Cliff Barron here with my update for November 1st-7th, 2020 for Milton, Georgetown, and Glen Williams. 

I had a request a couple of weeks ago for questions about asbestos in a house. To start off - I'm not a home inspector, but I do know quite a bit about it. Over the years, the number of houses I've actually been in - physically been in - is probably over 10,000.  It's just insane. But the number of houses that I've actually done deals on where there was suspected asbestos is 2.  One of them was in Brampton and one was in Milton.  The one in Brampton had a vermiculite insulation in the attic that had to be checked out. It turned out it wasn't asbestos, it was... (Asbestos is actually a little town in Quebec - that's where it originally came from) ... it was okay. We had to have it tested, which is one thing you have to do. And then another one was a townhouse in Milton. There are some older townhouses in Milton where there's asbestos - they used it in the pipes and the floor tiles. Sometimes when you see those little 12 by 12 floor tiles in a kitchen in an older home, prior to the '70s, '60s, '50s - there might asbestos in the tiles. And the number one rule in asbestos that everybody knows is if you suspect it, just don't touch it!  As soon as you touch it, it gets into the air and then you breathe it into your lungs - then it could cause problems. So you have to bring in an asbestos company to test it. If they'll test it and if they find asbestos, then you have to get it removed. Surprisingly it's not as expensive as you would think. So hopefully that helps out a few questions here and there - but if you're buying a house that was built after 1980, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  The only guy to worry about is mold, to be honest.  That is more prevalent than asbestos.

So, getting to Milton - the market is still busy. We actually ticked up a little bit. 41 sales issued this last past week compared to 40 same month last year. 18 detached at $1.163 and 7 days on the market. 9 semis at $877k and 2 days on the market, which is really interesting because with the market the way it is, 2 days on the market doesn't make sense to me.  Why take an offer so quickly?  Why sell so quickly when there are literally dozens of people you missed out on by selling that fast.  14 townhouses at $777k on average, 6 days on the market - things are still moving well.  Condos -let's see, there were only 3 sales of condos which is a little slower than last year, when there was 7 - but still the average is $557k and 6 days on the market. 

And then we get to Georgetown and Glen Williams, which is always slower than Milton.  It's never quite as busy because there is nowhere near as many homes. Let's see, 2019 and 2020, exactly the same number, 13 sales in this past week. $1.1 on the detached and 8 days on the market and $718k on the townhouses, 5 days in the market. One thing to take into consideration when it comes to these numbers is that you look and you say, "13 sales last week and last year there was 13 sales as well."  But you have got to keep in mind that last year there were 13 sales but hardly any buyers. Things were selling but they were selling, you know 1-3% under the asking price.  I had a listing in Georgetown in the fall last year and it took a good 35, 40 days to sell because it was kind of a balanced market. Then everything started to take off. So, even though the number of sales is the same, the number of listings is way, way down.  And that's what's driving the prices way up.  I've got a listing right now, had over 40 showings on it in the past 4 or 5 days - it's insane! Never seen anything like it.

So any questions, let me know. Send me a DM, PM any questions at all. I'll be sure to help you. Thanks, take care!