bc: REALTOR® WANTED in Greater Vancouver...
- 12/01/08 06:58 PM
As I prepare my business plan for 2009 and beyond, I can't help but think what a waste to lose talented people who have sacrificed so much to become a REALTOR®. One bold prediction made to me by a local licensee was that we will lose 30% (=2945) of all the licensees before the market turns. Who knows when the market will turn, but should that prediction become reality we will be at 6873 licensees, which is back to where we were in mid-2003. Some of the goals I want to take on in my business plan will likely have to … (12 comments)
bc: Opportunities today...
- 11/21/08 05:40 AM
This week I returned from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While home sales might have slowed down slightly, asset appreciation is still happening in PV, and it is clear that those with money continue to buy there including many Canadians. I suspect that as paper portfolios diminish in North America, hard assets such as homes offer an attractive option for refuge. More here [...] John in Port Moody … (1 comments)
bc: Unproven 6-Storey Wood Frame Buildings Raise Serious Questions...
- 11/13/08 02:41 PM
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2008HSD0079-001459.pdf It is difficult to understand the motivation of our provincial government to throw so much of the housing ministry's resources into another initiative (this time 6-storey wood frame buildings) that does nothing to improve homeowner protection in BC. How are the same people that can't build a 4-storey building right, possibly going to achieve a defect-free and safe 6-storey building? According to reports from the Homeowner Protection Office (HPO), home buying is still very risky business, and British Columbians are being lulled into a false sense of security with a home warranty insurance program full of exclusions, limitations, and other … (5 comments)
bc: New Homes Warranty Act is no guarantee...
- 09/21/08 02:40 PM
As a British Columbian outsider I am utterly disgusted reading this article on the plight of the Shuman's. I have a great deal of difficulty comprehending how a certain percentage of performance value or work disqualifies a claim for sub-standard workmanship or materials. Okay, so it is none of my business poking my BC nose into how the Ontario homeowner protection system is structured, or what the legislation and justice allows. Well maybe it is my business because precedence doesn't seem to have provincial boundaries. Furthermore, the first place other provinces look when reviewing their own homeowner protection is other parts … (0 comments)
bc: Is it a Quirk of Fate...?
- 09/20/08 09:53 AM
Leaky Surrey hotel at centre of lawsuit -Ted Colley, Surrey Now - Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Is it a quirk of fate that the Sheraton Guildford Hotel leaks? For many years the home builders association has been holding seminars for homebuyers at the Sheraton Guildford Hotel. As a co-founder of the Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners, I along with some of my concerned colleagues attended these seminars between 1999 and the early 2000's to warn homebuyers that everything isn't necessarily as it appears or as it is being represented. Our tactic was to sit as close as we could to … (0 comments)
bc: Has Lower Mainland real estate evolved?
- 09/05/08 12:02 PM
Has Lower Mainland real estate evolved? The simple answer is yes, and our local housing market continues to change. Since 1996, the development of regional and municipal town centres has been the focus of Metro Vancouver's Liveable Region Strategic Plan. This growth strategy was adopted to make complete communities with amenities and jobs convenient to where people live. A large proportion of the population surge was planned to be concentrated in these town centres and, in particular, in smaller multi-family units - a desirable home for many baby boomers who want to downsize for retirement. However, in the future, it's expected … (0 comments)
bc: Question the sources and motives of "doomsday theorists"...
- 08/15/08 05:24 AM
The Canadian Real Estate Association provides a monthly overview of the housing market in Canada. CREA compiles statistics of properties sold through MLS and tracks market trends for prices and properties sold. According to a recent report in The Ottawa Citizen, CREA president Calvin Lindberg projects the average selling price of homes in Canada will still hit a new record high by year end. Inevitably there will be some Canadian markets softer than others, but month after month activity continues to demonstrate that market fundamentals in Canada are different than those of the housing market recession underway in the US. According … (0 comments)
bc: What to consider about Defects: the Disclosure and Due Diligence…
- 07/13/08 01:00 PM
Defects: the Disclosure and Due Diligence... Providing misleading information or concealing known information during a home sale would make a homeowner highly susceptible to lawsuits, and it happens. A disclosure statement is a statement in which the sellers reveal to potential buyers (whether the buyer asks or not) specific information about the condition or other aspects of real property that would affect the property's value or desirability. Patently obvious defective conditions ("patent" defects) in a home that must be reported are those, known, openly exposed, and easily found on inspection. In most jurisdictions the process of listing a home requires us … (1 comments)
bc: "Market activity offers awaited relief for homebuyers"
- 07/03/08 06:28 PM
This afternoon the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver issued a press release entitled: "Market activity offers awaited relief for homebuyers" Well it's now official, "Increased property listings and moderating home prices have eased the Greater Vancouver housing market into a buyer's phase". (...as in buyers market) Every market, high or low, has its opportunities, and right now Sellers are still of the mindset that their property will sell for more than it will, and it won't! In the past few months, and by being honest with potential Sellers, I have lost a number of listings and expect this to … (0 comments)
bc: Post Canada Day...
- 07/02/08 04:51 AM
Canada Day was celebrated in the usual way with parades, picnics, parties, and of course pyrotechnics. Although Canada actually became independent from Great Britain in 1867, this party only started in 1879, and was intermittent thereafter until becoming mainstream in 1958. This year the Provincial Government of British Columbia decided to rain on our national parade by adding a carbon tax on all fossil fuels effective July 1st. What lousy timing! The bottom-line is that today we pay more at the pump. For my 40th Canada Day it seemed appropriate to paint my face red to celebrate Canada Day. What makes … (0 comments)
bc: Is my Secret Service badge and pay in the mail?
- 06/23/08 10:18 AM
Over the weekend I read in the Vancouver Sun how a retired Richmond homeowner lost title to his bungalow to con artists. The fraudsters also got away with a mortgage scam worth $400,000. The failure of the banks, lawyers, land title office, etc., to verify both parties to the transaction is scandalous in itself. Since there is clearly challenges at the above, and other institutions (FINTRAC, CSIS, RCMP, etc.), Realtors and Brokerages have been enlisted, effective June 23, 2008, as intermediaries to help raise suspicions and for the discovery of proceeds of crime in real estate transactions. more here... John in … (5 comments)
bc: Questions for Sellers ...
- 06/07/08 08:06 AM
You probably won't find the following questions on your average real estate brochures: Sellers, do you: know to what extent that you want to be involved in the sale? have a coherent strategy? know how to attract the serious buyers? understand what a stale property is? know the consequences of not disclosing properly when selling? have a plan if your home doesn't sell? want to minimize your stress (from the uncertainty)? expect to get (at least) what you pay for? We want you to feel confident that your home will be sold, and properly. We will customize and personalize a plan … (3 comments)
bc: Questions for Buyers ...
- 06/07/08 04:48 AM
You probably won't find the following questions on your average real estate brochures: Buyers, do you: take real estate ads at face-value? know how to properly target your future home? have the experience required to negotiate favorable (including safe) terms and conditions, and a fair price? know how to do your own due diligence? have the upper-hand in a multiple offer situation? know that many single homes were built with the same technology as "leaky condos"? want advantages that other buyers probably don't have? have a proper strategy? want to avoid buyers remorse? -Real Estate need not be risky! You will … (0 comments)
bc: Warning to those researching reputation of builders...
- 05/23/08 04:43 PM
"Development is a tough game and United Properties has been at it for some time, so it is quite unique to have such a developer run into this kind of difficulty," said real estate lawyer Ron Usher.http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/05/21/bc-the-anvil-in-trouble.html What a frivolous review; who the heck is this guy (mis)representing anyway?The Matsqui Group of Companies claimed to have "earned a sterling reputation in the building and development industry" prior to the Brio in Abbotsford collapsing 3 months ago.The Bosa's, Polygons, etc., all built multiple leaky condos but paid only a fraction of the remediation costs, and then only with a "Gag Order". They … (0 comments)
bc: How far over the market value constitutes an overpriced property?
- 05/02/08 03:59 PM
We can all relate to the timewasters which "The Ethics Guy", Kim Spencer, touches on: "Time, it's not on our side; tick-tock, tick-tock"One of my peeves is showing misrepresented properties; the ‘one bedroom and den being represented as a two bedroom' example Kim raises wastes my time, my client's time, and skews the information for anyone doing a CMA on a two bedroom. Chances are you won't know about this misrepresentation until you arrive at the showing and see it, unless of course you're very familiar with the specific property itself. Perhaps the biggest misrepresentation and timewaster of all (yet least … (7 comments)
bc: Leaky Condo Study Disputed?
- 04/17/08 07:41 AM
Re: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20030828_leaky.htm. The above Realty Times article refers to this research report by Nancy Bain: Re-Sale of Leaky Condos: Did the Buyer Know?Here is a letter (with specific references removed) I wrote to a Realtor in 2006:Hello Realtor, You mentioned to me that you had sold units in this building before, and that this was a "good" building. I am concerned that this may not necessarily be a reasonable representation. This past weekend I, along with my clients, reviewed the minutes that you provided. It appears to me from reading these minutes that:1. this is by definition a leaky condo, according to … (0 comments)
bc: Brio, the latest casualty for home buyers...
- 03/06/08 07:07 PM
It is now official that the planned 28 storey Brio building won't be offering, or blocking, any views soon.In their pre-sale glitz and glamour marketing, the Matsqui Group of Companies claimed to have "earned a sterling reputation in the building and development industry".If this is in fact true it would suggest that doing research into the reputation of a builder is impossible and worse, can be misleading.Last October it was reported in the Abbotsford-Mission Times that $35 million in real estate was announced as sold in one day on October 13, 2007. How is this possible? This hype seems to differ from this: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/03/06/bc-briostalled.html, … (0 comments)
bc: Developer pulls out of project, again...
- 03/02/08 05:17 PM
A few years ago the Bambu development on Vancouver Island was cancelled.When the plug was pulled on Riverbend last year, you might have thought that it would be big enough to get some real legislative changes made, especially after making national news: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070507/BC_homeowners_070507. Well now the Eden Group of Companies has cancelled 3 projects; big enough again for national news coverage: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/02/27/bc-condosintrouble.html."If a proposed development does not proceed and the purchase contract is terminated, pre-sale purchasers are entitled to have their deposit money repaid. However, unless the pre-sale contract requires interest to be paid, the purchaser may not receive interest on that deposit." http://www.hpo.bc.ca/PDF/Bulletins/Pre-Sale.pdf.If a termination … (0 comments)
bc: Condo floor plans can be too good to be true: lawyer
- 02/28/08 07:08 AM
Condo floor plans can be too good to be true: lawyer With so many multifamily developments failing, ‘weasel word' warranties, and the legalized ‘bait & switch' tactics, such as the misrepresentation of floor space, the general business acumen and morality of builders and the home building industry leaves the consumer with little trust and an overall lack of confidence. Relying on the developer to build what they promise is a recipe for a disaster. Doing research into the reputation of a builder is impossible and worse, can be misleading. Government doesn't appear to believe they have an obligation to protect the people that elect … (1 comments)
bc: How will certifying home inspectors help consumers?
- 02/07/08 05:01 PM
The BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General is inviting you to participate in a consultation on licensing home inspectors. The consultation provides an opportunity for British Columbians to be part of the process of developing appropriate regulations to enhance consumer protection.The move to regulate home inspectors is being met with some cynicism. "It's good," Grasty told the Straight. "The only problem is, what teeth is it going to have? You certify these people, but how qualified are they? Can consumers sue them? If a person hires a home inspector, they have to sign documents which are full of disclaimers. … (3 comments)
(formerly the Adoxographist's Blog)
...skilled writing about an unimportant subject, or is that unskilled writing about an important subject?
Well I don't know so as things unfold please judge for yourself...
...don't forget to leave a comment, and thanks for visiting.
John Grasty is a REALTOR® serving the Tri-Cities (Coquitlam - Port Coquitlam - Port Moody) real estate market.
Please check out John's website: http://www.RealEstateEvolved.com
As I prepare my business plan for 2009 and beyond, I can't help but think what a waste to lose talented people who have sacrificed so much to become a REALTOR®.
;)
;)
;)
