going through the 'E'motions of buying and selling

Almost everytime I order food in a restaurant as the waitress walks away I get what I call 'Orderer's Remorse".  I think to myself  'why did I order that?  I get that everytime, why didn't I try something new' or if i do order something new, something a little risky I panick and think I should have ordered my usual!

I see the same sort of thing happen when people buy and sell homes. Buyers seem to go from a super high of excitement and as the hours or days go on they may dip right down to a panick about their decision and then they usually come back up to comfortable level where they are maybe just a bit nervous and stressed, but know they are making a good choice.  What I find interesting is alot of these emotions are brought on by outsiders, people not even apart of the transaction.  Friends, relatives and even strangers will for whatever reason put doubt into the buyers heads.  "you are paying to much, its a bad market to buy in, Oh that house has been for sale a long time there must be something wrong with it"  

The same sort of thing often happens when you sell your home, a neighbour or friend will make comments like " Oh you only got that much for your house eh?? hmm I would have thought it was worth more than that" 
I guess its human nature, us humans can be a bit on the negative side at times.  I now make a point of preparing buyers and sellers that this will likely happen.  The more 'emotional' of a person you are the more extreme the highs and lows of buying and selling can be.  Some people need minutes, some hours and some take days or weeks to decide on a home.  Knowing what kind of buyer or seller you are before you get started is helpful and knowing what kind of buyer/seller your husband/wife/partner is can also help with the process.  happy friday and happy halloween weekend everyone!

House for sale house for sale!

Just listed my own house for sale last week at $365,000 and today we have reduced to $349,900. 

You could say we are 'motivated sellers'  We have an offer in to purchase another home and need to sell this one first!     

So here is.....2580 Rainbow Road in Holly Hills .  1/2 acre lot

We have lived here for 7 years and have loved the location and privacy the property offers. 

 

The house is very funky and was custom built by a very creative man who built over a natural ravine. 

The main living area has a wall of south facing windows overlooking mostly deciduous trees that keep the house nice and cool in the summer and in the winter when the leaves fall the living area is flooded with extra light which we all need in the winter! 

The kitchen has teak cabinets and a new coffer ceiling, stainless appliances included a JennAir cooktop. 

There are 2 full bedrooms plus a large den or possible 3rd bedroom. 



built in file cabinets



The backyard is fully fenced and very private and sunny with a large deck, firepit and a hot tub

And probably one of the best features is the huge detached garage and shop.  

Basically a double garage with an attached 24x38 shop with a 3rd garage door. 

The shop has lots of room to build an at home office, gym or maybe a pottery studio!

There is also a hot and sunny garden area beside the workshop. Huge driveway with loads of room for parking.  I will miss this location being just a 2 minute walk to the logging road trails and only a 2 minute drive to downtown.  This subdivision is very quiet, with the houses nicely spaced apart on oversized lots. 

More details here   http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=11215325&PidKey=-740189915

Campbell River Real Estate historical stats

I love Real Estate Statistics especially in the form of an easy to look at graph!

I think this graph speaks for itself showing that Real Estate prices have their ups and downs, but over time values always go up. 

STATISTICS FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND REAL ESTATE BOARD -CAMPBELL RIVER AND NORTH ISLAND

Summertime fun

We have all heard the saying "Be a tourist in your own backyard" before but how many of us actually take the time?  About 10 years ago a wise fellow I work with told me that summer on Vancouver Island is the time to take your holidays, its the time to use up your 'sick days' and 'vacation days.'  He said there are beaches around here just as nice as Maui in the summer and they are only a short drive away.  There are resorts here as nice as a 5 star in Mexico.  Why save up all year long for a 1 week trip away in the winter when you spend 2 days of it travelling when you can have a few mini vacations around here in the summer for a fraction of the cost too.  
I now realize just how correct he was.  Until recent years I had never travelled north of Campbell River, figured there was nothing worth seeing up there.  Little did I know Telegraph cove ttp://www.telegraphcoveresort.com/and its funky cottages would become a favorite getaway destination for me.   A Whale watching trip from the resort there blew me away! Unreal scenery and wildlife like I had never seen before.  Whales, sealions, and literally 100's of eagles swarming over the ocean. 
It wasn't until a few years ago that I also discovered San Joseph Bay on the west side of the Island.  We walked in from the parking area along a trail and came out of the trees to find white sand beaches as far as the eye could see.   We set up a tent and stayed overnight, there were only 2 other people on the entire stretch of beach and they were surfing.  I had no idea there were beaches like this so close to home.

 

We all know Tofino is famous for their beaches but it blows my mind to hear how many people have lived on Vancouver Island all their life and have never been.  The same goes for the Gulf Islands, Saltspring, Saturna, Hornby and Cortes are among my favorites.  I want to spend more time discovering these islands.  I always feel I am thousands of miles from home on a 'real' vacation if a ferry is involved.  Cortes Island is a short trip from Campbell River and the lake and beaches there are unreal!

Another thing that blows my mind is how many people live in the area and have never been out on the water surrouding Campbell River. Some have never even been on our fishing pier!  I got lucky, or maybe it wasn't luck,  maybe I was the girl scouting out my future husband on the docks of Painters Lodge many years ago when I worked on the dock there.  My husband has had a boat of some sort since he was a kid.  Having a boat is not a luxury item for him, its his job.  He has worked as a fishing guide in the summers since he was a kid. https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/BC-Fishing-Charters-Campbell-River/163386570386140.      We have been lucky enough to spend alot of time on the water over the past decade, fishing and touring around.  Just last week we came across 100+ pacific white sided dolphins off the south tip of Quadra Island.  We stopped the boat and they swam and jumped all around the boat.  It was unreal!

It was on this day last week that I started thinking about 'vacation in your own hometown" and I thought to myself  I would rather float in a boat next to wild dolphins over swimming with captive dolphins in a hotel any day!  ( no offense to anyone that has swam with hotel dolphins)!!!  I realize that not everyone has access to a boat, but almost everyone knows someone with a boat.  Why not hire them for the day or offer some sort of swap.. A you take my family out in your boat for the day and I will....... whatever that may be.
So take a mini vacation this summer somewhere around here!
Not everything awesome has to cost alot of money.

Campbell River Listing Stats

When choosing a REALTOR®  to list your home for sale the first question you may want to ask is "What is your office List to Sell Ratio? In other words for every 10 listings taken, how many actually sell?

When selling your home be sure to choose a company that will not only accurately price the home, but will also professionally market it for sale and cooperate with other REALTORS®  in order to get it sold.  After all, SELLING not just listing the home is the goal isn't it?

You may not be in the market to sell right now, but you may know someone that could find this information very helpful.

DE-CLUTTER for a great cause

On Saturday, May 14^th, ROYAL LEPAGE Advance Realty and Royal LePage offices across Canada will be transformed into an oasis for bargain hunters as we join together to host the National Garage Sale for Shelter in support of the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation. As the only Canadian Real Estate company with our own charity, we have raised $10 million dollars to date!!   Last year Royal LePagers raised over $315,000 in one day with garage sales!

I am encouraging people to de-clutter and find us a few items they no longer need that we can sell!  100% of donations go directly to helping women and children and actually stay here in Campbell River with our local sale proceeds going to our womens shelter- The Ann Elmore Transition House.

If you have a box or a truckload of gently used items to donate PLEASE CONTACT ME deannacollins@royallepage.ca about drop off or pick up options!

THANK YOU

Simple tips to get your house 'show ready'

First impressions count, especially when you are selling your home. 
Getting your house "show house ready" doesn't have to cost alot of money either.  One of the best things you can do is DE CLUTTER and its free!  When I say de clutter I mean get serious and expect to pack up alot of boxes.  Take down the fridge pictures, knick nacks, clear the kitchen counters of everything! Get rid of carpet runners, area rugs, bulky curtains, even furniture.  Taking a few chairs, maybe an extra coffee table and putting them into your garage for a few weeks can really open a room up.  You will likely love your new space so much you will wonder why you didnt de clutter sooner!
Washing walls and adding a fresh coat of paint where needed is also a great way to freshen up a house.  New light fixtures and simple things like kitchen and bathroom cabinet knobs can update a room.
When the day arrives that you have buyers coming to view your home be sure to leave all the lights on, curtains open, fire on, and most importantly LEAVE the house!   Buyers will spend more time in your home if its empty and they don't feel as though they are intruding. 
For full staging details just ask! and I will email you a package.

March 2, 2011

I often get asked "hows life on the island?" alot of people think I live on Cortes Island and thats the only place I work.   

The truth is I have lived and worked out of the Campbell River Royal Lepage office since 1999.

I did spend alot of time and lived a summer here and a winter there on Cortes in the late 90's

When I first started with Royal Lepage I worked almost exclusviely with Cortes buyers and sellers, but over the years I have found a nice balance working from Campbell River with buyers and sellers here and still servicing some listings on Cortes, travelling there on day trips as needed. 

If I cannot help you Please know that I can always refer you to a reputable REALTOR® in any City - I have connections!

Ozzie Jurock's Hot tips, alot of info here, but some pretty interesting stuff if you have a few minutes

http://www2.jurock.com/hotproperty/tips.asp

2011 all about Shelters

Yesterday we were all shocked with disturbing news about the slaughter of 100's of Whistler sled dogs.  http://www.vancouversun.com/news/sled+dogs+slaughtered+Whistler+when+tourism+slumped+Report/4196610/story.html
It is a sad reality, but acts of animal cruelty happen around us all the time.  I believe that we were the ones to domesticate these animals for our own use or pleasure and therefore we owe it these animals to take care of them.  Sadly these animals don't have a voice.  We have to be their voice.

In January I decided to donate $100 from every sale in 2011 to the Shelter Foundation http://www.royallepage.ca/en/community/shelter-foundation/index.aspx
I have decided 2011 is going to be all about SHELTERS for me.  Shelters for people in need and Shelters for animals in need too.  So....along with the $100 a sale going to the Womens Shelter I will also donate $100 per sale to our local S.P.C.A through the Paws for a Cause campaign.  

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day...If its sunny and the groundhog sees his shadow it means winter stays around another 6 weeks.  If its cloudy apparently it means spring will come sooner.  The forecast for tomorrow shows cloudy with sunny periods.  I am sure hoping its cloudy tomorrow. 

How times have changed

Yesterday I realized how much the Real Estate Industry has changed in a decade.  I was in the office doing some new year clean up and opened up my 'junk drawer' I saw a recipe box I have not opened in years.  Inside I found 100's of pictures of listings, some rolls of film and even a few floppy disks.  Some of my co workers that started a few years after I did had a good laugh at my old stuff.  In 1999 when I started we took pictures of homes and had the film developed!  We would send 1 picture to the real estate board to upload to the mls site.  The other pictures we would paste onto photo boards and hang up in the office.  When I started we all shared a few computers, it wasnt til years later that we all started to get our own.  We had catalogues that arrived every week from the real estate board with all the listings.  Buyers would come in and ask for a catalogue when they wanted to know what was for sale. We all had pagers and when we got paged to call a client we had to get to a phone to return the call.  I dont think everyone had a cell phone at that point, maybe they did, I don't remember.  I know that I went about 6 months as a Realtor before I actually got a cell phone.  For many years we all had pagers and cell phones...then finally text messages came along and most of us got rid of the pagers!

Also in that recipe box I found a handwritten photocopied list of names, phone numbers and fax numbers of realtors I took my final course with in Vancouver in 1999.

At the end of the course we passed the paper around and wrote our names on it so we could stay in touch, but there were no email addresses on that sheet! not one of us had an email address or if we did we did not even think of writing it down.

What I find crazy is that I am not talking about 30 years ago, or even 20 years ago.  10 years, thats it.

In 10 years the technological changes have been unreal and they are a big part of what I think makes the job fun. 

Most Realtors now use a program called PCS, basically you give your realtor your email address and house searching criteria and instead of going through realtor.ca or other sites every day looking for new listings, this program will automatically email you when a new listing comes up or a home price is reduced into your price range. 

Yesterday after looking at my recipe box full of ancient old fashioned 35mm pictures I realized just how important pictures really are when it comes to selling your house.  Stats show over 80% of buyers decide whether or not to make an appointment to see a home based on information they have seen online ( usually from realtor.ca which is the website almost all Realtors post their listings too)  The more pictures and the better the quality of picture the better chance a buyer can get a good idea if its a house they may like.  We now have the option of uploading slideshows, 20+ pictures and virtual tours to our listings.  Virtual tours are nothing new, in fact in the larger city centres my guess is almost every realtor uses them.  In Campbell River they have been around for a while but not many people use them. 

I am now offering virtual tours as part of my marketing package to Campbell River sellers.  Virtual tours will not only help a seller to professionally showcase their home, but I think they will help to ensure that sellers are being inconvenienced by cleaning up and having to vacate for showings only when its a serious buyer, not a buyer that will walk in and say " I dont like this layout'  

So here I sit on hold with telus on my blackberry, typing on one computer about to forward to my laptop so I can finish in the other room.  In a moment with a few clicks I will upload to my blog and then post to facebook.  Maybe one day I will get with it and also tweet about it, but for now this will do. 

 

Another sunny day and I am getting excited for spring and summer, so I leave you with this beach shot to get excited too!

Exciting news for 2011

After a relaxing holiday season I am excited to get back to work!
As a REALTOR ® ( the word realtor is now a trademark and this is how I must type it from now on!) starting a new year means setting goals, budgeting, thinking up new ideas for marketing homes and new ways to give back and help others.  Over the years I have donated to the SPCA and will continue to do so.  I have also organized and been a part of a few fundraisers for The Royal Lepage Shelter Foundation.  It is Canada's largest public foundation dedicated exclusively to funding women's shelters and violence prevention and education programs.  Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation and since it started in 1999 we have raised over $10 million

This year I wanted to do more, make more of an individual difference.  I am thrilled to announce that I am going to donate $100 from every real estate transaction this year.  That means every listings sold or house bought with me I will donate $100 with 50% to our local womens shelter in Campbell River and 50% will go towards our BC directed education programs that support the long term solutions to break the cycle of violence.  The great thing about the shelter foundation is that 100% of every dollar donated goes directly to the cause. 

check out this video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WCfyMZnJ2A

Happy 2011 everyone!