Just like the Easter Bunny, I'm hopping back in your life with another riveting blog post. This is going to be the most exciting read you have ever read. The punctuation, and spelling will be soooooo on par.  

Well, my humble followers, it has been a minute since the last blog post. I know you were waiting on bated breath for the next installment of my masterpiece. For the record, I'm not using Chat GPT. This comes to you from the heart.  

First off, here is the market update you have been patiently waiting for.......I’m kidding, this blog post isn’t about any of that. Today I'm going to run an idea off to you that I have been thinking about. Please don’t hold back on your comments because I genuinely want to hear from you. I want to learn and grow in this competitive industry, so any words of advice or ideas for growth would be much appreciated and embraced.  

So, as you know, I'm in Real Estate. I mean you should know that by now, as you are reading this blog post on my website. Sure, you clicked the link on social media, but it brought you here. Take a look around, I made this website to be welcoming. My first train of thought is that. You know I'm in Real Estate, I don’t have to remind you.  

This market is oversaturated with countless Realtors giving you all the same advice and doing all the same things (I.e., social media). I personally feel that the normal consumer does not care about market updates or stats. I could be wrong; you might live for stats! I want to get away from doing traditional stuff like that, but the issue is, I don’t know what the viewer (you) would like to see. I was on a flight home from vacation a couple of weeks ago, and I was scrolling through social media. There was a change about the foreign buyer ban that just came out (if you want to know more, please reach out to me). My social media scrolling was flooded with the same information about the change, I didn’t even get to see anything else (not that there is anything I wanted to see. More of a time waster.)  

My issue with that is, if I was getting annyoyed at the amount of repeated information. I could only imagine what the non-Realtor viewer would feel like (now I understand you don’t follow the amount of Real Estate stuff like I do.). There is something like 1,500 Realtors in Halifax. Which means that in order to stand out, I would need to do something different. I know that some of you out there will be on the side of “well, if it isn't broke, don’t fix it.” I tried that, and it’s not how I want to market myself. Those who actually know me, know that I have a great personality (so I'm told. Not just by my mother lol). I would love to produce ideas of how to utilize me. That is why you’re here. I would love to hear from you.  

My colleague Adam Scott and I have fun doing our community videos. This is the kind of stuff that I really enjoy doing. We will continue to do these funny and informative vids. Again, I'm in Real Estate, you don’t need reminding of that. I want to display how great it would be to work with me, and how I will take as much stress off the process as possible.  

Now I feel like I'm rambling. This will conclude our time together on this blog post. Again, please reach out with any ideas of what you think you would like to see. There is no dumb idea! To be honest, I will try them all. Thanks again for staying until the end of this. Here is your reward.... This week's winning lotto numbers are..... 8,6,75,30,9. 

You guessed it, it’s time for another world renown blog post from your favorite Realtor and local hotty. I'm here to talk about the new short term rental rules in Nova Scotia. But instead of giving you a dry and boring rundown of the regulations, I'm going to try to make you laugh with my witty commentary.So buckle up! 

First of all, if you're planning to rent out your home in Nova Scotia for short-term stays, you better read up on the new rules. The government is cracking down on Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms, and you don't want to get caught breaking the law. Unless you want to face hefty fines, of course. But who doesn't love paying extra money for no reason, right? The Government is going to be putting the new short-term rental rules in to place starting on September 1st, 2023.  

So, what are some of the new rules you need to follow? Well, for starters, you can only rent out your primary residence. Sorry, folks, but you can't just buy up a bunch of properties and turn them into vacation rentals anymore. It's time to pick a favorite child, kick them out of their room, and start renting it out to strangers. Just kidding, please don't do that. But seriously, you better hope your spouse or partner doesn't mind having strangers in your house every other week.  

These new rules can be summed up in one little word. “Zoning”. If you are in a residential zoned area, this would have to become your new reality. I mean your backyard suites or in-law suites won’t be affected at all.As long as you are living on said property! Another little tip is to check to see if you are currently zoned for commercial use as well. This would mean your rental is good to go (you can keep it).  

Oh, and if you're planning to rent out your place for more than 30 days a year, you need to get a permit from the government. Because apparently, the government wants to make sure you're not secretly running a hotel out of your home. Because that's totally what every person who rents out their spare room is doing, right? Sure, let's go with that.  

But wait, there's more! You also need to pay a special tax on your short-term rental income. Because, you know, the government needs to get a piece of that sweet, sweet Airbnb money. It's not like they have enough taxes already. Nope, let's add another one to the pile. But hey, at least you get to help fund the government's next golfing trip or whatever they spend your tax dollars on. 

In conclusion, if you're planning to rent out your home in Nova Scotia for short-term stays, make sure you follow the new rules. Or else you might end up paying more money than you bargained for. But hey, at least you'll have some interesting stories to tell your friends and family about the strangers who stayed in your spare room. And who knows, maybe you'll even make some new friends. Just don't forget to hide your valuables before they arrive. Good luck, and happy renting! 

Happy New Year's everyone!  

I’m back with another highly anticipated blog about Real Estate! (Yay!). I’m not going to lie this one is going to be the best one I have ever done. It’s going to be full of riveting facts and numbers. Basically, this is going to be a 2022 market year in review, as well as my insights of the upcoming year ahead. I know you are all waiting anxiously, so here we go.  

First, I know you have heard me talking about “months of supply” before. Well, here we go again. For those who can’t remember my last posts about monthly supply (it’s ok, I forgive you), it’sessentially the amount of time it would take for all our real estate inventory to sell, if nothing were listed based on the current rate of sales.  0-3 months of inventory is deemed to be a Seller's Market. Which means that we start to see upward price growth on sale prices (if you were living under a rock the last couple years, you would have seen the average sale price increase aggressively). 3-6 months would be considered a balanced market, with stable sale prices. From 6 months onward we would be considered in a Buyer's Market and would start seeing downward price pressure.  

Are you ready for numbers? Here we go! In 2019, we had 2.9 months of inventory. The average sale price was $307,528. It increased by 9.95% when we had a balanced market.  2020 saw a drop in inventory to 1.3 months. Then, for the crazy year that was 2021. We saw only 0.5 months (this was unstainable). 2022 saw a little hike back to 1.6 months. The peak of the market was in the Spring of this year (remember the peak, as I will bring it up again).  

The number of sales and new listings are also remarkably interesting. 2020 saw 7,142 sales that year. Which was a 14% increase over 2019.  Fast forward to 2022, we saw 5,151 sales. This was a decrease of –27.4% compared to 2021. That being said, 2022 had 6,630 new listings hit the market. Which was a decrease of –11.7% from 2021.  In summary, we saw less sales in 2022, but also less listings hit the market.  Things are getting tight out there, and we are finding ourselves still in a tight Seller's market.  

The last couple of years has been a whirlwind as I'm sure you know. You were paying attention to the market and heard and saw properties going above the asking price. Properties in 2020 were going for an average of 102.1% over list price. 2021 saw 110.6%, and 2022 was sitting at 99% over ask. At the peak (remember when I said that was? Go back and read again. I’ll give you a minute.), homes were selling for 122% of their asking price which was a horrendous market for home buyers. The positive note is now Buyers have more leverage than the last couple of months. Price negotiations are back on the table as well as conditional offers (I.e., Home inspections and financing.). However, the best properties with the right pricing and location are still obtaining multiple offers.  

Which segways my next topic of average sale prices. We all know that in the last couple of years, we have seen an increase of home sale prices. For your sake, I will just focus on the last two years. 2021 average sale price in the HRM (for my worldwide fans, HRM stands for Halifax Regional Municipality.) of $492,766. This was an increase over 2020 of 22.9%.  As of December of 2022, Halifax home prices were $507,534. Which means we saw an increase of 3%, but 15.5% lower than they were at the peak (see, I did it again.). This would be because of the rising interest rates. These rates created uncertainty and fear among Buyers (Affordability, not knowing how high the rates will go, and how it will affect real estate values). I am hearing through my many networks that we might see one more rate increase and then see it plateau (I am not a fortuneteller, so do not come after me if this is not true). 

Yes, I know there is a little apprehensiveness towards today's mortgage rates. This might come as a surprise to you, I am not a mortgage guru, but I will try to give you a glimpse of what buying a home today would look like.  

Ok, here is the scenario. You bought a $600,000 house in April 2022 when the mortgage rates were roughly 3.5%. You also put down 10% and amortized for 25 years. Using the mortgage calculator provided by www.wigmoresellshalifax.com (insert plug of own website here), that would bring your mortgage payment to $2,780 a month.  

Fast forward to the present day. Based on the average price decrease of 15.5% we saw. The same house in December 2022 might be worth $506,768 now. The current interest rate is approximately 5.9%. Putting down the 10% and amortization of 25 years (same terms as before), you are now looking at a monthly payment of $2,981. Sure, the mortgage rates are a little higher now, but the average price has seen a decrease. This would mean that the same house you bought today would only be an extra $200 a month more than if you purchased in April. Not that bad if you think about it eh?  

The Halifax market going forward in 2023 is going to be exciting. As much as you are hearing in the media about the housing market crash. I would have to say that is simply not happening here. I can’t speak to other markets, but analysts like to focus on the bigger cities and report on them (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, etc.). I just read an article by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, stating that this city was the second-fastest growing city in the country (https://www.saltwire.com/halifax/business/halifax-is-the-second-fastest-growing-city-in-the-country-100813755/).  

Between June 2021, and June 2022, there were 28,000 people that had moved to Nova Scotia. The next highest year was only 11,000. We are growing fast. Which is another reason we are seeing high demand for buying real estate and such low inventory to sell (lack of supply and high demand).  

Alright, you made it to the end of the blog. Congratulations, you did it! I know that there were a lot of numbers and a lot of exciting real estate talk to go through, but hopefully you learned a little bit about what is going on out there. It’s not as scary as the media has you believe. Remember, that’s what I'm here for. It’s my job to make it as easy as possible for you to buy or sell. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me to get the ball rolling.  

Don't hesitate to reach out to yours truly. Let me know what you think about this blog. Or, if you just want to call to chat. I'll be there for you (insert Friends theme song here).  Until we meet again my devoted followers (Hi mom). 

Cheers,