August 2011 Market Update "There are 3 kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics" - Mark Twain There's no doubt that real estate is an interesting topic of conversation for the public. The media, in an attempt to feed this appetite for real estate news, often publishes interesting pieces of real estate information that help sell papers. Due to this heavy dose of constant r ...

This month, we’ll be turning our attention to Buyers and offer certain strategies for how you should approach the negotiation process. Remember, these are just general guidelines. Every situation is unique and you should talk to a professional Realtor about your specific circumstances. 1) Make Offers on Reasonably Priced Properties Pricing is an art that some Realtors understand ...

Thanks to my friends at RBC, we've put together a concise explanation of the latest changes with government insured mortgages: Changes to the Rules for Government Insured Mortgages   Since October 2009, the Government of Canada has been systematically tightening mortgage financing regulations for all federally regulated lenders.  The ...

If you haven’t heard of “staging”, it’s a fairly straightforward concept. It simply involves cleaning, organizing and decorating your home in such a way as to make it look its best for potential buyers. One of the most difficult rooms to stage is the kitchen because it’s one of the most used. It’s not like you can set it up to look nice for tours and then never go in it! Yet, an effectively s ...

For full graph and info: http://www.macrealty.com/macnews/newsletter.aspx?agent=marites_pineda December Market Update What is the Flat Fee (Mere Posting) Model? With the recent Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) agreement with the competition bureau, there have been a number of questions about what Flat Fee models are and how they work. Flat fee, or For Sale by Owner (FSBO), ...

Even if you’ve purchased a home before, you may still find theterms and acronyms used in the real estate industry a littlebaffling. What in the world does “4B/2B” mean anyway? Here’sa quick list that will help you get a handle on the most commonlingo you’re likely to come across.FP. Fireplace. It might also indicate type. For example, FP-gas.DK. Deck.4B/2B. The first number refers to bedrooms ...

Shopping for a new home can be intimidating. With so manythings to do and think about, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Butit doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some good tips formaking the home hunting process a lot easier and less stressful.1. Get your mortgage arranged in advance.You don’t want to find the ideal home on the market, only toface problems arranging a suitable mortgage. You m ...

September Market Update In March, 2009, in the midst of the Global Financial Crisis and the collapse of the Canadian housing market, we made a bold prediction: The Canadian housing market would rebound quickly and not suffer a US-style collapse. Here is what we wrote: "As many of you may know, the US housing market has been in a severe recession for the past several years. And ...

Conditions in the Greater Vancouver housing market continued to favour buyers in August. Since April, prices have edged down slightly as the number of sales and the number of properties coming on to the market have been declining. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that the number of residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,202 in August ...

Recently moving and realizing you have excess furniture, houseware, kitchenware etc?   These organizations provide furniture and fixtures to families who often own nothing but the clothes on their backs.  Maybe you can help? Check out these websites for more info:  HomeStart foundation and Gather and Give.