Use the Kamloops Property For Sale website - Open 24/7

We are open 24/7 and safe to browse.

In this time of great change don't forget that the Kamloops Property For Sale Website is open 24hrs a day for all of your real estate questions and answers.

It's a safe way to get the info you need now and be ready to sell or list your Kamloops Real Estate when the time is right. If you register today you can save searches and get the information you need delivered to your email.

So how does everything effect the real estate market?

The B.C. government’s 2020-2021 budget envisioned about $1.6 billion in revenue from the property transfer tax, and the real estate sector, which employs tens of thousands of people, is worth more than $22 billion annually to the province’s GDP, according to the industry…

1641 Views, 0 Comments

It's RRSP time. Here are some tips and tricks to think about.

Still trying to figure out this RRSP thing? You’re not alone.

It's that time of year again - time to make the most of your RRSP contributions before the clock strikes twelve on March 2, 2020

The Registered Retirement Savings Plan, known simply as the RRSP to most, is a great tool for saving money. RRSP contributions are tax-deductible, which allows you to delay paying taxes on that income until you retire, when you’ll likely be in a lower tax bracket.  If you don’t know a lot about RRSPs, it’s time to educate yourself.  Unfortunately, our high cost of living and competing financial demands can make it challenging putting money aside. But hopefully that won’t deter you from figuring out how to make the most of what you have.

There are times when…

1886 Views, 0 Comments

Things to know about this year's B.C. property assessments

Find out how much the median single-family home in your municipality went up (or down) in value last year

Housing assessments are in the mail for nearly two million homeowners in British Columbia, but those in Vancouver who may have searched their properties online have already learned that values have fallen dramatically.

The figures released January by B.C. Assessment show the typical value of a single-family home in Vancouver has dropped 11 per cent, from $1.76 million to $1.57 million, as of July 1, 2019.

Here are a few answers to questions you might have about property values across the province. 

• How much did things change in Kamloops?

While property values dropped by four to 15 per cent across Metro Vancouver, it was a…

2066 Views, 0 Comments

A mortgage, family and retirement savings: Can young families do it all?

The cost of owning a house and starting a family just might be the lost opportunity to get a good head start on saving for retirement.

With the March 1 deadline for contributions to registered retirement savings plans just ahead, it’s a good time to look at how to balance life’s biggest financial responsibilities. Home ownership, starting a family and retirement saving – can you do it all?

In cities with reasonably priced housing, you certainly can. But in expensive markets such as Toronto, Vancouver and their satellite cities, only high earners will manage this balance. Something will have to give in the household budgets of everyone else, and it’s probably going to be retirement saving.

There’s more to this than the average $770,745 cost of a…

1363 Views, 0 Comments

CMHC defends mortgage stress test rules from critics

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has defended mortgage stress test rules and warned federal policymakers to hold the line amid calls from industry associations to ease the rules.

“My job is to advise you against this reckless myopia and protect our economy from potentially tragic consequences,” Evan Siddall, CMHC’s president and CEO, said in a letter to the Standing Committee on Finance dated Thursday.

Siddall urged the committee to “look past the plain self-interest” of the parties lobbying for easing the rules. The Mortgage Professionals Association of Canada (MPAC), the Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA), and the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) have all called for such change, according to a report by The Canadian…

4996 Views, 0 Comments

B.C. Real Estate Association forecasts lower mortgage rates in 2019

The cost of borrowing for a home is predicted to get a little cheaper this year.

That's according to the latest mortgage rate forecast from the B.C. Real Estate Association.

"The average contract rate for 5-year mortgages has declined about 30 basis points from its peak in 2018, reaching 3.44 per cent in March," the BCREA states in a two-page report. "Unfortunately, this still means a stress test rate of 5.44 per cent, even for the highest quality borrowers."

However, the association points out that if five-year bond yields remain at the current level, "a 5-year qualifying rate of under 5 per cent should follow suit." The contract rate refers to the interest percentage listed on the face of a note or a bond.

The qualifying rate refers to a…

1757 Views, 0 Comments

B-20 Stress Test Needs Revision to Improve Housing Affordability

Vancouver, BC – March 12, 2019.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) is calling on the federal government to revisit the B-20 stress test so that more BC families can achieve their dream of home ownership. Mortgage lending rules, known as the B-20 stress test, have eroded housing affordability by reducing the purchasing power of families by as much as 20 per cent. Introduced last year, the stress test forces even the most credit-worthy borrowers with large down payments to qualify at an interest rate that is two percentage points above the rate they negotiate with their bank.
 
“We would like to see a review and reconsideration of the current mortgage underwriting ‘stress test,’ as well as a return to 30-year amortizations for…

1680 Views, 0 Comments

Danielle Doucet earns the Royal LePage Red Diamond Award for 2018

A special thank you to my past and present clients, friends and family for another great year.

I am proud to announce that I have been recognized at the ‘Red Diamond’ award level by Royal LePage corporate. The ‘Red Diamond’ recognizes some of the country’s top performing Realtors, and I have been ranked in the Top 2% of Royal LePage’s 18,000 Realtors. 

 Thank you SO much to all of our clients. Obviously, we could not have achieved this without your trust in allowing us to support you through the buying and selling process. We feel so lucky to be able to do what we do for a living, and we are extremely excited to see what 2019 brings.

 I very very pleased to also announce that I ended the year at the Royal LePage number 1 Realtor for Kamloops…

2088 Views, 0 Comments

Down Payments Delay Homeownership by up to 35 Years

In a nationwide survey of over 9,000 prospective homebuyers carried out on its platform, Point2 Homes found that 66% of the Millennials interested in purchasing a home would like to do so within one year.

However, almost half (49%) of the survey-takers aged between 25 and 38 years old have savings significantly under the national average down payment amount, which is $25,000. Moreover, some of the Millennials in the survey state that they haven’t managed to set aside anything at all, meaning that the desire to buy a home might be in conflict with Gen Y’s budgetary realities.

Most Millennials Set Aside Less Than 10% of their Monthly Income

35% of Millennials state that they set aside less than 10% of their income each month and 30% of respondents…

1780 Views, 0 Comments

How to Take Equity out of Your House to Buy Another

There are some parts of Canada where the prices of real estate have already shot up toward what is likely to be a peak for the time being.

In some other areas, though, the markets are just heating up, and interest rates are still relatively low. This makes this a terrific time to start investing in real estate. However, if your liquidity is on the low side, where do you get the funds?

Why borrow against home equity?

What is home equity? It’s the difference between the market value of your home, as determined by an appraisal, and what you owe on the mortgage. If you bought a house for $750,000, and you’ve paid down the balance on the mortgage to $250,000, but the value of the home has gone up to $900,000 in the years since you bought it, you have…

2649 Views, 0 Comments