Buying a house you've never seen?!?!?!
May 1st 2007, 6:32 pm
#61
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 156
Re: Buying a house you've never seen?!?!?!
Hi there TW
I would wait until you get there to buy a house. My husband and I are also looking in the Fraser Valley; however not in that price range. I spoke to a realtor that honestly informed us that the Fraser Valley has seen such an upsurge in listings recently and thus prices are not really appreciating much if any (especially in that price range). I understand your desire to buy something asap, but I would wait until you have a chance to view a variety of places.
I have included a link to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. If you look at Housing Statistics and Trends they will break down the price inflation or deflation for each month. Most parts of the FV have experienced slight deflation over the past two months. This is a concern as it is the buying season. I would ask your Canadian realtor about this.
http://www.fvreb.bc.ca/
Good luck
I would wait until you get there to buy a house. My husband and I are also looking in the Fraser Valley; however not in that price range. I spoke to a realtor that honestly informed us that the Fraser Valley has seen such an upsurge in listings recently and thus prices are not really appreciating much if any (especially in that price range). I understand your desire to buy something asap, but I would wait until you have a chance to view a variety of places.
I have included a link to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. If you look at Housing Statistics and Trends they will break down the price inflation or deflation for each month. Most parts of the FV have experienced slight deflation over the past two months. This is a concern as it is the buying season. I would ask your Canadian realtor about this.
http://www.fvreb.bc.ca/
Good luck
Hi All,
Thanks for your comments. Well... we decided to send some wonderful friends of ours and our realtor through the house before we bought the flights out there. They went through the house yesterday and the feedback was really interesting. Basically, the layout, rooms, garden, neighbourhood were all great but... the finishing on the place was really poor (the realtor gave it 4 out of 10!) which is interesting because if you look at the photos the finishing looks impressive. Apparently they used high quality materials but very low quality workmanship.
The process of trying to decide whether to buy it has been really interesting and helpful. I do think its possible to buy sight unseen IF you have friends/family/realtor you can trust (ours was incredibly honest) AND they can take photos for you. It also made us realise that we really want something that's ours when we land rather than hunting then and so as soon as our house is sold and sorted I think we'll head out for a couple of days and a big house hunt!
Thanks again for all your comments!
emily
Thanks for your comments. Well... we decided to send some wonderful friends of ours and our realtor through the house before we bought the flights out there. They went through the house yesterday and the feedback was really interesting. Basically, the layout, rooms, garden, neighbourhood were all great but... the finishing on the place was really poor (the realtor gave it 4 out of 10!) which is interesting because if you look at the photos the finishing looks impressive. Apparently they used high quality materials but very low quality workmanship.
The process of trying to decide whether to buy it has been really interesting and helpful. I do think its possible to buy sight unseen IF you have friends/family/realtor you can trust (ours was incredibly honest) AND they can take photos for you. It also made us realise that we really want something that's ours when we land rather than hunting then and so as soon as our house is sold and sorted I think we'll head out for a couple of days and a big house hunt!
Thanks again for all your comments!
emily
Last edited by Juliew; May 1st 2007 at 6:39 pm.
May 2nd 2007, 1:27 pm
#62
Banned
Joined: Dec 2005
Location: Cochrane near Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 667
Re: Buying a house you've never seen?!?!?!
I have fallen in love with a house on mls.ca that is within our budget and in a great area and am considering , slightly, the prospect of buying something without seeing it myself.
I have my mum over there and my mother and father-in-law are heading out for a visit so they can see it too.
Has anyone else done this? Am I totally mad to even consider it?
I have my mum over there and my mother and father-in-law are heading out for a visit so they can see it too.
Has anyone else done this? Am I totally mad to even consider it?
When they came over, they moved in 4 days later and loved the house.
It can be done, but it is a risk.
May 2nd 2007, 1:41 pm
#63
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: The Vancouver Suburbs... for the next few years anyway!
Posts: 558
Re: Buying a house you've never seen?!?!?!
Hi there TW
I would wait until you get there to buy a house. My husband and I are also looking in the Fraser Valley; however not in that price range. I spoke to a realtor that honestly informed us that the Fraser Valley has seen such an upsurge in listings recently and thus prices are not really appreciating much if any (especially in that price range). I understand your desire to buy something asap, but I would wait until you have a chance to view a variety of places.
I have included a link to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. If you look at Housing Statistics and Trends they will break down the price inflation or deflation for each month. Most parts of the FV have experienced slight deflation over the past two months. This is a concern as it is the buying season. I would ask your Canadian realtor about this.
http://www.fvreb.bc.ca/
Good luck
I would wait until you get there to buy a house. My husband and I are also looking in the Fraser Valley; however not in that price range. I spoke to a realtor that honestly informed us that the Fraser Valley has seen such an upsurge in listings recently and thus prices are not really appreciating much if any (especially in that price range). I understand your desire to buy something asap, but I would wait until you have a chance to view a variety of places.
I have included a link to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. If you look at Housing Statistics and Trends they will break down the price inflation or deflation for each month. Most parts of the FV have experienced slight deflation over the past two months. This is a concern as it is the buying season. I would ask your Canadian realtor about this.
http://www.fvreb.bc.ca/
Good luck
Thanks for the advice!
Emily
May 8th 2007, 5:01 am
#64
Livin' it large in BC.
Joined: Feb 2006
Location: Golden, BC
Posts: 168
Re: Buying a house you've never seen?!?!?!
I have fallen in love with a house on mls.ca that is within our budget and in a great area and am considering , slightly, the prospect of buying something without seeing it myself.
I have my mum over there and my mother and father-in-law are heading out for a visit so they can see it too.
Has anyone else done this? Am I totally mad to even consider it?
I have my mum over there and my mother and father-in-law are heading out for a visit so they can see it too.
Has anyone else done this? Am I totally mad to even consider it?
Pay £1000 for flights etc. and go see it for yourself. I looked at some properties on MLS that seemed perfect but they weren't!
Ian.
May 8th 2007, 6:13 am
#65
Cynically amused.
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: BC
Posts: 3,648
Re: Buying a house you've never seen?!?!?!
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/rfc/
May 8th 2007, 7:07 am
#66
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: The Vancouver Suburbs... for the next few years anyway!
Posts: 558
Re: Buying a house you've never seen?!?!?!
I think, personally, that the house is overpriced. I drove by it recently and whilst the house is nice, it is hemmed in with other houses in the same area. You are paying for the freeway access, less so the upmarket neighbourhood. Langley is OK, soulless, but then most places here are. If you are spending that amount of money you might wish to consider moving up the freeway a bit and getting a whole lot more house for less money with way better views. Houses over $600k are not selling like hot-cakes, despite what some realtors will tell you. I would also wait to see if the Fraser Valley becomes one giant lake in the next few weeks. The Prince George gauge is going up...
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/rfc/
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/rfc/
I agree with you a bit on Langley being soulless but we're moving there to be closer to family and friends and I think that most the suburbs are!
Our realtor actually thought for the imperfections on the interior the house was massively overpriced too. Hence the waiting!
Interesting about the flood plains - I lived in Chilliwack for a bit and some of the normal flooding could be a nightmare - this sounds like its time for an ark!
Aug 16th 2007, 11:11 pm
#67
Banned
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: New Caledonia
Posts: 1,810
Re: Buying a house you've never seen?!?!?!
I think, personally, that the house is overpriced. I drove by it recently and whilst the house is nice, it is hemmed in with other houses in the same area. You are paying for the freeway access, less so the upmarket neighbourhood. Langley is OK, soulless, but then most places here are. If you are spending that amount of money you might wish to consider moving up the freeway a bit and getting a whole lot more house for less money with way better views. Houses over $600k are not selling like hot-cakes, despite what some realtors will tell you. I would also wait to see if the Fraser Valley becomes one giant lake in the next few weeks. The Prince George gauge is going up...
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/rfc/
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/rfc/
