Comox Talk!

Cliff Cottage Testamonial

2010-06-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Thought we'd put together comments from the guest book of Cliff Cottage on Gabriola Island.

"We have been fortunate to travel all over the world but there is no place like Gabriola, BC and the views and peaceful ambiance make your home very special. If this isn’t Paradise, it must be right next door. What a lovely respite from city life. Thank you for the sanctuary at Cliff Cottage B&B. What can we say! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! That includes the accommodations, food, locale and most important host & hostess Lance and Jacoline Homych. An Extraordinary Location! Perfect for forgetting the stress of city life. Thank you, we leave refreshed, relaxed and rejuvenated. Thanks for another wonderful retreat at your home on Gabriola Island. Your place is truly magical. Amazing wildlife! A muskrat in the pond, a heron, eagle and kingfisher and the goslings are so cute too! Also the Yellow Irises and water lilies are spectacular. Wow! National Geographic and Homes & Gardens material for sure! Great Harvest Moon coming up behind Mudge Island, glowing off the water and shining into the house! Fantastic! Loved our cliff side soak in the hot tub, under the stars and Jupiter. Your home has a relaxing vibe and is beautifully appointed. Stunning! A Little Slice of Heaven."

Cliff Cottage B&B, 1235 South Road, Gabriola is listed for sale. Contact James Morris at 1-250-218-8646 or Carol Martin at 1-866-528-9333 for the guided tour.

U.S.-Style Home Price Correction Unlikely in Canada

2010-05-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a new note from CREA.

U.S.-Style Home Price Correction Unlikely in Canada

by scallaghan

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released a new report today indicating that home prices will stabilize, and will remain stable for some time. This means that Canadian homeowners are unlikely to experience a U.S.-style decline in the value of their homes.
“The relationship between average price and income has recently been cited as portending a U.S.-style correction in Canadian home prices,” said Gregory Klump, Chief Economist, CREA. “However, such warnings ignore the longer-term relationship between prices and income, and disregard typical Canadian housing market cycle dynamics.”
Home prices tend to rise in cycles, characterized by periods of sharp growth and periods of stability. By contrast, income generally follows an orderly upward trend over time. For home prices to keep pace with incomes, they must rise faster during housing booms to make up for periods of little or no price growth. Canadian home prices were stagnant throughout most of the 1990s, while incomes continued rising, making housing more affordable. Over the past decade, home prices have climbed sharply as mortgage interest rates declined.
Klump adds: “The Canadian housing market is now widely thought to be at, or very near, the top of a cycle, and the ratio of home prices to incomes is currently high. This ratio will revert to its long-term average as it always does as part of a normal housing market cycle. History suggests, however, that it will not do so by means of a significant correction in home prices. The more likely scenario is that home prices will stabilize, giving incomes a chance to catch up again.”
The correction in U.S. home prices has sparked fears that Canadian home prices may share a similar fate.However, according to Klump, “warnings to this effect ignore solid Canadian mortgage market trends.”
Conservative lending practices in the mortgage industry combined with prudent borrowing and accelerated payments among Canadian mortgage holders have been seen throughout the recent housing market cycle. Accelerated accumulation of home equity will provide options for the small proportion of homeowners who may face financial difficulty when their mortgage is renewed at a higher interest rate. These trends are expected to help Canada avoid a U.S.-style housing crisis.
The correction in U.S. home prices is set against a massive oversupply of homes due to distress sales, combined with a drop in housing demand due to unemployment. The unwinding of the housing boom in Canada will be more orderly, characterized by softening sales activity and stable prices.

Bank of Canada maintains interest rates

2010-05-15T11:39:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of Alyson Fair

Signals rate hike in June...
As was widely expected, the Bank of Canada held its benchmark overnight lending rate steady at 0.25 per cent at its setting on April 20, 2010. The trend-setting Bank rate, which is set 0.25 percentage points above the overnight lending rate, remains at 0.5 per cent.
With the Bank having dropped its commitment to stay on hold until at least the second half of the year conditional on the outlook for inflation, financial markets now expect the Bank to raise rates at its next at its next fixed announcement date on June 1st.
The Bank raised its forecast for economic growth this year from 2.9 per cent in the January Monetary Policy Report to 3.7 per cent, attributing the more “front-loaded” profile for growth to “stronger near-term global growth” and “very strong housing activity”.
The Bank noted that the economy still faces headwinds from the strength of the Canadian dollar, weak U.S. demand, and “Canada’s relatively poor relative productivity performance”. The mention of productivity could be a signal that the Bank plans to downgrade the potential growth rate of the economy in its new Monetary Policy Report, due out on Thursday, meaning the economy would return to potential faster than previously forecast.
In fact, the Bank did move the goalposts forward as to when it expects the economy to return to full potential, now forecasting the second quarter of 2011. The Bank had previously forecast a return to potential by the third quarter of 2011. This is another signal that rates will have climb sooner in order to fight inflation.
The Bank said core inflation had been somewhat firmer than projected in January, but noted that this was due to temporary factors. The core rate is expected to ease slightly in the second quarter of 2010 and to remain near 2 per cent throughout the rest of the projection period. Total CPI inflation is expected to be slightly higher than 2 per cent over the coming year, before returning to the target in the second half of 2011.
In previous announcements, the Bank had noted that it believed the balance of risks to the outlook to be tilted to the downside. At its last announcement, the Bank judged those risks to be balanced. This announcement removed any mention of the balance of risks, leaving financial markets to draw their own conclusions.
“The April interest rate announcement all but guarantees the Bank will raise rates in June,” said CREA’s Chief Economist Gregory Klump.
As of April 19th, the advertised five-year conventional mortgage rate stood at 5.85 per cent. This is up 0.4 per cent from one year earlier, and stands 0.46 per cent above where it stood when the Bank made its previous interest rate announcement on March 2, 2010.
Improving credit market conditions have enabled lenders to reintroduce discounts off posted mortgage interest rates. Discounts of about one percentage point can be negotiated, depending on lender-client relationship.

Shelter Taxes- GST vs HST

2010-05-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

Fairness for All British Columbians.

Few purchases as significant as the purchase of a home. How to ensure that purchase remains as affordable as possible is a key interest to the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA).

BC has the highest home ownership costs in the country. A recent RBC Financial Group survey of housing affordability indicates that more than 60% of a BC household's pre-tax income is required to cover the home ownership costs of a detached bungalow. Normally, 30% is considered affordable.

In BC, two taxes at the provincial level are considered shelter taxes:

Homebuyers have been subject to the Property Transfer Tax (PTT) since the late 1980s.
The Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), expected to be implemented on July 1, 2010, is an additional tax burden on BC homebuyers, homeowners and landlords.

Example of Shelter Taxes: Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area 2009 average price (new single detached house): $905,011

Current		After July 1
Purchase Price	$905,011	Purchase Price, less 2% embedded PST	$886,911
GST (5%)	45,251	HST (12%)	106,429
PTT	16,100	PTT	15,738
		HST Rebate	(26,250)
TOTAL COST	$966,362	TOTAL COST	$982,828

Calculate the cost of shelter taxes on a real estate transaction with BCREA's Shelter Tax Tool

here.

To support tax fairness for BC homeowners, homebuyers and landlords, send an email to your

MLA.

Prepare Your Home for the Comox Valley Market

2009-04-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

Prepare Your Home For The Market in The Comox Valley
Six Essential Steps

Make cosmetic improvements...
-An attractive, clean and tidy appearance will enhance your home's appeal.
-Keep the lawn mowed & walks cleared
-Wash the windows squeeky clean
-Open the shades and curtains to create a bright, inviting atmosphere
-Declutter the house, especially the kitchen and bathrooms
-For some great ideas and examples of how a house should look for sale,visit Dekora's gallery of homes before and after.

Pay attention to details...
-Fixing the minor items can go a long way toward improving that important first impression:
*Repair leaky faucets
*Tighten loose door knobs
*Replace damaged screens
*Replace broken panes of glass - cloudy sealed-pane units can often be replaced inexpensively, and will drastically improve the appearance of a window or patio door.
*Replace burned-out light bulbs & broken light fixtures
*Secure loose railings
*Patch small holes in walls and ceilings and repaint
*Repair or replace faded or peeling wallpaper
*Repair and coat the driveway

Make maintenance improvements...
-The maintenance improvements listed below are relatively easy and inexpensive to make, yet can substantially improve a home's appearance (value), efficiency and comfort.
-Trim trees and shrubs
-Apply new caulking and weatherstripping as needed around windows and doors
-Clean gutters of debris and leaves, repair or replace cracked or broken gutters, downspouts and extensions to ensure proper drainage
-Replace bathroom caulk or grout where necessary
-Ventilate & dehumidify closed basements and crawl spaces
-Grade soil around the house to prevent ponding of water next to the foundation
-Replace dirty filters in the heating and ventilating systems
-Have the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems professionally serviced
-Have chimneys professionally cleaned & inspected

Take safety precautions...
-Protect your home and its occupants from danger.
-Good ideas that create a great impression:
-Install quality smoke detectors
-Install quality carbon-monoxide detector
-Ensure adequate outdoor lighting shows off house too
'GFCI' outlets outdoors and in wet locations such a bath & laundry areas
-Keep the stairwells tidy and free of debris and obstructions including around
the electrical panel and furnace
-Keep flammables and combustibles away from the furnace and other utility areas
-If you have direct entry from the garage to the interior of the home, consider installing a hydraulic or other form of auto-closure device on the door.
-Check the tension on garage doors

Check the major systems...
-A primary concern for home buyer's is the condition of the basic structure and major mechanical systems. Most buyers have great fear of the cost to repair these critical areas:
-Roof structure and covering
-Foundation, basement, and/or crawl space
-Central heating and air conditioning systems
-Electrical system
-Plumbing system

Prepare for the buyer's inspection...
-Find the various house records that can be used to answer questions from the purchaser and their inspector:
-Appliance receipts, service records and warranties
-Age of major components such as the roof, furnace, air-conditioner, etc.
-Major component warranties
-Heating, water and electric bills from at least the past 12 months

Thanks!

Don't forget to visit www.islandhousehunters.com!

Real Estate Buyer's FAQs - Answered!

2009-04-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

What is the difference between list price, sales price and appraised value?

The list price is a seller’s advertised price, a figure that usually is only a rough estimate of what the seller wants to get. Sellers can price high, low or close to what they hope to get. To judge whether the list price is a fair one, be sure to consult comparable sales prices in the area. The sales price is the amount of money you as a buyer would pay for a property. The appraisal value is a certified appraiser’s estimate of the worth of a property, (generally done for a mortgage by the bank at your expense). We as your Realtor can access all the recent comparable sales, listing and other data to help you make an informed decision.

Is a low offer a good idea?

While your low offer in a normal market might be rejected immediately, in a buyer’s market a motivated seller will either accept or make a counteroffer. A low-ball offer is a term used to describe an offer on a house that is substantially less than the asking price. While any offer can be presented, a low-ball offer can sour a prospective sale and discourage the seller from negotiating at all. Unless the house is very overpriced, the offer will probably be rejected. Full-price offers or above are more likely to be accepted by the seller. But there are other considerations involved:

* Is the offer contingent upon anything, such as the sale of the buyer’s current house? If so, a low offer, even at full price, may

not be as attractive as an offer without that condition.

* Is the offer made on the house as is, or does the buyer want the seller to make some repairs or to lower the price instead?

* Is the offer all cash, meaning the buyer has waived the financing contingency? If so, then an offer at less than the asking price may be more attractive to the seller than a full-price offer with a financing contingency.

What are the standard conditions (subjects)?

Most purchase offers include two standard contingencies: a financing contingency, which makes the sale dependent on the buyers’ ability to obtain a loan commitment from a lender, and an inspection contingency, which allows buyers to have professionals inspect the property to their satisfaction. Approving title, getting fire/property insurance are also essential in

most cases. As a buyer, you could forfeit your deposit under certain circumstances, such as backing out of the deal for a reason not stipulated in the contract, or after your subjects are removed.

Who removes the conditions (subjects)?

You do. Your Realtor will gather information and ensure your protection, but ultimately you make the decision on removing the subjects and making it a firm deal. Empower yourself, and get as much information direct from the source as possible on your own (i.e. talking to the city, the strata manager, the building inspector etc.). You will feel much more informed and comfortable with the transaction.

What does “Agency” mean?

REALTORS® work within a legal relationship called agency. The agency relationship exists between you, the principal, and your Brokerage, the company under which the individual who is representing you, is licensed. The essence of the agency relationship is that the Brokerage has the authority to represent the principal in dealings with others. Brokerages and their Licensees are legally obligated to protect and promote the interests of their principals as they would their own.

What is an “Exclusive Buyer’s Agency” Agreement?

It is recommended that the relationship between the buyer and the real estate brokerage should be in writing in the form of a Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Contract. This will ensure that both parties will have a complete understanding of their rights and responsibilities. Each party will know what they can expect from the other and what is expected from them. This is similar

to the common practice of sellers entering into a listing contract when selling a property. Real estate brokerages cooperate with each other to bring buyers and sellers together. This cooperation will help bring you the best selection of properties which meet

your individual requirements.

Do I need an attorney when I buy a house?

Most home buyers are capable of handling routine real estate purchase contracts as long as they make certain they read the fine print and understand all the terms of the contract. In particular, you should be clear on the terms of any contingency clauses that will allow them to back out of the contract. It is always advisable, however, to have a lawyer give advice on a contract. In

looking for an attorney, ask friends for recommendations or ask your real estate agent to recommend several. At the time of conveyancing, either a notary or lawyer will be involved to transfer title and funds.

Thanks! Don't forget to visit www.islandhousehunters.com!