Real Estate In Victoria BC: Aaron Hall Sells Houses And Helps You Buy Homes

Aaron Hall

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Phone: (250) 384-7663

Toll Free: 1-866-806-0982

Royal LePage

Coast Capital Realty

1075 Pandora Avenue

Victoria, BC V8V 3P7


Why Are There Fewer Homes to Choose From Now That Prices Have Dropped? Over the past month our selection of homes for sale has begun to decline. I see that today there are 4,280 homes for sale, last month I saw that we had 4,700+ homes for sale. In this Spring Market there was an un-usually high number of homes for sale. One reason for this is that many Property Owners were testing the market with high prices. As selection grew buyers became increasingly careful about what they were buying, only the very well priced homes were selling. So far this year we have seen an above average number of sellers, and a below average number of buyers, this created the feeling of a Buyers Market. Many of these unsold properties have now been taken off the market or have had dramatic price reductions. We are seeing a few more Buyers and a few less Sellers these days and it seems like the market is settling down. Buyers and Sellers seem to be seeing eye-to-eye more often over the past few weeks. Video Version: http://is.gd/esGh8 - Aug 21, 2010

Who Buys Real Estate in August When Everyone Is On Vacation? It is true that the local Real Estate Market takes a pause at this time of Year. Some people say that if your house does not sell by August 1^st you will need to wait until September 1^st before it will sell. With so many local people going on vacation and taking time off with their family we see a slow down in the market during August. On the other hand Victoria is a Destination City and many people come here on their vacations in order to look at, and buy Real Estate for varying reasons. Another group of people whom I see in the market at this time of year are the Buyers whom have been transferred here for work reasons. In short, the market does slow down at this time of year but market activity is out there and some sectors of the Real Estate market are still active. Video Version: http://is.gd/dywMv - Jul 19, 2010

Have The Interest Rates Gone Back Down? I have been hearing about interest rates lately, and how they are coming back down. The general consensus in my sphere is that people do not feel that the rates have really come back down. They say this because they still see the rates being advertised at over 4%. I have some mortgage broker friends who have access to rates that follow the Bond Market, and today the rate for this lender is 3.60%, tomorrow it will be 3.73% This rate changes every day so they are not allowed to advertise it, I found this very interesting. Of course there are limitations to this, but it shows me that there are still lenders who really want to get their money out into the market and are willing to offer competitive rates to make this happen. Video Version: http://is.gd/dlWVo - Jul 9, 2010

What Is The Advantage Of Having Your Finances Pre-Approved? When we start to look at Real Estate it is a good idea to have our finances in place so we have a clear idea of what our purchasing power is. This saves us from seeing properties that are out of our reach, and a considerable amount of stress in choosing which style of home to look for. By arranging our financing first we also put ourselves in a stronger position when it comes time to present an offer. Even in a down market we see desirable properties on that have with multiple offer situations. Any offer that has a letter from your lender stating our ability to purchase is very powerful in negotiations. This letter can be highly effective in a multiple offer situation; it is also a great asset when dealing with an over-priced listing. Step one on the in buying a home should be a visit to your Banker or Mortgage Broker. Video Version: http://u.nu/7pijc - Jun 28, 2010

When Do You Write An Offer Subject To The Sale Of Another Home? Sometimes when people are thinking of buying a different home they go out and browse around a bit and stumble upon their dream home. These people want to do everything they can to make sure they get to buy this home and sometimes that involves writing an offer that is subject to the sale of their current home. I only recommend my buyers to do this if they are able to bridge finance. This type of offer always has a time clause attached to it that gives the seller certain powers over this offer that can make it very un-secure. If the seller receives a better offer from someone else, the seller can give Notice to the 1^st buyer. If the 1^st buyer can not remove all their conditions within a short amount of time (24 - 72 hrs) they loose their position and the new offer becomes the 1^st offer in place. If you can bridge finance, when a 2^nd offer comes in all you need to do is remove all your conditions and sell the other home as soon as you are able. For this time you will be responsible for the financial burden of two homes so be careful when getting into these situations. Video Version: http://u.nu/4fs7c - Jun 21, 2010

What Is A Buyer’s Market? I have read a Buyers Market is any market which has more sellers than buyers. Low prices result from this excess of supply over demand. In Real Estate we often hear that it is a Buyer’s, Sellers, or Balanced Market. I gauge this on a few more factors than the definition above. In the spring, Victoria sees a great number of homes come onto the market and this looks like a Buyer’s Market for a short period of time. However we do not always see prices drop as a result of this Buyers Market. This spring prices have dropped as there are an un-usually high number of homes for sale and an un-usually low number of people buying. This gives us a balanced market that is even a little on the Buyer’s side in some sectors. Video Version: http://u.nu/89kkb - Jun 9, 2010

Moving Up In A Down Market This happens when someone sells their home and buys a more expensive home while the prices are down. In Victoria the tail end of the Spring Market is one of the best times to do this. At this time there is a great selection of homes, the sellers understand that they have less buyers approaching their property, and many of them have become more flexible on their asking prices. The tough part of this equation for most people is that for their house to sell in the down they too must accept a lower price for their home. The gain is made in that the more expensive home has dropped in price by a larger amount. Video Version: http://is.gd/coJRx - May 25, 2010

What Is A Multiple Listing Service? Craig’s List is a stellar example of what a Multiple Listing Service is. If you want to find a Toyota Corolla for under $5,000 all you do is fill out a few boxes into Craig’s List and all of the available Corollas under $5,000 magically pop up for you to look at. Craig’s List is my favourite Multiple Listing Service, it is free to use and free of advertising. All you will find on Craig’s List is what you are looking for. Aside for a few Spammers who insist on posting there all too often, Craig’s List is just the goods you are looking for. I post all my properties for sale on there regularly. There are many Multiple Listing Services in place that sort all sorts of things. These lists are a great way to make your information (things or services you have for sale, etc) openly available to the public, without the need for them to contact you directly for that info. Video Version: http://is.gd/brEfs - Apr 13, 2010

Why Do I Want To Use A Building Inspector A Building Inspector and I were discussing how the role of a building inspector is to view the home from your point of view, and to attempt to detect any areas of concern. One major concern here in Victoria is Insurability. There are a number of reasons why a home may not qualify for Homeowners Insurance, and a Building Inspection is a good way to see if this will be a problem. Another great reason to have a Building Inspection performed is to give yourselves a good understanding of the general condition of the home, and to identify any areas of concern. An up to date to-do list of maintenance and repair of your new home is part of any good Building Inspection. Video Version: http://is.gd/aTHak - Mar 22, 2010

What Is The Value Of An Open House An Open House is a great opportunity to let everyone in your community see the property we have for sale. These members of your community can be great advocates for you when selling your home. If you have neighbours who love the neighbourhood they are often inclined to call a family member or good friend whom they know is looking for a home and tell them all about your home. If your property is marketed well and this neighbour’s buyer is well suited to your home then we stand a good chance of receiving an unusually strong offer from this buyer. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertizing. I am a big believer in the power of an Open House. Video Version: http://is.gd/awOLx - Mar 15, 2010

What Difference Can You Expect Between Asking Price and Selling Price Typically in Victoria if a property is considered to be over-priced we do not offer on the property. This creates a situation where in Victoria, Asking Price and Sold Price are very close to each other in comparison to most other markets. Currently we are seeing a 2% gap in these two figures. This is very useful information for people who are looking at either selling or buying in the Capital Region. We have a very careful and well educated Real Estate Market here, this goes for both sellers and buyers. Our prices here are high and they appear to be staying there for now. With the obvious rise in interest rates coming in the near future our high prices will really be put to the test. Video Version: http://is.gd/9xuSC - Mar 1, 2010

What Is The Point Of Hiring A Real Estate Agent? Those of you who have hired me in the past know that my primary function is to answer questions. To me the point of hiring a Real Estate Agent is to aid you in selling or buying Real Estate. Most people do not know the process of Real Estate Transfer, so they rely on their Real Estate Agent to help them. The best way I know how to explain this is as follows: You ask me a question. I give you an answer along with my advice on the topic. You then step away from me and come to a conclusion as to how you want to proceed. Once you know what you want to do next, you give me instructions to carry things out on your behalf. So to me the point of hiring a Real Estate Agent is to have access to information. Find yourself an Agent you trust and work only with them. This trust will ensure your confidence when making tough decisions. Video Version: http://is.gd/8WKm4 - Feb 22, 2010

Multiple Offers Are Common In An Active Market In an active market it is common to see multiple offers being received on a desirable and well priced property. Whither you are on the selling side or the buying side this is a stressful situation. I am recommending that we be prepared for this in our current market. Being prepared will lessen the stress for you if we are faced with a multiple offer situation. Taking the time to build a healthy relationship before the negotiations stage is always a great idea, and this becomes especially valuable in a multiple offer scenario. People can get very excited in a multiple offer scenario. My advice here is to always play it cool and to make sure that you are comfortable with the decision you are making, the effects can be lasting. Video Version http://is.gd/87wHB - Feb 15, 2010

What Are Some Of The Things Happening Now To Prepare For The Spring There are a few things that are happening now which are showing me the Spring Time Market is just around the corner. Those of you who are selling are starting to study the market and see what type of buyers we are going to be targeting for our marketing program. Those of you who are buying have been checking your finances and we have started to go around to look at a few properties. To me these are big signs that the Spring Market is close at hand. Another strong indicator is the number of multiple offer situations we are already seeing. This is something we want to be prepared for on both the buying and selling side of the equation when working in a busy Spring Market. Video version: http://is.gd/81WTm - Feb 8, 2010

What Are Victoria’s Typical Market Forces? Here in Victoria there are a few core forces that cause our Real Estate Market to remain consistent even in times of economic uncertainty. I see in my practice that age is the most significant factor. As home owners age they have different requirements for their home. We see that ¾ of all the real estate transfers have buyers and sellers who already live here. These transactions are for people who are moving from one style of home to another. Another very large factor in our market is the amount of people who are transferred in and out of the city for work related reasons. This includes our Armed Forces people and other federal employees, such as RCMP personnel. In both of these cases the amount of pressure to move is high, and these transactions require a great amount of care in order to ensure that a fair value for the home is determined. There is an old phase in Victoria Real Estate that many people here are familiar with, “Birth, Death, and Transfer. This is why we move.” Video version: http://is.gd/7vNib - Feb 1, 2010

How Will I Come Up With The Asking Price For Your Home? This is a good question, and I am asked this often. Appraising Real Estate is not as difficult as it seems, it however it is quite difficult when you are the owner of the Real Estate. I find that the most accurate way to determine what the asking price of a home should be is by examining three factors. One, recent sales of homes similar to yours. Two, the current listings of homes for sale which are similar to yours. Three, the recent expired listings of homes that are similar to yours which did not sell. There are other factors involved in this process, but for starters I feel this is the most logical way to begin. Another serious factor which will affect the pricing of your home is: what are the Prevailing Market Conditions? Such as: Is it a sellers market? Are current buyers willing to pay more than current prices for what they want? Video version: http://tinyurl.com/yl7cy9e - Jan 25, 2010

Why Did The Prices Not Fall As The Media Predicted? No-one can say for sure exactly why we have not seen any reasonable decline in property values here, in fact this month marks the highest ever average selling price for a house in the Capital Region. Remember the headlines late 2008 and early 2009 from the local media? Home prices in Victoria will fall by at least 20-30%? Downtown it was more like 2-3% (if anything at all). Those of us who live in Victoria have some very special market conditions that insulate us from the negative economic problems that happen from time to time. We often hear that this is due to the presence of so many Government employees, or we hear that it is due to all the retirees who own their homes without a mortgage. These are two good reasons why we are so well protected but they are not the only ones. In this most recent economic crisis we saw a small economic growth, how is this possible? For the most part it appears that the dramatic growth of the Tech industries moving into our region has offset the decline in the construction industry. Seeing that Logging and Fishing have already been reduced as much as possible there was little else for us to loose. The tourism industry certainly has seen a decline with the hard times seen around the world. For the most part here in the Capital Region we have seen a reasonably stable economy prevail. Video version: http://tinyurl.com/yf6mafp - Jan 18, 2010

How Can The Average Home Price Be Higher Now Than Ever? I was surprised to see that the average price of a homes sold last month was higher than it has ever been. I can see this was largely due to the movement in the Luxury Real Estate Market as the median price was somewhat stable. We have seen a great back-log in the high end sector of the market and now that appears to be clearing up to some degree. So as many people say the average house price is not really a figure I would use to study the market. Instead I like to use this figure as a guideline for investigations of finer details, as I did above. To study the market I will use the Monthly Sales Summary (By Property Type and Area) to see what is moving and for how much. This can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/qbgono Video version: http://bit.ly/60FYX6 - Jan 11, 2010

Why Do We Want A Smooth Transaction? We want a smooth transaction to ensure co-operation on both sides and with all related professionals. The value in preserving rapport is to help insure everyone against problems related to closing and removing subject clauses on time. Concerns relating to your transaction range from seller’s who try to get out of their firm offer to accept a higher bid, to buyer’s who do not remove their conditions on time. There are a seemingly endless amount of problems that can be avoided if both side are happy with the transaction. The value of a smooth transaction is the increased security of the transaction that it provides. Video version: http://tinyurl.com/yeg2v4m - Jan 4, 2010

Will We Have A Better Selection Of Homes In The Spring? Here in Victoria the Spring season usually offers us largest selection of homes to choose from. At this time we also usually see the largest selection of buyers. If you are contemplating selling or buying at this time what can be done now to help create a smooth transaction? When selling, having your house prepared for your target market is something that can be started now. When buying, taking the time now to have all of your services ready to act on your behalf will strengthen your offer. When selling or buying we are highly interested in seeing strong offers at this time of year, strong offers can give us smooth transactions and maintain rapport. Now is a great time to get things in line for a spring sale or purchase. Video version: http://tinyurl.com/yct2jz9 - Dec 29, 2009

Think Like A Buyer When Selling Your Home In sales there is a phrase “Be The Buyer.” When selling your home this phrase is a powerful way to understand how to prepare your home for sale. When we put ourselves in the position of the buyer we start to imagine who the buyer is and why the buyer is going to choose our home. Not every house is cut and dry as to who will to want to live there, so to receive a good price we should choose wisely who we aim for. Selection of available properties is currently declining and this may seem less important to you, this is not true. When top dollar is your goal you must come from a single point of view, that view should be from the top. Video version: http://tinyurl.com/ygkreza - Dec 21, 2009

Presentation Is King When Selling In Any Area Of The Market We need to make sure your house is as pleasant as possible to attract positive buyers. We have all heard how important this is but I can say with honesty that it is surprising how often the simple rules of presentation are not followed. Clutter, smells, etc. are the enemy to a timely and profitable sale. The #1 tip I can give is to provide access to as many windows and walls as is possible. This will make potential buyers feel accommodated and start the good rapport needed for a smooth transaction. Video version: http://bit.ly/7rHVuT - Dec 14, 2009

How Can Back Up Offers Beat Out Your Conditional Offer? If you have a conditional offer and the listing agent accepts a back-up offer you should make sure you handle this appropriately. If you do not remove your subjects on time the back-up offer will become the new accepted offer. In the busy areas of the market this is a very real concern. I sold a house this spring where a purchaser was un-able to remove their finance condition in time. We had already accepted a back-up offer and that purchaser lost the home. Two days later the finances came through for the would-be buyer. Video version: http://bit.ly/7P32fY - Dec 07, 2009

Choosing Your Home Inspector Early Makes Your Offer Stronger Finding a trusted home inspector before you make an offer can give you extra security when your offer has gone conditional. With houses selling so quickly, back-up offers will be a real concern to you. Back-up offers will usually take away your chance of getting extensions to your conditional offer. You may be faced with the decision of needing to remove subjects without adequate information about the home. Having a good relationship with your inspector can take away much of the doubt and concern related to your inspection. Video version: http://bit.ly/8zTdeh - Nov 30, 2009

Houses In Victoria Are Selling Quickly, Selection Is Now Limited Looking for a house in Victoria? There is some thing you will want to take care of before you go looking. These days pre-approval for your finances can be critical, if your offer can not be backed up with an un-conditional letter of approval you have a good chance of losing out to a competing offer. This letter can be obtained from your financier by satisfying their requirements. Busy market or not this is always a strong position to negotiate from. Video version: http://bit.ly/7sEYPq - Nov 23, 2009



Sell and buy your real estate with the confidence that comes from working with an agent you can trust. If you are selling your home with me, we will take the time to determine an initial asking price based on careful appraisal of your home, and the current market conditions. To market your home we will list your property in many different types of media, ranging from the nation wide and internet based Multiple Listing Service™ to our local real estate papers. Also, we will make sure that your home has full exposure on this website. Here we can ensure that any potential buyers will have complete access to professionally taken photos and floor plans of your home, along with a virtual tour.

If you are buying a home with me, we will sit down and comfortably discuss your real estate needs. From this meeting I will be able to conduct an intensive search to find the kind of properties that are best suited to your lifestyle.

Being born and raised in downtown Victoria and having spent my high school years in the Western Communities has given me an excellent understanding of the Capital Region.

Website created and maintained by Anton Kiritchenko