Real Estate Broker/Owner
Li Read
How may I help you to buy your Salt Spring Island or Southern Gulf Islands or Vancouver Island property? Benefit from my expertise & knowledge (of inventory & of trends). Awaiting your call...
Cell: (250) 537-7647
Office: (250) 537-8763
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Real Estate Sales Representative
Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation
Victoria Real Estate Blog includes current real estate market reports on Homes-Condominiums & Townhouses For Sale in the South Side of Victoria BC in Oak Bay-James Bay-Fairfield & Saanich
Cell: (250) 413-7042
Office: (250) 744-3301
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All About British Columbia Real Estate

By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
OUR HONEY BEES ARE OUT WORKING IN VICTORIA AGAIN.Photo by  Janine Linning #portalberni 
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
UNDERSTANDING HOW A REVERSE MORTGAGE WORKS“Don't let retirement be a  time of financial worry – explore the benefits of a reverse mortgage today.”  As you approach retirement age, one of the biggest concerns is how to manage your finances  while maintaining your quality of life. A reverse mortgage may be one option worth considering.   In Canada, reverse mortgages are becoming increasingly popular as a way to unlock the equity  in your home and supplement your income during retirement. So, what is a reverse mortgage? It is a loan that allows homeowners aged 55 and older to  access the equity in their homes without having to sell their property. With a reverse mortgage,  you can convert a portion of your home's equity into cash that you can use to pay off debts,  cover living expenses, o...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
James Bay Victoria's Seaside Neighbourhood A vibrant and diverse neighbourhood with both apartment towers and many historic homes, James Bay is the bedroom community to the downtown core. James Bay is surrounded by water on three sides; Victoria Harbour to the north and west, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the south. Link to Map of James Bay Homes For SaleBeacon Hill Park provides a green border to the east. James Bay's extensive waterfront is alive with activity including an array of industry, government and transportation facilities. Tourism plays a significant role in the economy of James Bay, both because it hosts many tourist destinations and because it is home to the Ogden Point cruise ship terminal. Many of Victoria's key attractions are located in the neighbourhood including ...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
Oak Bay Real Estate | Market Review March 1, 2021 Oak Bay Real Estate.. Activity-Indicates we're still in a strong real estate market in the municipality of Oak Bay. Find Photos and more listing Details: Here's a Current list of Oak Bay Homes For Sale.Oak Bay Real Estate... March, 2021 Single Family Home Stats: Total Oak Bay Single Family Home Pending Sales = 52 Average Oak Bay Home Pending Selling Price in February was $1,937,783.Total Oak Bay Single Family Home SALES & Pending Sales January 1/23 to March 1/23 = 19This report may not indicate a market trend in the coming months in Oak Bay BC, however it should give you an idea of the current Oak Bay Real Estate activity with Oak Bay single family homes,  (since January). Number of Single Family Homes Currently For Sale on March  1, 202...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
VICTORIA JANUARY MLS MARKET UPDATE A slow start to the year may not foretell the future for the Victoria housing market  A total of 278 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this January, 41.4 percent fewer than the 474 properties sold in January 2022 and a 13.1 percent decrease from December 2022. Sales of condominiums were down 46.3 percent from January 2022 with 101 units sold. Sales of single family homes decreased 33 percent from January 2022 with 120 sold. “If you’re looking at the statistics, this January was one of the slowest we’ve seen on record,” says 2023 Victoria Real Estate Board Chair Graden Sol. “However, we did see a mid-month surge in activity as buyers seemed to regain confidence after the rapid interest rate increases of last year. It may be that c...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
Starting in January 2023 Home buyers can rescind their accepted offer to purchase a single family home....Watch this video which explains this the New Home Buyer Rescission Period.This video will provide an overview of the HBRP and go over how buyers have the right to rescind or cancel their offer to purchase certain types of residential property within three business days after an offer has been acceptedhttps://youtu.be/T3Q6U3PtokIConsumer’s Guide to Understanding the BC Home Buyer Rescission PeriodSource
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
OCTOBER VICTORIA REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATE A slight uptick in sales and inventory, but Victoria real estate market still requires commitment to homesA total of 480 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this October, 35.6 percent fewer than the 745 properties sold in October 2021 but a 17.1 percent increase from September 2022. Sales of condominiums were down 39 per cent from October 2021 with 152 units sold. Sales of single family homes decreased 32.2 percent from October 2021 with 230 sold.How much is your home worth today? “Inventory has remained stable this month and for the first time since May 2022, we see a slight increase in the month over month sales,” says Victoria Real Estate Board President Karen Dinnie-Smyth. “We noted last month that the number of sales f...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
FERNWOOD-Victoria BC-Real Estate-Homes October Market SnapshotOctober, 2022....... I thought I would review the Real Estate activities of Victoria BC an area known by the locals as FERNWOOD, an area bordered by Oak Bay Ave, & Fort St and FAIRFIELD & ROCKLAND to the South, Foul Bay Rd and OAK BAY to the East, Ryan St and Newton St  and CAMOSUN to the North, Chamber St & Cedar Hill Rd  CENTRAL PARK to the West.FERNWOOD MapFernwood Village is at the heart of this residential neighbourhood.  Fernwood Square’s charm has been captured in movies and is the community’s gathering place, with seasonal markets. The village is also home to outstanding theatrical productions at the Belfry Theatre and Theatre Inconnu in the Paul Phillips Hall.  Throughout the year, they draw Victorians to the village...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
OK ....VICTORIA HOME BUYERS IT'S YOUR TURN NOW…Real Estate Markets Change from time to time. In Victoria and many other cities it has been a Home Seller Market with many Bidding Wars with Buyers trying to Buy their next home. FIND OUT ONLINE WHAT YOUR VICTORIA HOME IS WORTH TODAY.Now with Rising Mortgage Interest rates Victoria home sales have slowed considerably with little or no Bidding wars like last year. Here’s a Quick Snapshot of Days on the Market Home sales have slowed from 7-8 Days on the Market to almost 30 days on the market I assume like many other cities in North America. When I search New home Listings in the Last 30 days and the number of Pending home Sales, in Victoria Core Neighbourhoods we soon see the slowdown.Just 228 Home Pending Sales in the Victoria Core Market wi...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
Victoria Real Estate Market continues to experience low inventory and high demand A total of 833 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this March, 29 per cent fewer than the 1,173 properties sold in March 2021 but a 16 per cent increase from February 2022. Sales of condominiums were down 26 per cent from March 2021 with 279 units sold. Sales of single family homes decreased 28.2 percent from March 2021 with 412 sold.“Once again, we have had a record breaker of a month,” said 2022 Victoria Real Estate Board President Karen Dinnie-Smyth. “This March had the lowest number of active listings we have seen in a month of March – beating last year’s record low. For context, in the past five years the average number of active listings at the end of March is 1,864 properties. T...
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By Li Read, Caring expertise...knowledge for you!
(Sea to Sky Premier Properties (Salt Spring))
It's not easy to  pare down.   Even though we may have helped a seller to declutter, before listing, it's not the same process when it's our turn to become lean.   Like you, I subscribe to the concept that in getting rid of "stuff" (and yes, it's worth listening to George Carlin's riff on "stuff"), we leave room for the new to enter our lives.   To go from a lot of things to very few is not an easy segue.    How did I finally do it?   A relative with a stack of garbage bags and an inexhaustible supply of stickies stepped in.   Yes, the magic of 3: this pile goes with you, this pile is gifted on, this pile is going to recycling/garbage.    Another truism...it's easy to pare if someone else is doing it.   Meantime, how does it feel to  have gifted on so many items?   Well, it takes that 2...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
Remembering...Lest we Forget those that gave their livesIn Flanders Fieldsby Major Dr. John McCrae, May 1915In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep,though poppies growIn Flanders fields. On 2 May, 1915, in the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a German artillery shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
Love this time of year in Victoria. Nature is so close by. I love to take my Mini Poodle for a walk in the Goldstream River Provincial Park. The Photos ops are everywhere, I love go here to capture the river and Salmon spawning...On my way to the Goldstream River I walk down an old road into the campground with some great foliage scenes with the Fall season changes arriving.
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ENDS SUNDAY SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK 1 HOUROfficially Daylight Savings Ends in Victoria BC at 2 Am Sunday Morning. Most of us will turn our Clocks and Watches back one hour when we go to bed Saturday Evening. Computer items Such as iPhones, iPads,LapTops & DeskTop Computers, Etc will automatically adjust themselves back one hour.THE GOOD NEWS WE ALL GET AN EXTRA HOURS SLEEP SUNDAYThis is also a good time to change the batteries in your Smoke and CO2 detectors! Or if you do not have any you can buy one at London Drugs, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Home Hardware, Rona and most Hardware or Electrical supply stores.Have a fun weekend!
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By Li Read, Caring expertise...knowledge for you!
(Sea to Sky Premier Properties (Salt Spring))
We've all experienced covid lockdowns...the first one in my area lasted for ten weeks, in 2020.   Many media projections were calling for gloom and doom for real estate post-pandemic.   Well, just goes to show that experts never know what's what.   As soon as restrictions lifted, then the secondary  home/rural regions erupted in busyness.    I love my island home...and it has seen its share of buyers seeking what it offers.   What we have ended up experiencing is that there is no post-pandemic, and real estate has arrived at few listings and many buyers.   I call it the flight to rural.    There is a cap on growth in my region, as the beauties of these islands are protected by the government.    Couple that with a real estate market in love with small communities and you know what's com...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
OUR REAL ESTATE MARKET IN VICTORIA IS HOT!! The Single Family market in Victoria BC is HOT, So Values have Changed in most neighbourhoods in Victoria. Maybe it’s time to find out what your home is worth. A shortage of homes for sales is creating a Hot market for home sellers, meaning homes sell very quickly and usually for more money than they are listed for. With so many Buyers competing to buy a home often we have been seeing many Buyers Bidding the asking price up. Often at over $100,000 of the asking price...Well that was the case earlier this Spring. Home owners hearing about homes selling at crazing prices are throwing their homes on the market at maybe unreal asking prices. Many Victoria Home Buyers are now saying Whoa!! I’ll wait this one out, I lost out on trying to buy the las...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
Oak Bay Real Estate | Market Review JULY 22, 2021 Oak Bay Real Estate.. Activity-Indicates we're still a Sellers Market in the municipality of Oak Bay. Find Photos and more Details: Here's a Current Oak Bay Homes For Sale.Oak Bay Real Estate... July 22, 2021 Single Family Home Stats:Total Oak Bay Single Family Home Pending Sales = 52 Average Oak Bay Home Pending Selling Price in JULY was $1,998,309.Total Oak Bay Single Family Home SALES & Pending Sales January 1/21 to July 21/21 = 154This report may not indicate a market trend in the coming months in Oak Bay BC, however it should give you an idea of the current Oak Bay Real Estate activity with Oak Bay single family homes,  (since January). Number of Single Family Homes Currently For Sale on July 22/21in Oak Bay Total = 38 Average Askin...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
VICTORIA REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT FOR JUNE Low Inventory and Strong Demand Continue in Victoria Real Estate Market A total of 942 properties sold in the Victoria Real Estate Board region this June, 16.6 per cent more than the 808 properties sold in June 2020, but 10.2 percent fewer than the previous month of May.  Condominium sales were up 61.7 per cent from June 2020 with 338 units sold. 4 per cent more condominiums sold in June 2021 than in the previous month of May.  Sales of Single Family homes were down 4.3 per cent from June 2020 with 440 sold. 18.1 percent fewer single family homes sold in June 2021 than in the previous month of May. “We are at a point now where we can look at yearly comparisons with a new lens,” said Victoria Real Estate Board President David Langlois.  “In rec...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
Victoria Multifamily Apartment Investing can show you a great investment return.Did you know an Apartment Building Investments offers three streams of income, such as rental income, mortgage reduction and appreciation in Victoria, BC.If you would like to learn more about Multifamily Apartment Investing, give me Fred Carver Personnal.Real.Estate.Corporation.  with RE/MAX Camosun a call at 250-413-7042 or email me at Fred@FredCarver.com for Victoria Multifamily Apartment Building Investing.Multifamily Apartment real estate makes a great Investment. Victoria investment real estate near Langford Costco just outside Victoria, BC.Visit many current Listings of  Multifamily Real Estate in Victoria and Vancouver Island.Fred Carver Personal Real Estate CorporationTop-Shelf Service, Top-Notch Res...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
Updated Sept 3/22Join me with my Live Northridge Video Tour through the Northridge neighbourhood near me in Victoria, BC.It’s a great Saanich neighbourhood in Victoria BC called Northridge in and around Copley Park and the end of Carey Rd around Northridge Elementary School and Panama Flats.There are currently 3 Pending home sales in Northridge with an average home selling price of $1,069,000. Currently there are  3 Homes For Sale in the Northridge Neighbourhood!!Watch for New Listings of Northridge Homes For Sale Here:  VictoriaHomesandProperties.com
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
DEER IN YOUR YARD.... TOO?This Works!I found the following tip to keep Deer out of my Flowers from a Book I bought “Deerproofing Your Yard & Garden”, 2nd Edition. By “Rhona Massingham Hart”.I found Lots of great suggestions in her book. One that I found worked for me….. How do I know my Neighbours said they watched Deer bypass my yard and not their yards? Several Neighbours asked me what I was doing to keep Deer out of my Flower beds?Easy read in her Book on page  109….HAIRHuman hair is saturated with our scent which proves to be an effective deterrent against wild Deer. Rhona says in this chapter more-Urbanized Deer are far too sophisticated to be put off by Human hair and generally a waste of time.Hair from Predators, when available, works well. No need to shave a Cougar or Lion : Dog...
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
BC ASSESSMENT HAVE BEEN MAILED OUT ARE THEY UP TO-DATE IN TODAY'S CRAZING MARKET.If you are wondering if your BC Assessment reflect a true market Value of your home. If You Have Questions Lets Talk. In the Meantime take a moment to watch my YOUTUBE VIdeo below.BC ASSESSMENT HAVE BEEN MAILED OUT
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By Fred Carver Personal Real Estate Corporation, Accredited Real Estate Consultant
(RE/MAX Camosun Victoria BC Real Estate)
5 Easy Things to do Before Putting Your Home on the Market https://youtu.be/iN0zef20GbI  Have a pre-sale home inspection. Be proactive by arranging for a pre-sale home inspection. An inspector will be able to give you a good indication of the trouble areas that will stand out to potential buyers, and you’ll be able to make repairs before open houses begin.   Organize and clean. Pare down clutter and pack up your least-used items, such as large blenders and other kitchen tools, out-of-season clothes, toys, and exercise equipment. Store items off-site or in boxes neatly arranged in the garage or basement. Clean the windows, carpets, walls, lighting fixtures, and baseboards to make the house shine.   Get replacement estimates. Do you have big-ticket items that are worn our or will need to...
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