Hot Victoria BC realtor tips today from Jason Craveiro? It’s the same story in 2021 as it was in 2020, 2019, 2018, and heck, even as far back as 2012. There’s really been a lack of inventory since the housing market bottomed because homes were never for sale en masse. During the prior housing crisis, borrowers got foreclosed on or deployed real estate short sales to move on, and banks made sure all that inventory never flooded the market. Now we’ve got would-be sellers with nowhere to go, thanks to the massive price increases realized in the past few years. It’s hard to move up or downsize, so a lot of folks are staying put. That means less choice for you. While we saw an uptick in inventory in 2019, it appeared to be short-lived and now housing supply is at an all-time low! With near-record low interest rates and lots of Americans hitting the ripe first-time buyer age of 34, expect competition to intensify. Again, this supports the argument of being prepared early so you’re ready to make an offer at a moment’s notice!
Jason Craveiro real estate suggestion daily: After narrowing the search to 2 or 3 homes, your agent will do whatever research is necessary to aid you in making your decision. Ultimately, however, it is your decision. Some tools that can help you make that final decision include school reports (if you have or are planning on having children), statistical information from the local chamber of commerce, future zoning or road expansion from local planning offices, etc. Whatever the factors of importance are to you, have your agent help locate that information. Once you have selected a single home to focus on, your agent will conduct a comparative market analysis on that property. This involves determining “fair market value” by looking at what other buyers were willing to pay for properties similar to yours in the same neighborhood or area.
Renovating improves the house value says Jason Craveiro : No matter how organised or experienced you are, renovating is a stressful and time consuming process, so unless a project is guaranteed to give you either your dream home, or make you money, you are taking on the wrong property. You want to renovate, not rebuild. At auction, novice investors sometimes ‘buy blind’. But more experienced and savvy builders will often commission a preliminary survey to flag up hidden dangers, defects and structural botches, works where consent should have been obtained (but may not have been), as well as location risks such as obscure rights of way, flooding and radon.
The most important of my home renovation tips is this: your contract should outline the schedule of which the project will be completed and at what point draws will be made. ‘Draws’ is the term for financial payments that the homeowner makes to the contractor usually in percentage form. So for example: weeks 2 & 3 will be for demolition, installation of the framing, base work for the hardwood floors, and wiring for the electrician. 10% draw. From the very beginning, you need to stick to the draw schedule to the T. Let the contractor know that any single delay any of the line items means a delay of payment. Contractors will often tell you that they need more money to finish a certain section but that makes for a slippery slope. Trust me.
The average mortgage interest rate (that fee lenders charge as a percentage of your loan amount) has been nice and low lately. In fact, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 2.31% in November 2020—the lowest it’s been since Freddie Mac started reporting nearly 30 years ago!5 And now economist geeks think interest rates will continue to hover around 3% in 2021, which is still pretty low. If you want to refinance or get a mortgage from a trustworthy lender who actually cares about helping you pay off your home fast, talk to our friends at Churchill Mortgage. See more information at https://twitter.com/JasonCraveiro.