Menno van Driel

Who needs a credit score? Well actually, hardly anybody can do without one and virtually everybody will benefit from an improved credit score (rating). How does it work?

Getting a good credit score can be a life-long balancing act. There are just certain things you got to know to make it work for you - you WILL benefit from a higher credit score.

Many Canadians still have no idea how our sy ...

There’s always a newsworthy development in Sunshine Coast Real Estate. My blog pages at www.menno.ca and www.mennorealty.ca try to keep up with the trends in local real estate.

The real estate market changes all the time, there's always a development that's newsworthy. The Sunshine Coast real estate market is no exception.

Apart from local statistical information, favoured by some yet consi ...

We all agree that good photography will help sell properties because it instantly attracts potential buyers to a home and its features. A good image can set the mood quite nicely.

Ultra wide-angle photography has the power to open up viewing angles. As an example, in this particular image, you can see both the house and the scenery in one shot.

There is no doubt that a good wide-angle len ...

After screaming for months and months that mortgage rates will have to go up – just because they are still extremely low: here is another round of cuts, mostly to the 5-year rates.

Mortgage rates go up and down - this time it's good news, they are slowly coming down with the expectation that more rate cuts might follow soon.

Driven by extremely low 5-year bond yields that have now gone do ...

Sometimes, people will try to sell their own home. This is a dangerous course of action that may end up costing you more than you had bargained for. Why is that?

It's hard to imagine that 90% of for-sale-by-owner real estate ventures will fail. Why is it that selling your own house is a strategy that's doomed?

When you go to court, you don’t need a lawyer – legally speaking. Still, when ...

Most people, in their lives, start out as tenants. Usually and not soon thereafter, the desire to own a home will surface. This is the process of going from renting to owning.

Virtually all tenants of homes would, actually, prefer to be home owners. Often it's merely money that's holding people back - let's look at ways to deal with that predicament.

Most people find it a very worthwhile pa ...

Things have changed in the world of real estate marketing. The multiple pages of real estate ads in the Vancouver Sun are all but gone while the pushy fast-talking salesperson doesn’t stand a chance any longer.

The real estate agent who calls you all the time and endeavours to charm you to view as many houses as possible, then buy one, has gone the way of the dodo bird.

Veterans in the real ...

When you sign up for a mortgage, it’s usually for 25 years or 30 years; could even be for 35 years in certain cases. Interestingly however, hardly any mortgage written will run its full length.

Did you know that, when you move, you can take your mortgage privileges with you, except that you have to be re-qualified again by the bank making it a NEW mortgage.

When looking at the ending of mor ...

Buying a 1000 sq ft cottage on the water in BC will cost you anywhere from $330,000 to a Million, according to a report just released by Royal lePage Real Estate Services.

A one-Thousand square foot home at ocean's edge. Some would call it a cottage, others would think of it as a mansion in paradise found.

The report was also picked up by the Vancouver Sun and published, in part, in the Sat ...

When you‘re selling your home, the highest bid will usually take it. Is it the same with real estate agents? The one who says your house is worth the most, will get the listing?

In real estate, it's pretty simple: we list and sell. However, in order to sell, we have to list first. Having listings is quite important!

Naturally, you want your house sold for the highest possible price by the r ...