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Here is a very funny take on the subprime crisis, courtesy of investboth.com. Viewer discretion is advised, some colourful language in this presentation.
Subprime primer
Brand new listing - 22865 14 Ave, Langley. A gated equestrian center on 6.5 acres that is minutes to the Campbell Valley Park. With room to board 14 horses, 2 barns, an indoor arena and an outdoor arena - this is one serious income generating horse property in Langley.
This incredible property in South Langley features a 2204 sq. ft. main home, two road frontages, an above ground pool and a large back yard. This property is zoned RU-3 and it may be possible to build a second legal home on the property off 16th Ave. Currently there is a mobile home off 16th Ave.
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For the past three weeks I have been involved in the launch of yet another site geared towards Fraser Valley real estate. This site is for information, listings and tips on buying or selling Fraser Valley condos. As this is a new site, it is still in development, with new articles and features added on a regular basis.
I have also launched a Buyer Rebate program. Under this program, I give you 20% of the net commission earned on the buying side to the buyer. If I represent you as you buy a condo, townhome, apartment or any other piece of real estate, 20% of the net commission earned in that transaction will go back to you. How does that compare to a bouquet of flowers?
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Desirable C4 zoning, large lot, immense development potential
I just got the listing for this address. It is not yet on the MLS! A large commercially zoned lot in an area that is developing fast. This huge 27,000+ sq. ft./0.62 acre lot is attractively priced a lot lower than a comparable residential lot in the area. Easy access to Hwy. 1, minutes to the Fleetwood Town Centre and in an area of high-end, executive homes.
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Almost everyday we come across a real estate ad selling a basement entry, rancher, rancher with basement, 3 level split etc. home. What exactly do these home styles mean? It isn’t surprising that as a real estate agent one of the things I have to explain to a buyer is exactly what it means by a split entry or 4 level split home.
Here is a quick description of the types of Fraser Valley homes you may come across when looking to buy real estate:
Basement Entry: In a basement entry home, the entire living space is on the top floor of the house, with the garage, rec-room, laundry etc on the main floor. Basement entry, or level entry, is characterized by a long flight of stairs from the entry up to the main living area.
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Live blogging from a Langley open house
I had decided to try live blogging from this open house, to document how I hold an open house, what I do to prepare for it and how much interest the open house gets. This is one way of showing the sellers how hard I work to market and sell their property. So here it goes:
March 07, 2008 - Did a blogpost about the open house on this blog, AR. A newspaper ad was already running at the time
March 08, 2008 - Printed brochures to hand out at the open house, prepared background on the property
March 09, 2008:
12:30 PM - Drove the neighbourhood to pick the best spots to place open house signs to draw more last minute traffic.
12:45 PM - Went door knocking in the neighbourhood, advised the neighbours of the open house, let them know to contact me if they had any questions.
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It seems that more and more people are confused about the home warranty insurance available, and mandatory, on any new home built and sold in the Fraser Valley. This has been mandatory since July, 1999. I just wrote an article about this and it has been posted to my Fraser Valley real estate site. You may read the article, New Home Warranty Insurance, by visiting the section for Fraser Valley real estate buyers.
Total inventory for sale in February for the Fraser Valley real estate region was 8,185. At the same time last year, there were a total of 6,304 Fraser Valley homes for sale - that is a 30% increase. The prices are on their way up, but are being outpaced by the inventory.
At the same time, February Fraser Valley home sales are down slightly from the same time last year - 615 this year compared to 671 last year. This slowdown in the sales is keeping the price increase in check.
According to Cameron Muir, chief economist of B.C. Real Estate Association:
Despite the increasing number of new listings, the pace of new home construction is barely keeping up with the number of people moving into the market. The housing market is going through a cycle of growth that began in late 2001 and early 2002.
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We are proud to announce that this Sunday, March 9, 2008, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 21463 92B Ave, Langley, B.C. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent House for sale in the beautiful Walnut Grove area.
This is a beautiful 1700 sq. ft., 2 storey home located on a quiet street and is within walking distance to shopping, transit and recreation facilities. This home is recently updated and has 3 bedrooms and 2 and half bathrooms.
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An important statistic that any good Fraser Valley Realtor should be considering, and making you aware of, is sales to active listings ratio.
This key statistic defines the type of market prevalent in an area. A real estate market is considered to be a seller’s market when this ratio is 22% or higher. A balanced market is between 22% and 18%. Anything lower than 18% and it is a buyer’s market.
For January of 2008, only 13% of properties available in the Fraser Valley sold and that number is dropping as the listings increase. This makes the Fraser Valley real estate market in it’s current state a buyer’s market. It sure didn’t take long for things to change and it is going to take a lot of demand to burn off this built up supply.
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