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
Kelowna has a healthy inventory of strata real estate properties available. One of the biggest complaints I hear these days about strata is that there can be a heavy hand when dealing with pets and rentals.
MLS LISTINGS
When trolling through Kelowna’s listings you’ll almost always see some sort of rental restriction as well as a size restriction for pets. Sometimes no pets area allowed at all. This can seriously affect your ability to sell your property when the time comes. One may argue that you bought at a price that reflected these restrictions and because of this restriction it’s a wash when you go to sell. If things were different, it may not be so.
RENTAL RESTRICTIONS
A primary issue for Strata’s is rental restrictions. Strata corporations have the ability to limit or restrict rentals in not only Kelowna, but through BC under the Strata Property Act. In parts of the US and Europe, their type of governing can be completely different allowing for individual units to be owned freehold without any governing body like the familiar Strata Council. Therefore making each and every owner responsible to city by-laws just like a regular single family dwelling.
PET RESTRICTIONS
Another concern for buyers and sellers of real estate is pet restrictions. Interestingly in Vancouver, there are very few pet restrictions due to the fact that prices are so high and affordability is a huge issue forcing many buyers to be looking at strata units. A large number of young people buying their first place, families, as well as older people with empty nests in have beloved pets that they won’t part with. I also think most people will agree that pet owners, for the most part, are responsible owners who are respectful of those living, working, playing around them.
IMAGINE CHANGING THE GUIDELINES IN KELOWNA
Imagine if you could buy a zero lot line attached home with no strata fees or strata by-laws etc. This would open up the potential buying pool for hundreds of sellers right now as well as increase affordability and inventory for those currently looking to buy with pets or rental requirements. Investors could buy without concern about rental restrictions providing affordable housing for the many who find it difficult to find suitable rentals. Pet owners could choose from a wider inventory pool without owners who have no pets losing any ground to potential pet problems next door. Sustainability is another key factor here. With less urban sprawl, we can encourage more people to be living, working, playing, and commuting in “downtown” areas with fewer restrictions. Check out this fantastic strata townhome listing at 6-1853 Edgehill, Kelowna that can be rented and allows pets with generous restrictions.
This interesting article in the Vancouver Sun illustrates how this can be down and how it can change how we look at Strata property. Check it out and see what you think!
VOTE FOR SUSTAINABILITY NOV 19TH
Also, with our civic elections around the corner, it might be interesting to put these ideas forward to our council. There are many that have sustainability on their radar, but these three are my favorites. They have great ideas on how to create sustainable and environmentally friendly growth that benefits everyone in Kelowna or the Okanagan Valley. Check their sites out and be sure to vote on Nov 19th!
If you’re looking to buy or sell strata real estate in Kelowna, are thinking of making an investment, or are interested in sustainable real estate call Paige Guernsey direct at 250-862-6464.
I hear those words a lot from people 45 or better. They’re often looking for turn key living in smaller homes or townhouses in all different neighborhoods throughout Kelowna. There are many properties available catering to the older demographic as well as those that target the 55+ age group. With recent changes to the Strata Property Act, it’s possible now to have a registered age restriction as one of your by-laws, and it doesn’t have to be 55 anymore! You can register any age at all. This is great for folks who are looking for a quiet place to call home in Kelowna, and maybe have pets, or older children still living at home.
The 55+ restriction is still an all-time favorite with the security of knowing exactly who your neighbors are. In Kelowna, properties with these benefits vary from condo style homes to townhouses, and fully detached homes in gated communities. Ammenities vary widely as well.
If you’re looking for the perfect place to retire and wondering about your options for properties in Kelowna, call Paige Guernsey direct at 250-862-6464.
First timers and move up buyers till lead the pack of purchasers heading for the finish line.
(Click on the image to enlarge).
The segment showing investors and buyers looking at recreational property has been slowly growing and last month was a solid 20% of home buyers in Kelowna. Check out my last couple blogs dealing with investments and recreational properties.
Looking to invest or buy some recreational property? With 25 years experience in Kelowna real estate, I can help find the perfect property for you. Call Paige Guernsey direct at 250-862-6464 today.
With real estate prices and interest rates being low, coupled with the fact there are some great deals to be had in the condo market with a flood of inventory, more and more people are looking at real estate to bolster their financial portfolio.
Consider this, you take a mortgage out on a newer 2 bedroom condo that you can rent, factoring in property tax, payments on this are approximately $850. Turn around and rent this unit out for $900-$950 a month and you’ve got a money-maker. Interest on this loan is deductible as are any expenses to maintain the property. I used 30% that came from a Line of Credit and a conventional mortgage of $110,000, making this a 100% financing scenario. If you have cash to put down, your payments would be substantially less. We all know the real estate market in Kelowna will go up again. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone pay off a loan for something you bought today for $165,000 that in 5 years time is worth $200,000?
I know that all sounds so simple, but if you are considering a Kelowna real estate investment, call Paige Guernsey on her direct line at 250-862-6464 for some useful information that can provide for your future!
One of my associates at Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty was able to save her clients $900 in HST when they bought their beach front condo at The Lagoons in Kelowna recently. The beautifully upgraded 2 bedroom 2 bath condo with a south west view of Lake Okanagan sold for $415K INCLUDING the furnishings. The buyers Realtor was prudent and checked with an accountant regarding the HST and the furniture. If the furniture is included in the body of the contract with a dollar amount assigned to it, it is fully taxable. If however, the furniture is listed on a separate document including what it sold for… not taxable. So you might be wondering… What about the fridge, stove, washer, dryer I want to include in my offer to purchase? They are considered the “mechanics” of a home and don’t usually have a specific dollar value attached to them in the contract. Not taxable.
Have a specific real estate question? Call me on my direct line at 250-862-6464.
This seller has been reducing their price by $2,500 a week and it’s getting a lot of attention. Already a great deal at $241,500 the price for this lofted townhome includes 12 months worth of strata fees! The last 2 recent sales of these popular lofts was $255 and $265K in early summer 2010. The fantastic thing about #207-2350 Stillingfleet Road, is that you can potentially save over $140 per month on your housing cost due to the fact it’s on a leasehold land. Let me explain… some people will shy away from leasehold property because the property usually has a monthly lease cost and that concerns them. Consider this: this same townhouse on freehold would cost somewhere between $300 and $310,000. The difference between these two in cost is about $60,000. The lease payment is $170 per month and the mortgage on that $60,000 is over $309 or $140 more! The lease is held by 2 local and well known Kelowna families and most banks will fund in this complex.
$140 x 12 = a week in Mexico… or just sit around your own pool! An interesting train of thought for sure.
Sometimes it makes me crazy to think of how many thousands of dollars I spend on my internet presence. My web page, my SEO, my twitter, facebook, and linkedin accounts, and the countless other places that see information from me. Last week, I had the one thing happen that helps me maintain my firm belief that the internet and how information is moved is a revolution that is just beginning.
I had a gal phone me from Vancouver. She had found my web page, read through all the information about me and decided from that alone she would call. We met and I listed her funky townhome in a great location at a super price. In particular she found the testimonials that I’ve received over the years to be very reassuring and she liked what she saw on the sellers information page.
With print advertising there’s no way to track who reads what and what people want to read. Google Analytics solves that with detailed information about what people are searching for, what they like in those searches and what they don’t. Keywords change from time to time and keeping on top of those changes helps drive more traffic to the product. Truly amazing what can be done! Twitter alone has increased traffic to my website in the last year by just over 40%. Who would ever have thought that possible a couple years ago.
The long and short of it is that if you’re not using the internet agressively to sell Kelowna homes, how will you find yourself in front of the people who want to buy?
Please call me directly at 250-862-6464 if you’d like more information on how to get your home listed on Kelowna real estate listings and to learn how the internet can help get your house sold! Of course, you can also check my twitter account at paigeguernsey or my facebook group page at kelowna real estate expert, Paige Guernsey
Bob Rennie, the condo king from Vancouver was here the other day to talk about the real estate market in BC. His opinion is that all the underlying factors are here to see continued growth and prosperity for British Columbia and certain more desirable areas like Kelowna, Vancouver Island, and Vancouver. In particular the fact that the whole world saw a lot of our province for the first time during the Olympics is important. Real estate should continue to be a strong and considerable investment when you consider that relatively speaking, Kelowna is considered inexpensive compared to other parts of the world and on the world stage we are only JUST on the radar. Condos in Vancouver are an oversaturated market as it is here. Fortunately for Kelowna though, a lot of the projects that were slated to be underway didn’t break dirt as the market started to feel the economic pinch of the recession we’ve just been through. This means that although there are a number of condos still available and competing with each other, the market for condos is becoming more stable, with those buildings having important ammenities contributing to lifestyle like proximity to shopping and leisure activities are selling first over those that have less that all the necessary fundamentals. CMHC has just released it’s spring housing market for Kelowna and it’s positive!
A Vancouver based company sold luxury townhomes to 2010 Olympic visitors for a total of over $31 million.
While I was in Vancouver to catch some of the buzz, I met 6 new people one day on the streets and 3 of them were planning on a visit to Kelowna during their Olympic stay! Upon further inquiry, these people, from different parts of the world were impressed that you could buy a nice 2 bed, 2 bath condo for around $300,000… less than where they were from!
Kelowna and our real estate are becoming international players. Check out my website for more great information about Kelowna, BC !
