Going the extra mile!

Find out why Ralph's Etobicoke real estate practice took him all the way to Ottawa this week, in order to sell a home back in Toronto.  In this video blog post he describes going the extra mile in the name of good customer service

2009 Real Estate Statistics Summary

The real estate year of 2009 began amidst the economic downturn. Hardly any homes were selling and those that were had to be priced at a steep discount. Mostly there were no buyers in the market. By May 2009 consumer confidence returned to the Toronto housing market and a strong housing recovery got underway. The rally continued until it faded away into the year-end holiday time when real estate typically is slower.

Whole year average price for Toronto rose 4.2% from $379,347 to $395,460

Comparing December 2008 to December 2009 the market is up by 14% to $411,931

But the December 2009 average is down by 1.6% from November 2009.

Got all that? The reporting of market statistics is a bit crazy in real estate! I have summarized the whole thing into a couple of charts to help explain it visually:

Here is the monthly chart for the last few years:


And here is the yearly chart back to 1972:



Contact me for all your real estate needs...
Ralph Evans, Sales Representative
RE/MAX Professionals Inc., Brokerage
Phone 416 236-1241
Humbertown Plaza - 270 The Kingsway, Suite 200, Toronto ON

Etobicoke Real Estate

RE/MAX Housing Market Outlook for 2010

To help you understand the trends in the real estate, RE/MAX has just published this report that looks back on the past year and looks forward at the predictions for 2010. This report looks at the real estate situation for all the major markets in Canada.

RE/MAX 2010 Housing Market Outlook

I'm a modern professional REMAX agent, ready to help you with Buying, Selling and Investing in real estate.

Contact me for all your real estate needs...
Ralph Evans, Sales Representative
RE/MAX Professionals Inc., Brokerage

Etobicoke Real Estate
Humbertown Plaza 270 The Kingsway - Suite 200, Toronto ON
416 236-1241

Hot Downtown Condo Market

The downtown Toronto market is extremely hot at the moment. I have been representing the owner of a downtown condo, assisting them in the sale of a condo at 18 Stafford Street - in the King West Village area.

The property was listed for one week, with 75 showings and 5 offers. It ended-up selling over asking with no conditions.



There are not enough one bedroom condo suites on the market right now to satisfy consumer demand. Too many buyers are chasing not enough properties. Clearly this is an excellent time to be selling a condo, but trickier to be the buyer.

This suite was beautifully prepared by the owner as well as staging from Julie Reinhart.

Thinking of making a move? Ask how I can be of help.

Back to Normal for Toronto Housing Market - April 2009 Toronto House Prices

Toronto Real Estate Board statistics for April 2009 show that the average price has jumped up by 6.5% since the month before to $385,641 with a volume of 8107 sales made in the month across the GTA - for houses and condos combined.

What this really shows is that Toronto Real Estate has regained almost all of its value, since the market peak. Average home values are now off just 3.1% from the market peak of May 2008.

Click to see larger image.

Expectation is for a further strong upward surge in volume and value as confidence returns to the country and economic numbers improve.

Let me know if you'd like more market information, or to get my help buying, selling and investing in real estate...

Ralph Evans
Sales Representative
RE/MAX Professionals Inc., Brokerage
Office 416 236-1241 Direct 416 577-5486
My website the RE/MAX RealEstateHelpDesk.ca

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell

Any real estate agent can put their sign on your lawn and say that your home is for sale. When you hire Ralph Evans to represent you in the sale of your home, you get so much more!

Ralph wants you to sell your home for more. More money than you would earn working with other real estate agents. How is that going to happen? It can be done by helping the homeowner to get their home ready for sale before it goes onto the market.

Only a few select RE/MAX agents are using these techniques to help their clients succeed. Here are some quick videos and checklists to explain some of the things that can be done to prepare a home.

1. Air Quality
                video
               checklist

2. Curb Appeal
               video
               checklist

3. Depersonalizing
               video
               checklist

4. Flooring
               video
               checklist

5. Furniture Placement and Lighting
               video
               checklist

6. Pre-Listing Home Inspection
               video
               checklist

7. Main Selling Rooms
               video
               checklist

8. Paint
               video
               checklist

9. Decluttering and Prepacking
               video
               checklist

10. Updates and Repairs
               video
               checklist

Ralph Evans
Sales Representative
RE/MAX Professionals Inc., Brokerage
Office 416 236-1241
Direct 416 577-5486
My website the RE/MAX RealEstateHelpDesk.ca

Impact of Federal Budget on Real Estate

Here are the key highlights from this week's Canadian Federal Budget that touch on the world of Real Estate...

Homebuyers’ Plan
•The federal budget proposes to increase the withdrawal limit for first-time homebuyers using the Homebuyers Plan from $20,000 to $25,000 (per individual).

•Under this program, first-time homebuyers are allowed to withdraw funds from their RRSP, tax-free, to put towards the down payment on a home. Amounts withdrawn under the HBP must be repaid over a 15-year period, starting the second year following the year of the withdrawal.

•Since 1992, an estimated 2 million Canadians have used the Home Buyers’ Plan to purchase approximately 900,000 homes, making this program a huge success. Unfortunately, as time has passed, the usefulness of this program eroded because withdrawal limits were not adjusted. For this reason, REALTORS® lobbied the federal government to increase the Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal limit to $25,000.


First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit
•The Budget proposes a 15 per cent credit that would be applied to a $5,000 amount, and would provide up to $750 in tax relief to reduce costs associated with first home purchases.
•To assist first-time home buyers with the costs related to the purchase of a home such as legal fees, land transfer taxes, etc.

Home Renovation Tax Credit
•The Budget proposes a 15 per cent credit to be claimed on the portion of eligible home renovation expenditures exceeding $1,000, but not more than $10,000, meaning that the maximum tax credit that can be received is $1,350.
•Will apply to eligible home renovation expenditures for work performed, or goods acquired, after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2010, pursuant to agreements entered into after January 27, 2009.
•Credit can be claimed on eligible expenditures incurred on one or more of an individual’s eligible dwellings, including houses, cottages, and condominium units owned for personal use.

Ralph Evans - Agent Profile

This agent profile piece will appear in tomorrow's edition of the Etobicoke Guardian...

(click picture to increas size)



Ralph