What's on your agenda for the long weekend?
I'm doing something that is going to challenge me to push through a crazy level of fear, but it may just change the way I see the world, quite literally.
Have an awesome weekend, friends.
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra
I’m not big on interviews. Perhaps that’s a bit odd for someone who is the “media spokesperson” for his company. One of the biggest challenges is the deadlines. Reporters always seem to call about an hour before they’d like to see you so you have to act quickly, and often rearrange other scheduled activities to get it done. I do it because it’s part of the job but I rarely have fun with them.
It was an entirely different story when Lani Anglin-Rosales asked me to do a “bubble gum interview” with RE Revealed. Her blog is one of my favorites and I really enjoy her intelligent sense of humour. It was an honour to be asked and she was gracious enough to give me “as much time” as I needed.
96 days later, the interview is here. :)
Lani, thanks for the invitation to RE Revealed and for your patience. I really did enjoy this one.
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 Vidorra
The “smallest house in Toronto,” measuring just 300 square feet is being offered for sale at $173,000. That’s $577 per square foot.
Sitting on a narrow lot which measures in at 7.25 feet by 113.67 feet, this little charmer has been completely renovated from top to bottom. It features a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom and a decent back yard.
I was most impressed by the initiative taken by the listing agents, Christina Lopes and Louise Ruggiero of Sutton Group Security Real Estate Brokerage. These two go-getters have enhanced their listing to the fullest on MLSOnline including a sales brochure and a virtual tour which offers eighteen still images and four 360 degree panoramic images.
It’s hard to find an agent who will provide such a rich presentation on house ten times the size.
The virtual tour for the property is here.
Tip of the hat to Matthew Collinge of Vancouver who originally posted about this property on his blog.
It may be dirty, ugly and smelly but according to this website (no longer available), it also offers “Great bones, and a great location.”
Shocking as it may be, there’s something remarkably refreshing about the truthful approach that this agent has taken to marketing this property. Let’s face it, this is an ugly house and trying to convince prospective buyers that it’s anything but only serves to insult their intelligence. It’s not like they won’t notice once they arrive for a viewing. What’s the point in putting them through those hoops if they’re not open to purchasing a mutt? This forward approach also serves the seller by targeting the appropriate niche, and qualifying buyers. Assuming it’s priced properly, it should sell.
I can’t say that I’ve ever gone quite this far, but I can’t ever recall have a listing which would deserve such a tough description. I can tell you that it pays to be forthright in a real estate advertisement. Earlier this year; I listed a property which was built in the late 70’s and hadn’t seen an upgrade since. I started my ad by saying, “It’s not the prettiest house on the block and it’s definitely time for some upgrades but this 1,080 square foot bi-level is priced right and provides an excellent opportunity for an affordable home in a great family neighbourhood.” After a couple of days of pre-promotion, the home had 43 showings its first day on the market, attracted 16 offers, and sold for $27,000 more than the asking price. There’s obviously a great market for homes that need work. Why shouldn’t we let you know it when we have one 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.
Norm Fisher Royal LePage Vidorra
The Edmonton real estate market may be starting to show some positive signs with active residential listings dropping around 10% in recent months, but this ad makes it obvious that some seller’s are motivated and ready to do what needs to be done to attract a buyer.
Edmonton builder, Coventry Homes is lobbing out an offer which I’ve never seen before - “…buy one of Coventry’s feature semi-detached or single-family show homes and you’ll get a 2008 City Golf at no additional cost.”
Is now a good time to buy an Edmonton home? Ask Sheldon or Sara. They seem to really know their market.
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 Vidorra
A Winnipeg property owner decided to visit a tenant in his revenue home to find out why they hadn’t been paying the rent. When he arrived on the scene, he discovered a parking lot where his house was supposed to be.
It seems that the owner was approached by a man in May of 2006 who was interested in purchasing the property so that it could be turned into a parking lot for the apartment building located next door. No deal was ever struck to sell the property. Nevertheless, the prospective purchaser must have felt confident that a deal could be done so he took it upon himself to evict the tenant and secured the necessary paperwork to facilitate the homes destruction. Not one to be bothered by details, he apparently moved forward with the demolition and completed his parking lot.
The accused faces charges of theft of property values at more than $5,000 and mischief causing more than $5,000 damage.
I’ve seen my share of motivated buyers over the years but this one truly takes the cake. You have to wonder how he ever thought that he might get away with this stunt. I guess some people just have more balls than brains.
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 Vidorra
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 that 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.
Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra
I really got a chuckle out of this story and couldn’t resist sharing it.
It seems that a British Columbia woman has been sentenced to serve two years of probation in Saskatoon after she pleaded guilty to seven counts each of credit card fraud and possessing stolen credit card data, one count of theft under $5,000, two counts of breaching an undertaking and two counts of failing to appear.
A judge ordered her to “board a bus” and head for Saskatoon. Apparently, he wants her as far away as possible from her former boyfriend and he thought Saskatoon would be the perfect spot for her to begin addiction treatments and rehabilitate herself.
Saskatoon really is a great place to live. You can’t help but wonder what the rest of the world thinks when they start sentencing people to live here.
Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra
Is it just me, or is this just a really strange idea?
Saskatchewan cattle farmer, Ivan Allin has launched a new business venture called U-Pick Steak Farm, which is supposed to address consumer concerns about the quality and safety of the food that they’re eating.
The Saskatoon Sun quotes Mr. Allin as saying, “The idea just came to me one day. You have the u-pick thing with strawberries and raspberries so I thought, ‘why not beef?’”
I’m still trying to figure out how that makes sense. I think most people are pretty well qualified to pick strawberries and raspberries, but I start to feel a little out of my comfort zone picking a cow, and I can’t imagine that I might feel any “safer” for doing so.
Mr. Allin suggests that this is a way for consumers to “come back to nature, watch the calves as they’re maturing and even pick one that they might want to have.”
Perhaps it’s the city boy in me but the last thing I want is a long term relationship with something I’m eventually going to eat.
You have to hand it to Saskatchewan people for their entrepreneurial spirit and who knows, maybe this turns out to be a big thing. Strange as I may think it is, at least Mr. Allin is willing to try something different and he has managed some free ink as a result.Best wishes for your success Mr. Allin. I hope you mooove a few head of cattle. :)
If the idea of picking your own cow turns your crank, you can reach the U-Pick Steak Farm at 306-946-2440.
Forbes recently released their list of Canada’s Most Expensive Homes. As far as I know, this is the first time that Forbes has compiled a list of prestigious Canadian homes, so we’ll take it as a positive sign for real estate in the Great White North.
The list consists of 10 properties, currently offered for sale which range from a low of $10.9 million to a high of $38.3 million US. Seven of the homes are located in British Columbia and three are in Ontario. That’s right, not a single Saskatchewan home made the grade. It must be the weather.
You might look at this list and think, “wow, I can’t believe people actually spend this much money on a home” but I was impressed by how affordable a high-end Canadian home really is (not for me of course). I recently wrote a post on the most expensive homes in the US.
Number one came in at $135,000,000.In reviewing the Canadian list, I found that you could actually purchase 9 of the 10 most expensive homes in Canada for less money than the home which tops the list in the US. Cheap!!