How many times have you come across advertisements in local papers, magazines, bus benches, direct mail, and online where REALTORS® claim to be local specialists?
Unfortunately anyone can state anything they want however the question is, what makes them the specialist? A local specialist is someone who knows the neighbourhood intimately, most-likely lives in the community, contributes and gives back and most importantly knows the local market.
Did you know that Aspen Woods has at least 11 microclimates? What is a microclimate you ask? A microclimate is what I define as a microeconomic boundary within a community. Aspen Woods was not been developed like typical neighbourhoods because the private land was annexed at various times, therefore the development was not chronologically synchronized geographically. In other words, it was not developed east to west as one would typically suspect. Why is this important you ask? These boundaries contain valuable information to determine your home’s market value. This is why a local specialist is valuable because they will know and appreciate these microclimates. If your Realtor does not know about these localizations then chances are you may not be leveraging the full value of your home.
I have included a map of Aspen Woods in this article that depicts the various boundaries mainly defined by the phases and types of development. The sold data used to create the values in the chart below are derived from detached homes that have sold since January 1, 2017. Please keep in mind that these are generalizations and every boundary has anomalous cases of value that can be further discussed if needed.
Number of homes vs. zones.
ZONE # OF HOMES AVG. YEAR BUILT AVG. SOLD AVG. SIZE
SOLD BUILT PRICE (ABOVE GRADE)
A 4 2012 $974,750 2,575 sq.ft
B 9 2012 $819,000 2,334 sq.ft
C 14 2009 $935,986 2,617 sq.ft
D 16 2008 $758,000 2,214 sq.ft
E 8 2005 $776,188 2,414 sq.ft
F 9 2007 $688,000 2,185 sq.ft
G 22 2014 $1,154,169 2,927 sq.ft
H 12 2011 $1,489,250 3,452 sq.ft
I 18 2011 $1,101,000 2,814 sq.ft
J 1 2008 $2,225,000 3,961 sq.ft
K 5 2004 $1,297,000 3,300 sq.ft
Furthermore, I have also compared the sales of different price segments within Aspen Woods from the first quarter of 2017 to Q1 2018.
Number of homes sold vs. price range.
RANGE # HOMES SOLD Q1 2017 # HOMES SOLD Q2 2018
Below 1M 15 $766,573 10 $744,930
1M - 2M 7 $1,344,714 6 $1,498,944
2M+ 1 $2,225,000 1 $2,000,000
It is evident that Aspen Woods real estate values are highly variable depending on microclimate zone, location, size, design, finishings, and condition. If you are considering to sell your home, please take all these factors into consideration and ensure that your Realtor does as well.