Selling my Kamloops Home

Selling Your Kamloops Real Estate

Homeowners don't generally think about filling the shoes of a first-time home seller until they decide to buy a new home. Usually, the motivating factor is the need to move -- due to work-related issues or the needs of a growing family -- and that generally involves buying another house.

Before you begin the selling process, really evaluate why you’re moving. Do you have too few rooms, or too many? Has your job moved to another city and you’re relocating? Are the neighbours driving you away? Or are you simply looking for a change? A complete analysis of your current position will set a good foundation for your next home hunt.  The questions will be coming thick and fast, when is the Best Time to Sell Your Home? What…

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Kamloops Not Immune from Provincewide Slowdown in BC Housing Market

The province-wide slowdown in the BC housing market continued in January. Sales were down 33 per cent compared to the same month last year, while the average home price was down just under 8 per cent.

A large part of that is due to the stress tests on mortgages, according to BC Real Estate Association Chief Economist Cameron Muir.

“Pulled as much as 20 per cent of the purchasing power out of the many potential buyers and that doesn’t go on without seeing an impact,” he said. “Many markets now are showing signs of buyers market territory which means some downward pressure on prices, but many other markets are firmly in balance territory – prices rising around the rate of inflation plus or minus 2 per cent a year.”

Kamloops was a little better off…

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The Worst (and Best) Home Improvements for Increasing Your Property Value

If you’re embarking on a home improvement project to simply make your home more comfortable and enjoyable to live in, then when you’re looking at the cost it’s a matter of what you can afford, and what you’re prepared to pay for the benefits the improvements will bring.

In contrast, if you’re having work done with a mind to increasing your home’s value in a future sale, then you need to take a somewhat harder-headed approach. Contrary to popular belief, not every improvement to your home will be reflected in its sellable value, so if you want to realize a return on your improvement budget, here are four types of project to avoid – and two others to give more serious consideration.

Home Improvements That Make a Poor Investment

#1 A Home Office

…

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What do you need to know about an appraisal? How can you prepare?

In most property transactions the word appraisal comes up sometimes more than once.

As a home buyer you may hear the word appraisal, if you are getting a loan to buy your house, an appraisal could be part of the process. Your lending institution may demand an appraisal on the property if it thinks that the house is not worth what you have offered for it.

This is a professional appraisers estimated value. The appraiser will use recent properties that have sold in the area to help determine the value of the home you choose. The appraiser will also consider the condition of your home, age, size and so forth in determining the value. To better understand what an appraisal typically looks like let me list a few parameters: Sales typically can’t be more…

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Advantages & Disadvantages Of Buying A Foreclosure

Once upon a time it was possible for buyers to identify a bank foreclosure from a mile off.

They were often run-down, stripped-to-the-bone and abandoned buildings which looked completely uninhabitable. However it’s a different ball game today, as many banks now choose to renovate their real estate owned (REO) properties before listing them on the market for end users to purchase. This prevents investors and contractors from making a lucrative profit through the bank’s loss.

Banks are cleverer these days, and they understand that the market has improved significantly in recent years, so they won’t come across as desperate anymore. Instead of trying to sell as quickly as possible, they look to minimize their losses. This ultimately creates both…

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Real Estate Listing Descriptions Are Vital to Marketing

The Importance of Listing Descriptions When Selling a Home

With so much emphasis on great pictures – and now video – it is easy to let the listing description for the property you are selling fall through the cracks. Unfortunately, failing to describe the property well can limit the effectiveness of your listing. Interested buyers are going to read the listing description, so it is important to make sure you have good real estate copy if you want to stay at the top of your game as a real estate agent.

In every business there are those who will go the extra mile to make sure they are at the pinnacle of their game, likewise, there are those who don’t pay attention, are lazy, or just don’t care enough to standout at what they do. This is certainly the…

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Kamloops near the top of B.C. home affordability study

Kamloops is one of only four markets in the province where homes for sale align with local earnings, according to a study of 20 B.C. markets by real-estate search and data website Zoocasa.

The findings are based on a summary of October benchmark and average home prices as reported by local real estate boards, the income required to afford the homes and regional median incomes as reported by Statistics Canada.

Kamloops is one of only four markets in the province where homes for sale align with local earnings, according to a study of 20 B.C. markets by real-estate search and data website Zoocasa. 

The findings are based on a summary of October benchmark and average home prices as reported by local real estate boards, the income required to afford…

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Underground Oil Tanks -- What You Need to Know

Many homes in the Kamloops area built before 1957 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.

The BC Fire Code and bylaws of twelve municipalities (including the City of Vancouver) all…

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Mortgage Professionals Canada pushes for stress test re-evaluation

Industry group Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) have raised some issues regarding the stress test, specifically its capacity to deter many Canadians from the home market. For this reason, the association is asking the government to reassess such policies.

While the government's good intentions regarding these regulations were acknowledged, MPC said that there is a need to address the condition of many Canadians – millennials, single parents, or recent immigrants – who are seeing increased difficulties when it comes to in owning a home.

"Fewer Canadian now are able to obtain the mortgage they need to acquire a home, and many sellers now find fewer buyers to sell their home too," said MPC President and CEO Paul Taylor.

“As we first outlined at…

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Will new cannabis laws affect your home’s value?

Under new federal legislation, Canadians will be able to grow up to four marijuana plants in their private residence.

But a lack of protections and awareness could cost them thousands – or even their mortgage.

Sentiment on smoking and cultivating marijuana at home still largely negative, finds new Zoocasa survey.

With the new cannabis laws coming into force, would growing pot at home reduce your property’s value? What about smoking weed at home? Do you think a new cannabis store in the neighbourhood would help or hinder a home sale? A majority of Canadian homeowners (64 per cent) believe that a home where the owners smoked pot would see a decreased value, according to a survey released October 16 by real estate website Zoocasa.

And 57 per cent…

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