Vancouver Reflections - Shining the Light on Vancouver Real Estate - by Maggie Chandler

Why Hire a Realtor Who Blogs to Sell Your Vancouver Property

Maggie — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:33:10 +0000

It is interesting to me that only a small percentage of Realtors blog. I ask why this is so, as the Internet continues to be the main tool for marketing real estate. I believe real estate blogs are an invaluable tool for potential sellers and buyers, as they can learn a lot about a realtor prior to hiring them.

Here are some of the advantages -

1. Get to know your realtor before you hire them. Get to know your realtor before you commit to working with them. Leave comments and receive answers. Blogging offers transparancy. (more…)

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Featuring 1281 West Cordova, Coal Harbour, Vancouver

Maggie — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:08:05 +0000

Address - 1281 W. Cordova, Coal Harbour, Vancouver, BC, V6C 3P9

Callisto is the sister building to Carina at 1233 W. Cordova. The Building’s innovative curve design forms shape of a sail and is one of only seven exclusive waterfront buildings on West Cordova. All suites maximize the wonderful mountain and oceanviews with floor to ceiling windows, natural gas fireplaces, generous balconies on the condos and roof terraces on the townhomes.

Built - 2002

Developer - Delta Land Developments

Architect - Hancock Bruckner (more…)

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Wordless Wednesdays

Maggie — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:07:47 +0000

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Canada Real Estate Roundup

Maggie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:46:45 +0000

The average Canadian real estate price in October saw the big cities of Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal all higher than a year ago, as are all the Maritime Provinces & Newfoundland. Saskatoon was the only exception to the rule. The following is a release by CREA, you can hold your mouse over a specific city or province and view the current average price and the average price one year ago. Read the latest summary.

View my Canadian real estate blogs (more…)

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Featuring Avila in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour

Maggie — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:59:47 +0000

Address - 560 Cardero Street, Coal Harbour, Vancouver, BC. “Waterfront Place Complex”. Avila was the first of four condo buildings to be built at Waterfront Place, on Coal Harbour’s waterfront, of which there are 2 Bayshore buildings, 4 Waterfront Place buildings and 7 on West Cordova, for a total of only 13. The first 2 condos to be built in Coal Harbour were Harbourside Park (555 Jervis and 588 Broughton), followed by Avila and Bauhina

Built - 1998 . 21 floors featuring amazing water and mountain views from front condos

Architect- Perkins & Co. Architects and Urban Design

Construction Co - Scott Construction Co. (more…)

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Vancouver Real Estate Analysis for Downtown

Maggie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:23:54 +0000

Vancouver’s Downtown condo market saw listings and sales up in October, with the market under $700,000 selling the best. The average selling price jumped to $519,000 and the average $psf down a tad to $610. Monthly sales were the second highest for the year and higher than any month in 2008. Listings back to the Jan/Feb level. Condos that “expired” and didn’t sell dropped from 53 to 33 (vs. 78 in Jan) and only 5 got relisted. Average days on the market for condos that sold steady at 32. 68% of the sales were under $500,000 (down from 80% in August) and sales increased over $1M. The supply is down to 3 months vs.16 months last October. List price to sales price ratio flat at 98%. Vancouver’s downtown market remains strong.

Listings -543. Least expensive $220000 for a small studio. Most expensive -$6.6M for 3500 sqft in Residences on Georgia Sub-Penthouse.

Listings Inventory - 20 listings Downtown under $300,000. 112 between $300K and $400K. 134 listings between $400K and $500K. 160 condos listed between $500K and $700K. 64 listed between $700,000 and $1M. 53 listed over $1M, including 4 over $3M. (more…)

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Vancouver Real Estate Analysis for False Creek North

Maggie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:07 +0000

Vancouver real estate analysis for False Creek North saw listings down from 127 to 125. Sales down from 41 in September to 33. Days on the market up to 53 but less than a year ago. The average selling price jumped from $714,000 to $980,000 as more condos sold over $1M, which also pushed up the $psf. The average supply of condos in this waterfront hood is down to 3 months. The sales over $1 million dropped in September but tripled in October. This neighbourhood now selling best between $700k and $1M. Both listings and sales crunching down together and now at the lowest since March/April. Will more buyers or sellers visit the market after 2010 Olympics in the Spring?

Listings - 125 six listed under $400,000 and only 17 listings between $400,000 & $500,000. 23 listed between $500,000 and $700,000. 37 listed between $700,000 and $1 million. 31 listed between $1 & $2 million and 11 listed over $2 million. 12 condos did not sell and only two were re-listed, indicating these sellers will revisit the market again in the future, 50% of the 12 were over $1M. (more…)

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Wordless Wednesdays

Maggie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:30 +0000

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Mortgage Restructurer - Prime minus .25% for 3 years

Maggie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:48:19 +0000

This just in from my mortgage broker, Alma Pasic. Borrow as much as $400,000 and pay $1,323.35 per month. Mortgage Sale Ends December 16, 2009. One of Canada’s most Aggressive Mortgage Product’s on sale now! All purchases, refinances or debt consolidations are elgilble for. Prime - .25% for 3 year variable = 2.00% TODAY. Email us at alma_pasic@telus.net for a free information package.

The Trend is your friend: It wasn’t all that long ago that we were Prime +.80 etc..and look where we are now. What will Prime +/- look like in 3 yrs. That I can’t answer but the trend is your friend. We could easily be back to P-.60 or greater in a few years which is perfect timing for when the 3yr ARM will be up for renewal.

Most likely you will lock-in your ARM when Prime increases, the 3 yr ARM makes the most sense as it gives you more conversion options then on the 5 yr. On the 3 yr ARM, 1 yr from now, clients could chose a 2, 3,4,5 + term. If you chose a 5 yr term, 1 yr from now, they would only be offered a 4,5 + term. REMEMBER THE LENDER CONVERTS ALWAYS AT BROKER BEST RATES, NOT CHARTERED BANKS POSTED RATES. Saving you thousands of dollars over the term (more…)

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Vancouver’s Most Expensive House

Maggie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:44:31 +0000

A quick search of MLS solds shows only four Vancouver houses have sold over $10M. The most expensive being on Point Grey Road for nearly $15 Million this year. Currently the most expensive home listed on MLS is on Osler Street for $22M and there are 12 listings over $10M.

Take a drive up to Point Grey’s most prestigious ridge - Belmont Avenue and you’ll find a 25,000 sf mansion being built. It will probably be Vancouver’s most expensive mansion on 1.7 acres. The lot was purchased in the fall of 2005 for $8.7M and was on the market for 20 months. Other incidentals, such as the 13,000 sq.ft. pool add up to a total square footage of over 45,000 sq.ft. Global TV report its value to be over $31 million when its built.

keep up to date with Vancouver’s expensive real estate market, subscribe via RSS or email and contact Maggie when you’re ready to purchase your mansion!

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