Real Estate Questions When it Comes to Buying or Selling a Home

Fact or fiction in BC Real Estate.

The industry has been booming for well a while now. Low inventory has created bidding wars and fixer-uppers in some major cities are hitting seven figures. So how do you keep your head amid the frenzy? How can you wade through all the clutter and the chatter to suss out the info you need to make wise decisions?

How to interview your Realtor CLICK HERE

Well, you always have us in your back pocket. In the meantime lets look at some of the common misconceptions that we have all heard in real estate transactions.

#1: Question: Real estate contracts are standardized so just sign the paperwork and work out the details later.

Answer. Not on your life,. Each real estate contract is as unique as the pink and black…

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Tips to help buyers get an advantage in a sellers market.

The housing market is crazy and out of balance right now.

It’s 2018 and interest rates are still low, home values are up, but something is lacking. It’s SELLERS! Inventory is down from this time last year, and we were thin on inventory at that time. What does this all mean? It means that we are seeing homes sell the first day they are on the market, with multiple offers, and with many offers over asking price. It is tough sledding for buyers right now. This makes for a hard time for people moving with their job to Kamloops and are forced to maybe overpay or cannot find a great home. So even with the new rules and regulations in the real estate market you can still get ahead of the game by following these tips....

There are always some steps you can…

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BC New Real Estate Consumer Protection Rules

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…

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B.C. residential real estate values predicted to keep climbing as seller’s market persists

Despite slowing sales caused by government interventions, 12-year-low home listings means prices will “continue upward trajectory,” asserts real estate association.

The number of homes for sale across the province are at or near a 12-year low, pushing prices ever upwards, according to the B.C. Real Estate Association’s monthly statistical report released April 12.

Sales of homes on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) across the province in March were down 24.6 per cent from the same month last year. The BCREA said this was caused in large part by government measures to cool the housing market such as the strict new mortgage qualification rules launched in January, which typically removes about 20 per cent of home buyers’ purchasing power.

“More…

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Underground Oil Tanks -- What You Need to Know

Many homes in the Kamloops area built in the distant past were originally heated with furnace oil. When natural gas became available, the oil storage tanks, which were normally located underground in backyards, were filled with sand or capped.

However, as these unused buried oil tanks start to corrode and rust, the remaining oil can leak out and flow onto the rest of the owner's property, the neighbour's property, storm sumps and waterways, resulting in contamination of soil and water. Apart from the negative financial impact on the market value of the property, the owner can face substantial legal liability under various statutes and bylaws for such contamination. See the BC Government site dealing with these tanks here.

Exceptions

A very limited…

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Buying a home in BC - All you need to know.

Buying a Home in British Columbia

Buying a home is the largest investment most of us ever become involved in. Yet people sometimes take less time over it than they do when buying a new car. That’s because it’s unfamiliar territory to many of us. We don’t know what questions to ask. We may take things for granted, rely on others when we shouldn’t, and sometimes we later wish we had known more about the process involved.

It is important for you to understand the the process that is normally involved in the purchase of a home, to recognize the significance of the documents you will encounter, and to understand the role of other people who may be involved in the transaction. Buying a home is a major event. This information will help you better…

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Don't fall for the staging: Real estate expert on how to avoid rookie buyer mistakes

Being a first-time home buyer without guidance from qualified professionals is like using the internet to diagnose a serious illness -- it’s not going to end well. That’s the advice Toronto real estate agent and industry expert Karyn Filiatrault gives to millennials looking to enter the housing market.

She joined CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday to warn against some of the biggest mistakes she sees real estate rookies make, even when they are getting help from the pros.

Not getting pre-approved by an experienced mortgage broker

Online calculators can help buyers get a rough idea of how much housing debt they can handle, but Filiatrault recommends using a mortgage broker to find the rate and terms that are best for you.

She adds that younger…

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B.C.’s NDP budget takes aim at real estate market

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…

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3 Tips for Smart Senior Downsizing

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…

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Why are millennials leaving home later than their parents?

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…

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