This last week I have been struggling to sort out what to write for this blog. The school year has started, and with two kids going off to school for the first time, I thought about writing on finding homes near amenities like a school or park… but I felt the “back to school’ message is typically overdone this time of year.
Then, as I sat watching the Formula 1 race at Monza and I thought about dedication required to achieve your personal goals – it hit me. This is the archetype of racing series. A juggernaut of technology, competition, diversity in track, teams and budgets. As I sat there watching, I realized that, like F1, Vancouver is a premier real estate market. During the recent recession while the rest of the world was struggling, Vancouver enjoyed a seller’s market.
And that led me to my next thought:
What I realized watching the Monza race is that competing on the same track are teams that have been in the series since the very beginning (Ferrari) while for others this is their first year (Lotus). Some have budgets in the $200,000,000 to $300,000,000 range (McLaren) while others have budgets of $40,000,000 to $50,000,000 (Virgin Racing, HTR, Lotus). Drivers are paid up to $12,000,000 a year while others are forced to bring their own sponsors in order to just participate in the race. The amazing thing is that with such a huge discrepancy between racing budgets, new and old teams are capable of achieving times and race results that are within milliseconds of each other. Experienced drivers (Schumacher) are getting beat by novice team mates. Historic teams (Ferrari and McLaren) are getting beat by new comers (Red Bull).
What does this have to do with real estate you ask? Well, I often hear in our office at MAC or at sales centres throughout the Lower Mainland that the builder and their lenght of time in the business is a very important, if not the most important, factor of the home buying decision. To tell you the truth, only part of me believes this. There are many examples of smaller, boutique, builders who are designing and building homes that easily compete and in some cases exceed the offerings of more established builders.
And, then there are some builders, who may have been in the business for a long time, but whose track record is far from perfect or even declining. The reality of shopping for a new home is that you need to do your own research and base your buying decision on more than just the length of time the builder has been in the business.
Like F1, in Vancouver real estate, all players are on the same track at the same time. Some are large corporate operations and others are small family run companies. Each one has it pros and cons. It’s up to you to decide what is most important to you - track record, customer service, quality, innovation. To help you make an informed decision there are several options available to you: you can enlist the help of realtors or the Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association, you can check with the Better Business Bureau; you can research industry awards such as the Georgies; you can arrange site tours of previous projects; or, in some cases, you can make a direct call to the builder.
So, what does this all mean? Do the math, use your check list and ask your questions. But realize that, like the diverse teams racing at the pinnacle of autoracing at Monza, in Vancouver, we have the fortune of a large number of quality builders to choose from that come in all shapes and sizes.
Dan Thomson
