Reading this Canadian Lawyer magazine report: http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/4020/whats-the-future-of-glass-houses.html , I couldn’t help but think about the condo world, where a builders objective is to deliver a product fast and cheap, and where it is likely that the condo buyers will not get the higher end products available despite paying today’s premium prices. We’ve seen every jurisdiction [...]

Buyer Beware: Real Estate Panel |   Wednesday, March 7th. This unique real estate seminar will provide you with insights to avoid pitfalls as a buyer, and ways to protect yourself. Buying or selling real estate is a big decision and the more informed you are, the more successful the process. This is an opportunity to [...]

In September 2011 we were still in a buyers market with over 18,000 active listings in this geographic area serviced by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. By December 1st we had returned squarely into a balanced market with just over 14,000 listings available. We start the New Year with just over 10,400 listings [...]

After three full years from when Jake’s Crossing closed at 2414 St. Johns Street in Port Moody, the new Burrard Hotel is undergoing a “soft opening”. My first impressions are all positive and why I felt compelled to post this. As I walk around Moody Centre (my neighbourhood), it’s always nice to see something that [...]

With a wealth of information available, it’s clear that today’s consumer is quite capable when it comes to buying a home. The irony is that too many smart people are still buying homes and having problems. It’s common place to purchase a home and then discover that there’s something wrong with it after the fact. [...]

Like many others, I’ve been participating in Port Moody 2011 Municipal Election, a Facebook group started by Gregory Cossey of Port Moody. Early on Gregory explained to me that he didn’t have enough information (to make an informed decision) and probably many others probably didn’t either. It’s going to be difficult for many to decide [...]

Since the Tri-City News published this letter, “Has province’s charter failed? on October 5th, I’ve discovered that the annual report issued by Port Moody does not comply to the basic requirements of public accountability required by the Community Charter. The Port Moody website says, “In accordance with the provincial Municipal Charter, Port Moody publishes an [...]

The emergence of a monster home in Moody Centre was raised as an issue during the Design Charrette held in June, 2007,  and for local residents it was an important issue because it totally detracted from the heritage character and charm of the area. The director of planning addressed the concern at the meeting by [...]

It was interesting to listen to Coquitlam Mayor, Richard Stewart, and Chamber Executive Director, Michael Hind, on CKNW’s Bill Good Show this morning, talking about the economic development and job creation opportunities around the Evergreen Line, which will start construction within months. When Bill Good asks, “What is it going to mean for business in [...]

For a long time now I’ve been observing the social network postings by some politicians at every function, meeting, or party, going on throughout the Tri-cities. Even when these politicians go to an out-of-town event there appears to be a compulsion to check in. Often it seems like a race to see who can post [...]

Have you ever noticed before federal or provincial elections how polling companies start asking questions about the issues, and not your issues, but some that have been predetermined for you? This “agenda-setting” happens all the time, like when the Evergreen Line (province) announced public hearings for citizen input after they had already allocated (set) the [...]

An idea to add value for my clients and contacts leads to the launch of a new promotional item for REALTORS®! I’m always on the lookout for new ideas that will add value for my clients. Last year, I designed a new style of personalized bookmark – a type of magnetic bookmark – that is [...]

Port Moody Condo with Private Roof Top Terrace – COMING SOON For under $350K you can own this 2 bedroom condo in the heart of historic Moody Centre and encompassing the south shore of the Inlet. The Lighthouse at Rocky Point is one of the most desirable buildings because of the great central location, and [...]

So why are we discussing a Municipal Auditor General? Wasn’t the introduction of the Community Charter in 2004 designed to balance greater municipal autonomy with greater municipal accountability? Have we been sold another bill-of-goods? Part 4 Division 5 of the Community Charter lays out a requirement for municipalities to produce an annual municipal report by June 30. [...]

It’s been called a cultural phenomenon and a marketing metaphor. By questioning the matter of a hamburger over twenty five years ago, Clara Peller coined the iconic phrase, “Where’s the Beef?” This question raised by the popular Wendy’s ad created a value proposition for consumers to consider; whether they were actually getting steak, or just [...]

Getting started in real estate investment just might be easier than you ever thought. On Tuesday, November 8th, real estate investor, Robert Klein, will be joining Homeowner Advocate and local REALTOR®, John Grasty, for the Real Estate Transitions Seminar, at Douglas College (Room C1005) in Coquitlam. Rather than provide a seminar outline, here is a [...]

I listened to a CBC Radio One discussion on November 3rd, 2010, between The Current host, Anna Maria Tremonti and Bernadette Lonnegan, who paid a flat-fee for a REALTOR® to list her Calgary home on the local MLS® in June. Although Bernadette had previously sold a number of homes over the years and always with [...]

I viewed this video demonstrating that Google+ invitations posted on Facebook profiles were not visible to friends so I thought I’d just put a link in a blog post and ask you to let me know if it is visible to you on Facebook after I’ve post the blog post link. Of course if you’re [...]

Black-market: Buyer Beware… If you should see furniture being advertised perhaps you could check to see if it fits the description of anything on this image: Should you get any leads, or suspicions, I’m sure the Coquitlam RCMP would be pleased to hear from you: (604) 945-1550. Also, keep an eye on Craigslist. At around [...]

As a result of my last post I was asked about an ABR®, so I decided to answer this with another post (explaining what’s in it for you). Why should you work with a REALTOR® with an Accredited Buyer’s Representative designation (ABR®) when you’re looking to buy your home? The answer is really quite simple. [...]

While there is an overwhelming amount of generic real estate related information available to consumers, a Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (an SRES accredited REALTOR®) understands the specialized needs of the 50+ market (about 48 percent of Canada’s population according to the 2006 Census). A mature clientele can seek help from someone who recognizes the implications [...]

Traffic in the Tri-cities is going to be at a stand-still as Burke Mountain and the rest of the north east sector continues to be built out. Even if the Evergreen Line was brought on board by 2014 or 2015, and whether it is ALRT or LRT, it is not going to provide enough relief [...]

We are fortunate to have a modest rooftop terrace where growing our own fresh vegetables has great appeal. We have an open sunny location with direct rain and tap water available, and not being experienced gardeners we want to start with something simple. We’re in the early research, planning and design stages, and to start [...]

In his late night TV address on May 1, 2011, Stephen Harper reaffirmed that, “Protection of the public is the first and most important duty of government.” He was of course stating this in the context of the news of bin Laden’s death. I don’t know about you but I found this interesting because clearly [...]

In March we said goodbye to 35-year amortizations, and with concurrently rising interest rates the entry-level buyer pool has now basically dried up through April. This means that Sellers wishing to move up will have more and more difficulty with so few new buyers in the market. So if you are selling and you want [...]

You’ve probably heard the expression, “April showers bring May flowers”. That expression says a lot about how some things in life work. Sometimes we have to endure some rain before we can enjoy the sunshine and flowers! Take my world for example. Every week I see people out on their own trying to find a [...]

Do you remember how surprised people were when they learned that more than 50 % of people were going online to do research on real estate?  The writing being on the proverbial wall was an indicator of things to come. That figure is well above 90% today as more online data is available, and becoming [...]

It has already been more than a decade since Canadian, Naomi Klein, took aim at the Brand Bullies in her international bestseller, NO LOGO. Was Klein seeking space that hadn’t been bought up by advertising; trying to rediscover our identities as citizens, and not just consumers? In the trailer for his upcoming documentary, The Greatest [...]

I’m uncertain if I should be pleased with Port Moody’s Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) exemption granted by Metro Vancouver, as reported in “Metro mayors not happy with Coquitlam”. With almost nothing new on the development books the past year, and few new sources of tax revenues moving forward, what is planned to replace these lost [...]

To the consumer a warranty should insure that a product meets their quality expectations, and the word quality is understood to mean the absence of any defect. A warranty usually addresses the integrity of a product and the responsibility for the repair or replacement of defective parts by the supplier. So how is a defect [...]

The Coquitlam Centre kiosk is where all my Prudential Sterling Realty colleagues can display their listings for everyone to see, and sellers from throughout the Tri-cities really like this added exposure. We are in a prime location close to a busy entrance/exit (across from H & M, east of Zellers, under the stairs from the [...]

  While the Olympic Pillage Village was under construction there were TV news clips aired nightly of short cuts being taken to complete the project in time for the athletes. Should it be any surprise that CTV News reported on March 17th, Nicholas Gao and Yoko Chen, who took possession of their $600,000 suite in [...]

“The Station” will be an exciting new mixed residential and commercial development on the corner of St. Johns and Moody Street in the heart of historic Moody Centre, and its coming very soon. Last September I had the opportunity to review the plans and conceptual drawings for this proposed development at the Open House, asked [...]

Who said the era of “bus bench” (or any print) advertising is dead for REALTORS®? Well I must admit I did about 5 years ago given the passive nature and direction of such traditional marketing. Besides, do you believe someone would choose a REALTOR® from a sign on a bench, back of a bus, or [...]

The unfortunate consequence of a selfless act of a local “Good Samaritan”, Charlene Reaveley, is heartrending, as is the equally tragic loss of Lorraine Cruz, and the serious injuries to Lorraine’s boyfriend, Paulo Calimahin. While the families and close friends grieve together, the entire community mourns the shocking loss of lives. Just the thought of [...]

There have been some interesting local news stories over the past few months about beliefs, superstitions and sensitivities pertaining to Asians and housing in Greater Vancouver. The relevance of numerology for house numbers was one such story, and I posted about it here. More recently there were objections expressed about the cultural sensitivity of a [...]

New Revenue Potential for TransLink? Transit schedules have been unreliable in many areas, especially in the ‘Burbs, and the reporting of changes is problematic. Is the traditional communicating of transit schedules outmoded? Transit users today want to get accurate real-time information, and this might just be coming soon to an information highway near you. With [...]

Providing the on-demand convenience of online streaming, selection, and price are how Netflix embraces their customers. Technology is changing the way customers want services delivered, and as business marches forward it waits for nobody as bricks and mortar locations give way to more and more, Amazon, eBay, etc., although some people do still rent DVD’s. [...]

This past week the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications (CRTC), Canada’s national telecom regulator, was asked to stop imposing a previous decision for a controversial usage-based billing (UBB), or metered Internet bandwidth usage, when Jean François Mezei filed a formal petition. The CRTC’s claim that the imposition of the same retail rate structure onto all ISPs [...]

Based on the most recent year-end data from the BC Assessment Database, here are some interesting local summaries of property numbers in the chart below. In addition, December 31, 2007, is used as an arbitrary but fairly recent benchmark to compare three full years to 2010 year-end. The total number of all taxable properties in [...]

New regulations are finally being developed in British Columbia that will hopefully help improve accountability for the Strata Property Act and Regulations with a focus on depreciation reports and audited financial statements (if you’d like to find out more about depreciation reports give me a call: 778-878-0778). If you would like to be notified when [...]

“If you want into the Canadian real estate market with the lowest possible entry-level lending terms and conditions available then I believe your time could be running out.” Three weeks ago I posted this. Tonight I read this online from the Globe and Mail: Ottawa to tighten mortgage rules. So now I’m taking this opportunity [...]

Buyer Beware Seminar (free): This unique real estate seminar will provide you with insights to avoid pitfalls and ways to protect yourself as a buyer. A mortgage broker, a REALTOR®, a lawyer and a financial planner in the same room at the same time, offering a FREE seminar, and answering all of your questions about [...]

Unraveling Real Estate in 2011… The broad brush used by ‘Talking Heads’ to paint a macro picture of real estate has little bearing on local micro markets and is worthless to the average consumer. All real estate is local and as such only local data should be considered.  In fact most of the national and [...]

Real Estate Highlights of 2010 – continued… Buyer’s Market On April 27th I posted, “Hello Buyer’s Market!” to let my clients know we were in a Buyers Market.  It was four months later that the chief economist of the Real Estate Association mentioned “a summer shift to a buyers market”. Balanced Market Locally this past [...]

Harmonized Sales Tax HST will affect all new homebuyers. When getting pre-approved with your lender you should get a ‘Net-Sheet’ showing you all of your estimated costs. You will need to know this before you can tell your REALTOR® what your upper limit is for buying.  Here is a link to a HST calculator if [...]

If you want into the Canadian real estate market with the lowest possible entry-level lending terms and conditions available then I believe your time could be running out. In October 2008 the federal government bailed out the Canadian banks with a $25-billion takeover of bank-held mortgages to ease a growing credit crunch, and Finance Minister, [...]

Are you considering investing in real estate south of the border? Here’s a little backgrounder. It’s been concluded that borrowing related to real estate primarily fueled the credit bubble in the U.S. It is my understanding that as homeowners defaulted on their mortgage loans, the financial institutions then devolved many of their losses (and responsibilities) [...]

Should you buy or sell first? Downsizing? Family growing? Relocating? These are some of the many reasons for wanting to move. The key to your decision on whether you should sell or buy first is planning ahead and we’d like to help you explore all of your options. For those that don’t have the financial [...]

Tonight the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train 2010 completed its twelfth cross-Canada journey at Queen Street Plaza in Port Moody, BC, and once again the weather cooperated as the locals enjoyed the festivities. In Port Moody, attendees brought non-perishable food items to add to the generous corporate contributions made locally. All collected donations are given to [...]