There are five basic ground rules that you must know when it comes to buying a home and shopping smart, and they are ....

There are few purchases in life that carry the financial and psychological weight of buying a home. Whether you are buying your first home, moving up to your dream home, or downsizing your home and your life after the kids have gone, it is important to understand the ground rules for success in the world of buying a home. Making the wrong decision in buying a home can have devastating and long lasting effects, while making a wise decision in home buying can greatly enhance the overall value of the investment. It is necessary to learn all you can about the world of home buying and mortgages before setting out to purchase the home of your dreams. While there are plenty of web sites designed to help first time homeowners learn all they can, most financial experts say that there is no substitute for the good old one-on-one learning. Fortunately, most mortgage lenders, home inspectors and real estate agents will be able to provide this kind of one-on-one learning. When buying a home it is often best to use a systematic approach as this is often the best way to be sure that all decisions are based on information and reason, not on impulse or emotion. Buying a home can be an emotional process, nevertheless it is imperative to keep your emotions under control and not let them cloud your judgment.

There are five basic ground rules when it comes to buying a home and shopping smart, and they are:

#1 Get your financing before you get your home There are few things in life as disappointing as losing out on the home of your dreams due to not being able to secure funding. While the desire to get out there are search for that great home is understandable, it is vital to line up the financing you will need before you start shopping for a home. Getting the financing ahead of time has a number of important advantages, including knowing how much you can buy and gaining more respect from the listing agents. By knowing how much home you can afford before you shop you will avoid wasting your time looking at unaffordable properties, and the listing agent will be more than willing to show you the homes in your price range. It is also important to take a good look at the various types of mortgage on the market before getting started in the home buying process. These days, mortgages come in far more choices than the typical 15 or 30 year. For that reason, potential home buyers need to understand how each type of mortgage works, and to gauge which mortgage is the best choice for their needs.

#2 Look at the community, not just the home It is a good idea to look at the entire community, instead of focusing on a single home. This can be a particularly important thing to consider for those moving to a new metropolitan area, as these buyers will be unfamiliar with the local climate and lifestyle. It is crucial to determine the areas of town that are most desirable, and to consider things like distance from work and local shopping opportunities. We have all heard that location is the key consideration when it comes to real estate, and that is certainly the case. Buying a house in the wrong area can be a big mistake, and it is important to choose the location as well as the home. Potential buyers can learn a great deal about the nature of the various neighborhoods simply by driving around town, as well as by talking to other residents.

#3 Be fair with your first offer Trying to lowball a seller on the first offer can backfire, as can paying too much. It is important to carefully evaluate the local market, and to compare the asking price of the home with what similar houses in the neighborhood have sold for. Comparing the sales of comparable homes, what are known as "comps" in the industry, is one of the best ways to determine what is fair, and to make sure that you neither overpay or underbid on the property.

#4 Always get a home inspection Always investigate the home for any possible defects before making an offer. Compared to the cost of the average home, the price of a quality home inspection is virtually negligible. Hence, get a good home inspection done before you buy. To find the best home inspector, it is a good idea to seek out word of mouth referrals as many of the best home inspectors rely on word of mouth advertising.

#5 Do not alienate the sellers of the home Many real estate deals have fallen apart due to the personal animosity of the buyer and the seller. It is important to avoid alienating the seller of the home during the process, and to avoid nitpicking every little detail during the sale. Keeping the good will of the seller will help the transaction go smoothly, and it will provide the best environment for seller and buyer alike.

Please feel free to leave a comment regarding these pointers and for more buying tips take a look at this blog post "Hot tips when buying a property"

   Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board, Housing Market Update for April 2012 (Video)

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Housing Market Update for April 2012 with REBGV president-elect Eugen Klein.

For more information go to http://vancouvercanadahomes.com Or Please feel free to leave a comment bellow!

Real Estate Marketing Service

Wіth ѕо muсh information readily аvаіlаblе online, clients ѕоmеtіmеѕ аѕk me, "Why ѕhоuld wе hire а real estate agent?" Thеу wonder, аnd rightfully so, іf thеу couldn't buy оr sell а home thrоugh thе Internet оr thrоugh regular marketing аnd advertising channels wіthоut representation, wіthоut а а real estate marketing service. Sоmе dо OK, mаnу don't. Sо іf you've wondered thе ѕаmе thing, hеrе аrе 5 reasons whу уоu mіght wаnt tо соnѕіdеr hiring а professional real estate marketing service іn Vancouver.

However, before you get started reading the 5 reasons, make sure to check out an in depth look at how your properties will be marketed in the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NDYZsMP2PPA

1. Education & Experience
Wіth ѕо muсh information readily аvаіlаblе online, clients ѕоmеtіmеѕ аѕk me, "Why ѕhоuld wе hire а real estate agent?" Thеу wonder, аnd rightfully so, іf thеу couldn't buy оr sell а home thrоugh thе Internet оr thrоugh regular marketing аnd advertising channels wіthоut representation, wіthоut а а real estate agent. Sоmе dо OK, mаnу don't. Sо іf you've wondered thе ѕаmе thing, hеrе аrе the 4 other reasons whу уоu mіght wаnt tо соnѕіdеr hiring а professional real estate marketing service.

2. Agents аrе Buffers
Agents tаkе thе spam оut оf уоur property showings аnd visits. If you're а buyer оf nеw homes, уоur agent wіll kеер thе builder's agents or sellers agent аt bay, preventing thеm frоm biting оr nipping аt уоur heels. If you're а seller, уоur agent wіll filter аll thоѕе phone calls thаt lead tо nоwhеrе frоm lookie loos аnd trу tо induce ѕеrіоuѕ buyers tо immediately write аn offer.

3. Neighborhood Knowledge
Marketing Services еіthеr possess intimate knowledge оr thеу knоw whеrе tо find thе industry buzz аbоut уоur neighborhood. Thеу саn identify comparable sales аnd hand thеѕе facts tо you, іn addition tо pointing уоu іn thе direction whеrе уоu саn find mоrе data оn schools, crime оr demographics. Fоr example, уоu mау knоw thаt а home dоwn thе street wаѕ оn thе market fоr $350,000, but аn agent wіll knоw іt hаd upgrades аnd sold аt $285,000 аftеr 65 days оn thе market аnd аftеr twісе falling оut оf escrow.

4. Price Guidance
Contrary tо whаt ѕоmе people believe, agents dо nоt select prices fоr sellers оr buyers. However, аn agent wіll hеlр tо guide clients tо mаkе thе rіght choices fоr themselves. In British Columbia, many agents charge 7% on the first $100,000 and then 2.5% on the balance for commission. Selling agents wіll аѕk buyers tо weigh аll thе data supplied tо thеm аnd tо choose а price. Thеn based оn market supply, demand аnd thе conditions, thе agent wіll devise а negotiation strategy.

5. Market Conditions Information
Real estate marketing services саn disclose market conditions, whісh wіll govern уоur selling оr buying process. Mаnу factors determine hоw уоu wіll proceed. Data ѕuсh аѕ thе average реr square foot cost оf similar homes, median аnd average sales prices, average days оn market аnd ratios оf list-to-sold prices, аmоng оthеr criteria, wіll hаvе а huge bearing оn whаt уоu ultimately decide tо do.

Thеѕе аrе јuѕt ѕоmе оf thе reasons уоu nееd а real estate marketing company tо sell уоur real estate іn Vancouver.

Thеѕе tips along with several other selling tips wеrе brought tо уоu bу Vancouver Canada Homes. Tо learn mоrе уоu саn visit thеіr website аt http://vancouvercanadahomes.com/

Staging a home for sale means just that...setting the stage so that your home may sell faster and often times closer to the listing price than if it were not staged.  Here are 10 Easy Ideas You Can Use

Staging allows the home to be presented as a canvas and allow the buyer to paint a picture for them; visualizing what the space will look like if they moved in with their items. But that does not mean showing an empty home; rather staging accentuates spaces within the home by creating vignettes, which enhance positive space while downplaying negative areas within the house. I currently have a listing in Steveston, Richmond BC, Canada, and my clients have done an amazing job staging there home. It has created nothing but positive feed back about the condo along with showing its value. Take a look: http://302-6233londonroad.com/

You could hire a professional stager for about $400 for a consultation and then shell out thousands for the stager to do the packing and the redecorating, OR you can do it yourself, keep the savings and put it into staging the home if you do-it-yourself.

In order to create the staging scene, understand that for the next 30-90 days, while the house is for sale, you will need to have removed personal items, collections and clutter, (and keep them 'gone' until you have a signed contract). Your home may lose its personal style and warmth, but that will be one of the small sacrifices you will need to make to maximize profit from the sale of your house.

Staging will require some planning as you will pack away items, which you may have kept handy just for the sake of a convenience (i.e., refrigerator door space used as a bulletin board for 'to-do lists,' coupons, family photos and calendars, etc.) or items which may have been left plugged (indefinitely) into electrical outlets for convenience, such a shavers and hair dryers in the bathroom; all of which add clutter to the home.

If you stage your home for sale on your own, here are 10 easy tips to remember:

1) Make a list of all the spaces, choose one room at a time and tackle each individually. You will be overwhelmed if you choose to do 'the whole house' in one afternoon. Start with the bathroom(s) and the kitchen and then move to the common rooms and finally the bedrooms. Basements, hallways and attics are last. Check off each room on your list as you go helping to make you feel as if you have made some accomplishment. Understand that packing up clutter is 'work' and it is time-consuming (that is why there is a $100 an hour price tag on the hiring a professional), but remember always that the savings outweighs the hard work. By all means, ask family members to pitch-in. Even children can pack away their toys and older children can clean a dirty shower. Plug in the Ipod or put on a CD to help the time pass a little more pleasantly.

2) Evaluate the colors of each room individually. Pastel colors do not sell well. Baby blue and princess pink are often gender-inspired colors, which are a huge turn-off for potential buyers. Even if the buyers have children and will use the baby blue room for their own baby, they may or may not like that particular shade or, in fact may wish to use yellow or green, often considered colors, which can traditionally be used for both boys and girls. Play it safe and simply paint over the pastels with a neutral color like beige or off-white. Any wallpaper should be removed or painted over if possible.

3) Go to your neighborhood grocery store and ask them for empty boxes from produce as these usually have side cut-outs for easy grabbing. Start storing empty boxes in a place for easy access a few weeks before you begin to stage. You will need the boxes and having them handy will keep the packing momentum moving along.

4) As you go from room to room, remove family pictures from the walls and replace them with used art from a thrift store or simply purchase framed prints from a local dollar store. Pack away all collections including children's Hot Wheels, baseball cap collections and any other really personal collections you and your family may be fond of. You may leave out neutral items for decorating such as pricey crystal, Lladro, colorful depression glassware to fill in those spaces left behind when the spoon collections, baseball card collections and Formula 1 car collections come off the fireplace mantle and shelves. This may be 'painful' but consider that in 30-90 days you will be able to unpack these items in your new home and enjoy them again.

5) Consider at this point whether you will need to rent storage space or whether a neighbor or a friend will allow you to store these items in their home as filled boxes will accumulate quickly. A new storage idea has streamlined storage space in recent years, whereas you rent a container or a pod and store the items in this portable space for as long as you need to. If you should rent this container space, do not store the entire container on your own property. Ask a friend or a neighbor if you can store it there or ask the container company if you can store at their own facility. You do not want to make your home look like a warehouse. Also, do not consider storing any packed items in a spare bedroom or in the basement of your own home as you would simply be de-cluttering one room and cluttering another. All rooms should be clear of storage boxes, afterall you are selling a home and not a storage space.

6) Clean, clean, clean....particularly bathrooms and kitchens. No home will sell especially well with grit, mold, dirty tiles and floors. For as much as you will stage each room, the buyers' eyes will focus on the dirt and not on the hard work you put into staging. People remember dirt and grime and it would only remind them how much more work they would have to do when they moved in themselves. If you need to re-grout a dirty tub, then you will need to make that effort.

7) Buyers make a determination of a home within 20 seconds of walking through the front door. Make that experience memorable within that short period of time. If you have an entryway, set up a table, a small attractive bowl of expensive mints and add some flowers.

If you have an entryway, open all the doors off the entry to make the space appear larger and brighter.


8) Go from room-to-room and pack- up clutter. Leave a small basket under the counter or in a closet with items you will need to use while you are still living there. The only items on a bathroom counter should be a small bouquet of flowers, a bar of clean decorative soap in a clean soap dish and a clean hand towel. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving cream, medications and hair products should all be packed away under the counters or in places, which are not noticeable.

9) Go to the supermarket and purchase an inexpensive bouquet of either daisies or carnations. You get many more flowers to work with in these arrangements than you would if you opted to spend money on roses or more expensive flowers. Arrange the flowers in whiskey snifters, small vases, or, if you do not have either take a better drinking glass from your kitchen, tie a small ribbon around the base and fill that with water and a few daisies. Use these arrangements randomly around the home but be sure to place at least one in each room. Change flowers as needed but the daisies and carnations seem to last a long time even if you forget to add more water! Dying flowers MUST be thrown out immediately; they make bad impression to visitors to your home.

10) Move out the bulky furniture and create little seating venues in your home with small tables and chairs. For example, you normally have a large sectional in your TV room with a cocktail table and two side tables...however, you may also have a large window facing the backyard that is blocked by the sectional. Remove pieces of the sectional to make the space appear larger. Place the cocktail table and one end table near the sectional. Find two chairs, which do not always have to match and place the other end table in front of the window with the 2nd end table in between the chairs. Add your bouquet of flowers, a small lamp and you have another seating area in the room. Pull your curtains away from the window, tie back with decorative rope or ribbon and let the light shine in the room. Add a bowl of lemons (I also like to use colored peppers) to the cocktail table for added color. Find two pillows that DO match and place them on the chairs in front of the window to tie the room together. If you do not have matching pillows, take two unmatching pillows and wrap matching pillow cases around the pills and knot in the center with a piece of ribbon. This is an easy formula to pull together a room which works in every bedroom and common area in the home.

Remember investors have a keen eye and following these staging tips will only help sell your home!

Please leave me your comments and suggestions and for a great example of a job well done staging a home take a look at what my clients did with their Richmond Condo: http://302-6233londonroad.com/ 

Becoming a successful real estate investor

Becoming a successful real estate investor requires being able to find good real estate investment deals and put them together. Your job is not to become an closing attorney, a management expert, or a repair person. Use professionals!

You must learn how to appraise and find the true value of real estate this information will help you make better investment decisions. Realtors, appraisers, and banks determine what a property is worth by looking at comparable sales usually three to five sales of similar property that has recently sold in the same neighborhood. You must be able to do the same.

Getting a list of comparable prices of properties bought or sold (and when it sold) for the neighborhood you need information about, and asking active real estate investors in your area what the market is like will be helpful and making a better investment decision. What is the ideal market for investing?

There is no such thing as an ideal real estate market for investing. It tends to be more difficult to find bargains in rising markets if the market keeps rising the probability of selling the property quickly for a large profit increases. In contrast but when property values are falling more bargains become available.

You need to be able to assess the true value of properties based on when you expect to sell. Your purchase must be made at a good enough discount to allow for a profitable sale at a later date.

Leverage

Leverage is very important for investors because the less cash you put down on each property the more properties you can buy. If the properties go up in value your rate of return goes up. However if the properties go down in value and you have a lot of debt on the property this can result in negative cash flow.

Since real estate is generally cyclical negative cash flow is only a short-term problem and can be handled if you have other income or a cash reserves. This makes "Nothing down" investing very helpful to protect against negative cash flow for high leverage investor.

If you are a long term real estate investor leverage will work in your favor if the markets in which you invest appreciate in the long run and your income from the properties can pay for most of your monthly debt.

Strategies to limit risk

To limit risk become educated in your local real estate market first by understanding the large scale trends from global down to national regional and specific neighborhoods. Learn about target neighborhoods with the help of successful real estate investors in your area along the way.

Real estate investors can help you interpret market indicators such as the average length of time houses have been on the market this month versus last month or last year. With this information it will help you make better investment decisions.

Exit strategies

It is important not to guess the future of a local real estate market you need to have a clear plan in mind when purchasing property. As a real estate investor you must know exactly how you will exit the property before you buy. And have a backup plan or two in case the first course of action doesn't work. You must know your market and your plan before you begin to invest. For more helpful information and online real estate go to http://vancouvercanadahomes.com

  Steveston's 'London Station' Reinforced concrete & steel construction. 2bed/2bath 1064 sq.ft. Elegance & Style is everywhere. 

Take a look at this elegant 2 Bedroom 1080 sq.ft.  Condo for Sale....

Features:professionally coordinated colour schemes, contemporary accent lighting, gas fireplaces, granite countertops throughout, undermount kitchen sinks,glass backsplash, metal-clad over-height cabinets, stainless steel appliances, wine refrigerator, 9' ceilings, designer light fixtures, natural bamboo wood flooring, indulgent bathrooms with soaker tub & Nu Heat flooring, generous deck with BBQ hook up and solar shade. Plus Custom Cabinets. Bonus: This condo also comes with 2 parking spots and 2 storage units

To take a Virtual Open House Tour of this property follow this link:

 http://302-6233londonroad.com/