$232,900 ~ A7-175 David Bergey Drive, Kitchener ~ Sat Feb 6^th 2-4pm and Sun Feb 7^th 2-4pm

Great location! Backs onto forest and all amenities close by! Come buy this well maintained 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home with new hardwood and walkout basement! MLS

$250,000 ~ 123 Rolling Meadows, Kitchener ~ Sat Feb 6^th 2-4pm

Gorgeous single detached family home, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and rec room.  MLS

$289,900 ~ 58 Brubacher Street, Kitchener ~ Sun Feb 7^th 2-4pm

Imagine having this immaculate home AND a fully Insulated 2.5 Garage at one Great Price! MLS# 1011016

$169,900 ~ 60 Glen Road, Kitchener ~ Sun Feb 7^th 2-4pm

Ideal for First Time Buyers, Empty Nesters & Single Parent Families!  Many Upgrades, Must be Seen! MLS# 1011560

$220,000 ~ 400 Wilson Ave Unit 45, Kitchener ~ Sun Feb 7^th 2-4pm

Well maintained 3 bedroom townhome with finished basement and all appliances included.  MLS

$205,000 ~ 63 Ingleside Drive, Kitchener ~ Sat Feb 6^th 2-4pm

Fantastic Starter Home! Semi-detached 3 bedroom, 2 bath with finished basement and fenced yard! Nicely renovated and ready for immediate possession! MLS

$177,500 ~ 634 Strasburg Road Unit 11, Kitchener ~ Sun Feb 7^th 2-4pm

A beautiful maintenance free 3 bedroom townhome.  This home shines from top to bottom with many upgrades including remodeled kitchen and bathroom, new flooring and new furnace and A/C.  Modern lighting for the perfect comfort of home.  Nothing left to do here just enjoy all this plus a great complex you can’t go wrong!  MLS

$495,000 ~ 4 Venus Cres, Heidelberg ~ Sat Feb 6^th 2-4pm

Relax in your 3 season sunroom overlooking your almost 1/3 acre estate lot before soaking in your indoor hot tub/spa room with skylights! This is the life! MLS

Let the Realtor know that you saw the info on BenjaminBach.com.  Thanks for reading!

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Even a lot of our clients who live in the KW area use property management to take care of their rental properties; it’s just easier, and can be very affordable (depending on who you deal with)

Here’s a bit of info for you:

Contant me “Benjamin AT BenjaminBach.com” for a referral to a great management company

Related posts:

1. Investors agree: Use a Realtor when buying an investment property
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3. A profile of Eastbridge in Kitchener Waterloo, Ontario

Friends (and clients) of ours live there, and I asked Darryl and Robin why they chose to buy a home in Eastbridge, as opposed to any of the other areas in KW.  Listen to what they had to say; they also discuss why they like investing in real estate vs other asset classes.

BONUS: Watch the video to find out what the best Thai restaurant in Kitchener Waterloo is:

Why we love living in Kitchener Waterloo’s Eastbridge area

The schools in the area are well respected and include:

Related posts:

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Press play to hear what they had to say:

Darryl and Robin have a great portfolio of single family residential (including condo units) & student rental properties in Kitchener Waterloo, Ontario -all tenanted & performing well. 

If you’re interested in starting to invest and building a diversified property portfolio like theirs over time, send me an email. I’d love to help you

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While every purchase and sale will have unique features demanding custom clauses – often a few Schedules worth of them – most of the time, we use the same base of conditions and clauses when our clients are buying a rental property.

Conditions:

Real estate agreements are either ‘firm’ or ‘conditional.’  A firm offer is one where the are no additional conditions on the part of the buyer, and conversely, a conditional offer is where the buyer has some time to do due diligence, such as needing to get approval for financing, having the property inspected, or making sure that the city will let you develop an apartment building on the parcel of vacant land.  Most of the time our clients put in conditional offers.

The typical conditions we use are: a financing condition, an inspection conditions, and verification of income and expenses & supporting documents.

If the property we were looking at was a potential development site, we’d probably put in a Zoning condition – allowing us to research and verify that we could develop and build what we wanted to – and an environmental inspection, to make sure that we weren’t buying a potentially contaminated site.

It’s important to verify the income and expenses, and review the actual leases and bills.  We want to run our own eyes over those documents; trust but verify!  Also, the bank or lending institution is going to want to see the information as well, as they do their own financial due diligence on the investment property.

Clauses:

In addition to the conditions, we usually will include a number of additional clauses in the Schedule A (and often we’ll append more Schedules, depending on the offer. The most I’ve written is 4 additional schedules to the agreement of purchase and sale.  The client was a lawyer ).

If you were purchasing an property that was already rented with tenants, one of the clauses would be that the rents and leases are all legal according to tenancy laws of Ontario, and that the landlord doesn’t have any pending or upcoming issues with the Landlord and Tenant Board.

I include a clause asking for the current lodging licence, if it is a student rental that requires one.  Also, make sure that the license is current when the property closes – If we don’t complete the transaction till August, I still want the license to be in place then!

I like clauses where the seller hands over all architectural & electrical plans, and any information they have on hand about possible expansions of the property. It’s amazing what owners have, and how useful it can be in a few yeas when you want to make some changes to the proeprty!

Depending on the type of property, there will be additional clauses; every property is unique, so each agreement of purchase and sale will vary.  We recommend all of our clients run offers by their lawyer, and it’s a good thing for you to do too.

What clauses and conditions do you include when you’re buying a property?

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1. State of the Student Housing (investment) Market
2. 2009 Kitchener Waterloo Investment Real Estate Market Update
3. Property Management for KW investment property

Congratulations to everyone who is nominated!

I want to specially recognize a number of my friend’s who are nominated, inlcuding Fiddleheads, Gowlings, Rick Baker, Kurt Wissent, Mandy Dennison, Jason Kipfer, Stemmler Meats, Nutrition for Learning, Mandy Dennison, Leo Tobi, Bingemans, City of Kitchener and Paul Demarco, among others.

I am grateful that our company Keller Williams is nominated for Business of the Year and for best Workplace Training. We are the only real estate firm nominated for excellence!

Essence of Renaissance 2010 Business Excellence Awards Gala

March 3, 2010

The Gala event of the year to recognize Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce members who have made exceptional contributions through their involvement and leadership for the betterment of our community. 

Congratulations to the following nominees:

Business of the Year (Under 20 Employees)

Anytime Fitness
Keller Williams Golden Triangle Realty Inc.

Arbour Soft Tissue Centre
LawyerLocate.ca Inc.

Bulldog Fire & Security
Mindscape Innovations

Caudle’s Catch Seafood Ltd.
Prior Resource Group

Divine K-9, The Art of Dog Grooming
Seven Shores Urban Market & Café

Fiddleheads Health and Nutrition Inc.
Verses Restaurant

GeoSmart Energy Inc.
Xylotek Solutions Inc.

Business of the Year (Over 20 Employees)

CIBC
MTE Consultants Inc.

Covarity
Second Foundation Consulting Inc.

Eastforest Homes
TD Canada Trust

Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP
Union Gas A Spectra Energy Company

KPMG LLP

Environment Award

Cartridge World
Residential Energy Efficiency Project

Enerliv Inc.
Stemmler Meats & Cheese Inc.

Enermodal Engineering Ltd.

Innovation Award

Agfa HealthCare
Manulife Financial

Christie Digital Systems Inc.
Maplesoft

DALSA Corporation
The Children’s Museum

Drayton Entertainment
UW School of Pharmacy

KW Symphony

Michael R. Follett Community Leader Award

Rick Baker
Jane Jantzi

Brian Bazely
Gerry Remers

Machelle Denison
Rosemary Smith

Barbara Hill

Non-Profit/Charitable Award

Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation
Volunteer Action Centre

Leadership Waterloo Region
Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre

Nutrition for Learning
YMCA of Kitchener-Waterloo

United Way of Kitchener Waterloo

Volunteer of the Year Award

Mandy Dennison
Rob Sonada

Neil Doran
Leo Tobi

Jason Kipfer
Don Wales

Julie Langham

Waterloo Region Immigrant Employment Network (WRIEN) Award

Christie Digital Systems Inc.
Focus for Ethnic Women

City of Kitchener
The Walter Fedy Partnership

Workplace Training Award

Advocate Insurance Group
Keller Williams Golden Triangle Realty Inc.

Bingemans
Lutherwood

Grand River Hospital
Workforce Planning Board

Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Benjamin Bach
Lina Shamoun

Paul Demarco
Kurt Wissent

Kandas Hilker

Congrats to everyone!

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Waterloo votes down merger question

By Brent Davis, Record staff

WATERLOO — The prospect of merging the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo may have died Monday night with Waterloo council’s decision not to ask for a referendum on the issue.

After hearing from several delegations — most of whom spoke against the idea — and speaking passionately about the issue themselves, councillors ultimately defeated the motion in a recorded vote.

A group of more than 60 local business and community leaders asked Waterloo and Kitchener to seek permission from the provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs to hold a referendum in this fall’s municipal elections.

The question the group proposed is: “Would you support members of council engaging in a dialogue about the merits of merging Kitchener and Waterloo? Yes or No?”

Kitchener council has already voted in favour of the move.

Two weeks ago, Waterloo asked for more time to consider the issue. Last night, Mayor Brenda Halloran and councillors Mark Whaley and Ian McLean voted for the motion. Voting against were councillors Scott Witmer, Jan d’Ailly, Karen Scian, Angela Vieth, and Diane Freeman.

Freeman said the issue had been considered and rejected several times in the past, and only served to divide the community.

“We say things about each other that are hurtful and that are destructive,” she said.

Halloran, on the other hand, said it was necessary for the citizens of Waterloo to have their say.

“How do we move forward if we don’t allow people to have a voice?” she asked.

Prior to the vote, council heard from several members of the public.

“There is no groundswell of support from either the citizens of Kitchener or Waterloo,” argued Stan Rektor.

Several people voiced their concerns about differences between the two cities, especially when it comes to conflicting approaches to environmental preservation and urban development.

Rosemary Smith, executive director of the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation, and a member of the group advocating for merger talks, had urged council to pass the motion.

“I believe it is a discussion we must enter into in earnest,” she said. “Help us set the stage for an important conversation about our future.”

After the vote, Smith expressed her disappointment with the results, but said there was still work to be done.

“The citizens of Waterloo have not yet spoken, and until they do, I think it’s still alive.”

I am in favour of the referendum; what do you think?

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While many people are excited to live in the Bauer Lofts, there is also prime commercial space next door in the historic Bauer building. This space was leased very quickly, while similar space in Cambridge is still sitting empty.

Note: the vacancy rates mentioned in this article are for the commercial markets, specifically the vacancy rate for office buildings.  The residential vacancy rates remain very low in Kitchener Waterloo and Cambridge, Ontario (read: “Waterloo Vacancy Among Canada’s Lowest”)

WATERLOO REGION — To paraphrase Charles Dickens, it was a tale of two buildings.

While vacant office space was snapped up quickly in the new Bauer Buildings development in downtown Waterloo when it came on the market in the middle of last year, Cambridge Place remains half empty nearly two years after the city vacated the building for its new city hall.

The fate of the two buildings reflects sharp differences in the local office market among the three cities in Waterloo Region at the close of 2009.

With a vacancy rate of 11.5 per cent, office space is scarce in Waterloo. With a rate of 28.5 per cent, anyone looking for desk space in Cambridge can strike a pretty good deal. Aided by spillover from Waterloo, Kitchener falls roughly in between at 17.5 per cent.

Cambridge also has the smallest supply at 800,000 square feet, compared to 2.5 million in Kitchener and 2.1 million in Waterloo.

By year’s end, the office vacancy rate for the region stood at 16.5 per cent, up 1.7 per cent from the previous quarter.

Those figures were presented today during a seminar on the local commercial and industrial real estate markets hosted by Colliers International.

With “great amenities” such as the Vincenzo’s food store, the Bauer Lofts condos and ample parking of four spots per 1,000 square feet of space, the Bauer Buildings quickly attracted such tenants as CIBC Wood Gundy, BDO Dunwoody and Moxy Media, said John Lind of Colliers. “It was a real success story.”

Parking was a key factor. The Allen Square building across the road at 180 King St., with 2.5 spots per 1,000 square feet of space, still has empty space. In parking-starved Toronto, this space would be snapped up quickly, noted Dave Young of Colliers.

Meanwhile, Cambridge Place has 50,000 square feet begging for occupants. The owners may have no choice but to convert the building into other uses, said Karl Innanen, managing director of the local Colliers office.

Also swelling vacancy rates in Cambridge is an ample supply of office space along Highway 401 built prior to the recession, he said. Developers erected this space on spec, without lining up tenants beforehand.

Building conversions are another success story and a growing trend, he said. The old Lang Tannery in downtown Kitchener is being redeveloped with a mix of uses including office, restaurants and specialty retail. It has already attracted tenants such as the Digital Media Convergence Centre, Desire2Learn and the Downtown Community Health Centre. Innanen called this a “villaging of space.”

Fuelling demand for this project are key neighbours such as the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy and the area’s designation as a future transit hub, he noted.

While Waterloo rules the office market, the opposite is true in industrial real estate. Cambridge dominates with an inventory of 30 million square feet, following by Kitchener with 21 million and Waterloo with 10 million. Waterloo is hurt by its distance from Highway 401, Innanen said.

Still feeling the effects of the recession, the industrial vacancy rate in the region nearly doubled from 4.9 per cent in 2008 to 8 per cent in 2009. While the market took a shock, with the rate still below 10 per cent, “it’s still not horrible,” he said.

Among the three cities, Cambridge has the highest vacancy rate at 8.6 per cent, followed by Kitchener at 7.6 per cent and Waterloo at 7.4 per cent.

Sometimes, one large building can skew the numbers. In Kitchener, the former Kaufman warehouse at 137 Glasgow St. remains empty. At 350,000 square feet, it boosts the rate by 1.7 per cent all by itself.

While smaller buildings have been faring well during the recession, larger ones above 25,000 square have not, victimized by the weak economy and high Canadian dollar.

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3. Vacancy rate in Waterloo falls to 1%

What is the HRTC? 

In the government’s own words:

Under proposed changes, the HRTC is a non-refundable tax credit based on eligible expenditures incurred for work performed, or goods acquired, after January 27, 2009, and before February 1, 2010, under an agreement entered into after January 27, 2009. The HRTC can be claimed when filing your 2009 tax return.

The HRTC can be claimed for renovations and alterations of an enduring nature and that are integral to the eligible dwelling (such as your home or cottage) or the land that forms part of the eligible dwelling.

How is the HRTC calculated?

The 15% non-refundable tax credit can be claimed on eligible expenditures of more than $1,000 but not more than $10,000. The maximum tax credit that can be claimed to reduce your federal income tax is $1,350. However, if the total of your non-refundable tax credits is more than your federal income tax, you have no federal income tax to pay, and you will not receive a refund for the HRTC.

If you haven’t looked at how your ownership on Condominiums will benefit you come tax time, you should ask your accountant.  More info from the The Toronto Star here:

Condo owners can claim a portion of improvements made to their building between Jan. 27, 2009 and Feb. 1, 2010, as long as they were at least partially responsible for paying for the upgrades.

Here’s how it works:

Assuming each condo owner pays a monthly fee to a condo corporation, repairs or renovations completed and paid for with that money should count toward the HRTC. The condo corporation is simply paying for these goods and services on behalf of all of the unit owners.

Condo corporations are unable to claim the credit because it is available only to individuals, so it’s up to each person to claim his or her portion.

Therefore, on their 2009 taxes, condo owners can claim the credit for renovations to their own unit – similar to what would be done in a detached home, for example – as well as their share of any renovations to common areas paid for by the condo corporation.

This could include anything from new windows installed in your building to a redesigned lobby area or improved landscaping.

Add these shared costs with renovations you may have done to your individual unit (bathroom or kitchen upgrades, new fixtures, painting) and you could significantly increase your credit.

Canada Revenue Agency guidelines for condo owners indicate that improvements made to common areas will qualify if:

– You own your unit. Renters are out of luck, even if they pay similar monthly fees.

– "The expenses would be eligible expenses if the common areas were treated as an eligible dwelling" – if new furniture wouldn’t count in a detached home, it won’t count in a condo either.

– Your condo corporation has notified you of your share of the expenses.

As a reminder, the tax credit applies to renovation costs over $1,000 and under $10,000, so if you spent a few hundred dollars on your own unit and the condo corporation spent a few hundred more on your behalf, that may be the difference between getting a return or not.

Contact your condo corporation today and ask them for a report on your proportional share of work done to the complex. If you own several investment condos, your savings can be substantial. 

For more info on investing in a condo in Kitchener Waterloo, Ontario, contact me at 519.772.4376 or send me an email today

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So much talk, so little action.  Typical of a government, so I probably shouldnt be surprised

On December 22 I wrote Flaherty comments further on Canadian Real Estate and Mortgages and on Janaury 13 I reported in What is the Bank of Canada doing with mortgage rates? that Flaherty was still looking at what to do.

Today comes news that… drum roll please… Jim Flaherty is still “watching and monitoring” the real estate market in Canada 

“As you know, we took steps a year or two ago to require at least a 5% down payment and to restrict the amortization period for insured mortgages but we’re watching that. Low interest rates obviously are having an effect on the strength of the housing market in Canada," he said, warning "people have to make sure that the mortgages they take out today either have a fixed rate or they know that they’ll be able to handle increases in that mortgage rate later on."

CIBC World Markets senior economist Benjamin Tal says the bigger issue for consumers would probably be an increase in downpayment as opposed to a change to amortization schedules. Even though half of mortgage origination is said to be going for a longer amortization, Mr. Tal issued his own report that shows 40% of Canadians opt to make an extra month’s worth of payments each year.

Called accelerated bi-weekly payments, consumer make payments every two weeks instead of twice a month and the impact is considerable. "On a $250,00 mortgage with 5% rate amortized over 30 years, that works out to a de facto shortening of the amortization period by five years," says Mr. Tal, adding if rates rose by 75 basis points, consumers could absorb the increase by simply stopping the accelerated payments.

Mortgage credit was up about 7% year over year when Mr. Tal wrote his report but he thinks dramatic changes to downpayment levels and amortization are not necessary at this point. "Be careful you don’t kill a fly with a hammer. You could derail the housing market for no good reason," says Mr. Tal.

In real estate circles, many privately grouse about Mr. Flaherty’s overreaction to an improved housing market that still fell well short of records set in 2007. "You don’t want to see anything that affects the ability to purchase," says Gary Friend, president of Canadian Home Builders’ Association. "You make changes and in a place like Vancouver where I am, it could have a significant effect. At the same time we respect the need for prudent credit conditions and smart borrowing."

What do you think – should the government further tighten the regulations around minimum downpayments and amortizations? Let me know by leaving a comment below

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