March 2015

Some buyers believe that searching on line and calling every agent with an interesting listing is the path to finding the perfect home.   When the agent asks what they're looking for and offers to help find other homes that might fit their needs, they turn down the offer – and keep calling more ads. They're afraid of being tied to one agent who might not serve them well.   Those buyers might eventually be successful, but they're making the process much more lengthy and painful than necessary.   The fact is, online ads are a good place to start learning about the market, but they're not the best place to actually find a home. For one thing, many of the homes you'll see on line are already sold, so you'll be wasting a lot of time.   …

When you make the decision to sell your Vancouver home, the impulse is to get it on the market right away. But that can be a costly mistake.   Instead, carefully choose a listing agent and come to an agreement on the listing price. When you choose an agent who is familiar with the market in your neighborhood, he or she will be able to show you the recent sold prices of homes nearby and will be able to tell you how they compare with yours.   Remember, it doesn't matter what the house next door sold for last year. All that counts is what has sold in the past several weeks.   Then, before the first buyer or buyer's agent pulls up outside, do what the old folks used to call "Spring Cleaning."   Make everything from the ceilings to the…