Feb 2
Where did January go? A fun start to the new year, a short trip to New York, and a couple of snow days and all of a sudden it was February! I’m going to try to keep track of statistics for Sooke at the end of each month and post them here so you can follow along. Along with the numbers, I’ll give you my opinion of what the vibe is like in the market and what the other REALTORS® are saying. Read more
Is this the year you stop paying rent and start paying yourself? If you’re considering buying your first home in 2012, you should make sure that you join me on February 15th (Langford) or February 16th (Sooke) for a free and informative interactive seminar – Buying Your First Home. Read more
Photo Credit: Mutley *--* on Flickr
One of the things that attracts people to Sooke is the price of housing. My clients are always amazed at what they can afford in Sooke compared to Victoria, or even just 20 minutes down the road in Langford. But have you ever wondered just how much cheaper homes are out here? Read more
SOLD! MLS® 301954 – $54,900
Here’s an opportunity for inexpensive living in a family-friendly park close to transit, schools, and all amenities in Sooke! This nicely updated, Read more
Photo Credit: congvo on Flickr (click photo for link)
Chances are, if you live on an acreage in Sooke, or anywhere else in greater Victoria for that matter, you have a well. If you’re considering buying an acreage property, this may be your first experience with your own water supply. Water in our region is plentiful, thankfully, and we enjoy abundant, cheap, good-tasting municipal water supply from the CRD. How is it different to own a well and what considerations do you need to take to ensure a reliable, safe, and tasty water for decades? Read on to find out!
Here’s a question from a reader of the blog:
New homes in British Columbia are subject to the HST of 12%. However, to lessen the impact, there is also a rebate from the Provincial government on a sliding scale, depending on the price of the house. The impact is that you never pay 12% HST on the purchase of your new home. Embedded below is a spreadsheet of the actual amount payable.
That'll buff right out.
In Part 1, I went over how to pursue an offer on a foreclosure or court ordered sale. In Part 2, I detailed how things go down in court. In this post, I’ll go through the ups and downs of closing on a foreclosure and taking possession of the property.
Once the offer has been approved by the court, the petitioner (the bank/lender/mortgagee) submits to the court a draft court order which contains all of the instructions needed to close the sale, such as the purchaser’s full name, the closing date, the order in which financial obligations will be paid off, and so on. The master or judge will approve the draft order and this will be registered at the Court Registry. From this point it is really not that difference from a regular transaction. The buyer retains a lawyer or notary to complete the sale. Funds from the buyer’s lender are sent to the buyer’s lawyer on completion day and transferred to the petitioner’s lawyer and clear title is registered in the buyer’s name.
In part one, I outlined how offering on a foreclosure is different than offering on a regular listing. Now, the lender has accepted your offer and will apply to court to have the sale approved. Again, the court’s role in all this is to ensure that the borrower who is being foreclosed upon has his or her rights protected, and that the lender isn’t simply trying to fire-sale the property to get it off their books. The court will want to see that the offer on the table is the best possible outcome for all involved, especially the borrower.
Depending on location, you’ll have to wait anywhere from 2-4 weeks for a court date (here in the Victoria area, it tends to be about 10 – 14 days). Foreclosure sale applications are heard in Chambers at the Supreme Court of British Columbia. What this means is that there is no jury, and there are no witnesses to give evidence. Instead, evidence is presented in affidavits, sworn and registered with the court before the court date, and is heard by a Master, most usually.
I think it should be a rule that REALTORS® have to complete one real estate transaction of their own every five years at a minimum. This would help put things in perspective and make us better agents. Having just completed a transaction for me and my family, I can certainly relate to the stress, anxiety, and sometimes, sleepless nights that a buyer experiences. I had purchased a home before, but it was 7 years ago. When we do many transactions each year for different clients, they tend to become routine (in most cases) and we can lose sight of the client experience. As much as we all think we understand our clients, it is worthwhile to become one every now and then to make sure.
In my experience, I had at least two sleepless nights, and more anxiety than I care to admit, wondering what the hell I was thinking buying a bigger house. I’m a pretty logical, reasonable guy, so this was not an impulse buy in the least. I calculated, re-calculated, extrapolated, and otherwise contemplated this purchase for the past 6 months at least. Once I had found the right house, I triple and quadruple checked my math to make sure I wasn’t committing financial suicide. I think I got a pretty good deal on my house – you’d think an experienced agent would know!
But all that doesn’t matter when those nagging, anxious thoughts creep into your brain late at night! No matter how illogical and frivolous these thoughts are when you really think about them, it can scare the crap out of you and shake your confidence so easily when they run away with your brain.
Everyone feels this way. Talk to your friends and colleagues. Talk to co-workers and your family. Chances are they will have had similar thoughts and feelings when they purchased their homes. And it’s not just the first-time jitters. I talked to another agent friend of mine who has completed five or six transactions in the last 20 years or so, and he still freaks out every time. The key is to work with a team of advisers (mortgage broker, REALTOR®, financial planner, etc.) that you trust. They can help separate the important, key details from the noise of your subconscious mind that is keeping you up at night.
For me, all the anxiety and stress disappeared the morning after the move. Here we were in our ‘forever’ house: me, my wife and our new baby daughter, and a pile of boxes and disarray. And it was perfect.
Were you stressed about your first home purchase? What about your second or third? Did it get any better? When did it pass, and what advice can you offer readers about home-purchase anxiety?
-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional
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