You've found a property here in the South Okanagan that you love but unfortunately, your offer was accepted as a back-up. What does this mean for you?
You can absolutely still get the house from a back-up position! A good agent will include clauses that ensure your best interests are put first.
Watch the video below to find out how!
You will have closing costs that are paid to the notary or lawyer to complete the title transfer. Those costs can vary from $1000 to $1600 dollars.
Home Inspection. When I'm looking at properties and evaluating them, I'm not only using my past construction experience and knowledge, but buyers and I are scouting to see what other inspectors we might need to bring in, such as a plumber, electrician or a structural engineer besides the home inspector, to properly check the entire home. For a single family detached home it's almost always a necessity. For condos it’s a little different and you may not need your own inspection if you know what to look for in the unit and the strata docs. What about new construction? Yes!
Be prepared that you will need an insurance policy if you are getting a mortgage. Your lender will require you to show proof of your insurance policy before they advance the funds. So make sure you have funds to acquire a policy.
You may have to reimburse the seller for some prepaid utilities or the annual property taxes. You will see that come up on the statement of adjustments when the property is transferred to your name at the notary or your lawyer’s office. If the seller prepaid for 12 months of annual property tax and two months later they sell you the house, they are not going to give you 10 months worth of property tax in good faith; they will ask for that to be shown as a credit to them, at the time of completion.
Property Transfer Tax: everybody in British Columbia purchasing a property is required to pay PTT. On the first 200,000 you pay 1%, then 2% on anything above 200,000 and then 3% anything above 2 million dollars. This could be a substantial expense to you. This fee CANNOT be rolled into your mortgage so you must have the extra funds to pay for it.
GST must be paid on new construction. That will be a charge of 5% of the price.
Appraisal costs. The lender will want to confirm by ordering a 3rd party appraisal, that the property they will advance the funds for is in fact appraised at very close value as your purchase contract. Here's a negotiating tip for you. When you're talking to your mortgage broker or a lender, ask them if they think this property might need an appraisal. If they say yes, ask them who's going to be paying for it. Most likely they might say - it's paid by the clients. This is your opportunity to say, “we would really appreciate it if the lender covers that cost, as a small token of appreciation for our business. Plus my friend said their broker/lender did that for them last week.” Then stay SILENT. First one to speak, loses. Lol.
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Scan. If you are looking at a property from the early 1900 to 1980s, are you aware that there's a chance there was an underground/above ground oil storage tank? What's the worst case scenario? Well, if you buy property and your REALTOR doesn't talk to you about it and you purchase the property only later to find out that a tank is buried in the ground, that is not something I would want to come across. The remediation costs could be in the tens of thousands of dollars to the homeowner and I'm strongly advising you to be very careful when you're buying those properties.
Hopefully this was helpful. Be sure you are working with an agent who is proactively thinking about all these things covering your behind…..so you're not behind in your payments!
We are here to help and to assist. Call us at the neuHouzz Real Estate Team: 778-476-8917
Have you ever considered investing in real estate? While the revenues seem obvious, sometimes, it's the expenses that get overlooked.
Watch below and allow Brenden Flundra, Real Estate Agent here at neuHouzz Realty, to go over how to properly analyze your real estate investment!
If you're looking for a single-family home in the Okanagan 11014 Mountford Avenue is a home you need to see!
Our recent MLS Listing in Summerland, British Columbia, is located on a quiet, no-through road, privately tucked away from street view at the base of Summerland's own, Giant's Head Mountain. This massive walk-out rancher is a must see!
11014 Mountford Avenue, Summerland, British Columbia
6 bedrooms | 4 bathrooms | over 3,400 sqft
1 bedroom LEGAL suite
To schedule a private showing contact:
brenden@neuhouzz.ca
(250) 486-7530 or;
sergej@neuhouzz.ca
(250) 328-3664
Click on the image below for more information!
Are you moving to the Okanagan? Maybe you're looking for a new home within the Okanagan? We have a beautiful new listing at 1150 Mcpherson Place that could be the perfect home for you!
1150 Mcpherson Place
4 bedrooms | 2 bathrooms | 1736 sqft
To schedule a private showing contact:
Sergej Sinicin
sergej@neuhouzz.ca
(250) 328-3664
For more information click the image below!
Whether you're right here in Penticton or somewhere else in the Okanagan Valley, you've gone to your bank and gotten yourself pre-qualified for a mortgage. You're so excited when you find your dream home! It fits right within your pre-qualified budget, only to learn from your mortgage broker that's not actually how much you're pre-approved for.
Watch the video below where Penticton, BC local, David Bickell explains the very important difference between being pre-qualified and being pre-approved.
Spring is here! There are changes in the weather. Our real estate market in the South Okanagan is no exception. As I get a little wiser (or at least I hope so) I realize that one thing is guaranteed to all of us - everything constantly CHANGES! Spring market typically is pretty active in the South Okanagan. So what can we expect for this year? Only time will tell but indicators from different sources and the hyperlocal understanding of the marketplace, are suggesting that we will be in a more of a balanced environment to accommodate happy Sellers and happy Buyers.
Canada’s 2023 Industry Trends Report found 34 per cent of Canadians who planned to enter the market listed rising costs and inflation as their top concern. Followed by a lack of affordable housing options in their community (25 percent) and high rents (25 percent) would impact their ability to save for and purchase a home. Successfully navigating the market during inflationary times means “forgetting the noise and looking at your own personal situation. Make a real estate decision based on how it will benefit you and your family. If it makes sense, go for it. If not, don’t follow the herd,” says Tim Hill, real estate adviser.
We have a bit of a reprieve with the Bank of Canada holding interest rates in March. Another review is slated for mid-April. Our Team is seeing lots of activity. Activity levels that we did not expect for the beginning of the year. More listings, lots of calls, and interested parties searching for their new property. What we have found is that with all the activity we are seeing there is still a slow down in “taking action.” What I mean is that we are busy but it is just taking a longer time for deals to come to fruition. I believe it’s the way it should be done. Everyone is able to do proper research of the marketplace they are shopping in and they don’t feel like making any hasty decisions.
The long term outlook for Canadian Real Estate and especially for us here in the South Okanagan is very positive. People need to have patience and a willingness to understand the current market situation. That is where your trusted Real Estate Professional comes into play. In speaking with one of our trusted Mortgage Professionals last week, things are positive. Even though interest rates have gone up, the prices of homes have dropped 11-15% locally, so the cost of a mortgage has not been overly affected as we wind down Q1 of 2023. Remember, be sure to reach out to your mortgage broker to assist you with more detailed information.
According to a survey by Maru/Blue, more than one quarter (26%) of Canadians who put their home purchase plans on hold over the last year due to rising interest rates will resume their search this spring. Penticton and the surrounding areas of the South Okanagan are still considered “Hot Spots” for those looking to buy or sell. Penticton is challenging Kelowna for the top spot in the Okanagan. It is predicted that Penticton will be the best recreational and resort residential market in B.C.’s interior for 2023. Currently Penticton and the South Okanagan have approximately seven months worth of available inventory. That is sitting in the range of what would be considered a balanced market. Inventory levels, less than four months equal a sellers market and over eight months, equals a buyers market.
A total of 831 homes changed hands across the Okanagan in February, down about half on a year-over-year basis, but up from 555 sales in January. The benchmark price of a single family home in Okanagan, traded for $669,000 in February, up from $657,000 in January. Finally, the average time to sell a home fell to 76 days in February from 86 in January, while the number of new listings increased from 1,430 to 1,579 according to fresh data from all parts of the Association of Interior Realtors, which includes north, central and south Okanagan, plus the Kootenays.
If you are looking for some answers to your real estate questions to navigate these changing times, call us at neuHouzz Real Estate Group: 778-476-8917.
As South Okanagan real estate agents, when our clients call us and ask a question, it's important to us that we have the answers for them.
This was the case when one of our Penticton clients called us and asked, "I've paid my property tax for this year, which is valid until May 31, 2023, but we sold our house in February... what happens to the money we've put towards our property tax for the months of March through May?!"
View MoreNot just in the Okanagan, but everywhere, real estate news is teeming with statistics, numbers and charts. You can find sales stats from any realtor on the block. But there is one “metric” that is often overlooked or not mentioned. There are also no charts on it.
Allow me to share about that other metric which is not tracked or spoken of, though clearly shows the other side of professionals in the real estate world, through a slightly different lens. How many of us professional agents do CARE and are willing to do whatever it takes to help the people we are working with.
Yes, negotiating, writing strong contracts and due-diligence are all part of a REALTOR’s day, especially here in the busy, Penticton BC, real estate market. But then there is another set of nuances which comes with the job. It’s everything outside of and in between the accepted offers, possessions, celebrations and big cheques.
Literally today when I was at the Penticton Community Centre pool, sitting in the sauna, an old acquaintance asked me if I love what I do. It has been a while since someone asked me that. I paused, not in hesitation, but to experience in my heart and what my mind already was ready to authorize my mouth to spit out for an answer. With a big grin and heartwarming enthusiasm it was an obvious answer - YES, I do love it.
Of course, the office environment and the Team you work with plays a big role when we love what we do. Culture is important. But so is your company’s mission and goals. When the mission is clear - to impact people you meet in a positive and meaningful way, achieving your goals is easy. That's a big focus here at neuHouzz Real Estate Group - ensuring we're delivering the absolute best client experience to those in the Okanagan Real Estate Market. After all, I can tell you from experience, it’s not the accolades or awards you receive for the number of properties sold or volume in dollars achieved that a realtor remembers. It’s the meaningful impact on people you make and leave with them while helping them through challenges of what many would say is arguably the most important transaction in their lives. Allow me to share some of those short stories from personal experiences.
We don't just get calls from clients in Penticton, BC. Sometimes, the calls we get aren't even from clients in the Okanagan. Every now and again we get calls from another province - sometimes even, it's another country. This one came from Nova Scotia. It was a son in his late sixties whose mother just passed away in Penticton. There was no other family anywhere in the Okanagan and the son, not being able to take time off or having the ability to come out, needed to facilitate the sale of the property as Executor of The Will. We promised; we will assist. After several weeks of non-stop handling the cleaners to wash down the heavily smoke-covered walls, then bringing in painters, landscapers since the property had not been managed in a long time along with multiple trucks removing personal items - the property went on the market. It sold for roughly $45-50k more than it would have if it was just left to be sold as is. All of that at no additional cost to the Seller. “Understatement” in the Seller's words, “I feel grateful that you could help through this difficult time and make it as painless and easy as possible for my family”.
Another one here in Penticton, where an 86 year old single lady, my Seller, had to be out of her 6,000 sq ft house completely on the day of possession, forgot to pack the rest of her personal items after the first moving truck packed up the day before. The morning of possession the Buyer’s real estate agent was calling me at 8:30am. Meanwhile I am with my Seller at her new residence she is moving to, and the Buyer’s agent is telling me that there is a “truck” load of stuff still in that monstrous house and her Buyers are on their way from Alberta to arrive later that afternoon. After taking a bit of a beating on the phone by the Buyer’s agent and then canceling my multiple appointments in my calendar that day, alongside 3 movers and the Buyer’s agent, God bless her, we all spent 7 hrs loading a 26 ft moving truck with items from the 3rd floor and the basement of that house. The buyer’s arrived to a complete mess and I had to put them up at the Penticton Lakeside Resort and Conference Centre for two nights since we still had to line up the cleaners to clean the home for the new owners. I don’t believe in haunted houses…but this one haunted me for a while, lol.
This one was exceptionally hard emotionally on our 96 years young, Seller. She lived for 40+ years in their home here in the Okanagan and in the last few years, following her spouse's passing she needed to be moved to assisted living on the coast. The closest person to her was her niece. While looking for her Aunt’s new spot on the coast, the niece had lost her husband. Loss of the spouse, work, helping her Aunt and life in general, none of this stops or pauses. The spot opened up on the coast and within 48 hrs our Seller was taken away in a Ford Taurus chariot to her new castle, and our Team was left with the prep of the sale of the house where 40+ years of memories and items were accumulated and left behind. Tapping into our network of trusted, local, Okanagan vendors we made arrangements to have the property cleaned. Helped move many personal belongings out of the house. Finalizing the curb appeal for a couple of days with the landscaper's help, the sale of that property was a great success with no headaches to the Seller. It seems everything falls in place when you take on the attitude where you promise - we will make this real estate thing, easy on you.
These are just a few of my own experiences as a real estate agent here in the Okanagan. There are many other real estate agents who, without ever compromising, deliver an exceptional service to their clients. I have heard those stories and am proud to say that yes, REALTORS do CARE.
How do you find these amazing real estate agents? Interview a few. Ask questions and read “between the lines”. Use the internet and read the Google Reviews to hear what people who worked with them say about their services. Don’t just hire the one who gives you the highest list price. Because if you hire the one who has the right values and strong operating principles as their compass, they will fight tooth and nail to get the highest price for your home.
