Both. The MLS database is created by agents, for agents. Monthly dues keep it operational.

A home search like the one behind the link below literally provides access to all of the MLS data except private information of the seller, showing instructions, realtor comments, expiry date and commissions offered.

http://homesearch.teamfisher.com

To be honest I’m not sure what can happen, but it is an illegal practice known as steering, and the definition of steering is: the illegal funneling of home buyers to a particular area based on the desire to keep the makeup of that neighborhood the same or intentionally change it.

Appears to be designed to prevent discrimination.

Jay Thompson writes a bit about it here if you’re interested.

http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/ask-the-agents-where-are-the-good-neighborhoods/396

For real? What can happen?

Thanks. I’ll think about that. Canceled listing are easy, though I’m not sure that there’s much relevance. I really, really like the MLS the SRAR brought in for agents last year. It can do nearly anything, except reliably pull expired listings.

Todd,

“just wondering what you think of John Himpe’s blog as far as buying a house in certain areas.”

I agree completely with the idea that there are certain spots that just aren’t very safe. I wouldn’t sleep at night if my daughter was living in Megan’s neighbourhood, so naturally, I wouldn’t sell your daughter a house there either. That said, I’ll bet that Megan is someone who doesn’t feel that she has a lot of options to move up to a better neighbourhood.

I wonder how long it will be before a real estate agent isn’t free to say, “You know, this certainly isn’t a spot that I’d feel comfortable having my daughter live.” An agent can’t even suggest that an area is a bad spot in the U.S. anymore.

http://www.greaterfool.ca/2009/05/26/the-greatest-fools/

I’m sure more than a few other people closely follow Garth Turner’s daily posts, but this one in particular deserves special attention. Whatever you pay think of Garth personally, he’s dead on the money on this one (no pun intended).

“Welcome to the parallel universe. As I have been detailing lately, the greatest fools in real estate are not those who bought at the height of the bubble in late 2007, they are the ones buying now, at the pinnacle of denial.”

“Canadian household debt has red-lined. The country’s accountants have just warned that families now owe $1.3 trillion, most personal debt on credit cards and LOCs. Sadly, 85% of us have unpaid credit card bills. Worse, a third of all families could not handle an unexpected $5,000 expense. Even worse, one in ten families could not pay a $500 bill. Meanwhile, corporate profits are non-existent, meaning any recovery will be essentially jobless.”

“The current real estate buzz will destroy the wealth of those now buying, especially in multi-offer situations. Current first-time buyers will face a double threat of rising mortgage rates and collapsing values over the next two to five years. They will truly wonder why they took such a gamble and how helicopter parents, friends and ‘experts’ could have been so wrong. In two years there will be virtually no move-up buyers. High-end houses will be nailed.”

“And as all of the above comes together in the next dozen or two months, supply will swamp demand. Those shelling out full price in the Spring of 09 will look as equity cowboys did in the Spring of 30.”

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/claims+Saskatoon+Saskatchewan+have+spiked+says/1636075/story.html

“According to Statistics Canada, the number of EI claimants in March was 2,330 — a 70 per cent jump from the same period a year ago. Overall, the province saw an overall 44 per cent increase in claims, and Regina – the only other Saskatchewan city included in Statistics Canada’s list of census metropolitan areas – saw a 32 per cent increase.”

70% in Saskatoon, 32% in Regina and 44% in the province, overall (there were some indications in January that claims were on the rise and might see a sharp spike).

http://www.police.saskatoon.sk.ca/

In some of the newer areas they only have stats for 2009, but for most of the existing areas they go back to 2007. I couldn’t find a community map on the City of Saskatoon’s website, but this appears to be a fairly recent update.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saskatoon_Neighbourhoods.png

Pleasant Hill probably has some of the worst right now.

http://www.newstalk650.com/blogs/john-himpe/its-not-worth-it

Cheap laminate could give a great return on investment if it was used in an inexpensive house to cover over something that was even more hideous. It’s clean, looks okay, and would suit a house that would be appealing to someone on a tight budget. I think the key to getting your money out of a reno is to pick finishes that are in keeping with the quality of a typical house in the neighbourhood. Spend too much and the buyers in that neighbourhood won’t pay much more for upgrades they don’t need. Don’t spend enough, and buyers will mentally deduct the cost of replacing it (as you did).

I’m with you on the cheap laminate, though; about the only thing uglier is wood or leather-look sheet vinyl. Plus, it doesn’t last anywhere near as long as real wood, so over a lifetime, it really isn’t that cheap! However, what’s wrong with something that was just put in?

I suppose if you were completely opposed to cheap laminate it would not have any impact on the value.

If you were one of the large group of people who is inclined to purchase cheap laminate floors you might see some value to it. Of course, 50% of cheap laminate adds a lot less value than 50% of a quality hardwood.

Wouldn’t it depend, at least to some extent, on what the cheap laminate replaced and what kind of property it was? I would think that cheap laminate would make a small home more valuable (at least marginally) than if it were sold with orange, worn, dated and dirty carpets.

We just purchased a new to us home after an exhaustive search and if it had the cheapo laminate I automatically either crossed it off the list or deducted flooring from the purchase price b/c it would need to be replaced and we knew full well that some of it was just put in.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/personal-finance/canadian-households-13-trillion-in-debt/article1153329/

“The report says Canadian personal indebtedness “is a highly disturbing matter” and prospects are low for improving household financial security.”

Just to see how much 1.3 trillion of debt is;

Canada GDP 2008 = 1.5 trillion

I know I had made a few predictions, but have come up short, but I believe most were said to the effect of ” house prices will drop to xxxxx even if the economy stays the same and interest rates stay the same.

Well, the economy is not doing what it did the last 2 years ( it is doing well compared to other places) and interest rates have dropped. House prices and sales have come down a bit, but not what I had thought.

By making predictions we can only give an educated guess and much of that depends on what school one attends. And there are some bad schools on the internet!

“What’s your recollection of the parameters? Was it the average for the residential category over the whole quarter, or the average for June?”

I seem to recall it was the former. There was also a prediction way back when for medians and averages for each quarter in 2009, along with predicted numbers of sales and listings for the year. Although I may not have the predictive abilities of Nostradamus, I don’t see any humble bowing in your future, no.

Mark,

“when it comes to that recent thread, as you can see, the current average sits dead in the middle of my two parameters:)”

Nice touch. I enjoy this old saw:

“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.”

Niels Bohr

Yes Norm, that’s the trick. So was Nostradamus. That’s why his stuff always seems to work. Woody Allen once parodied Nostradamus in a short story, quoting him as saying: “Two countries will go to war. One will win.”

Another choice other then bearish or bullish could be opportunistic, of course opportunities don’t always present themselves when we would like them to but over time they do

Crikey said, “Your prediction on the same thread for Q2 is a bit more difficult to pin down, as you gave yourself a $60,000 leeway”

She’s really got you there. You were pretty vague.

Crikey,

Haven’t seen S’toon in awhile. I was a little worried there towards the end of April but I’m starting to feel confident that I won’t be having to “humbly bow” because of a $310 average.

What’s your recollection of the parameters? Was it the average for the residential category over the whole quarter, or the average for June?

Your prediction on the same thread for Q2 is a bit more difficult to pin down, as you gave yourself a $60,000 leeway:

“I truly have no idea. 240,000 wouldn’t suprise me, and neither would 300,000. There are just too many variables.”

My point was about the general economy and “markets”, not our housing market specifically. Anyway, let’s not quibble about trivialities- unless you’re actually also “S’toon”, in which case I’m still interested in that bet.

“Now I recall in November or December you predicted a trough of 210,000? Still see that coming?”

As a *trough*, I don’t think that’s far off. I didn’t see the taxpayer funded free-for-all coming (see, not Nostradamus!), and it’s entirely likely there are other things I won’t see coming. I definitely don’t think we’re past the trough, although I sure hope we’re close to it. I’m afraid the government has kicked this particular debt-riddled can a little further down the road.

“Deficit will be ‘substantially more’ than forecast: Flaherty”, attributed to the “…economic slowdown and lower tax revenues” (shouldn’t be any surprises about a drop in tax revenues, we’ve been seeing indicators of this all over the place). “This is a serious recession we’re in.” (kind of stating the obvious, but at least they’re finally acknowledging what many of us already know).

http://www.canada.com/business/fp/Deficit+will+substantially+more+than+forecast+Flaherty/1628886/story.html