Lethbridge Real Estate and Mortgage Info

Lethbridge Real Estate OPEN HOUSE

Saturday Feb. 6th, 2-4 pm.

2430 - 19 Street North, Lethbridge

Asking price: $189,900

This is a great family home that I will be making available at OPEN HOUSE this coming Saturday 2-4pm.  I know that some people are not big fans of open houses, but I love them.  They make showing convenient for the seller and the make an easy appointment for buyers who are not quite sure if the home meets their criteria.  Come on over, check it out.   The door will be open, I will be there hanging out meeting people, talking about the market, interest rates, and financing options.

Stop by and see it, lets talk about real estate, lets talk about mortgages.  I welcome anyone who is curious to come and meet me and see if this great property is right for you.  Maybe the time is right for you to become a homeowner?

Century 21 Lethbridge office has closed its franchise office the end of 2009.  I wrote a blog post a few months back about some changes that seemed to be taking place there, and it seems as if there was more going on.

I believe that many of the agents moved on to an office that is located in a town an hour and a half North of Lethbridge, however some may have switched to different offices.  I wish them all the best, there were some cool people in that office and a few who had some great creative marketing ideas.

I believe that this is the 4th time that Century 21 Lethbridge has gone out of business.  The franchise is strong in some far off places in the world, but here in Lethbridge Alberta, Century 21 is not a name that is synonmous with any sort of permanent existance.  They were a big company back in the 1970's and their 'gold jacket' was such an icon that it was one of the true symbols of the real estate industy worldwide.

If you are looking for real estate help in Lethbridge, or looking to send a lethbridge real estate referral to a reliable stable and consistent Realtor, look me up.  I have been in this industry since 1993, long enough to see the last 3 Century 21 franchises come and go in this city.  I treat your clients like they are my own.

Is it still possible to find Lethbridge real estate at bargain prices?  Are there any good deals out there?

There are questions that my Lethbridge real estate clients and friends ask me on a regular basis.  The answer is overwhelmingly YES!  There are actually lots of good deals or bargain priced homes that come and go from the market in any given month.  There are not hundreds, there are not even dozens, but there are several each and every month.  Call Robert May at 403-330-3039 if this is the type of Lethbridge property you are interested in.

These Lethbridge real estate bargains may be foreclosures, court sales, divorces, frustrated landlords trying to unload a rental property, or just a tough sell property that is going for a good deal.  I have also came across homes that were listed by an incompetant real estate person at a price that was far below the true value of the property.  The point is, there are bargains to be had.  Call Robert May at 403-330-3039 if this is the type of Lethbridge property you are interested in. 

How do you get those bargains?

Call me.  Call me and tell me what you want, what you dont want, what is on your wish list, what might work, and then let me keep an eye out for you.  I come across literally dozens of properties that are new to the market each week, some MLS and some exclusively available through me.  Call Robert May at 403-330-3039 if this is the type of Lethbridge property you are interested in. 

Happy New Years to all my friends, family, and followers here on activerain, facebook, twitter, etc.  If this message travels correctly it will appear on all of those sites at once.

2010 will bring some challenges to the local Lethbridge real estate market and also for Lethbridge mortgage financing.  The last 6 months of 2009 demonstrated that things are not moving fast and also that mortgage lenders are being more and more particular and difficult.

While lowest interest rates in recent history are still available, the documentation and requirements that the banks are asking for has seemingly increased.  The goal of course is to eliminate any higher risk loans, but it is affecting almost all applicants in some way or another.

The inventory of homes for sale in Lethbridge still has a few price ranges and areas that are a bit flooded, but for the most part, there are not many decent quality or well priced family homes anywhere on the Lethbridge MLS system.  There are still bargains that pop up on the market, but they sell within a day or two.  A buyer really needs to be preapred to jump on them when they appear.  The key to doing so is to have your cash and financing in line before you go shopping for a home.  Call me and we can discuss how to do this and what the advantages of it are.

Have a great 2010, I look forward to continuing my entirely online marketing efforts and leading the industry in new innovation and use of technology.

South Lethbridge Real Estate

Are you looking for information on real estate in South Lethbridge?  This includes the areas of London Road, Lakeview, Fairmont, Coulee Creek, Tudor Estates, Park Royal, Fairview Subdivision, etc.  These are just some of the great areas available in South Lethbridge for you to shop for your next home or real estate investment.

A great place to start your house search is at my Lethbridge real estate online website.  While this blog is full of great information on mortgages, the market, prices, industry trends, things to watch out for, etc, my other website is great for searching the local Lethbridge MLS system for Lethbridge real estate listings without any pressure or obligation.

Go to my MLS Lethbridge real estate search site at:  LethbridgeRealEstateOnline.com

Search for properties at your own pace and in the privacy of your own home.

Give me a call and lets discuss the ones that interest you.

403-330-3039

lethbridge mortgage broker lethbridge real estate

For many years, illegal and non-conforming basement suites have been the bane of many real estate transactions and mortgage applications.  The City of Lethbridge has tried to deal with the situation several times in the past few decades, at one time allowing suites that were in existence before 1969 to remain in their non-conforming condition and making exceptions onf suites which were constructed after 1969.

As 2008 drew to a close, a new fire code amendment required all existing basement suites to be improved to meet a minimum safety level including smoke and fire detectors, proper egress windows on all bedrooms, free access to exits from the suite, and containing all HVAC systems behind moderately fire retardant walls.

To the bestof my knowledge, most landlords made no effort to comply.

A recent house fire in Calgary this past week is certain to bring this issue to the front page of the newspaper and encourage more discussion in the community and City Council chambers.

Now, a new grant program eliminates all excuses for a landlord to fail to improve the conditions of their properties and comply with the fire code.  Here is a recent article which details the grants.

I wanted to make a new Lethbridge real estate website that I could use for doing some testing of some fancy geek technology that I have been messing around with lately.  Of course, when you are setting up a website primarily for experimentation and it is in total development, you don't want to spend a ton of money on it.

I chose to use a point2 template site, bought a godaddy domain, did a redirect, and spend an hour putting up the following website:

http://www.lethbridgerealestateonline.com

Now I will admit the site isnt pretty and sure wont win any awards the way it looks and functions yet, but it does have a few key components in it that I plan to build upon and see what I can achieve with them.  It is about 2am on the 5th of November, 2009 and I am curious how long it will take to get that website spidered into google and ranked.  I plan to spend about 2 hours this weekend doing some optimization, and then let the site sit for a week.

The end of November I will tweak the site and add more content to it and see if I cant push it into the top 20 searches for my local real estate market.  That will be quite an accomplishment if I can do that within a month, but it is a great goal and I think I have a plan and the tools to achieve it WITHOUT spending a single dime on marketing.

Testing 1 2 3, lets give this a shot.

I would love feedback from anyone who clicks on it.  What parts need work, what parts look okay the way they are.  I am a bit of a rookie HTML programmer, but can do enough clean it up if suggested.

Are you shopping for a home on the Lethbridge MLS?  Or wanting your home sold on the Lethbridge MLS?  Or just curious what MLS is?

What is the MLS^®?

When you want to buy a car, the pressure’s on to make the deal with that salesperson at that car dealership. You won’t hear about what’s being offered at the competing lot down the street.

That’s the exact opposite of the MLS^® used by REALTORS^® across Canada. In fact, MLS^® is all about REALTORS^® cooperating with each other, no matter what company they work for. MLS^® is a complex system that boils down to big advantages for consumers: cooperation and marketing among REALTORS^® mean better chances for you to succeed.

MLS^® was created 50 years ago to help Canadians wanting to buy or sell properties. You’re probably familiar with REALTOR.ca, the online property guide, but what began as reams of paper chock full of listing information and photos has become an online database of properties from across the country.

REALTOR^® members of the local real estate board pay for the MLS^®. That board operates the local system, while the umbrella group – the Canadian Real Estate Association – owns the MLS^® trademark.

Only REALTORS^® can list on the MLS^® and REALTOR.ca, so if you’re selling your property, you’ll benefit from the wide exposure the listing will enjoy. Other REALTORS^® use the database to present the possibilities to their clients, potential buyers for your home.

If you’re in the market to buy or looking to sell, remember that the MLS^®, REALTOR.ca and your REALTOR^® can help make your dream a reality.

Lethbridge Weightloss and Fitness

This is probably the worst part of the year for people to be thinking about weightloss.  Thanksgiving is over, we all ate way too much.  Halloween just passed and we all have buckets of candy and treats sitting around the house.  The cold weather is coming and outdoor activity levels is dropping off rapidly.

In Lethbridge, we have several fitness facilities yet still have much of our population who struggles with weightloss.  Perhaps it is due to the large number of fast food outlets, or maybe it is just due to inactivity.  Regardless, having a control on one's health and fitness can not only add years to your life, but also improve the quality of life substantially.

I have to admit that I am one of the worst offenders here.  I have had memberships to Lethbridge Gyms and Lethbridge fitness facilities.  I have had periods of time when I went a few times a week, times when I went every day, and times that I paid $50 a month for a memberhsip to a fitness facility that I never seemed to go to.

There are many health and fitness scams out there.  Yes some of them work temporarily and some of them may even work effectively but with no real proven reason or study of their other long term effects.  Common sense dictates that the human body is designed to consume good food, burn energy, and work towards natural efficiency.  To lose weight and improve fitness a combination of an improved diet and increased activity is the foundation which success is built upon.  All the supplements in the world, diet pills, magic shakes, fruit drinks, etc will do nothing if you do not have the base of good nutrition and healthy activity.

At times when my business is booming I know that I let my own commitment to health and fitness suffer.  I think we all do this.  I need to get some Lethbridge weightloss and fitness planning back into my schedule.  I look forward to putting a plan into action and using my blog to keep me on track.

Robert May

Lethbridge Plumber

Thank goodness I have not needed the services of a Lethbridge Plumber in over a year.  A Lethbridge plumber can be one of the handiest people to have saved in your phone!  For some reason, it is the one service in your home that always seems to be the first to deal you a mechanical emergency.

I have had leaky pipes, leaky taps, blown hot water tank, and plugged drains.  In every one of these cases there was little I was able to do myself, despite being a fairly handy guy with a gnarly set of tools. (props to Spicoli's dad).

I now have a couple of plumbers who are past clients and friends.  These are guys who are reliable, affordable, and I can depend upon them when I have a Lethbridge plumbing emergency.  I know that it will cost me more to have them come out on short notice, in the evening, or on the weekend, but when a plumbing catastrophe strikes the price is really not the first thing I am concerned about.

If you are involved in real estate in Lethbridge, you need to have a network of professionals.  If you would like to add me and any of my Lethbridge plumber friends to your contact list of reliable available Lethbridge professionals, give me a call.

Robert May