June 2016

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

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

When selling your home, choosing the Realtor who will represent your best interests is one of the most important and one of the first steps in the process.

 Unfortunately, many sellers do not understand how important this is or believe that to be the case.  There are specific things that you should expect from your real estate agent when selling your home.

A piece of advice if you are thinking about selling your home, do not hire a Realtor because they are just your friend or because they are a colleagues spouse.  Every Realtor is different, period.  There are many consumers who believe every Realtor is the same and they all do the same things to sell homes, which is the farthest from the truth!  Each Realtor runs their business differently,

One of the first things a potential buyer does when searching for their next home is to imagine themselves in that living space.

Unfortunately, a poorly staged home makes it very difficult for potential buyers to project themselves into the property you’ve worked so hard to sell. To help, we’ve created a list of home staging tips and ideas that everyone can use.

Tip # 1: Get Rid of the Clutter

Think of a catalog and imagine what those images look like. They are perfectly staged with no unnecessary clutter. Now, that doesn’t mean having your seller empty cabinets or bookshelves, moving large pieces of furniture, etc. It simply means putting away anything that doesn’t showcase the room – dirty clothes and dishes, kids’ hockey bags, etc. A little

You have decided to put your home on the market with the hope of selling quickly for top dollar.

Those are the goals of all sellers! Unfortunately, listing your home for sale is just the beginning of what could end becoming a long and unpredictable process. One of the keys of home selling that can speed up or slow down the process is the negotiation.

The negotiation is one of the most crucial steps to determine the success of the deal. It has a direct impact on how fast your property sells and how much of a return on investment (if any) you will see. Sellers need to be open-minded as their attitude towards the negotiation process will dictate whether the transaction stalls or moves forward toward closing the sale.

It is important to remember

The process for selecting real estate agents and mortgage lenders is often similar, with the main difference being your search will turn up several non-local lenders that may be a good fit for your particular lending needs. Whatever your methodology is, these tips to select a mortgage lender can make the process seem less scary and non-evasive.

It is critical that you have a local real estate agent who knows street-level and regional pricing dynamics in your target neighborhoods intimately. But since mortgage lenders can lend anywhere and mortgage rates and fees are generally the same nationally, non-local lenders claim they can handle your transaction as well as local lenders.

To examine which lender will work best for you, look at 3 of the ways

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

Most buyers understand the importance of getting a home inspection prior to finalizing their new home purchase. Otherwise, they risk potential costly repairs, usually related to the electrical, foundation or any structure that is not visible to the naked eye. After inspections, buyers can negotiate with sellers to come to a fair sale price that covers the cost of damages or agree to repairs prior to closing. Without an inspection, the purchase price does not reflect the potential cost of thousands of dollars needed to achieve a safe, functional dwelling. One of the reasons why fixer-uppers are often on the low end of median home prices in any given region.

Sellers on the other hand can hire an inspector to complete a pre-inspection to ensure their

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

Oh the stories I’ve heard and even witnessed with Kamloops Home Buyers, as they search for the perfect place to call home.  

I thought, that what better way to illustrate being ready to buy a home than to present the potential pitfalls that you’ll come up against and how best to handle them. Dodge them at all costs.

So what are these typical, all too common home buying pitfalls?  Do any of these describe what you went through when trying to buy a home? Perhaps you’re a first-time Buyer that wants to avoid any problems now that you’re ready to buy a home.

Don’t be the Buyer who didn’t read this here and missed out on getting educated on what potential pitfalls you can come across when it’s time to buy a home.  If you keep reading, you won’t miss