Category: Real Estate Information

I found that even though this article was written mainly for the Vancouver and Lower Mainland market area the advice that they have also applies to the Kamloops market. It is important to pick the right Realtor for you. There are a number of Realtors to choose from and it is hard to know where to start.

This article appeared on the Province website on February 7th, 2014 and was written by Michael Bernard.

With the average home selling for more than $600,000 last year in Vancouver, buying and selling real estate is a serious business where a single mistake can cost you thousands of dollars.

Those mistakes can include hiring the wrong real estate agent, so it pays to listen to the experts before you sign on the dotted line. The leaders of the two major real estate boards covering southwestern B.C. recently offered some tips on how to choose the right agent – whether you are buying or selling a home.

“You really want to know what experience the realtor has before you engage them,” said Sandra Wyant, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. “If you are looking to purchase a condominium in downtown Vancouver, you want to be looking for an expert in that area and in stratas.”

Wyant says friends and family can be a real help in choosing a realtor.

“They will be very honest about their experience with a realtor. And ask the realtor for references, as well.”

If you are new to Metro Vancouver or don’t have friends or relatives to ask, both boards offered ways to size up an agent you are considering.

“If you have open houses in the area you are seeking to buy or sell in,

you can pop into the open house and interview the realtor who is doing those open houses,” Wyant said. “During the interview, you might ask the realtor how many transactions they handled in the past year so you can get a good sense of their experience in the business.”

Ray Werger, president-elect of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, said the Internet has great tools, such as LinkedIn or Google or realtor.ca, for checking out realtors.

“I would want to know if they are a well-rounded person and what kind of person are they outside of the ‘business veneer’,” he said. “Do they work in the community? Do

they have their own website and what sort of marketing do they do and what sort of price range do they work in?” Both Wyant and Werger put a high premium on communication and listening skills when sizing up a realtor.

“Do they listen well to the questions you are asking or are they selfabsorbed and pumping themselves up?” Werger asked.

Wyant also stressed that good realtors “put your needs above their own,” something that should become obvious during an interview.

People buying or selling a home should also make sure the realtor will meet their expectations about how often they communicate with them.

Ron Todson, who is the Fraser Valley board’s current president, said that when he was active in real estate sales, some clients wanted to hear from him every few days, while others only wanted to hear when they had an offer on their home or when he had a home to show them.

Todson said he had a set system of communicating any offers or other activity to the client every Thursday and would meet the client once a month. Regardless of your communications needs, the most important thing is to make sure you are comfortable with your realtor and that the relationship is a good fit, he said.

This article appeared in the Kamloops Daily News on February 8th, 2012 and was written by Michelle Young.

Kamloops beat the national average in terms of population growth between 2006 and 2011, but it lagged slightly behind B.C.’s average.

Statistics Canada released initial figures from its 2011 census Wednesday that showed Kamloops has 85,678 residents. That’s up 6.6 per cent from 2006. B.C. as a whole saw its numbers rise seven per cent between 2006 and 2011.

Venture Kamloops executive director Dan Sulz said the city’s growth during tough economic times bodes well. “To me, that’s good news as opposed to what you hear in the world economy with people shutting down business and moving out of town,” he said. “We’ve not only sustained, but we’ve grown over that period.”

That’s attractive to business owners looking for places to set up or branch out, because it indicates a growing base for workers and customers, he said.

Mayor Peter Milobar said the census growth rate matches what City staff predicted using building permits and household averages. They estimated a 1.25 per cent increase per year. “We’re almost bang on,” he said.

Those figures are used when the City seeks funding or grants from the provincial and federal governments, he said. It also helps when the City looks at shopping areas, road networks and other infrastructure. “We have to be mindful of planning ahead on projects. We have to be ready to move if need be, for infrastructure grants,” he said.

City administrator Randy Diehl said a slightly higher growth rate would be nice, but the 6.6 per cent in five years is manageable. “When you have zero or no growth, your economy tends to be in big trouble. It’s not sustainable, people have a hard time making a living,” he said. “When you get higher than 2.5 to three per cent, it’s difficult for local government to keep up with the pace of change and demand on service from pipes and pavement to softer services like parks and recreation.”

While City council has been raising the idea of building a new performing arts centre in Kamloops, that’s driven more by the arts community than the population numbers, Diehl said. “It’s about the community that makes use of those facilities that wants more,” he said.

City community development supervisor Randy Lambright said the census figures match what was forecast in KamPlan as far back as 1997.

The stats also showed the number of homes in Kamloops was at 36,900 in 2011, compared with 34,100 in 2006 — a jump of about 8.1 per cent or 558 homes per year, he said.

That, too, was in keeping with the City’s predictions. “We’ve always said if we grow at 500 plus dwellings a year, that’s very manageable,” he said.

It’s a pace that lets the City keep up with infrastructure demands and doesn’t dump a huge tax burden on residents, Lambright said.

Knowing the City’s predictors are so close to reality helps keep on top of cost estimates so there aren’t massive fluctuations in utility or tax rates, he said. It also helps manage the available land supply, preventing sprawl and containing the growth, he said.

Statistics Canada will be releasing more information in the coming months, which Sulz is eagerly anticipating. “I’m really looking forward to finding out some of the details. I’m interested to see what age demographics are moving to each community.” Some of the age demographics are being released in late May, while Statistics Canada will be putting out information about households, families, homes and language in September.

How do we compare?

Statistics Canada released information Wednesday from the 2011 census that shows population increases for the following cities in B.C. that are comparable to Kamloops:
* Kamloops, 85,678 in 2011, 80,376 in 2006, up 6.6 per cent
* Nanaimo, 83,810 in 2011, 78,692 in 2006, up 6.5 per cent
* Kelowna, 117,312 in 2011, 107,035 in 2006; up 9.6 per cent
* Prince George, 71,974 in 2011, 70,981 in 2006, up 1.4 per cent
* Chilliwack, 77,936 in 2011, 69,217 in 2006, up 12.6 per cent.