Sara Kalke, Edmonton REALTOR
10835 124 Street, Suite 200 T5M 0H4 Edmonton, AB, Canada

Interesting read. Higher lumber prices will also add to the prices of things like Fences... Decks Garages See more

Sales are Up 27% but Will The Good News Hold? Big News for the Edmonton Real Estate Market as we head into December 2020. Prices... > Prices are UP overall from last year > Single family home median price is up 3.13% > Condo median price is up 0.72% Supply > Inventory is down 15% from the same time last year Demand > The total number of sales is up 27% from last year What this Means > Low interest rates and restrictions on foreclosures will likely keep prices higher than expected Advice > Now is a great time to lock in an excellent rate on a new home - with rates at 1.63% for fixed insured and 1.84% for fixed conventional (subject to change, check with your mortgage broker) > Check your payout penalties if you are selling - they have gone up! > Shop LOCAL this Christmas - the more you spend locally, the more you keep our local economy and housing market going

I have the best clients in the world!! (No offence to other clients I’m sure you’re nice people too, but mine are the best in my books!!) Thank you for trusting me in November to help you sell and buy. ... And thank you to my fabulous assistants too. If you are a client, you know just how awesome Joanna, Sarah, Ferdinand and Jad are.

"We weren't sure what selling a house during the COVID-19 pandemic would look like, or if it would even be possible! We were moving a province away, and Sara and her team were amazing with communication and organization, and managed to help us sell our house within a month! If only we could have her help us buy our new place in BC! Sara is beyond organized, punctual, an excellent communicator, has fantastic negotiation skills, and, first and foremost, is just an all around ...kind and genuine person. Sara truly cares about her clients, and goes above and beyond as a realtor." -Tara Smith

What is your favourite restaurant in Edmonton?What is your favourite restaurant in Edmonton?

We've been here before, and we're ready. It is with difficult emotions that we head into a new round of restrictions. For real estate buyers and sellers, these changes add stress to our already full plates.... But, we're here for you. As realtors, we have done this before. Even in the strictest of lockdowns, we were declared essential services. While there are no guarantees (of course), it is quite unlikely that we will stop being able to help you buy or sell real estate. How we do it will look a little different. - confirming all of our clients are symptom and positive case close-contact free before all showings - using hand sanitizer and/or gloves - wearing masks in all indoor spaces - ensuring as few visitors as possible - only showing properties to qualified buyers - only doing in-person visits with sellers when absolutely necessary But for us to keep selling real estate safely, here is what we will need from you: 1) Be honest with us. Tell us if you have symptoms or if you've been in close contact with a positive case. And just as importantly, be honest with how you are feeling. We need to know if you are scared, stressed, or confidently cautious. 2) Respect our boundaries. Please understand that while we love working with new people every day, each showing carries risk with it. Even though that risk is small, we will need to qualify all clients, now more than ever. Please have your mortgage pre-approval letter ready for us. Know the areas, drive by the homes you want to see, before you see them. 3) Be loyal. Not everyone knows this, but we don't get paid if you don't close a sale on a house. If we show you 35 houses, but you buy through someone, we don't get paid anything. Our brands charge us to work with them, they don't pay us. Please, please stay in touch. Ask us if you want to see a property. We want to make the showing work, and if we can't be there, we all have networks of trusted colleagues who we'll refer you to. 4) Be kind. We know you're stressed. We know you want to get into that hot new property before it sells, or we know how the mortgage payments and rent are adding up and you had to sell yesterday. Know this: we care about your stress. We take it on. Being a realtor often means sleepless nights, frustration, and dealing with challenges head on, so that you don't have to. Here is the most important thing: We can do this next round of lockdowns. We will keep working hard to keep real estate going. To keep the economy going. To make sure that you have a great place to live. We've got this together.

Lest we forget

" " The good, the bad, and the ugly have come out about real estate agents from my clients over the years. Most of the stories are good ones, because I truly believe most agents are great at our jobs. ... But here's what I hear often from clients, about what they wish we knew (tell me if I've missed any!): ) Just because you, the agent, have sold hundreds of homes, we only sell a few in our entire lifetime! There are so many steps to buying and selling, it is beyond overwhelming. We don't know all the steps, so please don't assume that we do. We need you to hold our hand through the process and tell us what comes next. ) We need to ask questions. LOTS of questions. Sometimes we feel like they're really stupid questions, or sometimes we don't ask because we don't want to bother you. But we need to ask so we can make the right decisions for our families. ) ' Does your big box brand pay you? Are you hourly? On a bonus? Unless we have a friend who is an agent, we don't know if you get paid hourly, or that you paid for that photographer, videographer, and your assistants out of your own bank account, in hopes that you'll make a sale. We didn't realize that when we went straight to the builder that you'd get cut out of the sale, or that the open house agent couldn't really get us a "better deal" than our own agent. We don't mean to hurt you, sometimes we just don't know. ) Sometimes we need to see that house you know we won't buy. Sometimes we need to test out OUR price, to see if it will work, even though you've told us it is too high. We know that you're probably right. But we need to find out for ourselves sometimes. And we hope you will support us through that process. ) We might not tell you, at 11:30 at night, when you're presenting our offer... We might not tell you when we are negotiating inspection repairs... And we might not tell you on moving day when we haven't slept for days... But we often look back, months and years down the road... Especially when our friends tell us horror stories about someone who didn't care quite as much as you did... We are so thankful to have had you to be next to us every step of the way. You helped us with one of the most important things that exists in our world, right up there with family, community, and food. You helped us find HOME. ****** Your Realtor, Your Biggest Fan, Sara Kalke RE/MAX Real Estate