Another very satisfied client!! This past weekend we SOLD this lovely Point Grey property. Our marketing strategy was to attract as many potential buyers in the 1st week of the home being listed. This 50 x 122 ft lot sold with 11 offers! The buyers bid up the price to $ 2.95 million which sets a new high benchmark for properties of this kind in the upper Pt Grey Area! We are just thrilled for our clients.

P.S. There are no plans for development.

Do you love holiday entertaining but not the hours of preparation? We’ve compiled a list of high-end eating establishments that will satisfy your taste buds and keep you out of the kitchen!

The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

900 West Georgia St., 604-647-0517

For $375, 8-10 people can enjoy a roasted Fraser Valley Tom turkey with sage and sausage stuffing, roasted root vegetables and brussels sprouts, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, cranberry Triple Sec relish, giblet gravy, traditional mincemeat tart, artisan bread rolls, and creamery butter. Orders are for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day only. Pick-up is between 10am-3pm.

The Sutton Place Hotel

845 Burrard St., 604-682-5511 ext. 34

Their $375 meal serves 8-12 people with an 18-pound roasted turkey, apple sage stuffing, mashed potatoes, seasonal veggies, cranberry sauce, gravy, dinner rolls, and cranberry cheesecake to top it all off. The deadline for ordering is Dec. 21st as they are limited in numbers. The Sutton Place is already sold out for Christmas Day, but you can still order for Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Pick-up is between 11:30am-7pm.

Max’s Deli & Bakery

3105 Oak Street, 604-733-4838

Enjoy an 18-20 person meal for $279 that includes a 22-pound turkey with stuffing, mashed potato, yam and veggie medley, and in-house cranberry sauce and gravy. The deli recommends ordering by the 11th to ensure your reservation. You have the option of pick-up or delivery, hot or cold, and anytime before Christmas.

Big Lou’s Butcher Shop

269 Powell Street, 604-566-9229

Big Lou’s only offers a ready-to-bake meal that includes non-medicated, free run, Fraser Valley 12-pound (minimum) turkey already tied and seasoned with Italian sausage stuffing, mashed potato, roasted seasonal veggies, cranberry sauce, and gravy. This $165 meal feeds 8-10 people. If you order by the 11th, you will received 10% off! Dec. 18th is the deadline for all other orders. Pick-up can happen between Dec. 20-24. Please note their hours: Mon-Sat 11-6, Sun 11-5, and Christmas Eve 11-4.

Whole Foods Market

Various locations

Whole Foods is there for you whether you need meals with all the trimmings that serve 4 or 8, or classic side dishes to complete your meal. Their meals are centred around traditional turkey, pork loin, roast lamb, or ham, and they even have vegan or gluten free options! Take a browse through their extensive holiday options. You can order either online or in person (ask for the Holiday Solutions table). Call the store for order deadlines as they are inventory based, and order at least 48 hours in advance. You can pick-up at anytime, until 7pm on Christmas Eve, and they are closed Christmas day.  

(Photo: flickr.com/nightthree)

I always say, “The best time to sell is when it's right for you." There is never an ideal time to sell when you consider our busy lives. Selling your home gets in the way of routine which just makes the whole process darn inconvenient. That being said, if you want to sell, ideally you want to make sure the process from start to finish is one that does not consume your lives for an extended period of time. Most homeowners are relieved when their home sells in less than a month. Anything longer and it begins to wear on sellers' patience.

If you have a home to sell in 2015 you should be thinking of selling anytime from late January onward. Late January would not normally be a time that you would consider simply because gardens are still asleep due to the winter. In Vancouver, over the past several years, the late winter market has proven to be an opportune time to sell. Why, you ask. It is the Lunar New Year, a time when many overseas buyers travel to Vancouver for the purpose of buying real estate. This is a very busy time many smart homeowners have taken advantage of with tremendous success when it comes to selling their homes. This year the Chinese (Lunar) New Year is on February 19th. Typically we see a pickup in home sales 2 weeks before the New Year which lasts for at least a month after. If I was a homeowner on Vancouver’s West Side, I would seriously be looking to be on the market by no later than mid-February to take advantage of the traditionally busy time.

Andrew & Jill Hasman

(Photo: flickr.com/stewart)

The Real Estate Board of Vancouver (REBGV) just released their report for November 2014. For a month that is traditionally more quiet out of the year, home buyers in Metro Vancouver remained active!

Take residential property sales in Metro Vancouver, for example. They reached 2,516 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) last month. Even though that’s a 17.7% decline from the 3,057 sales in October 2014, it’s still an 8.4% increase compared to November 2013 at 2,321 sales.

The overall good news is that last month’s sales were 6.9% above the 10 year sales average for the month of November!

Read the full article here

Detached Homes:

-Sales in November 2014 were down 16% from last year, but the average sale price is up 16% to $ 2.963 million. House inventory is down by 9% from 730 units to 664 units.
-Month’s supply is 5.6 this year vs 5.2 months a year ago. This indicates in average terms a ‘balanced market’.

Condos and Townhomes:

-Sales were down 20%  for townhomes and up 13% for condos during November 2014 vs a year ago. The average selling prices were 18% higher for townhomes to $ 1,002,000 and 6% higher for condos to $ 647,700. Inventory was unchanged for townhomes and down 8% for condos at the end of November compared to a year ago.
-Month’s supply for townhomes was up to 5 months from 4 months and for condos down to 4.3 months from 5.3 months a year ago. These figures indicate a fairly balanced market with slight upward price pressure.

It’s important to note that the above statistics are for the West Side as a whole. Markets really do vary by specific neighborhoods and by the type of property. If you have any questions about the market in your neighborhood then it’s wise to speak with a realtor who has presence in your area. Call us today at 604-657-7936 and we will be happy to provide you with some helpful market information specific to your neighborhood.

Do you own a home that was built prior to 1965? If you do then your property may contain a buried (out of use) Oil Tank. Under the City of Vancouver By Laws, these buried tanks pose an environmental hazard and must be removed.

If you are planning to sell your home and you think there is a possibility of a buried tank, the plan of action should be as follows: 

1. Call an Oil Tank Removal company and have them inspect your property for a tank. There are several in the lower mainland that will come out on a day or twos notice. If you have no tank have the Oil Tank Company provide you with a letter confirming such. The cost for this is minimal. If a tank is located then you’ll need to gain a couple of estimates.
2. The tank removal can take place prior to listing your home for sale or after. The key thing to consider is that any tank removal must take place no less than 1 month prior to the closing of a sale. This is due to the time it will take for the oil tank company to deal with an Environmental Report if required. Also, banks funding a mortgage for a prospective buyer on your property will not fund a mortgage without all documentation being provided regarding the oil tank removal and the environment report.
3. I have come across many home owners who have told me they know nothing about an oil tank on their property only to find one after a site scan is conducted. In order to assist the selling process its best to have the site scan done so that a letter can be provided to a prospective buyer’s before they make an offer. This scan should be done prior to the home being listed for sale.

If you have any questions and or need a list of recommended Oil Tank specialists we are pleased to provide.

Happy Selling!

Photo: currenenvironmental.com

This is a question I get from most homeowners that are considering the sale of their home or investment property. For homeowners that have a nicely furnished home the Staging is typically not required. It is a proven fact that a properly furnished home will sell faster and for a higher price than a vacant home and or one that has furnishings that are old, tired and or do not fit the space well. 

There are some cases when a vacant or older home probably does not require staging. Those being homes that are sold for Land value and there is a high probability that the property will be sold as a Building lot. 

I also had an instance recently where a homeowner had a beautifully built new home but there were key rooms that had no furniture. We suggested the client call in the Staging Co and for about $5000 have the vacant rooms furnished to help for the sale. Remember, its really tough to take appealing photos of vacant rooms. This client decided not to spend the $5000 and instead spend about $25,000 buying furniture for the vacant rooms. It’s really a personal decision. The advantage with Staging is the convenience and speed to which the home can be furnished for sale. We can usually arrange to have a home staged within 1 week of the client making the initial call to the Staging Co. Should you decide to go out and purchase the furniture and accessories yourself this can take a lot of time and rarely do stores keep furniture in stock. You can typically wait weeks or months for specific furnishings to arrive once they are ordered. This is not ideal when you want your home listed within a few weeks.

Part of our service when listing your home for sale is to provide such advice on Staging . The key is to bring your home to the market so that it attracts the maximum number of buyers and ultimately achieving the highest price. A poorly furnished home can cost you a lot more than the cost of staging. Most buyers do not have the ability to visualize so we as realtors want to make sure your home shows the best it can. 

Happy Selling! 

(Photo: flickr.com/buildersdesign)

Here is a question I almost always get when listing a home for sale. The home owner asks if they really do need a For Sale sign or can they list with NO sign. 

Homeowners get concerned thinking that their neighbours will find out there home is for sale or wonder why they are selling. I do agree, selling your home can and is typically an emotional process but as a homeowner it’s always to your advantage to maximize your exposure. Who cares what the neighbours think. Look out for your best interest.

There are also a group of Buyers who I classify as “non-active buyers” not looking online for new property listings. Instead, this group of individuals would only look to buy if the right property came on the market. This is where having a For Sale sign is to your advantage. In my 20 plus years of selling Vancouver homes I cannot even count how many times I have sold a home from the Real Estate Sign. I know it’s in the hundreds.

A potential ( non-active ) buyer is driving or walking along a street and notices a For Sale sign right in front of a home they have always wanted to own. As soon as they see the sign they immediately call the  realtor. Without a For Sale sign you potentially lose this buyer. 

If you want to sell for the best possible price, make sure you place a For Sale sign in front of your home!

Happy Selling 

I tell my clients that it's impossible trying to time the market so forget trying that approach. The best time to sell is when it's best for you personally. What are you trying to achieve by selling, is what I tell my clients to ask themselves.

Seasonally, most feel Spring is the best time. That being said, on Vancouver's Westside, our market here is tied to the Lunar ( Chinese New Year ). This factor is not relevant in many or most other real estate markets in BC. If you're a homeowner in Vancouver & primarily in neighborhoods that have a high concentration of Asian buyers, the Lunar New Year (late Januay-early February) is typically an opportune time to sell.

Waiting for the flowers to bloom in March can result in one missing the busiest time of year to sell.

The best time to sell is really when the timing is right for you.

Happy Selling!

A well groomed garden can add big bucks to the sale price of any property. The sun will be shining this weekend in Vancouver. Warmer temperatures mean the garden will begin coming back to life. For those looking to list there home for sale or presently on the market, don't forget the importance of keeping your gardens well groomed. 

I always say, the outside is the first thing potential buyers see when they walk onto your proeprty.  A well groomed garden will emotinally attach them to your home and that means more money in the sellers pocket.

Happy gardening this weekend. I love the smell of fresh grass

For tips of other simple things you can do to add value to your home watch my blog or email me anytime.

Happy Easter

Andrew