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 than for you to waste your 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 extensive experience in waterfront properties combined with our unique analytic resources, including our in-house waterfront valuation model, to help you find your 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.

Of course there is no substitute for a site visit to properties that pass this initial screening process, and we will accompany you on showings to thoroughly assess the pros and cons of the cottage, including an assessment of the unique risks associated with waterfront properties such as weeds, volatile water levels, septic systems, zoning bylaws and road access, that can severely compromise your investment. We 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, we 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, we help guide you through any issues that arise before you take possession of your new cottage. And we are always available after closing to answer any additional questions.

Now, let’s get started! Simply complete the Buyer Inquiry template below and we 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. 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 1,000 waterfront sales since Jan. 1, 2020 across the 12 major waterbodies of the western Kawarthas. 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 13 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, and whether it is fully and efficiently winterized. 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 the 30 most 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 94%, meaning that 94% 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.
  • This modelling approach is also helpful when employing the traditional appraisal practise of identifying three or four comparable sales and making adjustments to the comparables to estimate the value of a subject property. The adjustments we make to the comparable sales are based on the value the market places on key attributes of a cottage property as derived from the multiple regression equation.