There are many aspects for your Canadian clients to consider when they are purchasing property within the country, such as the quality of local schools, the cost of financing, etc. Fortunately, as REALTORS® you have the resources to make their purchase process as easy and stress free as possible…. Even though the price in Canadian Dollars will remain a constant CAD$500,000 over the next 30 days, the cost to your client in Pounds Sterling or US Dollars will be fluctuating along with the currency market…. But, over the next 30 days the US dollar severely weakened relative to the CAD, and at the end of the closing period in early May the $/CAD rate had fallen to 1.1020.

…One way to protect your American or UK clients against these currency risks is to recommend a currency specialist like HIFX Inc., who offers a free service that can lock in an exchange rate for your clients for up to 2 years. Currency specialists can also typically provide a much better exchange rate than the banks at zero cost to your client, resulting in a 1%-3% tangible savings.

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In the village of Chester three properties sold late in the summer at asking prices of $1,500,000 (Back Harbour), $1,975,000 (Peninsula) and $990,000 (Front Harbour). All three of these properties were on the market for over 2 years and the starting asking prices when they came to market a few years ago were $2,500,000, $2,200,000 and $1,300,000 respectively.

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