For Buyers

Let us take the hassle and frustration out of your search for that special waterfront property

We understand that there is no greater frustration for buyers than to waste their time and money travelling to view inappropriate and/or over-priced cottage listings. Or even worse, to overpay for an inappropriate or over-priced cottage. To this end we use our in-house waterfront valuation model to help our buyer clients find their ideal waterfront property in the most time-efficient manner possible without over-paying.

When you work with us, the initial phase of our engagement involves our obtaining a thorough understanding of your wish list in terms of key attributes you are looking for in a waterfront cottage. Once we know your criteria, price range and geographical preferences, we will look for existing and new listings that meet your criteria and pass them onto you for your review, along with the valuation provided by our model. We run new listings through our valuation model on a same-day basis, so you will be advised quickly of relevant listings that are attractively priced, as these properties tend to sell quickly.

Of course there is no substitute for a site visit to properties that pass the initial screening process, and our buyer agents will accompany you on showings to thoroughly assess the pros and cons of the cottage. Our buyer agents live year-round in cottage country and have extensive knowledge of the Kawarthas, Haliburton, and Muskoka regions. When you are ready to make a purchase, they will provide you with insightful and data-driven advice on an appropriate offer price, and conditions and other clauses to include in the offer to protect you. Once your offer is accepted, they help guide you through any issues that arise before you take possession of your new cottage.

Now, let’s get started! Simply complete the Buyer Inquiry template below and one of our agents will be in touch.

Buyer Form

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Kawartha Waterfront Realty’s Waterfront Valuation Model Methodology

We have developed a waterfront valuation model that is applicable to waterfront cottage properties across the Kawarthas, Haliburton and Muskoka. We use the model to help inform appropriate listing prices for our seller clients as well as to assess the price attractiveness of listings that are of interest to our buyer clients.

The key elements of the waterfront valuation model are summarized below:

  • The model incorporates almost 2,000 waterfront sales since Jan. 1, 2022 across the Kawarthas, Haliburton and Muskoka. This is an especially rich database given the volatility of waterfront prices over this period.
  • For each sale, we complete a scorecard that rates the waterfront property across 15 key attributes that are important to buyers and drive value. Examples of these attributes include waterfront quality (e.g. deep versus weedy), topography (e.g. level versus steep to the water), exposure (e.g. western versus eastern), the age of the cottage, the quality of any renovations, whether it is fully and efficiently winterized, and whether it is located on any of the Big 4 Muskoka lakes. The scorecard also incorporates the property’s MPAC assessed value and prevailing market prices at the time of the sale as measured by the average sale price-to-assessed value ratio of recent sales.
  • We then run a multiple regression against the database of scorecards to predict the actual sale price of each property. The multiple regression algorithm optimizes the weight of each attribute in the scorecard to minimize the difference between the predicted sale price and the actual sale price across all sales in the database. The optimal weighing of each attribute is expressed in an equation:

    Predicted sale price = (a*Total Lot Features score) + (b*Total Building Features score) + (c*MPAC Assessed Value) + (d*Current Average Assessed Value Multiple) etc.

  • The results of the multiple regression model are strong, with an R-squared of 96%, meaning that 96% of the variance in the sale prices of the waterfront properties to the average sale price is explained by the model.
  • The multiple regression equation can then be used to estimate the value of existing, new and potential new listings using the same scorecard approach.

In our view this multiple regression approach is superior to the typical approach of finding three or four comparable sales and making arbitrary adjustments to estimate the value of a subject property. In contrast, the multiple regression approach uses almost 2,000 sales to mathematically determine the value the market places on key attributes of a cottage property. It also mathematically calculates appropriate time value adjustments when using sales that have occurred in the past to estimate current values.