Vancouver, BC : Hot Markets, Many Buyers, Less Time
When you are purchasing any commodity, whether it be a car or a scarf, it is nice to be able to take one's time to assess the product, the colour, size, and shape. However, when it comes to buying real estate, which is considered one of the most expensive purchase a person can make in one's life, and you happen to be buying in Vancouver,BC, then you just might be out of luck.
In any hot real estate market, whether it be Vancouver, or Toronto, you will see buyers-- both local, international, first time home buyers and investors clamouring to get a first peek of the property. Often, you will be among many buyers looking at an open house, assessing the size, the price, and so on. Very rarely do buyers get to view a second time around.
I had a buyer who took a video camera with him and was able to get permission from the agent to take photos as the listing agent did not have any interior photographs on her website. The video camera took snippets of the rooms, and though it was a hot market and we could not view the property again, we did have our video camera to look at for the details of the interior of the property.
Such details were first overlooked when viewing the property. There were so many questions to ask the realtor, the state of the building, the tenant's contract with the seller, and so on. In addition, there were other buyers and agents viewing this under 500 square foot apartment. With the video camera, however , we could look back at the apartment a little more closely. It was difficult for us to remember exactly what type of finishings there were on the kitchen cabinet, but having the video camera helped us a great deal. We could view the apartment' for the second time' through our video, and third and fourth time with other people. We could refresh our memories with the size of the balcony, the closet space, the shag carpet, as well as the condition of the bathroom which needed repair.
In a hot market, one tends to overlook these small deficiencies, but when it comes to fixing up and renovating, these small deficiencies could cost a little bit more in repair and renos. The video camera also served as a reminder when we placed the offer, that the bathroom needed upgrades; the bathroom lights were outdated and the sink needed to be replaced which enabled my buyer to get a better price when he placed the offer on the apartment, in a hot market!
Before taking your video camera to your viewing, please ask your agent first!