Star Phoenix writer, David Hutton examines recent wins and the ongoing challenges in the revitalization of downtown Saskatoon in “Density in the downtown.”

Read it here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The next deadline to be faced by Dr. Karim Nasser’s Victory Majors Investment Corporation comes in fifteen days time when the complete $5.2 million dollar purchase price of the land must be paid. Once that’s done, the city will transfer title to the land to the developer.

“I feel very, very happy and elated because the city has been waiting for that project for over 30 years,” Dr. Nasser told the Star Phoenix. “It’s an exquisite, beautiful project, which fulfils all the demands that are required in the area.”

The most recent construction estimates suggest that we’ll see a ground breaking on the downtown site in the spring of 2011 with an estimated completion of roughly three years.

Star Phoenix coverage is here.
More from the CBC here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Discovery Plaza is Saskatoon’s latest Class-A project. Completed in 2009 it brought more than 50,000 square feet to the market, all of which was quickly scooped up by BHP Billiton.

The redevelopment of the Capitol 4 site on First Avenue North is currently underway and will bring an additional 31,000 square feet in a building that will be known as the Capitol Centre.

More recently, Pillar Properties Corp. has just released plans for a four-storey office building at 141 Pacific Avenue. Construction will depend on some successful pre-leasing efforts. If sufficient interest exists the new building would bring another 50,000 square feet of Class-A office space to Saskatoon’s downtown core.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Curtis Olson, of Shift Development Inc. recently purchased the old Joe’s Cycle Building at 220 20th Street West. When renovations are complete the building will become his company’s head office and a business hub for other “forward thinking businesses” who see a brighter future for an area that has seen its share of social challenges over the years.

Olson told the Star Phoenix, “I have spent a lot of time in Riversdale. I’ve kept a very close eye on that neighborhood and Caswell Hill. In my mind, the future of those two neighborhoods has already been determined because I know the demographic of people buying houses and moving into these areas and it is a very progressive, very urban-focused demographic of people moving in.”

Read the Star Phoenix story here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Star Phoenix writer David Hutton is reporting that “City council, sitting as an executive committee, made the decision in private Tuesday afternoon to advertise the land sale before it was announced at the evening council meeting. The sale still requires the blessing of city council on June 14 because the purchase is for less than market value.”

Recent appraisals on the land suggested a market value of approximately $11 million. Lake Placid had previously purchased the land for $4.8 million but lost it to the city when they failed to meet payment deadlines in October of last year.

On March 22 of this year, Lake Placid CEO Michael Lobsinger appeared before council indicating that he had formed a partnership with Dr. Karim Nasser and that financing had been secured to complete the $200 million dollar River Landing Village previously approved by council.

In mid-April, council agreed to enter into negotiations with Lake Placid subject to an independent audit to ensure that adequate financing was in place to complete the project.

Council will formally vote to approve the sale at the June 14 council meeting after hearing from anyone who might be opposed to the sale. Lobsinger indicates that he’s “ready to move dirt in June or July” and believes that the project can be completed in 36-months.

Read more from David Hutton’s report here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

In a story just published on the Star Phoenix website, Mayor Don Atchison is quoted as saying, “It’s all about certainty, and in the financial markets today it’s all about certainty, not guesswork. This is absolute certainty now. You heard me at the end there tell (Lake Placid CEO Michael) Lobsinger if he doesn’t come up with the $214,197.14, the deal is finished, or if it doesn’t come up with the money for the land, it’s terminated as well. There’s no more chances.”

Read the Star Phoenix story here.
CBC’s report is here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

In a letter to the city, the developer requested an extension to June 30, 2010. City manager, Murray Totland will recommend to city council on Monday that the extension be granted.

Read the Star Phoenix story here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

“The strong Canadian dollar, combined with rock-bottom prices for real estate in many cities such as Phoenix, means Canadians can snap up vacation homes or investment properties for less than half of the price of just one year ago. That’s attracted Saskatchewan buyers in droves.”

Two of my favourite Phoenix Realtors were quoted in the story.

Jay Thompson, also known as the Phoenix Real Estate guy writes about the article here.

Jonathon Dalton, the only “guest blogger” I’ve ever hosted here had this to say about his contribution to the story.

If you were considering a real estate purchase in the Phoenix area I would gladly vouch for either of these guys to treat you right and look after your interests.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @SaskatoonHomes.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Over the past several months a number of my past clients have asked me about real estate opportunities in the U.S. The rising dollar, combined with reduced prices in some beautiful U.S. cities has many Canadians considering a purchase in their favorite vacation spot. A friend of mine from Phoenix recently asked if he could share some information about buying property south of the border, so I jumped at the opportunity to have him as my guest. I’d like you to meet Jonathan Dalton, and his partner, Toby. J

Greetings from Phoenix!

I’m Jonathan Dalton from RE/MAX Desert Showcase and Dalton’s Arizona Homes Blog. Norm was nice enough to let me drop in and talk directly to you folks and I’m quite appreciative. As I write we’re in the middle of a cold snap – it’s down to 53 degrees here, which translates to somewhere around 12 Celsius. But that sounds much colder than it should so I’m going to stick to 53.

One of the big stories of real estate down here in the Valley of the Sun is the surge in Canadians looking to purchase second homes here, usually for themselves and sometimes as seasonal rentals (even though the high season is the same time of year someone from the land of snow probably would rather be here.) I’ve spent most of the last six months acquainting folks from Alberta and Saskatchewan with the Phoenix area and some of the particulars of buying homes down here.

There seem to be a lot of seminars up there telling people what they need to know about buying in the United States, though it seems like the seminars really work out best for the hosts collecting the checks at the door. The basic information’s good but there’s a lot of small stuff you ought to know before you buy in the United States and the Phoenix area in particular.

With any luck (and possibly a bribe or two) Norm will let me write about these in a little more depth sometime. But here are some basic things you should know:

1) The Phoenix real estate market is big. It’s really big. From Surprise in the northwest to Queen Creek in the southeast is somewhere around 65 miles one way. It’s hard narrowing down the search so …

2) Know what you like to do. If you’re into golf (which we do year-round here), golf is everywhere. If you want to watch hockey, come to the West Valley. If you like off-Broadway productions stay closer to Arizona State University in Tempe. What you like to do will impact where you ought to look.

3) Speaking of such things, Queen Creek is in a different county than Phoenix. We’re in Maricopa. Queen Creek is in Pinal. Property taxes are far higher in Pinal County than in Maricopa. The local paper ran an article about Canadians buying in Florence which is even further south than Queen Creek. Not sure if the sales agent ever mentioned taxes.

4) And on that note, don’t go into a new build without representation. Agents at new builds will tell you what they have to tell you but not necessarily everything that you might need to know.

5) Lastly, financing isn’t nearly as complicated as it seems … if you find a lender who knows what they’re doing with Canadian buyers.

Timing is an interesting concept from what I’ve seen with my clients. Not only are you guessing the direction of the local market but you’re also gambling on the currency exchange. A small decline in the Phoenix real estate market actually could be less costly than a drop in the loony. With our dollars at parity, that seems to be the main reason folks are looking more than normal.

I’ve got a penchant for rambling as you’ll discover if you visit my blog so I’ll wrap this up here. Hopefully I didn’t wear out my welcome and I’ll be back again. Thanks much for allowing me to interrupt and I now return you to Saskatchewan real estate news already in progress.

This is not exactly important real estate news but I couldn’t resist writing a small snip about this story.

It seems that the popular A&E reality program, “Flip This House” has run a number of episodes which amount to nothing more than a sham. Featuring self proclaimed “real estate developer” Sam Leccima, the episodes represent his renovation projects as having been sold for huge profits. As it turns out, most of them haven’t actually sold and at least one of them wasn’t actually renovated.

To make matters worse, it’s clear that Sam Leccima is the target of a number of civil suits from prospective investors who trusted him to invest their money wisely. One gentleman claims to have lost $100,000 to the smooth talking television celebrity.

A&E claims to have no knowledge of the sham and they have pulled all episodes which feature Leccima from their re-run schedule.

Thanks to Doug Quance for the heads up on this bit. Doug is an Atlanta based agent who has been on top of this home town story since October of last year when he noticed some of Sam’s sold properties were still listed for sale.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @SaskatoonHomes.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

I’ll agree with my friend on his latter point. It probably comes as no surprise that this agent believes that almost anyone can benefit by using the services of an agent in the purchase of real estate. First time buyers are particularly prone to making costly mistakes which can take years to pay for. I will however take issue with his first point. Even though a buyer will not likely see “real estate fees” show up on an invoice; I firmly believe that it is in fact the buyer who pays the commission in a real estate trade. After all, the buyer brings the money to the transaction. Real estate services may or may not be included in the property’s price but chances are, you are paying for those services. Understanding this simple truth may be helpful to you in getting maximum value for your money.

It’s important to understand that a commission is earned in every real estate transaction. If the property is listed through a real estate brokerage, the agent earns the commission for affecting a sale on the property. If a property is marketed privately, the seller is attempting to earn the commission. In rare instances, a buyer who buys “unrepresented” may in fact earn some portion of the commission. You should at least understand that it’s your money that is being earned.

The myth that buyers don’t pay real estate fees has been an excuse for poor service that has gone on long enough. Let’s face it, if you are led to believe that you’re not paying for the service, you’re probably not going to have very high expectations of your agent. After all, we all know that you don’t get much for free, or to put it another way, “you get what you pay for.” Are you getting what you’re paying for?

Prudent buyers should interview prospective agents to find out exactly what services the agent is prepared to provide. Once you’ve selected an agent, hold that person accountable to deliver what’s been promised. Moreover, let the agent know that you actually believe that you’re paying the real estate fees and that you expectations for service are fairly high because of it.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Lately, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of investors who are expressing interest in adding some Saskatoon real estate to their portfolios. My strong Internet presence and high search engine visibility brings me lots of inquiries from serious, and sometimes, not so serious buyers. I’ve dealt with many email inquiries from prospective investors over the last two weeks.

I have a few tips for out of province investors which I sincerely hope will be helpful.

All successful investors which I’ve met have a preference for certain types of properties and specific goals they wish to achieve. Some of the investors I’ve encountered lately seem to be lacking that focus and express interest in everything from $50,000 condos to $50,000,000 shopping malls. It’s difficult for an agent to be effective for you when you don’t know what you want. Be open to discussing your objectives with your agent. It helps us to help you effectively.

Talk to some agents on the phone. Your real estate investment is very serious business and email communications often lead to confusion. For something this important, we should be talking. If we can’t do it face to face, let’s speak on the phone. You can reach me toll free at 1-888-978-6676.

Some of those I’ve corresponded with by email seem to have a need to impress with tales of great wealth. This kind of talk, coming from someone I’ve never met makes me want to proceed very cautiously and sometimes not at all. There’s so many scams out there today that we have to be careful. Promises of big business possibilities during an initial email contact are going to be viewed with suspicion.

I’m most impressed by a few thoughtful questions. Even if you already know the answers, doing so tells me that you know what you need to know, and it gives you an opportunity to find out if I know anything. If you don’t care whether I know the market or not, it causes me to question how serious you are.

Be prepared to forward a deposit. As I said earlier, there are buyers all over the place here and most of them are ready to act when the right property comes up. If you and your cheque book are 500 miles away, we really don’t stand a chance. Having an adequate deposit in trust, in Saskatoon is the only way that you can be ready. Real estate trust funds of up to $5,000 are insured by the Real Estate Assurance Fund in Saskatchewan. If you’re dealing with a licensed broker your money is placed in trust where it’s safe and ready to work for you when the time is right.

Be prepared to conduct your transactions in accordance with local customs. Real estate is done in many ways, in many different places. Your offers will be taken most seriously if you seek advice from your agent on how things work in the Saskatoon market.

Do a little bit of research on our real estate market. Lately, I’ve been asked for things which no longer exist in this market, and people have actually been put off when I told them so.

• East-side luxury homes with good rental potential priced between $150,000 and $175,000.
• Motivated sellers who are anxious to sell at a bargain price.
• Quality residential revenue homes which will deliver positive cash flow with a 15% down payment.

Unfortunately, none of these things exist in the current Saskatoon real estate market. If that’s what you need to meet your goals, we may as well discuss it now.

Here are a few resources which you might find helpful in researching the market.

Average Saskatoon House Prices by Area for 2006

Saskatoon Neighbourhood Profiles

A Statistical History of MLS® Sales and Listings in Saskatoon

Saskatoon Real Estate Resource Centre Blog

CMHC Rental Housing Outlook, 2006

Good luck.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @SaskatoonHomes.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The charge resulted from actions Grover allegedly took “to falsify” inspection records which would have indicated that timely property inspections had occurred prior to a fire at his rental property at 214 Avenue E North which killed three-year-old Isabelle Bowron and her infant sister Jordynn in March, 2005. One other adult, Curtis Gifford suffered permanent brain damage from the fire. Jennifer Bowron, mother of the children who perished, along with her three-year-old son William were burned.

The day after the fire, Grover approached the grandmother of the dead children at the hospital and asked her to sign inspection records indicating that timely inspections had been performed, as the law requires. She refused. Grover was later charged and convicted of attempting to falsify records.

In a 2 to 1 ruling, the Court of Appeal concluded that there was “no evidence” that Grover actually knew that the inspections had not been conducted.

Grover has a lengthy history of problems related to his Saskatoon real estate, a portfolio which includes single family homes and apartment buildings. In one five year period over 30 fires were reported at his properties. He’s been convicted of making a false or misleading statement, obstruction of justice, as well as other infractions under the Fire Prevention Act and Saskatoon’s fire bylaws.

Grover claims to be a victim of a fire department conspiracy and seems to sincerely believe that the system is just out to get him.

The first time I ever spoke with Jack Grover he was loudly singing halleluiahs and proclaiming himself a “Christian man.” Such public pronouncements, particularly those expressed during an introduction almost always leave me feeling suspicious and on my guard. He describes himself as a “very, very good man,” yet he seems to have no problem letting his tenants live in poorly maintained firetraps.

Will the death of two young children cause Grover to be filled with Christian conviction? Will he turn over a new leaf and work to improve the properties which he owns, for the sake of those unfortunate souls who have few options for housing?

• Will the guys ever reach their goal of becoming “co-millionaires?”
• Does “Bermuda Bluegrass” actually double your property value?
• Does it really matter what your mortgage interest rate is?
• Just what kind of a “team player” is Carmen Sandoval?

These questions and more explored in this episode.

Flipper Nation: The Blame Game

There’s more where this came from at: FlipperNation.com
If you cannot view this video, you can check it out at YouTube instead.

I’m rooting for you guys!

Flipper Nation presents the down side in a most humorous way. I came across this amusing video from Flipper Nation titled, “The First Flip” while reading Real Estate Snippets, the blog of Minneapolis, Minnesota real estate agent Bonnie Erickson. Check it out. It’s kind of fun.

Flipper Nation: The First Flip

There’s more where this came from at: FlipperNation.com
If you cannot view this video, you can check it out at YouTube instead.

Bonnie also provides eight solid points of consideration for wannabe real estate investors. Read her post here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. Feel free to call me locally at 241-6676, toll-free at 1-888-978-6676 or drop me an email.