Vancouver Real Estate Blog

Vancouver and British Columbia's Top 28 Grants And Rebates For Property Buyers And Owners

Vancouver and British Columbia have some amazing grants and rebates for buyers and owners. Here a a few of them.

1) Home Buyer's Plan: Qualified home buyers can withdraw from their RRSP up to $25,000 and $50,000 for couples for a downpayment. See www.cra.gc.ca and entry Home Buyers Plan documents-in the search box.

2) BC First Time New Home Buyer's Bonus: First time buyers may be qualified for a one-time grant equal to 5% of the purchase price of the home or if you are building a home up to 5% of the land and construction costs. www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/documents_library/notices/FTHB_Bonus.pdf  call 1-877-387-3332

See the following link for the entire top 28 grants and rebates:

http://www.realtorlink.ca/portal/server.pt/document/3377963/top_28_grants_and_rebates%2C_march_20%2C_2012

Laneway Housing - City of Vancouver

In July 2009 Laneway (or Coach) Housing was approved by the City of Vancouver under their EcoDensity Initiative.

Available to RS-1 and RS-5 single-family zones on lots 33′ or wider, you can now build 500 – 750 sf of lane-facing housing. This is in addition to an in-house secondary suite, and to the provision of a single on-site parking space.

If you are interested in looking into adding a Laneway House on your property, you can  contact the City of Vancouver Enquiry center at 604-873-7613  to confirm whether or not your particular lot is eligible.

For more information, visit EcoDensity Laneway Housing.

Real Estate Vancouver - Why Real Estate has Been So Busy By Mitchell Mingie An Agent With Re/Max Crest Realty (Westside)

The real Estate market in Vancouver has been hot, to say the least. But it is only in a few area's and with detached homes specifically.

The market continues to move upward with detached homes on the Westside seeing a 28% jump in price in one year. Condos and town homes during the same period saw a 4% upswing.

Some of my personal observations from the market place which has encouraged the steady growth of all home types and will likely see further growth in price are as follows:

1) GDP Growth

2) Job Growth 

3) Population Growth - over 50,000 into BC this year

4) Increase in Rental Demand

5) Decrease in Vacancies

6) Property Purchase Demand - from international countries

7) New Development Increase In Permits - 2-3 year lag time before completion

8) Consumer Confidence - on the rise

9) Vancouver Is Seen As A Safe Place - So people are parking their money here in the form of real estate.

Vancouver Real Estate - The cost to community and neighbourhoods.

City of vancouver has rezoned a proposed site adjacent to the Marine Drive Sky Train Station and Cambie St. PCI Developments plans on building a two tower development consisting of 825,000 feet. Tower one will be 24 storeys and tower two will be 33 storeys tall. Like many of the new proposals happening in and around the city, neighbours are complaining about the height and density of the projects. They are also accusing the city of bias towards the big companies and the possibility of a cash cow fallout with regards to added tax base and "CAC" Community Amenity Contribution. This is where the city can get the builder to add infrastructure for the community in exchange for higher density of a proposed property.

Two other proposal in the city are the Rize Alliance tower near Kingsway and East broadway and Millennium English Bay Proposal to build a 20 storey tower at Bidwell and Davie Street. Both these proposals are seeing opposition to the rezoning. My feel is that they(meaning the developers) will get what they want. Maybe with a few alterations, but the intent of the proposal will stay bretter much the same.

Vancouver Changes Area Boundaries in False Creek, Yaletown

On Thursday, June 16, new sub-area boundaries were implemented for the False Creek area of downtown Vancouver. Specifically, the 'False Creek North' sub-area will be expanded and renamed 'Yaletown,' and the 'False Creek' sub-area will be expanded to include the area around Olympic Village.

These changes can be viewed by clicking here

Vancouver Real Estate - How To Get Top Dollar For Your Home with Small Improvements That Has The Largest and Most Dramatic Impact For A Quick Sale

Want to get top dollar for your home? Start by “staging” your house—sprucing it up to make it as appealing as possible for the largest audience. You don’t need to spend a fortune to make a fantastic first impression on would-be buyers. It’s often the smaller improvements that have the most dramatic impact and ensure a quick sale.

Home-staging basics:

Clean, clean, clean - A sparkling house will show buyers the home has been well-maintained. Clean the carpets, scrub the bathrooms and the kitchen, dust the light fixtures and make sure the windows are spotless. Pay attention to overlooked areas like window sills and the top of the fridge.

Get rid of the clutter - Buyers should easily visualize themselves in the home without being distracted by your stuff. Remove personal photos, trophies, paperwork and knickknacks. Organize all of your rooms and closets to make them look larger, and keep kitchens and bathroom counters cleared of frequently used products.

Brighten the mood - Extra light makes your home more cheerful and inviting. Allow the natural light in by keeping drapes and blinds opened. Make sure all the bulbs in the house work properly, and leave the lights turned on during showings.

Add a coat of paint - Painting can do wonders to refresh the interior of your home. Go with neutral colors, since they have the widest appeal.

Freshen up the place - Minimize the odors in your house. Open the windows for 15-30 minutes each day to air it out. Keep litter boxes clean and avoid cooking greasy or strong-smelling foods that can linger. Some people even bake cookies to create a welcoming atmosphere.

The small investment you make to stage your home is well worth it. According to a 2010 Real Estate Staging Association, report by the Real Estate Staging Association, homes that are staged can sell 78 percent faster than unstaged houses. Don’t want to do it yourself? A professional home stager can work within your budget and target specific areas to help increase the value of your home without the need for major renovations.

Vancouver Real Estate City Hall Says NO To A $500 Million dollar Casino Expansion

Vancouver City Hall Council has killed a proposal to build an expanded new casino downtown, saying it doesn’t fit the city’s image and brand.

Mayor Gregor Robertson led the way before the unanimous decision, saying: “Enabling the largest casino in western Canada in our downtown doesn't fit with Vancouver's global brand as the world's most livable city, the Green Capital, and hotbed for innovation from clean and digital technology to resource management.”

The decision finishes off a proposal to build a $500-million casino complex that would have been the largest in western Canada, with 1,500 slots and 150 tables, along with two hotels and a cluster of bars and restaurants. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/vancouver-rejects-casino-proposal/article1991813/

Real Estate Record Setting Residential Sale - $100 Million Russian Billionaire Buys Silicon Valley Home

The Luxury Housing Market showing signs of recover.

 
  In a transaction which set a record for most expensive U.S. residential sale ever, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner (who heads Digital Sky Technologies) has reportedly paid $100 million for a 25,500-square-foot Los Altos Hills (CA) home which was not even listed for sale. This record-setting sale is just one indication that the wealthy have opened their wallets and are shopping for homes again.

Nationally(USA), the million dollar and above housing market rose 4% in February year-over-year as luxury buyers snapped up homes, often for all cash. The jump in luxury purchases is counter to the real estate resale trend in general in America.  In February, total residential sales dropped 2.8% as compared to February a year ago.

“Evidence of this positive trend for luxury home sales is evident in Vancouver Canada too,” said Mitchell Mingie, a Luxury Real Estate professional with Re/Max Crest Realty(Westside). We have seen the market out pace itself. With home prices climbing 18% and more in area's like the Westside of Vancouver. 

 “While we don’t have triple digit luxury homes in our market,” said Mingie, we currently have 520  homes priced at $1 million or more listed for sale in Vancouver West from January 1st 2011. 9 Homes are over 10 million dollars and the most expensive home is listed for 19.8 million. In West Vancouver since January 2011, we have 351 homes listed for sale. 8 of those homes are over 10 million and the most expensive home for sale locally has an asking price of $39.9 million.  945 million dollar plus properties have sold since January 2011.  The most expensive home sold locally was $11.98 million on February 18th 2011 for a 1952 rancher on a 59,865 lot size in the UBC area.

 Why the rise in luxury sales?  According to Laurie Moore-Moore, Founder of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, an organization which trains luxury agents internationally, “The number of wealthy households in the U.S. and world-wide is almost back to where it was before the downturn.  Add the fact that many high net worth individuals are reassessing their investments and rethinking how and where to invest.  High-end U.S. residential real estate is now attracting many of these dollars, Euros, and Rubles. This bodes well for the luxury home market in the short term.  Luxury may well be the real estate segment that leads the recovery.” 

 

Vancouver Real Estate: How Vancouver Is Tackling Affordable Housing Or Should I Say Making It Easier To Pay Your Mortgage

In the City of Vancouver, home owners in RS1 and RS5 zoned areas are now permitted to have both a secondary suite and a laneway home if their property meets specific criteria. Do to Vancouver's housing prices, it is a way to gently densify neighbourhoods while maintaining their single-family residential character. It also makes home ownership more affordable. A home owner can rent two of the units to help pay the mortgage.

Consider this, in the last year, pockets of the Westside and Richmond have seen a price increase of 25%. To keep the family together and help mom and dad out(alot) having extra revenues come in from the house, makes sense. The biggest worry for most people is the aesthetics of the home density. So far the city of Vancouver has done an excellent job of keeping the neighbour housing decor in tacked.

To Read more follow the link below:

http://www.rebgv.org/zoning-more-affordable-home-ownership-greater-vancouver

Vancouver Real Estate - The Asian Connection

Overseas buyers are playing significant roles in Vancouvers real estate markets.

In Vancouver, Asian purchasers, most from mainland China, are snapping up high-end houses and condos, keeping sales brisk and prices high. Vancouver's Real Estate Agent Mitchell Mingie with Re/MaxCrestRealty(Westside) is seeing housing prices soar in neighbourhoods like Dunbar and Point Grey. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver announced that on the Westside prices from February 2010 to February 2011 rose 18%. Mitchell Mingie  took one area of the Westside from the Sales figures from September 2010 to March 18th 2011 and found a 25% price increase in as little as 6 months. Mr. Mingie said that "most of the price increase has been since December 2010 till March 2011. Still at what Mitchell has been seeing, the demand is real and prices will continue to rise, but with more inventory coming on daily, prices will modify".