Movember

Gosh, here it is nearing the end of November and many of the men in our Office are sporting moustaches...a great boon for raising the awareness of Prostate Cancer. Good for them! The end of November also brought Sarah Harmer to Kingston and her great opening band The Rosetta's. Sarah put her heart and soul into the evening with her voice stong and lovely even after her long tour accross Canada. Her fingers race magically over the strings of the guitar and you could just tell she was delighted to be playing for the Kingston crowd! We started the evening with a wonderful dinner at Casa Dominica and Sarah had dinner next door at Olivea. It seems things are quieting down as we start "Black Friday", it's looking alot more like winter and christmas is biting at our heels. Got to run now and hit the shops, bye for now, Ann.

Twitter

November 26,2010
Finally I get Twitter. I joined some time ago and did not really get it. To all who tried to "follow"me and I igonored, my apologies. I never understood why people I did not know would want to follow me...duh! I am back ,so help me learn more!

Remember The Three Bears??

Hi Everyone,

I thought this analogy was "sweet"!! Relate the current housing market to a children's classic and here's what you get!!

See what you think as you eat up your oatmeal this damp November morning.

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Economists now suggest the market has seen its bottom and, as BMO Nesbitt Burns deputy chief economist Douglas Porter put it, may be having its "Goldilocks moment," not too hot and not too cold.

"Heading into 2011, sales and prices appear better supported than we last forecast in September ... The stabilization and ensuing uptick in resale housing activity should also help to limit the downside risk to the overall economy. On the flipside, subdued employment and income growth in the quarters ahead should act to cap the housing market’s upside in 2011."

Mr. Porter said the market is approaching "something closer to normalcy."

"Sales are still down heavily from the piping hot pace of a year ago, but they are close to average levels since 2000," he said.

"And, prices are up just slightly from a year ago, while the inventory of unsold homes is close to typical. In other words, there’s not much here for either the wild-eyed optimists or the ranting pessimists, which is probably a good thing."

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Hope your day goes "just right"! And let us know if there are real estate questions on your mind.

Jeri

Canadian Market is Strong!

I recently attended a fabulous Real Estate Seminar in Ottawa which was hosted by Scotiabank. The speaker was an American Real Estate Guru-Type named Brian Buffini. He is a great speaker, very motivating and engaging. During his talk he presented some really interesting statistics about the Canadian Real Estate Market. He stated that Canada has the strongest Banks in the world as well as the strongest Real Estate Market. Great news for us! He also brought up the fact that the impact of the American media is often so negative to Canadian Real Estate. The reports on American News Stations are not indicative of what is occurring in Canada and Canadians often watch the American News and translate it onto our markets. The bottom line is that Real Estate in Canada is healthy! The Real Estate Market in Kingston, Ontario is especially healthy. We have the positive influences of Queen's University, RMC, St. Lawrence College, the Military, Hospitals and all of the other Government Services. I feel lucky to live and do business in the Kingston Area!!

Anti-Competition Legislation

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to our first blog postings…..as Ann explained, it’s new for us and we are excited !We want this to be an information blog so that you can explore with us real estate issues as well as keep up to date on things that are going on with our team members!!
This time I thought it would be good to give you a realistic take on the newly passed anti-competition legislation relating to real estate. The media, with its usual tendency to exaggerate, has suggested that these are huge changes that will affect the way business is conducted. It is true that consumers will have more options, particularly if they decide to sell their home on their own but, like other DIY undertakings, there are many skills involved in the real estate process…..experience and knowledge are critical when dealing with one’s most important financial asset!
There may be more choices for Sellers when they decide to put their property up for sale. But the reality is that professional realtors provide a distinct and crucial service which includes education, marketing, & negotiation as well as responsibility for all the legal aspects of a real estate transaction. As our manager put it at our recent sales meeting, you can try and pull your wisdom tooth yourself but generally to do the job properly and with minimum pain (!!), it is advisable to go to the professional! I expect you agree!
there are many skills involved in the real estate process…..experience and knowledge are critical when dealing with one’s most important financial asset!
There may be more choices for Sellers when they decide to put their property up for sale. But the reality is that professional realtors provide a distinct and crucial service which includes education, marketing, & negotiation as well as responsibility for all the legal aspects of a real estate transaction. As our manager put it at our recent sales meeting, you can try and pull your wisdom tooth yourself but generally to do the job properly and with minimum pain (!!), it is advisable to go to the professional! I expect you agree!

Jumping into Fall

Our first Blog! October 21, 2010, Thursday. Early morning heavy rain becoming a beautiful sunny day. Jeri and I had a wonderful meeting today with our new team member Mary-Kathryn MacKenzie. A terrifically eager, bright young woman that just loves meeting new people and is enjoying Real Estate immensely. Our conversation started with the huge changes this industry has seen in the past two decades. To think I was sitting in the K-Rock centre last night watching the Frontenac’s play hockey while I was getting an Offer from Singapore and sending the Offer along to the Listing agent that was then sending it on to Mount Tremblant….all while I there! At one time we had to go to other Offices and pick up the Listing and the keys and then return the keys to the other offices after showing all the properties. Wow times have changed; I just hope people don’t start showing up in the offices in their slippers! After our meeting we decided to check out the new downtown hotspot “Harper’s” where we had delicious hamburgers and admired the interesting and different menu featuring Vegetarian options and boozy milkshakes. Give it a whirl we think you will like it, we did!