Buyers

How to Lose a Bidding War

If you’re buying a property in the lower mainland, chances are you’ve lost in a bidding war at least once, if not more. Why? In short, it’s competitive, but you also could be making these common mistakes that people losing out in bidding ways typically make:

Including multiple conditions and subjects in your offer.

Simply put, if you include multiple conditions, you probably aren’t going to win a bidding war. If you need to wait to be approved for financing, need a long closing date, and want to wait for a home inspection, then you’re probably are not ready to buy a house in this competitive real estate market.

Not having your deposit ready to hand over.

Having your deposit cheque in-hand shows the buyers you’re serious and makes your offer more appealing to the sellers. If you don’t have it ready, someone else competing against you probably will.

Taking your time, and being indecisive.

If you move slowly and can’t make a decision, it’s probably already too late. Real Estate moves quickly, and unfortunately, buyers just aren’t able to take their time leisurely shopping around. I’ve actually had buyers that have purchased homes without seeing what the inside looks like; the market moves that fast.

Not having a plan B in place.

If your offer gets rejected, the seller might give you a chance to revise your offer. What will that revision be? You should talk about it ahead of time with your agent. If you don’t have a backup plan in place, you won’t be able to react in a calculated way.

Hiring an inexperienced real estate agent.

An experienced real estate agent can make all the difference. Why? Someone that has been around awhile will have experience with bidding wars, be a firm negotiator, know when to back off and when to go for it, and may even know the agent at the opposite end of the table. Going with someone inexperienced could mean all the difference between getting the home you want and beginning your home search all over again.

Benefits of Condo Living

Affordability

Condominiums have a very wide price range, with the lower range often within the budget of first-time buyers and single income families. To find a comparably priced home, you often have to search less desirable neighbourhoods and suburban areas of the city.

Freedom of the Condo Lifestyle

The “lock-up-and-go” lifestyle of a condo is what you need. You won’t find the grass knee high after a long business trip, or have to shovel the driveway just to get the car in the garage upon your return from an out-of-town meeting.

Security

Condos offer secured entrances, cameras, security patrols and some even have a security guard on site. Break-ins are also rare in buildings, so you won’t need a home alarm system, yet you can feel safe at the same time.

Community

Many buildings have “common areas” such as a gym, party room or swimming pool where unit owners can get together or just chat on occasion. Often, owners will find many things in common with others in the building because they share a similar lifestyle, care about the same building they are living in and enjoy the same neighbourhood amenities.

Lower Operating Costs

In most condos, the building insurance, building maintenance, the water bill and sometimes the heat and hydro are included in the condo fee. If heating is NOT included however, it is very inexpensive to heat a 800 sq ft condo compared to the average 800 sq ft bungalow because the units around you help to insulate you.

Benefits of Home Ownership

Benefits of Condo Living Owners of condos benefit from most of the same advantages that home owners do. They can live in it, rent it out, improve it, give it away or borrow money against it.

Tips for Women Buying Property

In honour of International Women’s Day, last week.

There are more women these days buying their first homes on their own then ever before. I think it’s mainly because… well let’s face it, we’ve always been better with our finances. Couple that with our maturity, allows us to embark into the real estate market faster. Now here are some great tips for those single women looking to purchase their first homes.

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10 Reasons to Hire a Real Estate Agent

With so much information readily available online, clients sometimes ask me, “Why should we hire a real estate agent?” Can’t I buy or sell a home through the Internet or through regular marketing and advertising channels without representation? Some do OK without representation and many don’t. So if you’ve wondered the same thing, here are 10 reasons why you might want to consider hiring a professional real estate agent.

1. Education & Experience

You don’t need to know everything about buying and selling real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, it proves you are smarter than they are. The trick is to find the right person. For the most part, they all cost about the same. Why not hire a person with more education and experience than you? We’re all looking for more precious time in our lives and hiring pros gives us that time.

2. Agents are Buffers

Agents take the spam out of your property showings and visits. If you’re a buyer of new homes, your agent will whip out her sword and keep the builder’s agents at bay, preventing them from biting or nipping at your heels. If you’re a seller, your agent will filter all those phone calls that lead to nowhere from lookie loos and try to induce serious buyers to immediately write an offer.

3. Neighbourhood Knowledge

Agents either possess intimate knowledge or they know where to find the industry buzz about your neighbourhood. They can identify comparable sales and hand these facts to you, in addition to pointing you in the direction where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. For example, you may know that a home down the street was on the market for $350,000, but an agent will know it had upgrades and sold at $285,000 after 65 days on the market.

4. Price Guidance

Contrary to what some people believe, agents do not select prices for sellers or buyers. However, an agent will help to guide clients to make the right choices for themselves. If a listing is at 7%, for example, an agent has a 7% vested interest in the sale, but the client has a 93% interest. Selling agents will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose a price. Then based on market supply, demand and the conditions, the agent will devise a negotiation strategy.

5. Market Conditions Information

Real estate agents can disclose market conditions, which will govern your selling or buying process. Many factors determine how you will proceed. Data such as the average per square foot cost of similar homes, median and average sales prices, average days on market and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria, will have a huge bearing on what you ultimately decide to do.

6. Professional Networking

Real estate agents network with other professionals, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, many agents will hesitate to recommend a certain individual or company over another, but they do know which vendors have a reputation for efficiency, competency and competitive pricing. Agents can, however, give you a list of references with whom they have worked and provide background information to help you make a wise selection.

7. Negotiation Skills & Confidentiality

Top producing agents negotiate well because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction and because they are skilled. It’s part of their job description. Good agents are not messengers, delivering buyer’s offers to sellers and vice versa. They are professionals who are trained to present their client’s case in the best light and agree to hold client information confidential from competing interests.

8. Handling Volumes of Paperwork

One-page deposit receipts were prevalent in the early 1970s. Today’s purchase agreements run 10 pages or more. Most real estate files average thicknesses from one to three inches of paper.

9. Answer Questions After Closing

Even the smoothest transactions that close without complications can come back to haunt. Many questions can pop up that were overlooked in the excitement of closing. Good agents stand by ready to assist. Worthy and honest agents don’t leave you in the dust to fend for yourself.

10. Develop Relationships for Future Business

The basis for an agent’s success and continued career in real estate is referrals. Few agents would survive if their livelihood was dependent on consistently drumming up new business. This emphasis gives agents strong incentives to make certain clients are happy and satisfied. It also means that an agent who stays in the business will be there for you when you need to hire an agent again. Many will periodically mail market updates to you to keep you informed and to stay in touch.

10 questions for an Interior Designer

Whether you’ve just moved into a new home, or want to make some redecorating choices in your existing space, you may want to hire an interior decorator to help you get the job done. But before you hire a designer to transform a room or area in your home, there are several questions you should ask to ensure that you’re connecting with the right designer to carry out your home decorating vision.

1. Credentials

Be sure to ask your interior designer about their credentials and qualifications when it comes to home design. Find out what school the designer attended and inquire about any professional affiliations they may have, so that you’ll feel at ease with the training and expertise that the designer will bring to your home project.

2. Portfolio

Ask the interior designer if you can see some of the work they have done for
other clients in portfolio form. Most interior designers will have both an online
and print portfolio these days, so you should be able to log onto the designer’s website at any time to view previous work that may be similar to the job you want done.

3. Years of Experience

Even though you’ve seen the designers portfolio and credentials, be sure to ask how long the designer has been working professionally. The more experience the designer has, the more comfortable you may feel allowing them to complete major home projects, such as knocking out a wall or replacing floors. However keep in mind that junior designers can be more eager and are fresh out of school with new ideas to bring to the table.

4. Work Requirements

During your initial consultation, ask your interior designer if they want to take on an entire home project or are willing to work on only one room or area. Some designers will only accept a project if they design for the entire home, so make sure you are clear on this before signing any contracts.

5.Budget

Let your interior designer know what your budget is and ask whether the home remodeling project you want completed will fit within this budget. This way, you’ll know exactly how much money you need before any work is done.

6. Payment

Ask the designer how much of a deposit is required before work can begin. Inquire about how you can pay for services, so that you can set up a workable payment plan.

7. Length of Project

Ask your interior designer how long the home decor project will take so that you and your family can make the proper adjustments. Work of this type usually takes longer than anticipated, so prepare for the project to extend at least two weeks more than projected.

8. Contract

Inquire about all aspects of the contract between you and the interior designer so that there are no misunderstandings during the decorating process. Ask about any terms that you’re not clear on and get clarification on the ones that you understand well.

9. Construction Crew

Ask the designer if you need to hire your own construction crew. In many cases, the interior designer has a group of go-to contractors for projects, but you’ll need to know this before any work is done so that you can hire additional professionals and budget accordingly.

10. Leadership

Talk to your interior designer about the way the home design project will
be conducted. Ask the professional if they work best by being the leader on a project, or welcome lots of input from the homeowner, so that you’ll know whether you and the designer can work together.