Vancouver Real Estate News Blog - August, 2011

Home Curb Appeal

There is much written on how to improve your house, the advice includes how to renovate and which rooms return the most on your investment.  But there are things you can do without hiring contractors and pulling permits. 

For the most impact, start outside.  The property will never sell if people won’t stop to consider it.  Curb appeal is one of the most powerful factors in attracting buyers. 

The convenience of the Internet can allow people to see the interior and the photos you have added on the property.  The can troll through virtual tours and compare square footage and number of bathrooms in the comfort of their home.  But the actual visit can be easily stopped with an overgrown yard or neglected landscape. 

While people are…

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Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: Living in Vancouver

Does where you live affect how long you live?  Researchers indicate there are many factors that affect health, but location is a prime factor.  There are lists of best places to live that include multiple factors but significant in the method is the location.  Vancouver seems to climb to the top of the lists both for Canada and the world.  It is in the top 5 healthiest cities list for both Canada (Prevention, Canada) and the world (MSN Real Estate). 

Vancouver is the largest city in British Columbia and the third largest city in Canada.  While it ranks as one of the most expensive cities to live in Canada; it seems to also benefit the residents in terms of healthy, wealthy and wise. 

For the healthy this city seems to consistently rank…

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Star Sightings in Vancouver

There are many reasons to call Vancouver home.  The spectacular natural beauty of the area, the proximity to other big cities and the progressive nature of the city are only a few of the reasons to love Vancouver.  But for the celebrity seeker, the film industry in Vancouver is a compelling reason to relocate to this gem city in British Columbia. 

So if you are not up-to-date on the film industry in Vancouver you may be thinking this is the home of some quirky little documentary or low budget indie film; couldn’t be further from the future.  Blockbusters have found a home in Vancouver, and the supporting film technology industry has made it especially appealing for special effects, animation and high tech film production.  So for both the small and…

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The Home Inspection: The Fulcrum in the Vancouver Real Estate Sale

The British Columbia Real Estate Association forecasts nearly 78,000 real estate transactions will take place in 2011.  Each transaction should utilize the home inspection process.  For sellers, this is often seen as a leverage tool for the buyer to try to obtain credits for identified problems.  But there is evidence that the home inspection can be more beneficial for the seller than the buyer. 

In the case where the buyer has fallen in love with the property, has been approved for funding contingent upon the inspection; the devastation of a poor finding can drive the buyers to a new location or they will use the finding to drive the price into the ground recouping credits for the necessary repairs or improvements. 

The proactive seller…

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Why Vancouver BC is Appealing

The value of property is determined in a number of formulations, there is the assessed value or tax value; the comparable value or the value of the property compared to recent sales in the area of comparable properties; but there is also market value which can be dependent upon other factors such as confidence in the location, employment trends and other environmental factors. 

In Vancouver, unemployment runs well below the national average.  Thriving, and stable job markets have been a strong factor in the pricing levels of Vancouver property remaining high, even in challenging economic conditions. 

One of the major employers in Vancouver is the government.  It is standard in Canada that 1 in 10 employees in the city work for the…

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