New Brunswick real-estate opportunities could include oceanfront property, mountainous terrain, or the serenity of rivers and valleys. It is your choice!

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a great way to narrow the search for your "dream home" online. It is very user friendly.

If you are looking for some New Brunswick real-estate to call home, I would like to help!

Kate Mammen is a realtor with Exit Realty Advantage in Fredericton New Brunswick.

Kate is well recommended and has extensive experience and knowledge in all aspects of New Brunswick Real-estate.

Kate Mammen is a hard worker and always puts her customer needs first. Kate is an amazing person and she won't stop until she finds the perfect home to suit your needs.

Contact Kate using the form below for all your New Brunswick real-estate questions and needs.

Below this form find answers to frequently asked questions in real-estate as answered by Kate Mammen.

Click on any question below to be immediately directed to the corresponding answer.
List of Questions:

Is buying a home in New Brunswick a good investment? What is the housing market like overall currently?

If I am thinking of purchasing my first home can you tell me what hidden costs may be associated with the transaction and where do I start?

Are there any green community based living spaces available in New Brunswick?

Is home staging necessary or beneficial to the sale of my home?

What professionals do I need to contact for help in buying and selling a home?

What are multiple offers and how do they work?

Kate, I know you are from Australia originally, I’m wondering if there are any similarities to Canada?

What is title insurance?

Travel New Brunswick Canada.com Question:

Is buying a home in New Brunswick a good investment? What is the housing market like overall currently?

Kate M:

I am excited about this opportunity to share with you insight on the real estate market in New Brunswick and what it means to you. I encourage you to contact me with questions at anytime.

Atlantic Canada has shown that it’s becoming a popular place to relocate to for both Canadians and Immigrants alike. An article in ‘The Globe and Mail’ recently reported that many Canadians are flocking to Atlantic Canada and the Maritimes for job opportunities that they would have formerly considered taking up elsewhere. This trend was somewhat evident before the current downturn (dare I say the ‘recession’ word), but now appears to have strengthened to the tune whereby Halifax is rewarding companies with ‘payroll rebates’ for each person hired.

The latest data released from the New Brunswick Real Estate Board supports the notion that this part of Canada (which I often refer to as the ‘emerald in Canada’s crown) is in fact ‘the’ place to live right now.

The construction of single starts and multiple starts in regards to residential construction numbers in Saint John continue to exceed the previous year’s pace by over 30 percent. Economic development and strong employment in Moncton is expected to continue to fuel in-migration in the coming years, particularly in the city region, where last year, the average sale price was up marginally. The capital city of Fredericton is also expected to continue to perform well, though both cities will likely not enjoy the phenomenal growth they have witnessed for the last seven years.

For those of us with the ability to make well-planned, long-term investments in real estate where positive cash flow combined with good population growth, income growth, and a solid infrastructure, purchasing property in this market is a boon.

We must remember to look at the current market with the right frame of mind.

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Travel New Brunswick Canada.com question:

If I am thinking of purchasing my first home can you tell me what hidden costs may be associated with the transaction and where do I start?

Kate M:

First Time Home Buyers can really benefit from what is happening in the economy right now.

There are some excellent first time homebuyer options available. For those who are not quite able to make the down payment, 100% financing is still available, although conditions do apply.

So first time homebuyers get ready, get set, and gooooo! See your bankers and be pre-approved. Make sure in your budget that you’ve allowed for ancillary costs – legal fees, land registration fees, property insurance, and inspection costs etc. Interview realtors and choose one that you’ll be comfortable with throughout the looking/buying process. Decide on what area you want to live, and in what style of home you’d like to live. If you’re thinking of building, interview builders and start to look at plans of homes that would suit your current and future needs. Find a good real estate lawyer – they’re worth their weight in gold! Search for a qualified home inspector – ones with an engineering background are a boon! Get the whole process on the go, and your realtor will assist you throughout the journey. Our job is to be of service, service, and more service to you and to make the purchase of your first home an enjoyable, exciting experience, one that you’ll always remember!

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Travel New Brunswick Canada.com Question:

Are there any green community based living spaces available in New Brunswick? Kate M:

Where Green means good and Good means green.

A local developer here in New Brunswick, Good is setting the bar for New Brunswick, and likely Canada, in terms of establishing a unique, community based approach to developing a sustainable living area. He has founded One Tree Orchard, in Island View, (a short drive outside the city of Fredericton), a development whereby a whopping fifty percent of buildable land area will be preserved as wildlife habitat and public recreational areas.

With public and expert planning and design in motion, Good’s 360 acre ‘Ecovillage’ will be a development where roads are the last phase to be considered, rather than the first. In his initial phase, Good designated the protected areas (200 acres so far), protecting eagle’s nests and butternut trees. The next stage will determine the placement of the mix of both high and low density housing along with more green spaces and parks being woven into the design.

A key component of Good’s dream is the incorporation of homes that suit all age types. He definitely wants a community where older parents can be close to their children and grandchildren. Hence he is encouraging the design and construction of homes that will suit people’s needs over the long term rather than the shorter term, and homes that have been built using local materials.

One Tree Orchard will also envelop child and aged care facilities, shared agricultural areas, community meeting and recreational spaces, and space for the establishment of places of worship. He realizes that this will significantly reduce the need for vehicle use, whilst concurrently strengthening the autonomy of his community.

I look forward to seeing Good’s green community based living project come to life for use by the people of Fredericton, New Brunswick.

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Travel New Brunswick Canada.com Question:

Is home staging necessary or beneficial to the sale of my home? Kate M:

Home staging is certainly now an important part of the world real estate market, and whilst it is much more common in larger cities, it is certainly beginning to make its impact in smaller cities too.

Essentially, home staging refers to the art of preparing a home for sale in order to help achieve the best selling price in the fastest time. When homeowners put their home on the market, they need to be mindful of many things, and many of these things do boil down to good old common sense.

Staging a home is really about merchandizing your most valuable product. When you list a home it immediately ceases to be your home. It becomes a product you are selling, and you must detach yourself accordingly. Now that does not necessarily mean that it should lose the sense of your home being a home. It just means that if you want to motivate buyers to buy, which by the way, normally occurs within minutes of them walking into your home – you have to know what to do in order to get them to that point. Prospective buyers want to imagine themselves in your home, not you.

I have seen many stagers in action, and they remind me of magicians. Their eye for space and detail enables them to simply move a key piece of furniture from one part of the room to another, and ‘Presto’, the room is changed immeasurably.

Most stagers agree that the top priorities for your home to sell well relate to curb appeal; clutter (or lack thereof); being impersonal; being fresh; being clean; being mindful of small fix it jobs; being cogniscent of colour; not having too much furniture in your space; having clean windows and good lighting; and having the finishing touches that put a sense of humanity into your home, like a well placed book, vase of flowers, a simple throw, and some healthy plants. However, one thing all stagers suggest, and suggest strongly, is to remove all items of a personal nature from your home when it goes to market, and I thoroughly concur. When you decorate a home, you make it comfortable and intimate for your family. When you market a home, you have to literally merchandize it. There is a difference. The key is to allow total strangers to be able to imagine themselves living their life in your home.

De-personalizing a home will help buyers actualize a dream, their dream, not yours.

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Travel New Brunswick Canada.com Question:

What professionals do I need to contact for help in buying and selling a home? Kate M:

There’s little doubt that purchasing a home (especially the first one) is the single largest purchase most people make in their entire lives. It requires a massive amount of planning, decision-making, budgeting, and saving, not to mention a strong mental fortitude to deal with the negotiations that take place during the purchase process. It is for these reasons alone, that you will need the assistance of a ‘team’ of professionals, rather than try to tackle the job of purchasing your home alone. Most of us would not consider buying a used car without having a licensed mechanic look at it, so why would we consider buying a pre-loved home without having the requisite experts provide us with their expertise?

By using the same real-estate agent to sell you existing home as you use to find your new dream home, he/she understands the things you love about your present home and could possibly not do without in your new home. He or she will also understand the things missing in your present home that absolutely must be a part of your new home. All in all, your relationship becomes very synchronistic.

A realtor is also often in a position to be able to hear about homes that may be coming onto the market, long before the rest of the market knows about it. In fact quite a lot of homes are sold way before any marketing takes place at all. It certainly pays to have someone with their nose to the grindstone looking for homes on your behalf. The chances are that you’ll have a lot more homes to choose from, and that your final choice will reflect the considerations most important to you. What better person to have, than the person you are liaising with almost on a daily basis anyway, who knows what is going to make your heart ‘sing’ when you walk into that ‘right’ home.

That being said, some companies have special teams of realtors, where one or some realtors may specialize in listing homes and where some specialize in buying homes. In these circumstances, you may have the opportunity of getting to know a number of realtors who will fulfill your needs, rather than one realtor who will take care of all of your requirements.

With regard to the hiring of a home inspector, I think it is likely the best $400 (or thereabouts) that you could possibly spend in your home purchasing journey. Home inspectors have the experience and the equipment that you likely don’t, so that you can be put at ease, comfortable in the knowledge that you know as much as possible about the home you are about to buy.

The purpose of a having a home inspected is not to have someone else tell you whether you ought to buy or not buy a particular home. It is simply to provide you with an opinion of the home’s condition at the time you look at it. This includes the major elements of and systems in the home from the exterior to the interior, including the plumbing, electrical, heating and sewage systems. Whilst ultimately it is up to you to decide whether or not the home meets your criteria, your home inspector will provide a summary to help you reach that decision.

Home inspectors can spend anywhere from two to eight hours at your home, and provide you with a photographic record of their findings, along with a very detailed report. They will also defer to other specialists if they find that there are elements of the home you are inspecting that are out of their scope of expertise. For example, if there is a pool at your proposed home, they would likely suggest you contract the services of a pool expert before making a definitive decision.

Many home inspectors also provide detailed maintenance suggestions should you decide to go ahead with the purchase. The age and the level of care provided to the home over time will greatly affect the likelihood of the level of repairs required. When you and your realtor have met with the inspector after your inspection, your knowledge base about your proposed home will be immensely greater than it was before. As they say, an informed decision is the best decision.

Hiring a lawyer is essential to buying a home. Whilst there is a growing trend in the U.S to ‘do it yourself’ anything - from divorces to home purchasing - I am definitely not a proponent of this. Lawyers are an absolute ‘must’ and in terms of buying or selling real estate, I would strongly recommend hiring a lawyer who does nothing but real estate. They generally know the real estate market inside and out, and are keenly aware of the minutia contained therein.

Whilst people often think that they are paid a fortune for their services, I disagree. When you stop and think of how their final fee is comprised, you’ll be surprised at how many items have been attended to. This is actually going to be the subject of my next article, since someone has kindly asked me to outline these things. However, consider the costs of your title search, registration, transfer taxes, title insurance, property tax and property adjustments, to name a few. A good lawyer will certainly elude to these costs in their initial appointment or telephone conversation with you, and some lawyers provide you a multiple transaction discount should you use their services more than once.

You will definitely need a team of professionals on your side when making the largest purchase of your life as a buyer or a seller, or both. As my mother always said, ‘Many hands make light work, and many minds make for great work’.

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Travel New Brunswick Canada.com Question:

What are multiple offers and how do they work? Kate M:

What a wonderful question. This is a question that almost every Vendor would want to contemplate… “Ah, what do I do with all these offers”! I’m happy to explain the practices that should occur during these exciting but tense situations, so that not only will you know what to expect, should you be fortunate enough to find yourself in that situation, but also what the buyers of your home could expect as well.

Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that you have your home listed and on one magical day, receive two or more offers on it. This is a day in your life that you’ll unlikely forget. In order for the law to be followed, and in order for fairness to prevail, your real estate agent will guide you through the process so that at the end of the day, you will be happy with the offer you have accepted, and all the potential Buyers are confident that the transaction process occurred in a fair and equitable manner.

When your agent is in receipt of an offer on your home, it is his or her duty to let you know immediately. Likewise for multiple offers. Usually, when bringing you multiple offers, an agent will ensure that you meet in a quiet environment, free from distraction, so that the decision process can be as clear and comfortable as possible. It is very important that the presentation process is fair to all parties, and by following a few simple rules, the duty of fairness can be met, while ensuring that both the vendor and buyer’s interests are fully protected.

Upon receiving multiple offers, it is the duty of your agent to let all buyers agents know that there is more than one offer being considered. Salespeople and buyers with offers on your listing have a right to know how many competitors there are for the property. This allows them to approach the purchase of your home with their best foot forward, so to speak.

Your agent may in fact ask you to delay the presentation of an offer, because he or she knows that another is coming. It is definitely in your interest to provide sufficient time to all interested parties to prepare their offers. Most offers delivered to your agent will be delivered in a sealed envelope so that each sealed offer can be provided to you without any risk of influence by your agent. In this manner, fewer questions regarding the fairness of the offer process can arise.

In some cases, a buyer may wish his or her agent to actually present the offer to you in person. In those circumstances, your agent would then consult with you regarding the possibility of the buyer’s agent to making a brief presentation to you of the salient features of his client’s offer, allowing you to assess the contents on a person-to-person basis. This normally does not take a lot of time, and provides for the exchange of useful information, some of which might not be able to be included in a purchase and sale document. The attendance of another agent at the offer presentation may help to alleviate concerns regarding the fairness of the process, particularly when dual agency is concerned. Dual agency exists when two agents work for the one broker.

It is important to note here, that the only agent who will ultimately know the contents of all the offers, is your agent. Conversely, Buyer’s agents will only know the content of their own client’s offers.

Once all the details of all the offers have been considered, you will have to make a response to all involved.

If you make a counter offer to the Primary Offer, and the receiver of that counter offer decides to counter offer back to you, you are then in a position to be able to re-open the bidding to the other interested parties. It is very important to make your agent aware of your wishes at this time. You will have to choose if you want to proceed with negotiations with the first buyer’s counter offer, or invite the other bidders back to the table.

If you choose to accept a second offer, the irrevocable period in the first counter offer must have expired, and the second Offer must contain a clause making it conditional upon a Release or Waiver being received with respect to the prior Offer. You do not want to be in the position of having sold your home twice!

If you do receive more than one offer on your home, don’t fall into the trap of letting the agent of the first buyer tell your agent that their offer is only valid for only a short time period. In other words, if you don’t accept his offer right now, he will walk away from the deal. That is this agent’s way of trying to have his client’s offer accepted, so that it will not be in contention with others. This is definitely not in your best interests. If a person is truly interested in your home, he will wait until whatever time you nominate, in order to be able to have his offer presented.

With respect to choosing the most suitable offer, remember, that there are components other than price as being important factors to consider. If the offers made on your home are similar in price, other considerations such as closing date, or inclusions may sway you to consider one offer over the other. I actually had a client who had three offers on her home, and she sold the home at a lesser price to a single mother with two young children. She wanted to be able to drive past her home and be proud that there was a family there who had been given more of a chance in life, and to know that they were as happy she was, to be able to call that place ‘home’.

Your agent will make sure that the entire negotiation process is carefully documented and maintain notes regarding the discussion that he or she has with each party concerning the presentation of the offers as well as the time of delivery. As a Vendor of multiple offers, difficult decisions have to be made, and your agent will help you analyze the specific circumstances and explain all the options to you.

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Travel New Brunswick Canada.com Question:

Kate, I know you are from Australia originally, I’m wondering if there are there similarities to Canada? Kate M:

Australia and Canada are very similar in many respects. Australia, a continent, has a huge land mass, is thinly populated, and has medium sized economy. Canada, also boasts a large land mass, with a similar sized population and medium sized economy. Both countries have an unforgiving geography. The Australians suffer from extensive heat waves, in a very arid environment, whilst Canadians suffer extreme cold, and are known for spectacular ice storms.

Both countries are former British colonies and have Queen Elizabeth as head of state. Both countries are rich in natural resources, and both are prodigious exporters of their natural resources. Both countries do a lot of business with one major world player – Canada with the U.S. and Australia with China.

Both countries have fared well in the latest economic downturn, though Australia seems to have fared somewhat better than Canada. Both the Australian and Canadian dollars have soared lately, and perhaps resource prices have had a significant impact on the dollar of late. The Aussies and the Canucks had run large surpluses prior to the downturn, and were able to escape the events of the last year or so, relatively unscathed. Both countries have good, strong banking sectors, where more conservative policies have served their citizens well.

However, real estate in Australia works quite differently than in Canada. That is in large part due to the popularity of the auction, as a means of selling homes.

When you sell your home at auction, you literally have a three-pronged approach to the process. You are able to sell your property before auction, on the day of auction, or in the event that the property is passed in, directly after auction.

Based on the market conditions, and advice of your agent, you set a reserve price, and choose a settlement date that suits your needs. You do not declare your reserve price, and thus have an opportunity to ‘test’ the market. Once you’ve decided on your price, and established a marketing plan with your agent, you then hire the services of an auctioneer. All auctioneers are registered under the Land Agents Act, and are members of the state Real Estate Institutes, and are bound by the high ethical standards of the relative Institutes.

Once you’ve signed a contract with an auctioneer, the marketing plan goes into action. The realtor will likely hold one, or a number of Open Houses, to which the public flock to see your home. Then comes auction day.

I remember well, the auction day of my mother’s home. The auctioneer walked the entire length of the street, swinging a large bell from side to side, letting all know that the auction was about to begin. When the front yard was full of attendees, the auctioneer began his magic. He was highly skilled, and knew the market well. Interested parties raised their hand during the course of the auction, and at the conclusion of the auction, the highest bidder was invited to go inside and entered into a binding contract to purchase Mum’s property.

Now not all auctions end like this. If the highest bid has not reached the reserve price, the auctioneer will ask the seller for his or her instructions before ‘passing the property in’. This means that the seller or Vendor has the opportunity to accept the last bid, by placing the property ‘on the market’, so that it may definitely be sold ‘under the hammer’. This factor often in fact encourages further bidding, so that a better price may be achieved.

If the property is ‘passed in’, the highest bidder is generally informed of the reserve price and may be given the initial opportunity to purchase. Failing this, the property is placed on the market for sale ‘by private treaty’, at which time any party may negotiate with the agent – in other words, more like our system here.

There are a lot of advantages to the auction system, and I am often puzzled as to why the system does not operate more extensively here.

As a Vendor, you get to set the terms and conditions. You get 10% of the deposit at the fall of the hammer. There is no cooling off period. You still have three opportunities to sell – before auction, at auction, or immediately after auction. The auction creates a sense of urgency, which motivates purchasers to action. The system allows all potential buyers to compete amongst themselves to offer you the best price. Since he price of your home is not disclosed, so you do not scare off potential buyers. Finally, the competitive nature of an auction and the keen buying environment offers the greatest chance for your reserve price or higher to be obtained.

I love auctions, and miss them greatly. You never know, perhaps one day, we might be able to draw another similarity between Canada and Australia – the way we sell real estate.

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Travel New Brunswick Canada.com Question:

What is title insurance? Kate M:

Now I want you to know that I rarely answer a question with a question, but in this particular instance, for the purpose of impact, I am going to. In fact I’m really going to break the rules of etiquette, and answer your question with approximately eight more questions!

Imagine that you’ve owned your home for a considerable time. In actual fact, you are just thinking about paying out your mortgage. You don’t owe a whole lot on it, and it’s high time you paid it out. However, you’ve just received a call from the bank. The bank tells you that you’ve been a victim of mortgage fraud. Someone else has paid out that small amount left on your mortgage for you! Imagine the blood drain out of your face when the bank tells you that in fact you owe them $300,000 on a home equity line of credit – a line of credit you actually never took out!

Imagine that the piece of land on which your home sits, is encroached upon by a third party. This third party claims that the land you think is rightfully yours, is in fact not your land, but their land.

Imagine that the right of way that you’ve always enjoyed with your neighbour is suddenly not available anymore! No, it seems that ever since the house next door was sold, your new neighbours are no longer allowing you to drive up what used to be a mutually used driveway allowing you access to some part of your own property.

Imagine the addition to the new home you just purchased – it is wonderful – the family room that you’ve always dreamed of. Picture your surprise when you find out that it was built without the appropriate permit!

Imagine five days after you move into your new home, you get a knock on the door by a wood stove company. They claim that you owe them $4,000 for a wood stove they installed in your new home. You say that this was part of your home when you purchased it. The wood stove company tells you that the builder who built your new home still owes them the money for it. You find out that a lien has been placed on your property.

Imagine that you’ve purchased a property on the basis that you thought you could build an additional unit onto it. Research was done, the deal has gone through, but ultimately it is revealed that you may not erect your second unit.

Imagine that your move in day has arrived. You’ve done your final inspection and all is well. Your title searches were conducted weeks ago. Everything seemed fine. You’ve signed all the documents that were required of you to sign at the time. You think your purchase is finally yours. Envision your surprise when you find out that the documents you signed are not yet registered at the registry office. In the meantime an intervening registration has occurred. A time gap has occurred.

Imagine that the new condo you’ve just purchased has errors in the Estoppel Agreement. Suppose your lawyer did not catch them. You now not only own a new condominium, but you own those errors in the Estoppel Agreement too. Ouch!

In every one of these situations, title insurance would have saved the day.

Title insurance in effect, is a “no fault” policy, charged for with a one-time fee, which can insure both the homeowner and the lender. It is not like house insurance, which only protects the contents of your home or the structure of your home, for which you have to pay a monthly premium.

Upon obtaining title insurance you are charged a fee, which may range from between $150 to $350 depending on the property you are purchasing. Premiums depend on the location (the province) the price and type of property, and if the property is a new home or a resale. In all the situations outlined above, the money it would cost to seek remedy, would far be outweighed by the modest fee charged for title insurance.

Whether you have owned your own home for years, or whether you are purchasing a new home, you can obtain title insurance. You may also obtain it if you are purchasing a condominium or a cottage. So don’t worry if you purchased a home some years ago, or a long time ago, and did partake of the policy then. You can still do it now.

I believe that title insurance provides a consumer with the best consumer protection money can buy. On top of that, it is extremely cost effective. For a one time premium, it saves homeowners the cost of defending their right of ownership (which could amount to thousands of dollars), the stress and uncertainty surrounding the resolution of the problem, the time spent waiting for the resolution to pass from government and public agencies, and the losses associated with a mortgage legally entitled to remain registered against the rightful homeowner’s interest.

Ultimately, title insurance, like many other forms of insurance, is an investment in peace of mind. I think is probably almost the ‘standard’ in real estate transactions these days, and for very good reason. Don’t be caught without it!

We have SO MUCH to offer here in the Maritimes, I hope we realize it and are proud to be living here. I know I am!

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Thank You Kate for answering these questions for us. What a great help you have been.

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