Elementary
Realtor interviews business
Allow me to introduce myself as Jacqueline Watson, a Realtor in the Toronto/GTA area. However, my expertise extends beyond real estate. I am also a Mediator specializing in Labour Relations. My passion lies in more than just selling homes; I strive to transform lives and empower individuals to achieve financial freedom through home ownership.
In addition to my real estate endeavors, I am building a thriving community through my podcast, Elementary. This platform allows me to engage with various businesses and share their stories. My career path initially began in Toronto & GTA, coinciding with a successful tenure as a Director of Labour Relations, in healthcare working in the long term care retirement and commune services industry, which I hold dear to my heart.
Combining my passions, I feel incredibly fortunate to work as both a Realtor and a Labour Mediator. Each day, I have the privilege of doing what I love, and I am immensely grateful for this opportunity. The journey that has led me here has been remarkable, and I cherish every experience along the way.
Furthermore, I recently had the honour of joining the Pilot Place board. Witnessing the incredible impact this organization has on people's lives fills me with gratitude. I am delighted to volunteer my time and contribute in any way possible to support their noble mission.
Elementary
From Charm to Challenges: The Realities of Buying Older Homes
Unlock the secrets of making smart real estate decisions with me, Jacqueline Watson, as we explore the nuanced journey of buying an older home. Learn how to look past the surface charm to uncover critical aspects like heating systems, potential oil tank hazards, and the lurking dangers of materials like UFFI and asbestos in pre-1980 constructions. We'll navigate the essential checkpoints for assessing the longevity of vital home systems, ensuring you're equipped to steer clear of unexpected pitfalls and costly repairs. Whether you're a novice buyer or a seasoned homeowner, these insights are your ticket to informed property investments.
Join us as we dissect the current real estate landscape and the often-overlooked challenges of equipment rentals versus outright purchases. I’ll share the latest housing statistics and unpack the financial advantages of alternative strategies like using lines of credit. Plus, I’m excited to invite you to a free event dedicated to organizing and decluttering, designed to help you make the most of your living space without any pressure to buy. As we conclude, I urge you to set personal goals and stay informed while wishing our Canadian listeners a joyful Thanksgiving. Your ideas for future discussions are always welcome, and together, we'll ensure the content remains as engaging as ever.
Do you have a topic you would like me to explore further, get in touch
Do you want to get interviewed? let's connect
Welcome to Elementary. I hope you're having a fabulous Monday. From wherever you're watching, I'm your host, jacqueline Watson, and today I'm actually talking about a couple of different things, things to watch out for when you're buying an older home. Now, these are not all of the things there's so much to watch out for, right but this is certainly a couple of the things that I would want to draw your attention to, hi Kimberly, anyhow. So a couple of things that you know I've been trying to get some of my younger clients to pay a little more attention, because I think sometimes people get so carried away when they walk into a house because, you know, they're looking at paint colors, they're looking at all the lipstick, they're looking at the staging, which you know. Obviously we do a really good job trying to stage and make the property look good, but really that stuff doesn't get to stay and those things are the cheapest of the lot. But what you really have to pay attention to is a couple of these key elements and sometimes, when you walk into a home, one of the things I'll say is that people get so, you know, overwhelmed, almost like they've seen a property and now they're seeing another property. But just keep in mind that these are some of the few things that, if you don't look at anything else, you ask these important questions and so, for example, if you're in an older home, you have to remember that over time, there were things that you know a property perhaps was at the time it was built. Those were the codes in place, and anytime there's a change to the building codes, when you do renovations, you have to upgrade all of those items. Now, some people will, and you know they're supposed to, but what they do and what they're supposed to do, who knows? But your home buying experience and journey should be a happy one, right, and when you move into a home, you should not have any. Be a happy one, right, and when you move into a home, you should not have any. I shouldn't say you should have any surprises, but you really should have surprises that you've really earmarked for. You know it's maybe an issue. Having said that, these are some of the things to watch out.
Speaker 1:Is the property heated with oil or gas, or like what's it heated with? So let's talk about oil. So oil tanks were clearly something that was used years and years ago, and one of the things that people don't recall, like don't remember when they're dealing with oil. Now, if you have an oil furnace, you can definitely change it to a gas furnace, that's not the issue. But when you do have oil you have to wonder is the tank above, is the tank below surface? Has it been any spills? Has the tank leaked over the years? There was a bit of a horror story actually with this oil tank, where there was an oil tank that was buried in the basement and somehow it was full of oil and it got sprung a leak and it was buried, and so those sort of things you don't really want to have happen to you.
Speaker 1:So just be a little bit mindful about you know, one of the things to ask is what year was this home built? Right, and by really kind of understanding the age of the home, you get to understand the wiring or what sort of furnace, and so a lot of people don't like going down to the basement, they don't like looking at the most important things. So what sort of furnace do they have? How old is the furnace? And you can look at the stickers and tell how old the furnace is, and you should really pay attention to that, take a picture of it, so that if this is the property you're going to put an offer on, you would be apprised that, hey, the furnace is like 25 years old. It's probably going to need a new furnace soon. Let's budget for that.
Speaker 1:But in addition to an oil tank, there's also eufy what they call eufy U-F-F-I, and this was in the 70s. It's kind of like an asbestos kind of substance that was used during that time. And what people don't realize is that some of these items were really not banned up until like maybe the 80s right. So like, for example, asbestos. If you're looking at a property built before 1950, I would say be mindful that it probably has asbestos. If it's a property built between 50 and 1980, 80s, when they like really kind of stopped using them, but it was fully banned in 2018.
Speaker 1:Having said that, you know what you have to worry about is how much of it and it's not dangerous until you actually break it down and then it becomes airborne. Now, earlier I was mentioning about the oil tank. If you have an oil tank that's not being used and you have a different source of heat on your property, that oil tank has to be removed and you want to make sure that you've written into your agreement somehow that you know there's no spills or you know the soil is not. If it's outside where the tank is located, you want to make sure that there's no contaminations whatsoever, because it's so expensive to actually clean up that. But one of the other things that you know you should be paying attention to is also what they call high tech plumbing, and so this is kind of something that was in place actually from the 1995 to about 2007. Now in 1995, it was banned and pretty much people, I think, stopped using it.
Speaker 1:But you'll still see some of that Kytec plumbing and it's actually very noticeable. You could tell with the coloring of the wires. They look like PEX. Now PEX is okay. Most of the builders use PEX. I don't love it because it's plastic piping. But PEX is fine.
Speaker 1:But the Kytec plumbing is a huge issue because really this particular product, this particular product even though there were a couple of different brands that were called Kitech as such, the Kitech plumbing is the kind of plumbing that it really gives you no warning that it's going to burst. It will just kind of burst and cause havoc. So most insurance companies probably won't even cover it, or they'll say that if there's a problem with the like. If there's an issue with Kitech, then that's not covered. But the whole point of buying insurance is to make sure you get that piece covered. So before I go on, if you guys have any questions, drop it in the comments below.
Speaker 1:So kind of plumbing was something that you really need to be mindful about A while back. A lot of the condos had it back in the day. And the other thing too, there was a class action lawsuit and a lot of places did kind of take get this because you have to apply. You know when there's a, when there's a lawsuit like that, you have to apply for it. They don't automatically come to your house and fix it, but some places did get the matter resolved, but some others you may find it every odd time. So pay attention for it. And you know you're buying the house. This is your biggest investment, right? So you really need to be mindful about it. You see these bright blue and orange plumbing pipes. Take a closer look. They should have a little like a little sticker not a sticker, but like a little logo on them and you'll be able to tell if they're Kitech or not. And in any event, you know you should be getting a home inspection right, especially for older homes. So you don't want to be surprised, you want to be apprised of anything that might happen. So but the other part with older homes is there's nothing wrong with them. They're built well, they're nice. You just have to be aware that this might be a problem.
Speaker 1:So wiring, when it comes down to wiring knob and tube like any home built before the 1940s I would say, was definitely a knob and tube. And then we got into, like the aluminum wiring stage, and aluminum wiring is between the 60s and the 70s. Now it's not a huge issue, people still have it. It's when you mix wirings right, like when you don't know you have aluminum and then you have a mixed wiring. So you need to make sure you know what you're doing. Call an electrician if you need help with wiring. But the aluminum wiring really one of the things that they just have to. They tend to oxidize and so there's something that they do to you know, keep this to make sure the wiring is going to be, it's going to withstand whatever you put on it.
Speaker 1:So I would say, you know, a home inspector should be able to tell you the wiring type. But a plumber, not a plumber, an electrician will be able to, you know, be able to give you their opinion and let you know if they'd have to do any touch up or work to it. So I mean, it's pretty easy to tell aluminum wiring. They normally will be marked like AI or AL. Actually it's an L, but it's a lowercase L, so it looks like an I and it would be like the gray-silver, dull-gray-silver wiring, and some people have so many cobwebs in that area. It looks kind of of you might look a little grungy but, um, like on these older homes, but you know, so that you kind of get it like it's a little bit of a different look compared to copper wiring, um, and copper is sometimes brown, sometimes orangey color, um, but they could be different colors because it could be like a white covering, who knows, anyways. So just be aware of these things.
Speaker 1:Now, if you buy a home that's older than that, like from the 1920s or something, then there were other types of wiring they were using or other potential types of wiring that they were using that you should be apprised of, be apprised of Now. You know so much. So for that piece, all I'm saying to you is, like, if you're buying an older home. Take a look at these little things, because sometimes I think when people walk through a home, they walk through two or three homes. They don't look at the most important elements right, and sometimes you know then you walk out and you say, well, that's the home I want to put an offer on right. And of course if you have an inspection clause you get another kick at the can. But sometimes taking a few minutes to look at these important things are quite important.
Speaker 1:But then when you come into like wood burning fireplaces and I want to talk about a wood burning fireplace you know they should have a wet certification or wet testing. Now most people who have a wood burning fireplace don't do this. They don't do the wet certification. I have a few homes that I have a few I sold. I took buyers through a few homes and they had the wood burning fireplace and I find a lot of times people don't have the testing done. But sometimes they will have the testing done and it's nice because it tells me that they've, you know, managed the home and they are looking after all of those little things in there right. So I'm not going to get into rural properties because we'll start getting into other issues that I've already talked about before, but these were the few things that you could find them in, like regular, non-rural properties, so I wanted to touch on them today so that you were aware of them and that you keep an eye open for some of these big ticket items.
Speaker 1:Now you know, when it comes down, it's important to know how old they are, and I talked about it last, I think the last topic I did. I mentioned about rentals. That's the other thing that people are forgetting to disclose, forgetting to disclose that they have a rental. And you know, a hot water tank is the only thing that you should be getting as a rental. Really, if they have a furnace or an AC, I'm not quite sure why people are getting into rentals, because it really costs you three times the amount.
Speaker 1:But it is like this hot topic right now because everyone seems to be renting or getting kind of drawn into a rental, because someone's saying to them hey, look, if you have a rental, thank you. If you have a rental, you know we'll come and we'll service it, but it's a brand new item. Like it's a brand new item, like it's a brand new piece of equipment. What do you think is going to go wrong. So, like by having the rental and the service agreement, you're thinking they're preying on your fears of it breaking down. But it has a year warranty and you know, pay it off. You know, even a line of credit would be cheaper than paying these people the price of the rental.
Speaker 1:And once you get into trying to sell it, people don't want to buy other people's equipment. They're going to try and get you to pay it off and, rightfully, it's your agreement. You should pay it off. It's your contract, it's not someone else's contract, right? No one wants to assume it. And these people who put rentals on your property, in your property, actually have a lien on your property, and that's what people don't realize. They don't have to tell you that they're putting a lien on your property either when they put a rental in. So just be mindful about these little things. So, yes, thank you, mortgage Kimberly, she just said the same thing. I was saying that they will put a lien on your property. Exactly, and it's not a good surprise when you go to sell your house and you realize there's a lien on your property, right? If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them, but before we end, I have a couple of announcements, so I have the numbers for September are out the housing numbers. I normally don't do a housing update or a monthly update because the numbers really don't mean much to people, right?
Speaker 1:But I do want to invite you to my webinar. It's actually I don't want to call it a webinar because I know when I say webinar you'll understand what I'm doing, but I'm not selling you anything, so it's absolutely free and so it's an event. Let's call it an event. It's an event on organizing and decluttering and I partnered with an organizer and she's not selling anything either. We just thought.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of older clients and a lot of them struggle with having a family home over the years and having so much stuff and not knowing what to do with it and how to get rid of it. And then they get do with it and how to get rid of it, and then they get overwhelmed with it. So part of my package that I do for some of my older clients like will cover, you know, helping them with that piece because that's what they need the most. But this is for everyone. Really, it's for everyone to come and attend and take away some tips. I mean, this organizer is quite amazing. She will give you definitely some great pointers that will help you. You know work on your home, so you're almost going to start before you need to even start, right, and a lot of us we get so stuck with some of the clutter that we've collected over time and we tend to hold and I mean I'm the biggest culprit, my husband will agree and we tend to hang on to these possessions and, honestly, for what I mean, if you're not using them, give them away, right, or let somebody else use them.
Speaker 1:And right now I mean the, the resale sites, like marketplace and some of those other sites. They're like on on fire, because a lot of people are actually looking at it in two ways. If I can buy resale and it doesn't go to the landfill, why not? Right? So? But the September numbers September numbers are out and sales were up 8.5%. So this is comparing September of 2023 to September of 2024. Sales were up 8.5%. The average price I have a note because I can't remember all these numbers off the top of my head so 1.1107291 is the average sales price, which was down from last September. Last September it was 1118215. And the city of Toronto, the average price for the City of Toronto and I hate sharing these numbers because there are average prices they do not break it down by area, they do not break it down by home type, it's just average price $11,136.71. And for $ 905, it was 1090749. If you want a little more information on your property where you are, I'm happy to share that, but you won't find it in what I'm sharing right now.
Speaker 1:Okay so detached homes. For some reason some people love these numbers and I've done actually a video that I'm just going to put on YouTube because people love these numbers. I'm not sure why. Because it really makes no sense and it really doesn't give you a good enough cross section or a dissection or any of that. It's just random numbers, it's just averages of the whole thing put together. So for detached homes, the average so 905 and Toronto altogether 1423056. And for the 416 area, 1685755. So this is average for all home types. And for the 905, it was 1333394.
Speaker 1:Now if you look at the numbers between Peel and Durham and all these other places, they all look like kind of classified as 905, but all the numbers are different. So when they give you an average like that, it really kind of doesn't really do much for anyone. Right? There were 35%, 35 and a half percent more listings. That's quite a bit of listings.
Speaker 1:And the property days on the market were 43. And what do I mean by property days on the market? So people do this, I'm going to put it on the market and once it's like 20 days or 25 days or 30 days, I'll take it off and put it up again and so this is just the average days. Average in Caledon was 60 days, which is quite a bit. Mississauga and Brampton was around 45 and 46 days, but Caledon, which surprised me, was around 60 days.
Speaker 1:Now, days on the market is important for people to know, and when I say that it's because it'll tell you two things. If you have a house on the market and you're watching closely and you're taking a look, maybe there are not many properties in your area selling and there are some areas that people you know people stay in the homes and those areas won't come up for sale as often. But then there are areas where you know homes come on the market regularly. But property that is on the market tells you one thing, like if your property is staged well, it has beautiful pictures done by Doa Media. They're watching. But you know, if your property has beautiful pictures, it's staged well, it looks immaculate, then there's one thing it's your pricing. Your pricing strategy is off, and so that's what you have to fix.
Speaker 1:And if you're on the market and you don't have proper pictures, and please, if you're looking at someone who's going to take pictures with an iPhone and there's nothing wrong with an iPhone, I have an iPhone, they work well but some people have no skill to even use the pictures from their iPhone. So if you're looking at someone who's going to take pictures from an iPhone and charge you a percentage or whatever percentage is charging you to do that work, I'm not sure why you're wasting your money. Like you pay for what you get what you pay for. Yes, you get what you pay for. So you know, if you're going to put your home on the market, it's not the market to test out.
Speaker 1:If you're serious about putting your home on the market, you know, show it in the best light, right? And whether your home is on the market or not, at some point someone's going to look at those pictures. They're going to go back, they're going to look at the repository of pictures. I'm going to say, wow, look at these pictures, look at this home, look at the way it's staged, it's beautiful. You know, even a dated home with a great clean like, if it's presented really clean and staged really well and it's got beautiful pictures, people will fall in love with it. And if you've got the best pricing strategy, you will sell. There's no questions about it. So if your home is sitting on the market for like a long, long time and I've seen homes on the market for like I don't know 100 and something, 200 days and I'm like why are you killing your listing? You're like doing really nothing with it. So you know, just be mindful. If you're absolutely hell bent Now, you will have people who will say to you it's called, you know selling the listing, right, somebody will sell the listing.
Speaker 1:In other words, they'll say to you well, they know your house is not worth whatever you're looking for and instead of being truthfully honest with you and say, look, that's not the price, this is the price I would sell it for and we all want to, you know, have that relationship with our clients. But some people, some clients, will say no, this is what I want, this is what you should get me. And so someone who just wants to take the listing will take the listing at an overpriced amount. You know, 100 days later they're saying to the client look, I told you about the pricing, you wanted it, now we're going to have to reduce the price. And then finally you're reducing the price.
Speaker 1:Your house is not showing well. Somebody thinks there's something wrong with it, so you might have got a little bit more. But now you've kind of ruined your chances and you've kind of had your house on the market. It's so just it's stressful, right, having your house on the market, doing all these things and not coming out with the outcome. So all I would say is, if you're going to put a house on the market, you really should put your best foot forward.
Speaker 1:Now, if you have a renter in your house, the way the tribunal works is that you cannot tell the renter to go until you have an offer and until someone says in that offer they want vacant possession. So if you're the one buying a home with a renter, don't think you can just say, oh, the renter will be gone, the renter doesn't have to go, and so you have to ask for vacant possession. You have to say I want vacant possession, and so make sure you put those, keep those in mind so that you have. But bear in mind, if you're saying you want vacant possession, then you go and rent out that house again to someone else and these people find out. You know the tribunal. The fines are pretty hefty.
Speaker 1:So just do your homework, be apprised of whatever your you know. Make sure, whatever your goals are, that you're working towards it and you can fulfill it. So, seeing that you have no questions, I'm going to say goodnight to you, and next week is Thanksgiving Canadian Thanksgiving so I will not be on. But if you have a topic that you'd like me to unpack and talk about and interview someone, I'm happy to do so and up until that time, have a great week, have a happy Thanksgiving if you're Canadian. And yes, thank you, kim for joining and we'll see you soon. So have the most amazing week. Talk to you Bye.
