Tips for Moving With Pets

Often a reason cited for buying a new home in Ottawa is being able to give a beloved pet more space to run and play. But before your pet can enjoy his new Ottawa home, you have to get him there safely. Moving with a pet, presents its own set of challenges, notes Marnie Bennett, a real estate professional, as you have to worry about the safety of your pet both during and after the move at a time when you are pre-occupied with, or distracted by, all of the big- and small-picture issues of simply changing locales

Here are a few pics of our furry friends lounging at our office at 190 Lisgar St. in Ottawa

Before Moving Day

Unfortunately, you can't get your pet to help you pack up and prepare for the move. What you can do is plan things so that he's not underfoot as you get ready to move. You have a few options to handle this extra care.  On some packing days, you can ask a friend or your partner to take the dog for a walk. You can also put your pet in another room and close the door so that he doesn't get in your way as you try to pack up

There are some important documents you should get from your pet's veterinarian before the move, if you're moving far enough away that you need to change vets. Ask the vet for your pet's vaccination records and other medical records and also ask him for the name of a veterinarian he recommends in your new area. You may want to get a mild sedative from your vet to keep your pet calm during the trip, especially if you have an older pet or a pet who is ill.

Stock up on food and medication for your pet before you move. You might not be able to get a refill on any pet prescriptions from your pet's new doctor right away. If your pet is on a special diet, you will want to have extra food on hand in case it's hard to find his brand in your new location.

Purchase new tags for your pets before you move. The tags should have your new address and contact number on them. If your pets have been microchipped, make sure you update your address with the company.

On Moving Day

Your pet's safety should be a primary concern on moving day. If you can, have a relative or friend take your pet for the day so that he isn't underfoot or does not run away. You can also set up a special room as the "pet room" for the day. Choose a room that has proper ventilation, such as a small bedroom – but definitely not a closet. Place your pet's food bowl, pillow and toys in the room and visit him from time to time while you unpack.

Keep the door closed so that the pets can't get out. You'll also want to put a sign on the door so that any other person helping to do the unpacking doesn't inadvertently open the door and let the animals out. If you'll be transporting your pets in carriers, put the carriers in the room before a few weeks before the move so that the pets get used to going into and out of the carriers.

After the Move

Marnie Bennett notes that you can't talk to your pets and explain the move the way you can talk to children. After you move to your new Ottawa home, the best way to get your pets used to the new place is to set out the things they are familiar with. Unpack your pet's food bowl and toys right away to help him acclimate and exercise him as you normally did in your old location so that he experiences no variation from his routine at his old address.

Visit www.bennettpros.com for all your real estate needs.

Well-Prepared Residents Enter the Ottawa Market in Search of New Homes

The residents of Ottawa have taken the real estate market by storm. Ever since the beginning of the year, sales have been on the up. The increase in sales has led experts to believe that now residents are more knowledgeable about the property market in Ottawa than they ever were before. It seems as if this is the year of change.

Industry analyst Ron Desjardins, a vice-president at PMA, says that while there may not have been as many people looking for new homes in January, the ones who were, were ready to buy.

In previous years, the response was not so good but this year, the residents of Ottawa have come well prepared to the market. They are ready to spend the money to take up these opportunities.

Desjardins further added, “We saw a number of people make their buying decisions within a week of visiting a site,” he says, adding, “They had clearly done a lot of research. They’d been online and looking at stuff … but weren’t prepared to make the decision last fall.” This goes to show that people in Ottawa are now more knowledgeable about market conditions. They are better equipped to anticipate risks with regards to property prices.

This, however, is not the only factor that has led these residents to flood the property market. It is quite possible that relaxed interest rates on loans and better mortgage rates have turned people in this direction. If you compare the data from previous years, it is quite clear that this year, the residents of Ottawa can avail better opportunities.

                                                                                                                                 

The government’s incentive programs also play a role in encouraging people to buy new homes. The Canadian government is dedicated to helping citizens realize their goal of homeownership. The mortgage terms are also set in a manner that the average Canadian citizen can easily afford to pay these expenses.

Desjardin, in a later statement, added that, “I think that this trend will just continue through the year as more releases occur in the existing projects and new projects come to the market in the west.”

The experts seem very optimistic about real estate picking up once again in Ottawa and they see this as the beginning of a trend that could last for a long period of time. Single family homes are among the ones selling most in the market, followed by townhouses and condos.

Visit www.bennettpros.com for all your real estate needs.

How to Buy An Abandoned House

An abandoned house is a vacant property. The folks at The Bennett Property Shop Realty are experienced in how to go about buying an abandoned house in Ottawa. Abandoned houses are most often the result of the fact that the house’s former owners ran into financial difficulties and “lost” their property ownership to their mortgagor and the former owners have had to move out. Other abandoned houses are tied up in legal red-tape with one level of government or another. Abandoned properties are sometimes neglected and in need of repair; and they are also sometimes in the process of foreclosure. Banks often take over ownership of houses and leave them abandoned and unoccupied for a while.

Buying a Ottawa house is often a strategic investment because these properties usually have very low - and usually below-market - prices.

The steps to buying an abandoned house are:

1.     Preparing your finances.

2.     Researching the property.

3.     Making a realistic offer.

The begin with, you first want to make sure that you can actually afford to buy a new home. Although they are generally cheaper than Ottawa houses for sale in the normal re-sale marketplace, abandoned houses can still have large price tags. Unless you already have the cash, you will need to qualify for a mortgage.

Do Your Research

When looking around for an abandoned house to buy, you might want think about certain unoccupied or ill- or sporadically maintained houses that you drive by on a regular basis. If you do not have a particular house in mind, you can look in real-estate listings. However, if the owner is absent, or if a legal entanglement is involved or if a foreclosure is in process, there might not be any listings for that house. This is precisely when an Ottawa real-estate agent can help you find an abandoned house to buy.

Determining who the owner of the house often requires dedicated and well-informed research. Check county deed records if you do not already know the name of the owner of the property you are interested in. These records will also provide information on liens and whether all of the property’s land taxes are in arrears or up-to-date.

Once you learn who owns the property, have your agent contact the owner in order to make an offer on the abandoned house. Interestingly, owners of properties that are going through the foreclosure process are often surprised to find out that they still have rights to the property (especially if it has been abandoned for some time), if the foreclosure process has not been finalized yet.

If the house has already been foreclosed, talk to the bank or lender as they are the current owners of the property. This information will also be listed in the deed records. It is important to know that banks are well-known to delay foreclosures and to move slowly when it comes to selling an abandoned house.

Because abandoned houses often have many technical problems, make sure to have the target in appraised and inspected. These reports and estimates will give you a good idea of the home's value as well as its likely repair costs; and this information will greatly help you to determine how much to offer and what other conditions to put into your offer to purchase the house.

Make an Offer

Once you have done your research and planned your offering strategy, you are ready to make your offer to the owner or the lender. In formulating your offer, the experts at The Bennett Property Shop Realty remind you that you should always consider the additional costs - such as closing costs, fees, land transfer taxes and repair costs. As a basic starting-point strategy, you should bid lower than the value of the house as you can usually “up” your offer – but can rarely reduce your offer.

Once your offer is accepted, schedule a closing date, and begin preparing for renovations and moving into it or renting it out.

Visit www.bennettpros.com for all your real estate needs.

Steps to Take Before Buying a House in Ottawa

The Bennett Property Shop Realty understands that Ottawa home ownership is a big dream and a huge step for many people. Turning this dream into a fact or a reality requires a lot of dedication and effort and anyone who wants to realize it has to both financially and mentally commit to the project because buying a house requires one to spend a lot of time and energy both when hunting for that Ottawa home and afterwards when maintaining and managing it and paying off its mortgage.

Since the vast majority of home-buyers use the services of lenders, this article will assume that the reader will borrow some money to buy their home and explains what actions a buying borrower needs to do to better their borrowing success.

Strengthen Your Credit

The first step towards home ownership is to strengthen your credit. The better your credit, the better (i.e. the lower) the interest rate your will qualify for. Make sure to pay off your credit cards and settle up any credit delinquencies or disputes.   Even if you cannot pay off a card’s entire balance make sure that you pay the stated minimum payment by the due date indicated on your monthly statement.  Also, get a credit report so that you can evaluate it and understand what the lenders will be looking at and basing their lending decision on before you approach a lender for a loan.

Determine What You Can Afford

Figure out how much you can afford for a house and how much you will be able to borrow. Most people taking out loans for home ownership are expected to put down 10% to 20% of the appraised value of a home. For example, if you have $30,000, you can make a down-payment for a home that is worth $300,000 (with a 10% down-payment) or $150,000 (with a 20% down-payment).

You also want to calculate your projected housing expenses. Determine the average annual costs for insurance, natural gas or oil, electricity and real-estate taxes in your area. Add that to the price of the home you want to buy and also add how much you are estimated to pay in closing costs (lawyer fees and land transfer taxes etc.). You can either use an on-line mortgage calculator or make a spreadsheet to calculate the total. If you find that the total is above 28% of your gross annual income, then it is probably not a good time to get a mortgage.

Get Pre-approved

Now you are prepared to seek the actual amount of money that you will need to borrow for your new home. When you do apply to various lenders, submit all of these applications within the span of a two-week period so that your inquiries do not alter your credit report as repeated credit report requests (other than ones that you request for yourself; and obviously each possible lender  will request) have a negative effect upon your credit rating. So that you have a realistic idea of what money you will have and therefore what price range you can afford, make sure to do this before you get in touch with a real estate agent. If you do qualify for a loan, make sure to look at first-time buyers' programs - which usually have lower down-payment requirements. These are sometimes offered by various lenders and/or by various levels of governments.

Start House Shopping

To get a sense of all your options, make sure to check out as many Ottawa homes for sale and open houses and housing styles as possible.  Do not make any rash decisions. In order to help with this process, sign a buyer representation agreement with a well-known local real estate agent, they can then sign you up for the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is an “Alerting” service that helps you search for properties in your desired areas by letting you know when a property becomes available in an area in which you are considering buying.

Also, find a real-estate agent who is knowledgeable about your target area to represent you and work with you in your search process. Make sure to provide him or her with every “must have” or “Must not have” detail of the home you are seeking: such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the size of the yard, whether you want a garage, the overall layout (bungalow, duplex, town-home, split-level), traffic and population densities, etc.

Scout out the area in which you would like to live by visiting it at different time of the day and week.  Check out its proximity to shopping, schools, public transportation, and other amenities that you want. Also take note of the amount and the speed of vehicular traffic, available parking, noise levels, and business and general activities in the area and whether the neighbourhood is being up-graded by new residents or its overall maintenance is drifting sideways or downwards. Once you have assessed all these factors, then you will be far better informed as to how much and what sort of house or in what neighbourhood you can afford and wish to make an offer to buy.

Visit www.bennettpros.com for all your real estate needs.