Innocuous In Innisfil 🇨🇦Another open house for us today, which means a busy morning cleaning and reconstructing the staging. We have a photo archive so we know where the 482 pillows are supposed to go. We're still working on the correct application of the "dent" in the top of designated pillows. Practice makes perfect.
Five open houses, including ours, in the surrounding rural area today. Three are more expensive and the other is very close to our market price. Totally useless comparison but I feel better.
I haven't added to this thread in a few weeks because not much is happening. Our listing expires today and in the past 60 days we have had 4 open houses which combined with scheduled showings has resulted in 10 groups actually viewing our home. Everyone loves the house but not enough to make an offer.
That amount of activity is apparently very positive in this slow market. Our agent and other contacts all said that was excellent based on where our home sits in the market - in our rural area there are only 14 houses that are 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths with 3,000+ square feet. None of which have sold since July 1st. In all of our area, across the hundreds of detached house of all sizes, only 10% of the inventory sold in August.
The market, in terms of low sales, is worse in our preferred location for a new home. There are hundreds of homes availabe in South Barrie/Innisfil, and prices seem to drop weekly. We've viewed several online that we think look perfect, but we're resisting the urge to view them in person. The time to buy is excellent but we don't want to think about a new home until we have a firm offer on our existing house.
So we are relisting tomorrow for another 60 days with a small price decrease. Our agent is confident that buyer activity will pick up and the recent bank rate reduction will help peak interest. Could be a busy fall with a moving date before Christmas. If we don't get any offers then we'll take it off the market and restart our efforts early in 2025. Thankfully we are not desperate and can take our time to do this right.
We had an open house yesterday, our 1st since relisting a week ago. Eight groups visited which almost equalled the total amount of viewings we had in our first 60 days. Three were very interested, one of those was here for the 2nd time. The repeat visitors are selling a house in Brampton and are waiting for that to be complete before making any offers on a new home. Only 1 day of data, but market appears to be less sluggish going into the fall.
Another scheduled showing today which means a hike with Harley on one of our favourite autumn trails. Gorgeous weather today.
So we have now had 18 views in the past 6 weeks, far more activity than our first 60 days. One semi-serious verbal offer came our way 4 days ago. The prospective buyer offered us an amount that was approximately 20% below market value because that was the mortgage amount they were pre-approved for. Can't hurt to ask...
One of the projects we completed to prepare for a house sale was an overhaul of our front lawn, including eliminating a firepit and pea stone sitting area. Here's the before ( mid-May) and after (today after a fresh cut). Grew in nicely.
Trying something new this week - a Friday wine & cheese open house, from 5pm to 7pm. Our agent has had some success with the tactic this summer, and tipsy buyers might be a good thing.
Today, we took our house off the market for the winter. November through January is typically a period of little to no activity in real estate markets, so we're taking a break and will relist in March. We expected an offer last week, but the couple have decided to wait until next spring to make a decision. Everyone is waiting for more help from government programs and additional interest rate drops. My wife says she's not vacuuming for a month.
Our house is not officially for sale but our agent contacted us yesterday to request a showing for Saturday. Apparently, one of the very interested potential buyers from last fall want to revisit before they make an offer. They're likely worried our house will sell quickly in the spring.
So today, we're vacuuming, dusting, and polishing all day after several weeks of more "relaxed" house cleaning. Got my C&W playlist to help me git-r-done...
#RealEstate ##MyPlaylist
https://youtu.be/7yw8O2mdrxs?si=Cp0YvwErr7osvFJc
Townes Van Zandt - Big Country Blues
We have started preparations to relist our way-too-big-for-us house. Staging expert arrives tomorrow to try and make our lifestyle look cooler than we are. Real estate agent will meet with us next Tuesday to sign a new listing agreement, and a sign will be up early March.
Back to daily vacuuming and cleaning, and being ready to vacate our house on a few hours' notice.
Silver lining: a metre of snow on the property means no extra yard work for a least a month.
We signed our listing agreement yesterday, and the house officially goes on the market March 3rd. Looking forward to strangers going through my drawers...
Currently deep cleaning our bathrooms, removing all water spots and scrubbing grout. Got some upbeat tunes in the background for motivation.
#HouseCleaning #MyPlaylist ##RandomTune
https://youtu.be/0Pg2lt8PmTA?si=HIWqp-gsyFWlNDOm
Rhiannon Giddens - Black Is the Color [Official Music Video]
Staging company has arrived with a trailer carrying several metric tons of pillows. We will struggle to live up to the cool and chic image they are crafting in our home.
Our house listing went live at noon yesterday and we already have a showing booked at 4:30 this afternoon. So naturally, the most difficult to reach light fixture needs 2 replacement bulbs, and I'm not comfortable with hanging out in open space.
The death-defying light bulb replacement has paid dividends. After a house showing late yesterday afternoon, we received an offer last night. Our agent will be here in a few minutes to discuss, but our initial response is to counter on the price and get something closer to our list price. Otherwise, the offer is clean with nothing wonky. Stay tuned....
We signed the offer back, asking for another 5%. I'm not religious, but I'll pray for a successful deal by listening to some favourite blues.
"Preachin Blues" by Larkin Poe
#MyPlaylist #RandomTune
https://youtu.be/cEWiJR9qeoc?si=cUPbcpeeSa2Ns45k
Larkin Poe | Preachin' Blues (Official Video)
Lots of activity over the past 24 hours but the short story is we signed a conditional offer that gives us 95% of our asking price. With an uncertain economic climate for the next few months, it seemed to be the prudent decision. The buyer has 5 days to complete inspections (house, well & septic) and mortgage/insurance appraisal. If all proceeds as planned, we will have a firm deal on March 14th.
Harley is handling it well since we've allowed her bed and toys to be out in the open.
Big day today. The potential buyers are taking over the house for 5 hours for scheduled inspections - house, septic system, and well/water testing. Their mortgage and insurance companies are also doing an appraisal on the property. If everything goes well, and conditions related to inspections and appraisals are satisfied, then the deal will be firm.
My wife and I are spending the day doing drive-bys of potential home purchases in Barrie/Innisfil.
Yesterday we completed the deal for our house - it closes on Friday, June 20th. Overall, we're happy, and now we start looking for our new smaller home in the Barrie area. In a few days, when I've had a mental break, I'll summarize what we did right and wrong in case someone else can learn from our selling process.
Pharrell Williams - Happy (Video)
The "Sold" sticker is now applied to the real estate sign out front. And today the house staging company took away all the cool furniture and several hundred pillows. We are now living a minimalist lifestyle for the next few months.
We're starting our process of what we keep versus what we move to a new house. We're #Downsizing, which means we have extra couches, beds, dressers, etc. Once we actually put an offer on a new house, ideally, in the next 2 weeks, we'll have a better idea of what has to go. Currently, we are cleaning out cupboards and building inventory for a garage sale in May, a month before our closing. We've got a few puzzles to sell.
Wife and I out touring our front garden on this beautiful day - 15°C and sunny. There was 2+ feet of snow here just 5 days ago.
This will be a bittersweet gardening season since we have sold the house, and it will be peaking around the closing date of June 20th. I will be moving some plants and dividing some that we want to take with us. And lots of weeding so it looks great for the new owners.
We're about to embark on an extended house search, spending several days in the Barrie/Innisfil area and looking at 10+ houses recommended to us by our agent there. More on that as it develops, but today I'll pass on the top 3 tips, from our experience and situation, that were helpful in selling our house. Hopefully, some of them are helpful.
#1 Choosing your agent. It's important to have an agent who knows your local market, particularly for us, being in a rural area. Our agent and her team live in our community and know it intimately and are knowledgeable on rural properties that have wells and septic systems. We went to an open house in Innisfil, and the agent was from Mississauga. She couldn't answer any questions about local attractions, services, or shopping.
Ask for 3+ references from any potential agents you meet with, and call them. All agents will have reviews on their website but use them as a guide because they ain't posting any dissatisfied customer reviews. Be suspicious of websites that claim to provide top agents in your area, like RankMyAgent, because they promote agents who advertise with them or they exist to collect your data.
#2 Listen to your agent, and stager if relevant, about making your house ready to sell. They're not in love with your property, and their critical eye is important in making your house presentable. They'll tell you if you should remove the stripper pole, your knife and sword collection, or blown-up photo of grandma's open casket. All real examples. They will also recommend what not to worry about, saving you time and money.
Be respectful of the commission you pay your agent. if you insist on a lower commission, a lot of good agents will turn you down. Less commission means fewer services and fewer dollars going into the marketing budget. Buying agents, representing buyers, get half of the commission, and they will direct their clients to houses that compensate them for their efforts. So, a low commission rate reduces your buyer pool.
#3 Know your market. Ideally, before you select your agent, you've done your homework on the market in your area. If so, then you can be more comfortable when they tell you what your house is worth. Realtor.ca is a great site for finding prices for homes in your area, but list prices are meaningless. Data on what houses have sold for is your market price.
HouseSigma.com provides info on the local market, what houses with similar features are selling for, and sales/listing history for individual houses. It's a great resource for selling your current house and looking for your new home. You can also get monthly updates on the market by googling "real estate market report" for your community. They will tell how much inventory is available, how quickly it's selling, and if houses are selling above or below list.
Lastly, be patient and expect to be insulted. It's a buyer's market, and they are taking their time and looking at a lot of houses that are on the market for weeks or months. Feedback from your Open House or agent showing will be blunt. Don't take it personally. And you'll likely get a few offers that are well below market price because buyers don't care about your feelings. Have an honest conversation with your agent about what you'll accept, and be prepared to go lower.
Looked at 4 houses today in the Innisfil area and we have one solid option with the other 3 eliminated. One broke my heart - spectacular garage perfect for a golf simulator attached to a house with too many issues.
Another 4 house viewings scheduled for tomorrow, one of which coincidentally is two streets away from my brother's cottage.
All About That Bass - Postmodern Jukebox European Tour Version
We're back from our successful house search in Innisfil, we hope. We put an offer in on a solid little Bungalow in Innisfil that needs some work but nothing major. My wife fell in love with the kitchen, which was renovated 18 years ago, but it was professionally done and still looks impressive. The lot is less than 1/6 the size of our current property, and it's a 2 minute walk to a nearby beach.
If the house inspection goes well on Friday, the deal is firm.
Yesterday was a long day... at least it was for a retired guy who regularly naps in the afternoons. Early Friday morning, I made the 1.5 hour drive to Innisfil for the house inspection on our new home. After 3 hours, we had a long list of mostly minor issues and a report that deemed the home solid with no major issues. Late last night, we signed the final documents, and we will soon be Innisfilians.
Moonshiner Blues by Justin Johnson
#HomeOwnership #MyPlaylist
https://youtu.be/tsfTb1fxZ6A?si=Tsp0JErYmGO6zfv8
MOONSHINER BLUES | Slide Guitar on the Mystery Resonator
We have started to pack up the house in earnest. The last time we moved newspapers were a thing. You know, those big pieces of paper that you held and flipped pages. There's no local papers anymore, and those were filled with sales flyers. All a distant memory.
Today, with digital news, I'm spending a considerable amount of my retirement funds on wrapping materials for glasses, dishes, and breakable stuff.
Sometimes progress bites you in the ass when you least expect it.
Today, with digital news, I'm spending a considerable amount of my retirement funds on wrapping materials for glasses, dishes, and breakable stuff.
Sometimes progress bites you in the ass when you least expect it.
We did a site visit to the new house in Innisfil to plan our furniture placement and determine what we need to purge. My wife has a list of improvements that are "mandatory," so I guess it's a smaller, less expensive moneypit.
We also toured the area and stopped at a park right on the lake where we ran into this large group of fluffy goslings. I tried to get closer but the parents were giving me not so subtle warnings.
Packing up the house and the purging process is going well. My wife is becoming an expert on selling online, and we've cleared out 6 pieces of furniture and all my major workshop tools. We are currently cleaning out every closet and cupboard in preparation for a yard sale this weekend, and my garage looks like a flea market. Everything is priced aggressively to avoid packing it for the move or throwing it out. Next week we'll donate items that don't sell.
We sold about 200 items in our yard sale last Saturday, and today, I took two carloads of stuff to the donation site at our recycling centre. I feel like I'm being judged by the quality of my junk (" OH... we don't want that") even though I realize the community thrift store is flooded with donations and can't take everything. Only about 10% of my junk was deemed trash, so I'll take that as a win.
Several large pieces of furniture are being donated to an antique store in Orangeville. It operates as a non-profit, and all sales proceeds go to the local food bank. We had the option of sending it to auction, but the cost of shipping and auction fees would just barely cover what we would likely get. We've owned this furniture for 40+ years, so it's time for someone else to enjoy them.
This Thursday the moving truck arrives and the following Tuesday we move into our new home. Therefore, it's time for a new alias, and this poll offers some possible alternatives. Please boost for maximum meaningless results.
Some background:
- we are moving to the Barrie area.
- officially, within the Town of Innisfil
- easy walking distance to Belle Aire Beach
- within Innisfil, we are in the community of Belle Ewart
Disclaimer - I am not legally bound by the results of this survey.
Barrie Beach Bum
Innocuous In Innisfil
Prince of Belle Aire
Ewartian Era
Poll ended at .
This survey has a few hours of life left, but I've gone ahead and chosen "Innocuous In Innisfil." That feels right and suits my general objective to be harmless and not give offense or arouse strong feelings. Although I've failed that objective on occasion.
Last Thursday, the movers ultimately arrived and did an awesome job, emptying the house and garage in 3 hours. The house sale closed with no issues on Friday at 5pm. Today, Monday the 23rd, our house purchase should close mid to late afternoon. Tomorrow, the moving truck arrives to dump our possessions into various rooms. We're almost there...
#NewBeginnings #FeelinGood
https://youtu.be/Edwsf-8F3sI?si=FDM6ees_yO_DqqCE
Michael Bublé - Feeling Good [Official 4K Remastered Music Video]
After 15 full days in the new house, I think it's time to close off this year-long thread. Some closure on past commentary:
- for the 1st in our lives, we are debt free. Took us nearly 70 years, but we know how incredibly fortunate we are.
- we've dumped our net proceeds from #Downsizing into investments to make sure we aren't tempted to spend it foolishly.
- we kept some funds to fix some issues, including furnace & A/C, water filtration, electrical, eavestroughs, etc.
- my daughter and I are once again fighting galactic aliens online so you can rest easy.
- we've only been to the beach twice, for very short visits, as things have been hectic. Hopefully, we can enjoy that part of our neighborhood as we get into August.
Here is a short video of our 1st walk through just a few minutes before the movers arrived.
Brian Eno’s Music for Armpits@paulbusch Congratulations! The new house looks great. What a journey (literally and figuratively). We were also able to become debt free with some left over funds for a few improvements after our move. It’s a great feeling. Now enjoy yourselves…