This blog is about me, Paige Guernsey, and the things that happen around my job as a Kelowna Real Estate agent with Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty. I talk about listings, sales activity, market conditions, market trends, promotions, green real estate, and sometimes funny things that happen to me during the course of my day. There's links and videos to great information as well as access to my 2 websites, kelownahome.com and greenkelownarealestate.com
The city of Kelowna will be mailing all property tax notices in the third week of May. Check out this link to find out how to estimate what your taxes will be this year. There’s also a lot of other information here. For instance did you know that if you’re 55+, or have a disability you may qualify to defer payment of your taxes? I heard an interesting story about tax sales the other day. Each year the city has a tax sale of homes where the owners haven’t paid tax on their real estate. These sales rarely go through because of the exceptionally long period of redemption (usually owners have about a year to pay up and can usually figure something out by then vs losing their home). One fellow looked at these sales as a good way to “invest” his money. He’d have a contract of purchase and sale accepted by the city, put his deposit down, wait the year, and when the owner redeemed the city gave him back his deposit with about 7% interest. Voila… money made!
Speaking of taxes, I just heard yesterday that the government has been charging 21% Translink Tax to parking charges and to add insult to injury there is 12% HST (since July 1, 2010) on the 21%. For instance, if you pay $100/month for parking your charged 21% bringing the total to $121. Also add on the HST bringing total to $135.52. Tax on a tax? What a scam
For all your Kelowna real estate needs please call me on my direct line at 250-862-6464.
Just learned about a new and very progressive app called “google goggles”. The basics involve taking a picture of something like a book, piece of art, or business card to only name a few, and search using the visual. No words or dialogue needed. Technology is moving at such a fast pace and I can see how this tool will become useful when searching for the perfect home or marketing a home. Check this app out (on the blue link above)… it’s still in it’s infancy but I’m predicting that this will take off at a quick pace. Imagine being able to drive by a house, snap a picture, do a search and get all sorts of information about that piece of real estate!! The MLS information, pictures, videos, google street view… and the list goes on.
I’m a Kelowna real estate agent who aggressively uses internet marketing to create custom strategies for both buying and selling. Please call me on my direct line at 250-862-6464 to talk about your decision to buy or sell or check out my Kelowna real estate listings!
Hot off the real estate press! Linda Dumka at Kelowna’s Royal Bank, tells me that effective today the fixed rates are down .10% with a 5 year closed mortgage standing at 3.79%. That’s good news for home buyers! With 29% of British Columbians planning on purchasing a home in the next 2 years and a full 90% of Canadians believing their home is a good investment, most believe the relative stability of Canada’s housing market will continue. Having said that, I’ve been involved in 3 multiple offer situations in the last 3 weeks! One was a very unique house that more than one buyer wanted, one was timing - where a house had been on the market for some time and 2 buyers wanted the rancher style of home it was, and the 3rd one revolved around a buyer needing to purchase before their lower pre-approved rate expired. More MLS (R) listsings are coming onto the system as we head into warmer months (really? warmer?), and the buyers have more to choose from than they had in the last few months. This change in rates will most likely cause a few buyers to sit up and take notice!
Took a unique condo listing in the Springfield/Spall area of Kelona. Top floor 3 bedroom, 2 bath unit that’s been completely renovated. Take a look!
It’s great to see people out in their front yards as the weather gets better and the urge to tidy the yard takes over! I was recently showing homes to a lady who is re-locating to Kelowna from Winnipeg… Brrrrr. The day was sunny but still cold, and we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We pulled up to one house where the seller was hosing off the driveway. As we pulled in, we waved and parked. He looked like he wasn’t expecting us so I went over to chat with him. The seller explained that his wife looked after all the showings and I should talk to her. I asked him if she was inside and as he nodded his head, the hose followed his actions and he hosed me down. We both were totally stunned! Not sure what to say, and feeling a little silly standing there dripping, I turned to head to the front door and the seller returned his hose to the ground. Never a dull moment selling real estate!
I recently worked with a first time buyer and we employed a fantastic strategy that enabled him to buy his home for far less than was expected. Watch this video to see how we did it. (I sure wish I could pick where to start the youtube videos… I’m really not yawning !)
In this kind of real estate market it’s important to have a solid strategy. There are many different ways to tackle a cost effective approach to buying. If you’d like to talk about your buying strategy, please call me directly at 250-862-6464.
Things are starting to gear up for Spring in the Kelowna real estate market. Over the last 24 hours there have been 72 new listings come onto the MLS system and 14 sales. February 2011 stats are out and although up over last month, total sales are down 25% over same time last year. Median single family house prices are down slightly from last year… $430,000 to $422,000. Kelowna waterfront property is off a noticable 15% and recreational property prices are down a whopping 80%! First time buyers have been very busy buying up inventory for the last several months between $300-450K thanks to low interest rates and changes to the lending rules. Those people that sold their homes to the first timers are now starting to look at purchasing with over 32% of the buyers out there making the move up. Further changes to the lending rules coming March 18th is giving buyers an extra incentive to jump off the fence and buy. These sale numbers mean that pricing agressively is critical to attract a buyer and with Kelowna’s economy predicted to grow slowly but surely in 2011 I predict the buyers will come and we can expect a balanced steady market to continue.
If you’re thinking of buying or selling, call me on my direct line at 250-862-6464.
