House-buying>who to go to?

Condos, townhomes, duplexes, acreages, properties, residential homes...There are many many options in Whitehorse.

Houses (refers to all of the above-mentioned) aren't cheap, relatively speaking.

When I was looking for a place, I had a fairly healthy budget in my opinion. I saw a very nice redone townhouse but unfortunately it had tiny old bedrooms that weren't nearly as nice as the polish put on the downstairs. The real kicker? The strata fees were $200 a month and heating averaged out to $150 on oil, not including electricity. The utilities fees were killer! Also the place already had an offer out, so it was mostly a fact-finding mission on our part.

One aspect of house buying that I can't stress enough is finding a realtor who will treat you like the important customer that you are! I ran into issues with Coldwell Realty, as two of their 'big name' realtors couldn't even be bothered to return a phone call.

Marge Eschak in particular. I felt incredibly snubbed. I had cash in hand and was desperate to buy a place, she named some options and said she would phone back. Did she? Oh no, never for someone who is a serious buyer with CASH in hand. Forget her, and I would never counsel anyone to ever have any dealings with her, as I have also heard she was on the recieving end of some shady business dealings involving her as the buyer's realtor and the seller's, which is quite underhanded. Nice try, 'Marge's Market.'

Also another 'winner' I encountered with Coldwell Realty is Frank Silvestri. After being shuffled off by Eschak, I contacted him with a specific place in mind, he was the agent showing the place and I wanted to have a look. We set up a time and he would call to confirm. Did he ever call back to set up a viewing? Nope. Not even when I made it clear I had the cash, I was interested and ready to buy a place asap.

So, as a cautionary tale...Do not go to Coldwell Realty. I have had nothing but bad deals with them and have absolutely no hesitation in telling everyone I know. The truth can't hurt, can it? Only if you have terrible business manners!

**Please note I am not a first-time home buyer, this kind of treatment is insane**

Happily, I found a realtor who was willing, able and eager to give me a hand. ReMax Realty really stepped up and showed me how wonderful and accomodating Whitehorse could be. I bought a place, actually the 2nd one that was shown to me, and we lived happily ever after.