An upcoming development at West 10th and Arbutus Street, Park Place, puts sustainability at the forefront, with a mass timber structure and other carbon reduction measures.
An upcoming development at West 10th and Arbutus Street, Park Place, will be constructed with sustainability top of mind, with a mass timber structure and passive house certification.
The five-storey building, designed by SLA (Stephane Laroye Architect Inc.) for Bastion Development Corp., will include 48 condominium...
One of the ways loved ones can help hopeful home buyers is by agreeing to be a co-signer on the mortgage. Co-signing can be applied to most types of loans, not just mortgages. Essentially, a co-signer takes on the responsibility of making the loan payments in the event the original borrower can’t. By providing this extra assurance to the lender, co-signers can help applicants qualify for a mortgage.
Read more...
https://www.realtor.ca/blog/understanding-the-role-of-a-co-signe...
As home owners age and live longer, their income sources may no longer be enough to cover expenses, especially for those on fixed incomes.
Many home owners in this phase of life look to the market value their homes have built since they purchased it, also known as equity, to help cover these expenses.
But how can they access their home’s equity without selling it?
One option is a reverse mortgage.
Read more from the REBGV Newsletter...
One third of BC residents live in a strata home, whether it’s a condo, townhouse, or multi-plex unit.
Strata homes are usually more affordable than their single-family counterparts. They can also lessen the burdens of home ownership, with strata residents sharing responsibilities for things like maintenance, snow shoveling, and security. And while these homes tend to be smaller, they may also have access to amenities like a pool or gym.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OFSI) and the Minister of Finance, Canada’s banking regulators, tightened the rules around the mortgage stress test on June 1.
Under the new requirements, all mortgage applicants must be able to afford their mortgage at an interest rate of 5.25 per cent or two per cent over the contract rate, whichever is higher, regardless of their down payment.
Regulators introduced the stress test...
Part of our job as realtors is to educate the public about the buying and selling process and then guide them, negotiate for them AND protect them throughout that process. According to the federal government, we are also tasked with the job of identifying all parties to a real estate transaction with the Personal Identification forms provided by FINTRAC (a lengthy explanation of what they are in the link below).
Essentially Fintrac is: The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of...
517 square feet1-bed (plus den), 1-bath home in Collingwood.
Patio with mountain view
In suite laundry
1 Parking space
Building with gym
Close to transit
Built in 1998
Call me to view!
604-805-6820
The federal Liberal government is planning to intervene in Canada’s red-hot housing market with a new tax aimed at foreign owners of underused residential real estate and with additional efforts to increase the supply of affordable places to live.
Read more...
On either side of the south end of the Burrard Street bridge, a new mega project on Squamish First Nations land is in the works.
Seventy percent of the condo homes being built will be rentals, and some will be designated for First Nations occupancy. Developed by Westbank on 12 acres at the eastern edge of Kitsilano, this project will provide much density and affordability to Vancouver.
For a more details of this project, read an in depth article:
A potential Buyer wants to know if the owner of the garden suite will own 1/3 of the land, as one of the 3 owners of the triplex. Division of ownership, and also division of strata fees (if there are any) are based on the size of each unit. Therefore the owner of the largest unit owns the biggest share of the land but also pays a greater portion of the insurance, strata fees...
Most co-ops in Vancouver can be found in the Westend and in the Oakridge area.
However, my buyer found this gem in South Granville. He was able to purchase a 965 square foot one bedroom home for only $575,000. The impediment for many people buying a co-op is the required 35% minimum down payment. As well, the lesser known ownership style confuses people (you are buying shares in a company that owns the building and the land), and so they pass over even looking at co-ops.
They are generally concrete...
Neighbourhoods like Point Grey, Dunbar and Kitsilano are losing small businesses, young families and vibrant community energy.
Douglas Todd from The Vancouver Sun stipulates why. One of the reasons is that young families have been priced out of the market. I have first hand experience of this with a lovely young family looking for a newish home in one of these neighbourhoods but having to pay over $3.3 million. They love the area and love the fact that their is room in the schools for their young...
As a native Vancouverite I have always loved South Granville. Officially it is part of FAIRVIEW, which stretches from the shores of False Creek all the way up to lower Shaughnessy.
Most of my homes in my 20's were 3 story walk ups in South Granville. The buildings were old but had large rooms with beautiful original hardwood flooring, lovely vintage tiling in the bathrooms and kitchens, undersized appliances, laundry in the basement and no elevators. But I loved them - especially the ones with no...
Funky 1 bedroom 1 bathroom condo in the lovely westend of Vancouver!
I have lived in Vancouver almost my whole life (now 58 years old!) and I have never really explored the WESTEND until my daughter moved there last year. She rents a lovely apartment in a quaint 1950's building a block from Stanley Park.
You almost forget you are downtown because of the tree lined streets and quick access to the ocean and park. It feels like a residential neighbourhood, feels like home.
I was happy to...
HOME SALES and NEW LISTINGS were at near record levels in OCTOBER 2020 across Metro Vancouver.
Greater Vancouver Sales:
Up 29% over October 2019
Up 1.2% from September 2020
Up 34.7% above 10 year October average
Metro Vancouver benechmark price for a detached home is $1,045,100.
WHY?
*potentially a focus on the importance of home due to the pandemic, for work and safety
*pent up demand from a slower spring market due to the pandemic
*low interest rates
Is it a good time to BUY?
It depends on what...
Below is a link to our latest Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board (REBGV) stats for August 2020.
Here are some highlights!
Top 3 areas for the most sales for DETACHED homes in August:
East Vancouver - 118 sales
Sunshine Coast - 155 sales
North Vancouver - 103 sales
Prices up 6.6% over August 2019
Top 3 areas for the most sales for CONDOS in August:
Vancouver westside - 343 sales
East Vancouver - 155 sales
Richmond - 141 sales
Prices up 4.5% over August 2019
Top 3 areas for the most sales of...
Many sellers ask me if they should renovate before lisitng their home for sale.
It depends.
If the entire home is in original shape, and you don't intend to renovate top to bottom, I would leave it as is. That provides the buyer with full rein to choose all new colors and textures for every room - which also creates a cohesiveness throughout the space. If you just renovate one room, like a bathroom or bedroom, the stark comparison to the rest of the home makes it look worse - and more work.
Sometimes...
Every month, our real estate board publishes the listing and sales activity for all municipalities in the lower mainland.
Below is a link to the Vancouver report!
file:///Users/bridgetross/Dropbox/July%20Stats.pdf
Here are some Vancouver westside highlights about how July 2020 compares to July 2019:
Houses - fewer listings available, down 25%
sales down slightly by 3.8%
prices up slightly...
If you are buying a condo in BC, I would highly recommend that you buy one that:
1. was built before the leaky condo period (1980's, 1990's)
2. has already been rainscreened
3. is a newer build
4. you work Monday to Friday 8-4 pm
...so you are not home while they jack hammer the concrete off the side of your building right out side your home office!
It is a noisy, messy process that generally takes up to a year depending on the size of your building. Yes, it will increase the value of your investment...
Home buyers and sellers have gradually become more active in each month of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, home sale and listing activity in Metro Vancouver* returned to more historically typical levels.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 2,443 in June 2020, a 17.6 per cent increase from the 2,077 sales recorded in June 2019, and a 64.5 per cent increase from the 1,485...
The data relating to real estate on this website comes in part from the MLS® Reciprocity program of either the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) or the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB). Real estate listings held by participating real estate firms are marked with the MLS® logo and detailed information about the listing includes the name of the listing agent. This representation is based in whole or part on data generated by either the REBGV, the FVREB or the CADREB which assumes no responsibility for its accuracy. The materials contained on this page may not be reproduced without the express written consent of either the REBGV, the FVREB or the CADREB.
