Interview on Shaw TV's GO Vancouver! with Sheri Brown on the Delta Rise and living in Delta

Sheri was recently interviewed for Shaw TV's GO Vancouver on Delta and the new Development the Delta Rise. Have a look and see the interview! Delta Rise is the 37 story tower which is located at 80th and Scott Road in North Delta. To be built for 2016. Delta Rise on Shaw

Vancouver Sun Westcoast Homes Publishes a Sale!

The Vancouver Sun featured a home Sheri Brown, Realtor for Surrey and Delta in the Bought/Sold Section of the Westcoast Homes By Nicola Way. View the link here! This townhome sold in just 4 days for 99% of the list price. Another successful sale for Sheri Brown and happy Sellers!

RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award

I was thrilled to find out at the beginning of 2014, that I am receiving the RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award! Thanks to all my clients over the years for your support and who helped this be possible. I look forward to many more years helping people with their real estate needs.

Sheri Brown is one of 32 of the Most Popular Realtors giving Home Buying Tips!

I was excited to be chosen to participate in an Article on Home Buyer Nation entiled "32 Home Buying Tips from Some of the World’s Most Popular Realtors" by Scott Riley. This is an interesting article in which there are 32 unique and uncommon tips for the New Home Buyer. In addition to myself, there are three agents from the hit TV Show "Million Dollar Listing" as well who give their tips! Sheri Brown's tip is Tip #25! Check it out here!

A Fun moment with the Team!

Filming our latest video at the new listing in Surrey the team was busy filming and taking pics! It was another sunny day in Surrey!

New Exciting Listing in Surrey!

Sheri Brown Associates took a new listing over the weekend! 3 Bedrooms and a Den, with over 2100 sq Feet! Double car side x side garage, playground right there for the kids to play, gated complex all on a quiet street. You can't go wrong with four, yes that's right four sundecks! GOTO Sheri Brown & Associates for all the details!

Fraser Valley Real Estate is Heating up!

From the FVREB Press Release!! Buyers and sellers in the Fraser Valley took advantage of the record breaking hours of sunshine in July as both sales and listings on the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) experienced a noticeable lift. We had an increase of 5 per cent compared to the 1,393 sales in July of last year and 10 per cent more than were processed in June. By historical comparison, sales in July ranked sixth going back to 2004. For over a year, monthly sales in Fraser Valley have been trending at 10-year lows. “We’re likely experiencing some pent-up demand coming off some very slow winter months, tiny changes in mortgage rates are always incentive for many buyers, and let’s not underestimate our glorious weather. For our buyers and sellers, a return to a normal, balanced market is welcome news.” The Board received 2,777 new listings in July – 5 per cent fewer than received during the same month last year, but 6 per cent more than were received in June – leaving the volume of active properties at 10,428 a decrease of 4 per cent compared to July 2012. In July, the benchmark price of single family detached homes in the Fraser Valley was $551,000, virtually on par with $551,400 during the same month last year. For townhouses, the benchmark price was $297,800, a decrease of 1.8 per cent compared to $303,400 in July 2012 and the benchmark price of apartments was $202,000, 2 per cent less than in July 2012 when it was $206,200. If you are considering a move now would be a great time to explore the new listing out there!

Lower inventory keeps home prices in check as ‘slow but steady’ market continues Says The FVREB

April, 03 2013 09:38:56 am, by FVREB Categories: Statistics In March, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,128 sales on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), a 20 per cent decrease compared to the 1,412 sales during the same month last year, and a 24 per cent increase compared to February’s 913 sales. The Board also received 11 per cent fewer new listings in March compared to last year – 2,736 compared to 3,066 – keeping inventory in check. March finished with 9,503 active listings, 1.5 per cent fewer than March of last year and 3.5 per cent fewer than the 9,832 available during March of 2009; the highest volume of active listings for that month in the last decade. Ron Todson, President of the Board, explains, “Although we saw a typical spring uptick in activity from February to March, our sales remained at about 70 per cent of the norm for March and our new listings came in at 90 per cent of what the Board would typically receive. “Because inventory levels are in check, prices are staying in check.” In March, the benchmark price of single family detached homes in the Fraser Valley was $544,300, an increase of 0.6 per cent compared to $541,300 during the same month last year. For townhouses, the benchmark price was $298,200, a decrease of 1.7 per cent compared to $303,400 in March 2012 and the benchmark price of apartments was $204,200, an increase of 0.8 per cent compared to $202,500 in March 2012. Todson adds, “Inventory levels are not as high as they need to be to put significant downward pressure on prices of the benchmark, or ‘typical’ home. These are homes that have characteristics most common to houses in a given community. “In fact, we’re seeing the reverse happen. Benchmark prices for all three main property types in the Fraser Valley increased in value during the first quarter of 2013. Since January, detached homes are up by 1 per cent, townhomes by 0.6 per cent; and apartments by 2 per cent.”

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.

Another New listing!

A new listing, 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom on the ground floor in beautiful South Slope Burnaby. For $5000 under assessed value at $220,000 this is a great buy. Close to Skytrain and shopping. The building backs onto a nice greenspace and close to walking trails. Ready for your new paint colours and to move in! Call today for your private viewing!

Good News for the New Year! 2013 will be another great year for Real Estate.

In todays paper an article came out saying "Single Family Homes are still winners in property price race!" Also, from last week "Buyers waiting for a housing bubble to burst could be waiting a long time." The market from all indications, as per the BC Real Estate Association says it's unlikly that the prices will drop dramatically and we will start to see stronger sales in the next few months. There is strong growth in full time jobs and interest rates still being at a historic low are said to remain that way for the time being. It's a great time to start thinking about listing your home or getting it ready for the Spring Market coming. If you would like more info please feel free to call Sheri Brown at 604-590-4888 or sheri@sheribassociates.ca

North Delta and Surrey Markets have been extremely active in January. In all of the Fraser Valley in the first 17 days there were 598 homes sold and 2289 Listed homes. At this time last year we were up slightly in sales with 681 sales. North Delta currently has 139 homes on the market for Buyers to choose from ranging in price from a rancher for $384,000 to 1,088,000 in Canterbury Heights. In the townhouse and condo market in North Delta there are 41 units available ranging in price from $73,000 to $649,000 for a luxury townhome in Sunstone.
In the Surrey areas, North Surrey there are approximately 468 listed homes, Central Surrey 457 homes, and in the South Surrey area there is approx. 265 homes for Buyers to look through.
Sheri Brown & Associates has been quite busy in the last two weeks with many Market Evaluations and homeowners getting ready to place their homes on the market in the coming months. The “Spring” Market is sure to be a busy one, with the interest rates taking a decline at most major banks to 2.99% and under. For more information CHECK out www.MYREALTYTV.ca or www.SheriBrown.ca.

The Market is now Moving!

Over the Christmas season we had a typical slow down for listings and sales. However January has taken off with a lot of activity. Market evaluations are happening several times a week right now for people preparing for the spring market. You can get a jump on the market right now if you thought about listing a little before March. Sheri Brown & Associates has a new great listings this week. There is nothing else available in this area quite like this home. A four bedroom family home at 10972 63A Ave is a GREEN home. Enery Efficient with a 78 Energuide rating! The kitchen and bathroom have been tastefully decorated and re done. This truely is a gorgeous updated home. The first Open House is on Sunday the 29th of Jan 2-4pm. Or you can call Sheri. If you want more info on what's happening with the market as well feel free to pop an email to sheri@sheribassociates.ca

Whats Happening in Fraser Valley??

In August we had an increase of 35 percent more sales compared to last year in the same month. Usually we have seen a slower time in the summer months with sales and listings. But with the late start to our spring and a lack of summer sun we have had an unusual increase in sales. There were still many competing offers in some pockets throughout the lower mainland for single detached homes. The benchmark price for a home in the Fraser Valley in August was $528,959 an increase of 3.7%. There was also a slight increase from last year for the condos market with a 2.5% increase. With interest rates remaining low it's still a great time to think about moving to North Delta, Surrey or Cloverdale and anywhere in the Fraser Valley.
If you are thinking of selling or buying Sheri Brown & Associates can help you.

A new Animated Commercial!

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.

2011 Customer Apreciation Party a hit!

Another year has gone by with many fantastic clients who bought, sold or referred us business in 2010. Thanks to all those who attended and thanks to all those who donated door prizes as well. Thanks to Greg Kakuno of Dominion Lending for the Golf Bag, Washington Avenue Grill, Tom Lucas for MCing, Cactus Club Delta for $50 GC and many others!

January 2011 Here already!

What's been happening with our market, the new mortgage changes and highlights of 2010! Check is all out www.sheribrown.ca

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