Kelowna Real Estate Blog | Kelowna Real Estate News & Information - kelowna real estate

How to Choose The Best Lawyer For Your Real Estate Transaction

It doesn't matter if you're a first-time buyer or a seasoned property investor, home ownership can be one of your biggest assets in life or the biggest liability. Handling transactions of this magnitude should involve the professional counsel of a lawyer who will make sure your rights are protected, and help you understand all of the legal jargon and paperwork that's involved in the homebuying process.

Here are some easy tips to ensure that you find the best lawyer for your Kelowna real estate transaction.

Do You Need A Real Estate Lawyer/Notary Public to Process Your Home Purchase?

Before we dive into listing what you need to look for when hiring a lawyer or notary public, let's review the reasons why you should hire a professional to…

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Learn Ins Outs House Flipping Kelowna

Is There Money to be Made in Flipping Property?

So, you're thinking of investing in property to flip? At Vantage West Realty, flipping property is one of our favourite aspects in the real estate business to consult clients on. Since this type of investing is something we have engaged in for over a decade in numerous projects ourselves, we believe we have the necessary "real world" experience to comment on the full gamut of this sort of venture. Acquiring and renovating property can be incredibly rewarding and it's our pleasure to share what we've learned after many successful flips for both ourselves and our clientele.

Let's Get Right Into It - What is a Fixer Upper?

If you are unacquainted with the term, a "fixer upper" is a distressed…

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Kelowna Real Estate - Is It Time To Worry?

The Kelowna real estate market is pretty hot right now. Just in March, my team managed to sell 46 homes - and we haven’t even hit the busy season yet. We don’t expect market activity to slow down at all, and buyers will continue to eat up our low supply of inventory. This means that sellers can get great prices for their homes. To learn more about how you can benefit in our market right now, watch this short video.

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Kelowna Real Estate - Where Are Interest Rates Heading

Before you start worrying about the recent increase in interest rates, I want to let you know what I think about the situation. It's not nearly as dire as some people have been led to believe. Your affordability should remain intact. Watch this video to learn more!

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Kelowna Ugly House Tour

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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Placing An Offer On A Home? Here's What You Should Know First

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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Kelowna Real Estate - Mortgage Options

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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Kelowna Real Estate - Staging A Home

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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Kelowna Real Estate - Easy Home Winterizing Checklist

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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Kelowna Real Estate - House Dampness Here's How To Investigate

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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