Who is buying real estate in Nanaimo? I have been reviewing the 2011 home buyer profile published by VIREB.  This report reviews Nanaimo real estate sales for 2011 and helps determine where the buyers come from and who they are. The report looks at buyer origin, major reason for purchase, the length of time a buyer had lived in the community before buying, Type of purchase ( primary residence or investment), First time buyer  or retirement purchase,  down payment info., how buyers learnt of property, how buyers chose a Realtor, selling price range, home characteristics. The following numbers reflect the highest frequency or most common value for each category.  These numbers reflect the “ Typical” buyer for 2011. The typical buyer for 2011: ·     Came from the Nanaimo area, ·    Purchas... 07/14/2012

How To Tell If A Nanaimo Home Is Overpriced   Tips On Spotting An Overpriced Home Some Nanaimo real estate agents may tell you that pricing your home above market is a good way to start, because you can always reduce the price later on.   While you certainly can make one or more price reductions while you’re marketing your home for sale, over pricing your home is always a mistake.   That’s because you’ll have fewer showings and the qualified buyers that do look at your home for sale will likely not come back – simply because they’ve found another home in Nanaimo to buy that’s more realistically priced.   Here are a few tips on how to tell if a home is overpriced, and how to avoid over pricing your home if you’re considering selling in Nanaimo:   If you look at the price of a home for sa... 06/17/2012

A Nanaimo Realtor’s Secrets to Selling Your Home for Top Dollar   If you’re planning on selling a house you want to maximize the return on your real estate investment, and that means selling your home for top dollar. Here are some of my tips on how to sell a house and get the most for your home:   Pricing   While it’s tempting to take a “let’s see if we can get this price” attitude and price your home above the market, this is always a mistake.  Trying to sell a house that’s overpriced will either not attract people to look – or – the people that do look at your home for sale will NOT come back when you decide to price your home realistically.   Know Your Competition   In order to price your house for sale at market value, you’ve got to know what other home sellers in Nanaimo are doing.... 06/17/2012

Childproofing Your Nanaimo Home The best way to childproof your Nanaimo home is by not having kids in the first place. Just kidding!  OK, so now that I have your attention . . .   Owning a Nanaimo home presents certain unique challenges to childproofing your home, because you’ve got to consider potential hazards that are outside of the house in addition to the dangers that might be inside.   First, let’s take a look at some of the things that you’ll want to use inside of your house to childproof it:   Safety Latches and Locks   Safety Gates   Door knob covers and Door locks   Anti-scale Devices (for faucets and shower heads)   Smoke Alarms   Corner and Edge Bumpers (for the edges of furniture and fireplaces)   Electrical Outlet Covers and Outlet Plates   Carbon Monoxide Alarms   Cordles... 06/17/2012

How To Conserve Energy With Energy Saving Appliances Not all energy saving appliances conserve energy equally. That’s because often times the terms ‘energy conservation’, ‘going green’ and what not are misused or can be a little misleading. Here are a few tips on what to look for when shopping for energy saving appliances to conserve energy.   To be energy efficient, an appliance should do two things:   1.  Reduce greenhouse gas and other emissions caused by the inefficient use of energy.   2.  Save on energy bills without sacrificing performance, features and comfort.   Use these two points as a guide when you’re shopping for energy saving appliances.   To save the most energy savings it’s best to start consider what appliances in your home use the most energy.  Here are the top three ... 06/17/2012

How To Avoid The Hidden Costs Of Moving When Selling Your Home Quickly You’ve got your home in Nanaimo on the market and have done everything that your realtor told you to do to sell your home quickly. Maybe you’ve livened up the landscaping, put on a fresh coat of paint, and did a bit of de-cluttering.  You’ve done your homework, so you know that your home for sale is priced right to sell and your real estate agent is bringing in qualified buyers that have your home at the top of their to-buy list. After only a few days on the market your phone rings.  It’s your realtor, telling you that she has an offer to buy your home that she thinks you’ll be very pleased with, and could she drop by in an hour to discuss it with you? You knew your realtor was good, and you were pretty sure your hom... 06/17/2012

Buying a house in Nanaimo?  Top 9 reasons to work with a Realtor  Why go it alone when buying a house in Nanaimo?  Some buyer’s think that with all the information they can access online, that they could probably buy a house on their own; without Realtor representation.  So, if you have wondered about the same thing I’d like to share the top 9 reasons why it makes sense to have a professional Realtor on your side.  1.       Realtors are trained to know how to buy a home.  Most consumers are not.  It   makes   sense to hire a professional when purchasing your most valuable possession.   2.       A Realtor has neighbourhood knowledge.  They can supply you with comparable sales that have taken place in the neighbourhood.  They can tell you why a house sold for what it did.  They can tell y... 06/11/2012

THE BC FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS BONUS HAS FINALLY PASSED LEGISLATION! It's easy to apply for the BC FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS BONUS; Simply click here. Now all you FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS that have been tossing around the idea of buying a new home can finally take advantage of this. As a FIRST TIME HOME BUYER that extra money in your pocket, instead of the provincial government's pocket will come in very handy, lowering your expenses and easing your mortgage costs. As well, this is an excellent market for BC FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS as interest rates are still very good and there is a lot of great inventory on the market from which to select. Nanaimo offers superbly affordable properties in an attractive coastal setting which offers stunning mountain and ocean views. It's a perfect setting for ... 06/08/2012

Nanaimo open houses  f you are in the market to buy a new home in Nanaimo, you are probably keen to visit some open houses this weekend.  Visiting open houses is a great way to get a feel for what is available in Nanaimo real estate.  The big question is; how do you organize a tour of open houses without using up a tank of gas? To assist you in your tour of Nanaimo open houses I have compiled a few links to local websites that list weekly open houses.  1. Nanaimo homes 4 sale  2. Remax of Nanaimo    3.       Coast Realty   4.       Royal Lepage   5.       Realtor.ca  f you see any houses listed in these Open House directories, that you would like additional information on please give me a call. 06/08/2012

Real Estate in Nanaimo - Absorption rates for May 2012 Real estate absorption rates are one of the key indicators on how the Nanaimo real estate market is doing. My numbers come from the latest real estate stats published by VIREB (Vancouver Island Real Estate Board).  Based on the information they have supplied I have calculated the absorption rates for real estate here in Nanaimo as of the end of May 2012. By tracking these numbers monthly it helps me understand better what type of real estate market Nanaimo is experiencing. In addition, these absorption rates assist me in advising my clients on realistic expectations on the length of time it will take to sell their home. The definition of absorption rates is the number of weeks it takes to sell the current real estate inventory in Na... 06/08/2012

Nanaimo Real Estate as of June 1 2012 - What’s selling & for how much?   How does one analyze the state of the Nanaimo real estate market?  This is a very important question for both buyers and sellers.  For buyers looking at real estate in Nanaimo the main concerns are price, selection and timing.  For people selling their Nanaimo home the important factors are timing, level of inventory (competition) on the market and how much they can ask for their home. I hope the following figures, stats and graphs may assist both buyers and sellers in making real estate buying and selling decisions. Here’s the type of real estate that sold in Nanaimo in May 2012 (source VIREB): Property Type    Number of unit’s        Average price Single Family            109 units                  $349,554. Cond... 06/08/2012

Nanaimo real estate statistics- May 2012 The real estate statistics from May 2012 reflect the following changes in single family home sales. Nanaimo real estate statistics for single family homes  The Cumulative Residential Average Single Family Sale Price is down by 8% over May 2011.  The average sale price was $349,554 in May 2012 compared to $379,410 in May 2011.  The following are the single family market changes for May 2012 compared with May 2011  -  There were 254 units listed this May compared to 224 units in May 2011. – Up by 13%  -  There were 109 units sold this May which is identical to the number of units sold in May 2011  -  The average sale price per unit for May 2012 was 8% lower thanMay 2011  -  The average days to sell inMay 2012 were 45 days compared with May 2011 whi... 06/08/2012

When is the best time to sell my Nanaimo house? I am often asked “when is the best time to sell a house in Nanaimo?”  I decided to do a little research and prepare a chart that shows a month-by-month flow of home sales in Nanaimo over the past 12 months. The three top months for single family home sales in Nanaimo, between June 2011 and May 2012 were: 1.        April 2.       August  3.       May When deciding to sell your Nanaimo home I would suggest that there are a number of factors that will determine when the best time to sell is.  As a Nanaimo Realtor I supply my clients with monthly real estate sales stats.  With these statistics we can determine many factors that will assist you in determining if timing is good to try and sell your home.  We will review the following: 1.        ... 06/07/2012

Depreciation Reports for Strata properties in BC The BC Government has recently passed a regulation that stipulates that all strata properties with more than four units must prepare a common property depreciation report.  These reports are due Dec. 13, 2013. Why are these reports necessary? The purpose of these reports is to provide estimates for repair and replacement costs for major items such as roofs.  The report will also advise of the expected life of these items.  The Strata can then take the findings in these reports to make plans to build up their contingency reserve fund.    What will the depreciation report contain?  1     A physical inventory of the common property, including the building systems;  2.  Anticipated maintenance, repair and replacement costs for common expenses... 06/04/2012

How To Price Your Nanaimo Home to sell One of the secrets to selling Nanaimo real estate is to make sure that you price your home correctly right from the start. New sellers often think that it’s better to start high and see what happens.  This is almost always a big mistake.  If you price your home wrong you will lose a lot of potential qualified buyers, and even if you lower the asking price of you home, they will not come back. How do you know how to price your home? Most people have a pretty good idea of the price range that homes in their neighborhood have sold for, and it’s pretty easy these days to find a lot of information over the internet.  Before you even talk with a Realtor it’s a good idea to do some basic pricing research. After comparison shopping on the internet, the nex... 05/20/2012

Why You Should Sell Your House In The Summer Summer is a very good time to sell Nanaimo homes.  The weather is great, school is out, and everything looks nice. If people are going to move or relocate to Nanaimo, the odds are that if they can, they’re going to choose summer to make the move, so you’ll want to time putting your home on the market to meet this buyer demand. Take advantage of this time of year to make sure that your home for sale matches the season. Make sure the deck looks nice and fresh, and maybe invest in some planters and extra flowers.  Some new lawn furniture will look extra nice and make it easy for a prospective buyer to imagine spending a relaxing weekend afternoon in the backyard. Inside the house, make sure that the temperature is welcoming as well.  You may pre... 05/20/2012

Nanaimo Homes For Sale – Is It Worth It To Stage? Many sellers of Nanaimo homes ask a very good question:  Does it pay to stage your home? There are pros and cons of staging a home, so let’s take a look at both sides of the coin. Here’s an argument for staging your home in Nanaimo for sale When home staging is done properly, it can potentially put your home ahead of the competition.  There’s a fine line between doing home staging properly and overdoing it. You want prospective buyers to imagine that they’re already living in your home, so that psychologically they’ve already bought your home before they’ve actually signed a contract.  But, you don’t want them to think that your home looks like a ‘model’ home, with everything looking just a little too perfect. A reason not to stage your ... 05/20/2012

How Necessary Is A Home Inspection? When you’re buying real estate in Nanaimo doing a home inspection should always be at the top of your list. A home inspection is fairly inexpensive compared to the other costs of buying a home and it is actually one of the best investments you can make.  It’s much easier to address any potential problems with your new Nanaimo home before you buy the house and move in. Here are some reasons why doing a home inspection is a must-do: 1.  Sellers don’t always know if there’s something wrong with their home.  Many times people get used to living with certain quirks in a house.  But what’s a quirk to them could end up being a big problem for you. 2.  Other times, sellers do know there’s something wrong, but don’t tell you or the real estate agents.  Every n... 05/20/2012

2012 cruise ship schedule for Nanaimo The 2012 Nanaimo cruise ship season will see several ships visiting Nanaimo this summer and fall.   The ships will be docking at Nanaimo’s brand new cruise ship terminal.  This will mean that passengers will not have to be tendered into shore. The terminal opened in early May 2011. The first ship to dock there was the Norwegian Pearl.  Apparently the dock was a breeze for the captain to manoeuvre in and out of.  Once passengers came ashore they were loaded onto regional transit buses and taken on a five-point guided tour of the city.  It is so much easier for passengers to leave the ship if they don’t need to hop into a tender.  They can just walk off the ship and tour around town if they choose.  80% of passengers from the Norwegian Pearl left the ... 05/13/2012

Nanaimo Real Estate as of May 2012 - What’s selling and for how much? The Nanaimo real estate sales numbers are in for the month of April, 2012.  How do you analyze the Nanaimo real estate market?  This is a very important question for both buyers and sellers.  For buyers looking at real estate in Nanaimo the main concerns are price, selection and timing.  For people selling their Nanaimo home the important factors are timing, level of inventory (competition) on the market and how much they can ask for their home. I hope the following figures, stats and graphs may assist both buyers and sellers. Here’s the type of real estate that sold in Nanaimo in April 2012 (source VIREB): Property Type    Number of unit’s        Average price Single Family            114 units                  $368,... 05/13/2012