This report is posted, with permission, from a recent report by the BCREA about their concern about Safety for REALTORS(R) during their weekend "OPEN HOUSEs". The Langley RCMP issued the following notice concerning a recent spate of thefts at open houses in that community. We would like to remind all members to exercise caution when conducting open houses, ensure that prospective home buyers are not left unescorted and to always report suspicious behaviour to local police. Over the last month, Langley RCMP has taken note of a number of thefts from residences currently listed for sale. These crimes are committed by thieves posing as potential homebuyers attending Open Houses or walking through homes for sale with a realtor. The thieves will distract the realtor, perhaps asking for a tap... 09/02/2010

Here’s a great video that will put the Variable % Rate VERSUS Locked-in % Rate debate into some perspective.  Every client should listen to this and do the mathematics before they commit to any product their bank is offering them. REFERENCES:Real Estate Investment Network (REIN)Business News Network   09/02/2010

“You thought “Foreclosures” were supposed to be a “Deal”!? Many a budding and thrifty first-time buyers, investors, or returning Real Estate “just lookers” assume they’ll find themselves a “great deal”on a “foreclosure” somewhere and, in so doing, “outsmart” everyone else.  Alas, if it were only that easy!  There are many different types of “foreclosure”.   The most common “foreclosure” I will discuss here is the legal process called “foreclosure.” “Foreclosure” is where a Lender begins to cancel the borrower’s right to redeem their property – catch up with late payments and/or fines and/or taxes and/or penalties – or takes that privilege away.  If the borrower doesn’t co-operate, after the initial “foreclosure” steps, the lender may proceed to sell the property and, upon the sale, app... 09/02/2010

THE SCIENCE OF THE FIRST REAL ESTATE PURCHASE – SIMPLE AS 1, 2 and 3(by Jark Krysinski) 1. How Do I Know if I’m Ready to Buy, more Objectively? Don’t look to your heart for answers to real estate! It’s a science. I have a checklist of 50 reasons supporting a real estate purchase. These take your financial history/present, your long-term plans, your personality, your preferred degree/nature of freedom, and whether you’d rather make a sound investment before or after making travel plans. Ask me for my checklist! 2. OK, I’m Totally Excited About Buying Something, How Do I Start? Finding the right REALTOR® (and NOT using the seller’s agent!) is crucial. A REALTOR’S® services cost buyers nothing and are your best toolkit. Getting “pre-qualified” by at least two lenders is next! The most com... 09/02/2010

[Mortgage update according to Pauline Tonkin]  Over the past few weeks we have seen a steady decline in fixed rates. Even the discount on variable rates is dropping. We have been notified that the rates below – for some lenders – will drop again tomorrow. This rate drop may not stick around for long though as the bond market may move again and result in a bounce back in rates. So, if you are considering your mortgage renewal, looking to refinance to renovate or buy another property – or you are buying a new home for your family – you should consider getting a rate hold now – good till almost Christmas – as these low rates won’t last forever. This protects you from rate increases in the typical fall season. If you want Pauline to run some numbers or review your current situation – no ob... 09/02/2010

[The Recent LANDCOR report is as follows]“British Columbia real estate – riding out the storm” Vancouver, BC – August 18, 2010 In Q2 2010, home sales in BC rose 52% compared to Q1 2009, and the total dollar value of residential sales rose by 55%, showing a potential return by the real estate market to normal levels. The Q2 2010 Residential Sales Summary, released today by Landcor Data Corporation, looks at sales and price data for BC as a whole and regionally: Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island, the Kootenays, the Okanagan, the Fraser Valley and BC North/Northwest. Landcor’s unique data includes all sales in the province, not just sales transacted through independent listing services. There were 35,253 sales in BC in Q2 2010, which is 27.8% more than occurred in Q2 2009 when 27,579 sa... 09/02/2010

I’ve just stumbled upon this great summarg of Government and Private financial aid available to Property Buyers and Property Owners.   It’s a great summary put out by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Aug 14th Issue, Volume 11, Number 16.  Here is a scan of the TOP 21 Grants and Rebates for Property Buyers and Owners. REFERENCES:Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Aug 14th Issue, Volume 11, Number 16.   09/02/2010

Home Buyers in the Driver’s Seat Vancouver, BC – August 12, 2010. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province declined 42 per cent to 5,784 units in July compared to the same month last year.  On a seasonally adjusted basis, MLS® residential unit sales in the provincedeclined 19 per cent in July from June 2010. The average MLS® residential priceclimbed 6 per cent to $491,832 in July compared to the same month last year. “A relatively large number of homes for sale have created the most favourable supply conditions for home buyers in more than a year,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. MLS® active residential listings were 21 per cent higher in July than at the start of the year on a seasona... 09/02/2010

This is a short summary of a Globe And Mail Article from July 28 that I thought you would appreciate.  Canadian house prices rose 1.3 per cent in May from a month earlier, and now stand 4.2 per cent above their pre-recession peak, according to a Teranet-National Bank composite house price index. It marked the 13th straight month of increases and the second that prices rose in each of the six regions it covers. National Bank economist Marc Pinsonneault contrasted that to the real estate market in the United States, where prices are down almost 30 per cent from their peak. In Canada, year over year, the index is up 13.6 per cent. The index differs from the measure used by the Canadian Real Estate Association. I quote from the article here: “But we do not believe that acceleration in the ... 09/02/2010

This is a new Article dated August 7, in the Vancouver Sun. My summary is as follows:  Metro Vancouver stands to benefit form wealthy Philanthropists who see our community is a thriving breathing ground for socially conscious investment, often time “over the last 15 years…playing a role in making Vancouver a leader in green companies, sustainable initiatives, and socialist politics.”   Vancouver is “the obvious choice to concentrate their activities and build momentum for their causes” due to it’s high potential in many respects in that it’s “prosperous”, “a meeting of cultures” “it’s geographically positioned on the innovative coast”, “it is educated”… and so on.   The article summarizes Vancouver’s great green initiatives such as: more bike lanes, farmers’ markets, backyard chickens,... 09/02/2010

This is to announce that I’m adding another useful article to the “Items of Value” page, on the main page (and every page) called: “Real Estate Numbers are Transitory…” This article does a good job at showing the following things: 1. The principle of supply and demand is often misunderstood in the Real Estate context, in that the critical fact is that a certain number of homes will always be required to house people, whether they rent or buy, used or new.2. Demand for housing — all kinds of housing — is growing, and Greater Vancouver’s share of provincial population growth is the better part of 1000 per week. For other great details… just read the articles here.   09/02/2010

Here is a quick analysis on a very interesting article I picked up.  It is a Globe and Mail article I found enlightening, particularly it's subtle but enlightening standpoint on Asian-Pacific investments in Canada's West coast and beyond.  This article talks about some 30 investors taking a tour of Toronto and Vancouver, scheduled for August and September of this summer, all 30 of whom are said to be "dropping" a half-million dollars each on real estate investments. "Half a world away, a handful of Chinese citizens are feverishly planning a Canadian real-estate shopping excursion." This article comes out in a timely way particularly because, as I've discovered a few weeks ago, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada did release a report last year about Canada being a major investment ter... 09/02/2010

The Best of Friends, the Worst of Friends Please let me introduce you to my cat and my dog.  I know, they match.  Believe me, that was an accident.  Even though I'm a designer, I really wasn't trying to play matchy-poo with my animals. We first found Ginger when he showed up in our garage, sleeping in a discarded baby seat.  My daughter, Dominique, at that time was 2 years old.  Ginger wasn't neutered, and was obviously galavanting the neighbourhood, looking for young, delightful felines.  We checked with the SPCA, but no one was looking for this lovely Maine Coon cat.  We ended up adopting Ginger, or should I say, he adopted us! I know, Ginger is a girl's name, but his colouring is ginger, and we never in a million years thought he'd spend the rest of his life with us!  So the name kin... 09/01/2010

  VANCOUVER HOME MORTGAGE  REFINANCING REFINANCING  CONSIDERING REFINANCING YOUR HOME MORTGAGE? REFINANCING MAY GIVE YOU LOWER MONTHLY PAYMENTS Are your monthly payments and other debts leaving you cash poor each month? Allow Me to Work out the Details to See If You Would Benefit from by Refinancing at Today's Low Rates FREE  QUICK AND EASY TO FIND OUT Darrell Backen 604.726.7100 SERVING ALL BC CITIES Abbotsford, Armstrong, Burnaby, Campbell River, Castlegar,  Chilliwack,  Colwood, Coquitlam, Courtenay, Cranbrook,  Dawson Creek, Duncan, Enderby, Fernie, Fort St. John, Grand Forks, Greenwood, Kamloops, Kelowna, Kimberley, Kitimat, Langford, Langley, Merritt, Nanaimo, Nelson, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Parksville, Penticton, Pitt Meadows, Port Alberni, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, P... 09/01/2010

Do you have a Nortel phone that needs repair in Vancouver Burnaby Coquitlam? Call TMSI 604 571 6480  SERVING ALL LOWER MAINLAND CITIES ABBOTSFORD, ANMORE, BURNABY, CLOVERDALE, COQUITLAM, DELTA,, GIBSONS, LANGLEY, LIONS BAY, MAPLE RIDGE, MISSION, NORTH VANCOUVER, PITT MEADOWS, PORT COQUITLAM, PORT MOODY, RICHMOND, SQUAMISH, STEVESTON, SURREY, TSAWWASSEN, VANCOUVER,  WEST VANCOUVER, 09/01/2010

Quail's Gate Winery - Cedar, Sunshine and Sensational Wines On our recent trip to Kelowna and the local wineries of this area, another winery that stood out, besides Mission Hill, was Quail's Gate Winery.  Also located on the Westbend near Kelowna, Quail's Gate boasts a beautiful location, overlooking the Boucherie Mountain Bench and the Okanagan lake.  For you history buffs, a little background on Quail's Gate...  This winery has been in the Stewart family since the turn of the century.  Richard Stewart Senior arrived in the Okanagan in 1908 from County Kildare in Ireland, and started growing fruit.  His son, Dick, planted the first vines in 1961, and then Dick's sons, Ben and Tony revamped Quail's Gate in the early 1990's.  Quail's Gate is now one of Canada's leading estate wineries, ... 08/31/2010

Online Dating and Home Staging - First Impressions are Everything Imagine you enter the world of online dating.  You start looking at the photos of potential mates.  First, you see the photos that are blank - the guy is too shy or has too much to hide to post his photo - Next! You go on to some more photos.  You see a guy that resembles Ron Howard when he's not at the Oscars.  Scraggly beard, dreadful baseball cap, hiding his eyes, messy t-shirt and basically sloppy and unkempt looking.  Do you want to read more about him?  Do you want to delve into his profile?  Of course you don't.  Why waste your time when there are so many more men to look at?  You move on. Ah, now it starts to get interesting.  You see a photo of a guy that looks the spitting image of Cary Grant.  He's well dressed... 08/31/2010

Glengarry Glen Ross, Eric McCormack & Me That's me on the left, my new BFF Eric McCormack and my friend, Amanda on the right. You may ask yourself what the play, Glengarry Glen Ross, the actor, Eric McCormack (Will Truman on Will & Grace), and myself all have in common.  Well, the play is wrapping up here in Vancouver, after rave reviews.  Eric McCormack, who lives half the time in L.A. and half the time in Vancouver, starred in this gritty play, and I went with a group of friends, to watch the performance. Here's a photo of Brian Markinson surrounded by my lovely girlfriends. Every year, my friend and tennis buddy, Nancy, invites us to see a play that her husband, Brian Markinson stars in.  After the play, we all head back to Nancy and Brian's house for an after party.  Last year we wa... 08/23/2010

Exceptional Wine Meets Superb Design at Mission Hill As a Vancouver Home Stager, I am always on the lookout for great design.  Design is all around us, and all we have to do is open our eyes and be exposed to the beauty that surrounds us.  Whether the design is natural or man made, successful design will always speak to our souls. I was very fortunate to travel recently to British Columbia's wine country, near Kelowna, where I toured numerous wineries.  One winery that really stands out from a design point of view, is Mission Hill.  The proprietor is Anthony von Mandl and he was born in Vancouver, of Austrian/Czechoslovakian descent.  He hired Tom Kudig, an architect from Seattle, to design Mission Hill.  Kudig's vision was to create buildings which would not compete with the natural be... 08/16/2010

Ray Goon, 3rd generation Chinese-Canadian and retired postal worker was telephoned one day about a mural being painted in Vancouver Chinatown. Turned out, the caller recognized the theme as a family picture from the Goon album. A local painter, decided he would do something nice for past generations of Chinese families, so, he painted a mural on a building in downtown Vancouver. (One of several). The woman on the far left is his grandmother in a photo dated 1884, (before Vancouver was a city).  In spite of extreme racism, the family prospered and thrived. I really like seeing heritage being preserved like this; a "living wall" of history, for generations to enjoy. 08/10/2010