Hi,
Does anyone know any good realtors in Halifax. We want someone friendly that we can rely on and that will tell us a bit about the area etc. Maybe someone who has moved to Canada from UK and knows what we're going through???

I think you'll get more responses if you post this on the lifestyle forum

=blicky;5379013]Hi,
Does anyone know any good realtors in Halifax. We want someone friendly that we can rely on and that will tell us a bit about the area etc. Maybe someone who has moved to Canada from UK and knows what we're going through???[/QUOTE]

Isnt that typical! just posted the message and a mod moves it!!

I would recommend Carla MacNeil from A&H GMAC. Email: [email protected] phone +1 902-469-7700

She wasn't our realtor but is a friend of ours and she is really good. the thing I like about Carla is that she's honest enough to tell you if she thinks your looking in the "wrong" area or at the wrong type of house which is really important when you aren't from here and don't necessarily know if you're making a mistake. Some agents will just want to sell you any house so they get paid which is definitely not what you want if you aren't local.

There are certain things you need to look out for which I think aren't obvious to a Brit new to the area. For example...

- don't buy a house without a basement (you might not need it but everyone expects a basement here and you will have a really hard time selling the house when that time comes if yours hasn't got one)

- of course I don't know your budget but dont be tempted to spend too much money if the house isn't waterfront. Again you might not want it but people here spending over a certain amount expect waterfrontage

- make sure you know which school catchment the house is in as this affects tha value. And, school catchments sometimes get moved so find out if there are any plans to move them

- make sure you know what kind of reputation the area has locally. It isn't always obvious - some areas look really pretty but locally they might not have a good reputation (justified or not it will still make it hard for you to sell)

For all sorts of reasons you need to work with someone you can really trust.

I just wanted to make you look foolish Saw 04

only kidding

Can really recommend Matt Honsberger and his partner Sheila Banser at Royal lepage in Halifax. They are both great and listened to what we said when we told them what we were looking for. Excellent follow up too. You can contact them by email at [email protected] or phone (902) 453 1700.
There are a couple we came across I really wouldn't recommend though can send you email if you want to know who they were
Who ever you use, would recommend getting a independent survey done before you close the deal. Amazing what comes up. Also worth checking are age of oil tank (usually last about 10 years) water quality (if on well water), restrictions on area (can you hang out washing, put up a fence etc), and check for pumps in basement.

I generally dont need much help with that but thanks anyway!!

I have a meeting with 2 realtors in NS on Saturday, one of which is Carla (see NSPauls post). I will let you know how I get on.

We used Rob Brown from Remax. Super guy and will do his utmost to help you find somewher nice.

you can reach him at 902-221-2264 or email at [email protected].

tell him Stephanie recommeded him.

all the best.

:-)

Our Realtor's are Jerry and Annette Murphy, who specialise in the Fall River area. Great folks and have been extremely helpful.
We met Carla at one of her Pampered Chef Parties (bit like a tupperware party, but involves cooking Lovely lady, and a great cook!!

Thanks to you all for the info. It has been a great help to me.

We used Jerry and Annette as well, who were really helpful. Recommended areas for us and suggested other areas that weren't suitable for us due to ease of travelling for work and what kind of lifestyle we wanted. They also helped with finding us a good lawyer and home inspector. They didn't push anyone on to us, just gave us a list of those that they have used in the past and would recommend, then we did the rest.

Just my two penneth worth!

Karen

It depends on your budget, we approached Jerry & Annette via email, 1st thing they asked was our budget, then we didnt hear a word from them again, they even ignored our calls.

Actually I thinks theres some truth in that. They only really seem interested in selling high-end homes. We had brief dealings with them - we looked at one of the properties they had listed, but after viewing it I had some concerns about whether the quoted square footage was accurate. The house just didn't seem as big (comparred to others we viewed) as the listing sheet said it was. I contacted them to ask them to double-check that the sqaure footage was accurate and we never heard from then again! In the UK we tend not to worry too much about the square footage figure - just whether the house seems big enough - but here its really important because its one of the key measurments used to detemine the value of the home. Agents will typically do a calculation like $130 per square foot plus cost of land plus cost of landscaping etc to see if the home is overpriced or not.