Houses in Oakbay
Luxury, Waterfront and Water Views
Jun 10th
In Victoria we are blessed when we consider what is available in the higher end market. Of course this includes the top of the top, which is nothing short of spectacular, but also anything priced from around 1.5M to say just under 3M. Why? Because not only do we have a lot of inspired builders, the “tableau” if you will that they are allowed to create within and upon can often be overwhelming in the true sense of the word. Recently for example, I View-ed (The) a Home, notice the subtle product placement, a couple of homes in the Gonzales Hill area of our fine city. Neither of them waterfront, but both with absolutely stunning views over the water in several directions. One of them on Fairfield Pl. almost 3800 s.f has one of the most enticing panaramic views you will see in our town and this 1990 built home has been updated and feels fantastic. I said it won’t be long before this one is snapped up at the asking price of $1 590 000. In just over a month, it sold for 1. 530M. There was nothing that needs to be done to this one, many homes from this era look dated 21 years later; this one would have knocked your socks off.
Another one I saw for 2.5M and built in 2009 is approx. 5000 s.f. of absolutely exquisite luxury. The finishing in this house lacks for nothing and the views (over 180 degrees) from on top of the hill that is traversed by King George Terrace are outstanding in any direction. With this one you can feel there is great value esp given the cost per s.f. to try and replicate this quality if you were to build yourself. It wasn’t all that long ago when the asking price was 2.8M for this home and evidently the market, (that entirely rationale beast), said, “too much”. Now, someone is going to have an amazing home where in the views will be magnificent forever. It just went pending as a sale for close to what they were asking.
Which brings me to waterfront and my listing at 369 King George Terrace, which is priced at 2.699M and has a spectacular setting on the ocean front. This property is exceptional in so many ways, the list of construction luxuriousness, if you will is extensive for sure. One thing you won’t find in too many waterfront homes currently on the market is a three car garage, hot water radiant heat on all three floors and is this new, 2007 built. A lot of waterfront locations in South Oak Bay are completely open and exposed to the elements; ie, it howls right into your open doors or windows so much of the time. This one is protected by being deep with in a bay; often you can see the waves and the wind chopping up the water 200 metres from your patio while you are enjoying the calm stillness of the day or evening. Call me at 250 216 1217 or email me, fergus@telus.net and I’ll send you floor plans and more details including all kinds of photos.
Prices in this market have come down, no question and this listing now at 2.699M as well as the others I refer to above is proof postitive of that. Buyers will benefit from conditions that favour them, most notably our high inventory but also the fact that the cost of borrowing remains very low.
I’ll look forward to showing this new listing and any others like it to you-it’s a real treat to be able to help people to fall in love with these special and exquisite homes.
I’m your Realtor in Victoria, Fergus Kyne with ViewTheHome.ca 
Fergus Kyne, RE/MAX Alliance, 770B Hillside Ave, Victoria,
250-386-8875
The “Opportunity Cost” of taking FOREVER to sell.
Nov 17th
In 1997, when I started in Real Estate in Victoria, you could buy a house in say, Gordon Head, for around 230k. Yes, that’s right, not a condo, not a quarter share and not a boat, a house, a real home. Now, granted they weren’t all that nice, but that same house now is easily worth twice what it sold for 13 years ago. Sometimes, you’ll hear people, myself included, say, “Hey, what was I thinking, why didn’t I buy then, man, I’d be so far ahead.” Well, like a lot of us, I couldn’t buy a second home at the time.
Or so I thought, knowing what I know now, I probably could have made it work somehow. Heck, I owned a home already, granted it had a mortgage on it but still……DOH!”
Point is I missed out on that chance. So I missed out on the opportunity and as such my opportunity “
cost” was what ever the difference is between the aquisition cost at the time and the price it would realize today.
The same thing can often occur each time a seller decides to sell a property. If you don’t have a super clear idea of what you are going to do with the funds you will realize from a sale, you are going to miss out on some kind of opportunity to make that equity do something postitive for you.
Take the seller in the video above that I refer to. A year on the market, in what was clearly a falling market by the way, only to sell for $140 000 less than they started at. Now, I think we can all agree that the home should never have been listed at 669k to begin with. However, I’ll bet you that Realtor #1 was attempting to get the seller to reduce their price for a looooong time before they eventually got down to 575k. My feeling is that list price earlier on in the listing lifespan would have netted a quicker sale, and undoubtably for more than what it eventually sold for.
So, was Realtor #2 really that much more of a marketing genius, a way more qualified seller of homes? Yeah, not so much.
So here’s the point, the only real winners here were Realtor #2, the buyer and the buyer’s agent. The seller lost out on several thousands, possibly several tens of thousands by not having the correct price earlier in the game. Realtor #1 lost out as well, as they spent a YEAR marketing this home, only to lose out on a sale and quite possibly they lost a client as well. We know for sure they didn’t represent the seller for the sale.
Perhaps this is a good one to remember; As full time professionals, almost always we are correct, or very close on price. If you get a few opinions, especially in this market, and go for the highest price suggested, you could miss out on a lot of $$$ and quite possibly even more importantly, the “opportunity”, whatever that was for you.
Leave me your comments, I can provide you with more specific details on this or any other sales you may be wondering about.
Fergus
