Selena 2019 January Newsletter

Happy New Year! I hope you got a great kickstart to this year! Have you set up 2019 goals yet? Remember there are no unreasonable goals, just unreasonable timing. If you have a goal to save $100,000 that might sound challenge to you, however if you take a couple years to reach that goal, it will be much easier, so what if it turned out to be 10 years. End result you will be better off by $100,000 even if it did take longer. That means instead saving $274 per day, save $27.40 per day (10yrs). And most of us can reach this goal. What you will notice is by doing a small action every day, every week , every month, you will reach your goal and possibly quicker than you expected. Successful goal setting is supposed to stretch you so set a time frame that makes you just a little uncomfortable and break it into small manageable tasks, and then Take Action!

If you are home owner or investor and own properties in Edmonton and surrounding areas. You should by now have received your 2019 Property Tax Assessment. By owning several properties we can say the assessment is all over the place. Some areas assessed really high, and other areas assessed really low. If you own rental properties especially those side by side duplex with basement suites, even your basement suites are not legal, city will still count as rental income, and increase your tax assessment. As example, a clients Assessed Value jumped by 40%. They could dispute the new Assessed Value, but be prepared city would go into the property, and confirm it has basement suites, and will request you to make it legal, and still no guarantee it would change the assessed value. Remember city assessment doesn’t reflect the current market value but it can help to encourage a healthy sale price.

Based on the Edmonton Real Estate Board’s latest figures, Edmonton inventory level is still high, property days on market has increased, total sold volume decreased. In summary, we are still very much in the buyer market, so smart buyers have time to make buying decision, room for negotiation, and getting best deals. It is continuing great news for buyers. However, buyers still facing other challenges – such as mortgage approval, higher interest rate. For investors, planning to rent out the properties, it might take a little longer, due to we are still in the winter market, and rent for little less.

For sellers who want to sell in a Buyer’s Market, it is extremely important when you decide to sell that you price it right to begin with. The attitude of just put on the market and see is no longer working. If priced high – even $10,000 higher than the market want to pay, it will hurt the listing, and often end up to reduce by $30,000 in order to get an offer.