The Toronto housing market today is a totally different beast than it was five years ago. While in 2010, the average price of a GTA real estate transaction rarely broke the mid $400,000’s, fast forward to now and the numbers have jumped by a staggering 30 percent!

Despite the colossal price spikes and market shifts over the past half decade, one trend has remained true and consistent – January has proven to be the least expensive month of the year to buy a home. Not just in 2014 but in every year since 2010.

While typical real estate trends tell us that spring and summer are the best times to buy a home because of the overwhelming number of homes for sale during that time, the data tells a different story when looking at prices.

 According to the data from the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), we calculated the average price for all housing types since 2010.

Here’s what we got

Prices in January over the past five years was $461,761 – nearly $16,000 less than the next least expensive month* and $60,000 lower than the highest month. Applying the same logic, the month of May was found to be the most expensive month to buy a home, which is great news for sellers looking to sell their property for a ‘fair’ price.

Best time to buy and sell – Average Price

Why are prices lower in January?

• Between the notoriously cold Canadian weather and the post holiday slow down, fewer people are out actively house hunting in January. With fewer buyers on the market, competition dips, as do prices.
• As homeowners are putting their properties on the market in January rather than waiting till the peak spring and summer seasons, it’s fair to assume they are more motivated to sell, resulting in lower prices and more room to negotiate the best price.

Why are prices higher in May?

• In comparison, May is the most active month for house hunters. Thanks to the pleasant summer weather, everything from viewing open houses to moving are all made easier in sunny weather conditions. Plus, families looking to move often chose to shift homes when the kids are off from schools during the summer holidays. This all translates to more buyers and therefore, higher prices and competition.

Days on Market: Best time to buy and sell

January:
The longer a house spends on the market, the more motivated an owner is to sell their property. With higher days on market, house hunters have more leverage to negotiate and bring the price down.

With fewer active homebuyers in winter, the average days on market in January for the past five years was 34 days.

May:
The average days on market in the spring and summer months hover around the low 20s, meaning one thing, buyers are snatching up homes left, right and centre – which is ideal for homeowners looking to sell their home.

Listings: Best time to buy and sell

January:
The typical holiday season slowdown means fewer homeowners put their properties up for sale in January. With a dip in the number of new listings, buyers have a smaller pool of homes to choose from. But it can actually work for you. You won’t be overwhelmed by the amount of houses up for sale, instead you’ll only be dealing with the most motivated sellers and the most affordable homes on sale. 

May:
More properties are listed on the market in May than any other time of the year. Homeowners looking to sell should see this as a sign that real estate has hit its most active season, and buyers are out in full swing, ready to purchase a home.

Basically for sellers it is the best time to be unique and creative. 

When we delve deeper and look at the best time to buy and sell for each housing type, separately, none of the homes seem to fall within January or May. We speculate this is largely due to the constant shift in the number of new listings each year, which impacts the overall average prices and trends.

Own A Spot at Glasgow International

If you’ve ever had to leave your car at the airport when taking a trip, you know how costly it is to park right at the airport for convenience. For that reason, nearby off-site parking is a good alternative that many people prefer.

Now what if you were fortunate enough to own a piece of one of those nearby off-site parking lots? That would be a game changer, don’t you think?”

What if you could own a parking spot at one of the UK’s busiest airports?

Fasten Your Seat Belts - Through a UK developer contact we’ve worked with several times before, we have an offer to share with you of an alternative investment opportunity in airport parking at Glasgow’s International Airport in Scotland. This investment opportunity has only recently become available, and it offers a hassle-free, totally hands-off experience for investors.

It offers title deeds and a fixed return of 8% for the first two years paid at the beginning of each year and expected returns that will be higher in the years that follow.

The investment in airport parking comes with a fixed return of 8% the first two years.

Investment Background: Glasgow International Airport is Scotland’s second busiest airport after Edinburgh Airport and one of the busiest airports in the UK. Last year it had almost 7.4 million passengers and is also growing rapidly.

Over £200 million, approximately $359 million CAD, has been invested in the last 10 years, and the airport has reported 20 consecutive months of growth with over 700,000 passengers travelling through its doors per month!

Glasgow Airport already has a severe shortage of long-term parking spaces, and due to the forecasted rise in passenger numbers, demand for long-term parking will soon be far greater than the existing supply. Passenger numbers are projected to be over 24 million by 2030.

Existing car parking spaces, which have been serving Glasgow Airport for over 15 years, have now been released for sale with some attractive terms to purchase and then lease them back. Spaces for sale are located in Car Park 3, one of the two closest parking lots available to the airport.

The developer has just acquired Car Park 3, and it is currently being given the five-star treatment. There’s a full refurbishment underway with new offices, CCTV, new tarmac surfacing and a space-age waiting room.  That will bring this property up to the high standards and appraised values that are already found in Car Parks 1 & 2.

The Opportunity - Here’s what you need to know about this offering:

• £20,000 per single parking space; approximately $36,000 CAD
• No limit on how many you can purchase, but there are no bulk discounts
• Scheduled price increase Mar. 1, 2015 to £25,000., approx. $45,000 CAD.
• Spaces at Car Park 2, were just appraised at £30,000, so at these prices, buyers are paying 33% below market value!
• Properly registered title deed at land registry
• Six-year lease program with 8% net guaranteed returns for the first two years
• Five-year built-in exit strategy (detailed in our data sheet)

Six-Year Lease Back: The initial lease is six years. After that, you’ll be offered a new lease or the option to manage the investment yourself. Given that weekly rental rates for parking are expected to increase (Do they EVER go down?), the returns to the investor should increase over time.

Lease back your space to the operator, and for the first two years, you are guaranteed an 8% net rental income, paid to you annually, in full, at the beginning of each year.

After two years, you will earn a projected income, which is no longer guaranteed:

• Projected 10% net return (years 3 and 4) paid quarterly
• Projected 12% net return (years 5 and 6) paid quarterly

Based on high year-round occupancy and 15 years of historical income, these projections are realistic figures.

Airport Statistics:

• 7.4 million approximate passengers fly from Glasgow every year
• 20,000 approximate passengers per day
• 24 million forecasted passengers by 2030
• 17,900 forecasted number of long-term spaces needed by 2020
• 2,700 long-term spaces in 2011
• 15,500 the actual number of spaces needed in 2011
• 4,500 long-term spaces released for sale

Ireland’s Ryanair Ltd. will start operating at the airport this month, which is predicted to add another 850,000 passengers a year! The budget airline will operate 55 flights on nine routes meaning the demand for airport parking will increase heavily.

When RyanAir begins operating in Glasgow, it will add 850,000 passengers a year to the airport.

Experienced Operator: The car park will be operated by Park First Limited, part of the Group First Global LTD group of companies. Group First Global LTD has many years’ experience in successful property development and has been involved in the acquisition and sale of over £1 billion worth of mixed residential and commercial property in England.

Ready For Take Off: This is an easy, low-risk, profitable investment opportunity, hassle-free and totally hands-off. It offers a fixed return for the first two years of 8% and title deeds from day one. The developer says you can expect higher returns of up to 12% a year at the end of the lease term, based on a successful track record operating for the past 15 years.

Plenty More Details: I realize that owning a parking space may not be as sexy as saying you own a five-star condo hotel at the Marriott in Muskoka. And maybe you won’t carry a picture of your parking space to show off at parties, but if you’ve been seeking an affordable and profitable alternative investment to round out your international real estate portfolio, the Glasgow Airport car park venture could be a fit.

If you want more information, please contact us 647.348.86.90

How To Hook Millennial Buyers? Tell Them Real Estate Is Like Sex

Have you ever heard of the slogan “Sex and Real Estate: Get Lots While You’re Young”? this phrase points out that if you want to become a millionaire by age 65, all you have to do is buy $1 million worth of real estate in your thirties, with 30-year mortgages, and then pay the mortgages of over time.

 The main point is to convince millennial that they should stop being renters and buy their first home now.

 There three great ideas we would love to share about buying a home today, in early 2015.

1. There is no need to wait while you save money for a down payment.

Mortgage world is rapidly changing today. And down payment requirements are going down. For example, now in many cases it is only 3 percent of the sales price or even 0 percent for veterans.

Potential millennial buyers tend to self-qualify, or even worse, disqualify themselves for a mortgage. Meet face-to- face with mortgage professional is the best thing to do. If help is free, why don’t you take it?

2. Projected needs should be satisfied, when they search for a home.

People usually go through similar life cycles. They should always plan ahead and not but a one-bedroom condo if they are planning to get pregnant next year.

3. Home as a long-term investment.

The biggest mistake is to sacrifice future housing security by doing a cash-out refinance. It’s better to pay mortgages down over time.

If millennials buy today, we can guarantee they won’t be disappointed over the years. They will be bragging about the 2015 price they paid as a perfect decision, compared to where values will almost be in 2025.

Basically what we are trying to say is that we need trying new approaches until the millennials buy in sufficient numbers to stop the homeownership rate in America to decline.

N5R.com is a global boutique Project Marketing firm for the world's best and most innovative real estate developers in 15 countries on 5 continents: 1-877-502-2028

6 Tricks How To Run Meetings Effectively

Meetings are usually not that easy to lead. Sloppy agendas, indistinct rules and other structural mistakes are all the reasons of unsuccessful meetings. So we decided to find out the most effective tips of how to run the meetings effectively.

“Said little – then made follow-ups”

You always need to listen what people have to say. And after any formal meeting, the best way is to send a follow-up memo with a plan of action. This rule was created by Alfred Sloan, CEO GM, who ran the company for more than 30 years that were credited with inventing modern corporate structure.

A preparation is a key

There is no doubt, that before any meeting, you need to be prepared. For example, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is always ready to answer any question. And if you are not prepared, he will let you know about it.

Strict agenda will help you on any meeting

It’s always a good thing to bring a notebook with you on every meeting, and put there some discussion points.

The smaller, the better

The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs preferred minimalism. It helps to run the meetings in the simple way.

Bring high-potential employee with you.

At any given meeting, there will be someone there who doesn’t belong. This is by design.

Let people argue

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos hates when people are solidarity with each other. He suggests leaders to argue to find out the best decisions even when doing so is uncomfortable.

If you are interested of how to make your business more successfull, click on your step-by-step guide.