Should you wait until after the holidays to list your home? If listed before the holiday season, should you leave your home on market or take it off? Consider these pros and cons of selling during the holidays.
Pros:
Cons:
Despite the holiday bustle, this can certainly be the most wonderful time of the year to sell. Give your real estate representative a call to discuss your personal circumstances, and to get an update on local market conditions before making your decision.
This month's feature recipe: Creamy Potato And Onion Gratin
Ingredients:
Directions:
1. In a skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat; add onions and cook, stirring often, until light brown – about 30 minutes.
2. In a saucepan, bring milk, garlic and thyme to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Add flour, salt and pepper to milk mixture and cook until mixture has thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk.
4. Add cheese to milk mixture and stir until cheese is melted, about 30 seconds.
5. Layer one-quarter of the potatoes in a greased 8" casserole dish. Top with one-third of the sautéed onions and one-quarter of the milk mixture. Repeat until onions and cheese sauce are done.
6. Bake in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for approximately 1 1/2 hours.
Even in this digital age, paper clutter can be a problem, causing us mental stress and even costing us time and money. Below are a few tips to help you get – and stay – on top of your paper pile-up.
You've probably seen the news and heard recent rumblings about how Canadian mortgage rates are going up. You'd like to take advantage of today's low interest rates, but aren't quite ready to buy right now. What should you do? Call your mortgage broker today to ask about a rate hold!
Mortgage rates have dropped to historically low levels over the past few years, lulling buyers into a sense of complacency. It's important to remember that mortgage rates are cyclical, however, and as such what has been down will eventually rise again. While we can't control how high rates will go, what we can do for our clients is make sure you don't pay more than today's level, by guaranteeing you the current mortgage rate for a set period of time – regardless of how much higher the rate rises after today.
When you call, we'll explain in more detail how lenders define a rate hold, and how it will allow you to budget for your next home with a more precise idea of your long-term financial obligations. You'll also want to hear how you can ensure a better chance of landing your dream home by securing a pre-approved mortgage – something that will give you the edge over another bidder who may have a "subject to financing" clause in his or her offer.
Please call to ask what today's interest rates are, what a preapproved mortgage entails and how long lenders will guarantee their best rates for you through a rate hold.
A little regular maintenance around the house can go a long way toward decreasing the odds of a fire, and, should a fire break out, increasing the odds of you and your family escaping harm. Take a few minutes to review these household hints.
Inspections are a crucial part of the homebuying process. Should the inspection results be less than perfect, don't panic. Here's why an imperfect inspection shouldn't send you running scared.
First, understand that no home is perfect. Even newly constructed homes often have flaws (which is why they, too, should be professionally inspected). A home can be perfect for you, in that it meets all your requirements, but no home will be in perfect physical condition, so be prepared for your inspector to find some fault. The nature of that fault is another matter, which leads us to another important point…
Inspectors don't just check out the big stuff, like a property's foundation, roof, and electrical and plumbing systems (problems in these areas may be justifiable cause to withdraw from a sale); they look for problems big and small. Minor issues like appliances that don't work or faucets where hot and cold are reversed, for example, will be noted by the inspector, but are easily remedied and shouldn't frighten you away from a home that otherwise matches your criteria.
Lastly, the wording on inspection reports can be rather technical and, to limit liability, exceedingly cautious; plus, some reports are little more than checklists wherein items are simply marked as being in good, fair, or poor condition. As a result, inspection reports can seem considerably scarier than they really are. This is why it's recommended buyers attend the inspection and shadow the inspector instead of just reading the report once the examination is finished – if you're present, the inspector can explain to you, in layman's terms, the exact nature of the problem and how severe it is – or isn't.
While a 19 percent increase in October sales is normally notable news, it is being taken in stride by the Fraser Valley real estate community who view the numbers simply as a return to "typical" October activity, on par with that month's 10-year average.
According to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, members posted 1,249 sales on its Multiple Listing Service® in October 2013, an increase of 19 percent compared to the 1,053 sales processed during October 2012. At the same time, the Board received 2,336 new listings, a decrease of seven percent compared to the 2,522 new listings received during the same time period last year.
Ron Todson, President of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, notes, "We've had a great summer and good early fall, but it's important to remind everyone of the context. The last four months of 2012 were amongst the slowest for our real estate market in the last 15 years."
"What we're witnessing is a return to a balanced residential market indicated by prices remaining unchanged or down slightly compared to a year ago, stable inventory levels and the average length of time to sell a home is about two months."
In October, the benchmark price of single-family detached homes in the Fraser Valley area was $551,400, compared to townhouses at $295,500 and apartments at $199,500.
Is it time for you to trade up, move down, or just look around? Please call for a discussion on your real estate plans today!