Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Radio comments on Chilliwack Real Estate Developments

I received a phone call again from the new Radio Station that is now operating in the Chilliwack region. 89.5 "The Hawk" - website: http://www.895thehawk.com/ and on Monday night an application was going through the approval process at the Chilliwack City Hall and one person mentioned that sales aren't happening so do we really need another 400 units to be built in that area. The interviewer, Jennifer Coles was looking for an answer to that statement so I was on the phone live being recorded. I thought that this is a good opportunity to maybe make people understand that they need to be part of the solution not part of the problem. Stop surrendering to the FEAR mongering that is going on!!! Think for yourselves people. The one thing that 'they' know for sure is that over 90% of the population of the world actually has the inability to reason and think for themselves when a major issue is presented to them. They will just believe what is presented to them and follow the status quo. We are being hypnotized. Smack. Wake up!!
I explained a lot of the information that is in our Chilliwack Market Report (see link below) and that is, sales are happening for properties that are priced right for today's market conditions. Prime rate just went down to a historic low....another .25% lower!!! Interest Rates locked in for 5 years are under 4% for qualified people. Prices are down 15% from 18 to 24 months ago!!! How good does it have to be? The biggest payment that people make is on their mortgage so that is a direct impact on household income. More money is made in Real Estate than anything else. Crawl out from your rocks and get buying and making a move. Get over your fears of loss and think about the future gains that you will enjoy. This is the exact time to make some Real Estate investments. Inventory is stablizing and sales are growing so we are closing the gap. The thing about Garrison Crossing on the Vedder side of the Chilliwack Municipality is that there is a major University of the Fraser Valley installing itself as we speak. There will be a major need for rentals as well as higher density units. They are literally building a village there that will provide all services for the surrounding neighborhood. The biggest amount of sales in condo's are in Garrison Crossing and also "The Flora" on Mary street which is situated on the other side of town rigth beside the Hospital. Why? High Quality - Low price. Simple.
I want to give you a link to click on to get to our "video market report" so that you can know where to go to get up-to-date market information on a quarterly basis from our website. We feel that it is extremely important that we keep the general public abreast of the statistics of our Real Estate sales activity in the Chilliwack Real Estate Market. I will let you know as they come available but for now here is the link: http://www.happyhomesbc.ca/chilliwack_statistics.html that is the place where you can get all of the stats for the recent sales activity on a monthly basis in the Chilliwack Real Estate Market. Our video report is more about taking the statistics and basically making sense of it.
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Monday, April 13, 2009

HAPPY EASTER !!

I'll start off with a quick joke that was sent to me from a REALTOR in our office at Sutton Group Showplace Realty in Chilliwack BC:
God is sitting in Heaven when a scientist says to Him, "Lord, we don't need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning." "Oh, is that so? Tell me.... replies God. "Well," says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man." "Well, that's interesting. Show Me. " So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil. "Oh no, no, no..." interrupts God, (I love this) " Get your own dirt."
That is funny, isnt it, how we sometimes get so caught up in our own self importance that we forget about the basics of everything. The Good Friday service at my church really spoke to me this year for some reason. I am not sure why but maybe I was just "more ready" to hear the message this year. I really just felt the magnitude of what Jesus did in order to save us and cleanse us. We really do mess things up dont we? We over-complicate - we over-analyze - we over-agonize. We over do everything. Everybody is waiting for Obama to make things better. We are waiting for other outside influences to make things right. We have to start right in our own homes and in our own businesses and with the people that we come face to face with every day. How do we approach challenges? How do we overcome percieved losses? How do we deal with overbearing or obnoxious people? Do we become the same way in order to combat that? Do we let our ego take over? Go back and remember what Jesus did for us. He was scoffed at and sworn at and mocked. He was beaten. How many of us could withstand that punishment and then carry a heavy wooden cross all across town bleeding and exhausted? Then at the end.....he says to God....."forgive them.... for they do not know what they are doing".
Just a thought for you to perculate on....Happy Easter Everybody.
Happy Homer

Economy Turnaround Indicators - Market Report

Read Article Below to learn about some Canadian indicators for the economic turn around coming soon....

Canada's Currency Gains Amid Speculation Slump May Be Easing - April 10 (Bloomberg)
The Canadian dollar strengthened for a second consecutive week amid rising commodity prices and signs that the slump in the world's eighth-largest economy may be easing.
Canada's dollar, known as the loonie, increased 0.5 percent for the week, which was shortened by the Good Friday holiday. The nation unexpectedly posted a trade surplus, and monthly job losses were lower than some strategists anticipated. Commodities, which accounted for 56 percent of Canadian export revenue last year, advanced as investors sought riskier assets.
The currency rose to C$1.2237 per U.S. dollar yesterday in Toronto, touching a two-week high of $1.2212. It traded at C$1.2298 on April 3. One Canadian dollar buys 81.72 U.S. cents.
"The loonie seemed to be a distinct outperformer," said Sacha Tihanyi, a strategist in Toronto at Scotia Capital Inc., a unit of Canada's third-largest bank. "We got upside surprises with the data, so that helped."
The Canadian currency tends to track fluctuations in stocks and commodity prices.
Stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbing 3.8 percent yesterday to cap a fifth consecutive week of gains. Crude oil for May delivery climbed as much as 6.2 percent yesterday. It finished the week little changed from the five days ended April 3, which saw the commodity's fifth weekly jump. Copper futures posted the fourth week of advances.
Market Signal
The loonie, after touching a four-year low of C$1.3064 on March 9, strengthened as investors ventured out of haven currencies like the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen to purchase riskier assets such as stocks and commodity-linked currencies.
"Generally the fall in commodity prices seems to have stopped," said Aaron Fennell, a Toronto-based futures and currency broker at MF Global Canada Co., a unit of MF Global Ltd. "One textbook indicator in our business is when you have bad news and the market climbs anyway -- usually that's a signal that a market is ready to turn around."
Canadian employers eliminated a net 61,300 jobs, Statistics Canada said yesterday in Ottawa. While economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast employment would fall by 50,000, the "whisper numbers," or unofficial predictions among traders, called for more severe cuts, Scotia Capital's Tihanyi said.
Canada's dollar will weaken to C$1.26 against the greenback by the end of this quarter before rebounding to C$1.16 in 2010, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 38 economists.
Trade Surplus
Government bonds returned 0.2 percent to investors this week, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. indexes. The two-year benchmark security's yield rose three basis points yesterday, or 0.03 percentage point, to 1.12 percent. The price of the 1.25 percent security due in June 2011 dropped 6 cents to C$100.28.
Canada posted a trade surplus of C$126 million ($102 million) in February on shipments of cars and airplanes, Statistics Canada said yesterday. Economists forecast a deficit of C$1.2 billion, according to the median of 23 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
The loonie was the fifth-best performer this week against the greenback among the most actively traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The Australian dollar was fourth, rising 0.6 percent. Like Canada's currency, it tends to track swings in commodity and equity prices. Mexico's peso was the week's best performer, appreciating 3.6 percent]By Chris Fournier

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Strive for number 1 like the Canucks

I am in a bus right now on the way to see the Vancouver Canucks play the L.A. Kings. A client of ours called today who works for 89.5 FM The Hawk and they have arranged for their clients to hop on a bus and head out to Vancouver from Chilliwack to dinner then to the game and then back home. I was trying to think of a reason not to go and failed to find one. So here we are, my trusty partner, Tim and I are heading out on bus to have a good time together. I was thinking about how the Vancouver Canucks are just fighting right to get to the number one spot. They have trained and mentally prepared all year to get to be the best. If they lose by only one goal they will not be number one. We could all say "well it was only one goal, that's good enough". That doesn't wash. We can talk to everybody about being number 2. Well we weren't number one but Number 2 is good enough. No. That is not good enough. Not for the team or for the fans. What is the edge? What is the extra percentage of effort or skill that makes you number 1? What separates you from all the number 2's? There are a lot more number 2's out there than Number 1's. That's why they are so special. What makes you special? What is your value proposition? Are you constantly challenging yourself on daily basis on order to answer these questions? What makes you the best? Answer these questioons or make it a constant daily quest and you will be number 1 Soon. See our website to learn more about our team and how we strive to differentiate ourselves in the Real Estate industry @ www.happyhomesbc.ca. Love to hear your comments and feedback ok how you strive to differntiate yourself in the industry. Wishing you total fulfillment and abundance. Happy Homer.

-- Post From My iPhone-to learn more about our team go to www.happyhomesbc.ca

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Market Report for March 2009 - Chilliwack Real Estate


The Real Estate Market in the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board is starting to approach normal levels.

We are increasing the amount of sales and the amount of listings is not increasing. We have seen quite a few multiple offer situations lately which means that Buyers confidence is growing and they are recognizing good deals. Sense of urgency is growing and we are getting a lot more calls for showings. Sales are still less than this time last year but we are witnessing the rise as we speak. The gap is closing. Residential sales increased by almost 40% from February 2009. New listings are down from a year ago so inventory is starting to stablize. the highest amount of sales are in the price ranges of $200,000 to $400,000. The average days that a house in on the market for the sales reported is between 45 and 60 days. Last month our averages for the sales reported was between 75 and 150 days. That is a marked improvement and I believe that is the most significant statistic. Check out our website to get more information on The Chilliwack Real Estate Market, Videos speaking on the Chilliwack area - see link http://www.happyhomesbc.ca/flash/vid3.html See video tours of listings - see link http://www.happyhomesbc.ca/videotours.php
Come and visit and we would love to talk to you about Chilliwack Real Estate