Monday, June 17, 2013

Real Estate Report

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CENTURY 21 Assurance Realty Ltd.
Trever Florko Trever Florko
REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Assurance Realty Ltd.
251 Harvey Avenue
Kelowna, BC V1Y 6C2
Office: 250-869-0101
Cell: 250-859-5990
Toll Free: 888-301-2121
Toll Free: 1-888-301-2121
trever.florko@century21.ca
http://www.century21.ca/thewelcomehometeam

As part of the world's largest Real Estate organization, I am proud to offer industry leading service to my clients.  I would be honored if you would give me the opportunity to provide this great service to you, your friends and family.


 

 "The SAVVY Buyer" - Step #3

SEARCH LIKE THE PROS - Have your REALTOR® set up an automated MLS® search for you. With custom search criteria based on your needs and presented in a user-friendly format, you'll also get updates on new listings and price changes at the same time as REALTORS® do.

Stay tuned for "The Savvy Buyer" Steps 4-8 coming up.


 

Based on May MLS® Data for the Central Okanagan

NEW LISTINGS
May 2013 - 1077
May 2012 - 1222
UNIT SALES
May  2013 - 482
May  2012 - 435
MEDIAN PRICES
Single Family Residential - $410,000
Townhouse - $341,750
Condo - $230,000
Lot - $183,000
 
CLICK HERE for a complete Stats report
Source - OMREB

 

OK to STAYcation in the Okanagan

We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world and many of us discovered it by first vacationing in the Okanagan Valley. Here are three reasons to staycation right here at home:

  1. Enjoy what vacations are supposed to be…relaxing
  2. Rediscover the local art, entertainment and history
  3. Reduce our carbon footprint


Need some STAYcation suggestions?  Here are four great ideas:

  1. Go camping: the choices are endless. Okanagan Lake, Kalamalka Lake (try Kekuli Bay Campground), Sugar Lake, Beaver Lake, Woods Lake, Kettle River and more. Bear Creek Park on Westside Road is a family favourite for many locals.
  2. Go to a car show: Peachland on May long weekend, Boyd’s Father’s Day Show at City Park in Kelowna and many smaller shows in Lumby, Vernon, Summerland, and Rutland.  Every Wednesday night at the Grand 10 and Thursdays at A&W westside are hosted by some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. If you don’t have a hot rod or old car, come visit as this valley has some of the finest restorations in the world.
  3. Cycle the Kettle Valley Railway, entering at the Myra Canyon. The bridge trestles are amazing engineering feats. It is quiet and the views are spectacular!
  4. If you love music, go downtown and enjoy Parks Alive for free or take in the music of the Grateful Fed, the Blue Gator, or numerous other venues. Walk through downtown on almost any day of summer and you will experience a festival, art show or street performance.


We locals often forget how lucky we are to live here.  It’s time to rediscover the most beautiful place on earth.

 

AIR MILES® REWARD MILES

Century 21 is the exclusive provider of AIR MILES® Reward Miles in the Real Estate Industry.

CLIENT COURTESY MOVING VAN

We are happy to provide our clients with the use of our Century 21 moving van to make your move easier. You just pay for the gas.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

May E-Newsletter

Having trouble reading this E-mail? Click here
CENTURY 21 Assurance Realty Ltd.
Trever Florko Trever Florko
REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Assurance Realty Ltd.
251 Harvey Avenue
Kelowna, BC V1Y 6C2
Office: 250-869-0101
Cell: 250-859-5990
Toll Free: 888-301-2121
Toll Free: 1-888-301-2121
trever.florko@century21.ca
http://www.century21.ca/thewelcomehometeam

As part of the world's largest Real Estate organization, I am proud to offer industry leading service to my clients.  I would be honored if you would give me the opportunity to provide this great service to you, your friends and family.

 


 "The SAVVY Buyer" - Step #2

Pre-Qualify for a Mortgage - Determining your price range up front will make your buying experience much easier.

A qualified lender will ask questions about income, assets, and debt to help understand what price range you should be looking in. If satisfactory to the lender, a mortgage pre-approval is granted for a specific amount, mortgage rate and term, subject to providing verification of income, down payment, and any other conditions the lender requires.

It is always wise to still include a “subject to financing” clause in your real estate offer, to protect yourself against unforeseen issues.


Stay tuned for "The Savvy Buyer" Steps 3-8 coming up.


 

Based on April MLS® Data for the Central Okanagan

NEW LISTINGS
April 2013 - 1062
April 2012 - 1060
UNIT SALES
April  2013 - 406
April  2012 - 341
MEDIAN PRICES
Single Family Residential - $426,500
Townhouse - $331,000
Condo - $208,612
Lot - $209,000
 
CLICK HERE for a complete Stats report
Source - OMREB

 

EASTER SEALS 24 HOUR RELAY

June 8-9, 2013 at the Apple Bowl

Each year, Century 21 Assurance Ltd participates in the Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay, and this year is no different.

The Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay takes place at the Apple Bowl on June 8-9 and is an annual community based fundraiser event to raise money towards helping children with disabilities attend Easter Seals Camp Winfield. It is because of fundraising events like this that they are able to operate the camping program at a minimal cost to the families, many of whom are already financially burdened by the costs associated with raising children with special needs.

Here's a letter from a parent of one of the many campers:

"We would like to thank the teams that participate in the 24 Hour Relay, because of their support our son is able to go to camp. Our son's name is Mitchell and he is a 16 year old boy who has autism.  Mitchell has a hard time telling us what he likes about camp but we know that he loves going because as soon as we get a new calendar, he writes Easter Seals Camp on the July page. This will be the 4th year that Mitch will go to Camp Winfield with his PSW (personal support worker), Doug...who is with him at all times to keep him safe and help him to participate in camp activities. Doug tells us what Mitch has done at camp and how much fun he has.

Having the opportunity for Mitch to go to camp is not just a great experience for him, but it is also good for his family. Knowing that Mitch is safe and having fun, we are able to do things that regular families do all the time without having to constantly be on alert.

Thanks so much for getting involved with this fundraiser and helping to send kids to camp."

Cheers from Mitchell and his family, Steve, Colleen and Jordan

 

AIR MILES® REWARD MILES

Century 21 is the exclusive provider of AIR MILES® Reward Miles in the Real Estate Industry.

CLIENT COURTESY MOVING VAN

We are happy to provide our clients with the use of our Century 21 moving van to make your move easier. You just pay for the gas.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Here are some reasons you may want to consider using the professionals I refer you too rather then gamble on finding your own.

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The following testimonials were written by real clients for the purpose of showing how using Mortgage Brokers/Bankers/Inspectors/Lawyers unknown to us can be detrimental to your purchase. We have forged very good relationships with some very skilled real estate service providers over our 15+ years in the industry. We have seen our contacts pull deals together where others could not. This is due to not only to the skills these people have honed over their careers but also the relationship we have forged with them. They always give our clients preferential treatment. This often comes in the form of price breaks but more importantly they simply work harder for our clients then people we do not know. We have their cell and home numbers and we can contact them late at night and on weekends etc. if need be. We always hope that deals simply go smoothly of course...however even the simplest deals can have unforeseen snags which come up. Simply put your ‘friend’ the mortgage broker or inspector is rarely the right person for the job when it comes to your deal. All we can say is trust us on this...we have seen how ‘friends’  or out of town brokers treat these matters...and the outcome can be disastrous for your deal...here are some examples.

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We came to kelowna from out of province. We had a good working relationship with our mortgage broker from back home and he assured us that he could get our Kelowna deal together. Trever advised against an out of town broker right away...but we did not listen. Our broker said that everything was under control. Trever offered to contact the broker to confirm but we did not see the need since it sounded like a ‘slam dunk.’

Well it turned out to be anything but. We found out on the very last day of subject removal that the deal would not work. Things went from all is GREAT to it is not going to work...why did we not find out till the last day? We were so frustrated and scared that we were not going to get our dream home. Trever did not say ‘I told you so’ but I could see it in his face. He quickly made some phone calls and after we spoke to the mortgage broker he recommended we had our approval in under two hours...seriously don't risk it. Take the assistance which is offered by Trever and Jason. I wish we had done so right out of the gate. It would have saved us so much time and stress.

Good luck!
Mark and Michelle

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One of my best friends is a mortgage specialist at the bank. In fact he has been my banker nearly as long as he has been my friend. Of course I went to him to get my home purchase financed. He said that it would be no problem and he would get to the file right away. Trever and Jason contacted me daily during the subject removal period to see how the financing was going. I would call my friend and he would say I’m on it and it will not be an issue. Trever and Jason both said that ‘it should not be taking this long.’ They pressed me to speak to someone else just incase. I didn’t take their advise and on the day of subject removal my friend said ‘we are going to need an extension on the subject to financing.’ This was after nearly 2 weeks! I asked him why and he said that “I have been so busy that I did not get started on the file till yesterday and it is common practice to get extensions and should not be and issue.” Well needless to say I was upset. Trever told me that it is NOT common practice for an extension to be given and that the sellers could say ‘no’ to the request if they so chose. Thank goodness Trever and Jason had someone else in mind to help me get my financing together. With a late night of working for everybody and with the help of their mortgage broker contact I managed to get my financing approved in under 24 hours and was able to get the house I really wanted....however I wish I had chosen to work with their contact from the start. It would have saved me a LOT of stress.

Chris P.

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We needed an inspector to check out a home for us prior to finalizing the purchase. Jason and Trever referred someone to us but we knew someone who was an inspector and simply hired them to save a few bucks and to support their business. Turns out he was not the best inspector. He made a few mistakes which we found out about after we moved in...some pretty big stuff. If we had hired an independent inspector as suggested by our realtors we could have sued for damages. However since this person is our friend we could not do anything. Well I guess we could but we would feel really bad. Needless to say we are no longer as close as we once were. Not following our realtors instruction has cost us way more money then we saved by hiring our friend. 

Maureen 

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This is not a happy story. I found the house of my dreams...the house would have been perfect for my family but it was not meant to be I guess. Long and short I chose to work with a mortgage broker I chose from the phone book. Trever and Jason cautioned me to work with someone they knew could get the deal together but I thought that since I already contacted this other broker I should stick with them. I will keep this story short and simply say that this was a huge mistake. This broker left everything till the last minute. He said “everything looks good” the whole time but had not even submitted the paperwork! Then he asked me to get an extension for a few days after a week and a half of doing NOTHING! The sellers said no to the extension request and it turned out that they had a back up offer. My deal fell apart and I did not get the house I really wanted...My family is still renting and waiting for a home as perfect as the one that got away to come back on the market. This was the most frustrating experience! This should have been easy. I mean we have the money! Anyhow needless to say we should have listened to you Trever....sorry.

The Stall family

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If you are thinking of using a Notary instead of a lawyer STOP...I am not even going to ask any of my past clients to write me a letter saying how horrible this experience can be. What I will say is that I have not had a single deal which was being looked after by a notary EVER work out....NOT EVER!! I find this as hard to believe as I’m sure you do. In every single event the deal ended up going to a lawyer anyway...this ended up costing my clients more money then if they had simply went to the lawyer in the first place and in the worst cases I have seen deals simply die. In one case I had one of my clients get sued!!!! Trust me it is not worth the savings! 

Trever

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We have seen stories like these many times over the years...far to often actually. We refer our clients to people we know for no reason other then we know they are the right people for the job. We do not get paid for these referrals nor do we get any sort of kick backs...we simply know how these people do business and we find that our clients get preferential treatment. So before you opt to use your friend or family member to do a job for you think about this: How will you feel if they make a mistake and cost you money or cost you your home? How will they feel? How will your relationship look if things go wrong? Is it worth saving 100$ or 200$ to lose a friendship or miss out on the perfect home? Trust me...it isn't. Keep your friends and family as friends and family and let an independent professional do the job you need done. To take that a step further don't simply rely on a person from the phonebook or some stranger to do the job. Let us suggest someone who we know is capable to look after things handle the matters of financing, title transfer, and inspection...you will be in the best of hands.


Dependably yours,

TREVER FLORKO - REALTOR® 
The Welcome Home Team
Century 21 Assurance Realty Kelowna
Cell: (250) 859-5990
Office: (250) 869-0101
Fax: (250) 869-0105
Visit my WEBSITE
Follow me on TWITTER
Follow/LIKE me on FACEBOOK
Follow my BLOG

PS. Your referrals to friends and family are always greatly appreciated and rewarded.

**NEW LISTING** 3bed + den COURT ORDERED SALE!

To view 21 high definition professional photos please visit: www. 3170McPhersonRoad.com

$282,900
3170 McPherson Road
West Kelowna, BC V4T 2L3
Beds:3
Baths:2
Style:Single Family
Living Area:1,950 Square Feet
Lot Size:0.25
Year Built:1983
MLS® ID:10061765

Court Ordered Sale! 3 bedroom and den bi-level home in family neighbourhood. Features of home include: large fenced yard with water feature, ponds and pool, suite potential with separate entrance, RV Parking and more. Nearby Schools: Glenrosa Elementary, Constable Neil Bruce Middle School and Mount Boucherie Secondary School. Nearby Wineries Include: Quail's Gate Estate Winery, Mission Hill Winery, Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery and Volcanic Hills Estate Winery. Other Nearby Amenities are: Westside Go Karts, Mount Boucherie Recreation Centre, Westside Warriors Junior Hockey, Kalamoir Regional Park, Glen Canyon Regional Park and Gellatly Nut Farm. To set up appointment to view please call TREVER at 250.859.5990.

To view 21 high definition professional photos please visit: www. 3170McPhersonRoad.com

To set up on appointment to view this listing or any other please contact me at:

TREVER FLORKO - REALTOR® 
The Welcome Home Team
Century 21 Assurance Realty Kelowna
Cell: (250) 859-5990
Office: (250) 869-0101
Fax: (250) 869-0105
Visit my WEBSITE
Follow me on TWITTER
Follow/LIKE me on FACEBOOK
Follow my BLOG

PS. Your referrals to friends and family are always greatly appreciated and rewarded.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Real Estate Report

Having trouble reading this E-mail? Click here
CENTURY 21 Assurance Realty Ltd.
Trever Florko Trever Florko
REALTOR®
CENTURY 21 Assurance Realty Ltd.
251 Harvey Avenue
Kelowna, BC V1Y 6C2
Office: 250-869-0101
Cell: 250-859-5990
Toll Free: 888-301-2121
Toll Free: 1-888-301-2121
trever.florko@century21.ca
http://www.century21.ca/thewelcomehometeam

As part of the world's largest Real Estate organization, I am proud to offer industry leading service to my clients.  I would be honored if you would give me the opportunity to provide this great service to you, your friends and family.

 


 "The SAVVY Buyer" - Step #1

 Finding the right REALTOR® for you is the first step to a successful home buying experience. Like any business relationship, a personal connection with your agent will go a long way to making your experience a positive one.

 Often people go about finding an agent backwards. They read a newspaper or get one of the home magazines in the supermarkets, and they call about a home they see advertised. Typically no one buys the house they initially call about, but from that point on, they're joined at the hip with a real estate agent they don't know anything about. It would be preferable to find an agent before the search begins, one who will understand what they need and can navigate the system for them.

 Choose an agent you can trust, one dedicated to serving your needs, not only before and during the sale, but after the deal closes as well.

Stay tuned for "The Savvy Buyer" Steps 2-8 coming up.

 

Based on March MLS® Data for the Central Okanagan

NEW LISTINGS
March 2013 - 979
March 2012 - 1104
UNIT SALES
March 2013 - 329
March 2012 - 351
MEDIAN PRICES
Single Family Residential - $400,066
Townhouse - $317,000
Condo - $207,500
Lot - $180,000
 
CLICK HERE for a complete Stats report
Source - OMREB

 

BENEFITS To DOWNSIZING Your HOME

Each year, more and more people are choosing to purchase a property smaller than the one they currently own. Whether you are switching to a smaller space because your family is changing, or you would like to retire in a place that requires less maintenance, there are plenty of benefits to downsizing.

Access the Equity in your Home - Downsizing your home is a great way to convert your home equity into capital that you and your partner or family can use for whatever is needed. The money could go towards a vacation home, savings for a better retirement, or even a contribution towards your kids or grandkids' education.  

Less Seasonal Maintenance - One of the most attractive benefits of downsizing to a townhouse or condo is the convenience of almost maintenance free living. In the summer, the mowing, weeding and general fussing you need to do is kept to a minimum or taken care of by your condo board. In the winter, the amount of shoveling is greatly reduced or completely eliminated.

Eliminate Empty Rooms - If you’re not making regular use of at least 70% of your home, then you could seriously consider the benefits of downsizing. The average size of a home has almost doubled in size in the past 30 years, yet the average family size keeps shrinking. Having too much space creates an imbalance that costs more that just time and money – it also means there are more floors to vacuum, more things to dust, and more rooms to organize.

Move Closer to your Passions - The size of your new home shouldn’t be the only reason for downsizing. When you are planning to scale down, consider choosing a location that will bring you closer to the places you go regularly. Whether it’s closer to family, friends, shops, or work – anything that will bring you closer to the things you love will help you cut back on time and travel expenses. Imagine how great it would be to live within walking distance to work!

Smaller Homes tend to be Greener - Homes that have a smaller footprint often require less light, heat, and air conditioning, which means you will spend less on energy. It all adds up to savings that can help the environment and keep some cash in your wallet.

An Excuse to get Rid of Clutter - The move to downsize often coincides with clearing out decades old clutter, and opting for multipurpose furnishings. Take the time to consider what you really want and need out of your home. Many people who downsize enjoy a freedom they haven’t experienced since before the arrival of kids.

While downsizing can be a daunting task, with the help of a professional it can be used to help you increase cash flow and convenience – and enjoy a simpler way of living.

 

AIR MILES® REWARD MILES

Century 21 is the exclusive provider of AIR MILES® Reward Miles in the Real Estate Industry.

CLIENT COURTESY MOVING VAN

We are happy to provide our clients with the use of our Century 21 moving van to make your move easier. You just pay for the gas.