I’m your Realtor in Victoria, BC, Fergus Kyne with RE/MAX Alliance Victoria 250 216 1217.

For more pictures and a virtual tour, you can click on Featured Properties on the right hand side of the home page of this blog or refer www.ViewTheHome.ca to someone you know who may be interested.

In this very short video I speak about land value being established. The lot next door, 363 King George Terrace, sold for 1.3M in 2009 and the plans for the construction of that home and its landscaping are available to view at the Village of Oak Bay. It will be a marvelous home that is perfectly designed to accomodate the established privacy of our listing at 369 King George Terrace, which incidently is a superior lot as it affords greater depth towards the oceanfront. Last week, a few houses down along the water front, 205 Beach sold for $1,485,000. This house of 2800 s.f. approx. is old and definately in need of upgrades.

However the lot is spectacular and the views are quite amazing too. Time will tell, this may be a teardown for the new owners.

In August of 2010, a buyer paid $1,580,000 for 383 King George Terrace. This home has undergone signifigant changes by the new owners. The unique custom design served the previous owners but in 2010 found itself to be almost non-functional to most new prospects. It too, of course was on a beautiful lot.

So if you consider what it would cost to construct a very high quality home of almost 4900 s.f. with a triple car garage, the asking price of $2,599,000 for 369 King George Terrace is very reasonable. Contact me to arrange a tour. I’m your Realtor in Victoria, BC- Fergus Kyne with RE/MAX Alliance, 250 216 1217 or page me at 250 386 8875.

But of course it’s not really sold because almost every offer will have some conditions, what are known as subject to conditions. In real world language they often contain clauses that mean essentially, “I’ll buy your house, subject to me a) getting financing (often the trickiest one these days), b) me looking at the title and making sure I am not restricted in how I can use the property and c) me being happy with the results of a building inspection.

We’ve seen lots and lots of offers from strong buyers who aren’t concerned about their ability to get financing and they don’t even need to write in “subject to financing” but it’s rare even on a new house that someone will not want to include the clause that allows them to pay for and conduct a building and property inspection. Even on new construction that is fully warrantied it is highly adviseable to perform a building inspection. You just can’t see everything in your, often less than an hour, viewing of a home. It’s pretty risky for a buyer to purchase a home without doing a building inspection.

So as a home owner you wouldn’t more than likely put your home for sale if you knew there was something wrong with it that would be easily discovered by a buyer; hopefully you will have dealt with it before hand so that it doesn’t come up later and kill the deal.

The roof is often a contentious issue; unless it’s less than 10 or at the most 15 years old; a buyer’s going to want to see that reflected in the price. As a seller you shouldn’t have to buy some one a new roof; you won’t be there to enjoy it, but price your house accordingly if you know it needs a roof. On the West Coast a poor roof means that the house will eventually just melt away from the steady absorbtion of water.

One that sellers often forget is drainage systems. What is the system that is taking away water from the land that your house sits on? You may have never had a problem with water in your basement, crawl space or on your foundation (slab) on grade but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t just a few months or days from failing to perform its designed task which is to move water away from your house.

Drain tiles inserted below the ground around the perimeter of your home will take not only the water that comes from your roof via the downspouts connected to roof gutters, but will also direct ground water away from your home. Hopefully these are connected underground to a larger system of piping for your neighbourhood so that no pooling occurs in your immediate vicinity. Problem is unlike a roof, a furnace or rear deck, people hardly ever know a thing about their drainage systems. Hey, if it’s not broken, or if it ain’t leaking in the basement, don’t fix it right?

Here’s the problem, more and more people are making the drainage system an essential component of the building inspection. The cost to have a new system installed is not cheap; 15-20 thousand dollars for a small to average sized home is not unheard of. You don’t want to find out after you’ve accepted an offer and you start to get all excited about how much you are going to net after the expenses related to selling your home, that your could be down several thousands of dollars because you find yourself re-negotiating with a purchaser over an old or failing drainage tile system.

Here’s my suggestion; work with a Realtor when you’re selling your house that’s going to order an examination of your drain tile in advance of marketing your home. A really detailed analysis can be done for less than $200. It’s a great thing to pass to a seller or to a seller’s agent as proof of the condition of one of the most essential elements of your homes mechanical systems.

Jaeson Navaroli of Drain Pro at 250 686 5290 and Jeff Richmond of Royal Rooter 250 480 4806  (love those trucks!) are two of the best and most reputable referrals you can use in Victoria, BC. If you need any advice in preparing or staging your home prior to marketing it for sale, call me now: 250 216 1217.

In the end, I never like to say a home passed or failed an inspection; it’s really just a measurement of how well the building and its systems have performed and most importantly a guide for what needs to be done going forward. Anything can be fixed, repaired or improved!

I specialize in helping people who’s home listing has expired by implementing a new marketing strategy and helping them to sell their home in 90 days or less. Do you know of anyone who’s been frustrated in their attempts to market and sell their home?

I’m your Realtor in Victoria, BC, Fergus Kyne from RE/MAX Alliance.

I’m your Realtor in Victoria, BC, Fergus Kyne at RE/MAX Alliance.

250 216 1217

What you may not know about HFH is that they have this amazing store in Langford at 849 Orono Ave, just off Jacklin Road called RE-Store where they sell all kinds of reclaimed building materials. If you are doing a reno, you really should check it out, especially if you are looking to save massive amounts of money compared to what it costs brand new. They have everything from doors to windows, tools, entire kitchens, cupboards, flooring of all kinds, plumbing supplies, baths, showers. It’s a gold mine for your suite reno’s or for those on a budget.

But here’s the best thing! Let’s say you are doing a reno, if you call them at 250 480 7688 or email at: info@habitatvictoria.com , they can arrange to have people come to your house, take out (gently) what ever it is you are getting rid of and they will give you a tax credit for the value of your contribution- that’s pretty amazing don’t you think?

Call me if you have any questions about what’s happening in Victoria real estate.

I’m your Realtor in Victoria, BC Fergus Kyne from RE/MAX Alliance Victoria

250 216 1217

Come see this great house!

Ok, so just listed this, nothing to do but (ViewTheHome.ca and) move in, 3 bedrooms, brand new roof, super Cedar Hill location, gorgeous lot and the price is 439 900! Coved ceilings, absolutely a cream puff in terms of condition as well. Must be seen, Realtors open Wednesday 1:30-3:00 but call me if you want to see it at that time, you will love this house. More pics and floor plans tomorrow evening as well as an MLS#. Call me, call your Realtor, you’ll want to see this one. Perfect for downsizing or small families. 3205 Doncaster Drive, 2 minutes from the Rec Center and the golf course.

I’m your Realtor in Victoria, BC

Fergus Kyne

RE/MAX Alliance

Come see this great house!

250 216 1217

The Victoria Real Estate Board was present for a pre-briefing with Minister Kevin Falcon, along with other key stakeholders from BC’s housing sector in the province.

We are being told that if any of our clients are considering amending existing agreements as a result of this announcement, they should seek legal advice before doing so.

BCREA is working with legal and tax experts to prepare draft contract language that REALTORS® can include in their listing agreements and Contracts of Purchase and Sale, as well as a series frequently asked questions. This material is expected to be available the week of February 20, and will be posted on the BCREA website as a resource for both REALTORS® and their clients.

Read the whole govenrment announcment here: http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2012/02/transition-measures-support-new-home-buyers-builders.html

Some of the key elements include:

- The B.C. new housing rebate threshold will be increased to $850,000, effective April 1, 2012 with a maximum rebate of $42,500.

- A provincial grant of up to $ 42,500 will be available for purchasers of new secondary vacation or recreational homes outside the Greater Vancouver and Capital regional districts priced up to $850,000, effective April 1, 2012.

- For newly built homes where construction begins before April 1, 2013, but ownership and possession occur after, purchasers will not pay the seven per cent provincial portion of the HST. Instead, purchasers will pay a temporary, transitional provincial tax of two per cent on the full house price.

- The temporary housing transition measures will be in place for two years, until March 31, 2015. The tax only applies to homes where construction begins before the transition date and ownership and possession occur after.

The BC Ministry of Finance has updated their PST in BC website: http://www.pstinbc.ca/buying_goods/buying_a_home

The Canadian Ministry of Finance has also released its transitional rules, with examples related to the sale of real property. The rules note:

- In the case of a sale of real property, tax generally becomes payable on the earlier of the day on which ownership is transferred to the recipient and the day on which possession of the property is transferred to the recipient under the agreement of purchase and sale. However, where the property supplied is a residential condominium unit in a condominium complex which has not, at the time possession is transferred, been registered as a condominium, tax is not payable until ownership of the unit is transferred or, if earlier, 60 days following the date of registration.

There are several examples listed in the rules, which can be found here: http://www.fin.gc.ca/n12/data/12-017_1-eng.asp

This is big news! Call me if you’d like to discuss or want to be in touch with professional who can give you a legal or accounting perspective.

I’m your Realtor in Victoria, BC

250 216 1217

Especially as this is RRSP season, a reminder for those of you who are considering this avenue for your down payment. Click here for the details http://bit.ly/y05V1H  and don’t hesitate to call me to discuss further.

I’m your Realtor in Victoria, Fergus Kyne. 250 216 1217

This article also shows you diagrams of how the furnished spaces are best lived in. My opinion, small yes, but hey they are new and they are clean.  Let me know your thoughts!

Welcome to my blog for 2012! Of course I had to speak to our good friend Reuben Danakody of BC Assessment to see how the past year shaped up from the perspective of property values here in the Capital Region. Quite interesting to see what happened on average to values. The key question to remember is, do you think your Assessment is a good indication of what your property would have sold for in July of 2011? If you think it’s way higher or lower than the value you saw, you may want to appeal and we speak about how that is done as well.

Call me if you would like any help in navigating or understanding the process or if you simply want to see how your property value compares to the rest of the market.

Fergus Kyne RE/MAX Alliance Victoria, BC 250 216 1217