Over the years the prices of Real Estate in Victoria has been on the rise and for those who have invested in Real Estate has seen some pretty good returns.
The high price of Real Estate in Victoria makes it pretty tough for the First Time Home-buyers. When you purchase Real Estate in Victoria or all of BC for that matter there are a lot of extra costs involved. Here are some of them:
- Property Transfer Tax
- Appraisal
- Lawyer fees
- Real Estate Commission (rarely as a buyer but it happens)
- Hook up charges for gas, electricity, cable, phone, etc.
After all this you also might want to do some changes to your new place or buy some new appliances or furniture.
We have mentioned in our previous blogs that we feel the government should eliminate the Property Transfer Tax. Estimates are that they made close to one (1) Billion, yes billion dollars last year from this tax.
Our beloved government has come out with brochureto explain how you as a first time home buyer can be exempt from this tax. Check it out.
If you have any comments on the above please drop a note below. Further feel free to contact us any time.
Cheers, Anders
PS. Check out our new website www.PrestigiousPropertiesInVictoria.com and our Prestigious blog at http://prestigiouspropertiesinvictoria.blogspot.com/
Anders Treiberg, Associate Broker, REALTOR®
Properties in Victoria Professionals - Royal LePage Coast Capital.
Anders Treiberg has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 1990. He has extensive Real Estate Expertise and can be reached on his website or via email at anders@PropertiesInVictoria.com
The Real Estate Market in Victoria is remaining very strong and right now we have a shortage of inventory of good products. It is interesting to look at other parts of the country and why not look at the West Island in the Greater Montreal Real Estate Area.The Broady Real Estate Team consisting of Libby Broady, Sean Broady and Catherine Broady. The latest update from them reads:
West Island Market Update
2007 was another positive year for the local real estate market. We saw healthy activity and growth throughout the West Island and the good news is that all indicators point towards another good year in 2008.
According to statistics from the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board, the average price of a single family home in the West Island increased from $346,358 in 2006 to $358,086 in 2007 for an increase of just over 3%. The number of sales was also up by almost 11% which was a good indicator that buyer activity remained strong.
As we look forward to 2008 we are expecting a slight correction in the market and a slowdown in new housing starts. We have been hearing a lot of bad news about the U.S. housing market, but most experts agree that we do not have the same precursors to a crash as was the case south of the border, namely “spectacularly irresponsible lending practices and speculative buying”. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) predicts that the 2008 re-sale market will remain solid and recent interest rate cuts can only help buyer confidence. If you are considering selling your home, please call us for an experienced and professional approach that will guide you through the entire process. For more information on the West Island market contact the Broady Team on their website.If you have any comments on the above please drop a note below. Further feel free to contact us any time.
Cheers, Anders
PS. Check out our new website www.PrestigiousPropertiesInVictoria.com and our Prestigious blog at http://prestigiouspropertiesinvictoria.blogspot.com/
Anders Treiberg, Associate Broker, REALTOR®
Properties in Victoria Professionals - Royal LePage Coast Capital.
Anders Treiberg has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 1990. He has extensive Real Estate Expertise and can be reached on his website or via email at anders@PropertiesInVictoria.com
I had posted a comment in response to a viewer Umeboshi’s comment on yesterday’s “Human Wrongs Commission” … then, after pondering a few seconds, thought it may be of interest to post it here for all to digest:
The BC Human Rights Commission is a cesspool of incompetent civil servants who feel that it’s their god [...]
Printed below is Rex Murphy’s take on the Human Rights Commission take on the Western Standard Newsmagazine.
Ezra Levant was on the Charles Adler show last week, and Ezra explained rightfully and intelligently, how retarded these Human Rights boneheads have devolved.
Truthfully, Canada’s “Human Rights” well meaning efforts have now become a sickly victims’ industry - an [...]
(caption: BC's natural resources industry is hiring, hiring, hiring. Gov of BC photo.)
CIV - Immigrants choosing to settle in rural areas tend to achieve economic integration much faster, StatCan says. And SUCCESS, MOSAIC agree.
SUCCESS's chairman Ken Tung said it has become a new trend that immigrants are picking rural areas as their new homes in recent years. For instance, natural resources and energy industries are red hot in northern BC and they are offering lots of job opportunities.
Together with a rapidly aging population, Tung said, interior communities are desperately seeking new immigrants. "New immigrants have become the new jewels in these communities," he said. "As demand for labour is far greater than supply, new immigrants can earn a much better pay too."
Siu Man Chan (trans), director of immigrant services of MOSAIC, said many of his clients who have settled in rural areas report a satisfying life. The report would provide reinforcement for new immigrants that Canada is a promising land.
"Be adventurous, be assertive.... and new immigrants could improve their life in Canada," Tung said.
Here's the full
StatCan report:
Study: Immigrants in the hinterlands 1992 to 2005
Immigrants living in small urban centres and in rural areas tend to achieve economic integration much faster than immigrants living in large urban areas, according to a new study.
The study, published today in Perspectives on Labour and Income, shows that the income gap between immigrants and Canadians living in similar areas closed faster over time in smaller centres and rural areas than in large cities.
In very large urban areas, the initial income gap was 37%; after four years, the gap was 22%. In the 12th year, it fell below 10%.
In contrast, in small urban areas the initial gap was only 14%, and in the fourth year, immigrants were earning 2% more than Canadians. This relative advantage increased over time, reaching a peak of 18% during the 11th year.
The income advantage of immigrants was even more pronounced in small towns and rural areas, where the average income of immigrants was 4% higher than that of Canadians after only one year of permanent residence.
Immigrants remained less likely to settle in small urban centres, with 75% of immigrants choosing to live in Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver (compared with 34% of the general population) and less than 3% settling in a small town or rural area (compared with 22% of the general population).
The income gap was widest upon an immigrant's arrival. It declined over time as individuals overcame such hurdles as lack of ability in official languages, unrecognized foreign qualifications, and lack of information on labour market requirements and employment opportunities. On average, however, immigrants living in large urban centres experienced a slow decline in this income gap.
More vulnerable immigrant groups such as refugees, immigrants with no prior ability in an official language or immigrants with no more than a high school education also experienced more rapid economic integration in small urban centres and rural areas.
Although refugees represented only 5% of immigrants in small towns and rural areas, they integrated very rapidly—so rapidly that, after only one year, their incomes were 10% greater than those of Canadians living in the same type of area.
In contrast, refugees in very large urban areas earned 43% less and, after 13 years of residence, the gap was about 20%.
Only immigrants from the United States (and to a lesser degree from Oceania) integrated more quickly in larger centres than in smaller ones. All other immigrants, especially those from Asia, integrated more rapidly (in economic terms) in smaller cities.
CM NEWS - German researchers have successfully isolated a toxin from a common corn fungus which could bring hope in treating neuroblastoma, a tumour of the nervous system in children. (more...)
CM NEWS - German researchers have successfully isolated a toxin from a common corn fungus which could bring hope in treating neuroblastoma, a tumour of the nervous system in children. (more...)
CM NEWS - German researchers have successfully isolated a toxin from a common corn fungus which could bring hope in treating neuroblastoma, a tumour of the nervous system in children. (more...)
CM NEWS - German researchers have successfully isolated a toxin from a common corn fungus which could bring hope in treating neuroblastoma, a tumour of the nervous system in children. (more...)
CM NEWS - German researchers have successfully isolated a toxin from a common corn fungus which could bring hope in treating neuroblastoma, a tumour of the nervous system in children. (more...)