#15 - Easter is Coming & Garden Homes

Tim and Michael discuss the upcoming Easter holiday and reminisce about their childhood Easter memories while also talking about the benefits of Garden Homes.

Hosted by: Michael Dempsey & Tim Somerville 

Produced by: Hayden McNamee

Music by: Anthony Trim

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Right now, at the time of recording.

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Go ahead, edit that, please. Redacted. That's right. When you want to stop, just have rabbit. No. Hi, I'm Tim Somerville.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

And I'm Michael Dempsey, and this is Off the Market with Team Somerville.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

How you doing? I'm doing good. How about you? Well, listen, you know what? The snow is melting. Oh, thank goodness. Shovels, I'm st I I I haven't put them away just yet.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Nope, no, the shovels are still out. Uh I've got a special shovel for uh the dog messes that need to be cleaned up. I might have mentioned that in uh earlier podcasts. Yes, I get it. Yes, but no, uh so I thought we'd kick off just a quick 30-second snapshot of where's the market in St. John right now. Sounds good. So again, majority of our uh you know clientele are going to be looking at residential homes. So I always like to focus on that area. So the average sale price right now is still hovering around the $320,000 for a single detached uh hole.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

You know, I've seen some though that are hovering a little bit less than $300 as well. Have you seen that too?

SPEAKER_02 1:08

I have.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Okay, that's good. So so again, affordability, there are some out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

So when it comes down to the selling price, so right now, at the time of recording, the average listing is selling for 109% of their asking price.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

And you know what that's cost, bro?

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Uh inflation. No, sure. How about the inventory? It's coming down from inventory. We don't have as much. Well, we certainly don't have as much as we'd like. And uh, I might have mentioned to you last week I was talking to some colleagues across the nation, and we we always do like a quick little Zoom call, and we I looked into our inventory. Okay. And for the longest time, you and I have said, oh, inventory is low, inventory is low, inventory's low. So I looked at the 10-year cyclical cycle. Yeah. And did you know for the last five years, we personally in St. John have been hovering at two months of the inventory? Okay. What does that mean? That means if we take everything that's on the market and we sell them at the same rate we're selling them now, we'll have nothing in two months.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

But we've been like that for five years. So I think that every uh realtor and every other professional associated uh with the realtor has been working very dip, very hard to get the homes listed. We're selling them just as quick as uh when they're putting them up on the markets. Um, again, great time to sell, great time to buy. Uh, we're not at that balance market yet, but you know, I think we'll we'll get there.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

But that's a great number. That's to know that the inventory is approximately covering it 60 days. Yeah. My goodness. Pricing though. The pricing strategy is so important in today's market. You'd agree? I'd agree. Oh, yeah. 100%.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

And I wasn't sure if you want to discuss the we've seen some properties, not quite strategically. Again, we don't want to go down that road, but that's right. We just want to make sure you're getting the right price for your home.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Um, so how many homes are on the market as of today? There's only 150 residential, again, residential listings right now.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Okay. That's not enough. No, it's a great time. Great time. And especially if you have children and you're thinking, well, I don't want to sell because children will be finishing school. Right now is a great time because your closing date could easily be end of June, end of July, even end of August. So, so please don't be afraid of the closing date. Uh, understand you may just want to capitalize on the low adventure.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

And that's the thing. As a seller, they're thinking, you know, okay, the school, the kids, and everything, so's the buyer. So, you know, if if I know that I'm gonna have a home in three months, I'm I'm tickle, you know, I'd be tickle pink, I'm happy, uh, it's okay. The kids can go to the current school. Um, yeah. Now, when you look at days to sell, again, kind of take this with a grain of salt. If you need to sell quickly, we can, but the average it's 30. 30, 30. We it crept up on us. Yeah, it crept up on us. Okay. So, what that means is list to to get out the door, you know, 30 days. Again, like Tim said, you're in the driver's seat as a seller. Now's a great time because the buyers and sellers are willing to work together to find the best closing date for both parties.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

So here's the question for you, then. I I have an idea, but do you think it's a buyer's market, seller's market, or a balanced market?

SPEAKER_02 4:15

We're still slightly in a seller's market.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

I agree 100%. Knowing that we're still getting this type of interest, knowing the inventory where it is, and knowing that there are still some that are forced or sorry, faced with multiple offers, it still would have to show that the market still is leaning a little bit in favor of the seller.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

It is. And my hat's off to all the buyers out there uh for being diligent, for being patient. We're gonna get you a home, and we're working very hard to get those listings to match your criteria.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Yeah, that's the longest 30-second market update I've ever heard.

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Maybe 30 seconds on the moon.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Yeah, okay, here we go. There's a lot to share. I know, I know. All right, so we what do you got? Okay, brother. Let's go off the market for a moment. Okay. I was I was watching a clip of a movie, and and you and I were talking about it. Yeah, movie was called Lucy with Scarlet Johansson, Morgan Freeman. Oh, yeah. Oh, wait a moment. Edit that, please. Redacted. That's right. What I know is that it got into the whole point of AI, right? Artificial intel intelligence, and we know it's right there. And for those that do not think it's there, it is already here. So you and I were talking a little bit. The the phrase AI was coined in 1956.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Yeah, and I was surprised by that. I was gonna guess Star Wars era 70 years.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

Yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

So it was coined because it was first used in 1955. Uh what it was used for was for mathematical theorems. And then, of course, they coined it in 1956. Uh, one of the big things that in my time, I remember when IBM uh had a program called Deep Blue that was in '97 and played chess against Gary Kasparov and beat Kasparov. And so it was one of those first, hey, guess what? And even that was 30 years ago. So it's here now, and it has taken a long time. But that snowball is now rolling down that mountain at a very fast speed. So I'm gonna ask you when it comes to AI, what what do you think are some of the benefits of AI?

SPEAKER_02 6:29

I uh faster confuting. So you're looking for quick access to information. Uh, I think the computing power is there. Uh, you're probably gonna touch on it's not a hundred percent, you know. We'll get into that show ends. But I would say uh for for day day-to-day life, I know a lot of our um our items that we use, your your phone, your iPad, your computer, whatever, they're all synced with uh now Apple intelligence. Again, I'm not an expert on that, Matt Right, but they're talking to each other. Um, I think there's a lot of great benefits to it. But again, you'll get into it, but I also see a little bit of uh the other side of it.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

But honestly, I feel AI has been around because how often has somebody gone, hey Alexa, hey, hey Siri. Well, well, these platforms are have also used, of course, AI for years now. What we know is now instead of going, Hey Alexa, we're actually now just going right on Chat GPT or Gemini or other different AI platforms. Quite a few out there now. So one thing I will say is that you know, when you look at healthcare, finance, education, transportation, entertainment, these are all fields that of course we have seen, you know, AI really come in. And of course, we're utilizing AI with those fields. When you look at investments, how many times am I seeing posts now of, you know, give AI $20 and watch what happens within 30 days? And you know, and it's only $20. But again, we are watching different platforms really just fly by the seat of their pants now with with with AI at at the steering wheel. Now, concerns you and I, everybody on the team, we asked Chat GPT and Gemini different questions, only to have different answers. Yeah. So, you know, when we look at, you know, how factual, you know, this stuff that is coming, you have to understand that this is about information that Chat GPT and Gemini and all the rest of AI is is gathering. And it's not always factual. So you still have to make sure.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

That that that's where my biggest concern is is when it comes into the facts or potential fraud. Oh I raw scary. How good is it getting?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Yeah, and your voice and these videos we're watching. Absolutely. Oh, and the pictures.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

This is this is real. Like uh for all the listeners, I uh ready to punch Tim. But uh, that's the thing that scares me is we've got uh, I would say, you know, I I worry about the elderly population. Um things look real, like really real. Maybe that's not good English, but it's so real. Yeah, really, really real. You know, you got people calling uh from power or or whatever, and the you know, being in the public eye that we are, our both our email and our cell phones of court numbers are out there. So you can only imagine the amount of spam calls we get, it's or the the fraudulent things.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Look at privacy. We both we've talked, many of us have talked about the fact that I could mention right now that I'm looking at buying a blue vehicle, and then my phone for the next three days to a week will just start sending me blue vehicles. So privacy, I think, is extremely you know important to take into consideration. Control, just how AI can control paths that things now are going to go down just based on the information that it provides. And of course, right, leading you know, cheaps to you know to the slaughters, right? Uh job displacement. This is something that's really important in many different areas. Even in our field, we talk about oh, I bought a house without using a realtor on Chat GPT, and it gave us the answers and it gave us the price and it brought us the buyers and did up the purchase and sale agreement. The great thing about real estate is it is real, it is in the name real estate. You need a realtor. You need to make sure that that realtor is licensed. You have to make sure that the information they are providing is solid information that you, the client, is okay with. And the purchase and sale agreement, I could not imagine, you know, looking at this and saying, okay, if I'm not a realtor, sure, sign here, sign here. You will need that. And so at the end of the day, although AI has come in and has helped us with staging and with different factors in real estate, you still need a realtor. And again, we talk about accountability, especially with us, but with AI as well. And I just worry, at the end of the day, this is a path that yes, we will be going down. I think that AI definitely has its advantages. I'm just hoping that it is always, and I won't say controlled, but monitored to make sure that it does not pass that slippery slope. And if you ask me, in some fields, it really has. Yeah. You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

Don't know your thoughts, but anyway, I completely agree. I think of it as an amazing tool that can speed up a lot of processes and things like that. But just like any other tool, you take a nail gun in the wrong hands, no, um, you know, can be problematic. That's right. And I think with again, any tool, you still need that human overlooking, that human human correction. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yes. Well in real estate, we talk about transactional sales and emotional sales. Too many times with AI, everything is now just transactional. I find that we still need that emotional side to it. And it and I don't mean that, oh my goodness, I love that home. That is important, but the emotional side of knowing that there is actually somebody with feelings that can express their true concerns, or of course, what they believe is, you know, advantageous to you purchasing or selling instead of just finding it online, right? So, so that's you know, that's what I'd say on AI. That's my off the market. Yeah, how about you? What do you have for me?

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Well, I'm gonna steer you back towards the real estate. Okay, let's do it. And uh something that is is certainly uh soared in popularity over the last couple of years is garden holes. Okay. So I just want to take a couple minutes and let's talk about garden homes. Why would you want to buy one? What are the pros? What are the cons, if any, yes, uh, that kind of thing. So we've seen quite a bit of garden homes being built, being sold. So, in your opinion, what are the key benefits of you know looking into buying a garden one?

SPEAKER_00 13:05

No worries. Garden homes, many cities, provinces, areas actually do not know what a garden home is. They're more or less considered semi-detached or duplexes. But a garden home is a bungalow, one story, sometimes with a basement. So you do have the two levels, but you know, again, no stairs when you come in. Many of them have a garage, the square footage is decent. What I know is that when you are downsizing, these are fantastic. Many of them have maintenance fee plans, so they don't have to worry about shoveling or doing a lot. Some of them do not, but at the end of the day, they're beautiful, they're usually in great communities. The one great thing I would say about garden homes is it still gives another option before an apartment or condo. And not everybody will love condo living or apartment limit. They almost feel like they have no control, of course, of the dogs upstairs yapping, the person next door playing the music, right? That person that's really heavy on the feet. So garden homes, the great thing about most of them is if they're side by side, you're sharing one wall. If there's one on both sides, you're sharing, yes, two walls, but again, you still have that privacy, that front and back, usually a nice little deck, and it's the maintenance factor. So the great thing about it is yes, there is a need. But what about price?

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Price, they become way more um uh I would say cost efficient than I personally thought because we sold a lot of you know higher end garden homes and things like that, you know, in the 400 and the 500. But in today's market, you can get a brand new build garden home for probably around 300,000. Well, again, it's a it's a smaller garden home, right? Two-bedroom. Um, I was gonna touch base on you said about sharing that wall. A lot of builders even come away from having the garage, well, sorry, they put the garages side by side. So now you've got two garages that separate you from, you know, again, you still have your you know, built a code, fire-rated walls, something like that, but you have that little bit of extra clearance where um you're away from the neighbor.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Well, but you said earlier before we started filming that you and I don't really battle enough lately. So I'm gonna I'm gonna battle you on that price. Okay. The garden homes that I see, because of where they're being built, they can be as expensive as a home. Yes. The big thing about it is you have to remember you're not comparing apples to apples. This is not a bungalow. This is not a two-story, this is a style of living. And when you change your style of living, sometimes price can reflect that. That's true. I do agree with you that yes, there are areas that will have affordable garnals, but they're probably not having the garage. They may be on a slab, could be the square footage. But for many people, they say they're downsizing, but do they really downsize? No. No, no, right? Oh, well, we're downsizing. Yeah, what do you mean is you want to go from a 2600 square foot up and down to a 2200 bungalow with you know 1200 on the main floor and about a thousand square feet down, and you're taking all your stuff, get rid of it.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

I know it's so true, you know.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

But I'm glad you brought it up because it is another option. Many times, when you look at the cost of uh, you know, different types of condo or apartment living, the the costs are substantial. So for another three, five, even ten years of owning a garden home before you're ready for that, it gives you that process, right?

SPEAKER_02 16:38

And I would point out I've seen a lot of them are usually on a call-de-sac. Sure. So you have like that circle at the end. So you are part of a community, you've got the community mailbox at the end of the driveway. You feel like going for a walk, good mail great. You're driving home from work, you want to stop the mailbox real quick. Great.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Right. You go away for six months of the year, you have neighbors right there, they know you're gone. So you almost have that little bit of extra security as well, which is great as well. So I'm with you. Again, I'm with you. Why not?

SPEAKER_02 17:08

I've seen, you know, even younger couples, you know, in their I say younger as in like 40s, because a lot of people tend to think these garden homes are for the the seniors that one last stop before uh, you know, the old folks' home or something like that. But it's it's it's a great uh style of living for all ages. I agree 100%.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

So, no, great topic. If you want to know more about garden homes or again, different styles of homes, Michael and I would love to talk to you about that. Now, let's say on somewhat real estate, and that is I wanted to get into because of the time of year, I wanted to talk about something that a lot of people like to do to get their homes ready for sale. You know, if you're ready, a lot of times what are you doing on the outside? You're cleaning up, you're painting, yeah, you're painting. And sometimes you're doing that on the inside, you know. Little Sally's room that's pink, you want to bring back to a neutral color because she's been in university for seven years. And and so guess what? It's time. You're gonna turn it into a fitness room? Yeah, sure. What let's do it. Uh what are you saying? Anyway. Oh no. So let's talk about some of the types of paint. So uh with the exterior, uh, and again, we won't get into the benefits or, you know, again, the pros and cons. But what we will say is that, and this is so important, Michael and I both believe, and we were saying this earlier, you need to make sure that if you're painting inside, outside, or you're dealing with stains, go to the experts, go to some of these companies and these stores and discuss it with their experts. They will discuss what they know, and why not have that information? Then wait for the special quality paint, quality stain is beneficial to you doing a good job. Going in and buying the cheapest paint is not the way to go. Find out from the company or store that you go to when their next big sale is. They have sales all the time. I would definitely stay away from the lower grade. Look at the medium to high, depending on what you're paying and the size of the property that you're doing, right? Size of the job. So, exterior, you have a you have acrylic, you have oil-based. There's one called elastomeric. Now, elastomeric's really cool. Um, if you have concrete walls and different cracks, what it will do is it actually comes in and it will accommodate the movement. So instead of normal paints where the movement all of a sudden you see the crack immediately. This one here gives a little bit of give if there is a little bit of movement. Other than that, you also have your satin and semi-gloss. So let's go to the interior. Now, interior, there's really 80 million different types. You've got chalk-based, which we've seen, kitchens and kids' rooms, oil and water. So you have again, you know, your oil-based and water-based. Then what you have is you have your uh satin, you have your high gloss, you have your eggshell, uh, you have your flat, which is also known as matte, you have your primer, and you have your semi-gloss. And these are all interior types based on what you use. So don't always think, oh, well, we'll just get the semi-gloss, semi-gloss, semi-gloss. There are different types of paints, and the big thing is what's really important is to try to know what's on those walls now. Because mixing and matching, mixing oil and water, well, it doesn't always work. So not only do you have to figure out what you want to put on, you may have to determine what's on those walls already, right? Yeah. When was the last time you painted?

SPEAKER_03 20:41

When I we moved into that house, what, six years ago? Okay. It's time. It's time. It's time. Yeah, just I would agree. Just ask Heidi. Yeah. She would agree.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

So stains, and you and I were talking about that's a good point. You're talking about paint. Let's talk about stains. Yeah, let's talk about stains. So um there are different types, and it depends if the wood is new, how old the wood is, if you're wanting to cover some of the blemishes, blemishes that is. So uh we were talking because I am thinking about doing my dock this year because again, I've owned that dock. I built that dock, what, whatever, eight years ago, nine years ago. So so now it's a matter of do I replace all the boards or do I try to get another three to five years out of this without doing too much. But once you stain a deck, what you have to do? Yeah, keep staining it every year, every year. What are you doing this spring and next spring?

SPEAKER_02 21:34

And then I am bringing some stakes to your house, and uh we're gonna stain.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

So uh you have the clear deck that again, you know, for newer and so forth, but you have your transparent, semi transparent, you have your semi solid and solid, and then you have a restoration or resurfacer. Yeah, but the big thing about the stains is that, you know, of course, we always talk about bin or we talk about Thompson's or we talk about the This and that. Again, right back to what I said about the paints, speak to a professional.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Right. You would not want to spend all that time staining and putting a second or third coat on only to find out that you probably should have used, you know, a different type of stain before spending all that time and money and effort.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

I think number one rule when you talk to the professional is they're going to tell you about prepping the surface. That's right. And how to do it properly. Um prep work's on board. It's very important. I I admit we like to skip that step. I know. You know, we just want to, oh, I'll give it a light sanding, you know, I'm done. And then it doesn't apply properly. So prep work sucks. But do it.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

It's the most important part. Absolutely. Most important part. So that's what I have for somewhat on the market. Yeah. Okay. Let's try to finish this podcast with something off the market.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Well, uh, you know what's uh this weekend.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

Tell me. Easter bunny. That's right. Oh, yeah, hockey tournament. Yeah. So Easter hockey tournament. You got a hockey tournament?

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Well, I'm supposed to, but my wife usually doesn't like when I play during Easter. Yeah. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

So I'll throw something at you. When I was growing up, you know, Easter, great time. We got chocolates. You know, we were younger, we definitely did like an Easter egg, hunt, and all that stuff. And when I got older, I learned that Easter was a lot bigger in some other households. Yeah. I'm talking new bikes, new clothes, new shoes. And I'm just like like jaw open. I know a lot of people treat Easter like sex. Christmas. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

And I I did not know that was a thing. Do you do you know how you always want to stop the Easter celebrations when your children get older? Well, you what do you usually have with it? Ham, turkey?

SPEAKER_01 23:38

That's a great question. I will admit it's usually ham.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Okay. Yeah. When you want to stop, just have rabbit. No, don't.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

I had rabbit once. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

We can't have Easter. Don't you remember what we had for something?

SPEAKER_02 23:53

No, no, just we have rabbit and we can have Easter next year.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Don't scare that children. Yes, uh, I'm assuming we don't have too many young children listening to this, but any Easter egg hunt, okay?

SPEAKER_02 24:05

Yes, yeah, Easter egg hunt, all that good stuff. So uh I'd love to hear about you know what other people do tradition is they want to drop a comment. You know, what are your kind of some of your Easter uh traditions?

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Yes. Do you know what we're doing on Easter weekend? What are we doing? Pline care?

SPEAKER_02 24:19

Oh, yes, sorry. I thought you were talking about you and the missus. Oh, me and the missus. Uh only me, I'm playing hockey. Yeah, Royal APA Atlantic. We are having our annual uh um plant event. Yeah, so this Saturday, we're going to be at the Bowler Emma West Side. Uh, join us between 1:30 to 3:30. We're gonna have some bowling, we're gonna have some pizza, uh, some juice boxes for the kids, that kind of thing. That's right. We'd love to see you out there. Yeah, again, you don't have to be a client of Royal Page. We'd love to see you come out, hang out with us. That's right. Talk real estate if you want to, talk about whatever's now.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Last time we went last year, I don't know if you know this or not, but there were four of us or something. And guess who had the high? I did. I did, yeah. Yes. Now I will tell you that the bumpers may have been up, but maybe that that's it's a battle. Nobody's going to validate that or you know, verify that. We were a Golber against World Records. That's for me.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

And you still got stabbed. It was no reason.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Yeah, it was a great event. Oh, yeah. We can certainly uh accommodate you. Yes. Um, I think you might have to register for it. We'll get that sort of in out on our socials. That's right. And uh make sure you uh you can get registered. We'd love to see you there. Oh, 100%. Again, you know, happy Easter to everybody. You celebrate if you don't, whatever, you know. Uh, we just love to you know, have a great weekend.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Yeah, and and if you can't make that event, then the staining of Tim's docks uh will be coming up, and we'll need some uh vault in the skettiers.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

So we gotta get yeah, we gotta do it you know fairly quick because we want to get the docks in. We want you to enjoy in the water as much as possible. Um, Tim's a big believer. We try to get them in early, we try to take them out late. Um, because you there's something about being on your boat as right, your ass in a blanket. I know that's uh you know, but I mean with my not together, not not together, not together. I mean, we could anyway.

SPEAKER_03 26:07

Yeah, there we go. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

No, absolutely not. But uh no, we certainly uh uh love to take it so get out on your your vessel and have a great time.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

It's a pontoon, not a vessel. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Wow. There we go. Listen, I'm just glad you invited me. I gotta be careful you don't uh you know, uninvite me.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

Yeah, no, listen, listen, always fun.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

So what we would say here at Team Somerville, spring is here. We know that children will be finishing school shortly. We would love to hear from you if you're thinking about buying or selling. We would love to know if there's anything that we can provide you, just some information, just like I said, with the paints and stains. We consider ourselves professionals. We're we're here to help you. We're hoping that if we do help you, we can assist you as well. So please reach out to Team Somerville with your real estate needs. And other than that, let's wrap this one up.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

Yes, well, thank you for for joining us. Listening again. I'm Michael Dempsey.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

I'm Tim Somerville, and you're watching off the market with Team Somerville.