When it Makes More Sense to Rent than buy in Kamloops

There are certainly benefits to owning your own home. You can make payments toward a long-term investment, make any changes or upgrades you desire, and have a stable place to call home, just to name a few. What is not always so clear are the benefits of renting. Not everyone is in a position to buy a home and sometimes it just makes more sense to rent. It would be a smarter financial decision to rent temporarily before buying a home you’re not ready for. Here are some circumstances in which it makes more sense to rent.

When does it make more sense to rent? You may want to rent if…

You’re not sure which neighborhood/city/province you want to live in.

Location is a large part of purchasing a home. When you buy a home, you’re not only investing in…

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Making the Decision Between Two Great Houses when buying a home

Making the Decision Between Two Great Kamloops Houses when buying a home

OK, house hunters, picture this: you’ve made your “need” and “want” lists; you’ve shopped around online and toured through too many houses to count; surprisingly, you’ve found more than one that fits the bill. Now, what?

Often, home buyers get so wrapped up in not being able to find the perfect house that they are taken by surprise when two great options suddenly present themselves. If you are “lucky” enough to find yourself in this situation, you may find the choice between two seemingly perfect homes is more difficult than you would have imagined. Unfortunately, time is rarely on your side when dealing with buying a home, and you will likely need to make a decision within a…

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Should I Sell My Kamloops Home Empty Or Staged?

When a homeowner is preparing to list their home for sale, there are many decisions that need to be made. 

When is the best time to list your Kamloops Real Estate?  What price should the home be listed for?  Who will be hired to sell the home?

These are just a few of the most common home seller questions.  Another popular question that home sellers who don’t live in their home ask is whether they should sell the home empty or staged.

Like with most things, there are PROs and CONs to selling a home empty as well as PROs and CONs to selling a home staged.  It’s important that homeowners weigh the PROs and CONs to help them decide whether they should sell their home empty or staged.

Below you will find out what the PROs and CONs are to both…

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3 Types of Motivated Sellers To Keep An Eye Out For

If you’ve been perusing house listings online or have begun your search for your dream home, odds are good that you’ve run into the term “motivated seller” on more than one occasion.

This is a somewhat strange term to use to describe the seller, since you would think that every seller would be motivated. If they’re not motivated, then why are they selling? Motivated sellers are selling for different reasons and the use of the word “motivated” is supposedly enticing to buyers. Before you get drawn to a listing put up by a motivated seller, you should have a clearer understanding of what a motivated seller could actually be. The following are three different types of sellers that may refer to themselves as motivated sellers, and how to deal with them:

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Staging vs. Decorating: What's the Difference?

Unlike decorating, staging your home isn't about personal style — it's about creating ambiance and appeal for buyers

If you ask the average person what “home staging” is, they’re likely to say something like “decorating a house to make it look good.” The truth is that home staging is absolutely not the same thing as decorating.

Selling your home means selling a lifestyle, but not necessarily your own. In home staging, you're striving for a look that is fresh and welcoming yet not really taste specific. People with varying tastes need to feel that they can make the home their own if they purchase it. Although everyone has different tastes in decor and furnishings, most people want a home that is welcoming, functional, peaceful and organized. Tailor…

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How To Sell Your Home Fast!

How To Sell Your Home Fast!

There may come a time where you find yourself with an urgent need to sell your home. It may be because you have to move for a job, a change in family situation, or something else requiring you to move out of your home as quick as possible. For most people moving out of their home also involves selling their home so they don’t have the added burden of multiple mortgages or a mortgage and a rent payment in the new location you are living in. If you find yourself in immediate need of selling your home here are some tips on how to sell your home fast and some information on understanding the trade off of selling your home now As-Is versus preparing your home for sale.

Sell Home As-Is or Prepare The Home For Sale Trade…

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What Credit Score do I need When Buying a House?

General Credit Overview When Purchasing a House in Kamloops

If you are trying to buy a new home, you have probably heard that your credit score or home buying credit affects this process. However, you may be wondering exactly how it affects your ability to buy a home. Generally, you will need a credit score of 660 to obtain a mortgage. The qualifying credit score used to be as low as 580 points. However, since the mortgage crisis of 2008, banks are becoming more conservative in their lending practices.

Did you know that your credit score affects your interest rate? The lower your credit score, the higher your interest rate will be. This means that if you have a bad credit score, you will end up paying more than somebody with a good credit score.…

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10 Questions you might need to ask before you buy that home!

Let’s talk HOME BUYING and things that might not seem important at first.

When you buy a house without asking yourself the right questions, you sometimes end up making costly mistakes. And isn’t the whole point to save money?? Definitely!

These items below are the questions you may need to ask before jumping in with 2 feet.  I’m sharing these tips with you in hopes of helping other people make the best decisions about home buying! Its exciting buying a home and sometimes your thoughts are on what would your TV look like in this room not things that are potential problems only found after moving in.
A good Realtor will be automatically taking in and making mental notes of all these questions but its always worth asking yourself these questions and…

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Which mortgage term will save you money over the next five years?

A significant “negative shock” to the economy:

That’s what it’s going to take to lower interest rates again, says Canada’s most powerful banker.

And Bank of Canada head Stephen Poloz isn’t betting on that happening any time soon. Neither are bond traders, the big guns that bet billions of dollars every day on the direction of interest rates.

So let’s suppose – just for fun – that they’re right (since we all know how often markets and economists aren’t right). If we are actually near a bottom in rates for a few years, what’s the best way to play your mortgage?

Well, it just so happens that there’s an app for that. It’s called a spreadsheet and I’ve taken the liberty of putting mine through its paces and model out which mortgage term (or…

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10 “Common” Home Inspection Findings

Most real estate transactions are contingent upon an acceptable home inspection to the buyers satisfaction.  

They can also be contingent on other inspections as well, however, these inspections are not as common as the home inspection.  A qualified and experienced home inspector should find something that could be corrected, upgraded, or repaired in every home that they inspect, even newly built homes!

Just like no man is created equal, no home is created equal and each inspection report will be different.  There are items that are more commonly found during home inspections then others.  We thought it would be helpful to create a top 10 list of the most common home inspection findings that we see inspection after inspection.  This list can help a…

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