We have been quite busy during the 1st half of the year working with a number of Buyers and Sellers. Usually with each offer that is made either on our Sellers property or with our Buyers there comes an inspection. We always recommend to our Buyers that they have their own inspection done by a reputable inspector. This week Gary from A-Z performed another inspection for some of our buyers and shared some great advice for Sellers on how to ensure your home is prepared for a successful inspection. This doesn't mean you can prevent the inspection from coming up with maintenance issues, but it will help the inspector being able to provide a detailed and accurate report to help the Buyers in their decision making when purchasing a re-sale home.

To contact Gary, please visit the following link :www.a-zhomeinspection.com

Preparing your home for a home inspection, a request to the seller:

Please ensure access to:

1: The back yard: make sure to have gates unlocked. And larger animals restrained.

2: Remove items that may be leaning against the structure or blocking the visual sight lines.

3: The crawl space panel if present. Remove stored items from around and on top of hatch.

4: The attic scuttle hatch or door way. Remove shelving and personal items from the area.

5: The main electrical panel and any sub panels. Remove objects covering or blocking.

6: Furnace utility room. Stored items on or near furnace should be removed to allow access to open the panels.

7: Water heater area. Stored items on or near water heater should be removed to allow access to open the panel.

8: Kitchen and bathroom vanities. Please remove stored items to allow inspection of plumbing supply lines and drainage pipes.

9: If there are tenants, make sure they have adequate notice of the inspection.

These simple things will help the inspection process move smoothly and efficiently; as well as offer peace of mind to your buyer that a comprehensive inspection was performed.

Thank you.

Gary Ladwig

A-Z Home Inspections

Certified Master Home Inspector

How amazing to see a 6 year old little girl taking on an incredible challenge to help raise funds for BC children's hospital in honour of her classmate Kade McBurney. She's aiming to do the grouse grind 10 times over the next few months and for each time that she does she's looking for people to pledge or donate a lump sum. Already she's passed her goal of $750 and raised $755. Join us and help her raise even more!

https://secure.bcchf.ca/SuperheroPages/main.cfm?Event=GrindForKids&Member=26604&PH=1

The federal government once again has decided to implement more changes to prevent Canada from falling into the same situation as the US. This is the 4th time in 4 years they have made changes. The biggest change will be the 30 year amortization down to 25 year for government insured mortgages, as well as dropping the amount you can borrow from the equity in your home from 80% to 85%.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/06/20/mortgage-rules-tightened.html

What do you think of these changes?

I wanted to share a very touching email that I received yesterday. Kara and I are very proud to have Anna on our team, she is a delight to work with. And it looks like our clients think so too! :)

Hi Bettina
 
I just wanted to send you a little note from myself and my family to thank you for
having Anna help us with our purchase in Langley.
 
She is wonderful.  I could not believe how professional she is and how she listened
to all of our wishes.   I have dealt with many realtors in my life but she is one of a kind.
Always communicating all information as soon as she had it. 
 
Sometimes when the deal is done one never hears from the realtor again but she
still keeps in touch.  We feel that we have made a friend for life and are touched.
 
Thank you
 
Rose & Wayne, Carlos & Stacey

I wrote about Kade McBurney and his family a few months ago and even though I never met him or his family their story has touched our hearts. It's with a sad heart today after reading the local papers that we found out Kade lost his battle with cancer on June 8th.

http://www.thenownewspaper.com/story.html?id=6788763

There is nothing like winding up my day with a cup of tea. My sweetner of choice has always been honey and the absolute best honey in the Valley can be purchased at the Honeybee Centre on Fraser Hwy and 176.

The honeybee centre is not only the best place to buy a variety of different types of honey, but they are also a local visitor's attraction. As well, I didn't realize that their main business is renting bee hives to help pollinate the many acres of blueberry and fruit fields here in the lower mainland.

Take a peak at their website to see the many different reasons why you should visit their country store.
http://www.honeybeecentre.com/

Happy Father's Day from all of us at the Bettina Reid Group to all the wonderful Dads in our lives. We hope it was a good one!

Very frustrated!!!

With having a new team member, I just purchased a whole lot of new signs. Only to find one already gone missing. In all honesty I have been quite shocked that these directional signs have lasted a couple weeks. But the reason for my frustration this time is that we noticed a homeowner mowing the boulevard and had pulled out the sign. Fair enough....we figured when they were done they would pop it back in the ground. Well that was not the case, it was never put back into the ground. If you do not like the sign on the boulevard by your home. No problem, I can appreciate that and would gladly remove it and place elsewhere or not at all. Give us a call and we will pick up the sign. But please do not throw the sign in the garbage.

That is exactly what this home owner did. I was furious, these directional signs cost us $30 a piece and they are not only a great source of marketing for us but they do what they are supposed to do and direct people to our clients properties that are for sale.

So, I ask you please the next time you aren't happy with a sign being near your home. Give us a call, we're home owners too and can appreciate it if you don't like the sign.

Tonight Kara, Anna and I had a lot of fun helping out Hillcrest elementary for their school's Fun Night! The children and community in general seemed to have a great time and hopefully they raised a lot of money for the school.

With it being a week away from the 1st day of spring, today was one of those days where as much as I love this province I would have much preferred the temperatures Ontarians have been enjoying....warm and sunny! As I write the temperatures there in the late evening is the same as our daily highs. Now don`t get me wrong the humidity can be unbearable at times, but that`s what air conditioning is for. :)

Fingers and toes crossed we actually get a summer this year, especially after such a miserable spring.