The Top 10 Common Sense Real Estate Negotiating Tips for Buyers
Buying residential real estate is a complex and multi-faceted process. There are challenges and opportunities for negotiation at nearly every step in this process. Using persistence and a great deal of calmness in discussion to reach an agreement may be an unfamiliar skill to many buyers and even with the assistance of an experienced real estate agent, a buyer's emotions may get the better of them since they have a personal stake in the outcome. As a result, it is important for buyers to be armed with some commons sense tips to make the process go more smoothly.
For buyers, effective negotiating skills for buyers is something that can't be taken for granted as a known skill in a real estate agent. They often need additional training in this complex task, especially if they haven't worked in an executive level of a company or are newly licensed since the licensing program focusses mainly on seller and their needs. Buyers...
Alberta Health Services: Marihuana Grow Operation Repair, Rehabilitation, and Remediation Requirements
Background
Marihuana Grow Operations (MGOs) have been found to operate with little or no regard to the immediate or future safety of the occupants or neighbours. Buildings that have been used as MGOs may contain significant health and safety hazards. Substantial damage and hazardous conditions found in these buildings can include structural problems, electrical tampering, chemical contamination, increased levels of combustion gases, and abundant growth of visible and hidden moulds. An MGO premises is usually subject to an order and a Notice of Health Hazard registration on the land title pertaining to the property.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) Environmental Public Health, in partnership with the Alberta Green Teams, local law enforcement, and local Safety Codes Officers, is actively involved in the assessment and remediation of these marihuana grow operations.
A grow op is any property owned or leased by persons in the drug trade who turns the property into a hydroponic operation to grow marijuana plants. A grow op operation could be located in any residential property, which is normally located in the basement. Some grow op operations may also include one property or may include a number of neighbouring properties on the same street and have been known to operate in virtually every province and territory across Canada. Grow op operators are becoming sophisticated where they may have placed interior lights with timers to make it appear that someone lives in the property.
Damages Caused by Grow Op Operations
Marijuana crops require large amounts of water in order for the crops to grow successfully. A number of renovations may need to be completed in order to grow marijuana plants, which includes a ventilation system to handle the excess moisture generated, which may include modifications to the drain system, or venting through the roof. As a result...
Everyone cares about how much crime there is in an area that you want to buy a home in, but it's always been difficult to find consistent sources for data on crime. The Calgary Police Service has come out with a Crime Map that not many people are aware of. This could very well be the solution we’ve been looking for. Check it out!
Tom Bushey is an experienced Associate Broker and REALTOR® with Real Estate Professionals Inc. in Calgary, Alberta. He's passionate about family, friends, technology and specializes in northwest Calgary condos and prestige homes. He welcomes the opportunity to earn the business of you, your friends, neighbours and associates for buying or selling real estate in the Calgary area.
What would you do if you had an income tax or legal question regarding $200,000?
Who would you contact? Yes, most of us would find the best accountant or lawyer we could find! A home purchase often far exceeds $200,000 and many buyers don’t take it as seriously as they would a legal or tax concern.
Finding a Buyers Agent should be one of the very first steps you should take before you go finding a home. Let's look in more detail at what an exceptional Buyers Agent will do for you:
Represent you and your best interests, not the sellers
Respond honestly and accurately to your questions
Help you create a plan based on your wants and needs to find you the perfect home
Refer you to a lender that specializes in first-time home buyers to find the most favourable loan for your particular situation
Using the criteria you provide, they search all possible listings and properties
With their experience they can point out the strengths and weaknesses of each property
Who a real estate agent actually works for is one of the most misunderstood topics in real estate. I learned this one through personal experience, one of life’s toughest teachers.
Years ago, my wife and I were driving around looking for one of our very first homes, we came upon a raised rancher with wonderful trees and a spacious yard in our ideal neighbourhood. It was love at first sight and we couldn’t stop thinking about living in that home! We wanted to see inside it so we called the real estate agent who’s name was on the sign to make an appointment. We just made the Number One mistake home buyers make! The agent whose name is on the real estate sign works for the seller. They are called the Listing Agent and their job is to get the best deal for the seller, not you!
We ended up writing an offer with this agent, not knowing that we could have had our own Buyer’s Agent at no additional cost to us. We did not have an advocate looking out for our best interests...
Why rent? We recognize not everyone should buy a home right now. For some, it’s better to rent for a while before taking the plunge and buying a home.
You shouldn’t buy a home if:
You don’t like fixing things. When you rent, you get a built in maintenance plan!
You don’t plan on staying in a home for at least 5 years. Houses increase in value, over time. In the current economy it’s going to take several years before most areas appreciate in value again.
You don’t have enough cash for a down payment or at least 3 months worth of mortgage payments saved up. You want to give yourself the best possible chance to succeed in homeownership.
TIP: Buying a home is most everyone's dream, but if you’re not personally & financially ready, it can be a nightmare.
You’re not sure your job is secure.
Your credit is damaged. You’re better off taking six months to a year to improve your credit before buying.
Most consumers know that if they want to “hire” a real estate broker/agent to sell their home and represent their interests, they are going to sign a contract. REALTORS® are not allowed to list a property for sale without one. The contract clearly spells out the terms of the agreement including the duration of time, the compensation the agent will earn and when, who the agent represents and each party’s responsibilities.
While buyer brokerage is not a new concept – it has been legal in Alberta since the mid-1990s and a few years ago (in 2006) real estate laws that govern agent-consumer relationships were updated to further ensure consumer protection – many buyers and some agents still don’t understand the benefits to both parties that a written Buyer Brokerage Agreement affords.
In Alberta, an exclusive representation is only permitted with a written agreement. So until the agent has a written agreement with a client, they (the Buyer)...
This blog post is for the agents that freqent my blog... so if you're a consumer, please bear with me.
Quite some time ago, I posted about using my MacBook Pro in Real Estate...
Based on the number of hits the post gets each week about using a Macintosh computer in real estate, I thought I should post an update to it.
My comments at the time of the post were, "You cannot access WEBForms on RealtorLink via Safari." Well that's correct, and it's not quite so true at the same time.
Based on the current operating system OS X 10.7.3 (also known as Lion) the system comes complete with a most advanced web browser - Safari. The current version is 5.1.3. Unfortunately, the required Adobe Acrobat Reader Plugin (or the Adobe Acrobat Plugin) does not work with this browser - STILL. In fact, the web browser has been automatically downloaded to users of the last operating system OS X Snow Leopard (10.6). The issue was two-fold: a) Safari 5.1 is a 64-bit program that was designed to work...
Source: Used under standard YouTube license terms.
About Real Estate Professional Tom Bushey:
Tom Bushey is an experienced Associate Broker and REALTOR® with Real Estate Professionals Inc. in Calgary, Alberta. He's passionate about family, friends, technology and specializes in northwest Calgary condos and prestige homes. He welcomes the opportunity to earn the business of you, your friends, neighbours and associates for buying or selling real estate in the Calgary area.
Source: Used under standard YouTube license terms.
About Real Estate Professional Tom Bushey:
Tom Bushey is an experienced Associate Broker and REALTOR® with Real Estate Professionals Inc. in Calgary, Alberta. He's passionate about family, friends, technology and specializes in northwest Calgary condos and prestige homes. He welcomes the opportunity to earn the business of you, your friends, neighbours and associates for buying or selling real estate in the Calgary area.
Last Monday, 30 of the top Calgary REALTORS® attended the Advanced Foreclosure Course for Real Estate Industry Members at the Calgary Real Estate Board.
The course was led by Lubos Pesta and Gary Befus – both real estate lawyers with significant experience in foreclosures and the foreclosure process. They both made the statement that echos our view, "Foreclosures are not for first-time buyers."
Prior to the session beginning, I commented how many real estate agents in the city still confuse Bank-Owned sales with Foreclosures. The instructors made it clear to the group that Foreclosures are a legal process whereby the bank or other creditor petitions the court to offer a property for sale. The court is considered the Seller in a foreclosure action. When a foreclosure is complete oftentimes the bank becomes the new owner and in turn will begin the process of selling the property. This sale (by the bank) is NOT a foreclosure,...
Tom Bushey is an experienced Associate Broker and REALTOR® with Real Estate Professionals Inc. in Calgary, Alberta. He's passionate about family, friends, technology and specializes in northwest Calgary condos and prestige homes. He welcomes the opportunity to earn the business of you, your friends, neighbours and associates for buying or selling real estate in the Calgary area.
The housing market pointing towards price stability
Calgary, February 1, 2012 – Home sales in the City of Calgary are off to a slow start as buyers show continuing caution, according to figures released today by CREB®.
“Overall, the market is behaving as expected for the winter season,” says Bob Jablonski, president of CREB®.
The year-over-year volume of residential sales in the City of Calgary dropped, but the inventory of available homes declined even faster in January 2012.
The City of Calgary residential market recorded 1,078 sales in January, nearly one per cent below the same month in 2011. This is in part related to the drop in new listings, which declined by 8 per cent over January 2011, causing inventory levels to continue to contract over 2011.
“A lower number of sales is not uncommon for the month of January,” says Jablonski. “The number of sales is offset by the number...
Let's assume you're buying a home and will have a $300,000 mortgage that is amortized over 25 years. With an interest rate of say, 3.99%, your monthly payments would be $1,576. Over the course of that 25 years you will end up paying a total of $472,930 for your home (assuming the interest rate doesn't change on the term renewals).
Many people earn their paycheque every two weeks. Do you? What about this: instead of paying $1,576 once a month, would you be in a position to pay 1/2 of the $1,576 (or $788) every two weeks? Sounds almost the same doesn't it?
In reality, by paying 1/2 your monthly mortgage payment every two weeks instead of the full amount once a month you end up paying two extra payments (or 1 extra month) every single year. This is just like your paycheques - twice a year you get an "extra" paycheque.
If you're paid every two weeks and you pay your mortgage every two weeks, it actually helps with your cash-flow and money planning.
It's one of the most disappointing things that a homebuyer can experience: suddenly having their home loan denied because of something they have done in the weeks or maybe even just days before closing.
These are the 10 most costly mistakes to avoid in the process of acquiring financing for a new home. Follow these 10 commandments and the financing process will go smoothly:
Do not omit debts or other liabilities from your loan application.
Do not cause any more inquiries into your credit after you have made the loan application.
Do not buy furniture or major appliances – not yet! Not until you have taken possession of your new home.
Do not buy or lease a car, truck or SUV before you take possession of your new home -- or you might be living in it.
Do not change jobs, become self-employed, or quit your job until you have taken possession of your new home.
Do not charge your credit cards excessively or let your accounts fall behind.
Do not spend the money you have set aside for your...
Of the more than 120,000 Ontarians who used a REALTOR® to buy or sell a home last year, many did so without fully understanding the expertise and skills REALTORS® provide, says a new Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) survey. Conducted by Leger Marketing, the survey says only 10 per cent of Ontarians who have used a REALTOR® know that REALTORS® are trained in environmental issues, and even fewer (six per cent) are aware that family law is part of a REALTOR®'s education.
Barbara Sukkau, president of OREA, says, “Most clients do not realize that REALTORS® are aware of family law issues when selling a family home during a divorce, or that REALTORS® can advise about home inspections based on our knowledge of building construction in the province.”
Even though people who have used a REALTOR® in the past were not aware of specific areas of a REALTOR®'s education, they do recognize the ethical integrity of the profession as...
What to watch for during the home inspection process and how to use this process to ensure that the home you wish to purchase does not have major repair issues.
You certainly don't want to find skeletons in the closet after you move into your new house. Even the most beautiful home may have big problems hidden behind the walls, in the attic, or the foundation. And some might be serious safety concerns. That's why it's important for buyers to have a third-party, licensed inspector to look at the house while they still have the option to back out of the deal or the ability to negotiate repairs with the seller.
Now, it's important for buyers to know that it's the home inspector's job to be extremely picky about everything, even anything remotely wrong with the house. The typical inspection report is page long and can look scary. What you're really for though is the condition of the major systems of the home, and anything that may be a safety issue. If those do pop up in a home inspection,...
Know the True Value Of Your Next Home – Is the home worth the price, or not?
When buying just about anything, most people compare the prices of things to make sure they aren't paying too much. But you may be surprised to find out that it's uncommon for a real estate agent to provide this information to their client when they're buying a home. Sellers almost always get a Comparative Market Analysis when selling their home, but when you mention a Buyer's Market Analysis you often get a puzzled look.
A Buyer's Market Analysis, or BMA, is used to help you - the buyer - determine the market value and price of the potential home that you would like to purchase. I use a BMA because it is just as important, if not more so, to determine the market value of the home and whether the market in that neighbourhood is going up or down. This can only be done by creating a thorough BMA. This will help you determine a reasonable price to offer the seller and how much how much negotiation leverage...
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A grow op is any property owned or leased by persons in the drug trade who turns the property into a hydroponic operation to grow marijuana plants. A grow op operation could be located in any residential property, which is normally located in the basement. Some grow op operations may also include one property or may include a number of neighbouring properties on the same street and have been known to operate in virtually every province and territory across Canada. Grow op operators are becoming sophisticated where they may have placed interior lights with timers to make it appear that someone lives in the property.
About Real Estate Professional Tom Bushey:
Who a real estate agent actually works for is one of the most misunderstood topics in real estate. I learned this one through personal experience, one of life’s toughest teachers.
Why rent? We recognize not everyone should buy a home right now. For some, it’s better to rent for a while before taking the plunge and buying a home.
Most consumers know that if they want to “hire” a real estate broker/agent to sell their home and represent their interests, they are going to sign a contract. REALTORS® are not allowed to list a property for sale without one. The contract clearly spells out the terms of the agreement including the duration of time, the compensation the agent will earn and when, who the agent represents and each party’s responsibilities.
This blog post is for the agents that freqent my blog... so if you're a consumer, please bear with me.
Typical January for Calgary Real Estate
Let's assume you're buying a home and will have a $300,000 mortgage that is amortized over 25 years. With an interest rate of say, 3.99%, your monthly payments would be $1,576. Over the course of that 25 years you will end up paying a total of $472,930 for your home (assuming the interest rate doesn't change on the term renewals).
