The Vancouver Real Estate Market has received a lot of attention over the past few months as the prices of property and volume of transactions have dropped. One group of purchasers whom have benefited from this is First Time Buyers. A typical scenario for my clients is that they have been watching the market for quite a while. Someone may have been looking at buying this time last year and ...
Purchasing a home can be a stressful experience for anyone, but especially for first-time buyers who may not be aware that there are a host of costs associated with buying a home other than the actual purchase price. It helps to know what those costs are in advance rather than get an unexpected surprise at closing and add to an already stressful experience.
Many of the costs are a factor of t ...
Staging Homes & Condos That Are Not For Sale!
As a Vancouver based Home Stager for properties that are selling, today I want to talk about staging properties that are "not for sale." Rental properties should be treated no differently that properties that are being listed to sell. A "first impression" is a "first impression" any way you look at it. If a home will sell for more money & more ...
A question that I’m asked quite a lot is whether it is preferable to contribute to an RSP, or pay down the mortgage.
The general rule of thumb is that as the mortgage interest increases, or as the investment time horizon decreases, it becomes more attractive to prepay the mortgage.There are normally 3 options that people see as alternatives:
Payin ...
Most realtors have some very interesting stories- especially these days with this crazy and unpredictable market.
He is a story from Mike Rampf:
I got a call from a client a while ago, his contractor had skipped town half way through the job. The owner was living in the house in Vancouver with no heat, no running water and no heat. The owners luck did not run out there ...
Over the past several months, we have all read the newspaper stories about the decrease in prices in the Vancouver Real Estate Market, especially for Downtown Condos, see today’s Vancouver Sun story. The problem is that they do not consider how long most people hold their properties.
These stories are somewhat frightening. I live in Yaletown in a Condo that has dropped in price from where ...
One of the biggest debates around the Canadian personal finance world is the battle between contributing to your RRSP or using the money to pay down your mortgage? The answer depends very much on the individual. Here are the options at hand:
1. Pay down your mortgage first and then start contributing to your RRSP.
There is no doubt that paying off your mortgage will give a guaranteed tax fre ...
Get that "professionally decorated" feeling without spending money.
When times are tight financially, people will often omit the luxuries from their lives & their homes. Many people don't have that expendable income they once knew for redecorating, and with the current real estate slow down in Vancouver, many people are not selling their homes & are making due. This is where the art of Redes ...
When it comes to your hard earned cash why give it away to the banks and other lending institutions? As a Vancouver Insurance specialist I, Siobhan Harlow get quotes for you for your mortgage insurance from all the insurance firms... you get the best rate and this service currently is provided with no fees. When it comes to your actual mortgage, Evan Soukas works for you in the same manner. C ...
It is very hard to say what will come in the near future. Over the last couple weeks I have seen a lot less negative attitudes when meeting buyers and sellers around Vancouver.
In October I thought a busy open house was over 5 people during the 2 to 4pm Saturday and Sunday time slot. In November I have noticed an increase in the average ...