Finding the right real estate agent. How do we accomplish it?

Finding the right real estate agent can make a huge difference in the process of buying or selling a home. 

Because searching for a home, or selling a home, may be the largest single financial decision you make, interviewing three agents is a wise exercise for you to undertake.

Which Agent Will It Be?

If you had been attending open houses before you reached this point, you have already been interacting with agents and met some that you are already considering. You had probably eliminated several before you left the open house. You may consider other agents you are acquainted with in the community. The agent you choose must be able to wear many hats. Because this process often takes time, that will be spent with that person, bear that fact…

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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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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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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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Hidden Costs When Buying A Home In Canada

Now that you have finally started to save for a home of your own, it’s important that you look into every single detail that is involved with purchasing. It’s not as simple as picking a house you like and moving in. Buying a house is actually a lot of work.

I am sure you have many friends and family members that are always telling you that you should move into your own place. They say that the mortgage would be the same price or less than your monthly rent but did they tell you about the other costs involved in owning a home?

There are so many fees involved with buying your own house such as land transfer tax, lawyers fees etc. Not to mention a 20% down payment!

Let’s not forget that if something goes wrong with the house, like the roof is…

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Understanding Real Estate Appraisals..

Understanding Real Estate Appraisals

Understanding how appraisals work will help you achieve a quick and profitable refinance or sale.

When you refinance or sell your home, the lender involved will insist that an appraisal be performed. An appraisal is the process of valuing real property and is simply an opinion of the market value of your home based on what similar homes in your area have sold for in recent months by a licensed appraiser. But what is market value? Market value is the estimated amount for which a property should exchange on the valuation date between a willing buyer and a willing seller in an arm’s length transaction, after proper marketing and where the parties had each acted knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion.

The…

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