August 18, 2022
Buying a Foreclosure
When a homeowner is unable to continue paying their mortgage, their home is claimed by their lending institution through a foreclosure process. This presents opportunities for buyers looking for discounted properties, though it comes with certain caveats. The bank will...
August 04, 2022
City of Vancouver to Extend Leaseholds in False Creek South
Vancouver City Council and the Strata Leaseholders Society (the Society) have concluded negotiations supporting a proposal to extend the leases in False Creek South for an additional 20 years. The Society is the bargaining agent for over 2/3 of the...
July 14, 2022
PNE Prize Home 2022
The 2022 PNE Prize Home tickets are now selling. You have until September 5th to enter the draw. Located in Langley, this climate-friendly dream home includes clean energy technology, including an EV charger and an all-electric heat pump system to...
June 30, 2022
Affordable Housing Choices
In an effort to increase the supply of affordable housing, the City of Vancouver (CoV) approved the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy to allow for consideration of rezoning proposals evaluated on the following criteria: Affordability, Location, and Form of...
June 20, 2022
eXp Acquires Zoocasa
As part of eXp World Holdings' strategic vision to strengthen its online lead generation, home search and listings portal solutions in Canada, they announced their acquisition of zoocasa.com and its parent company, Zoocasa Realty Inc., effective July 1st, 2022. Zoocasa...
June 16, 2022
District of North Vancouver Real Estate
Deep Cove Deep Cove is a small, waterfront-oriented village centre at the eastern edge of the District of North Vancouver—nestled within the forests of the North Shore Mountains. "The Cove", as locals call it, is 13km from Downtown Vancouver, once...
June 09, 2022
1818 Alberni
1818 Alberni is a multilayered experience in elevated luxury living. The parkside and cityside location is simply unsurpassed, offering the best of both worlds—peaceful nature and urban convenience—right at your door. In one direction is Stanley Park, offering invigorating walks...
June 02, 2022
Ghost Kitchens
Ever thought of opening your own restaurant? A new Canadian company named Coho Commissary is pioneering ghost kitchens—professional food preparation and cooking facilities set up for the evergrowing delivery-only meal industry. It's one of the more creative uses I've seen...
May 26, 2022
Burke Mountain Real Estate
Burke Mountain is one of the Tri-Cities' fastest-growing communities—located in Northeast Coquitlam, British Columbia. We had a lot of buyer interest in this family-oriented neighbourhood over the last few months, though the frenzy of activity which led to record price...
April 28, 2022
Rental Housing
“"Don't find fault, find a remedy." – Henry Ford” It's amazing how quickly society's attention can be so easily diverted from one current event to the next. From a pandemic, to convoys, to wars, to celebrity outbursts, to billionaire hostile...
April 21, 2022
Facade Design Pattern
“"To make a complex subsystem easier to use, a simple interface should be provided for a set of interfaces in the subsystem."” The facade pattern is a software design pattern that serves as a front-end interface masking more complex underlying...
April 14, 2022
Financing Short-Term Rentals
As short-term rental platforms have become more ubiquitous, the rules and regulations surrounding this type of occupancy have gotten more strict. Some small communities are pushing back against these services, claiming they are disrupting the social fabric to the point...
April 12, 2022
The Federal Budget 2022 and Housing
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland laid out how the government is planning to address housing affordability in the Federal Budget for 2022 by adopting policies in three categories: building, saving and anti-flipping/foreign investment. The government is mostly blowing smoke, as interest...
March 24, 2022
Canada's Largest Passive House
“"Create what matters." – Spire Development” Passive House is recognized internationally as the optimal way to build healthy, climate-resilient, affordable, and energy-efficient residential, institutional, and commercial buildings through all stages of design, construction, and livability. Spire Landing—Canada's largest passive house...
March 17, 2022
Real Estate and GST
“"You don't pay taxes, they take taxes." – Chris Rock” Home prices continue to push higher, despite a foreign buyers tax, empty homes tax, speculation tax, mortgage stress test, and record new home completions. While complex in nature, the implications...
February 28, 2022
A Better Way Home?
The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) announced their "whitepaper", outlining proposed solutions to address the housing crisis both in the province and across the country. BCREA is recommending a "pre-offer period" where offers cannot be presented to a seller...
February 24, 2022
Choice Residence Lot for ONLY $125!
Crazy to even hear those words in this day and age. Particularly when home prices are up 18.5%, and 44% of all properties sold above the asking price in January. 70%+ in the suburbs. Those same properties in Vancouver Heights...
January 20, 2022
Alpine by Beedie
“"Ten single-family homes by BattersbyHowat set mountainside in Uplands." – Beedie Living” Surrounded by lush forest, Alpine is ten contemporary single-family homes in the Uplands community of the prestigious British Properties. Elevated multi-level private sanctuaries feature light-filled interiors and spacious...
January 06, 2022
2022
Welcome to 2022. The barge is still chillin', and the real estate market hasn't let up—as the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported last year's sales as record-breaking. Home buying activity, albeit through a pandemic, has been resilient and...
November 25, 2021
Investor Boom
A revealing report by Teranet suggests that investors now make up 25% of Ontario homebuyers. The number of mortgages taken out by investors doubled in the last year, as per the Central Bank. The "extrapolative" demand is being attributed to...
November 18, 2021
Cooling Off
“"The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests." – Epictetus” The BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) intends to introduce a mandatory "cooling off" period for real estate services in...
October 28, 2021
NFTs for Real Estate
“"We’ve discussed how you can make a fungible token using ERC20, but what if not all tokens are alike? This comes up in situations like real estate or collectibles, where some items are valued more than others, due to their...
October 21, 2021
The Nature of Real Estate Negotiation
“"So much of life is a negotiation - even if you're not in business, you have opportunities to practice all around you." - Kevin O'Leary” The Real Estate Negotiation Institute (RENI) is the first and leading negotiation training company in...
October 14, 2021
The Redevelopment of False Creek South
“"With leases on City land expiring in the next 15-25 years, Council has the opportunity to consider a 21st century renewal of the original vision for False Creek South established in the 1970s … including 80 acres of land under...
September 30, 2021
Buying Farmland in British Columbia's ALR
After touring open houses in Fraser Valley's Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), seeing the pent-up demand for detached housing in rural neighbourhoods first-hand didn't come as any surprise. Considering new listings for the month of August 2021 fell to their lowest...