Real estate listings suck

[Mike R]

Tangentially related to hobby metal work, a rant on real estate...

I'm hopefully only a few years away from retirement or semi retirement.
Also likely going to be empty nesters living in a much too big house, and much as I enjoy my climate controlled basement workshop, a ground level shop makes much more sense as I get older, and I want to get back to playing with a car (or cars) for fun.

So I'm kicking the tires on moving to a different (downsized) house & neighborhood.
Anyways, to cut to the chase - I've hated the real estate business for nearly as long as I've been earning money, and it seems in my recent searches they (still) just don't get me.
The Multiple Listings Service (MLS), is at first glance an nice tool, but garbage in = garbage out and its completely broken when I'm searching for features that are of interest to me - houses on lots with possibilities of building or expanding a garage / workshop, and searching for places with separate garages/workshops.

The lot size feature seems to only work if its over 1 acre, the smaller sizes return 0 results, probably due to the way the lot sizes are entered by the agents, or maybe it is all on the websites end. Doesn't matter - still does not work.
Key word search on detached garage, separate garage, workshop etc. doesn't help filter anything. And lastly - only 1 in 5 or 10 listings even seem to include pictures of a garage space - it must be a sparkling garage with white epoxy floor to get a photo. They take 50 plus pics and none of the garage space? Has a real estate agent never had a client interested in workshop / garage space? I know the ones I've worked with in the past were clueless...
I'm interested in seeing all as I want a high ceiling for a 2 post car lift in one bay, and I want the dimensions of the garage. These 19' or 20' deep garages are terrible, can barely park a compact car in them once they put an entrance to the house with a staircase, etc.
So that leaves me with a few options. Wade through every listing looking for a fit, or engage with an agent and train them to look for what I want (not ready for that yet).

I'm also kicking around the idea of building a place. I'm sort of missing building, having done a full down-to-the-studs and floor joists rebuild of a cottage, but also not really wanting to get into a project of that size or bigger again. That is where the idea of adding a garage & shop to an existing house with lot space is appealing.

If anyone has any recent experience in the Ottawa and surrounding rural areas relating to buying / building a house and / or garage, let me know. I'd like to hear about your experience.

 

[jorogi]

Build your dream shop with lodgings above and rent out your too big house. Lot and zoning considered of course.

 

[Hollow-Grind]

Keep in mind 99 percent of the guys with a good garage have good stuff in it and don’t want it showcased. Advertising your 2k tv and 5k stereo is one thing but 200k of tools and toys with your address is another.

 

[Chicken lights]

It's not that hard to hit 200k of tools these days

 

[Lightspeed Mike]

Find a good real estate agent. It makes all the difference. We looked for years, had a couple of agents ghost us.
We stumbled on to one, and she was great. Always answered questions, looked at many places. Never felt pressured. Always understood why we didn't like a place.
We used her to sell our other place too, Listed on Thursday, Sold Saturday, full list.

 

[Mike R]

Keep in mind 99 percent of the guys with a good garage have good stuff in it and don’t want it showcased. Advertising your 2k tv and 5k stereo is one thing but 200k of tools and toys with your address is another.

I'd agree with this, except that a least some of the listings are empty houses and still no garage picks. I think that garages are just not "good looking" to most real estate people and they just don't understand.

 

[JustaDB]

Find a good real estate agent.

And therein lies the rub.

Around 20 years ago we bought a residential rental house. Signed paperwork specifically outlining the 5 working appliances. Took possession, opened the lid of the washing machine, half full of water. Tried to cycle the washing machine to drain it, nada. Wasn't working. The water was sour, it had been there so long.

Talked to the real estate agent, complained, noted the signed agreement in my hand & she replied (quote), "Oh, that doesn't mean anything." I went purple. After reading her the riot act, her haughty response was, "Fine. I'll pay for a new one myself." I told her not to bother & walked out.

In addition, during the process of negotiation I made a lowball offer. The house had been on the market for some time & I thought, what the hell? She initially refused to pass on the offer. She eventually did, the seller countered & we settled, saving over 15% on the ask.

For years I told everyone I knew about her attitude, the appliance lie & her crappy service. I take great satisfaction knowing the damage to her reputation & lost sales cost a lot more than a lousy washing machine.

 

[Susquatch]

I guess I am the penultimate DIYer. In the 50 years of buying and selling homes, I never once relied on a real estate agent.

I did my own listings and did my own searches. I even wrote up my own offers and agreements. Yes, I gave the pre-written documents to an agent, but only because I was not licensed. The blank documents are available on line.

To find the right home, start with big circles around desirable locations and then use google maps aerial view to find potential ones with visible outbuildings. Then go for a drive and then KNOCK ON DOORS. It's amazing how many people are flattered to know you like their home and who are willing to sell. I bought 4 homes that way and almost a 5th.

Also likely going to be empty nesters living in a much too big house,

You are forgetting about grandkids! When we became empty nesters, we up-sized! We wanted a house big enough to have entire families visit! My kids and their kids often come for the weekend. We have 4 big bedrooms now and room for more to sleep on airmattresses on the floor or even pitch a tent out back.

Ya, the kids left the nest, but then they had babies of their own and now they all come to visit regularly! Our too big house is now too small!

On a totally different tact. Try looking for farms instead! Outbuildings are easy to find or build! You don't need to actually farm yourself. You can lease or share crop the land to a local farmer. You won't need to find them - they will find you!

 

[slow-poke]

We moved to Ottawa 5 years ago. Our last three real estate purchases were all private sales no agents involved. In my opinion the agent is rarely if ever working for you so If you can avoid the agent your going to be ahead.

We start by deciding what neighbourhood we want to be in. Then we write a letter and drop it at every house that appeals to us that might meet our expectations. I'm just absolutely thrilled with our present house, it ticked most of the wants on our list:
+ Bungalow
+ Generous lot (for city) ~1 acre
+ Custom built
+ Oversized garage (tall enough for lift, deeper and wider than cookie cutter )
+ Ravine
+ Easy access from garage to shop (this house has stairs from garage to basement)
+ Walkout basement

First time it took about 2 years, latest house days after we dropped the letter we had three responses. Two were gold diggers but the third were serious. All three purchases were very easy to negotiate it's a win win the seller saves the exorbitant real estate fee so they are more likely to be reasonable with the sale price.

When we purchased our previous house we made a very fair offer that the fellow declined because the agent told him he could get more. After listing for three months the agent told him they need to drop the price below what we offered for the private sale, so he contacted us to accept our offer, but by then we had agreed to a sale just around the corner.

I'm leaving this place feet first.

 

[MrWhoopee]

our present house, it ticked most of the wants on our list:

+ Ravine

For trash disposal?

 

[Susquatch]

For trash disposal?

No! Ravines mean no neighbours in that direction and nice walking paths and a beautiful view.

 

[Susquatch]

When we purchased our previous house we made a very fair offer that the fellow declined because the agent told him he could get more. After listing for three months the agent told him they need to drop the price below what we offered for the private sale, so he contacted us to accept our offer, but by then we had agreed to a sale just around the corner.

We had a similar thing happen once too. Place had a beautiful creek running through the back yard. In our case, they were not ready to sell yet, but we needed a new home yesterday with another baby on the way. When they called, we were already moved. Too bad cause the potential in that place was amazing. If we had bought it, we might not be here now. It was sold shortly thereafter and its drop dead gorgeous now! When we drive past it on the way to my son's place we always oooooh and awwwww over what could have been.

That said, we do love where we are now. I'd like to die here and my bride might help make that happen.

 

[slow-poke]

No! Ravines mean no neighbours in that direction and nice walking paths and a beautiful view.

Amen,
+ better view
+ you have a place to put your yard waste without bagging
+ wildlife comes to visit, more birds etc.

After living with a ravine, you realize you don't want to do without.

 

[SightlessSeer]

I bought my first house just outside of Arnprior (West of Ottawa) on a half acre lot about 3 years ago. The realtor I used was a guy named Matt Robinson and was very happy with him. He was patient, gave his opinion when asked, but otherwise let me look without being pushy, gave recommendations for a lawyer, and home inspector when asked. I gave him a list of places that I wanted to look at, we did, I made an offer on one and it was accepted. I found him responsive and helpful throughout the process. If you'd like his phone number DM me and I can give it to you.

The way I came up with the places I wanted to look at was filter for 1+ bathrooms (intent here was to get only properties with houses on them), set a price range, and draw an area on the map so it would only show listings in the area (On Redfin you can do this pretty easily). After that I scrolled through the remaining listings (there were quite a lot of them).

The listing for the place I bought wasn't very good. It didn't show the bar, the wood stove, or that it had a finished basement and as you sad, there weren't really any photos of either of the two garages. Even the lot size wasn't clear. I got around some of this by using google maps to look at the lots, but it's an imperfect tool.

I'm not sure where you're looking, but Renfrew County has a site which lets you see that actual boarders of all of the lot. It was super handy to see how big places actually were.

 

[Susquatch]

It was super handy to see how big places actually were.

So true. A place near me is listed at 4 acres. Be lucky if it's 2 acres. The real estate folks are very good liars.

 

[Warlock]

surrounding rural areas relating to buying / building a house and / or garage, let me know.

I am south of Ottawa in a small community called Toledo. I have about 120 acres and the prices are not anywhere as bad as Ottawa or some of the surrounding towns. The closer you are to Ottawa the more expensive they become, the less land and councils are difficult to deal with. I have been here for about 22 years, have about 120 acres with a 4000 sq ft. 5year old house. My nearest neighbour is about a mile away. I like this community as the people still have the rural mentality of being easy to get along with even the councils is decent. Sometimes the house is almost to big and other times it is to small.

I would suggest you look at the smaller communities that have not become essentially a dormitory for Ottawa. Find a farm with an outbuilding or buy land and build it yourself. If you choose to build be very careful of the contractor you select as some are just dirtbags and hire your own private inspector to keep track of the contractor.

 

[Susquatch]

and hire your own private inspector to keep track of the contractor.

What a FANTASTIC idea! A retired contractor willing to be your eyes and ears could save you a ton of money and a ton of heartache!

 

[Downwindtracker2]

My parents had moved out from renting Vancouver city to outlying Burnaby, the city next door. They then moved farther out, turning the profits from house into the next one. They did that again . I hoped to do that as well. But we ran out of land in the Fraser Valley. No need to commuter as we are retired. That single level 1/2 acre lot with room for a workshop just wasn't available. at a price that made sense. So I just have to organize my double car garage workshop better.

 

[David]

I troll realtor.ca all the time and completely agree that the listings don't prioritize that which we might find a prerequisites; garage/shop/place to build said shop.
That said, connecting with a realtor can significantly ease your pain.

 

[slow-poke]

I troll realtor.ca all the time and completely agree that the listings don't prioritize that which we might find a prerequisites; garage/shop/place to build said shop.
That said, connecting with a realtor can significantly ease your pain.

Most of my experience's with realtors has not been stellar. Constantly showing me houses that did not match my must have list. However when I was looking for my first bungalow I did have a great realtor, and he told me I would have to be patient as there simply wasn't many houses with oversized garages and the other must haves in my desired neighbourhood. So I was patient, and after quite a while he called me with a perfect match. He did not waste my time showing me houses that did not match, I appreciated that.