Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
January 16 2019
Wednesday January 16 2019. In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: real estate hibernation, labour markets, interest rates, FSBOs, location, 3D printing, maps, immigration, walls and fences
Winter real estate hibernation
It’s hard to think back to before I became a Realtor and remember what I thought being a real estate agent would be like. I had spent the previous ten years working in advertising sales so I suppose I thought it would be a continuation of that. What I didn’t realize was a lot of things, the first important one is that corporate sales is nothing like retail sales. Dealing with professional buyers, business owners, and managers is nothing like dealing with the general public.
Different game.
Different players.
Different rules.
The second thing I never thought about is the seasonality of the real estate market. There is not a lot happening now. We have fewer than 500 homes listed for sale in Kitchener-Waterloo. That’s pretty normal for this time of year but it’s still hard to get used to having so much free time.
I’m getting a lot of other things done.
Kitchener has the fourth best labour market in Canada.
According to The Bank of Montreal’s Labour Market Report Card for the fourth quarter of 2019, Kitchener has the fourth best labour market in Canada. The ranking is based on a number of factors, including population, employment and unemployment rates.
In a related story:
According to the EDC, Waterloo tech companies have “huge advantage” in recruiting global talent through a pilot program called Global Talent Stream.
Interest rates might remain flat until next year
The bank adjusted its 2019 growth forecast to 1.7%, down from the 2.1% prediction in October. With some of the volatility we’ve seen in the financial markets and the lower oil prices’ impact on economic activity in Western Canada, the Bank of Canada can afford to be cautious and will be in no rush to their next rate hike.
5 Reasons not to FSBO
There have always been those homeowners who want to try to save the commission and sell their homes themselves. In the real estate industry, we call them FSBOs – For Sale By Owners.
What is a good location?
“Location, location, location”, so the saying goes are the three most important things about good real estate. I couldn’t agree more. I always start wth the neighbourhood and make sure that is going to be a good fit before moving on to finding the right home.
Can this startup 3D-print a home in 30 hours?
S-Squared wants its Autonomous Robotic Construction System (ARCS) to revolutionize homebuilding.
Got maps?
This ‘Native Land’ map helps you recognize which indigenous territory you live on.
U.S. immigration dendochronology
I recently stumbled upon this video simulating the dendrochronology of U.S. immigration from 1830 to 2015.
Walls and fences
I’ve been thinking a lot about walls and fences. It’s in the news after all. Here are some true facts:
- The Berlin Wall was only ten feet high. It was high enough to keep people in. I remember watching TV when it came down.
- Israel built a wall 25 feet high and 300 miles long. Their problem with suicide bombers has ceased (for the moment).
- The Great Wall in China was built at a time when China turned inward. China could have been a great colonizing powerhouse, but instead they kept the world away for about 300 years.
- Hadrian’s Wall was built around the year 122 by the Romans more as a way of marking the extent of the empire than to keep the barbarians out.
- In a lot of new Kitchener-Waterloo neighbourhoods, the first thing a lot of new homeowners do is put up a high wooden fence around the perimeter of their property. In older neighbourhoods like the East Ward, the North Ward, the Belmont Village and uptown the perimeter is often a low chain link fence or trees and shrubbery. Bring me a shrubbery. I prefer a shrubbery to a wall or fence
