How do you sell your Vancouver property when the supply of listings is up? There are more listings on the market and fewer buyers.  It seems to me that some of the buyers are confused by having so much choice, so they keep looking at more listings rather than view the ones which meet their criteria, shortlist one or three, view them for a second time and make a decision.  If you are a buyer you should always have a priority list and number it one to ten. If you are a couple, you should have two lists, then amalgamate them into one. This way you will be focused on what is of most importance to you in selecting a property. At the end of the day, after we've marketed the Vancouver property by way of a virtual tour, 10 professional photos on the MLS, commissioned a company to do a professio... 05/29/2008

I recently saw an interview on CBC with "author, speaker, researcher, thought leader" Richard Florida, talking about his new book "Who's Your City?" Florida did a study of US cities and his ideas are thought provoking. The following is a description of the book from amazon.com How the Creative Economy is Making the Place Where You Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life. Read the rest of this post   05/28/2008

I did a post on this recently and thought I'd follow it up with City Hall's explanation. So here it is. Here is an excerpt from Vancouver's City Hall report recommending freezing the program: An oversupply of banked density could affect the value of the density leading to even larger bonuses, and could potentially undermine the viability of the bank as a heritage incentive. This would affect both current as well as future heritage projects. Therefore, it is prudent to pause and review the bank's capacity, the density bonusing formula, and other possible heritage incentives to mitigate the current size of bonuses being generated by heritage projects to ensure the bank remains a viable heritage revitalization tool. Staff are concerned the current situation could be exacerbated by the numb... 05/27/2008

 Harbour Green II at 1139 West Cordova, is the second of three Harbour Green waterfront condo buildings in Vancouver's prestigious Coal Harbour neighbourhood. Due for completion shortly, Hillsboro Investments Ltd are the owners of the 3 Harbour Green condo buildings. You can pre-register for Harbour Green 3  Ledcor is the builder and James K. M. Cheng Architect Inc. and BBA Consultants designed it. The building is 32 storeys high with 3 levels of underground parking featuring 66 suites and 9 townhomes. There are two suites per floor running north to south the ‘01′ suites are 3 bedrooms 3600 sq.ft. on the west side of the building and the ‘02′ suites are 2 bedrooms 2400 sq.ft. Read the remainder of this post   05/24/2008

 Coal Harbour's 1650 Bayshore Drive is in Vancouver's most prestigous waterfront neighbourhood, Coal Harbour The building was built in 2003.  1650 Bayshore Drive is a 19 storey building offering 67 view suites, with 4 per floor, plus 1 two storey and 8 three storey townhomes with patios and gardens. 2/5/10 year guarantee from Landor Guarantee. The was the sixth of seven Bayshore Drive buildings. Amenities - gym, sauna and swirlpool Read the rest of this post   05/22/2008

 Vancouver's Downtown has a new pre-sale on Richards I drove by a couple of days ago and the sign is up! 1000 block Richards, where the Richards on Richards nightclub was for decades and the infamous Madam Cleo's massage parlour is going to be a condo project with suites priced from $399,000.  Does that transalate to one bedrooms 500 sq.ft., if the cost is $800 pr sq ft or higher? Read the rest of this post   05/22/2008

Vancouver's West End is well supplied with listings. The market under $500,00 is by far the most active.  Listings  232 - a whopping 60 have had their list price reduced.  135 are listed under $500,000 and 57 are listed between $500,000 and $1 million and 28 are listed between $1 and $2 million, leaving 7 over $2 million. The most expensive is $5,775,000 Read the rest of the article  05/17/2008

Hollyburn Group who own about 20 West End rental buildings gave eviction notices to the tenants of the Glenmore building at the corner of Gilford & Barclay. 82% of all the suites in Vancouver's West End are rental and because the buildings were built in the 1960s and 1970s the rents are lower and attract a lower to middle income tenant. The vacancy rate in the neighbourhood is now 0.2%, in line with the downtown peninsula and not expected to change in the near future. Read the remainder of this article   05/13/2008

Listings 176 - 38 with price reductions and 1 with a price increase. Only 30 listed under $500,000 and  53 between $500,000 and $1 million. 61 listed between $1 and $2 million and 29 listed over $2 million, of those 5 are over $5 million. The least expensive Coal Harbour suite is $ 329,000 for a studio and the least expensive 2 bedroom is $ 549,000. The most expensive remains the Shaw Tower at $19,000,000. Read the remainder of this article 05/13/2008

notices to the tenants of the Glenmore building at the corner of Gilford & Barclay. 82% of all the suites in Vancouver's West End are rental and because the buildings were built in the 1960s and 1970s the rents are lower and attract a lower to middle income tenant. The vacancy rate in the neighbourhood is now 0.2%, in line with the downtown peninsula and not expected to change in the near future. Read the rest of this post 05/12/2008

Red is often a favorite color choice for home stagers due to it's powerful ability to direct the eye. Successful stagers know how to incorporate red artwork and accessories to capture buyers attention without overwhelming a space. There is a fine line between highlighting the features of a room and creating a chaotic look by incorporating too many red accents. Consider 2 vacant living rooms my company recently staged using strategically placed red accents to draw the eye and enhance the focal points. Reveal Estate is a full service home staging company located in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. 05/10/2008

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver  reports that residential attached, detached and apartment property sales in the Greater Vancouver area totalled 3,218  in April 2008, a decline of 5% from April 2007, and a decline of 3.8% compared to April 2006. New listings detached, attached and apartment properties in the Greater Vancouver area climbed 25.6% over a year ago, to 7010. Sales continue to be strong, but there is a lot more choice on the market today. This is good news for a market that has been defined by record breaking activity for most of this decade. Despite this seeming re-balance between sales and listings, it took, on average, 6 fewer days to sell a home in Greater Vancouver compared to the previous year, with a days on market average of 33 in April this year. Read the ... 05/09/2008

Green Building Code" would be developed to help reduce global warming. Their goals are identification and removal of barriers to sustainable building practices within current codes and regulations.  Identification and proposal of new provisions for green buildings regulation and implementation of new provisions through administration, education and training.The green building provisions will focus on sustainable sites, water conservation , energy conservation, materials and indoor environment.To read the rest of this article http://www.vancouverreflections.com/2008/05/06/what-is-the-impact-of-the-bc-building-code-going-green/  05/07/2008

Vancouver's False Creek provides prime moorage for boaters but Esso is set to close its marine gas station Esso has closed its marine gas station in Steveston, Port Hardy, Nanaimo and West Vancouver. Will False Creek be next? They have told Allan Keefe, the manager, that they are getting out of the marine gas business, after 23 years of serving the neighbourhood.Read the rest of this article http://www.vancouverreflections.com/2008/05/05/the-pending-fate-of-vancouvers-false-creek-boaters-and-how-you-can-help/  05/05/2008

If you are purchasing a condo in Vancouver's waterfront neighbourhood, Coal Harbour, you will find this map very useful. It shows all the waterfront and non waterfront buildings.  http://www.vancouverreflections.com/2008/05/02/coal-harbour-vancouver-condominium-map/  05/05/2008

At least seven Vancouver Gastown condo projects are in limbo as City Hall nixed its heritage revitalization program.City Hall established a Heritage Building Rehabilitation Program for Gastown, Chinatown and the Hastings Corridor in 2003 and it was scheduled to run til 2008. It was designed to cover cost shortfalls for complete building rehabilitation. It also included a density bonus and property tax relief.The City has now declared that Vancouver's Gastwon Heritage  program will be suspended pending further study. Of the 12, 5 were allowed to proceed and the remaining seven were excluded.To read the rest of this article, click herehttp://www.vancouverreflections.com/2008/05/03/why-has-vancouver-city-hall-puts-gastown-city-heritage-on-hold/  05/05/2008

In Vancouver, condominium fees are paid monthly and cover all the expenses that relate to the condo corporation's expenditures.These expenses include insurance on the building, property manager's fees, gardening, garbage collection, water, maintaining the common property, concierge, upkeep of the amenities, caretaker's salary, repairs and maintenance to the building and a contribution to the reserve fund.  These items are set out in an annual budget and voted on by the condominium owners.Read about the three facts and find real estate listings in vancouver 05/01/2008

It has now been 5 years since ex-Mayor of Vancouver Larry Campbell encouraged Kerfoot to build a soccer stadium east of the Pan Pacific Hotel and no backhoe has entered the land. A couple of days ago Campbell made this news release "I'd like to really see it go ahead. It would be tremendous for the city," Campbell said. "The Whitecaps have been great citizens. It would be nice to bring them into Vancouver." He was, of course, supported by Vancouver Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi, who is  welcoming an offer by Sen. Larry Campbell to play striker in stalled talks over a proposed waterfront soccer stadium. read more 04/29/2008

Recently I viewed this wonderful waterfront condo. #1402 is listed at $5,998,000 and boasts 3600 sq.ft. with waterviews on 3 sides and 3 bedrooms, den and family, 2 view balconies, insuite storage plus a storage locker and parking for 4 vehicles.Carina was built in 2003 and is on the east side of Callisto and one of only 6 waterfront buildings on West Cordova Street. It is unique because there will be only two more - Four Seasons and Harbour Green Three. In additon there are two waterfront buildings on Bayshore, as well as Waterfront Place's Cascina and Denia.Amenities include an indoor pool with a view, 24 hour concierge and a gym.The builiding has 25 levels and 93 suites and features multi-zone air conditioning,spa like bathrooms with slate and limestone.There are 4 suites per floor. ... 04/27/2008

Canadian investors are buying Phoenix, Arizona homes faster than the mercury rises in direct Arizona sunlight.  We have helped over a dozen Canadians secure mortage financing for Arizona properties.  Arizona real estate broker, Greg Swann, reports that his listed properties are being viewed by Canadian investors because of his strong internet presence.  He listed a golf property near my old Arizona home and I cant help noting the opportunity it might be for my Canadian clients.  Heres what Greg Swann says about this property on 12214WestMadisonSt.com: Too much of Arizona gets lost in the crush of events. Work, school, errands, rush, rush, rush. Where are the mountains? Where is the desert? Where are those boundless horizons, those awe-inspiring desert sunsets? Good grief, wheres the po... 04/26/2008