Tagged : sellers

Whether you are thinking of buying or selling a home in Kamloops, understanding the current market is crucial.

You need to know if you’re in a buyers’ market or a sellers’ market because that’s going to affect how your property is marketed and how much money you’re going to get for your home. If you understand the market, that will tell you what your home is worth and what you can expect if you’re a seller. If you’re a buyer, it is going to tell you what the appropriately priced offer on the property would be.

If you are looking to sell or buy in Kamloops then why not have a read and see our tips or buyers and sellers

Currently in Kamloops (July 2018) we are in a seller’s market. In a seller’s market, you’re much better off listing your property

New Consumer Protection Rules:  Information for Consumers

The Superintendent of Real Estate has announced new rules for real estate licensees (Realtors) that will change the way a real estate professional can provide service to consumers. Under the new rules, real estate licensees will be required to:

• give consumers more information about commissions and fees —  in particular, how the commission is to be divided between a listing brokerage and cooperating brokerage, or when there is no cooperating brokerage, retained by the listing brokerage;
• before working with consumers, inform them of the duties and responsibilities owed to clients and unrepresented parties;  
• inform unrepresented consumers of the risks of dealing with a licensee who is

Fear of rising interest rates is causing more Canadians to opt for fixed-rate mortgages over variable-rate alternatives that could save them thousands of dollars in payments, according to a leading expert.

Justin Thouin, CEO and co-founder of LowestRates.ca, is calling for consumers to base their mortgage decisions on 30 years of downward trending rates, rather than locking in on a guess about what the Bank of Canada will do during the life of a mortgage.

“Canadians have become more concerned about not being able to pay their mortgage. They want to lock their mortgage rate in so they know the amount they have to pay in interest,” he told CTVNews.ca. “It’s a fear-based response.”

The Bank of Canada cautiously held its key interest rate at 1.25 per

British Columbia's NDP government will introduce tax measures designed to push down the price of housing by targeting vacant homes owned by out-of-province investors.

Finance Minister Carole James said she hopes this and other changes will cool real estate costs, but would not predict how much, or what will happen if they take a bigger bite out of housing values than intended.

"We are treading on new ground," she told reporters on Tuesday as she unveiled her first full budget.

"We will be doing the analysis as we implement them."

The $54-billion balanced budget also promises historic investments in child care to create new spaces and train more caregivers, while giving tens of thousands of families access to two new programs to subsidize

Now that the kids are grown and moved away, do you really need all that square footage in your home?

While it’s nice to have a little extra space for entertaining guests, a house that’s too big just becomes a hassle to maintain. And if you’re like most people, you probably don’t want to spend your retired years racing to keep up with chores.

That’s one of the reasons downsizing in retirement is so popular with the Baby Boomer generation. Nearly 40 percent of adults aged 50 to 69 plan to move in retirement, and of those, 54 percent of those plan to downsize into a house that’s either smaller or cheaper than their current home, or both.

Despite the appeal of a more manageable home, many seniors are scared away from moving because of the effort it

Stuck between a rock and your mom’s basement

Multiple generations living under one roof isn't a new concept, but it is on the rise in North America, especially with millennials. This housing shift comes as a result of many factors, including work challenges and the rising cost of rent in most parts of the country. In fact, millennials are starting their adult lives after the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. This change has been the subject of much speculation and comparison to earlier generations, so personal finance expert Rubina Ahmed-Haq stopped by to help shine some light on why Generation Y is staying put for now.

Gen Y – commonly referred to as millennials – are people born approximately between the 1980s and the mid-1990s. Increasingly

How to put your home on the market and attract buyers

So you're interested in selling? Want to know how much your home is worth?

In today's highly competitive real estate market, pricing your home right is critical. When you request your CMA, you receive a comprehensive market analysis based on comparable recently sold homes with similar features and conditions in your area. By filling out an on-line price evaluation you might not get the results you are seeking.

Everyone has heard of “comps” but what are they, exactly? A look at the sale prices of other homes in the neighborhood is just the start. There can be value differences for location within the same neighborhood. Sure, sometimes they’re subtle, but an agent who knows the area well will

Canada’s federal housing agency says new mortgage rules intended to cool hot markets are “working better than hoped.” However, housing markets remain out of balance with recent price spikes driven by large single family homes at the expense of much needed rental stock, Evan Siddall, CEO of Canada Housing and Mortgage Corp.

“I think the evidence shows that worked out a little better than we hoped,” said Siddall. “People either bought smaller houses or found another way to find a down payment and that’s okay. We were worried about the strong housing market taking money out of the productive economy – out of business investment, and I think mission accomplished.”

Siddall acknowledged the new guidelines, known as B20, are keeping many young people out

A new B.C. “dual agency” rule banning real estate agents from working with both the buyer and seller of a property are so complex and onerous it will result in frustrated consumers and a blizzard of useless paperwork when it comes into force March 15, according to real estate agents.

The Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate announced B.C.’s new real estate consumer protection rules last November, but real estate agents say there has not been enough time to understand the shifting regulations or how they will be interpreted.

“We will not even have the forms until March,” said Damian Stathonikos, director of communications and public affairs at the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA). About five per cent of residential real estate

Many consumers will soon find their debt loads heavier now that Canada’s central bank and the country’s biggest commercial lenders have raised their benchmark rates by one-quarter percentage point.

Personal finance expert Laleh Samarbakhsh shares her advice on the best ways to take advantage of the increased rates.

The country’s biggest banks raised their prime rates after the Bank of Canada hiked its overnight lending rate earlier this month by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.25 per cent.

It’s a challenge for Canadians still struggling to cope with the record amounts of consumer debt they amassed after the 2008 financial crisis because lenders use their prime rate as a benchmark for setting some other short-term rates including