Hands up! Who Wants to Get Toured Around in a Limo and Shown the Best “Fix for Profit” Properties on the Market in Kelowna? Join us on our monthly Ugly House Tour where we chauffeur you to the 5 best ugly houses with fix for profit potential. It's a no pressure atmosphere, focused on educating you about this incredibly lucrative sector of the Kelowna real estate market. Whether you're an experienced property investor or thinking about taking on your first project, enter your name and email now to pre-register and we will send you our upcoming dates with all the details. There is limited space on the limo so please fill out the form below to reserve your spot today!

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Are You Thinking of Making an Offer on Real Estate in the Okanagan?

Buying real estate in Kelowna is a fun and exciting journey, but it can also be daunting and confusing and if not done properly, not to mention costly. Prior to making an offer on a piece of real estate you have likely done a fair amount of the legwork, including:

  • Researching the best area of town for you and your family to get the most out of your new home.
  • Evaluating your potential options relative to the current market conditions so you’re confident you are not paying too much.
  • Pre-qualifying for financing so you feel confident of how much you can spend to live within your means.
  • Finding the lowest interest rate and most flexible financing option so you aren't locking…

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Obtaining a Home Inspection is Really "Buying Peace of Mind" A home inspection is an objective visual examination of a home's structure and systems. This inspection is more than a means to avoid a “money pit”, it also can serve as a ticket for your “peace of mind” that the decision you are making is sound and was found on proper research and due diligence.

All Vantage West Realtors recommend you obtain a home inspection for a number of important reasons:

1. To ensure you are not surprised by costly defects of the home you are looking to purchase.

2. To advise you the state of major elements of the home including structural, heating, and cooling systems, electrical, plumbing, roof, environmental safety and more.

3. To learn how the mechanical…

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"My price may be on the high side, but bring me an offer!" "Just bring me an offer..." We hear the above phrase all the time... and we totally understand your thought process however it is important you also consider our thought process (based on years of proven “field tested” experience). Serious buyers look in the price range predetermined by their down payment and monthly payment ability. Unless your property is priced correctly, the down payment and monthly payment requirements will not be competitive forcing an otherwise potential buyer to not consider your property. A buyer who is seriously shopping quickly becomes very knowledgeable in his price range. If your asking price is too high it will only discourage this serious buyer from looking at and…

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11 Important Points to Consider When Shopping for Your Mortgage How many hours do you have to work to make $40,000? If every month you had an extra $162 could you find something useful or fun to do with it? Do you realize the difference in total interest you pay to your mortgage lender on a 20 year mortgage between a 4% loan and a 5% loan is just a hair under $40,000… WOW huh? The difference in monthly payments is $162… YES that’s EVERY month. Do I have your attention? As you can see from the example above the right or wrong decision when signing your home mortgage can equate to a difference of thousands of dollars in interest paid from your hard earned money. There are very important considerations to evaluate before you commit to a 25, 30 or 35 year…

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Does Home Staging Work? Is it Worth the Additional Effort and Cost? The technical definition of home staging is the design process of de-personalizing a private residence prior to putting it up for sale. This is often achieved by reducing clutter, visually creating more space and hiding/eliminating negative challenges in the home. The practical definition is a method of giving your home that “WOW” factor to potential buyers who view your home. Come on… be honest… look at the 2 pictures below and tell me which one draws you in? A picture is worth a 1000 words so… what 1000 words does your home have to say? Whether it’s the home you’re currently living in or a vacant home, staging is a great way to engage the average buyer helping them to envision the use…

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Seasonal Shut Down If you are shutting down a property for several months you should always shut off the water supply and drain the plumbing system.

  • Insulate Exposed Piping If you have exposed water or drain piping in uninsulated spaces such as in a crawlspace, attic, outside walls; ideally you should wrap them with electrical heating tape, then insulate them.
  • Exterior Faucets The exterior faucets need to have its water supply turned off inside the house, and you also need to drain water from it by opening up the exterior faucet.
  • Remember to disconnect your garden hoses from the faucets to prevent the faucets from freezing and leaking.

Roof

  • Check roof for missing or damaged shingles and have them replaced.
  • Check flashing around…

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One good way to investigate dampness is by walking around the home during a rain storm. Check the following:

  • Gutters should be clear and drain properly. Overflowing gutters are a common problem.
  • Downspouts should not flood water next to the house. Add an extension (leader) to discharge the water well away from the home.
  • Downspouts that discharge below grade should be checked very carefully. Make sure water is not leaking into the soil or backing up into the basement through the floor drain. In some cases it is prudent to disconnect downspouts that discharge below grade and redirect the water away from the house instead. Ask a Pillar To Post inspector for advice on this.
  • Land around the house should shed water away from the house for at…

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Anyone that has been reading my articles knows I love a regular home with a suite or a duplex property, and for over a decade I’ve been pretty faithful to these residential investments, but recently I have had my attention fixated on a more alluring beast, and that is multi-family investing (apartment buildings) and I have to say, I have a new obsession. It combines my favourite two aspects of real estate, Cash-flow and Value-adding, except it puts both on steroids. Now before I start, many people may have already checked out after reading the headline. Apartment buildings? That’s out of our league, or that’s too risky! I’m here to challenge that limiting belief. For starters, obtaining a mortgage on a building that has been run like a business for years…

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1. Take Pets – It always amazes me how few landlords are willing to take tenants with pets. There are two main reasons why ALL my rentals are pet friendly and full for that matter. For starters, tenants with pets have very few choices so not only does your phone ring off the hook from a carefully crafted ad with “Pet Friendly” in the headline, but they are way less likely to try and brow beat you on price when they come out. Tenants with pets also tend to stay longer for the same reason. Secondly, you get twice the deposit. BC tenancy laws say you can only ask for half a month’s rent as a security deposit. Welcoming “Spot” sweetens the pot with an additional half month. My experience with tenants is it’s not the pets we need to worry about damaging the…

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