Betsy Carstairs

I just sold this 2 storey at 56 Rockridge, Rural Squamish - South of Whistler, BC Black Tusk Village.View this recently sold 2 storey or see all my home sales

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to how the Harmonized Sales Tax applies to house sales so this article from Bell Spagunulo Law firm BASIC INFORMATION ON H.S.T. FOR RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE   H.S.T. has different implications for used residential real estate and new residential real estate. In this part of our website we outline the basic rules regarding H.S.T., and the basic rebat ...

I am a member of a strata council & am well aware of the frustrations & hours of volunteer time it takes to get through meetings effectively. When I read this article in The Vancouver Sun I just had to post   Imagine the 'bully president' seeking peace between the 'spendthrift' and the 'cheapskate'   BY SUZANNE MORPHET, VANCOUVER SUN OCTOBER 23, 2010      One-person plays can be ...

Here is a great article from Gail Vaz-Oxlade on a "new product" a collateral mortgage option offered by the TD Bank. Do not think I will opt for this. Know it gets confusing. Just when you finally find the house of your dreams you think you are home free. This article points out the pit falls of not doing your homework with getting a mortgage that works in your favour not the bank's The New ...

Kayaking on The Indian Arm is a fun sport for me & for some of my friends. One friend in particular Julie Blue decided to have me start her birthday on a kayaking adventure. I picked her up @ 7:00am & as the water was calm as glass off we headed for a paddle up the North Vancouver side of The Arm up past Cascades to just before Brighton Beach when the wind decided to blow up so we headed back ...

When we bought our 1st home in the late '70's the only way we were able to get into the market was with the seller giving us a mortgage. We were fresh out of university & savings were @ a minimum so this worked very well for us as well as for the seller so I thought this article would be of interest. Excerpt from CTV's News website Should you be someone else's mortgage lender? Preet Banerje ...

Up down or sideways.........where is our market going? Last week I was working with clients who looked at a 3 level house in Coquitlam's Riverview Heights neighbourhood listed in the mid 700's. I was a bit surprised when I heard that it was getting multiple offers & accepted a offer over the asking price. When you read the newspaper it indicates a softening of the realestate market. When I lo ...

I love to kayaking up the Indian Arm. My favorite time to go paddling is 1st thing in the morning when the water is calm as glass & the residents are foraging for their breakfast. It was most interesting for me as this summer I also kayaked up in Seachelt. The seal, otter, & eagle life unfolding around me on The Indian Arm I took as normal waters edge activity. I was surprised in Seachelt @ a ...

I ran across this article in Shell Busey's site  Here is what Shell says about heating options to consider when redoing or finishing a basement. The Convectair heaters are what my electrician recommended to me 14years ago & they are so economical & comfortable. More expensive to purchase than the base board heaters but the long term savings more than offset the higher price of the applianceHe ...

Well this was certainly a beautiful sunny day to celebrate the last day of summer. Showed some clients the Brighton Beach cabin & crusing up on the calm glassy water was idealic. Later on in the day some friends invited me over to Cozy Cove across from Deep Cove & it certainly was bitter sweet to savour 1 last hot sunny day on their deck sipping a Cervasa.  What a great way to end a fabulous ...