Where did January go? A fun start to the new year, a short trip to New York, and a couple of snow days and all of a sudden it was February! I’m going to try to keep track of statistics for Sooke at the end of each month and post them here so you can follow along. Along with the numbers, I’ll give you my opinion of what the vibe is like in the market and what the other REALTORS® are saying. Overall, I think 2012 will be a good year. There seems to be renewed confidence in the global economy, interest rates are still extremely low, and sellers are being realistic with prices. So, let’s take a look at what January 2012 looked like compared to January 2011.
January 2011:
- New listings: 64
- Single Family Detached Sales: 10
- Total sales, all property types: 15
- Lowest price: a manufactured home at $37,000
- Highest price: $690,000
- Average price, single family detached: $432,160
- Median price, single family detached: $382,450
- Active listings, all property types: 332
January 2012:
- New listings: 67
- Single family detached sales: 9
- Total sales, all property types: 16
- Lowest price: a manufactured home (my sale) at $50,000
- Highest price: $499,900 (a new home in Sun River)
- Average price, single family detached: $333,311
- Median price, single family detached: $326,000
- Active listings, all property types: 352
While it might appear that prices have gone off a cliff year to year, this isn’t the case. With a relatively small sample size, average and median prices will fluctuate wildly from month-to-month based on what actually sell. That $690,000 sale last January definitely skewed the average up, and there were a few more higher-priced homes that also sold. I think activity is definitely up in Sooke. In talking to other agents, the sentiment is that this will be a more ‘normal’ year after last year being quite slow. I’m getting far more inquiries from people interested in moving here or investing in a property. Before I even advertised my upcoming first-time buyer seminars, I had people filling in the registration form.
These statistics are merely numbers – that’s it. They don’t necessarily indicate what your house would sell for or what you should be paying. Overall I think prices have come down from last year, but seem to be stabilizing. If you’re interested in selling this year, contact me for a detailed analysis of your property. If you’d like to know what’s coming up for sale, I can get you all the listings that match your criteria.
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Is this the year you stop paying rent and start paying yourself? If you’re considering buying your first home in 2012, you should make sure that you join me on February 15th (Langford) or February 16th (Sooke) for a free and informative interactive seminar – Buying Your First Home.
I’ll be joined by Robert Boyd, Mortgage Broker with Dominion Lending and Jeremy Kimm, CFP, FMA, Financial Consultant, Investors Group Financial Services Inc. Topics covered will include:
- Creative ways to save (or find!) a down payment
- Mortgages – all about rates, terms, down payment requirements, and more
- The home buying process – what’s involved and how does it all work
You’ll leave armed with the knowledge you need to have a positive and exciting experience when you search for that new home. Whether you want to buy right away, or you’ve set a goal for the future, we’d love to have you along.
Registration is free and easy, but space is limited. Either call Tim at 250-885-0512 or visit TimAyres.ca/seminars and fill in the form.
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MLS® 303643 – $369,900
I’m pleased to present this beautiful family home now available in the Broom Hill area of Sooke. On a quiet cul-de-sac you’ll find this 1725 sqft, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom rancher on nearly a quarter acre…
With all the space that a family needs, you’ll just fall in love with this well-maintained home and all it has to offer. A spacious kitchen, a fenced back yard, double garage, master with ensuite bath – this house has it all. For complete information, including a floor plan, lots more pictures, and a high-definition walk-through video tour, please visit this property on my marketing site at TimAyres.ca/98. If you have any questions, contact me!
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Snow in the Otter Point area of Sooke
All this snowy weather got me to thinking – just because we live in one of the mildest climates in Canada, doesn’t make us immune from freezing temperatures every now and again. Where I live in the Otter Point area of Sooke, we have a well. We’re also several hundred metres above sea level and the temperature tends to be a few degrees cooler than in the village of Sooke. When I bought the house, the former owner told me that the well head had frozen and that she had installed a very simple system to prevent it in the future.
Drilled water wells typically have a casing that sticks up about 24″ or more from the ground. The water line comes out of the top of the casing, and runs down the side, underground to the home or cistern. It’s this stick-up section that can freeze, especially overnight when the well is not likely to be pumping and moving the water.
A well casing stick-up with water line
In our climate, often simply insulating the water line is enough, but if you’re like me and live where the temperature often drops below freezing, you might need to take some additional precautions. My well also happens to be in the shade of some tall trees, so the sun rarely reaches it in the winter, compounding the chance of freeze-up.
The solution is pretty simple. Take a garbage can, and insulate it with flexible foam – mine looks like it’s done with a blue foam mat like you’d use for camping. Then, take a trouble light and hook it on to the well head – this provides a small heat source. Turn the garbage can upside down over the well head and voila – just make sure the light bulb doesn’t burn out!
Enjoy the snow day!
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It’s the end of the first week of January, and by now you should have received your 2012 BC Assessment notice in the mail, or checked online to see what the provincial assessment authority values your property at. Most people simply open it, read it, and file it away with their other house documents. It makes great water-cooler banter, as colleagues ask “what was yours assessed at?” and “did yours go up or down?” But what if you disagree with your assessment?
BC Assessment’s mandate is to estimate the market value of your property as of July 1 of the previous year. They do this by using sale data from properties that sell during the year to compare them to yours and come up with a value that a buyer might have been willing to pay had it been for sale. They also get building permit data from municipalities. When you do an addition or alteration and take out a permit, the value of the permit is taken into account also.
If you believe your assessment is either too high or too low, you can dispute it. You have until January 31 to file your appeal (known as a ‘complaint’ or ‘review’ at this stage). Having gone through this myself last year, I thought I’d share what I learned.
I bought my house last fall, and BC Assessment valued it at over $100,000 more than what I paid for it. Because I felt I had a case, I decided to complain about my assessment. It is recommended that before you file a formal complaint, you call the local assessment office listed on your assessment notice and discuss your concerns. They will explain their reasoning behind the assessment. If that still doesn’t satisfy your concerns, you can then file a formal complaint. The easiest way is to do this online. Once you’ve filled in the form, you’ll be contacted with the date of your hearing.
Hearings are held by a Property Assessment Review Panel (PARP). PARPs are comprised of three lay people who are appointed by the minister responsible for BC Assessment. They are not employees of BC Assessment and are not necessarily experts in the assessment field. Their role is to listen to both sides and decide, based on the preponderance of evidence, who is correct.
Now, the hard part – proving your case. It’s easy to disagree with a paper notice, it’s entirely different to go up against a government assessment officer in the PARP hearing! I must admit, I was intimidated, despite valuing properties every day in my profession. You’ll need to gather evidence to support your claim. I would recommend first starting at e-valueBC, BC Assessment’s online property information checker. It’s available from the start of the assessment season in early January until March 31. You can enter your property’s details and select up to 8 other properties to compare it to. For example, if you knew that John’s house down the street sold in June for $400,000 and it’s very similar to yours, and your assessment came in at $450,000, you might be able to use John’s house to compare to yours to support the case.
The more information you bring, the better. Photographs of your property and of the comparable properties you’re using will also help prove your case. I also recommend using the CRD Atlas to print aerial photos and maps of your property and the comparables you are using. This visual aid will help the PARP understand your case. At the review hearing, you’ll be asked to present your case first. You can call witnesses, if necessary. If you have a written presentation, you will need to bring five copies. After your presentation, the assessor will give his or hers. He or she will likely sound a lot more professional and polished than you will, since they do this all the time! After both sides have presented, either can ask questions of the other. The panel usually makes its decisions within a few minutes – they will leave the room to deliberate. However in some cases (mine included), they will reserve judgment and you’ll get their decision by mail a few weeks later.
I was almost certain that I would be unsuccessful, as the assessor’s presentation was much better than mine, but I guess they found my evidence convincing, as my assessment was reduced to just over what I paid for the home, which I thought was fair.
If you still disagree with the PARP’s decision, you can appeal to the Property Assessment Appeal Board before April 30.
BC Assessment’s website contains lots of FAQs and information on the dispute process:
- Appeal Guide (short form)
- Fact Sheet
- FAQ
- And the mother of them all, The Guide (27 page PDF)
Were you satisfied with your assessment notice this year? Have you ever disputed an assessment? What was the outcome?
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The Whiffin Spit Christmas Tree
When I first came to Sooke to look at the house I eventually bought, I took a walk out Whiffin Spit. I knew nothing about the community that would become my home and my chosen place to start a family. I didn’t even know what Whiffin Spit was, I was just driving around exploring and found this cool seaside park with a light at the end of the path. It was just after Christmas, and as I meandered along the path, in addition to the many friendly people I saw and lots of dogs, there it was, this tree.
A lone Sitka Spruce, perched somewhat precariously on this exposed, windswept, salty spit of land. It had been decorated with all sorts of different ornaments. It was clear to me immediately that it was something special, and the eclectic array of ornamentations amused me. The salmon flashers and other bits of maritime and fishing-related items hung from its boughs and other home-made items made me think “How West Coast is this?!” I’ve enjoyed visiting the tree every year since and today went down to the spit to snap a few pictures for you.
With everything from plain old Christmas balls to driftwood, this is a real display of Island culture and I was amazed once again at the variety. There were many cute kids’ crafts on the tree, and also a number of touching tributes to lost family members, both human and canine, which is fitting as the Spit is a favourite for both to stroll.
I think my favourites are the ornaments fashioned from fishing gear, floats, and crab trap bait containers:
So, who decorates the tree every year? Well of course, it’s a public park, so anyone is welcome. But there is a group of local elves who has been taking care of the decorating and un-decorating of the tree since 1995. Read the interesting story, and learn about how you can help, here.
A bit of a bonus to my stroll down on the Spit today were the waves. They were big. I used to live very near the Spit so I know that’s not terribly uncommon in the winter, but it was a lot of fun to watch, and to photograph. The sun even poked its way through the clouds for a while and it looked spectacular. Here’s my favourite of the wave pictures. See more on Facebook.
The weather forecast isn’t great for Christmas, but I hope you’ve had a chance to stroll by the Tree in the days leading up – we’ve sure had spectacular weather for December. But if you haven’t, make sure you head down when we get a break in the weather like we had this afternoon! Below are all the pictures I took of the tree today. Merry Christmas, Sooke (and beyond)!
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T’was the week before Christmas, and you’ve done it again – no presents, no gifts; shopping left ’til the end!
It’s the same old story every year. You tell yourself: “Next year, I’m starting my Christmas shopping in September!” and yet here we are, with gifts still to buy, packed parking lots in Victoria, and eggnog to drink in the fridge (which is much more fun). So why not finish up (or start and finish) your Christmas shopping here in Sooke? Here are a few suggestions:
Fossil Watches - Available at Bombora
Bombora Gifts - Everything from gourmet food items to artisan teas, to watches, décor and local artwork, Bombora has it all (shameless plug: it’s also for sale). Pop in and see what unique items you can find for the special ones on your list.
Markus works his craft
For food lovers - Gift certificates from any of our wonderful local restaurants. Upscale casual cuisine at Stone Pipe or The Edge. Classic diner fare at Mom’s Cafe. Fine dining at Markus’ or Sooke Harbour House. Pub food at Mulligan’s or Buffy’s.
Craft beer makes a great gift
Beer, wine, and spirits - For a smaller community, the selection available in Sooke is quite good. the BC Liquor store is a little too small to stock a huge variety, but it’s pretty decent. And although it might be a bit late, they can order in just about anything you can think of, if somebody on your list has a taste for, say, a rare scotch or a Côtes du Rhône you can’t otherwise find. They also offer gift cards! The two private stores (at The Castle and Buffy’s) have a great selection, too. If you have a beer nerd (like me, perhaps) on your list, Buffy’s has an amazing selection of the large ‘bomber’ craft beers from many of our local breweries in the Victoria region and beyond. You can often find the limited release beers there long after they’ve sold out in Victoria. And don’t forget Tugwell Creek Meadery. Mead, or honey wine, is a tasty and unique gift and is 100% local.
For the kids - The Bees Knees consignment is the go-to place for kids’ items in Sooke. Judy has an amazing selection and stock is turning over all the time so there are always new treasures to be found. My wife has gotten so many things for our daughter there, many of them brand new, with tags on! A great way to save some money while spoiling a little one in your life. A newer store is Sugar and Spice, located near Stone Pipe.
Coffee: the perfect gift - My wife and I love to give our relatives on the mainland gift baskets of Vancouver Island products. Often in these baskets is a pound of locally-roasted coffee from The Stick. They also have awesome ceramic and travel mugs, stickers, hoodies, and more. Gift cards are also available for the stockings!
Photo: Sheringham Light by Jason van der Valk
Art and Photography - Sooke is a haven for art and artists – why not grab something unique and locally made. Paint, sculpture, fibre art, and photography are just a few of the media that you’ll find displayed in local galleries and of course the Sooke Harbour House. Check out local photographer Jason van der Valk for stunning local landscapes, or why not buy somebody you love a photography session with him? The Reading Room Cafe has an art show and sale from local artists all month long. For links to artists, see the Sooke Community Arts Council site.
Computers, video games, and tech - The new Shoppers Drug Mart has quite a good selection in the back of the store – digital cameras, video game systems and games, music players, cables and accessories, and more. Local computer guys Salish Sea Technologies can do upgrades, repairs, or put together a new system for you, even on short notice. They also have a selection of accessories and laptop bags – drop in and sea them (above the pet shop).
Woof.
And speaking of pets - Wiskers and Waggs never ceases to amaze me with their great selection of pet supplies and accessories. Make sure your four-legged friends are taken care of this Christmas, stop in and pick something up!
As you can see, it’s easy to get your shopping done locally, without braving the roads and parking lot mayhem of Victoria. Good luck – and now if you’ll excuse me, I have some presents to buy!
Do YOU have any suggestions for last-minute gifts in Sooke? Leave it in the comments below or on my Facebook page!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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Photo Credit: Mutley *--* on Flickr
One of the things that attracts people to Sooke is the price of housing. My clients are always amazed at what they can afford in Sooke compared to Victoria, or even just 20 minutes down the road in Langford. But have you ever wondered just how much cheaper homes are out here? Well, thankfully, CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) has crunched the numbers for us and they believe that by choosing to live in Sooke, you save about 24% over a home in Langford, all other things equal. In a study completed this fall, CMHC examined a large data set of 2,144 completed home sales from January to September 2011. They accounted for things like house size, lot size, age of home, and many other variables and found, compared to a home in Langford:
- Buyers pay a premium of 75% to live in Oak Bay
- Buyers pay a premium of 44% to live in the city of Victoria
- Buyers pay a premium of 35% to live in Saanich East
- Buyers pay a premium of 24% to live in Sidney
- Buyers pay a premium of 18% to live in Saanich West
- Buyers enjoy a 24% discount to live in Sooke.
Let’s have a look at a few recent sales to see how they compare to this study.
This home on Wild Ridge Way in Langford sold recently for $455,000. It has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 1,667 square feet on about a 4000 sqft lot. It is brand new, built in 2011.
Let’s compare it to this home which recently sold on Steeple Chase, in Sooke. It too is about 1600 sqft, has 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, on about 4000 sqft of land in a new subdivision, and was built brand new this year. But it sold for $360,000 – about 21% less than the similar house in Langford.
I believe the Sooke property is in a better location – just a short walk to an elementary and middle school, and walking distance to the town centre. The Langford home is way out Happy Valley Road, not really close to anything (although the Galloping Goose Trail is quite handy to it).
I know there’s nothing we can do about the extra time spent commuting to and from Sooke – about 20 minutes extra, each way – but I often hear people talk about the gas they’ll be saving by living closer to Victoria. Let’s calculate, just for fun, how much gas you could buy with the $95,000 you saved by buying in Sooke.
Let’s assume $1.20/l for gas (it’s been above and below this for the last little while, so I’d say it’s a fair average). $95,000 / 1.20 = 79,167 litres of gas. Assuming a 60-litre tank (I’d venture to guess that most commuter cars have smaller tanks), that’s 1,319 tanks of gas. Let’s assume you filled it once a week (maybe a little less frequently, but not out of the question for a 9-to-5-Monday-to-Friday commuter), that is about 25 years of gasoline for your car. Now obviously, this isn’t very scientific, and doesn’t account for inflation and the inevitable rise in the cost of oil, but it sure does illustrate that the gas savings argument doesn’t hold water.
Some other interesting tidbits in the study (again, all other factors being equal):
- Newer homes (10 years old or less) carried a 14% premium
- A home with a view averaged a 10% premium
- Older homes (30 or more years old) were 6% cheaper
If you’d like to read the entire report (which includes economic and housing outlooks for 2012 for the entire region), you can find it here.
So, knowing this, would you like to know more about moving to Sooke? Drop me a line or leave a comment – I’d be happy to get you all the information you need.
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SOLD! Here’s an opportunity for inexpensive living in a family-friendly park close to transit, schools, and all amenities in Sooke! This nicely updated, clean and tidy 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 960 sqft manufactured home is just waiting for somebody to move right in! It’s wheelchair accessible and features many updates. Have a look at http://TimAyres.ca/97 for more information, pictures, or to book your personal tour!
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SOLD! $308,000
Bring your mop and bucket and take advantage of this rare opportunity! South-sloping 3.06 acres with a 1996-built (approx.) 1250 sqft 3 bedroom 1 bathroom rancher with ocean glimpses from large front deck. Located just 20 mins west of Sooke, this property has amazing potential and is located close to surfing beaches, rainforest trails, and amazing salmon fishing. Totally private, this property has plenty of room to store the toys or to expand the existing home. Need a shop/garage? Lots of room for that too. A little TLC and some elbow grease will go a long way to making this one shine like it should! More info or book a viewing at http://TimAyres.ca/96
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