Vancouver RE Prices Thumbs Up Thumbs Down?

Vancouver housing prices are going up...can it last. Check out my latest article at my blog.

The writer is a passionate observer of the Vancouver mortgage scene. He is a TMG mortgage broker in Vancouver with a focus on bad credit mortgage refinance. The shift in the market has allowed him to help people link up with bad credit mortgage lenders.

Vancouver Real Estate | You Buy It But Is It Really Yours

A nightmare of a recipe...Condo owners neglect their building by keeping maintenance fees low. No one wants to pay more. The problem escalates until the repairs are beyond the financial capacity of the owners. The city steps in when the building becomes unsafe and a developer buys the property on the cheap. Who knew?

The dream of owning your own home. Can I get in before I am priced out? Can I afford it? You never think the court of BC would sell it out from under you. Yet this is what has happened to one homeowner in Vancouver.

If you have ever lived in a strata. You will know that getting people as a group to agree to anything is hard these days. More so when there is big money involved. Mix that up will a falling housing market and big ticket repairs you will have an recipe for personal tragedy.

In a recent court decision a man has lost his house and his life savings. (See full article)

A long and expensive court fight over condominium repairs has ended with a Vancouver man being forced out of his paid-off home.

A B.C. Supreme Court justice ruled Craig Fraser's condo could be liquidated — along with the rest of the three-unit building — after the two other owner-investors couldn't or wouldn't pay the repair bills for a leaky roof.

This issue is highlited by the recent downturn in property values and the dramatic increase in construction costs. The BC Condo Home Owner's Association predicts even more liquidations.

"It's not the only liquidation that we've seen take place," said Tony Gioventu of B.C.'s Condo Home Owner's Association (CHOA). "We're going to see probably a greater list of strata corporations that are incapable of meeting their financial obligations."

Here is the problem...Condo owners neglect their building by keeping maintenance fees low. No one wants to buy more. The problem escalates until the repairs are beyond the financial capacity of the owners. The city steps in when the building becomes unsafe and a developer buys the property on the cheap.

More to come...

Duncan Seward is associated with TMG a group of mortgage brokers in BC. He helps people arrange a mortgage in BC. Every Friday he updates BC mortgage rates. You can check out his blog covering the mortgage market in Vancouver.

Reno Tax Savings | Practical Magic

The reno tax saving is being used for more practical applications in this economic climate. According the Scotia Bank's economic report.

The federal home-renovation tax credit has the potential to goose Canada's $40-billion home-improvement market, though not in the same way it might during a market upswing, according to a new report from Scotia Economics.

Scotia Economics, in its latest Real Estate Trends report, said it expects homeowners to "focus on more practical projects," such as energy-efficiency upgrades or repairs aimed at improving resale prospects vs. aesthetic improvements.

The uplift from the tax saving should help the construction reno sector survive the current downswing. The loss of tradespeople from the sector could have disasterous implications when we come out of this downturn.

As well, by improving the existing housing stock energy efficiency we should improve our long term environment impact.

Duncan Seward is associated with TMG a group of mortgage brokers in BC. He helps people arrange a mortgage in BC. Every Friday he updates BC mortgage rates. You can check out his blog covering the mortgage market in Vancouver.

Professionals Hold On Through Good and Bad

It is hard to have hope when the market has been cut out from under you. The rapid decline of the market has caught most realtors unaware. Unfortunately, they believed their realtor associations.

A sure sign of a tough vancouver real estate market is when realtors start looking for other income sources. Renewals of real estate licenses are anticipated to decline. While some realtors are active, more and more realtors are electing to hold their license for better times while searching for more gainful employment. The following excerpt is courtesy of the Vancouver Sun.

One veteran agent sees a bigger departure of his colleagues.

"I would not be surprised to see the better part of 25 to 30 per cent of them leave the business . . . simply because they never should have been in the business anyways," said John Hripko of Royal LePage Foothills. "We're in a marketplace where some people are always busy and some people are never busy, and this basically is a deserved cleansing--not only in real estate, but I think in every industry."

Tough markets come and go. The smart ones bank some money in good times inorder to continue their business in tough times. That is the point. People who are committed to the industry understand the cycles and have,or will have, strategies to survive the downturn.

Duncan Seward is associated with TMG a group of mortgage brokers in BC. He helps people arrange a mortgage in BC. Every Friday he updates BC mortgage rates. You can check out his blog covering the mortgage market in Vancouver.

Mortgage Rates for April 23rd, 2008

Rates are being adjusted after the rate cut from the Bank of Canada. Lenders are feeling the pressure as consumers are beginning to realize the full extend of the Bank of Canada's rate cuts are not being passed onto the consumer.

With the variable rates sitting at 4% currently, the cost of owning a house is becoming more affordable. You can view the full mortgage rate breakdown for BC here.

Jingle Mail Has Arrived

American lenders are dismayed by the apparent readiness of home owners to walk away or to send the keys in the mail which has earned the moniker of "jingle mail". The International Tribune posted an article today concerning the ease with which people walk from their homes. You can read about the story of distressed home owners and their mortgage here...

Duncan Seward is an experienced mortgage broker in BC. His business focus is mortgage financing in BC and second mortgage loans in BC.

FSBO Condo Prices Quietly Dropping In Vancouver

Here is some news from the Ozzie Jurock facts by email.

"A perusal of the popular Craigslist.org shows that for-sale-by-owner condo sellers are quietly dropping their asking prices.

A persistent Craigslist reader found examples from February to April 1 of this year where prices were lowered by as much as $45,000 on a $345,000 unit, and posted examples of prices being reduced the past two months by from $5,000 to $10,000."

The trend is establishing itself. The drops in pricing is the juice leaving the market. No reason to panic, losses will not present themselves until price drops become public knowledge and then the sharks come out.

Duncan Seward is an experienced mortgage broker with expertise in home mortgage refinancing and second mortgage loan originator and second mortgage loan refinancing.