike and explain your options and let you know exactly what you can afford. This will save you time by making sure you are shopping within your budget. Call Mike Schroeder today at (204) 229-3214. All right. So now we've entered the house. Hopefully we're the only ones in there. You and your agent. First thing to do, definitely take shoes off unless the house is a, an entire like something that has to be torn down. Keep your shoes. If you have to, perhaps the basement is unfinished, it's got concrete floor. Yes. You can carry them up to the basement and walk down there. But throughout the house, definitely keep your shoes off. So in the summertime, it's a good idea. Especially ladies, if you wear slippers or something like that, and you take them off, all of a sudden, now you've got bare feet. You're walking on hardwood floors and you're leaving your sweaty footprints on somebody else's. So you might want to take some, some socks that you. Next, once you inside the house, everything that's included in the listing is fair game. So you can open the fridge, open the stove check inside, check inside the dishwasher. If the washer dryer are included. Absolutely. You can open them open cupboards doors, kitchen drawers, stuff like that. Just not dresser drawers. Don't jump on the bed. Don't open night tables, that kind of thing. Just stuff that is included in the. As mentioned earlier, keep control of the kids and avoid toilet use. Now I understand that emergencies to happen. For example, you've got a pregnant lady and it's just, you know, you just have, you got to go when you got to go, but sellers really frowned upon somebody using their toilet and then heaven forbid, Lea leave it messy again. It's happened. Try and make a pit stop in between the showings or do everything you need to do before they're showing. But toilet use is frowned upon. Same with washing your hands. Of course, if you've used the toilet, please wash your hands. But other than not just using the, using the facilities in any way is not a cool thing. And lastly, it's always a good idea to leave the house in exactly the same condition as the way you found it. If you walk into a room and the light was off and you turn it on, please turn it off. Opening closet doors, please close them again. I've had sellers quite upset that when they came home, all the closets were left open. So please just leave the house exactly the way you found it. Well, I hope you found these tips helpful, make your next showing tour or viewing tour a little bit less stressful. Cause it is a stressful market to begin with. And like I said, you want your offer to stand out. You don't want your actions to mark us somebody, the seller doesn't want to do this. Checkout Winnipeg's real estate podcast with weekly market updates, news and advice for home buyers and sellers produced by award-winning agent Bo Kauffmann of Remax performance Realty available on all major broadcasters, including iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and more. Find them at Bono's dot Holmes slash podcast. Missing an episode could be hazardous. Are you looking to buy a house or a condo in Winnipeg work with the agent who takes the time to explain the process to you, guiding you through every step for service beyond the sale book, your home buying consultation with Bo Kauffmann of Remax performance today, Bo knows real estate.

Documents needed for Home Buyer Pre-Approval [00:00:00] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: In any hot real estate market buyers know they need to get pre-approved before even looking at homes. So how do we streamline that process? That's coming up next on Winnipeg's real estate podcast. [00:00:13] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: You're listening to the bone knows real estate podcast tips and advice for home buyers, sellers, and owners with award winning Remax agent Beau Kaufman. [00:00:28] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Hello, everybody bought Kaufman here, Remax performance Realty. And today we're talking about pre-approval. Now that's been around for awhile buyers. These days know that they need to get pre-approved by the way, pre-approval is different than pre-qualification. When a buyer goes up to a bank teller and says, Hey, I make 60 grand a year. How much of a mortgage can I afford? Can you plug those numbers in? And the teller gives them. That's pre qualification. That's not what we're looking for. We need something a lot deeper than that. We need something where they do a bit of a dive into your financial abilities to financial history, your credit rating. And that's called a pre-approval. Now, depending on who you're dealing with or pre-approval. Take just a few hours or it could take days. A lot of times it depends on the financial institution you're dealing with, but it can also be helped. Like the process can be sped up by you, the buyer being ready for the questions they're going to answer, because no matter where you go, they're going to need a number of documents from you. And today we're going to talk to my good buddy Mike Schroeder of mortgage architects. And he's going to give us a list of documents that you, the buyer have to have. So you, you may as well spend the time to dig them out, have them ready and really impressed the hell out of them when they ask for those documents and you say, Hey, I've got everything ready in a file here for you. I'll email it to you. A lot of times that pre-approval process can be cut down to a mere hours. So here we are, help me in welcoming Mike Schroeder to the show. All right, Mike, welcome back to the show. [00:01:53] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Good morning, Bob, how are you doing today? [00:01:55] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Excellent. Excellent. How are you? Are you [00:01:57] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: busy? Oh man. This has been great. All everyone's buying and selling homes you say? So it's been [00:02:02] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: crazy. Okay. All right. So we're talking about what a buyer can do to kind of shorten that whole pre-approval process and they can, as quick as possible some of the documents that they need, that your you and other lenders are likely going to ask them for. So let's start with that. What, what do buyers need to provide to get pre. [00:02:21] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Sure. So we can break the documents down to three different categories. We have to show how much money you make. So your income, we have to cover your down payment and we have to go over your credit. So let's start at the beginning of that first question of course would be, would be, are you employed or are you self employed? If you're employed at the company that really, we need the last pace. Have you received your last two years of G4S? If you've been the employer that long, that will give us a good establishment on Granger. Don't forget if you're receiving the Canadian child benefits that many lenders will also accept that as a valid thing. Now, if you're self-employed, we need to get your last two years and they've been tax returns. One of the easiest way of getting those tax returns is to contact your accountant because they have them all filed away for you. So you really should have both either of those items ready to go when you're ready to get them. [00:03:14] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay, quick question for you. I've heard people say that they need a letter from their employer. When does that come into effect? [00:03:20] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Sure. So yes, we will need a letter from their employer, but I understand that sometimes employers are delayed in getting you there. If we have your teeth boards and your pay stub, that is enough to get the process started on your pre-approval. We can always ask for more documents later on, but at least we've got this process started. [00:03:37] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: It still, wouldn't be a bad idea for a buyer to just reach out to his employer and say, Hey, could you give me a quick letter? What is, what needs to be in there? You've been working here for X number of years. [00:03:44] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Yeah. So when you're starting there, how you're paid, uh, whether you're on commission, whether you see bonuses, uh, whether or not you're on probation and, uh, someone of a lender can contact. If they want to, just to verify the information. [00:03:58] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: I'm talking in full. Okay, excellent. So that covers the income portion. Correct. [00:04:03] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: And so next would be down payment. So this one's a little bit trickier because the documents we need will really depend on whether you're down to humans coming from. So there's more, so here's some questions for you that. Is the money coming from money you've saved yourself. So that could be from an employer matched RSP or employer match tax-free savings account, maybe money you've been saving the bank philosophy months. The other question will be is if they're coming as a gift, so maybe you have a parent or a sibling or a grandparent who's gifting you money for a down payment. Well, that will change the documentation that as well. The other two factors will be that if any of the money's coming into modus, And lastly they, the money is being bored. So for down payment, more so just know where the money is coming from first. And then we can give you some more details on what people are working from there. [00:04:54] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: So people can actually borrow money for that 5% down payment, correct. [00:04:58] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: That most of them don't realize that, but you can actually bore it usually on like a, a line of credit or a short-term loan. And then that money can be used legally for a down payment, a. [00:05:10] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: But of course the payments that you make on that new loan will also affect how much you can afford on a house. Like it goes against your credit score. [00:05:17] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Correct. And that's one reason why a lot of people often don't do it. Um, but it is an option for you. And we're really comes in handy is if you're short, say some of the down payment, so maybe you need $20,000 for down payment and you have 15, $16,000 saved up. You can make it the difference or that, and that can really help you in buying the house you want. [00:05:37] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay. Cool. [00:05:41] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: We'll be right back after this short [00:05:43] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: announcement. [00:05:47] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: This episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast is brought to you by total moving, providing, moving services, packing supplies, assembly, and organizing for residential and commercial clients guaranteeing no hidden fees while providing the most efficient moving process. Call 4, 3, 1 4 4 1 move. Or get an estimate online@totalmovingwinnipeg.ca that's total moving Metta. Toba is modern. [00:06:14] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: And we're back. And Mike is going to tell us about the last set of documents we need. [00:06:20] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: And then the last one will be the credit report. So all we need to do is a pull. A credit report is the information you provide anyways, accurate standard Bersin number. But here's the key. We find that about quarter of all Clara reports have errors, and we want to pull your credit as early as we can. I'm not making this up last month. We had a client who they had combined his credit report with Jim or with a similar name from Vancouver. They now said that he was responsible for it $900 a month car payment, which you can imagine affect how much has been pre-approved for it. Right? So fortunately we have a contact at the credit agency where we can go and repair and we can actually help correct those items for you with no cost. And so just wanted to keep might as additional services we offer is making sure that your credit report is actually. [00:07:05] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: No in that case, how long did it take to repair that? [00:07:08] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: I took a couple of [00:07:09] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: weeks. Okay. I've heard stories that it can take, sometimes it can take months. Is that, is that true? Like for different kinds of [00:07:17] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: issues, it can sometimes take longer. What is nice though, is that as mortgage brokers, we actually have access to a backend, uh, contact method through Equifax. And so we can use escalate the matter yet. Correct. And more quickly than clients could have they just called. [00:07:33] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay. So, um, it being pre-approved one of the benefits is that you lock in that mortgage rate, which of course now there's a good threat of it going up. Right. So how long can you lock it [00:07:43] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: in for, uh, between 90 and 120 days, depending on the lender. So call between three and four months. [00:07:50] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay. Awesome. Um, yeah, it's only gone up a quarter point, but the chance of it going up another quarter point in the next three to four months is pretty real, right. Well, [00:08:00] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: don't forget the, even though the variable rate just went up by a little bit, our fixed rates have been going up by a lot. Um, so just to give you an example, I had a client that I got approved for a mortgage purchase two weeks ago, and they got approved at 2.99%. They're taking possession of their house tomorrow. If they had got their, their approval tomorrow, their rate would have been 3.3%. It's gone up by 0.3 on the fixed side in two weeks. And so you want to get that information. You can get that rate locked in. Some, give you may office in care. [00:08:31] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Okay. And how do people get ahold of you make [00:08:33] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: sure? So one of the best ways is to my website, like sure. Dot CA uh, you also book an appoint with me. You know, my knowledge is mortgage@likeshorter.ca. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram and in businesses by this partner is my wife. And we know these are mortgage couple on social. [00:08:49] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: You're a mortgage couple. Awesome. Okay, Mike, thank you very much. Some valuable information once again, and let's do this again in two weeks. What are we going to talk about that? Have you, have you thought about what we're going to do next? [00:09:01] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: Um, so the, the, the topic I was thinking would to bring up potentially would be other types of mortgages that people don't think about, uh, such as a home equity lines of credit interest, only payments, cash back mortgages. Uh there's uh, most people don't realize just how many options are out there. And so kind of give you some of the different mortgage products you can think about. It goes beyond the fixed versus variable compensation. [00:09:22] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Sure. Yeah, that sounds, that sounds interesting. I, I think I can learn a lot there too. Again, it's been educational. Thank you very much for your time, Mike. No [00:09:30] Mike Schroeder - Mortgage Architects: problem. One last thing. There's no such thing as a stupid question for anyone out there, listening to this, always feel free to, they can reach out to us with any more questions. It's all been asked before and we're here to help guide you through it. So please no such thing as a dumb question, always ask. Thanks, Mike. [00:09:43] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: We'll talk to you soon. Take care. Bye-bye. [00:09:47] Are you looking to buy a house or a condo in Winnipeg work with the agent who takes the time to explain the process to you, guiding you through every step for service beyond the sale book, your home buying consultation with Bo Kaufman of Remax performance today Bo knows [00:10:01] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: real estate. Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode of Winnipeg's real estate podcast and found it helpful if you did, why not subscribe and get your own app? It's really easy. Just go to bono. Dodd homes slash apps. That's H P P S and there you'll find convenient links to get both the iOS and Android apps till next time. Bye-bye [00:10:26] You've been listening to Bo Kauffmann of Remax performance Realty. Are you thinking of buying or selling a house or a condo in Winnipeg called Bo at 2 0 4 3 3 3 2 2 0 2. Remember, Bo Knows Real Estate

Hiring a Mover in Winnipeg [00:00:00] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Spring market is here. And as with every spring home sales are increasing. So more people are buying and selling, which means more people are going to end up moving. Do you do it yourself or do you hire a mover? So coming up next is an interview with a friend of mine who runs total moving in Winnipeg. [00:00:16] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: And we're going to get some tips on how to find, hire, and select a great. [00:00:20] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Uh, you're listening to the bone knows real estate podcast tips and advice for home buyers, sellers, and owners with award winning Remax agent Beau Kaufman. [00:00:41] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: All right today, we're going to be talking about moving, hiring a mover or doing it yourself. The moving industry I have found is one of those really unregulated industry, anybody with a pickup truck and call themselves a mover. It's like a home inspection, a service, anybody with a flashlight. Can call themselves a home inspector. [00:00:57] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: So how do you weed through that? I can tell you a quick little story. When I was a police officer, I was sitting in the station and somebody came in and report that they had a whole bunch of stuff go missing from their moving company. It is, it is kind of a wild west out there as far as moving goes. So if you are going to hire a mover, make sure your hire a good one. [00:01:18] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: And today we're going to be talking with a good friend of mine who runs total moving, which is fairly new here in Winnipeg. And we're going to talk to him next. His name is Colby kiss. All right. So I'm here with my friend Colby kiss from told will moving Winnipeg, uh, Colby. Let's get right into it and ask you if. [00:01:37] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: There's so many movers out there. I mean, anybody with a pickup truck and call themselves a mover, it seems to me it's like a somewhat loosely regulated industry. There really is, you know, it's a wild west show out there. How do people find a great mover? What sets a great mover apart from the. [00:01:53] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: You know, what's, um, bad. [00:01:55] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: You're absolutely correct. In that sense, you gotta be careful with who you're hiring. Um, some places you might want to look to first would be like BBB, better business bureau. Uh, they only bring credible businesses on with business, better business bureau. Sorry. Um, we're on there. We have a great, great review system through them. [00:02:11] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: The next would be check your Google reviews. That's probably your most important, um, important thing to look into, right? Like if you have a company has all five stars and they've got over. Say even 30 reviews, you're probably looking at a company that is somewhat credible and they can all be fake ones and companies are looking to do that. [00:02:27] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Right. So it is something companies do, unfortunately. But, um, if they're getting over the 30, 40 mark, they're definitely, they're definitely having customers that are having good experiences with them. So that's massive. And then another one we're hopping into, as soon as we get into, um, two years in business, sorry, is cam the Canadian association of movers, our business mentor and Phillips is in there. [00:02:46] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: And. Set the steps up for us to get right in. We've already been deemed as, uh, as credible. And it's just about. Getting two years in the industry for us right now, so that we can hop into that one to further go into it. I guess like some things you'd want to look into when you're making the calls to the moving company, or you want to make sure that they're friendly, they're willing to help you right off that first phone call. [00:03:06] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: I get lots of calls from customers. From the first phone call, they say, they're so surprised that we're approachable via phone, and that were over the phone, over the phone. I'm willing to answer their questions and not just get their, their estimate info that we need. If you want to know what's going on in there with their whole situation before they're moved. [00:03:24] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: And, uh, next thing of course, you wanna make sure these, these companies are fully insured. Workers, they have their workers' comp certified they're fully insured as well. I think it's important if you looked on a company's website or in their socials, um, just make sure they're staying relevant. Lots of these moving companies that maybe are trying to hide the kind of sketchy or things they do or whatever it might be. [00:03:45] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: They don't have a social presence. They're not completely updating their website regularly. So it's kind of a good way to good way to tell that if a company is staying relevant and staying. Updated on their content. They're not afraid to be out there. They get out of customers that are mad at them, commenting on their stuff, 24 7, if they, if they're doing that. [00:04:03] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Right. So I think we do that. We, we have a very good social presence and I think our website's pretty top notch and yeah, I think another important question to ask when you're hiring a mover, first of all, make sure they're going to get you an estimate, like, you know, movers over the phone should ever just say it's going to be four hours and then they show up and yeah. [00:04:18] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: A thousand more things than they expected for a one bedroom move. We make sure we break all their things down through a cube sheet, ensuring that we actually get our customer a proper price and an hourly rate that makes sense for their move. And when we get them that we normally fall within half an hour positive or negative of that estimate. [00:04:33] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: So it's kind of an important thing there for sure. You want to get a number before going into your [00:04:37] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: move, especially if you just kind of want to know what you're getting. Exactly. [00:04:42] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Yeah. And there's you hear that so much too, that customers come to me and they say, oh, Hey, this one company I hired three years ago told me it was going to be $300. [00:04:50] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: And they showed up to my one bedroom apartment and then ended up being $700 in five hours. Right. So we make sure we get them that our number and a price that will be somewhat close on. Okay. And then the last thing I think is kind of important there. Would be ask them, ask a moving company. This one always throws a company off and it might not be the right company if it does throw them off. [00:05:10] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: When you ask them this question, but ask them what they're going to do. If things go wrong. And the unfortunate part of this industry is we're movers. There's going to be dings Nicks. There's going to be stuff like that. That happens. The important thing is how that's, how that has made up for, uh, We run claims forms. [00:05:25] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: There's basic laws from the federal government of what we must meet, but then we also sell our customers valuation. We make sure they understand our claims forms for going in so that they know if anything does go wrong, we're here to help them. And we give them every opportunity to ensure that they're getting, whether it's money back or things fix, they're getting those opportunities to have any mistakes made. [00:05:44] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: No. Excellent [00:05:46] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: in the big one there that stuck out for me is the insurance and the, uh, workers' comp because of, uh, if a mover slips in your house and hurts himself, uh, that actually it's the home owner's responsibility sometimes because he's provided the home owner, the seller or the buyer has provided the workspace. [00:06:04] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: So you gotta have worker's comp and [00:06:06] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: insurance. Absolutely. I mean, some of the, I mean, it's not even to bash some of the smaller movers. Everyone's trying to make a dollar, I guess, but it needs to be done correctly. Right? So those two things are huge. Of course you want them fully insured and, and, and the companies to have workers comp for their employees. [00:06:22] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Well, listen, I [00:06:23] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: get it. A lot of young people, uh, buying their first house. And I remember when I was like 25 30, we always had friends. We had a ton of friends, some of them would pick up trucks and they're always willing to do stuff for a pizza and a case. So w what do you say to young people who say, well, I'm going to see myself that 500, 600, $800 and just get a bunch of buddies together, have a good day, make a day of it. [00:06:45] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: What do you say to people like that? [00:06:47] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Um, call me for an estimate first. Uh, I, you know what everyone says that like every, it seems every friend group, including my own, they all go through. Whoever's lucky enough to call. I shouldn't even say lucky enough to move into their first place, but. Whoever's moving out first. [00:07:04] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: It seems like they all go through that and they end up buying the case of beer and pizza. And then no one else in the friend groups fortunate to save the money there. But, um, there's just certain things that aren't going to get done. When you hire, hire a friend group, you're not going to know how long it's going to take. [00:07:17] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: If you're moving, will you, we, can we go into pound? Did you want to be, make our moves? Right. So if you're moving, say 3000, 4,000 pounds, and you just got to pick up truck, you're going to be moving all day with your friend group as well. So I'll make sure they know that, but. Yeah. It's certain things like pat wrapping your furniture. [00:07:32] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: If it's, if it's furniture you care about, like it's not going to be taken care of properly, right. There there'll be other things you don't think of like this assembly, um, certain moving techniques, trying to get a coach through doors a lot harder when you don't know what you're doing. Um, and yeah, it's just more difficult [00:07:45] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: than people plus the insurance factor too, right? [00:07:47] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Like, I mean, if your friend drops that headboard and scratches it all up, uh, don't think you're going to have [00:07:52] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: insurance. Yeah, I'm sure there's been a lot of, uh, lost friendships over moving. Like it's not really worth [00:07:58] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: yeah. How to burn through your friends and three [00:08:01] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: easy steps. Hire them for three moves in two years. [00:08:03] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Something [00:08:07] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: we'll be right back after this short announcement. [00:08:13] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: You're listening to the Bono's real estate podcast with Beau Kaufman of Remax performance Realty. If you're thinking of buying or selling a house or a condo in Winnipeg, remember Bo knows realist. [00:08:26] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Listen, I also, what I like about you guys is you offered a whole bunch of different services. Like, um, one thing you go out and you sell just the packing supplies and rapping and tape and stuff like that. [00:08:36] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: But what other services do you guys offer? [00:08:39] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Or we were talking about that recently. You and I. Put it into it's on our website right now we have a little infographic, but we kind of break things down into, uh, uh, a four step moving process kind of thing. Now you don't need to use this for all four steps, but the first would be kind of like just virtually or just online. [00:08:56] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: We can set you up through email with the packing supplies. You need, get you our prices, get you set up there and, um, have them delivered to you. Then we can come do that pack, whether it's the move day, the day before we send Packers, however, it works. That's kind of step two was doing the pack and then step three is the obvious one that everyone knows we do, which is just getting the move done. [00:09:15] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Right. And then our fourth step, the final step in this kind of infographic would be. Doing the unpack organizing of the house. Um, it's again, you don't have to hire for all four things. Lots of customers will buy our packing supplies. They'll do all the packing, we move it. We give them tips on how to properly pack, ensuring that there's going to be no damages. [00:09:37] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Um, and that's totally fine, but yeah, we do offer all four and then I guess the other big thing we offer is. Is this [00:09:44] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Emily. That's what I was waiting for it. Yeah. The assembly that kind of blew me away. So people go to Ikea buy that dresser with the 400 parts and you offer a service to put it together for [00:09:55] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: that's absolutely right. [00:09:56] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Yeah. We, uh, I don't blame people that can, Ikea stuff can be pretty annoying. So we found a little bit of a market in there. We're hoping to get that to start taking off even more so in the future here, but, uh, yeah, if anybody just needs some things built, put together, we'll, uh, we'll send our best assembly guys over and get that done. [00:10:14] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Right on. So what's the best way. How do people get ahold? [00:10:18] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Um, but we have a quotation link and just to contact us through our website that never hurts goes directly to me and my staff's emails. And then we reach out, um, you can get a hold of us set, uh, my email as well. We'll be at total moving one, a big.ca or hello at total moving one, a big.ca both of those we can be reached, um, and our phone number. [00:10:38] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Um, we have our office line, which is, uh, 4, 3 1 4 4 1 move. It's a 6, 6, 8 3 [00:10:44] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: for the end there. So that the website was total moving. Winnipeg dot. Yeah, I guess I [00:10:50] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: should've said the [00:10:51] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: website. Okay. Was part of your email, but I just wanted to make sure people understood and got off. [00:10:56] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: Absolutely. Yeah, no, it is of www total moving winnepeg.ca that's the website. [00:11:02] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: All right. Well, listen, I'd like to do another episode with you sometime down the road. Maybe, uh, we'll talk about how people can save money. What, you know, what some, some tips and tricks to moving, how the. Do some of the stuff and hire you for some of the other stuff, but we'll come up with some ideas on, on how to save people money, because they're going to be spending a lot of it buying the house. [00:11:22] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: Uh, these days it's the market is just, is nuts. So, uh, I'll uh, I look forward to doing this again. I can't [00:11:31] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: wait to be back on both. Thanks for having us. All right. Take [00:11:34] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: care of by Colby. Take it easy, bro. Well, I met Colby about a year and a half ago or so, and I've been recommending total moving to all my clients for that time. [00:11:45] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: And I've had nothing but positive feedback. And like I said, this is an industry where it's a real hit and miss, you can get some really good ones and you can get some that will quite frankly, rip you off. And I've always found Colby to be a standup guy, and I liked their whole business mentality and philosophy. [00:12:02] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: And I think you'd be quite happy hiring total moving for your next move. And no, they did not pay for this episode. This is just a service that I provide. I like surrounding myself with. That that are good at their business. So if you look into, by herself, just know that I've already got a great lawyer, home insurance company, mover, a plumber, electrician, home inspector, a roofer. [00:12:25] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: I've got them all on speed, dial people that I know and trust and people that I can get ahold of even on the weekend, uh, try and get a lawyer to answer a phone on the weekend. So if you look into, by herself, give me a shout because you get more than just a realtor. You get access to all the best professionals in their respective fields to help us make that purchase or the sale of that house. [00:12:48] Bo Kauffmann - REALTOR: So until next time, this has been Bo Kaufman Remax performance. I'll talk to you soon. [00:12:57] Colby Kiss - Total Moving: You've been listening to Bo Kauffman of Remax performance Realty. Are you thinking of buying or selling a house or a condo in Winnipeg called Bo at 2 0 4 3 3 3 2 2 0 2. Remember Bo knows real estate.

 It's springtime, and Winnipeg home buyers are facing a very tough sellers market.  How can first time buyers get a leg up in this highly competitive environment?  Lets talk with mortgage expert, my friend Mike Schroeder of Mortgage Architects…next. Home buyers in Winnipeg are in a very tuff spot.  Our spring market is normally very competitive.  This is when buyers come out in large numbers, and end up competing on homes and even condos. This year they are facing 2 additional obstacles,:  Lack of listings and rising interest rates. Normally at this time , we have around 1200 houses on the market.  This morning, we have just over 400.  Whats worse, is that over half of them are new listings, and will likely be sold in the next couple of days. Also, the headlines are shouting  “Bank of Canada DOUBLES its interest rates”…  adding more stress to the daily routines of home buyers. So I thought it was high time that we speak with someone who knows mortgages, knows how to help home buyers and can add some perspective to these issues. Let's say hellow to Mike Schroeder of Mortgage Architects in Winnipeg.

Welcome to Winnipeg's Real Estate Market update for March 2022 Here we are at the beginning of March, and let's take a look at the housing market first, then the condo market. On March 1st, we had a total of 366 houses available for sale.  That's up a little from the 306 we had a month ago, but well below 577 on March 1st last year. The main segment of activity continues to be in the 250k to 500k range where we sold 236 during Feb., and only have 157 available on March 1st. The next busiest price range is from 500 to 1 million, with 129 sales during Feb. A lot of listings start out in the 400 K range, but bidding drives their sold price up over 500K. I just worked with a couple who bought their first home.  It took 7 attempts to finally have our offer accepted.  The home they bought was listed at $320K and they had to bid 95K over that.  It's tough to be a buyer right now. Winnipeg's condo market is not spared from this hectic activity.  We currently have only 211 condos available, compared to 431 last year and 561 the year before. Sales of 146 units in Feb. is an increase from the previous month, and significantly higher than the 86 sold in Feb. last year. So in summary, Winnipeg continues to be a very strong seller's market, so if you're thinking of selling a house or condo, NOW is the time to call to get ready to sell.  Call me anytime for a free market analysis.