Two Fabulous New Condo Listings

Check out these fabulous listings – one in Gastown at the Carrall St. Greenway, the other with water view at Marinaside in Yaletown!

  • 402 – 1 East Cordova St. 2 Level Loft for sale in historic Gastown! — Lovely view on to historic Carrall St. — Real Gastown feel! — Well run building — Currently rented — 584 Sq.Ft. — $349,900  Link HERE for more info

  • 1201 at 1201 Marinaside – Great suite! very stylishly remodeled, top-of-the-line Miele appliances. Extremely bright with floor to ceiling windows. Water and City views. Great amenities including a concierge. Enjoy the seawall and amenities right outside the door. Steps to Yaletown restaurants, etc. and Urban Fare. Pets/Rentals OK.2 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, 976 sq/ ft – $768,000 Link HERE for more info

Call Nic Meyer to view – 604-694-8801 ext. 103

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Discount Management vs. Benefits of a Full Service Company

In this video, Nicholas Meyer talks about service, and what you can expect from a full service company as opposed to a discount management firm.

More and more competition is coming into our marketplace as people try and steal market share away from established professional companies like ourselves. The reality is that to maintain a quality staff, in a quality premise, in the right location, to provide all the goods and services and the experience, the licensing, banking and accounting requirements, it is very difficult for us to have our prices at any lower place than they are.

For the rate of service that we offer we are extremely competitive and very very reasonable in our rates. We’ve cut them, actually, to the bone.

Just to give you an example of the sort of service that we offer: this week there was a common area leak in one of our suites. I’ve had a property manager visiting that property, including weekends (because it’s currently vacant), to make sure that the work that the plumbers have done is holding, and that there isn’t any further damage. This is an hour to an hour and a half every day that we are putting into this property. When you think about it, what our team rents out for on an hourly basis, we are going to lose money on this particular client for at least six months probably, maybe more. But that’s part of our job and part of what we say we’re going to do.

We’re reliable, we’re honest and we do the right thing all the time. That’s what you’re getting with us: you’re getting a 24/7 insurance policy. You have somebody in Vancouver who’s going to be looking after your property with the same sort of interest that you would look after it yourself. We treat your property as if it was our own.

Beware of the discount people. A lot of their prices are misleading. They say they’re going to charge a minimum number and then there are all these upcharges and hidden charges that they add on to every single thing.

Our fees are very simple. We have a monthly fee. We have a leasing fee. And there is a small extra fee for taking the responsibility of the non-resident tax and dealing with all the accounting issues. And that’s it. We don’t charge for extra leases if the tenant stays on. We don’t charge for repairs. We don’t charge for anything whatsoever. If we can get you wholesale prices on appliances, wholesale prices from trades, we pass those savings on to you. We don’t upcharge on anything. I know some people will call a plumber and add on a $50 service charge. If they go and buy some appliances they’ll try and buy them wholesale and sell them to you at a retail price. And so it goes on.

We don’t do that. We’re very very fair. And, as I say, the accounting, and the costs of having the annual audit and to be complying completely with the rules takes at least half of whatever we take from any client in commission on a monthly basis. The rules are so stringent, if we’re actually following the proper rules that are set out by the Real Estate Act.

As I said, some people are circumnavigating that, not having proper trust accounts, and these are things that you have to be very careful of.

Do you really want to trust your million dollar investment to somebody who’s kind of fly-by-night? It just boggles the mind. We’re not going anywhere. We just paid a million dollars for this office: we’re sitting on Pender Street in downtown Coal Harbour, the best part of the city of Vancouver.

We’ve been in business for over 15 years and I’ve been personally in the business for over 30 years in Vancouver. We’re here to stay, and we’re here to look after your property to the best and highest professional level that we can.

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Season’s Greetings and Best Wishes

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous and successful new year.

Lets hope the real estate market is stronger than ever!

Please remember us for your downtown condo management needs.

Best wishes, Nicholas Meyer and the team at Downtown Suites

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More Sales, Fewer Listings in November

November Stats from the REBGV

MLS® stats show more sales, fewer property listings in November 2010

Greater Vancouver residential home sales improved in November compared to the previous four months, with the number of sales posted on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) coming in slightly higher than the 10-year average for that month.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that the number of residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,509 in November 2010. This represents a 7.4 per cent increase compared to October 2010 and an 18.6 per cent decline from the 3,083 sales in November 2009.

Looking back further, last month’s residential sales represent a 187.1 per cent increase over the 874 residential sales in November 2008, a 13 per cent decline compared to November 2007’s 2,883 sales, and a 6.4 per cent increase compared to the 2,358 sales in November 2006.

“Housing sales numbers were fairly typical for a November and indicate a fairly balanced market. Activity on the buyer side has been stable, with slight increases, over the last few months while the number of homes listed for sale in our region has declined each month since we reached a peak in June,” Jake Moldowan, REBGV president said.

Total active residential property listings in Greater Vancouver currently sit at 12,384, a 12.1 per cent decline from last month and a 12 per cent increase from November 2009. New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 17.1 per cent to 3,030 in November 2010 compared to November 2009 when 3,653 new units were listed.

“Home values have been relatively stable over the last five months compared to the summer period when we were seeing some downward pressure on prices,” Moldowan said. “It’s the homes priced accurately for today’s market that are receiving a lot of attention and selling right now.”

The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 4.1 per cent to $580,080 in November 2010 from $557,384 in November 2009. This price has remained virtually unchanged since June of this year.

Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in November 2010 reached 1,050, a decrease of 9.8 per cent from the 1,164 detached sales recorded in November 2009, and a 226.1 per cent increase from the 322 units sold in November 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 5.6 per cent from November 2009 to $799,312.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,052 in November 2010, a decline of 24.6 per cent compared to the 1,396 sales in November 2009, and an increase of 156.6 per cent compared to the 410 sales in November 2008.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 1.9 per cent from November 2009 to $389,168.

Attached property sales in November 2010 totalled 407, a decline of 22.2 per cent compared to the 523 sales in November 2009, and a 186.6 per cent increase from the 142 attached properties sold in November 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 4.1 per cent between November 2009 and 2010 to $488,733.

Download the complete stats package from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

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BCREA forecasts Moderate Rise in Home Sales

We look to the BC Real Estate Association for our statistics and forecasts. Here’s the latest:

BCREA Fall Housing Forecast 2010

Vancouver, BC – November 10, 2010. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its Fall Housing Forecast 2010 today.

BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to decline 12 per cent from 85,028 units in 2009 to 74,950 units this year, before increasing 6 per cent to 79,700 units in 2011.

“Consumers are responding to a double-dip in mortgage interest rates,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “While housing demand waned in the province through the spring and summer, the added purchasing power from low borrowing costs combined with gradual improvement in the BC economy has trended home sales higher in recent months.”

“A moderate increase in BC home sales is expected next year coinciding with employment and population growth,” added Muir. “However, the 79,700 unit sales that are forecast for 2011 are well below the ten-year average of 85,500 units.” A record 106,300 MLS® residential sales were recorded in 2005.

The average MLS® residential price is forecast to climb 7 per cent to $498,500 this year and remain relatively unchanged in 2011, albeit declining by 1 per cent to $495,600.

BCREA Nov. forecast

The full BCREA Housing Forecast Update is available at: www.bcrea.bc.ca/economics/HousingForecast.pdf

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Are Your Staircases to Code?


Just another Day in the Life of a Property Manager. This time: Code violations. Does your condo have renovations or additions? Are your staircases to code? Nicholas Meyer of Downtown Suites discusses a couple of staircase code situations in Vancouver condos.

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A Day in the Life of a Property Manager: The Lease

Just another Day in the Life of a Property Manager. This time it’s a tricky situation involving a broken lease and written notice!
Nicholas Meyer of Downtown Suites explains the ins and outs of leasing in Vancouver. Good info for both landlords and tenants.

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Over 25 Years in Vancouver

In this video, Nicholas Meyer shows his 25 year certificate, acknowledging a quarter century of real estate sales in Vancouver.

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New Maximum Rental Increase Posted

Downtown Suites Property Manager advises of the update from the provincial Government from the Residential Tenancy Office website:

Allowable Rent Increases for 2011

For a conventional residential tenancy rent increase that takes effect in 2011, the allowable increase is 2.3 per cent.

The annual allowable rent increase for conventional residential tenancies is determined by the formula in the Residential Tenancy Regulation.

For more information on this and other relevant regulations and legislation, contact us at Downtown Suites.

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Downtown Suites Presentation
Ozzie Jurock and Nic Meyer
Ozzie Jurock and Nic Meyer
Real Estate Action Group, Sept. 2010
Real Estate Action Group Meeting

Nic Meyer and Lisa Taylor recently presented to Ozzie Jurock’s Real Estate Action Group, for their September Meeting.

Talking about the pitfalls to avoid in renting suites and condos, Nic and Lisa went over all the reasons why hiring a professional property management company is the smartest way to go.

The talk is here in 4 parts, along with slides from the presentation.

Video Part 1, Introduction from Ozzie Jurock. Why hire a professional management company? What does a management company do for you as an owner/investor?

Video Part 2, Pitfalls and tenant issues and how to avoid them

Video Part 3, More on pitfalls and tenant issues and how to avoid them

Video Part 4, Tenants to look out for, the value of working with experienced professional management, advice for owners.

View the slides that accompanied the talk

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