Prince George Real Estate

Well, I have launched my 'Christmas Gift Draw' open to all of you living in Canada!

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:53:39 -0600

Sorry, Canadian residents only.

Enter for a chance to win! Free Entry.

The one winner drawn will win all 3 gifts:
1- $50 Tims card
1- 5 cents of a litre for 500 litre gas card
1- Bluetooth hands free headset!

PLUS for every entry I will be donating $1.00 per entry to the local Salvation Army here in Prince George BC.

So enter for a chance... to win plus it helps the Salvation Army help the less fortunate families this Christmas. Visit my website www.DeanBirks.com click on 'Christmas Draw' or scroll down to the bottom and enter.

The more entries (one per person please) the more gets donated to the Salvation Army so pass along to friends, family and co-workers.

Cheers!

Canadian Gov't just committed over $100 Million to New Power Line

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:11:32 -0500

Prince George BC will benefit greatly with the construction of a new $400+ Million power line. This will open up allot of mining possibilities and give access to Alaska a cheaper source of hydro.

For detail click on this link to the news in pdf format. - Click Here

Prince George is a great place to live and work. Visit the 'PG News/Local Info' tab on my website www.DeanBirks.com to learn about Prince George and what it has to offer.

Cheers

Dean Birks

BC Northern Real Estate - Average MLS Price

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:04:55 -0500

BC Northern Real Estate - Sales to Active Listing Ratio

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:01:18 -0500

BC Northern Real Estate - Forecast

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:59:28 -0500

Haldi Rd School as a home?

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:56:21 -0500

The possibilities are endless with this Haldi Rd Elementary School that has been converted to a home. Imagine large spacious rooms that have been redone with warmth and colors. your own private gym with most of the equipment, your own soccer/football field, playground & tennis court. This could also be ideal for institutions looking for the infrastructure of a school. The 10 acres (may be sub divided) is chain link fenced around the perimeter. Newer torch on roof, all new ultra high efficiency furnaces, ev erything appears in mint shape. In law suites for additional income.

Visit www.DeanBirks.com for detail etc.

Haldi Rd School converted to a great home!

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:54:41 -0500

Prince George to get 2 new Bio-Energy plants!

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:18:55 -0500

The P.G. Interior Waste to Energy group said today they plan to start construction on a $50 million bioenergy project in early May.
The project is expected to create 70 jobs, producing electricty to heat 7,000 homes, as well as other products like bio-energy and bio-oil.

"This is an example of the new forestry sector" says Liberal candidate for Prince George-Mackenzie Pat Bell, "The plant will also produce an activated charcoal that can be used in water filters and in the automotive paint industry. It also produces light and heavy oils. The light oil can be used as bio-diesel and the heavy oil has other applications."

For full story here is a link - Click Here

Don't Use MLXJet - an unethical company with non-existent customer service

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:06:23 -0500

I am also having billing issues with this company called MLXJet - MLXjet Media Corp? There site http://www.mlxjet.com/Email_letterhead.php

Even though I canceled their service over a year ago, out of the blue they billed my credit card for $144.90 for a year subscription back in January 2009 this year. I called them and asked why they are billing Real Estate Agents without authorization and they said nothing other than they would credit me. Well, it is March 2009 and I still have no credit on my credit card statement so I called them again. They now tell me that they will not credit me for the unauthorized billing because it is past 30 days of the billing.

Just wondering if I am the only Real Estate Agent with this problem with MLX Jet - MLXjet Media Corp?

Via Barbara Erskine (Virtual Business Solutions):

MLXJet is an email template company based in California that gives you an extension to use on an email address, so the sender receives notification of the recipient reading your email.

To design a memorable email presentation, I signed up a year ago December to try it for a year. I did not see the results I hoped nor use it as much as planned, so was not going to renew the service. Monday I received an email from the company saying they had charged my credit card for another year. I never received a warning, or notice of impending renewal.

When I called Billing, I was told that not giving the customer notice was the company policy, that I had had 11 months to cancel, and it was tough that I didn't but that I agreed to the automatic renewal 12 months ago. Their policy was that I had to cancel within 30 days of automatic renewal.

This did not make me happy, so I spoke with the General Manager of the company, who echoed the comments of the billing department. He said it is the premise of the company to charge without notice so the subscription does not lapse. He said my account was undoubtedly costing their company money because they probably had to pay a referral fee to someone when I signed up. He didn't care that I don't want the service, and that I have no desire to continue as their customer. I now have 11 more months to cancel after I've been charged for a year.

The business practices of MLXJet are unethical and sneaky. They care nothing for customer service. They do not give you notice ahead of time for the annual charge because they don't have enough confidence in the value of their product to feel customers would renew. They leave a trail of unhappy and abused customers. I hope whoever reads this will not do business with them.

Anyone else having issues with MLXJet?

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:02:53 -0500

I am having billing issues with this company called MLXJet - MLXjet Media Corp? There site http://www.mlxjet.com/Email_letterhead.php

Just wondering if I am the only Real Estate Agent with this problem with MLX Jet - MLXjet Media Corp?

3 New Blogs

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:57:59 -0600

Here is a link to 3 great Blogs I have updated. Don't forget to subscribe when you visit them.

Foreclosure Blog for Prince George and BC - click here

Investor Blog - click here

PG Real Estate Blog - click here

If you have a great article or info you would like to add to any of my blogs just contact me - Click Here

Our buyers are low but so is our listing inventory so we are in better shape than most places. With interest rates for a mortgage as low as 3.8% one should be serious about buying if they are renting right now.

All the best in 2009!

Cheers

Dean Birks

Thanks to all my clients and fellow Realtors for another great year!

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:06:56 -0600

Visit Prince George BC #1 Real Estate Web Site - www.DeanBirks.com

MLS Sales and Listings for 2008 report for Prince George BC.

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:29:29 -0600

I have just compiled the MLS data of Sales and Listings for 2008 here in Prince George. This report is for Detached homes within City limits. We have done alot better than most report.
Also note that May, June, July data is not available and is not represented in the data.

Click Here for the report.

All the best in the new year!
Cheers

Dean Birks

Prince George Airport - The New Transpacific Logisitics Alternative Video

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:24:40 -0600

Just another of the many reasons Prince George BC is a fantastic place to live, work and invest!

Click Here to watch video

YXS - The New Transpacific Logisitics Alternative

The Runway Expansion Project has transformed runway 15/33 from 7,400 ft. to 11,450 ft., complete with centre line (LED) lighting, dual ILS navigational systems and a dedicated de-icing refueling pad for wide body aircraft. Once completed, the Runway Expansion Project will allow the PGAA to market the airport as a new transpacific logistics alternative, providing carriers the opportunity to make Prince George a destination of choice for refueling and transshipment of cargo.

Canadians voice your concern and have a say in next Federal Budget

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:16:50 -0600

Here is a great chance for Canadians to voice there concern and have input to the next Federal Budget. As for Real Estate here in Canada may I suggest one idea you add in the 'Other' comments.

Ask the Federal Gov't to add in the budget that Canadians who invest in Real Estate and sell their investments that they can 'Roll Over' or suspend paying Capital Gains as long as they invest in another Real Estate investment. This would be big for investors to move their Capital Gains (Profit) to the next Real Estate investment without paying tax yet.

CLICK ON THIS LINK to access the questionnaire - http://www.fin.gc.ca/scripts/prebudgetsurvey/selectMainPriorities_e.asp

Have a great day and Merry Christmas to all!

Cheers

Dean Birks

Should you down size?

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:28:29 -0600

A great many moves in our lives are to larger residences to accommodate growing families. Or, perhaps our financial development allows us to move up to a larger home with more features and amenities. There is no stress involved in trying to reduce our life's stuff to fit into a smaller place. If anything, we just need to shop for some more furniture for the new larger place.

There is the other side of this coin, however. Perhaps there have been economic setbacks, and we can no longer afford a large home. We need to downsize to something less expensive, and with lower utility bills, insurance and taxes. More likely these days is that we're of the Baby Boomer generation, and we're downsizing for our retirement years. Our children are out on their own, and we don't need the space that we did previously.

Whatever the reasons for the necessity or desire to downsize our primary residence, it brings a whole raft of other decisions and requirements along with it.

Should we buy a condo or another single family home?
What size residence do we really need?
How do we decide on furniture to keep?
How do we parcel out belongings to our children fairly?
How do we get rid of the items we don't need?
Can we make do with a lot less?

These are a lot of different decisions and tasks than we've had to deal with in previous moves. Taking an organized approach and planning well will help to alleviate the stress that can grow in this situation. Let's answer our questions to get our downsizing project started.

Should we buy a condo or another single family home? Once some thought is put into this question, it usually is not that difficult to answer. Can you deal with living in close proximity to others? How private have your previous residences been? If you're used to a large yard as a cushion from intrusion, a condo might not be for you. Do you like complete control of your home expenses? Condos have association fees that can change. Sometimes large project projects such as parking lots and roofing can cause a sudden large increase in fees. There is something to be said for having exterior maintenance handled for you. Just think about the trade-offs.

What size residence do we really need? People are all different, so errors in residence size choice go both ways. Some believe that they can make do with much less space than they really can. Others are afraid to downsize, and decide on a residence that is too large for them.

One process we'll mention again is getting out some graph paper or floor plan software and doing some testing and planning. What furniture must you keep, no matter what? Plan your rooms on paper to see the size of the home that results. Try very hard not to end up with a storage building, thus just relocating items you don't need in the first place.

How do we decide on furniture to keep? This is related to the item just above. We said to draw out locations for the furniture you must keep. What would that be? Obviously, if you have heirlooms that are dear to you as well as functional, you'll probably want to keep them. If you find yourself planning to store them though, give it some more thought.

Walk each room and see if there is furniture that you never use. Is there a chair in the living room that nobody ever uses? It should probably go. Do this walk-through for every room, note down what you plan on keeping, and plan it out on software or the graph paper.

How do we parcel out items fairly to our children? If you're about to get rid of a great number of personal possessions, many may be of value to your relatives. Hard feelings can come from going about giving them away without some planning and discussion. You might want to call everyone together to discuss who will get what. You might give each a set of colored stickies, and have them go through and mark items that they want. You will, of course, have already marked the items that you'll be giving away. You may find that there aren't that many disagreements amongst them. The group can decide on the conflict items while you're all there.

How do we get rid of the rest? We have the normal charitable organization options, such as the Salvation Army. There may be other local charities that specialize in furniture, clothing or other items. Try to list all items going to each and have them sign for receipt. Ask an accountant about valuation for tax purposes.

You can also hold a garage sale, or multiple sales. Ask the neighbors if they want to cooperate with a neighborhood sale. More participants mean more items and better exposure. Plan it well, advertise and arrange items by type or room, such as all kitchen items together. Much of this type of buying is on impulse, so have like items together.

If you're storing things for your children, you will just have to tell them to come and get it. Give them a date, and be clear that it will be disposed of to charity or yard sale if not taken by that deadline.

Can we make do with a lot less? Yes. That's the only way to answer that question. Perhaps it's better worded "How can we make do with a lot less?" Up to this point, our graph paper or floor plan software were used at the old residence. Now we use them to set up our new digs.

Once you've decided on a tentative purchase, use your graph paper or floor plan software to set up your move. Have a list of all the furniture, place it on your scale drawings of the rooms, and be sure where everything will go. You don't want surprises when the movers are holding an item in the living room. Be sure that you've also drawn in items that could create problems for furniture location. Those might include radiators, fireplaces, wood heaters, or any other item that cannot be moved and takes up floor space or causes clearance problems.

Most people who downsize learn to love their new smaller homes. There is less to care for, clean and keep heated and cooled. You'll be more apt to be happy with the new home if you planned your downsizing carefully.

Fantastic Log Home on 5 acres

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:59:32 -0600

Wholesome country living on 5 private acres. Solid, well maintained log home features vaulted 20 ft ceilings, open living room and country kitchen. Master bedroom in the loft has an ensuite and private deck facing west. Two bedrooms on the main are very spacious and there is a cozy guest bedroom in the partially finished basement. The well produces ample amounts of excellent water and there is a 24x24 garage and storage shed for your vehicles and toys. The community hall, curling rink, fire hall and elementary school are only a few minutes away. This is a must view if country living is what your looking for.

Visit www.DeanBirks.com for details.

Free Foreclosure Lists for Prince George BC

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:04:03 -0600

Well its that time in the cycle that there are a few Foreclosures now appearing here in Prince George BC. Most are not great deals but you never know.

Bank Foreclosures and Estate Sales often represent a great way to get a great deal on a home and investment property. If you would like a current list of all Foreclosures & Estate Sales in Prince George and surrounding area sent to you by email please click here.

Can't trust what you read or hear in the news!

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:50:49 -0600

As every day, week go by I find the news media becoming more inaccurate with their facts and I don't see a real good reason why. For the record in Prince George the MLS stats for single family homes on the market here as of Oct.30, 2008 is 487 homes! Not the 800 to 1000 you will hear out there.

Prince George is in a great position to recover ahead of most other places in BC or in Canada for that matter. Unlike the bigger centers Prince George builders never over built and most of the previous sales and future will remain in the resale category.

The next 6 months will be a fantastic time for buyers as it is a buyers market and the investors that buy here as well can still get a positive return on their money. Where the stock market people are happy to get 1% to 5% return you can still find investment homes or duplexes that can give 10% or more.

I think once the US election is over and our Provincial election is over (in May 2009)and the BC Liberals get back in, the world gets their finances in order, Prince George should continue its exciting growth.

Why?

1- Prince George never over built.
2- Lots of commercial rezoning is done and ready to go especially around the airport.
3- Allot of exploration has occurred around PG in the last few years and I don't believe any mine or major company will invest in infrastructure until they know the BC Liberals will get back in. (I believe they will and so should you).
4- Prince George is a great place to work and still own a home without having a massive mortgage payment. (One actually has an option to have a stay at home spouse to raise the kids which is unheard of in the bigger centers).
5- Investors can still get a good return on their money.
6- It is far cheaper to buy an existing home than to build.

That's just to name a few...

Real Estate better returns than stocks or funds!

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:48:42 -0600

With all the bad news about little to no returns on peoples investments in the stock market or mutual funds there is a little known secret that one can still buy a rental property in Prince George BC and still get a good positive rate of return. If you have not thought about real estate as an investment in Prince George now is a fantastic time to do your homework.
Visit one of Prince George's best Real Estate website for information on what is happening there.

Canadian Federal Government about to impose on your privacy!

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:09:03 -0500

May 29, 2008

Canadian Federal Government about to impose on your privacy!

Did you know that the Canadian Federal Government is almost ready to impose a new law which is part of FINTRAC, which will require all Realtors in Canada to keep records and copies of clients' drivers licenses or passports? The scary part is I just heard about it and the government wants to slide this through before the Canadian public has a chance to scream over this infringement of privacy.

As I understand it the government by law (with jail and fines if not done by Realtors) will require Canadian RealtorsÒ to take and make copies of all buyers and sellers their drivers license and or passport prior to any Real Estate transaction and then must be keep on file with the RealtorsÒ broker for 7 years (What happened to the privacy laws just enacted?). The governments' argument is they are trying to stop money laundering by organized crime. Will that sounds honorable...Not!

Most real estate brokers and agents no longer handle cash for deposits. It is mostly cheques, certified or money orders. I had asked why it is RealtorsÒ and not Lawyers that have to do this. I guess the Lawyers got out of it because they promised not to handle more that $7000 in cash. Well we in most cases do not handle cash as noted above at all.

What happens if someone breaks into an office or hacks a hard drive and now has access to all this personal info? Once the law passes, you bet it will be the fault of the Realtor and their broker and off to jail or fines we go.

The other underhanded part is the Canadian government has said nothing to the public about this and wants us RealtorsÒ to pitch the bad news and make us out to be the bad guys.

I guess the CREA (Canadian Real Estate Association) is and has been fighting this law behind the seen for some time but this law is about to be passed some time in June 2008 (next month).

I cannot imagine as a Canadian citizen having copies of my license or passport in filing cabinets or hard drives throughout Canada as I buy and sell real estate in my lifetime. Can you?

My main point to this rant is to get anyone else that thinks this is wrong to call, email, and write his or her Member of Parliament or MLA and have this stopped. Go to your local press, as I do not think they even know about this. The more of use that do will put pressure and law makers to stop and think (we hope).

Cheers

Dean Birks (Canadian Citizen and RealtorÒ)

Local Manufacture wins bid for Russian business because of new inland port

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:37:38 -0600

Well it just the first of many many things to come. Del-Tech an arm of BID Group became the first major user of CN Rail's intermodal transload facility - commonly called an inland port - in Prince George. Because of the inland port, they were able to win Russian business as the container loading here in Prince George saved them $300,000!

Manufacturing business of all kinds will start to realize that the cost of making something is not what wins business but how fast and cheap you can get it to the world market and Prince George BC is it!

Best regards

Dean Birks - Realtor

http://www.deanbirks.com/

A great way to take the hassle out of renting a home.

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:35:05 -0600

A great way to take the hassle out of renting a home.

Have you or your clients ever tried to rent out a home? Well if you have then most of the time, it is a lot of wasted time having prospective tenants call you and arrange a time for you to meet, you show up and they are not there. Why because they drove by and decided they did not like the location or something else and because they do not know you they have no problem just not showing up and leaving you sitting there wondering if they are coming.

The other one is they do show up and they look like they crawled out of a culvert and not to be discriminatory but the old needles and beer cans that fall out of their car as they attempt to introduce themselves can be quite un-nerving especially if the appointment to show the rental home is in the evening.

I think you could add a bunch more stories here but you get or know the idea.

So what to do?

A few years back when I had rental property I went through this a thought there had to be a better and more controlled way to rent out my homes so here is what I came up with that worked great.

1 - I would place an ad in the paper with full address and more detail than normal describing the home and that their will be a ‘Tenant open house' this Sunday from 1 to 3:30 (whatever time I wanted) and also my contact phone #. This way when I got a phone call I could describe the home more. In most cases they would attempt to arrange an appointment and I would say sorry ‘no appointments' but I do have an Open House and you can tour the home then. This way they can drive by the home and if they are still interested, they will be at the Open House.

2 - At the Open House I will have copies of the ‘Rental Agreement & Application' as well as a separate highlight sheet noting the minimum amount of rent I want for the home and what is or is not included etc.

3- I would then state to each person that came to look at the home that I will not be making any decisions today. That after touring the home and your still interested, to fill out the application and make a note on the side of it the amount of rent they would pay (if it were more than my minimum) and then I will let them know on Tuesday if they got it or not. (This stops someone from handing you a cash deposit right there and saying I will take the home, and then if you don't they can claim discrimination)

4- Once the Open House is over, collect up all the applications from those interested and then pick your top 3 prospective tenants. Note the amount of rent they are willing to pay, as some will offer more than your stated minimum. Call the references but keep in mind the present landlord will always give a great referral just to get them out of their home if they are not good tenants, but I still call them.

5- Then on Tuesday (if that is the day you picked) drive up to the home of your #1 choice and knock on the door. When they open it up you can quickly look around to see if they run the type of home (clean or pig pen) that you want in a tenant. If it is an absolute garbage dump and that is not what you want then hand them back their application and say " I am sorry that you were not picked but I wanted to personally thank you for your time and here is you application back' (and move on and do the same thing with you #2 choice.) If they appear to be clean and the home condition looks like what your want in a tenant then say ‘Congratulations you got the home if you want it'.

I have found this to be a very positive way to find a good tenant without all the usual hassles that come along with it.

This is the kind of advice my clients get when dealing with me in Prince George BC. I hope it can help you out.

Cheers

Dean Birks - Realtor

Royal LePage Prince George

http://www.deanbirks.com/

Leaky roof in spring?

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:05:34 -0600

Leaky Roof in Spring?

That gentle spring rain is great for your garden, but it's not so nice when you're dealing with a leaky roof. If you've noticed peeling wallpaper, cracked paint, stains on the ceiling or actual drips that you have to catch in buckets or pots, you need to think about fixing your roof.

A few things you should know about roof repairs

The best-case scenario is that a section of your roof will require patching or repair. The worst-case scenario is an expensive recovering or replacement of your entire roof. When determining which scenario applies to your roof, interview some quality roofing professionals and consider these facts:

- A roof needs to be replaced every 20 to 30 years, on average, depending on materials, installation, weather and maintenance

- Finding the source of a leak can be challenging, even for roofing pros, and repairs can get pricey if you have to keep calling them back for additional fixes

When a new roof is your only option

Your chosen roofing professional has advised you need a new roof. Now, you have a number of new questions to answer:

1. Replace or recover? Outright replacement means tearing off the roof and installing a new one. Recovering involves installing new shingles over an existing roof. Depending on building code in your area, you may not be allowed more than one roof recovering before a complete replacement is necessary

2. What materials do you want to use? While most people choose cost-effective asphalt shingles, which come in a variety of grades and colours. You can also choose shingles made of wood, ceramic, slate, metal, or synthetics made to look like slate or wood

3. How's your attic ventilation? Proper ventilation can save energy, prevent structural damage caused by moisture, prolong the life of your roof, and make your home more comfortable. Have your roofing professional check it out before any works begins

Once your new roof is installed, maintain it diligently. Inspect it every spring and fall, as poor maintenance is the leading cause of damage and leaks. Replace damaged shingles and take note of sagging or other damage. Careful maintenance of a new roof will keep you and your family leak-free and happy - at least for the next 20 to 30 years.

Cheers

Dean Birks

www.DeanBirks.com

Sales and Listings in Prince George BC

Dean Birks (Royal LePage Prince George) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:57:58 -0600

Things are starting to pickup now that the snow and cold has stopped. As of this posting we have had since Jan.1st the BC Northern Real Estate Board has reported:

- 106 new listings (land, homes, condo etc)
- 56 sales (land, homes, condo etc)

So it should prove to be a very consistant market this year with 2009 even being better.

Have question just comment.

Cheers

Dean Birks