Vancouver and Richmond inventory levels (homes for sale on the MLS) continue to be at record low levels. There are far more buyers than there are sellers. Most quality homes and condos are selling with multiple offers and over asking. If you are thinking about selling sometime in 2016 I might suggest you list your home sooner rather than later. Once you make the decision to sell I would strongly suggest you interview several Realtors for the job.  

The Federal Government recently increased the minimum downpayment to purchase a home in Canada. Prior to the change a buyer was able to buy up to a 1 million dollar home (if they qualified) for as little as 5% down or $50,000 of their own money and borrow the other $950,000. Now buyers (if they qualify) will need 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the next $500,000. So, that same 1 million dollar home will now require a minimum $75,000 downpayment.  Here’s the big newsflash that most media outlets failed to report. It is very very difficult for a buyer to ever qualify for up to a 1 million dollar home with only 5% down. Most buyers would need a much bigger down payment for that size of loan. For that reason this slightly higher down ...

It’s that time of year again. The 2016 BC Assessment notices are arriving in the mail. As always, there is plenty of confusion and frustration as to what this spike in assessed values means for home owners. A few things to remember, if you had a 25% increase in your assessed value that will NOT cause your property taxes to spike by 25%. You're wasting your time if you’re looking to have your assessed value reviewed on your Lower Mainland home. The assessed value is ultra conservative. The market value of your home ( Real Value) is much higher. Where you might want to focus your concern is the over 55000 homes in BC that have now become ineligible for the BC homeowners grant in 2016.

Housing for sale is at record low levels in Vancouver. Most condos are getting multiple offers and selling at close to full ask or above. This is why, for the first time in over 7 years, I am starting to look at Vancouver pre-construction condos again. 

A number of people have asked me about a new development planned for 902 Davie Street in Vancouver. This is going to be a new 30 floor tower containing several hundred micro condos ranging in size from 175 to 275 sq ft. With the price of a 550 sq ft 1 bedroom well into the $400K range I see these micro condos being very popular with young first time buyers and investors. Millennials today want to live in the city. They want to be able to walk to work and entertainment and prefer newer modern units. Many are giving up the car and are walking or riding their bikes to get around. I see these micro units being priced in the sweet spot that’s affordable to these young first time buyers.   

If you’re planning to convert your current principal residence into an investment property by renting it out to a tenant, it’s important to adjust your cost base and have it fully documented when you move out. It’s all part of the service that I offer to all my clients. I will provide you with a detail market analysis based on comps in your building and neighbourhood as well as a written assessment of the current market value. Down the road, if you decide to sell this unit you’re going to need documents that will prove to the CRA, the adjusted cost base of the property on the date you moved out and turned it into a rental.

I often get sellers telling me they’re thinking about doing a full renovation to their unit before selling. In this video I will go through a couple of situations I recently had where doing renovations made sense and another where the seller might have been better off simply painting, cleaning and decluttering the unit to achieve the maximum net selling price.

A follow up to a blog I did several years ago talking about changes coming to the BC Strata act that will make it much easier for an entire strata complex to be sold. At the present time it takes a 100% unanimous vote by owners to sell an entire strata. It looks like new legislation is going to be passes as early as Spring 2016 to reduce that vote down to 80%.

In taking a look at some of the comments on my blog as well as the Globe & Mail and Vancouver Sun, I can’t help but notice how many people focus on the current Vancouver home prices and where they are headed in the short term. People will question how a Realtor like me can continue to recommend people buy in today’s market when prices are at all time highs. What if we get a 20% correction and the home they just bought is down $200,000. These people think waiting for a big correction and buying is a much better strategy. In this video I will explain why time in the market will always beat timing the market and how the odds are stacked against you in pretty much every way by thinking you’re smarter than the market. Remember.. if you w ...

I try and read several books a month, everything from investment books to autobiographies of successful CEO’s sports stars and actors. One of the philosophies many of these successful people adhere to is they make decisions quickly and they change their minds slowly. However, if you were to ask most people how they make decisions they would more than likely get this in reverse.