Single Family Homes Summer Update

The summer weather and single family home sales have been hot and cold in the North Okanagan. As you can see by the graph on the right, in May there were less single family home sales (65) than the last two years. The weather started to heat up a bit in June and July as did home sales which out paced 2010 results, although still slower than 2009 levels. To put these sales figures in perspective, the record high for summer single family home sales was 132 in June 2007, while the record low was 48 sales in August 2011. That’s right, we hit a record low for single family home sales in August. The next slowest Augusts on record were 2000 and 2010 with only 55 sales.

What about the number of homes on the market?
The peak was earlier in August where there were 883 single family homes for sale on the MLS. As you can see by the graph there have been over 800 homes on the market for most of the summer and looks like we will see the large inventory continue well into the Fall. The recent trend, as expected, is for the number of listings to start coming down as we move into the Fall. In fact, on September 1^st there are 838 homes.

Combining the low number of sales with the high inventory has put the sales to listing ratio at a lowly 6%. This indicates again that we are in a Buyers market and hopefully at the
end of this down cycle. I don’t believe that we can sustain this low level of activity for long. There are too many favourable conditions in Canada and our local economy to keep those buyers down. Here’s looking forward to a great Fall selling season!

The median sold price for single family homes in August 2011 was $320,000 and the average sold price was $376,415. In August 2010 the median sold price for single family homes was $367,500 while the average sold price was $374,317.

Condos and Townhouses Update

The number of strata homes on the market (condos, apartments, and townhouses) is still high at 433. This trend has continued for most of the summer with listings averaging over 420.

The number of strata sales in August, 2011 was 24 and the sales to listing ratio was a lowly 6%.

The median sold price for stata during August 2011 was $210,000 while the average sold price was $224,163.

Looking forward to the Fall

With everyone getting back from holidays and looking forward to moving before Christmas I expect that home sales will pick up. Active listings should start to tail off as the Fall progresses. The HST fiasco is behind us. We hit a record low number of sales in August. Where can we go from here? No where but up I say. Let’s keep a positive attitude, sharpen our selling pencils, get out as Buyers and buy, and we will have a wonderful Fall selling season.

The greening of your home

Hate to break it to you, but WINTER is on the way – yikes, unless you love skiing of course. Since I have an interest in Green Real Estate I thought that you might be interested in some simple and effective ways to upgrade your home to a greener one. Painting it a green colour was not what I had in mind! I mean how to make your home more energy efficient and to even explore how to add your own power sources.

Here are some easy and inexpensive ideas to make your home greener:

· Turn off the lights when you don’t need them

· Install a programmable thermostat

· Turn down the heat setting on your hot water tank a couple of degrees

· Move to California for the winter (maybe not so inexpensive)

· Install weather stripping and caulking around all of the doors, windows and vents

· Add more insulation to the attic or walls

· Install a thermal blanket around your hot water tank

· Install motion sensors on outside lights

· Install energy efficient light bulbs in all of your inside and outside lights

Here are a few more ideas that are a bit more expensive:

· Upgrade your windows with new energy efficient designs

· Buy a high efficiency furnace, heat pump, or geothermal system

· Install a passive solar hot water system on the roof to heat pool water

· Install a passive solar electricity system on the roof to power some appliances around the home. This is the easiest thing you can do to make your own power. You can either build your own or purchase a solar panel power generating system from a kit. These are ideal for our climate in the North Okanagan and are finally getting to be very affordable. Depending on how large a system, you may even be able to sell power back to Hydro.

· Depending on where you live in the North Okanagan a wind turbine electrical generating system might just be an option to reducing your electrical consumption.

I am sure that there are many other things that you can do to either upgrade your home to be more energy efficient, or to even change some of your habits around energy use. Give this some thought and let me know what you are doing to make your home greener.

What I do for you, oh loyal client

As Cindy Lauper once said “Girls just want to have fun!” I agree with her and would also include boys too! We all want to have fun and enjoy our lives as much as possible. That should also include buying and selling one of our most prized and treasured assets, our home.

We all want to enjoy and get excited about the adventure of buying or selling a home. We don’t want to worry about all of the details, the endless searching, the legal papers, the marketing pieces, the open houses, the tough negotiations, and all of the dozens of other things it takes to buy or sell our home.

We want to have someone by our side who will expertly and effortlessly guide us through the complex process. We want someone to have patience with us and to understand our needs for a better home. We want someone who is positive, upbeat, happy, encouraging, instructive,
knowledgeable and just fun to be around. We want someone who cares about us and is more concerned about what we want than a paycheck. This makes us happier and more at ease with our important decisions.

My goal is to be the best person I can be for you. To use my knowledge, education, experience, attitude and excitement the best way I can to help you to have more fun during your buying or selling experience. If you or someone you care about thinks that I can help,
please contact Greg Kalyniuk, RE/MAX Vernon, Okanagan’s Home Team at 250-503-3758 and “Let us hit you Home”.

As Vernon children return to school, now is a perfect time for a refresher course on home fire safety. You never know when life may hand you a pop quiz!

1. Create an escape plan. Start by drawing a floor plan or map of your home. Be sure to include all doors and windows. Let your children use crayons to draw the beds, tables, etc.

2. In one color, draw a line that shows the fastest way out of each room. In a different color, draw another line that shows the second fastest way out.

3. Pick a meeting place outside the home where everyone knows to gather. Ensure everyone understands that once they’re out, they stay out. No one goes back inside until it is all clear.

4. Hold home fire drills at least twice a year. Make them realistic by pretending some exits are blocked by smoke or fire. Hold some at night so everyone knows what to do in the dark.

Escape tips:

1. Get out first. Call 911 from a cell or neighbor's phone second.

2. If possible, close doors behind you as you escape to slow the spread of fire and smoke.

3. If there is a lot of smoke, crawl with your head one to two feet above the floor, where the air is cleanest.

4. Test doorknobs and spaces around closed doors with the back of your hand. If the door is warm, try another escape route. If it is cool, open it slowly. Slam it quickly if smoke pours
through.

Things to think about:

1. Make sure babysitters and other caregivers know your escape plan and where to meet.

2. Ensure everyone in your home—including children—can unlock and open all doors and windows.

3. If your windows have security bars, equip them with quick-release devices, and know how to use them.

4. Test your smoke alarms once a month, and replace batteries twice a year (at the beginning and end of Daylight Saving Time is a good idea).

5. Replace any alarms that are more than 10 years old.

6. Test fire extinguishers annually. Make sure everyone knows where they are and how to use them.

5 Handy Household Tips

NAIL HOLE FILLER: Quick fix for small nail holes! Simply fill with white toothpaste, and smooth with a damp sponge.

LAMPSHADE LINT: Swipe a lint roller or used fabric softener sheet over your lampshades to remove lint and dust!

LOOSEN THOSE JAR LIDS: Latex dishwashing gloves provide a great non-slip grip to remove tight jar lids!

SCISSOR SHARPENER: Put a new edge on your old scissors but cutting a sheet of medium grade sand-paper into small pieces. This is a great trick for larger paper cutters as well!

Hearty Chicken Soup

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

½ teaspoon minced garlic

2 medium carrots chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

2 quarts chicken stock

½ cup lemon juice

¼ cup white wine

8 ounces dried wide egg noodles

1 ½ cups shredded cooked chicken

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken stock, lemon juice and wine and bring to a boil. Add the noodles, and
simmer for five minutes or until tender. Fold in the chicken, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through; season with salt and pepper. Top with freshly grated parmesan. Serve with warm crusty bread or crackers.

OH, BY THE WAY, I AM NEVER TOO BUSY FOR ANY OF YOUR REFERRALS!

Greg Kalyniuk 250-503-3758
REALTOR, RE/MAX Vernon
Okanagan's Home Team
250-503-3758 (Direct)
250-308-4520 (Cell)
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www.okhometeam.ca