Shuchat Group Real Estate Blog

1. interior garage entrances which require you to walk through a narrow laundry room with laundry machines which obstruct passage. I think we should pass by the laundry room door, not have to pass through a laundry room every time we come home through the garage;
2. a) The main hall closet for the entire family in a 4-6 bedroom house is a 30" door under the stairs, more usually reserved for vacuum attachments with depth only. Why not use the frontage of the wall for a wide closet. b) No hope to move the door to the side as the closet has the electrical panel and other wiring...

For many of you, real estate issues are not really top of mind right now as a result of the everyday stresses because of Covid-19. Nevertheless, because real estate has been top of mind for so many years as price continued to firm, I thought I would shine some light on what is happening in the industry right now.

Firstly, the government declared Real Estate Agency services to be an essential service.  Being that real estate is so connected to shelter, it was felt that the doors could not be closed on services that assist in the provision of housing.  However, based upon the general self-isolation guidelines, Brokers have generally advised Realtors to restrict services to those which are exclusively essential. Currently,  the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver has suspended access to open house listings and has discouraged personal showings.  In cases where the showings are essential in nature, my Sutton Westcoast Realty office has instituted strict protocols for the...

Not everyone gets to be able to sell their home at the perfect time in life when all clutter is removed. Sometimes moves are made when families simply grow out of their current home.  Two of the forgotten areas of home staging are the back yard and the garage.  In my practice, I have noticed that for these two areas, it has become acceptable to simply leave them as a footnote: garages are jam packed with clutter from the rest of the house and back yards are simply unimpressive spaces accessible from the kitchen with little thought to exterior decor. But people need to "be" outside and incorporating the outside, especially the backyard into your living space will impart lasting benefits to your property.

During the summer months, if you have somehow managed to spiff up your exterior space, take the time to shoot some amazing photography to capture the fruits of your efforts.  Perhaps you might end up selling your home in the winter or the rainy season when leaves and water...

BC has a Property Tax Deferment Program which in certain cases allows a property owner with a principal residence to apply and receive the right to defer all property taxes on that residence for a one-time application fee of $60 with an annual renewal (not automatic) fee of $10.  The interest rate charged on the amount deferred is prime minus 2% which is currently 1.5%- there is no cheaper money around.  There are certain prerequisites which must be met, most notable of which is that one of the property owners must be over 55 years of age and there must be at least 25% equity in the home based upon the BC property assessed value.

This process takes some time so it is best to start it as soon as you get your property assessment.  The 25% equity calculation is sometimes tricky as it may include authorized but not drawn down lines of credit and will include a previous bank’s undischarged mortgage amount even though the balance was refinanced.  Therefore, you need to...