If you’ve been perusing house listings online or have begun your search for your dream home, odds are good that you’ve run into the term “motivated seller” on more than one occasion.

This is a somewhat strange term to use to describe the seller, since you would think that every seller would be motivated. If they’re not motivated, then why are they selling? Motivated sellers are selling for different reasons and the use of the word “motivated” is supposedly enticing to buyers. Before you get drawn to a listing put up by a motivated seller, you should have a clearer understanding of what a motivated seller could actually be. The following are three different types of sellers that may refer to themselves as motivated sellers, and how to deal with them:

General Credit Overview When Purchasing a House in Kamloops

If you are trying to buy a new home, you have probably heard that your credit score or home buying credit affects this process. However, you may be wondering exactly how it affects your ability to buy a home. Generally, you will need a credit score of 660 to obtain a mortgage. The qualifying credit score used to be as low as 580 points. However, since the mortgage crisis of 2008, banks are becoming more conservative in their lending practices.

Did you know that your credit score affects your interest rate? The lower your credit score, the higher your interest rate will be. This means that if you have a bad credit score, you will end up paying more than somebody with a good credit score.

Let’s talk HOME BUYING and things that might not seem important at first.

When you buy a house without asking yourself the right questions, you sometimes end up making costly mistakes. And isn’t the whole point to save money?? Definitely!

These items below are the questions you may need to ask before jumping in with 2 feet.  I’m sharing these tips with you in hopes of helping other people make the best decisions about home buying! Its exciting buying a home and sometimes your thoughts are on what would your TV look like in this room not things that are potential problems only found after moving in.
A good Realtor will be automatically taking in and making mental notes of all these questions but its always worth asking yourself these questions and

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

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

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

I’m a buyer, what do I need to know about an appraisal?

THE HOME APPRAISAL PROCESS

As the home buyer, you will probably be requesting an appraisal. If you are getting a loan to buy your house, an appraisal will be part of the process. 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.

If the house is appraised high, your agent may suggest you make a lower offer with the attached appraisal to qualify for your loan. In some cases, the seller may still hold to their original asking price and ask you to pay the difference