Richmond Neighbourhood

Richmond real estate - what's market value?

James Wong — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:22:00 GMT

What's the market value for your Richmond real estate?

In real estate, the "market value" of a house confuses many people. The market value of a house is simply the price at which your house will sell within a reasonable period of time. The Richmond real estate market is no different from anywhere else. A "normal" reasonable time period to sell a home is one to three months.

The market price of your Richmond house is what a home buyer is willing to pay.

How the present buyer's market affect the market value of your home?

In a buyer's market, the market value of a home adjust to the market pricing pressure. A lower price can be expected as there are more sellers than home buyers.View the comparable homes listed for sale here - these are your competitors.

The market value of your Richmond home is affected by 3 factors:

1. Particular of your house
The market value of your Richmond house is affected by the location, or neighborhood. The exact same house may not have the same value in another side of Richmond or a different municipalities. Therefore, you must compare your house only with similar houses in Richmond, and with homes in similar neighborhoods.
The neighborhoods and the amenities like school, shopping parks, public transits, etc have a major impact of the values of the homes around them. The design of your house, it's layout, sizes of rooms and it's curb appeal all affect the market value of your home. Home buyers are buying in neighborhoods that they like.
2. Current home condition
The current condition of your home determines the number of buyers who are interested in purchasing your property. It also affects how long your home remains for sale on the market before it is sold.
Most home buyers are attracted to properties that are attractive, gorgeous and are in ready to move into condition. A home that is a dump will turn away buyers. You house that needs repairs is difficult to sell. It cost you greatly - you may need to subtract the market value of your home, two to three times the amount of the fix-up costs.
Far fewer home buyers want to buy a house that doesn't look pretty. When your house attracts fewer home buyers, it takes longer to sell, or it may not be sold at all.
3. Marketing
If priced too high, your home is competing with homes at a higher price range. You will miss out on home buyers who are looking at homes in the right price range. Over-pricing your home is counter productive and in fact cost you more money. Your home when sitting on the market too long become stale. Homes buyers may also have doubts about your home.

The market value of your home is what a rational home buyer is willing to pay you. In a buyer's market, the market value of your home may decline at the rate when the general market is declining due to selling pressures from other home sellers.

You can view homes listed for sale in Richmond using the link here.

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Prime Richmond Retail Space For Lease

James Wong — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:06:00 GMT

Looking for a great Richmond retail space for lease?

High traffice C6 zoned prime retail space with store-front exposure available for lease.

C6 zoning - allows many different retail or service business use

Area available - Building 1 with around 898 sq ft ground floor and 898 sq ft second floor space

- Building 2 with 1,873 sq ft 2nd floor space

Retail exposure - east-west high traffic exposure on Westminster Hwy

Site influence - surrrounded by major Richmond hotels, Richmond Center Mall, restaurants, etc.

For more information: contact James Wong at 604-721-4817.

Why build your own new home in Richmond?

James Wong — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:22:00 GMT

Building your own home in Richmond

When you are building your new house, you are in for a once in a lifetime experience. There are many issues involved in building your new home, you can expect some bumps along the way. Building your own home is self-gratifying. It allows you the chance to be personally involved with the new home building process.

When done properly, you can save money building your own home.

The most important thing about building your new home is to plan ahead and make good decisions from the start.View older homes for building lots in Broadmoor, Seafair and Riverdale.

Taking the first step

It is important to do your research on the process involved in buying your own building lot. You should know what to look for and where you want your Richmond home to be located. A local Richmond Realtor can help you find a suitable building lot in the neighborhood you want.

Most new homes in Richmond are being built in more desirable west Richmond. The neighborhoods include Granville, Riverdale and Broadmoor sub-divisions. Building lots in these sub-divisions in Richmond are selling at higher prices than other areas in Richmond.

The reason for building your own Richmond home are:

1) You can choose to build in the neighborhood you want to live, where shopping, schools, parks and public transportation are close by.
2) You can pick your home orientation by like buying a building lot with north-south exposure which is preferred by most home buyers.
3) You have the opportunity to make it exactly as you want. The features you want may include a gourmet kitchen, granite counter-tops, appliances of your choice, flooring, light fixtures, and etc.
4) The latest designs and state of the art components to your liking can be installed in your new home.
5) Everything in the home is brand new. In addition to looking great and working well, you have the assurance of B.C's 2-5-10 year new home warranty should something break.

Construction financing

Construction financing for new Richmond home can be obtained from your bank or arranged through a Mortgage Broker. The disbursements of payments for work done is done in stages. Your home builder will be entrusted with the responsibility to supervise all sub-contract works, inspections by the city inspectors and timely completion of your new home.

You can search online to view new Richmond homes that are built as spec homes for sale by new home builders. You can compare the price you have to pay for these new homes, or you may choose to build you own.

If you like to have more information on how to go about building your own home in Richmond , you can contact James Wong at 604-721-4817. Or email me.

Richmond detached homes

James Wong — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:46:00 GMT

Home buyers have more choices for Richmond detached homes over $800,000. The supply and quality of single family homes under $600,000 in Richmond is very limited. For million dollar homes, there are currently over 165 homes for sale in Richmond. Although sales activities picked up significantly over the past 3 months, the supply of million dollar homes is still high at over 8 months inventory.

Where to buy?

You can search online for homes listed for sale within your search criteria. Richmond offers a great selection of single family homes that range in price from under $600,000 to over $1,500,000. Over the years, the distinction between west and east Richmond gradually blurred with new developments around Richmond. View detached homes for sale in Richmond.

New home builders are building new homes in neighborhoods favoured by home buyers. Old homes in prime west Richmond neighborhoods are bought for their building lots by builders who are keeping pace with the changing market demand for new homes.

West Richmond Detached Homes

In Richmond, some of the neighborhoods favoured by Richmond home buyers are located geographically west of No. 3 Road and north of Francis. These west Richmond neighborhoods include Reiverdale, Terra Nova, Quilchena, Boyd Park, Lackner and Seafair.

There are some home buyers who prefer to buy their own building lots, and engage home builders aor general contractors to build the homes according to their requirements.

You can view the million dollar homes listed for sale here.

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Richmond Condos: Spring 2009 Market Report

James Wong — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:33:00 GMT

The sales activites for Richmond condos improved significantly from 56 units in January, 2009 to 83, 130 and 162 in February, March and April 2009 respectively. Current inventory at 5.21 months is considered well-balanced.

Current market prices versus city values

When the past 3.5 months sales for under 15-year old 2-bedroom 2-bath high-rise concrete condos around Richmond City Center were analysed, the 17 homes sold during this period were found to be selling at 7% below their listing price, and 4.4% below their average city value.

No. Condos	Av. L. Price	Av. S. Price	% Var.	Av. C. Value	% Var.
17	$371,000	$345,000	- 7%	$361,000	- 4.4%

Condos under 3 years old accounted for 82% of the condos sold during this period. These homes ranged in size from 838 to 895 sq ft. The 3 older condos between 11 to 13 years old were larger in sizes ranging from 1,000 to 1,190 sq ft.

The above may help home sellers and buyers to assess the current market demand for 2 bedroom concrete high-rise Richmond condos around the City Center.View all condos listed for sale in Richmond.

You can view the Richmond condo listings for sale around Richmond's City Center using this link.

If you like to discuss your home buying or selling needs, you can contact James Wong at 604-721-4817 or email me.

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Richmond Building Lots Market Update

James Wong — Sun, 03 May 2009 02:46:00 GMT

The sales of Richmond residential lots are tied closely to the new home sales activities. Richmond has experienced a drop in sales activities for new homes since the middle of 2008. The market downturn the past 9 months has resulted in new homes selling at lower prices than those sold in late 2007 and early 2008.

The supply of building lots for new homes is from older homes that Richmond home builders are buying in certain prime West Richmond neighborhoods. Search Richmond older homes for building lots under $1,000,000.

Building lot prices compared with City Values

During the height of construction boom, Richmond home builders were buying prime West Richmond older homes as building lots for $725,000 to $800,000. Home prices for older homes have dropped substantially over the past months. Home builders are currently able to buy older homes in prime West Richmond neighborhoods at a prince range of $550,000 to $650,000. These prices are now 15% to 20% lower than the peak.

Lower costs for new home construction

The the past 3 months average selling price for 15 west Richmond older homes suitable for the building of new homes at $596,000 was around 7.3% below their average listing price. The average selling price for these Richmond building lots was 9.4% below their average city value. The market slow down has also resulted in home builders being able to save 15% or more in their labour cost for home construction.

Million dollar new homes market

According to Richmond MLXchange sales data, the average monthly sales for million dollar new homes were 10, of which 9 of them were less than 2 years old. There are presently 87 million dollar homes under 5 years old listed for sale on the market. Majority of these newer homes - 69 units or 80% of these homes are less than 2 years old. At just over 8 months supply of new homes, the market is still experiencing an excess supply of homes compared with the demand for these homes.

Richmond home builders are now cautiously optimistic that they can make moderate returns building spec homes for sale. You can view the million dollar homes listed for sale in Richmond here.

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Richmond Concrete High-rise Condos - Sales Analysis

James Wong — Sat, 02 May 2009 17:41:00 GMT

An analysis done on the sales of 2-bedroom 2-bathroom Richmond concrete high-rise condos around the City Center revealed some interesting data. The time period selected for the analysis was from January 01 to April 20, 2009.

No. Condos	Av. List	av. Sale	% Var.	Av. City	% Var.
17	$371,000	$345,000	- 7%	$361,000	- 4.4%

Selling price versus city value

Over 70% of the Richmond concrete high-rise condos in this study were found to be less than 3 years old. The smaller 2 bedroom condos had around 840 sq ft floor space, while the larger ones were the older condos with larger floor area between 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft. The average selling price for these condos were found to be at 7% below their average list price.

When the average selling price for these condos was compared to their average city assessment value, these homes were sold at 4.4% below their 2009 city assessment value.View condos for sale in City Center of Richmond.

Expired listings

During the same period, there were 22 condos within the same selection criteria that expired. Although the average listing price at $375,000 were within the range of the sold properites, the average city value of these expired listings was found to be at $330,000. The average city value for expired listings at $330,000 could mean that the values of these homes were around $31,000 lower than those that were sold. The reason for these homes no selling could be due to over-pricing, in poor conditions or difficult to show to propective buyers.

You can view Richmond City condos for sale by following this link.

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Richmond MLS Home Search

James Wong — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:34:00 GMT

Richmond MLS home search on the internet is made easier through RealtyLink Online or through the many websites of local real estate agents. The Internet is a highly efficient tool to help you research the housing market in your neighborhood. It is not the end-all and be-all in the home-buying process. The help of a good, conscientious, local Realtor specializing in the market is necessary to find the right home for you.Start your MLS search for Richmond homes here.

Richmond MLS home Search Online

The real estate information online can give you a broad picture on the price range for various types of homes available for sale in your market. Some home buyers prefer to look for homes in certain neighborhoods that may be close to the city center, shopping, certain schools and etc. Buying in a good neighborhood offers better appreciation in the value of a buyer's home.

I have designed my website, RealEstatesRichmond.com to cater for anyone who are looking for property information online.

1) Richmond MLS home search by housing type

You can view Richmond MLS home listings by doing a search for homes meeting your criteria. If you are searching for homes in a neighborhood, you can use the "text links" at the bottom of the listing pages.

For example, at the bottom of my "Search for Richmond detached homes" page, you will find the following Richmond neigborhoods:

Boyd Park (6) Bridgeport RI (15) Brighouse (2) Broadmoor (13) East Cambie (23) East Richmond (3) Garden City (17) Granville (16) Hamilton RI (17) Ironwood (24) Lackner (22) McLennan (5) McLennan North (1) McNair (20) Quilchena RI (12) Riverdale RI (12) Saunders (16) Sea Island (2) Seafair (23) South Arm (11) Steveston North (37) Steveston South (13) Steveston Villlage (5) Terra Nova (18) West Cambie (29) Westwind (4) Woodwards (20)

2) Google Map MLS Listing Search

You can use Google Map MLS Search to view homes listed anywhere in Greater Vancouver or Fraser Valley. By selecting your criteria, only homes meeting your requirements will be shown:

You can "Select" housing type, price range, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and press "Search".

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Huge Drop in Richmond's Seafair Home Prices

James Wong — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:27:00 GMT

Richmond's Seafair home prices taking a beating

Below is an update on the selling prices for Richmond Seafair homes that showed a big decline in their property values. A study done at the end of November 2008 showed that home values in Richmond Seafair neighborhood made significant gains from 2001 to 2008. When the market corrected in April 2008, home prices in Richmond's Seafair neighborhood took a beating in the second half of 2008.

As of April 22, 2009 the following sales data showed a marked decline in Richmond Seafair home prices. The table below showed that more than $126,000 was wiped off from the average selling price for these older Seafair homes.

Year	No. Sales	Price ('000)	Av. Price	% Var.
2005	43	$363 - 480	$421,000	-
2006	34	$459 - 570	$514,000	+22%
2007	31	$446 - 618	$532,000	+3.5%
2008	28	$510 - 765	$637,000	+19.7%
22/3/2009	11	$448 - 585	$511,000	-20%

Richmond Seafair home prices versus their city values

The average selling price for the 11 homes was $511,000 which was around 3.5% below the average listing price of $524,000. When the average selling price of these 11 homes was compared to their average city value, these homes were found to be selling at 11% lower than the city value.

The question in everyone's mind is will home prices stabalize at the current level, or will it slide further to the price level of 2005?

The lower interest rates do appear to be having an effect on Richmond's housing market. Prices appear to be stabalized at current level for now. Inventory is currently at a stable level, and not rising as I expected. Whether home prices will stabalize at current level will depend on the demand for homes being maintained at above 300 homes a month, and inventory kept at below 1,700 level.

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How much is your Richmond home worth?

James Wong — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:09:00 GMT

How much is your Richmond home worth?

If you are planning to sell your home, you will be interested to know how much your home is worth in today's market. A fairly good indication on your home value can be established using a comparative market analysis - referred by Realtors as a CMA. The report can be obtained free of charge from most Realtors. The report gives you a price range on how much your home is worth.Like to compare home prices? Find out what other home sellers are asking?

A Realtor together with the seller use a CMA to figure out how much to price the home. Equaly important is "How do you sell your home fast?"

What is a Comparative Market Analysis?

A CMA report may vary from a 10 or more pages of real estate sales and listing information. The 2 most important data are:

1) Active Listings

Active listings are homes currently for sale. Only comparable properties are used as comparison as these homes are competing for the same buyers for your home. The prices of these homes vary widely, and they are not indicative of market value as sellers can set whatever prices they want for their homes. Most homes when sold are found to be lower in prices than their listing prices. In a buyer's market, homes may be selling for a lot less.

2) Sold Listings

Homes that have closed within the past 60 days are more relevant for comparison on what value you can expect for your home. These are also the sales data an appraiser uses when appraising a home. The real market value for your home is what a buyer is willing to pay to buy your home. In a market where your home is exposed to all the Realtors who are working with their buyers, the final market value for your home is one you and the buyer can agree on doing a deal.

City value as a guide to market value

This is a good source of inforamtion to gauge the general market and how market price compared with a home's city assessment value. Presently, homes in Richmond are selling at around their city values. The average selling price for older homes are found to be selling about 5% to 7% below the average city value.

Why some Richmond homes sell quickly while others languish? Worst yet, why some of the Richmond homes for sale don’t sell at all? Home selling system - sell at market value...

These are the frequently asked questions by home sellers contemplating the sale of their homes. For more information on Richmond's sales data on market price and city value, you can view my reports below:

Selling your home in 30 days or less?

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Richmond Real Estate - Sell Your Home Quickly & At Market Price?

James Wong — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:42:00 GMT

Find out how I can help you sell your home quickly.

Why use a system that is not working? If you are like an average home seller in Richmond, you are faced with 11% probability of selling your home. An average home in Richmond now takes up to 9 months to sell!

You can sell your home quickly... and at market price.

Let me work with you and develope a marketing plan to sell your home quickly. You have nothing to lose... you save time and you get the result you want. You are losing equity value at 1% to 1.5% a month if home prices continue to decline as predicted by another 12% to 15% over the next few quarters.

My marketing system helps to sell your home fast.:

Your home is positioned as a "great deal" in the eyes of buyers

Your home attract more buyers to look at your home

Your home is set apart from all the other homes for sale

You avoid unexpected buyer showings day after day

Your home only needs to be in "showing" condition for just a few days

Buyers get "off the fence" because they know your home will sell

Your home sold in a short time, instead of months

Imagine... you get maximum exposure, less stress and your home is sold sooner! View Richmond homes for sale here.

My System is NOT for Everyone!

It's not for you if you think your home is worth more than its worth
If you are unrealistic about the housing market
If you are not motivated to sell
If you are afraid to do something different

Contact me for more information on my home selling system.

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