Owen blogs about the most critical aspect of selling your home, which is the right PRICE. "If it's not priced correctly from the start all my marketing efforts become greatly diminished. It's the main reason why almost half of all MLS listings never get sold. Coming up with the proper price for your home is not a quick and easy process. It starts with a tour of your home or condo from there I put to use a powerful software system that will compare your home to active listings and solds. There are many other factors I will take into account including current inventory levels, pricing trends and forecasts, average days on market, current market activity and interest rates. As well as the + and - your home has ...

Last month, the Bank of Montreal, in an attempt to gain market share during the slower winter housing months, surprised the mortgage industry by introducing a posted 2.99% 5-year fixed rate mortgage to the marketplace. The move prompted a bit of a mortgage war as other lenders played catch-up to match what was done by BMO. The result of all of this maneuvering is that consumers now have some of the lowest rate options in history. But why would the Bank of Montreal want to start a mortgage price war? The reason is that many of the big banks see mortgage lending as an effective loss-leader in order to capture more overall banking market share. After all, a mortgage is often a 20+ year commitment. During that time, ...

I just finished uploading this House for sale, 4651 LANCELOT Drive, Richmond, British ColumbiaWonderful 2,300 sq ft rancher on 60x117 foot lot. Located in quiet subdivision. Large rec room addition 2003 with wet bar and full bath. High end S/S appliances incl. gas range & Sakura range hood. Large garage has room for 2 cars as well as workshop (has 220 volt) and storage. Wide hallways and spacious baths. Well suited for wheelchair. Backs on to quiet greenbelt. New roof 2003 - heavy duty pressure treated cedar. Close to Hugh Boyd High School, transit Seafair Shops & West RMD Rec Centre.

I wanted to share with you an interesting little formula I came across on a real estate & investment website. It's NOT meant to be a definitive formula by any means. Just a quick way to calculate if the home or condo you are thinking of buying might be better to rent at the present moment. Real estate should always be purchased with a long term horizon and seldom does renting long term ever work out to be a better option than buying, holding and paying down the mortgage because you are creating equity and wealth in 2 ways. #1. Thru property appreciation and #2. By paying down the debt each month by way of your monthly, or even better bi-weekly mortgage payment. In my experience very few people will save or inves ...

Owen Bigland blogs about how there are 3 different types of value that are attached to any piece of residential real estate. Appraised Value: This is done by your bank or lending institution if you are borrowing money via a mortgage to purchase the home. The banks want to make sure that the house you are buying and borrowing money for is actually worth what you are paying. Occasionally deals can collapse when someone buys an overpriced property and the bank appraises it for less than what was paid. As a result they will usually require the borrower to increase their down payment if they want to secure the mortgage and close the deal. Assessed Value: This is done by the Province (BC Assessment), they estimate the v ...

Owen Bigland blogs about how major repairs, maintenance and upgrades to your Vancouver condo will be coming out of your pocket via a special assessment. Some home owners seem to think that's what the contingency reserve fund is for. I'm here to tell you that it rarely is. You might vote to use some funds to help offset the cost of the repair or upgrade but chances are the majority of the funds will be paid by you based on your unit entitlement via a special assessment.Special levy's are NOT unusual even on newer buildings. Major components are going to need upgrading or repair on a regular basis. Some are minor like painting the walls in the hallway or lobby, upgrading some landscaping or lighting. Others are ma ...

Owen blogs about a question he is asked quite frequently. Why is it so damn expensive to by a home in the Lower Mainland? There are many things that contribute to our high prices here in Vancouver but the 2 main ones are no surprise ...it's simply boils down to supply and demand. Demand is high and getting higher all the time. Mainland China buyers love Vancouver, San Francisco and LA. The secret about living on the West coast is out. This is simply where people from all over the country, North America and even the world want to live. It's not a dream many people have to one day live in Winnipeg, which is why you can buy a detached home there for $200,000. On the other side of the equation is supply. In the Lowe ...

We are proud to announce that this Feb 12th, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 8880 NO 1 Road in the Boyd Park neighborhood, Richmond. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Condo for sale in beautiful Boyd Park.Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Boyd Park Condo for sale.As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604 889-1118 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.Owen BiglandMacdonald Westmar

We are proud to announce that this Feb 12th, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 8860 NO 1 Road in the Boyd Park neighborhood, Richmond. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Condo for sale in beautiful Boyd Park.Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Boyd Park Condo for sale.As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at 604 889-1118 if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.Owen BiglandMacdonald Westmar

I just finished uploading this Condo for sale, 201 8740 NO 1 Road, Richmond, British Columbia"Apple Greene" bright & spacious 1 bedroom + Den. (Den easily converts to 2nd bedroom). New phase featuring hook-up for insuite laundry, 1.5 bathrooms. 1118 sq ft including the enclosed balcony. Loads of storage space plus a locker. Undercover parking. Great rec. facilities with indoor & outdoor swimming pools and more. Near Seafair Shopping Centre and transit.