Summer Is Moving Along

I give up. I am not going to compare the weather of this summer with that of past years. When I think that it is a lot hotter this year than in the past, up pops one of my stories that I have written in a previous year in which I talk about the heat that I am experiencing then. It is just as bad, or even worse, as the weather today. Therefore, all that I will do is talk about how I feel now with what I am experiencing outside.

Yes, I have done this before. I really do like to go for a nice walk at this time of the year not just for the exercise but to make myself feel better. Unfortunately, with the heat and especially the humidity that seems to arise at this time, I do not go out as many times as a do in other times of the year when the weather is cooler. It means that I have to do a lot more exercising inside to keep myself in shape.

It is around the middle of August now. While the weather is quite warm at this time of the year, I do know much better at this point in my life that the cool air is coming back a lot more quickly now. It means the end of the shorts weather and starting to wear long sleeved shirts again.

I understand that there are some negatives coming very soon but on the other hand there are some positives too. With cooler weather, not the cold, it means that I can exercise outside a lot more than I can do now and feel better doing so. I'll probably go out at least three times a day, once after every meal, and go for a walk in different parts of the area to enjoy the change in the landscape. It is really something to see the green of the plants change into magnificent colours.

I expect this year to do a bit more shopping than I have done in the past. At a certain period around this time in a calendar, the stores have sales at a reduced price to get rid of as many of the summer clothes that they were unable to sell in the summer. At the same time, they reduce prices in advance of some of their new winter clothes to get people interested in the future in buying them. I need to fill up my closets with good items so I will be out looking for sales at stores around town.

In the meantime, however, I must undertake my usual function: writing another article for you, dear reader.

PAY RAISES

I wonder if the new Windsor members of Council are going to see more money provided to them if they are the winners in the next election.

The amount of money that Councillors are receiving has been relatively low for a very long period of time. One of the problems arising now comes out of recent Revenue Canada action:

“Revenue Canada’s decision to eliminate (starting in 2019) the provision that gave municipal politicians one-third of their income tax-free. Committee members said that having their compensation frozen since 2005 means council members have lost about 21 per cent in spending power due to cost-of-living increases. Meanwhile, losing the tax-free exemption on one-third of their city income could mean a loss of $4,000 to $5,000 annually.” (Brian Cross, Windsor Star, August 8,2018) 

It will be very interesting to see what the members of Council will do now especially because, if they are the winners in the upcoming election, any decision made will have an impact on them financially.

Just in case you were wondering, here is what the Members of Windsor Council receive now in various payments:

“For the past 13 years, councillors have pocketed $28,770 while the mayor has a base salary of $86,895.

Add in board and committee work, and councillors take home closer to $40,000. The mayor hauled in $174,289 this past year.” (CTV Windsor,  August 8, 2018) 

IS YOUR HOUSE UP FOR SALE NOW

Seriously, the real estate market is so bizarre these days. Prices in my area have skyrocketed upwards over the last little while. I just cannot believe that the sales list price for homes here are so high. Yet the final sales prices seem to be even higher because a number of potential purchasers compete on the price that each is prepared to pay more.

Just to give you one example, I saw that an interesting townhouse was for sale at $199,500. I must say that I was not impressed with that amount because the unit lacked a lot of features that I wanted. However, I heard that a considerable number of prospective purchasers were involved and that the actual sales price was almost $50,000 higher than the list price by the time that the deal was completed.

Here is the reality right now for me anyway. The value of my townhouse has skyrocketed upwards. Who knows, it probably has gone so much higher than the purchase price which I paid. This is hardly just for my place when one looks at what prices homes are being offered for sale these days in many parts of the Province. Our area may just have taken a bit longer before it started going up so dramatically.  Everything seems outrageously high. Moreover, a lot of the homes get sold very quickly after being put on the marketplace.

I believe that I can put my house up for sale now at a very high price. And probably get it too! After all, a number of homes in my area have sold recently at extremely large amounts. So should I do it now while the market is so wonderful from a seller's perspective?

The answer is very simple: NO! It is not so wonderful for someone who is a buyer.

Any house that I buy would have to be a very nice one. That means its price would have raised quite dramatically higher these days as well. In other words, I could use my house sales price to help buy the new house but I expect that I would probably have to pay an extra money buy the new one. What that means is that I would have to go into debt now to buy a new townhouse, especially because I would be in competition with others. 

Here is something else to consider. Sure prices have gone up dramatically higher but will they stay that way or will they come crashing down. I have experienced that on a number of different occasions.

As one example, I bought my first condo at a very low price. Within about two months after the purchase, the real estate market in Toronto was so absurd that I probably could have sold it at twice my purchase price! However, the Government passed some legislation that effectively killed the market and almost overnight prices dropped by almost 50% IE the value my house now was just a tiny bit higher than my purchase price.

That could well happen in our area if the Provincial Government wants to see prices coming down. We have been warned on a number of occasions that the Government is not very happy with what is going on in the real estate market. Legislation could be well introduced to bring prices down dramatically.

I am so wrong now in my view of the marketplace. Mind you, I do not think that I am the only one who is confused about what is happening in land transactions. My guess as to prices is so out of touch with reality that I am not sure what the right price for a home is these days.

I am sure that the price that I would put my condo up for sale is probably not the correct one. It probably would be too low! Moreover, who would know if the price might come crashing down as happened in the past. And when it might happen.

This is what scares me quite a bit. I could find myself in a situation when I might ultimately have a huge loss in my real estate deal. I could be paying too much to buy a new residence first and then receiving too little when selling my unit because of the Government action. I have seen that happen before and want no part of it.