Surrey Real Estate Blog | Jashan Grewal

Sales volumes remain exceptional in the Fraser Valley

After a sluggish first half of the year, property sales in the Fraser Valley started picking up speed in the summer 2019 and finished strong in December 2019, but not enough to surpass 2018 year’s sales totals but were close enough. January 2020 sales are going strong as compared to January 2019, inventory is at its lowest in years. Townhouses and condos are seeing increase in sales activity as buyers are showing more confidence in the market with low interest rates. Lot of townhouses and condos that have been in market for a while have started getting offer even multiple offers on them, due to low inventory. Most of these condo sellers are moving into townhouses and townhouse sellers jumping into detached homes. It’s a trickle effect when it comes to people selling who are already in the market. For first time home buyers its hard to qualify with B20 Stress test, but lot of them who could qualify were waiting as market was slowing down and prices were going down in 2019. No...

I was writing a blog about economy and interest rate hikes in 2019 , right at that moment this struck to my mind. We Canada as a Country rely too much on US for everything, which in my opinion is a big liability. From Trade to Banking, we just follow the footsteps of US, as our economy is directly connected to our neighbor. With trade war going on with our neighbor ,both sides are losing which is costing taxpayers millions of dollars. 75 percent of our trade is with US compared to 25 percent to the rest of the world. Industries that are getting hurt are mainly dairy, lumber, steel and aluminum. Here below are some noticeable trade with US compared to rest of the world. Oil worth 69 Billion Dollars to US Compared to 1 Billion to rest of the world. Natural Gas 10 Billion US to $0 (yes zero) rest of the world. Aluminum 7.8 Billion US to 2.6 Billion rest of the world. Lumber 10.4 Billion US to 2.6 Billion rest of the world. Motor Vehicles 56.5 Billion US to 2.55 Billion rest of th...

In Todays World, Rapid transit is very important for all major cities as a population and immigration is growing at fast pace than before in developed countries. Metro Vancouver and Suburbs are way behind in transit services to connect all communities effectively, especially at night time. With detached house Touching million dollar mark , town houses 600k and two bed low rise condos around 450k in suburbs. Giving reference of Surrey, North Delta and Langley for price as I specialise in Surrey Real Estate . If we want our transit ridership to increase, we need to teach our kids to use transit as a mode of transport at early age which comes at a expensive price tag of regular monthly pass. U-pass program by Translink`s main objective written on there website are as follow :- Provide lower-cost travel for students. Encourage students to make transit part of their lifestyle by including travel with the U-Pass BC Program for entertainment, recreation, and other non-school related tri...

Good Morning, its a beautiful sunny day while i am writing this blog in City of Parks Surrey. We all have seen different real estate market trends in Fraser Valley. If we look at historical data of real estate in Surrey, prices have gone up after correction in prices & slow market trends. No one can predict what will happen in the future with real estate prices but evidence show that prices eventually go up. Click Here for the link for Average Median Prices since 2005. Real Estate Market was crazy from Mid 2015 till end of 2017. Prices were going up every single day, inventory was low and demand was high. On average there were 10 buyers for one home out bidding each other for the home they wanted. Market changed after both provincial and federal government brought policies to cool down the hot market and those policies worked. As the real estate prices were going up, average monthly rent was going up at the same time. Average rent right now in basement suites for one bedroom can...

We don't have many "Bare Land Strata" in Fraser valley.  I have been a Realtor in Surrey for over 7 years & i specialize in residential real estate. I have sold a few bare land strata homes, people seems to misunderstand bare land strata with strata properties. There is a big difference in strata and bare land strata.  Bare Land Strata B are land strata each lot is owned individually and so is responsible for its own maintenance except common property i.e roads, playgrounds, lamp posts, clubhouse.  Bare land strata fees are lower than regular strata and they usually cover garbage pickup, sewer, water and road maintenance.  Which a detached homeowner pays anyways beside property tax.  B are land strata do not regulate the homeowner's use of their own property unless otherwise amended in the bylaws where the strata corporation has taken responsibility for the certain parts of a strata lot, the strata corporation has no interest in each strata lot own...

Buying a home is big emotional and financial decision. I have been working as realtor in surrey , have seen so many homes come up for sale which are former grow op homes. They seem to be a really tempting deals as they are way cheaper than similar homes, but that comes at a cost. People seem to think that remediation has been done, so its all good but not really. House is habitable after proper remediation but it still has a stigma of being a former grow up home. What do buyers need to know? Illegal grow op leaves a home in serious health issues and disrepair. Moisture, pesticides and fertilizer can soak into paint, drywall, insulation and structures. Bad electric wiring jobs are done to accommodate the electricity needs for grow op. Homes that are used for just a handful of plants or the ones that have been fully remediated are regularly deemed safe by local official guidelines.    How Lenders look at Grow op homes? While many of the structura...

Buying a home for the first-time is an exciting time. You’re making quite possibly the most significant financial transaction of your lifetime. You’re also making the exciting jump from renter to homeowner. While buying a home is something to celebrate, it’s important to do your homework. As a property virgin, this experience is entirely new to you. The last thing you’d want to do is make a mistake that will cost you dearly. As a Realtor in Surrey for over 7 years, in my experience following are  five of the biggest mistakes first-time home buyers are prone to make. Here are five of the biggest mistakes first-time home buyers are prone to make and how to avoid them. Mistake #1: Buying Too Much Home Before house hunting, it’s a good idea to get pre-approved for a mortgage. When you’re pre-approved, you’ll know exactly how much you can afford to spend on a home. Your mortgage broker is going to tell you the maximum amount you can spend, ...

SURREY, BC – The Fraser Valley real estate market experienced its second slowest April in ten years and yet sales of certain property types and price ranges remain solid. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,383 sales of all property types on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April, a 13.3 per cent increase compared to sales in March 2019, and a 19 per cent decrease compared to the 1,708 sales in April of last year. Of the 1,383 total sales of residential and commercial combined, 489 were residential detached homes, 379 were townhouses, and 374 were apartments.    Darin Germyn, President of the Board, said of the market: “Consumers may not have the purchasing power that they did prior to January 2018, but the desire for home ownership is still there and we’re seeing that reflected in our MLS® data.     “Detached homes under one million dollars and attached homes – ranging from $400,000 to $700,000 – continue to attract buyers in ...

Hello folks, i have been a Realtor in Surrey for 7 years. In my 7 years of experience as a Realtor , have seen different market trends upwards and downwards. Last three years from 2015 to 2018 was a exceptional market that didn't look downwards at all. Every home coming to market was selling in multiple offers, going way above asking price and without any conditions. Buyers were lining up at open houses and day of offer presentation, crossing there fingers that there offer will be the better one but there was only one winner. Things have changed in last 9 months after federal and provincial government intervened to slow down the market. Lot of changes were brought up like foreign buyers tax by provincial government and B20  stress test by Bank of Canada. It worked slowing down the market and lot of people were stuck in difficult situations which happens in upwards and downward markets.  But first time home buyers were affected the most by B20 Stress test. First time home b...

Buying into a strata corporation can be a scary thing for many owners because they have heard horror stories about strata : the strata enforceable large special levies against the owners,  restrictions on what owners can do with their own strata lot, etc. The question of whether you should buy into a strata more often depends on your budget and what you can afford. If your budget points you towards strata living, there are at least 5 things that you should review carefully before you decide to buy a strata lot in that strata. 1. Strata Bylaws A strata corporation can have rules that can severely limit what you can do even inside your strata lot. Most rules buyers are concerned about are rental restrictions, pet restrictions and/or age restrictions. Even further, bylaws can restrict alterations that you can make inside your strata lot. You should carefully review the bylaws to make sure that you can use your strata lot that way you intend to. 2. Form B Information Certif...