604homesblog

Well, starting June 23rd, this form and ALL the info it asks for will be required by law in Canada for all real estate transactions. This is part of the Proceeds of Crime Money (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act which I am guessing was passed in reaction to 9-11. It sure asks for some detailed information. We will be asking for your ...

Amongst all the news off increased listings and (slightly) decreased sales came the news earlier this week that housing starts are up so far this year in Vancouver. On Monday the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced that "preliminary" numbers indicate the starts up up 10% over the same period last year. Single family ...

Miss604 is one of Vancouver's most well known bloggers. Despite the common "604" in our blog names Miss604 (Rebecca) and I had not met until very recently. Incidentally, we also do not know Chad Kroeger of 604 Records (and of course Nickelback) fame. Nonetheless a post of mine, What Is This Picture Selling, sparked Miss604's ...

As any REALTOR will tell you, this is no surprise. The real estate industry is famously old and grouchy about technology changes. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) informed me this morning that: The public www.mls.ca  web site will officially change its name to www.REALTOR.ca  on Monday June 30th, 2008. The original ...

I like to CAPITALIZE the first letter of very word in my titles, but small case seemed better today. Anyway, yes, mls.ca will no longer be mls.ca although they will, of course, be re-directing you to the new site should you try to go there. mls.ca is to be re-branded as realtor.ca. The rational is to remove any misconception that it is thee mls ...

This is straight from a British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) email I received today. I thought you'd be interested in some of the things the real estate industry does that don't make the news very often. Property rights protected This week, BCREA and several other provincial organizations successfully lobbied the ...

The Bank of Canada cut it's overnight rate by 50 basis points,or 1/2 a percent, to 3% this morning. The major bank will most likey respond with a cut in their mortgage rates. The rationale for the cut was that:Growth in the global economy has weakened, reflecting the effects of a sharp slowdown in the U.S. economy and ongoing dislocations ...

RBC reported today that they: We look for the Bank of Canada to slash the overnight rate by 50 bps to 3% and expect the statement will reinforce policymakers’ concerns about Canada’s economic prospects given the sustained volatility in financial markets, rising cost of capital and growing downside risks to the US economy.   ...

Best Health magazine (from the people at Reader's Digest) has ranked Vancouver as the healthiest city in Canada. Vancouver ranked at the top of 5 of five of their 16 categories and was in the top 5 in 5 others. Here is what they said: Nestled between B.C.’s Coast Mountains and the Georgia Strait, Vancouver took the top spot in five ...

The Bank of Canada has cut the target for it's overnight lending rate by half a percentage point today and the major banks have already started to respond by lowing their prime lending rate by an equal amount. This will help to spurr on the Spring real estate market in Metro Vancouver as every small decrease in interest rates brings about ...