The Mitten Real Estate Team

Introduction:

Welcome to our mitten real estate team blog, whether you are a first time reader or a regular reader we would like to thank you for taking the time to visit our blog today.  If you have ever wondered you’re your home is worth you will enjoy this article. This week are going to be talking about how our home evaluations work and how they can work for you.  We are writing this article because recently some of our clients were surprised to learn that we are happy to offer free no obligation home evaluations so we just wanted to be sure that all of our clients and prospective clients know this is a service we are happy to offer to you.

In addition to providing you with a free home evaluation when you are thinking of selling we are also happy to offer you a free home evaluation even if you are not thinking of selling right now but want to know what the market value of your home is.

Times you may want a home evaluation:

There are many situations where you may want a home evaluation and in many cases you may not even be thinking of selling your home, some examples are:

1.)    If you were considering renovating your home but didn’t know if the renovation made financial sense or what type of renovation gives the best return in your situation.

2.)     If you were thinking about buying a fixer-upper home to flip but wanted to know if you would be likely to see a good return on your investment.

3.)     if you need a professional opinion of value because you are thinking of refinancing,

4.)    You just want to know what your home is worth, etc…

5.)    If you are thinking of selling your home.

 In all of these situations we are happy to assist you even if you won’t be selling or buying right now…

The reason we are willing to provide this service is we know that to provide you with the best service we need to go the extra mile and help you with all aspects of your real estate decisions even when those don’t include selling or buying immediately.  We also know that by providing this service you will want to have us represent you when the time to buy or sell does come, and in addition we really do care about our clients and want to be sure you make informed real estate decisions.

How our Home Evaluations Work:

So you may be asking how does your home evaluation’s work?  And, what makes them different from every other agent’s evaluations?

We take the responsibility of estimating the market value of your home very seriously this is why WE DO NOT  just visit you home and immediately give you a dollar value based on gut feelings…

Instead we have a proven and detailed process(s) for valuing your home, investment or commercial property.

For residential properties what we like to do is start out by viewing your home, on this first trip we will view your home and you can tell us anything special about your home that we should know. We don’t usually give any opinions of value of this first visit…

Now that we are familiar with your home and have seen where it is located in person we will go and do some research, we will find similar homes that have recently sold in your area as well as similar homes that are for sale in your area…  But our research does not stop there….

Next we take those comparable sales and input a number of characteristic about those homes as well as characteristics about your home into a mathematical spreadsheet, which we have refined through years of experience), in addition to this quantitative component to our spreadsheet we also have a qualitative component to our spreadsheet.  In the qualitative portion of the spreadsheet we can look at and adjust for an unlimited number of factors relating to how your home compares to other similar homes that have sold.  For example how much your kitchen is worth compared to each of the kitchens in the comparable sales.  These adjustments are made based on our professional experience and professional opinions.  In total Most compehesve home evaluations are between 100 - 200 pages long!

Using this detailed method that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis we are then able to determine an estimate market value for your home which we feel is backed up by a thorough analysis and professional experience. 

Once our analysis is complete we will then call you and arrange to meet with you to discuss what your home’s estimated value is, and if you are thinking of selling what your home will be priced at…

While no home evaluation can ever tell you with 100% certainty exactly what a future buyer will be willing to pay for you home, in our experience we have found our home market evaluations to be quite accurate in most situations.

The reason we go to these lengths to determine the value is that we know decisions relating to real estate involve a lot of money so we want to be sure you are well informed so that you can make good decisions.

As a side note we also have a very detailed method for determining the value of commercial properties as well, however we won’t get into the details of that process in this article.

Our Compehensive Home Evalution

Conclusion:

To conclude we hope you have enjoyed the brief description of how our home evaluations work and why we feel they have industry leading accuracy.  If you would like to have us preform a free no obligation market evaluation for your home regardless of if you are thinking of selling please let us know we would be happy to provide this service for you.

We can be contact through this website, or you can call us directly at 604-882-8384 we wuld be happy to assist you.

Sincerely,

Doug, Bonnie and David Mitten

(Mitten Real Estate Team)

Introduction:

Thank you for visiting our blog, this week for our weekly blog article we would like to talk about the area of financing your real estate purchase.  Financing is a very important consideration when you are thinking of purchasing real estate. The reason for this is first, unless you have a lot of cash you won’t be able to make a purchase without financing and second, if a buyer ca not get financing at a reasonable interest rate and amortization the cost of financing may be too great.  Therefore it is very important for most buyers to be able to obtain financing at an affordable cost.  Additionally, for self-employed people buying a home or investment property can be a bit more challenging as lenders have added additional requirements that self-employed people must meet in order to qualify for financing.

If you are thinking of buying a home and need financing and especially if you are self-employed, understanding the requirements lenders will want you to meet is very important.  Equally important is receiving expert advice on the financing of your home.  While we are experts in the area of purchasing, selling and marketing real estate we are not mortgage brokers.  That is why if our clients are not yet working with a mortgage broker we put them in touch with an experienced mortgage broker who can guide them through the process of financing. 

Thus we would like bring you what some information about what is required for self-employed people to qualify for financing for Ken McLellan and Marcy Koopmans, who are experienced mortgage brokers with Canadian Mortgage Experts.

Here is What Mortgage Brokers Ken McLellan and Marcy Koopmans Had To Say:

A survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses indicates that for the first time in 4 months, “small businesses report higher levels of optimism.” The report from CKNW notes that while scores from 65-75 point to a growing economy, BC’s score rose from 56.4 in August to 59 in October, and that this reflects a similar trend across the country. It’s been clear for some time now that small businesses and self employment are more popular career choices than ever before, and while being your own boss comes with unique challenges and costs, there is no denying the appeal. New Westminster itself is home to many small businesses, and in fact, it’s one of the things that I most enjoy about the city. I could go on about the mix of independent and chain business and their locations in New West, but what I would really like to address is what to expect if you are working for yourself (also known as “business for self” or BFS) and you need to get a mortgage.

Where do you start?

If currently have a mortgage that you got while you were working at a regularly paying job, then you will likely be given a renewal offer by your lender when your mortgage maturity date comes up (i.e. the end of the term you initially agreed to, usually 5 years). This will be based on what they are currently offering for rates, though little else will change. Accepting a renewal offer usually means the lender does not re-qualify you; they don’t ask again for your pay stub or job letter or check your credit, as they assume if you’ve been making all your payments that you’re in the same financial situation as when your relationship began. However, if you are now BFS and want to switch to a new lender or you are getting an entirely new mortgage, then there are some pieces of information that it’s important to know.

The paperwork

Most lenders, if they are to give you their best available rate, want to see 2 years of employment. This goes for regular jobs as well, though there are exceptions for if you’ve just started at a new company but have been in the industry for many years, or you have just left school and begun working in a related field to your studies. The same goes for self-employed individuals. The difference is in how they calculate your yearly income. With a regular employee, the most recent year’s income can be used. For self-employed borrowers, however, a two-year average, taken from T4s or notices of assessment, is used (this is also how lenders will calculate and verify part-time work). In addition, lenders will usually want to see proof of business for self in the form of the business’s articles of incorporation or accountant-prepared T1 Generals. There are other programs available that don’t require income verification like this, however due to the increased risk to the lender, the borrower will need to pay a higher interest rate. Basically, what is most important for BFS borrowers is to have been working for themselves for at least two years, to have all tax documentation in order, and to have a realistic idea of how much money they made over those two years.

Every borrower is different

There are so many variables that can change what a particular person needs in a mortgage, so it’s fairly impossible to give universal advice. Furthermore, each lender is going to have its own standardsand requirements. In the BFS category, the requirements used to be less stringent, but as more and more people have been quitting their corporate jobs, and as the economy has struggled in other ways, lenders have tightened up their expectations for this kind of borrower. This is where a mortgage broker can really make a difference with increased knowledge of how to navigate borrowing when you’re self-employed

Ken and Marcy’s Blog can be found here:

http://newwestmortgages.ca/working-for-yourself/

Here is a link to their website:

http://newwestmortgages.ca/about/

Conclusion:

As you can see from the comments above self-employed buyers do need to meet a few extra requirements compared to those with conventional employment.  However with the right guidance getting satisfactory financing for you next real estate purchase can be accomplished.

If you have any questions about this article or any other real estate related questions please feel free to contact us we would be happy to assist you. We can be contacted through this website or you can phone us directly at 604-882-8384.

Sincerely,

Doug, Bonnie and David Mitten

(Mitten Real Estate Team)

Introduction:

At Mitten Real Estate Team we would like to thank you for reading our blog.  This Week we are pleased to bring you our latest Blog article courtesy of the Fraser Valley Real Estste Board that we are a member of. This report gives some details of the market activity in the Fraser Valley during October of 2014, it is our hope that this article will be informative to both our current and potential clients.

Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's Comments on Report:

During October 2014 the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,448 sales on its Multiple Listing Service (MLS®), an increase of 16 per cent compared to the 1,249 sales during the same month last year and 2 per cent more than in September.Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s president, says, “Sales overall continue to outperform last year and as we’ve seen for anumber of months now are the best they’ve been in five years.

“Demand remains steady in our region for single family detached homes and townhomes. Last month, the market share of sales of single family homes increased by almost five per cent compared to last year; while the share of condo sales decreased by the same amount and we’re seeing that preference reflected in prices.”   

The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) benchmark price of a detached home in October was $573,500 an increase of 4 per cent compared to October 2013, when it was $551,400.  The MLS® HPI benchmark price of townhouses increased 1 per cent from $295,500 in October 2013 to $298,500 last month. The benchmark price of apartments decreased year‐over‐year by 3.5 per cent, going from $199,500 in
October of last year to $192,600 in October 2014. In the last five years, the MLS® HPI benchmark price of a detached home in the Fraser Valley has increased by 16.6 per cent. For townhouses, the price is flat having increased by 0.5 per cent and for apartments; the price has decreased by 6 per cent.  The Board's President adds, “With the influx of new developments and a steady supply of resale units, we’ve never had a better selection of condos than we do right now at prices the lowest they’ve been in years. For those that say housing isn’t affordable in Metro Vancouver, you need to check out the opportunities currently for condo buyers in the Valley.”     

In October, new listings in the Fraser Valley increased by 3 per cent, going from 2,336 last year to 2,395 last month taking the number of active listings to 8,807, a decrease of 3 per cent compared to the 9,047 active listings in October of 2013. “Inventory is edging down, which is typical for this time of year,” says the board president. “The result is we’re seeing good quality homes that are priced right moving quickly.”

Conclusion:

If you would like to read the full PDF report pleas click on the link below:

http://www.fvreb.bc.ca/statistics/Package%20201410.pdf

As always if you have any questions about this article or any other real estate realted questions please feel free to contact us we would be happy to help you. we can be contacted through this website or you can phone us directly at 604-882-8384.

Sincerely,

Doug, Bonnie and David Mitten

(Mitten Real Estate Team)