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DFH Buyer Service Promise
  1. Dedicate myself to making the process of buying your next home as easy and as successful as possible.
  2. Respect you, your needs and be honest and forthright.
  3. Hold your best interests in the highest regard throughout the process.
  4. Value and respect your time, being as efficient and effective as possible.
  5. Understand your needs and respond quickly.
  6. Consult with you to determine your particular real estate wants and needs.
  7. Use my base of experience, knowledge, tools and the most up-to-date training to best serve you.
  8. Explain each step of the process and act as a guide to help you make the most informed decisions.
  9. Disclose material facts known about the property and respond to questions concerning the property.
  10. Help determine your purchasing power, while explaining alternative methods of purchasing and/or financing.
  11. Provide an action plan for locating the right property, at the right price and terms, in an acceptable time frame.
  12. To the best of my ability, show you new properties that fit your needs.
  13. Provide a Customized Home Search Plan using our MLS® prospecting services, for locating the right property for you, only showing you properties that will best meet your needs and in accordance with FairHousing regulations and ethical real estate practices.
  14. Use the most comprehensive database of listings in the area, to help you find the home that best meets your needs, whether that be the Multiple Listing Service and/or other methods.
  15. Provide the resources of our Company to offer hundreds of listings, allowing you to easily review homes that are right for you, access in-depth information on neighborhoods, and additional information.
  16. Use my knowledge and expertise to promote the most valuable purchase on your behalf. I will assist you in evaluating the market value of properties that are of interest to you and help you obtain the most advantageous price and terms.
  17. Provide access to financing that meets your needs, at the lowest possible rates available to you.
  18. Advise and assist you in completing your purchase agreement, and present your offer with integrity in a light most favorable to your needs.
  19. Upon acceptance of an offer by you, pre-settlement activities throughout the closing process will be monitored as permitted by law or local practice.
  20. Offer to provide you with information regarding other professionals (e.g. lawyers/notaries, accountants, inspectors, contractors) that may assist you during and after your move.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 90% of exposures to poisons occur inside the home. Almost all are  preventable, if you follow some simple guidelines.


• Look for the poison label on products you buy. Visually, it’s a skull and cross bones, often (but not always) with the word POISON above it.


• Don’t make assumptions. Sometimes a seemingly innocuous product, like a shampoo, can contain poison or other ingredients which are harmful if swallowed.

 

• Avoid mixing different cleaning products together. When chemicals are combined, they change. Combining some cleaning products can even create toxic fumes.


• Keep all medication, even the non-prescription kind, out of reach of children. Never leave medicine on the bathroom counter.


• Never use pesticides inside the home unless the product is clearly labeled for indoor use. Then, use only as directed.


• Never use a charcoal grill or barbeque indoors, no matter how well ventilated you think you’ve made it. Doing so can easily cause carbon monoxide poisoning.


One final tip. Pay attention to the expiry date of products, especially cosmetics and cleaning liquids. As chemicals age, they change and can emit harmful fumes.

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Property Surveyors, sometimes referred to as land Surveyors, play a vital role in the real estate world. They are the professionals who determine or confirm the exact boundaries of a property.

 

Will you need to deal with a Property Surveyor when selling your home?


You might.


Sometimes the mortgage lender will ask for a land survey, especially if your property is older and hasn’t changed hands in many years. You might also be asked for one by the buyer if there is any confusion about the size and boundaries of your property – or if significant changes have been made to it in recent years.

 

This is nothing to be concerned about.


A qualified Property Surveyor will do the appropriate inspection and measurements on your property and issue you the survey. (It looks a little like a blueprint.)


Property Surveyors are highly trained and licensed. In Canada, Professional Surveyors Canada (PSC) represents the profession nationally, and most provinces have their own professional associations.


Before getting a new land survey, make sure you don’t already have one. Hopefully, you’ve stored the paperwork that relates to the purchase of your home. Look through it. A valid land survey might be right there.


If you have questions about land surveys, call today.

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December 1 2016, Victoria, BC


A total of 599 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this November, 4.5 per cent more than the 573 properties sold in November last year.


Inventory levels remain lower than last year, with 1,815 active listings for sale on the Victoria Real Estate Board Multiple Listing Service® at the end of November 2016, 38.5 per cent fewer than the 2,952 active listings at the end of November 2015.


“Our current housing market is in a strong cycle due to many factors, including our current positive economic conditions, baby boomers retiring here, millennial buying cycles, a low Canadian dollar keeping folks closer to home and our favourable living conditions,” notes Mike Nugent, 2016 President of the Board. “These factors and others, in combination with ongoing low inventory mean demand for housing is up, particularly in those areas close to the core and amenities.”


The Multiple Listing Service® Home Price Index benchmark value for a single family home in the Victoria Core in November 2015 was $608,600. The benchmark value for the same home in November 2016 has increased by 23.9 per cent to $753,800.


“Foreign buyers are another factor that affects our local housing market. The provincial government is considering implementation of a local tax on foreign buyers to ensure pressure on pricing from that source remains mitigated,” adds President Nugent. “While October data shows an increase in foreign buyers into the Capital Regional District compared to previous months, their 6.3 per cent of property transfers indicate that these buyers are one factor in the marketplace. A much larger factor affecting affordability and availability right now is the lack of inventory. An effective method to address housing affordability issues could be through efforts to increase the supply of housing, either through adjustments to zoning or density.”

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MLS® property information is provided under copyright© by the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board and Victoria Real Estate Board. The information is from sources deemed reliable, but should not be relied upon without independent verification.