When I got into real estate, I decided to specialize in working for friends, acquaintances and those they referred to me. There were many reasons I did so, but the main one was that I wanted to take a more personalized approach. I knew that if I offered sincere, high-quality service that I’d gain a lot of repeat business and referrals from my clients.

It’s a decision I’ve never regretted, and it has undoubtedly been a win-win for both my clients and me. I’d be happy to send you some recent testimonials that confirm this.

So if you hear that any family or friends are thinking about buying or selling, or if any of them have any real estate related questions, please have them call or email me.

Cheers,

KJ

WINNIPEG - There is something to be said for consistency. Be it the second quarter as a whole or May and June in particular, MLS® market activity is very similar. Sales for May and June are ranked fifth best ever for their respective months, with dollar volume as the best ever. The average residential-detached sales price has remained firm since April to hover around the $250,000 mark. Activity within the different price ranges is similar too with both months each having a million dollar plus sale and more upper end sales.While sales have not been as busy as a few years ago, they are remaining solid and dollar volume continues to show year over year gains. 2010 marks the first time there have been three consecutive months (April to June) of over $300 million worth of MLS® sales activity. June 2010 is the highest dollar volume month on record at $329 million. You only have to go back to 2005 to see dollar volume for this month was less than $200 million. The previous two Junes also surpassed $300 million in sales activity.June MLS® unit sales were down 4% (1,432/1,490) while dollar volume was up 6% ($329.2 million/$311.2 million) in comparison to the same month last year. Year-to-date MLS® sales are up 6% (6,452/6,096) while dollar volume has risen 17% ($1.45 billion/$1.24 billion) over the same period in 2009. MLS® listings entered on MLS® for the first six months went over 10,000 and are ahead by 4% over last year. This increase in listings has helped create more balance in the market.“Most revealing when examining the numbers in June is how there are fewer first-time buyers entering the market in comparison to last year as homes selling under $200,000 were down 32% from June 2009,” said Claude Davis, president of WinnipegREALTORS®. “Homes selling under $100,000 on average took more than twice as long to sell than the overall average days to sell in June.”“When we asked our REALTOR® members this spring about the affordability of the current market, 75% of them said housing affordability is becoming more of an issue in finding homes buyers want,” said Davis. “Based on the significant drop off in sales in the lower price ranges, first-time buyers have to be one of the key market segments our members are concerned about. Fewer of them are buying and the ones that are, more often than naught end up buying homes or condominiums above $200,000.”Based on the first two quarters of 2010 MLS® sales activity, it is becoming more evident when looking at the various MLS® areas how the average area residential-detached sales prices are shifting to higher levels. Only two MLS® areas now, the heart of the North End and downtown, have homes on average selling for under $100,000. Even MLS® areas with average home sale prices from $100,000 to $200,000 are less frequent. For example, only Fort Rouge in southwest Winnipeg and Old St. Vital in southeast Winnipeg are still under $200,000.As for condominium average sale prices, the majority of MLS® areas throughout Winnipeg and the rural municipalities remain under $200,000.On the higher end of the price spectrum, Tuxedo for the first time has a year-to-date average sales price of over $600,000 and South Headingley is not far behind at $560,000.For the first six months of 2010, homes selling for above list price and below list price are evenly split at 45% with the remainder selling at list price. For condominiums, units selling under list price are closer to 50 % while those selling over list price are at 30%.For residential-detached sales in June, the most active price range was the $200,000 to $249,999 at 24% of total sales. Nearly two out of three sales were over $200,000. The average days on market for sales of residential-detached listings was 23 days, 2 days slower than last month and 2 days quicker than June 2009.Condominium sales were predominant in the $150,000 to $199,999 price range with 44% of total sales and the next lower price range of $100,000 to $149,999 was a distant second at 20%. The average days on market in June fell back to 33 days from 27 the previous month and 29 days in June 2009.

I’ve just sold a Single-family property at 509 Shelley Street in Winnipeg. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

Backyard Entertaining on a Budget

Nothing says “bring on summer” quite like a backyard BBQ. It’s the perfect mix of friends, the fresh outdoors, and fantastic food! But just because you want to throw a social, doesn’t mean you have to break the bank. Here are a few ideas of how to entertain outdoors on a budget:

Food
Send an electronic invitation to your friends to let them know you’re throwing a pot-luck BBQ. Create a food list and give guests an idea of what to bring, usually a side dish or dessert. Remember to prepare as much as possible in advance so that you can spend most of your time outside with your guests and not in the kitchen.

Seating & Décor
Arrange several seating areas if space allows. If you’re short of chairs, ask friends and family to bring their fold-ups that transport easily. Swing by local garage sales or thrift stores if you need extra tables. Pick up colourful vinyl tablecloths, napkins and decorations at your local dollar store.

Kids & Fun Stuff
Kids love the beach, so buy an inexpensive wading pool and fill it with clean sand. Add plastic buckets, spades, blow-up beach balls, and a croquet set from the local dollar store and they’ll be all set. Lay bright beach towels on the grass, or under a tree and the little ones will have their own picnic area too.

Lights & Pesky Bugs
String some white or blue lights around the backyard for nighttime. Place a few tea lights in glass containers and display them around the garden on things like bird baths and paving stones for a magical effect. To stop bugs from crashing your party, stake some tiki torches in the ground or put citronella candles on tables to keep them away.

Favour Ideas
Want to send your friends off with a little gift at the end of the party? If your homemade BBQ sauce is a party favourite, make a big batch, put in sterilized bottles and give to guests. If there is plenty of leftover food, be generous and let everyone take something home for dinner the next day. Don’t forget to save some for yourself!

Cheers,

Kevin Joelson

On June 27, 2010 at 13:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House at 509 Shelley Street in Winnipeg. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at kevinjoelson.topproducerwebsite.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

On June 27, 2010 at 13:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House at 509 Shelley Street in Winnipeg. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at kevinjoelson.topproducerwebsite.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

Check out this new Single-family property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 509 Shelley Street in Winnipeg. This Single-family property has 2 bedrooms and 1 baths.

On June 27, 2010 at 13:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House at 509 Shelley Street in Winnipeg. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at kevinjoelson.topproducerwebsite.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

Check out this new Single-family property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 509 Shelley Street in Winnipeg. This Single-family property has 2 bedrooms and 1 baths.

On June 27, 2010 at 13:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House at 509 Shelley Street in Winnipeg. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at kevinjoelson.topproducerwebsite.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.