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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Coldwell Banker Sings 'Home, Sweet Home' - NYTimes.com

 
Coldwell Banker released their 2012 TV ads at the Generation Blue convention in New Orleans last week. The ads focus on the "emotion and lifestyle" of homeownership and not the usual ads promoting reasons to hire a Real Estate agents that you find in most realty company TV ads. In addition the voice in the ads is that of Tom Seleck, the famous actor from the current TV series Blue Bloods and well he is known from the movies and of course his break through role as Magnum PI. Mr. Seleck has a real connection with Coldwell Banker as his father, brother and sister all worked for Coldwell Banker and his father was a VP for 33 years. The following article was recently published by the NY Times reporter Stuart Elliott,...
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

2012 BC Property Assessments

 “My property assessments are up over 15%! Does this mean that my house is worth more now?”
As Real Estate agents we get asked this question all the time, in fact I remember getting asked this question 30 years ago too! Logically homeowners and buyers look at property assessments as some sort of guide to determine house values; unfortunately this method of evaluation is flawed. For example, most properties that are assessed by the BC Assessment Authority are never even inspected, meaning no one enters the home to see its physical condition, properties are mostly viewed from the outside or aerial mapping and assessed based on land size/location and age of the dwelling (recent building permits may trigger some further investigations...
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Friday, July 29, 2011

The Basics About Home Buying - Part I: Why Realtors are Good

Why Realtors Are UsefulI’m of the generation that knows next to nothing about buying a home. In high school CAPP (career and personal planning) class we learned not to submit résumés on fluorescent pink paper (something, I’ve learned, they encourage in university co-op programs). In math class, we applied algebraic formulas to arbitrary scenarios about cement trucks or airplanes when we could have been applying them to mortgages, something we would realistically need in the future. I hear they’re changing this now and high school students are actually learning about banking and mortgages, things they’ll need later in life. For everyone in my generation, this series is for you.

I’m going to start with a potentially controversial topic: Why Realtors® are useful. I’ve...

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Friday, July 15, 2011

Renting Vs. Owning

When I was younger and the Vancouver housing market not quite so scalding, the truly intelligent among us drained their bank accounts in order to put a down payment on a home, choosing to pay monthly mortgage payments rather than monthly rent payments.  The logic in this choice was infallible .  The payments were very often similar, depending on where or what you decided to buy or rent, and while the initial mortgage pre-approval process was stressful – not to mention the sudden lack of funds after the down payment – it was all well worth the result of eventually owning your very own piece of property.

Now, however, this logic is less certain.  Housing prices are up, making that original down payment substantially larger and increasing...
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Friday, June 24, 2011

The Importance of Curb Appeal

When selling your house, first impressions are everything. Whether or not a potential buyer will actually get out of his car during a drive-by viewing to see the inside depends largely on how good the outside looks. This is where a little exterior staging makes a big difference. After all, getting the buyer to come see the place is one of the hardest parts of selling, but if he pulls up and sees overflowing gutters, overturned planters and an unkempt lawn, he may decide he's seen enough and just keep driving.

Improving the curb appeal of your home can be as simple or intense as you like but the more you put into it, the better the chance of attracting a buyer. For front yard landscaping, the goal is to make your house look as inviting as possible:...
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