Langley BC Real Estate | Condominums And Town Homes

The process leading up to making an offer on a home can be a daunting. If you are considering making an offer on a home, you may want to start by getting some information about the seller. There are a number of questions all buyers should ask when shopping for a home.

Why is the seller selling the house?
This is an essential question when buying a home. The reply may help you structure a potential offer. Gaining some insight into the seller’s motivation will help you determine not only how motivated they are to sell but also how they might assess your offer.

How much did the seller pay for the home?
Generally, the seller who purchased their home for a low price and built up equity in the property over several years may be more flexible when approached with offers. On the other hand, homeowners who haven’t seen such an increase in their home’s value might be more reluctant to lower their asking price.

Knowing how much the seller still owes on the mortgage or home equity loans on the home is a good way to determine the amount the seller will need to have at closing time, and this will help you better tailor your offer on the home.

What types of repairs have been done recently?
Homeowners will always be happy to tell you about upgrades that have been made to the home, but you may want to pay attention to what isn’t mentioned. It is important to ask because you will be able to tell if a kitchen or bathroom was remodeled after viewing the home or consulting the disclosure document, but you might miss some smaller issues that could impact the details of your offer.

Has the seller obtained a professional home inspection report?
If the home seller has already obtained a professional home inspection report, that is a very good signal of a motivated home seller. However, even if the home seller has not had the listed home professionally inspected, you should include in your purchase offer a contingency clause making the purchase contingent on the approval of your own professional inspection report. The results of your professional inspection report might provide additional reasons to negotiate with the seller if there were undisclosed home defects.

What additional information should I know before buying this home?
This is an open-end question. A good realty agent will, without even being asked, will inform where the best school districts are located, what local developments are planned, what zoning changes are expected, how long the property has been listed for sale, and if there are any adverse outside factors affecting the property you are considering for purchase.

Knowing all you can about a prospective home, not only helps you decide if it’s the home of your dreams, but what offer to make as well. Though the process of making an offer on a property may seem stressful, your diligence will pay off when you finally find a house to call home.

There are a few key questions that every seller should ask before accepting a Buyer’s offer. The answer can show if the buyer is highly motivated to purchase. You can decide if it’s worth seriously negotiating with that buyer and making a counteroffer if the initial purchase offer isn’t acceptable.

Does the buyer have Mortgage Pre-Approval?
A pre-approved home buyer is highly motivated to buy. It is a confirmation that they are able to afford the asking price and helps close deals faster.

Is the buyer a cash buyer?
Cash sales close faster and are advantageous to the seller. Some sellers also offer discounts to cash buyers. But this may require you to pay out your existing mortgage and there may be an interest penalty for doing this. Remember that having to pay an interest penalty effectively reduces the price you will be receiving for your home

Does the Buyer need Mortgage Contingency?
A “mortgage contingency clause” is a provision in the home purchase contract that says that if the prospective buyer can’t get a mortgage within a fixed period of time, they can call the whole deal off. In other words, the agreement is conditional on the buyer being able to obtain a mortgage on the property. This can help decide if the seller wants to accept the offer.

Does the Buyer have to sell another home before buying?
If the buyer needs to sell before buying, this can lead to delays and financing issues. They may plan to use the proceeds from sale of an existing home to pay for the new one. You may either reject the offer or only allow a short period of time to place it under agreement.

Other questions include
What is your time frame for buying a home?
What price range do you want to work within?
Is their credit good?

These questions can help analyze the buyer’s offer and the risks that may or may not be associated with it. Then, if you decide to accept an offer you will do so feeling confident that the buyer will be able to secure financing and close the deal.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Aug 5, 2008 – As property listings continue to outpace sales, Greater Vancouver housing prices have drawn back, the last two months, from the record highs experienced in early 2008.

Since May 2008, housing prices, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, across each residential category have declined. Detached properties in Greater Vancouver declined 2.3 per cent through June and July 2008, while attached were down 1 per cent and apartment properties 2 per cent over the same period.

The overall benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver has declined 2.1 per cent since the end of May 2008, from $568,411 to $556,605 in July 2008.

“We’re seeing more price reductions in properties listed on the market, which is having a levelling impact on the housing price increases experienced at the end of last year and into the first quarter of 2008,” said Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) president, Dave Watt. “There was a slight decline in the total active listings on the market in July compared to June, which is a welcomed departure from recent trends.”

Residential property sales in Greater Vancouver declined 43.9 per cent in July 2008 to 2,174 from the 3,873 sales recorded in July 2007.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties increased 24 per cent to 6,104 in July 2008 compared to July 2007, when 4,924 new units were listed.

Sales of detached properties in July 2008 declined 44.2 per cent to 827 from the 1,483 units sold during the same period in 20070. The benchmark price for detached properties is up 5.4 per cent from July 2007 to $753,165.

Sales of apartment properties declined 42.3 per cent last month to 966, compared to 1,674 sales in July 2007. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 4.7 per cent from July 2007 to $381,687.

Attached property sales in July 2008 decreased 46.8 per cent to 381, compared with the 716 sales in July 2007. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 5.7 per cent between July 2007 and 2008 to $473,953.

For Immediate Release: August 5, 2008

(Surrey, BC) – In July, Fraser Valley buyers had the greatest selection ever of properties to choose from with a record 12,299 active listings for all property types available on the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS®), an increase of 56 per cent compared to the number of properties available the same month last year.

A total of 1,284 sales were processed through Fraser Valley’s MLS® in July, a decrease of 35 per cent compared to 1,984 sales in July 2007. The Board received 3,742 new listings last month, a 20 per cent increase from the 3,120 new listings received during the same month last year.

Kelvin Neufeld, president of the Board puts the numbers in context, “Our sales have returned to normal levels while our inventory has increased for seven consecutive months.

“It’s a situation of supply and demand. Buyers are now in the driver’s seat in Fraser Valley and we’re starting to see that reflected in home prices. July’s average prices for single family homes and townhomes are almost on par with last year, while average prices for condos remain resilient thanks to the affordability factor.”

The average price of a single family detached home in the Fraser Valley increased by 2 per cent, going from $519,896 in July 2007 to $530,455 last month. Townhomes went for an average $324,042 last month, reflecting a 0.2 per cent increase with July of last year when they averaged $323,259 and the average price of an apartment in July was $234,597, an increase of 6.5 per cent compared to $220,275 last year.

Neufeld adds, “For sellers right now, you’ll need every bit of expertise and knowledge from your REALTOR® to establish a competitive price. They’ll show you how your home stacks up with the vast number of comparable homes on the market and they’ll make recommendations as to its presentation, price and marketing strategy to ensure it gets sold.”

The current average length of time to sell a single family home in the Fraser Valley in July was 50 days. For detailed average days to sale data by property type and area – contact your local REALTOR®.