Sometimes life presents you with a situation, and most times we don't understand or don't want to understand.

We rather believe our pre-conceived ideas.

Danny Griffin says it so well.

Or you can read Danny Griffin's Monday Morning Mojo  here..

If you are looking to Buy or to Sell real estate in Vancouver area, give me a call. My consultations are FREE. The benefits to You, may be worth a lot of money.
Call Jeff Stark at 604-506-8481 or email me at jeff@jeffreystark.net

Thinking of Selling your home?

 So you are ready to renovate. Found the old house with lots of potential and a big dream.

Just make sure you have enough money to get it done.

Avoid the 5 most important mistakes home renovators make.

1/ Using the wrong general contractor.
    make sure to check his background and get some referrals if possible. But, if he doesn't come across as trustworthy, don't hire him It could be a big mistake

2/ Getting bids with no specs/design.
    If you don't have proper specs or a good design, you are looking for big trouble. How are you going to figure out what the contractor is doing and why?  If you don't have any specs you are open to a lot of extras. And you know what that means. Extra cost, that's what it means.

3/ Losing sight of your dream and budget, and acting on impulses. Impulses are costly. Keep them controlled. You better spend extra time planning than winging it.

4/ Changing the plan.
    Delays, extra costs and impatient contractors who are losing time with sometimes small inconsequential changes.

5/ Ignoring the hidden things.
    It is nice to be picking the paint colors, but make sure you keep an eye on the job from day one. Make sure you are getting what you pay for, in the materials used on the job. That may save you a lot of trouble down the road.

And now, whatch the video.

If you are looking to Buy or to Sell real estate in Vancouver area, give me a call. My consultations are FREE. The benefits to You, may be worth a lot of money.
Call Jeff Stark at 604-506-8481 or email me at jeff@jeffreystark.net

Sunday Province

August 16th, 2009

Dear Condo Smarts: What do you do when you have an owner that is always costing your strata money? At our annual general meeting in June, we almost elected a great council. The exception was an owner who caused so much trouble that when she was nominated and elected (because we didn't have more than seven nominated), the five remaining council members immediately resigned. The last lawsuit she caused left us $20,000 poorer because she refused an alteration to the interior of a unit for a special needs person. Help.

- Jenny, Abbotsford

Dear Jenny: If you apply the Standard Bylaws and Section 50 of the Act, you will discover two distinct provisions that will help you . The first is that in the Standard Bylaws, there is only a requirement for your strata to have a minimum of three and a maximum of seven council members. It is not mandatory to elect seven. Many strata corporations feel obliged to accept everyone just because they are nominated. This is not true unless your bylaws specifically require that all seven positions must be filled.

Section 50 of the Act is the second part. At general meetings, matters are decided by a majority vote, unless a higher vote is required for a 3/4 vote or unanimous resolution in the Act or regulations.

So the strata corporation by majority votes, then decides who is elected to council. Whether you do this by secret ballot or by show of hands, the result is that those persons who are elected by a majority of the votes cast for or against the resolution will determine who is elected to council.

There is no provision in the Act or the bylaws for acclamation by nomination. It still requires a majority vote of the owners to elect those nominated.

A word of caution: Many strata corporations have adopted different governance bylaws that address elections, nominating committees and voting thresholds for council election or removal, so double-check your bylaws first. It is also helpful for strata corporations to adopt bylaws that address voting eligibility. If the strata corporation is entitled to file a lien against a strata lot, a nominee is not eligible to be elected to council or to continue to sit on council with the proper bylaw amendments.

Lastly, before you elect someone to council, make sure they are eligible. I did a title search on the unit of this council member and discovered she is not on title. She is the spouse of an owner and, because the strata have no bylaws permitting the spouse of an owner to be elected, she is ineligible to be on council. The strata could have saved a lot of time and trouble just by asking her ownership status.

By: Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners' Association.

If you are looking to Buy or to Sell real estate in Vancouver area, give me a call. My consultations are FREE. The benefits to You, may be worth a lot of money.
Call Jeff Stark at 604-506-8481 or email me at jeff@jeffreystark.net

According to my mortgage broker good deals are here to stay.

It doesn't seem like the rates are going to increase in the near future.

However, you never know for sure. The best way is to get pre-approved NOW!. It doesn't cost you anything to get pre-approved, and you will know what your rate is when the time comes to write that deal.

"Hopefully the down trend continues. Some excellent specials you and your clients that don't have holds

might want to be aware of. Note these are for live deals - principle residence and could be pulled any time with some restrictions. No holds/pre-approvals.

4.09% 5 year fixed - I'm sold that 5 year is the way to go.

3.99% 5 year fixed if mortgage over $500,000
3.85% 4 Year fixed
3.39% 3 year fixed

Variable:

If riding prime and plan to lock-in this is the best deal out there:

2.40% 3 year variable Prime + 0.15% -  lock-in to best discount at any time.

2.55% Prime + 0.30% - 5 year variable - lock-in to best discount at any time.

 Courtesy of:
Greg Viger
Mortgage Expert, AMP
greg@yourmb.com

If you are looking to Buy or to Sell real estate in Vancouver area, give me a call. My consultations are FREE. The benefits to You, may be worth a lot of money.
Call Jeff Stark at 604-506-8481 or email me at jeff@jeffreystark.net

Here is the latest as to what mortgage rates are doing.

The US job less figures were lower than everyone expected and marked the first reduction in job losses in the US since April 2008. That coupled with the recent success of the US stimulus package "Cash for Clunkers" has sparked some positive moves in the equities markets.

GM has reported that they are very happy with the "Cash for Clunkers" program and are now looking to increase production to restock vehicles.

Bonds sold off a bit on the expectations of rising stock prices.

The spreads for mortgages has been stable over the past few weeks, however, the 5 year spread is only 1.69 today and we could see very small increases in the fixed rates if the stocks continue to gain strength. Variable rate mortgages are very stable at this time.

Today's Best Rates:

1 yr               2.55%
2 yr               2.85%
3 yr               3.45%
3.5 yr            3.75%
4 yr               3.89%
5 yr               4.15%
7 yr               5.15%
10 yr             5.25%

Variable        prime +.3%

Courtesy of;

Paula Siemens -AMP
INVIS - SIEMENS GROUP

If you are looking to Buy or to Sell real estate in Vancouver area, give me a call. My consultations are FREE. The benefits to You, may be worth a lot of money.
Call Jeff Stark at 604-506-8481 or email me at jeff@jeffreystark.net