What does it feel like to write and publish more than 1,000 blog posts in a period of 14 months!?
Just ask the folks at Century 21 In Town Realty in Vancouver, British Columbia, who hit that auspicious mark this month (Craig Rushton was the blogger behind the 1000th post). The office has been a front-of-the-pack trendsetter across the country when it comes to real estate blogging.
With more than ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 31, 2009
As we get to the Stanley Cup final we as Canadians are excited but also wondering what are going to do when it is over... We're not known to get overly excited about watching other sports on TV and many of us start counting down the days to the start of the next NHL season.
The real estate market in Spring is a lot like playoff hockey: In the first round of the playoffs there is lots to look ...
Posted by Joel Ives
on May 30, 2009
Judy and Dave want to sell their home... Or do they? It took Judy six months to convince Dave they needed to move, as the home had become unbearably small for the family. Yet Dave delayed in doing the renovations needed to get their house market-ready. He reluctantly, finally agreed to have the home evaluated. They sought opinions of value from three different realtors. Judy felt the two of the ...
Posted by Eugene Pilato
on May 29, 2009
It's Open House season, and with home audits and energy taxes on the horizon, you want to be thinking green when staging your home for sale. Why focus just on a new coat of paint and sofa reupholster - when you could do something to help put "eco" into "economy" (and keep the list price of your home as high as possible.) The popular practice of "home staging" is all the rage on TV design shows, real ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 26, 2009
Consumers are getting more and more creative in finding ways to own a home. A growing number of young, single people who are "just friends" are buying property together as an economical way into the market.
Communal Homeowners ("co-hos") - as they are known in some circles, such as TIME Magazine - are a growing trend in Canada and elsewhere. Listening to CBC Radio One's lunchtime phone-in show the ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 21, 2009
It's really hard to imagine how anyone could break in and vandalize a camp for children with disabilities... but it happened! The Easter Seals camp in Winfield, British Columbia - 30 minutes south of Vernon and in the heart of the Okanagan Valley - was trashed, and thousands of dollars worth of donated goods and special equipment were stolen. "When I saw the photos, it was worse than I had imagined," ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 20, 2009
Moving into your new home is very exciting for the entire family... But did you know that introducing your dog into a new home can be incredibly stressful for them?
Fortunately, there are a lot if things that we can do to make this transaction easier on them (which, of course, in the end makes it easier on us).
On moving day, leave your pet with a friend. This will decrease the chance of accidents ...
Posted by Cindy Ambeault
on May 19, 2009
Watching which words are hot in the world of search engines - those terms being typed into Google, Yahoo! and MSN - can be a fascinating peek into how and what people are feeling and thinking...
Like how folks are increasingly preoccupied with the search term, "mortgage": up 72% from 4.5 million searches in Dec. '07 to 7.8 million searches in Dec. '08. (And those are just the US numbers.) These stats ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 15, 2009
Q: Since when does CNN mention Saskatchewan in its news coverage?
A: When it is experiencing a hot job and home sales market! The hugely popular US news channel's web article was titled Saskatchewan a jobs 'hot spot' in Canada," and CNN even quoted an American relocation service company president as saying he's moving more people to Saskatchewan than ever before. Of course, these (extremely lucky) ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 12, 2009
You've looked at enough houses to know there's no such thing as an "average" home...
So why, then, do so many news stories and provincial or national home statistics list 'average' prices?
Beats us
In reality, 'average prices' do not help in understanding the true value of a home. What does help is basing the value of your home on the selling prices in your own neighbourhood.
Suppose five homes ...
Posted by Don Lawby
on May 7, 2009