Does our listing have to match all those neutral open houses?

Selling your home in Kamloops?

You have heard all about staging your home and getting it ready for sale but does your home have to fit a ideal look?

A sellers question. "We've been to a few open houses (doing research as we prep to sell our space) and we've noticed that everyone seems to have the same style of interior decoration. It's all white, minimalist with some rural flair (antlers over a fireplace, for example). Our house doesn't look like that. Is this something that people are looking for? Do we need to redecorate our place to optimize a sale?"

"When you're getting your home ready to sell, it's a great strategy to tour open houses and see what's appealing to the marketplace," says Andre Alves, a real estate agent in Toronto with Re/Max.…

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Metro Vancouver ‘millionaire’ homeowners selling out and buying in rural areas

Millionaire homeowners cashing out of Metro Vancouver’s red-hot real estate market are seeking greener pastures elsewhere in B.C.

Real-estate experts say they’re seeing more city slickers selling off their urban homes and heading north or east to buy hobby farms and acreages, where they can live off the land with cash to spare.

And in regions where property prices haven’t yet been affected by the Vancouver market, some realtors say it’s only a matter of time. Landcor Data Corporation tallied 3,226 sales of single-family detached properties of more than two acres in 2015, up from 2,988 in 2014. The real estate data and analysis firm also counted 1,139 units of residential, vacant land larger than two acres sold in 2015, up from 803 in 2014.

Ian…

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How to choose a Kamloops income property

There are quite a number of variables to consider when purchasing a residential income property.

You’ll likely want to eventually engage with a real estate agent, but prior to doing so it is important to conduct as much research as possible. Remember to approach the purchase with an unbiased attitude and evaluate your options based on factual information.
 
Here’s a look at some of the top variables to consider when evaluating potential properties.
 
1. Economic outlook. Locations that are seeing employment growth will typically have more people moving to the area – this should also increase the potential renter pool. Conversely, locations that don’t offer as much employment opportunity or have/will see large employers leaving town, will often…

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Top 10 Ways To Scare Away A Potential Home Buyer

Home owners who are currently selling their home or are thinking about selling their home are likely to face challenges before and during the home selling process.  

Many of the challenges that are faced during the home selling process cannot be controlled by the home owner. Things such as local market conditions, unrealistic home buyers, and low-ball offers are just a few examples.

When buying a home, there are many things that can scare away a potential buyer from a seller’s home. Keep in mind, some buyer’s can be scared away by very minimal things.  Many of the things that can scare away a potential buyer are things that a seller has complete control over.  Many of the things that can scare away a potential buyer are actually fairly minimal while…

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BC Home Sales Post All Time Record

Vancouver, BC – April 15, 2016.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a record 12,560 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in March, up 38 per cent from March of last year. Home sales last month eclipsed the previous record of 11,683 unit sales in May of 2007. Total sales dollar volume was $9.69 billion
in March, up 66.9 per cent compared to the previous year. The average MLS® residential price in the province was up 20.2 per cent year-over-year, to $771,620.

“Housing demand has never been stronger in the province,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Most large population centres of the province are now experiencing record levels of housing demand.”
“Strong employment growth,…

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Avoid mistakes that can derail selling a house

Things that can affect a home sale

Are the neighbours nice? What's the kid's favourite spot to play? What repairs have you made? What does THIS thing do? How long does it take to get to the airport? Really, that quick? Well, what about in rush hour?

No one's better able to answer those and a million other buyers' questions than you. You can be a font of wisdom and confidence and expertise, the ideal person to advocate for your biggest asset.

But there are some common mistakes, errors we see in the real estate industry every day, that could make you, let's say ... the less-than-best person.

Beautiful pictures, a thoughtful comparative market analysis, a smartly worded MLS listing, great exposure through Internet real estate sites and your own…

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Moving? Plan ahead

Anyone who's ever moved can tell you how much of a hassle it is

And spring and summer are peak times for moving. Matt Guest, owner of First Rate Movers Inc. , helped compile this list of moving to-dos to take some of the stress out of the process.

RESERVATIONS

Try to book a moving company or a truck as early as you can to make sure you have what you need on the date you need it. Guest says that although the busiest times for moving companies is between April and August, it's even worse during the last week of each month. Make arrangements sooner rather than later.

NOTIFY & COLLECT DOCUMENTS

If you're moving out of the area, make sure to let all the firms you deal with know about a month before the move so they can collect your records - in…

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Small Down Payment Doesn’t Mean The Buyer is Not Qualified

Even with lending standards tightening up following the financial crisis, there are still a number of low-down payment loan options for qualified buyers.

Unfortunately, some sellers and their Realtors are making the mistake of pushing away these buyers by demanding a higher down payment than is truly necessary.

There seems to be some confusion on the part of these sellers and their agents as to what qualifies a buyer to get a loan, and whether that no-down payment buyer will be a good person to sell to. In many cases, a buyer with a twenty percent or more down payment is no more likely to get a loan than a no or low down payment borrower but don’t make the mistake of brushing aside a qualified buyer by demanding too high a down payment when selling…

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Fixed or floating? The great mortgage debate of our time...

For those taking on a mortgage or renewing one, it’s a question that can be complicated.

On one hand, interest rates are at historic lows. The Bank of Canada’s benchmark overnight lending rate is at 0.5 per cent. To some borrowers, this might suggest it’s a good time to lock in at a low rate for a long time.

On the other hand, to the surprise of almost no one, the bank suggested that it anticipates no changes. “The near-term outlook remains broadly the same as it did in January,” it said in its most recent rate-setting statement, on March 9. That suggests a floating rate might make sense.

See our BLOG article on interest rates HERE

The issue becomes more complicated, though, because borrowers likely won’t find much advantage.

Compared with…

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Three ways to pay off your mortgage faster

Things like traffic, work and dirty dishes can seem to go on forever; your mortgage doesn’t have to.

Even if you have signed on for a long mortgage, with payments scheduled to continue until you’re old, there are ways to speed everything up, experts say.

It’s a matter of knowing your options and paying attention to detail.

“Obviously there’s budgeting, where you cut back on some of your spending,” says April Dunn, a mortgage broker at Red Door Mortgage Group in Kelowna, B.C.

“But that only works if you actually take the funds to pay down the mortgage.” If you can’t bear to give up that triple skinny latte with an extra shot and some foam, “there are other things you can do.”

Some of these may seem simple but knowing more lets you make the…

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