Gearing up for Real Estate Season

In the past couple weeks I’ve noticed a real change in the real estate energy in Victoria. People are buzzing about the approaching “real estate season” with the promise of many more listings this spring.

As of today, we have 2715 listings on the Victoria MLS system. At the end of January 2009 there were 3678 listings! So unless 963 new listings appear on the market in the next 6 days, we’re certainly low on inventory. What does this mean for buyers and sellers?

Right now we’re experiencing an interesting market. During 2009 consumers were quite nervous about moving because of the uncertain times ahead. At the same time, buyers were gearing up to purchase properties because interest rates are the lowest they’ve been in a very long time. So we’re left with a low inventory and a pent up demand of buyers. (Reminds me of a lesson from my first year micro economics class!) Low supply + high demand = increase in prices. We’re seeing an upward pressure on home prices (great for selling).

Buyers, on the other hand, are competing for the few listings which are available. Come spring, there will be many more choices and we should return to a balanced market. Interest rates are expected to stay low until the 4th quarter, so the cost of getting a mortgage will remain low.

The point I’m trying to make is, why wait until the spring to list your home? If you list, for example, in February and your home is priced right, you’re guaranteed to sell it. If you’re nervous about not finding the right type of property to move in to, you can set the completion date for April to give yourself lots of time to find the right place. Make sense?

Ahem, insert shameless self promotion

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Notice how low the amount of listing are in the above graph!



In this graph the grey bars represent the listings while the blue squares represent the sales. In December, the amount of new listings almost equals the amount of sales! To date, this January there are 925 new listings and only 267 sales.

Zero to Warp

And the roller coaster continues!

It's so funny how this career is shaping up. The week started out rather slow and Monday marked one of those days when I questioned whether this career was the right move for me. It was a pretty drastic thought considering it stemmed solely from boredom.

Now it's Thursday and I feel like my life is in warp speed again (YES!). I've got CMAs to do, buyer presentations to... present, and on top of all of this, I've been chosen to blog for the Time's Colonist 10K (see here)! SO EXCITING! I had my picture taken at the Times Colonist this morning and there will be a print story sometime next week. So, not only will I be held accountable for my training (great motivation), I also get to meet new people!

Favourite things in life: people (check), houses (check), running (check), being outside (check!) Looks like my life is heading in the right direction :)

2010 is going to be an incredible year, I can feel it. I'm going to take Monday's feelings with a grain of salt and try to remember there will always be little bumps in the road.

Time to buckle up... and... engage

Real estate roller coaster

Everyone I've spoken to in this industry agrees on one thing: it's a roller coaster.

"You're going to have good weeks and bad weeks, good days and bad days, good hours and bad hours... you just have to get use to it".

It's hard when you've spent your whole life comparing yourself to others and being motivated by praise and results. Starting out in this industry, nothing is immediate unless you had something (cleverly) lined up before you got your licence; or you get lucky! Other agents may be at a high point while you're on a downhill or vice-versa. There are no apples to apples when comparing real estate agent's success at a given point in time.

Unfortunately I had one of those weeks last week where I spent 10 hours in the mall kiosks and barely received one quality lead (ho hum). It's hard not to feel slightly deflated... am I wasting my time here?

The answer is no. It's better to be at a mall kiosk trying to pick up leads and chatting real estate then sitting at home/in the office. So I keep pounding the pavement. Patience is key.

I have to reassure myself I'm doing everything I can to get things going. You can't force anyone to buy or sell real estate, you just have to be ready when they are! I quite like it when my life is in overdrive and have tons to do all the time but unfortunately there will be slow points in this career and I have to learn to like them.

As my manager said to me today, there will be times you're so busy you have no time to spend your money, and there will be times when you're so slow and broke and all you want to do it work. It's all part of the ride!

Work-life balance, check!

In terms of work-life balance, I'm finally getting into the swing of things. I can't remember who said it, but one Realtor wisely told me that "5:30-8:30am is your time, after that, you belong to everyone else". And it is so very true.

I decided I want to run the Time Colonist 10K again this year which takes place in April. My goal is to beat last year’s time (around 52 minutes) and aim to break 50. Around December I figured I better start sorting out how I would find the time to run a few+ times a week. Last year I was an afternoon/evening runner and you would rarely catch me running in the morning.

This year I do not have that luxury.

So now I get up between 6:30-7:30am to go pound the pavement. Really it’s not as bad as I expected. Unlike most people, I am a winter runner at heart and I love going out in the cold! The key is tech clothes. You think I’d head out in sweat pants and a hoddie? Heck no. I’m all about the compression tights with fleece lining (check out awesome pair here!) and I never leave home without my running gloves and hat.

There’s something lovely about running in the winter. I think it’s because I get to slowly watch the days get longer and my mornings/evenings get brighter. Simultaneously my fitness level improves and I start to enjoy the benefits running has to offer.

A little inspiration

Courtesy of my day-by-day calendar :)

"Persistence is the Key to Success

To get what you want in life, you must always forge ahead, and never give up. Block out the word "impossible" from your vocabulary. Don't listen to naysayers and their negativity. Instead, manifest your own destiny by creating a vocabulary of success in the present moment. Talk about your dream project as if it's already in existence. Choosing positive language will case momentum into the universe and help you reach your goal"

How to fix a wet iphone

What a way to start the New Year... I thought the battery in my iPhone was just dead when I awoke on January 1st however after plugging it in an hearing a terrible whirring sound, it occurred to me something was wrong. I gave the phone a good shake and liquid splattered out the end... Nooooooo!

So I hopped on the good ol' internet and starting researching. Surely there had to be a way to fix this issue! I had heard a rumor that if you soak a wet phone in isopropanoyl and let it dry, everything would be ok. I read a couple blogs and decided it would be worth a shot. After all, it's not every day I eff-up a $700 piece of hardware beyond warranty. Hmmph.

So I soaked it in a bowl of isopropyl for 30 seconds or so. I watch the bubbles come out the ear phone plug while the screen filled with liquid... this did not look good... I felt like I was drowning my poor iPhone.

My next step was a trip to the hardware store to find a product called DriZair. It's meant to suck the moisture out of the air in basements... surely it could suck the moisture out of my phone. So I placed the phone in an air tight container with a bunch of DriZair. After a day I was losing patience, so I put a desk lamp over the container to heat it up a little. This seemed to speed up the process.

Two painful days of waiting, I removed the iPhone, plugged it into my computer and the little apple appeared!!!!!!!!

The only issue now is the screen looks like it has clouds on it.. and every once and a while the screen will turn on that says "Charging is not supported with this accessory". Shmeh. Small price to pay since I thought I'd lost my precious iPhone.