Maria Mak - Burnaby Realtor - Any property – a home, an apartment building, a farm, or an industrial site – can be on contaminated land.

Any property – a home, an apartment building, a farm, or an industrial site – can be on contaminated land.

Too often, contamination such as hazardous wastes in soil, groundwater or sediment is invisible, and harmful to human health and safety, and to the environment.

Cleanup costs can be expensive and may even exceed the value of the property.

To help buyers find out if a property they’re considering buying is contaminated, ask your REALTOR® to check the provincial contaminated Site Registry.

It has information on more than 9,000 sites, including:
• sites that are being screened and are not yet confirmed as being (or not being) contaminated
• sites that are being cleaned up
• sites that are awaiting final confirmation that cleanup is complete
• sites where cleanup is confirmed

Access to the Site Registry is through BC Online.

Improved website

The Ministry of Environment has detailed electronic and paper records often needed by those engaged in land transactions as part of the due diligence search process.

To make access to these records easier, the BC Ministry of Environment has recently developed a more user-friendly Site Remediation website.

It includes fact sheets, access to the Site Registry and other databases including the:
• Federal Contaminated Site Inventory
• Environmental Violations Database (EVD)

Contact Maria Mak and her elite team @ Sutton Centre Realty for all your premium real estate services, or visit her webiste www.mariamak.com for updated market real estate news.

Maria Mak - Burnaby Realtors - Metro Vancouver home sales set record pace in June

July 3, 2015
Metro Vancouver home sales set record pace in June Last month was the highest selling June, and the second highest overall monthly total, on record for the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). The REBGV reports that residential property sales in Metro Vancouver* reached 4,375 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in June 2015. This represents a 28.4 per cent increase compared to the 3,406 sales recorded in June 2014, and an increase of 7.9 per cent compared to the 4,056 sales in May 2015. Last month’s sales were 29.1 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month. It’s the fourth straight month with over 4,000 sales, which is a first in the REBGV’s history. The previous highest number of residential home sales was 4,434, recorded in May 2005. “Demand in our detached home market continues to drive activity across Metro Vancouver,” Darcy McLeod, REBGV president said. “There were more detached home sales in the region last month than we’ve seen during the month of June in more than 10 years.”  The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $694,000. This represents a 10.3 per cent increase compared to June 2014. “Housing market activity comes in cycles; we're in an up cycle right now that looks similar to the mid-2000s,” McLeod said. “It would be easy to point to one factor that's causing this cycle, but the truth is that it's a number of different factors. "Conditions today are being driven by low interest rates, a declining supply of detached homes, a growing population, a provincial economy that's outperforming the rest of Canada, pent-up demand from previous years and, perhaps most importantly, the fact that we live in a highly desirable region," McLeod said.  New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver totalled 5,803 in June. This represents an 8.7 per cent increase compared to the 5,339 new listings reported in June 2014. "We’re seeing a steady stream of new listings entering the market, but the overall number of homes for sale is not keeping up with buyer demand," McLeod said. The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the region’s MLS® is 12,181, a 23.9 per cent decline compared to June 2014 and a 1.3 per cent decline compared to May 2015. This is the lowest active listing total for June since 2006.  The sales-to-active-listings ratio in June was 35.9 per cent. This is the highest that this ratio has been in Metro Vancouver since June 2006. A seller’s market typically occurs when this ratio exceeds 20 per cent for a sustained period of time.  “The competition in today’s market means that buyers have less time to make decisions,” McLeod said. “Given this, it’s important to work with your REALTOR® to gain insight into the local market, to get quick access to new MLS® listings, to develop a buying strategy that meets your needs and risk appetite, and to receive other services and protections that come from having professional representation.” Sales of detached properties in June 2015 reached 1,920, an increase of 31.3 per cent from the 1,462 detached sales recorded in June 2014, and a 74.2 per cent increase from the 1,102 units sold in June 2013. The benchmark price for a detached property in Metro Vancouver increased 14.8 per cent from June 2014 to $1,123,900. Sales of apartment properties reached 1,774 in June 2015, an increase of 35.6 per cent compared to the 1,308 sales in June 2014, and an increase of 66.1 per cent compared to the 1,068 sales in June 2013. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 5.3 per cent from June 2014 to $400,200. Attached property sales in June 2015 totalled 681, an increase of 7.1 per cent compared to the 636 sales in June 2014, and a 44.3 per cent increase from the 472 attached properties sold in June 2013. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 7.1 per cent between June 2014 and 2015 to $506,900.
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Maria Mak/Burnaby Realtor - 6 key things to consider before buying your family home

There comes a time in every parent’s life when the home they have loved for years suddenly feels too small.

It may happen with the birth of their first child, or it might not happen until baby number two or even three makes an appearance. But at some point, it does happen. These small bundles of joy require a surprising amount of stuff, which can suddenly make the space you are living in feel too cramped. You start daydreaming about more bedrooms, a second bathroom, maybe even a yard.

When the time does come to upsize your family home, here are some things you should definitely consider.

Bedroom Placement

You know you want a three-bedroom home, but what’s also important is where those three bedrooms are located within the home.

If you have young children, you’ll probably want to have all those bedrooms located on the same floor. If the master bedroom is located on the top floor and the other bedrooms are located on the main, you will have to contend with stairs in the middle of the night, and possibly your children’s fears of sleeping on a different level than you. And if one of the bedrooms is located in the basement and yours is two floors above, forget it. You won’t be able to hear young children if they wake up in the night.

However, if you’re a family with kids in their teens, a bit of separation between bedrooms could be a great solution for you.

Proximity to Work

When you have a family, you want to spend your time with them. If your commute to work takes an hour and a half each way, you are spending three extra hours per day away from your kids for a total of 15 hours per week. That’s a lot of time.

If you can manage it, buying a place a little closer to work, or more conveniently located near transit, could mean many more happy hours spent with your family instead of sitting in traffic.

Neighbourhood

You can change the flooring in your home, but you can’t change your location. It’s important that when you step outside your front door, you are in a neighbourhood you and the rest of your family really like. Whether you’re looking for a sense of community, convenient transit, proximity to amenities and parks, or anything else, it’s important to choose a neighbourhood that will feel like home for you and your family for years to come.

Schools

You probably didn’t think about this before having kids, but now that you do, of course you want them to go to a good school. Perhaps you want a specialty school that focuses on a certain interest. Or a school that offers French immersion, Mandarin, or another language that is important to you.

Before you buy a home, spend some time learning about the catchment and the schools in it. What you learn may confirm just how awesome the neighbourhood really is – or it could lead you to decide that this just isn’t the right neighbourhood for your family.

Outdoor Space

Not every young family can afford a house (or even a half-duplex) in a hot urban real estate market like Vancouver. If you’re in one of these markets, a great alternative is a condo or townhome– and with a little luck, you may score one with a large balcony or patio.

Some complexes have a shared yard or courtyard large enough for your kids to run around and kick a ball, but regardless of whether yours does or not, it never hurts to look for something located a short walk from a public park.

Restrictions and Bylaws

If you are looking at buying an old house to tear down or renovate substantially to make it fit your family’s needs, be sure to check with the city first to make sure that your plan is feasible and won’t be prevented by any local restrictions or bylaws.

These are some of the key considerations for families looking to upsize, but of course there are many others. Discussing your needs, desires and preferences with your partner and your kids, and then with your Realtor, will help you choose the home that’s best for you and your family now and for years to come. 

Maria Mak has been helping her clients in Metro Vancouver and Burnaby for over 25 years with a big heart and with a big smile, contact Maria and her elite team @ Sutton Centre Realty or visit her website www.mariamak.com, you'll be smiling too!

Premium Real Estate services - *Maria Mak- Metro Vancoucer Realtor/ Burnaby Real Estate Consultant - Sutton Centre Realty*

*Premium real estate services - Maria Mak/Metro Vancoucer Realtor/ Burnaby Real Estate Consultant - Sutton Centre Realty.

Maria has been serving her clients in Metro Vancouver for over 25 years with a big smile, with a big heart, most importantly with passion.

Contact Maria and her elite team @ Sutton Centre Realty or visit her website www.mariamak.com for all your professional real estate services, you will be smiling too.