Laura Dereniowski joins with Sheri Brown

It is such an exciting time! I am thrilled to announce a new partnership with an incredible and very experience Realtor, Laura Dereniowski of RE/MAX Performance. Laura and I have been working in the same office for more than ten years and now we combine our years of expertise.

Laura's Bio:
With over a decade of experience as a REALTOR(r) in the Fraser Valley Region, Laura Dereniowski is well equipt to handle the needs of her clients. From her unique and trail blazing work with social media, to the dedication she shows to her clients and community, Laura's total commitment in all of her endeavors shines through. Laura has received countless accolades and awards during her career including recognition from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board as a "Medallion" level agent, as well as a prestigious award from RE/MAX for her work with the GA committee as Chair. She is often seen volunteering for causes such as the Children's Miracle Network, local hockey fund raisers, and Artists for Conservation events. Laura has a unique empathy for the emotional pressures of a move, which keeps her focused on the best interests of her devoted clientele. With her positive demeanor and hearty laugh, Laura's business acumen and vibrant energy are powerful assets in helping others achieve their dreams.

I look to forward to working with Laura!

7 Habits of Highly Effective Home Buyers

7 Habits of Highly Effective Home Buyers Effective Habit #1: Get pre-qualified (or pre-approved) for a loan You can’t effectively search for homes if you don’t know how much home you can afford. In today’s lending environment, it is crucial to know BEFORE you begin a home search what type of mortgage, and how much of a mortgage you can get. It is crucial to work with a good lender throughout the home buying process. If you don’t know a lender, ask your agent for a few recommendations. Interview a couple of lenders and pick one and stick with them. Few things add more stress and headache to a real estate sales transaction than changing lenders mid-stream. Find a lender that won’t just tell you the maximum amount of a mortgage you can get, rather find one that understands that qualifying for a certain amount and being able to make the payments are two different things. Effective Habit #2: Define your must haves, like to haves, and can not haves Determine what you MUST have in a home. Then determine what you would LIKE to have in a home. Talk to your agent about these things. Don’t forget to include what you CAN’T have in a home — that will often be more important than anything else. Don’t know exactly what you must/like/can’t have in a home? That’s OK, it happens ALL the time. Your agent can help you by showing you different homes with different features to help you get a better understanding of what you’d like in a home. But at some point you are going to have to make decisions and not wander aimlessly about, looking at any home that may possibly fit some undefined set of criteria. That would be a waste of your time, and the time of your agent, the home sellers, your lender and everyone else that is involved in a real estate transaction. Effective Habit #3: Be realistic Buying a short sale and expecting the owner to make a bunch of repairs (or any repairs)? Good luck with that. Buying a home and thinking if the home inspector finds anything wrong with it, i’m not buying the house? Well you might as well stop right now because I can assure your there aren’t any homes where the inspector finds nothing to report. Get your brand new built to your order home constructed and an inspector will find some items to address (and yes, you should get a new build home inspected — more than once). Effective Habit #4: Be flexible As a home buyer, it is important to be flexible. Unless you are having a home built to your exact specifications, it’s very unlikely that you will find the absolutely perfect home for you. Maybe you find a home that has everything except the perfect kind of flooring, colors, cabinets, whatever. If you have some flexibility built into your must haves and likes, you will find the entire process much less painful. Understand that in most cases there is a living breathing human being involved in the other side of your transaction. Home sellers are people too. Nit-picking them to death in negotiations and repairs isn’t likely to do much good and could quite possibly do harm. This isn’t to say you should cave to every demand the sellers make. You should stand firm on things that really matter and be flexible where you can be in order to move the transaction along. Effective Habit #5: Understand the home buying process You don’t need to understand every nuance of the home buying process — that is your agent’s job. But the more you do understand, the less stressful and mystifying the process will be. Trust me, buying a home is a stressful event. Anything you can do to reduce that stress will go a long way not just toward saving your sanity but in helping ensure the transaction moves to closing. One of the most important things to understand is your purchase contract. There are two parties to a real estate contract — you the buyer, and the seller. Regardless of exactly who/what owns the home you are buying, you are entering into a legally binding contract when you have your offer accepted, and there are obligations that contract binds you to do. There are timelines that must be complied with, and if they are not, you can suffer some pretty serious / expensive consequences. Your agent, your lawyer, your lender, your title company, the appraiser — all will work diligently to ensure a successful closing, but ultimately they are not parties to the contract. YOU need to (with advice from your agent and/or attorney) understand all the terms and conditions of your contract. It is also helpful to understand the escrow, appraisal and lending processes. The successful completion of each of these are fundamental to your closing on your new home. Do not be afraid to ask your agent questions. Lots of questions. Be advised that everyone in the process tends to toss about terms and acronyms that only those dealing with this stuf fon a daily basis understand. Sometimes we forget we’re speaking in a different language. Don’t be shy. If there’s a term you don’t understand, ask. Effective Habit #6: Be responsible As a home buyer, you are going to have to work with a lot of different people in order to make sure your transaction progresses and ultimately closes. Yes, your agent will take on the burden of most of this, but you are still ultimately responsible for your actions. You are (most likely) financing your new home. As such, it makes sense that you need to be responsible for maintaining your credit worthiness while your mortgage is being processed. Listen to your agent and lender and don’t go buying a car before your mortgage processing is done (yes, I’ve seen it happen). In fact, don’t buy anything on credit without speaking to your lender. And if you think you can quit your job a week before closing and still get that mortgage, think again (yep, seen that too). When you are looking at potential homes, be responsible and respectful that you are in someone else’s home. It’s OK to look in their closets, to flip light switches, to turn on the stove. But be responsible and leave the home in exactly the same condition you found it in. Much of this habit really boils down to two things: 1) use common sense; and 2) treat others how you expect to be treated. Effective Habit #7: Have fun! Take a look around at lists of “life’s most stressful events” and you’ll see things like taking on new debt, financial change, moving — that’s buying a house folks. You are about to enter into one of the singel largest financial transactions of your life. Stress is a given. But buying a home is also an exciting time! There isn’t a law that requires you to mope around, dreading every moment. There’s nothing wrong with having fun during the process. Hopefully you’ve selected an agent that you enjoy working with. Ditto for your lender. That doesn’t mean you all need to participate in group hugs or go camping together and join hands around the campfire singing Kum Ba Ya. But it’s OK to laugh, to enjoy yourself, to have a little fun in the process. Thompson, Jay. "7 Habits of Highly Effective Home Buyers." The Phoenix Real Estate Guy. N.p., 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Jan. 2013.

Our First Radio Real Estate Show on the Internet!

My Realty TV.ca June update here!

Stay tuned, the June MyRealtyTV.ca update is being posted shortly for the North Delta Market!

Renova: Something very cool from the Appraisal Institute of Canada

The number one question I get asked when I have a client wanting to renovate their home before listing...."What will this add to the value of my home?" A fantastic new program is available from the Appraisal Institute of Canada. Renova is here! If you are thinking of renovating and just don't know how much of a return would come into play, check out this site. It gives you a better idea of where to spend your $$$$! It's easy and quick and brought to the people that know homes.

Gorgeous Fleetwood Home! A Georgie Award Finalist!

SHOW HOME! For those that expect the BEST QUALITY! This amazing completely reno’d (from top to bottom) DREAM HOME has been completely and professionally redone with the best of everything! Only the foundation and studs are original! Winner 2008 Georgie Award Finalist! No detail overlooked! Spectacular new dream kitch and open sun filled eating area, huge master bdrm w/ fireplace, amazing new bthrms with granite, heated flrs and more, Brazilian Redwd Hrdwd flrs, new ensuite with rainshower/steamroom to die for, 2 sinks, slate tile, 5 new skylights, closet organizers throughout, new elec, new plumb, high effec furn w/ heat pump, air cond, tankless ht wtr, summer kitch bsmt, media, new fiberglass laminated roof, new hardyplank siding, new windows, "Green" certified and Energy Star Rated! Prof landscaped yard, paver stone driveway, and the list just goes on and on and on….. Quiet street, in very attractive neighbourhood, close to schools, etc....


- featuring 4 bed rooms on main floor,
- and flexible inlaw suite or multimedia room with kitchenette and guest room.
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- 2008 GEORGIE AWARD Finalist “BEST RENOVATION in BC under 250,000”
- Featured on the Greater Vancouver Home Builders Associations 2007 Parade of Renovated homes”
- Energy StarRated R2000 Home
- Certified “Green” with an energuide number of “82”
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- James Hardie Concrete siding and river rock facing offer instant street appeal.
- Paving stone driveway, walk way around whole house including rear patio compliment other exterior finishes.

- North-facing Mountain View post and beam sunroom creates bright space for breakfast nook.
- Custom Cherrywood cabinetry and granite countertops kitchen.
- Heavy crown moulding, 5” baseboards, and 3 ¼” casings.
- Repeating archway details
- Brazilian redwood Sand on Site Hard wood floors add dramatic detail
- staircase features wooden stair end caps and wrought iron spindle handrail.
- Main Bath showcases painted and glazed Maple cabinetry with granite countertops and dual sinks
- Cherrywood cabinetry and granite countertops featured in Master Ensuite
- 5 opening skylights for natural light.

- High Efficiency York 2 stage variable speed furnace & Heat pump with Ultraviolet electronic filter
- High Efficiency tankless hot water system with Ultraviolet drinking water & ice filter
- LowE Argon vinyl windows
- 40 Year Fiberglass laminated roofing
- Skylights and Sunroom feature R7.9 Heat mirror with Krypton gas filed glass
- Rain barrels collect runoff water for gardening

- Creatively designed Master Suite with sitting area with corner fireplace and cherry cabinet walk-in closet.
- Enlarged Ensuite incorporates multi-head steam shower and slate tiles.
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- Window seat, built-in shelving, gas fireplace enhance Living Room comfort
- Ground level include media room, wet bar, bath and office space
- Rear landscaping includes water feature
- Front landscaping offers year-round interest
CALL SHERI FOR MORE DETAILS.

Funstuff at the Zoomers Convention over the weekend! Tom and myself broadcast the show LIVE from the Vancouver Convention Centre. Full of info on travel, lifestyle, home and other fun for ages 45 and older. "Zoomers" is the new name for Boomers! Boomers with Zip or Zig! Listen to the Radio Real Estate Show every Saturday on AM650 at 10am. www.radiorealestateshow.ca In photo, me, Ken Mayo of Ken Mayo Home Inspections and Tom Lucas

Prince George a good investment?

Prince George in the BC North! Find out if it's a good place to invest your real estate dollar as my sister, Tracy Lofroth, from Prince George Royal LePage tells us about the market in the North this Saturday on AM650!

President of the BCREA

Recently on the Radio Real Estate show we had Moss Moloney talk about the local and BC Real Estate Market. His thoughts were we are still strong in the British Columbia Real Estate Market and our economy despite all the shelter taxes here in Canada such as the HST and the Property Transfer Tax. Interest rates are still low and affordable for consumers and there is a great amount of product for Buyers to choose from. Real Estate is a still a fantastic investment for British Columbians. Moss has been in the Real Estate Business for 33 years!

The newest Website intro to the Real Estate Radio Show!

Check out the new website Radio Real Estate

Behind the Scenes of the Real Estate Radio Show

I have been enjoying my time at the new co-host with Tom Lucas of the Radio Real Estate Show on AM650! Here is an inside view of our latest show!