Ben Hack - Stonehaus Realty

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Ben Hack - Stonehaus Realty Managing Broker for the Thompson Okanagan region, located in Kamloops. Committed to exceptional service and fast response times.

I help clients buy and sell homes throughout the region while building exceptional real estate teams across the BC Interior.

10/28/2026

The buy vs rent debate is getting louder right now and I want to give you my honest take.

On paper, renting does look relatively attractive in a lot of markets right now. Rents have softened in some areas. House prices in BC are still elevated. And the carrying cost of ownership in terms of mortgage, taxes, and maintenance can genuinely exceed what a comparable rental costs month to month.

So the advice to consider renting right now isn't completely wrong. I'll say that clearly.

But here is the part that always gets left out of this conversation. People have been receiving this advice in some form for decades. And the people who followed it, who waited for conditions to look more optimistic before buying, are overwhelmingly the ones who got left behind when prices doubled.

Renting guarantees no risk. It also guarantees no reward. You are not building equity. You are not benefiting from appreciation. And you are not getting those years back.

The math on renting works right up until it doesn't, and by the time conditions look obviously better, the entry point has already moved.

If you're in a position to buy and you're planning to hold for the long term, I have yet to see a convincing argument for waiting.

DM me and let's look at your actual numbers together.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/26/2026

Not all clients are created equal. Here's my honest ranking of the toughest ones to work with.

Investors. S tier, genuinely my favourite clients. They're objective, they know their numbers, and if you know the market they'll keep working with you indefinitely. No emotion, just decisions.

Upsizers. A tier. They're excited and moving toward something better. That energy carries the whole process.

Luxury sellers. A tier. They know what they have and they hired you for a reason. They tend to actually listen to your advice.

Relocating families. A tier. They lean on you heavily because they're coming into an unfamiliar market. That trust makes the relationship work really well.

First-time buyers. C tier. More emotion, more uncertainty, more hand-holding required. Worth it but it takes more bandwidth.

Downsizers. C tier. In my experience they often want just as much home as they had for the same price their smaller property commands. Managing that gap takes real patience.

People fresh out of a divorce. F tier. Emotions are at their peak, the deal is usually split between two separate agents, and the decisions are rarely being made from a clear headspace. The hardest situation to navigate well by a significant margin.

Knowing who you're working with before you start changes everything about how you approach it.

DM me and let's find the right path for wherever you're at.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/21/2026

Should you waive the home inspection to win in a multiple offer situation? Here's my honest answer.

Most of the time, absolutely not.

Most buyers are not in a position to absorb the risk that comes with skipping an inspection. If something serious is found after completion and there was no inspection, you own the problem in full. That is a significant exposure that the average buyer should not be taking on.

That said, it can be used as a deliberate strategy in the right circumstances. Sellers love it because it removes a major source of uncertainty on their end. And in a highly competitive multiple offer situation it can be the thing that tips a deal in your favour.

But before you consider it, ask yourself three honest questions. Can I afford to replace the foundation if it needs it? Do I have $100,000 available if something significant comes up that wasn't visible? Do I have the construction experience or the trades contacts to identify and address issues affordably without an inspector's report guiding me?

If the answer to all three is yes, then waiving the inspection is a calculated risk you might be equipped to take. If any answer is no, keep the inspection in.

This is not a decision to make under pressure in the moment. It's one to talk through with your agent well before you're writing an offer.

DM me and let's work through your specific situation before you're in that position.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/16/2026

Not all red flags in a property are equal. Here's how I actually rank them.

Bad neighbourhood. S tier red flag. This is the one that can genuinely follow you. A stigmatized area is extremely hard to sell out of. You can fix almost everything inside a home. You cannot fix the street it sits on.

Foundation issues. S tier. This one can kill a deal entirely and for good reason. Foundation problems are expensive, disruptive, and can affect the structural integrity of everything above them. Walk carefully here.

Water damage. A tier. It gets made out to be scarier than it often is, but it absolutely can be a serious issue depending on the source and the extent. Always worth understanding fully before you proceed.

Roof problems. A tier and often connected to water damage. A roof replacement sounds expensive and it is, but in the grand scheme of a real estate transaction a $20,000 roof rarely makes or breaks the deal on its own.

Old electrical. D tier. Most situations with older wiring have straightforward solutions. Pigtailing aluminum wiring or upgrading a panel is not the catastrophe people imagine it to be.

Know what you're looking at before you decide what it means. That's part of what I do.

DM me before you walk away from something that might actually be fine.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/14/2026

A brokerage recently launched an AI assistant they're calling a realtor in your pocket. The idea is you talk to it conversationally and it finds listings for you without any scrolling or filtering.

I want to be honest about where I actually stand on this.

The concept is genuinely interesting and the direction is right. Conversational search that understands natural language and surfaces relevant listings is a real improvement over typing into a filter-heavy website. Nobody is disputing that.

The bold claims are where I'd pump the brakes. Telling the AI you don't want listings with honey oak cabinets and expecting it to accurately filter the MLS on that criterion is ambitious at best. The MLS data simply doesn't include that level of specificity in most cases. The AI is only as good as the information it's working with and cabinet colour is not a standard data field.

The other thing worth saying is that anyone could build a reasonably functional version of this using existing AI tools. The technology is accessible. What you're actually hiring a realtor for is the judgment, the negotiation, the relationships, and the experience that no app is going to replicate any time soon.

Tools like this are useful supplements. They are not replacements.

DM me if you want the actual human version of this conversation.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/12/2026

Sellers make predictable mistakes. Here's how I rank them.

Overpricing. F tier move. It is one of the most common and most damaging things a seller can do. Overpriced listings sit, go stale, accumulate days on market, and ultimately sell for less than they would have at the right price from day one. I see it constantly and it almost always ends the same way.

Bad listing photos. F tier. This one surprises people because it still happens. Your listing photos are the first thing every buyer sees. They determine whether someone even clicks through. Two out of a hundred agents still haven't figured this out and their sellers pay for it.

Being difficult in negotiations. D tier. Sellers who are focused on winning rather than closing end up sabotaging good deals. Find the common middle ground and get to completion. The deal that closes at 97% of asking is better than the one that falls apart at 100%.

Ignoring repairs. C tier. Not all repairs are worth doing before listing. But the ones your realtor recommends? Those are the ones that actually pay you back. Listen to that advice.

Selling at the wrong time. F tier concern for most people. If you need to sell, you sell. Trying to time the market precisely is a distraction.

DM me before you list so we can avoid all of these.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/10/2026

Housing prices are high. I hear this constantly and I want to address it directly.

High compared to what? High compared to ten years ago, yes. High compared to where they'll be in ten years from now, almost certainly not. That's the context that's missing from this conversation almost every time it comes up.

The idea that you should wait for prices to come back down to some previous level before buying is advice that has been given in every decade and has consistently resulted in people getting left behind. The ones who followed it and waited are still waiting. The ones who bought anyway built equity.

Here's what I actually believe. If you're planning to hold real estate for any meaningful length of time, where the market is on the day you buy is one of the least important variables in your outcome. Nobody can predict the market. But the market has continuously proven, especially in Canada and especially in BC, that it goes up over time.

Housing and land are finite resources in any community. If you buy in the right neighbourhood in the right community, that land will remain valuable. It's tangible in a way that almost no other investment is.

The best time to buy was ten years ago. The second best time is now.

DM me and let's build a plan that works for where you are today.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/08/2026

First-time buyers make specific mistakes. Here's how I rank the ones I see most often.

Skipping the inspection. S tier mistake. Do not do this. Especially as a first-time buyer who doesn't have years of experience reading a property, the inspection is your protection. It's not optional.

Emotional decisions. S tier mistake as well. First-time buyers are more susceptible to this than any other group because everything about the process is new and exciting. The objective has to stay front and centre.

Shopping above budget. A tier. Your lender gives you a max approval number. That is not a target. Know your actual comfortable payment and shop below it.

Waiting too long. A tier. The uncertainty is real and the hesitation is understandable. But waiting indefinitely has a cost that's just as real as buying wrong. You have to get into the market at some point.

Ignoring future resale. D tier. I'm going to push back on this one. The market is going to do what it's going to do. Trying to predict resale value five years out as a first-time buyer is overthinking it. Get into the market. Build equity. Learn the process. Resale becomes a much easier conversation after you've owned your first place.

DM me if you're buying your first home and want someone who'll keep you objective throughout.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/08/2026

There are two ways to negotiate in real estate. One of them works.

Opening with your highest number and holding the line no matter what sounds like strength. It's actually just rigidity. A random number with no foundation behind it isn't a strategy. It's a starting point with nowhere to go.

I open with a number I can defend with facts. Comparable sales, market conditions, property-specific data. When the other side pushes back, I'm not holding a position. I'm defending an argument. That's a completely different conversation.

Treating every negotiation like a fight to win feels productive in the moment and costs you deals in the long run. The people you're sitting across the table from still have to close this transaction. After you shake hands they need to follow through. Burning goodwill to squeeze out the last dollar is a short-term play.

I try to leave every negotiation with all parties feeling the deal was fair. That's not softness. That's how you build a reputation that brings people back and sends referrals your way.

And the moment it gets personal, you've already lost. Negotiating is positioning. The second emotion takes over, the facts stop mattering.

DM me if you want someone in your corner who actually knows how to do this.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

10/06/2026

A lot of things get credit for moving home prices. Here's what actually does it.

Interest rates. S tier. The single biggest lever in the market right now. When rates move, buying power moves with them and prices follow.

Supply. S tier. The amount of inventory available in a given market is one of the most powerful price drivers there is. Less supply, more competition, higher prices. It's that simple.

Local economy. S tier. Vancouver has proven this as well as anywhere. When the local economy is strong and employment is stable, real estate holds and grows. When it struggles, everything follows.

Population. B tier. Growth drives demand but it's a slower-moving factor than the ones above it.

Government policy. B tier. People often overestimate how much policy actually moves prices. It has an effect but it's less direct than most people assume.

Understanding which of these factors is most active in your specific market right now is part of what makes good real estate advice actually good.

DM me and let's talk about what's driving the Kamloops market right now.

🏡 Stonehaus Realty | Kamloops, BC

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864D 8th Street
Kamloops, BC

Telephone

+12503008316

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