Don Burnham

The total number of sales is TThe total number of sales in the Victoria Real Estate Board is keeping pace and in Dec of  2016 even outpaced the amount of new listing helping to drive the average price incease.

http://www.remax-western.ca/blog/new-brand-purpose-video-the-sign-of-a-remax-agent/

<div id="hzroot1937610" style="width:300px;text-align:center;font-size:12px;padding:0;border:0;margin:0;"><div style="font-size:14px;margin-bottom:3px;"><table style="height:40px;width:100%;" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td style="width:40px;"><a href="http://www.houzz.com/pro/myoldtruck/don-burnham-realtor"><img src="http://st.houzz.com/simgs/d043b18f0457b724_0-4661/myoldtruck.jpg" border=0 style="border:0;" width=40 height=40/></a></td><td style="padding-left:5px;"><a href="http://www.houzz.com/pro/myoldtruck/don-burnham-realtor" style="float:left;font-size:14px;">Don Burnham Realtor Featured on Houzz</a></td></tr></table></div><div style="padding:0;margin:0;border:0;margin-bottom:3px;"><iframe data-hzvt="MjAxNDEyMDk6MjA2MDpidXR0b25zQW5kQmFkZ2Vz" name="HouzzWidget1944810" id="HouzzWidget1944810" border=0 frameborder="0" SCROLLING=NO style="border:0 none;width:300px;height:275px;" src="http://www.houzz.com/jsGalleryWidget/pro/myoldtruck/new_window=yes/title_on=yes/width=300"></iframe></div></div>

Loking for a new Home in Victoria. Do want to know what you should get for your money, what features to look for how to find a builder for a custom home. Email daburnham@shaw.ca  or me text 250 516 1510 to get started today.

Changes to first-time home buyers’ program

The Provincial Government has just increased the tax exemption for first-time home buyers from $425,000 to $475,000 with a sliding scale to $500,000.

This new change was effective February 19, 2014, based on registration, and is not retroactive.

The First Time Home Buyers' Program reduces or eliminates the amount of property transfer tax you pay when you purchase your first home. If you qualify for the program, you may be eligible for either a full or partial exemption from the tax.

I thought the following article was a good summary of some of the market trends I have 

noticed.Please give me a call for recomendations on professionals that can assists with any required work.  Don. 

Survey reveals current buyers fall into two categories

Published Nov 11, 2013 in REV By Jean Sorensen

The millennials (known also as the children of baby boomers born between 1972-1992) and the post Second World War baby boomers (born 1946-1965) are making the greatest impact on the real estate industry today.

“Both the boomers and the millennials want move-in ready homes,” says Don Lawby. His company, in conjunction with Rona, recently conducted a national home buyers preference survey that looked at the generations’ purchasing preferences and regional differences.

“Time is very important to people…they want to spend time doing what they want to do and not the things have to do,” says Lawby. The survey also showed that 37 per cent of millennials planned to move within two years.

“The message that it sends sellers is that if you are thinking of selling or putting your home on the market and something needs to be done, do it before you put it on the market,” Lawby says, adding it may be something as basic as painting a room. Digital images of the home showing its curb appeal are becoming more important, says Lawby.  Sellers should be aware of how the home looks when presented digitally.

Lawby says the company made the decision to conduct the survey to see “if it really was about location, location, location.”  While the old maxim still applies, it is impacted by lifestyle choices to a greater degree than in the past, he says.

There is a general shift away from long commutes and greater focus on family time and career choices by the millennials. The survey showed a short commute was important to 46 per cent of millennials and only 25 per cent of baby boomers, the demographic group that caused bedroom communities to expand around larger cities a generation ago.

Baby boomers are looking to enjoy leisure time such as pursuing travel or hobbies in their move-in ready homes as they downsize. The survey found that 28 per cent of boomers wanted funds left over when buying a house, compared to 18 per cent of millennials.

Many greying boomers (8.2 million according to Statistics Canada) no longer want to maintain a single-family house or empty nest.

In B.C., Lawby says it’s about lifestyle. Buyers want to be close to recreational facilities, services and entertainment.

How to get complete honesty and integrity when you need help making one of the largest financial decisions of your life.

Realtors can be an incredible wealth of knowledge and support when buying a home. Who you hire is a big decision, and of utmost importance is finding someone who is honest and has integrity.

Here are some suggestions to help make sure the realtor(s) you meet with are not going to try and “sell you something” but instead guide and support your selection process to ensure you get the best possible home for you or your family.

First you have to understand what motivates realtors to stay up late or get up early, miss a party or leave a comfortable chair on a Sunday to find you opportunities and ensure you are informed on the value, zoning, condition and price of the home you are considering buying. The two main motivators I see are incentive and pride.

Commissions are the incentive to entice realtors to show and sell properties. Pride in doing a good job improves the Realtors reputation and secures future referrals from you as a satisfied client.

The incentive for a realtor to find you a good home, secure the property for you (get your offer accepted) protect your interest (suggest and include conditions in the offer) and minimize the stress (do the legwork and explain the process) is starting to vary more now than I have seen in my 26+ year career. Here is my suggestion on how to level the playing field and make sure you get the honesty and integrity you are looking for in a realtor.

Ask your realtor what a buyers contract is all about. In a nutshell he or she should be able to explain: the contract states in all instances where the realtor's commission on the property you have agreed to view is the amount you and he/she agree is fair the realtor would accept that amount as payment.

In the event the commission is above that amount you agreed to, the realtor can give the difference back to you. In the event the commission is below that amount and the seller is unwilling to make up the difference you can avoid the property or make up the difference. This way the realtor knows if you buy a property he/she will eventually get compensated; their advice shouldn’t be influenced by fear of losing you after what often turns out to be months of viewing homes together.

This way the agent should be willing to take the time to educate you on what to look for and what to avoid, what similar properties have been selling for, on and off site influences that might affect your enjoyment and resale of the property and chances are it won’t cost you anything because most motivated sellers are willing to pay your realtor a fair commission to get their house sold A.S.A.P.

Don Burnham