THE GOLD W INTER SUN setting over the Vancouver skyline is one of the beautiful views available to North Shore residents. (Ellsworth Dickson photo)

.

A successful real estate
salesman knows there are
three main priorities for
property purchase. They are

“Location, location and
location.”
What this means, of

course, is that a home buyer
is buying more than a home,
he is buying a neighborhood.
You can change the interior
or exterior of a home to suit
your family. You can change
the lands.-aping to suit your
lifestyle. Bur it is more
difficult to move a house if'a
neighborhood doesn’t prove
satisfactory.

Many factors should be
considered before choosing
a neighborhood - the valuc

of properties all around the
home you are considering,
the care and maintenance by
property owners in the area,
the future prospects for the
street and the entire region.
You must view the purchase
of your home as an in-
vestment in the future, so
while you're dealing with the
present, be sure to think of
the years to come as well.

Researching a location for
livability and investment
takes Gime, effort and some
expertise, so ask your real
estate agent tq give you this
professional service. If he
uses the Multiple Listing
Service of the Real Estate
Board of Greater Van-
couver, he will have

Location, location, location

available figures on all the
past sales in the general
neighborhood you are
considering. He can
research in the Real Estate

Board's statistical
publication, Real Estate
Trends in Metropolitan
Vancouver, where future

projections on development
and change are outlined.

A well trained real estate
sales person will check
municipal offices to find if
any zoning changes are
being considered. Your
dream home could turn into
a nightmare if a main transjt
artery should suddenly be
cul across your backyard, or
if a factory, warehouse or
shopping centre sprang up
within a blotk of it.

Evaluating the neigh-
borhood itself for livability
falls in great part to the
potential buyer. You are the
one who knows if you need
schools and sports facilities,
churches and casy access to
transportation. Be sure to
reveal your needs to a
salesperson who is helping
you search out the perfect
home, and he will judge
what he shows you from
your needs; but there is
nothing wrong with your

doing some checking
yourself. You should walk
around the neighborhood

and see if the houses are in
good repair, lawns well kept,
and if there is an overall
visual effect of neatness.

Be sure the house you are

considering is in the same
general price range of the
other properties surrounding
it, and that the yard work
will not be too

the leisure activities of your
family. While you're walking
around the ncighborhood,
compare its features with
your present situation.

If there are no large shade
trees and you are ac-
customed to fiving with
them, will you miss them? If
the area is hilly while you're
presently accustomed to
level strects, will this be a
difficulty to anyone in your
family? Is there enough
parking for the vehicles your
family possesses?

_. Page 47, January 7, 1979 - Sx

ree
consuming ‘to interfere wit

There’s no reason you
can’t knock on a few doors
and ask questions of your
prospective neighbors.
Introduce yourself and
enquire about the facilities
an amenities of the
neighborhood. Neigh-
bors can be quite
specific and helpful and
perhaps tell you about things
that you've forgotten to ask.

Doing this kind = of
evaluating and research is
getting back to the three

prioritics of ‘purchase.....
“location, location and
location”, which are ali

important in that lifetime
decision you make when you
settle on a house to buy.

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