Out of Office Alert – September 19th-21st
I will be away from Thursday September 19th until Saturday September 21st.
Please Call David Viti – Broker of Record should anything requires immediate attention.
I will be reachable at my usual number 416-570-2435 (AGFL). David will provide physical support while I’m away.
David Viti (416)-849-2121
Last week in the Market – Bidding wars – a plenty.
I had presented 3 offers last week on 3 separate properties. The first 2 properties had stalled offers until specific presentation days. Unfortunately the frenzy left my clients still searching. I never advise my buyers to be that “silly” person that totally overshoots the current value of a property.
1. Property 1 – Large Traditional Victorian, dated but good bones and would need about $100-125k in renos. In great neighbourhood.
a. 7 Offer plus my clients for a total of 8 competing offers. Properties. Listed at 779k. Sold for 885k!
2. Property 2 – Old and dated bungalow on a main street but larger lot. Listed at 369k. Based on sales worth about 375k.
a. We submit an offer at 385k no conditions. 12 offers later the home sells for 455k!
3. Property 3 – Very nice 4 bedroom detach with in ground pool – nice space inside but starting to look dated and weathered. On the market for 2 months at 899k and then 839k.
a. Based on sales it is worth about 825k. We submit an offer but are told that the seller wants full asking price – no conditions or they don’t sell. No deal!
b. This shows that sellers are also holding out for their price.
Mortgage Rates – The Debate Starts again Variable versus Fixed
- Many major banks raised their fixed mortgage rates again this week. Discounted 5 year rates are at around 3.65%-3.69% (some lenders are still at 3.2%). Still considered to be very low.
- The discounted variable rates are starting to look attractive once again. Some institutions are offering a 2.4% variable rate.
o The federal government has indicated that they do not foresee the prime rate going up until end of next year.
o When the prime rate increases it is typically at 0.25% intervals. So it would take approximately 4-5 prime rate increases to get to todays fixed interest rate.
o Each buyer should weigh the pros and cons of their mortgage product and decide what’s best for them.
Modern homes burn 8 times faster than 50 years ago (CBC News.ca)
Firefighters say today’s homes, furnished with modern technology and oil-based products, burn faster and present dangers never seen before.
“Typically, 50 years ago, if a wool or cotton sofa was on fire you didn’t see the wool or cotton sofa drip,” Windsor Fire and Rescue chief training officer Paul Acton said. “So, what you now see is the synthetic material dripping. It’s the oils; that’s what all of the studies are finding leads to rapid fire spread and rapid pyrolysis and rapid combustion.”
Kingsville Fire Chief Bob Kissner has been fighting fires for 33 years and now teaches courses on fighting fires in the modern home.
Kissner said today’s house fires burn eight items faster and produce 200 times the amount of smoke that a fire would have 50 years ago.
Chris Williams, Ontario’s Assistant Deputy Fire Marshall, said even 30 years ago, a person had up to an estimated eight minutes to exit their home from the time their smoke detector went off. Today, a person has less than two minutes.
“And there’s not a fire department in the world that can respond to your home and rescue you in that time,” Williams said.
A test by Underwriter Laboratories, a not-for-profit product safety testing and certification organization, found that an average-sized room furnished with modern products is fully engulfed In flames in three minutes. The same room, furnished with items 50 years of age took 30 minutes to do the same.
Williams said many response benchmarks established by fire departments 30 or more years ago were based on the time it took a room to reach “full involvement” or “flashover,” terms that describe a room fully engulfed in flames.
Kissner said tactics on scene have changed, too.
“[Previously], it was a green light to do what we call an offensive attack. We were going to go in the building and we’re going to go to the seed of the fire and put it out,” Kissner said. “I believe we’re on a change mode. Now, we’re going to have to start thinking of going to the fire and saying, ‘we’re not going in until we assess all the factors and determine that it’s safe to do so.'”
Williams said there are a number of modern plastics, glues and carbon-based products that cause a faster “fire growth rate.”
Individual items throughout the home combust more quickly, allowing flames and smoke to engulf rooms at a faster rate.
That’s why Williams said, ‘”you have to react immediately to that smoke alarm.”
“You have enough time to make sure you’re heading to the door as quickly as possible,” Williams said.
Williams said not only the heat can incapacitate a person, but so can than poisonous smoke and gas that’s created.
The plastic and glue create carbon monoxide and cyanide.
“Both of these are very lethal,” Williams said.
“We are a consumer oriented society,” Kissner said. “We like stuff and unfortunately for us, the stuff we’re putting into our houses today burns much more fiercely and produces volumes of greater amounts of smoke.”
Have a fantastic week,
Anthony