August 2009 Real Estate Market Report for Chilliwack

August Market Report

This is your happy home specialists bringing you the Real Estate Market Report that has been compiled from data that is distributed from the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board.
Another strong month is behind us and all indicators are that the market is now on the move and people are taking advantage of fantastic interest rates and low prices. We are definitely witnessing signs of an upward movement in sales prices. Buyers seem to be responding with more confidence which is driving sales in an upward direction.
Over 52% of the residential sales that occurred in the month of August were in the price point of $275,000 to $500,000!! This is up from last month which saw the largest amount of residential sales between $225,000 to $400,000. Sales in the price point of $400,000 to $500,000 increased by over 30% from the month of July. This is what we have been waiting for...
Average days to sell dropped to an average of 64 days down from 72 last month so that tells us that the market is responding. We hear it loud and clear.
Total residential sales increased in dollar volume by 19% and the amount of inventory on the market is down 36% from the year prior. That is the trend that we have been experiencing this year and it is continuing which is really good news.
We are looking forward to an excellent Fall. The media seems positive but they don’t seem to understand how good it is here in Chilliwack. Well to us it is big news and we are excited to help families get into the best homes for the best price in todays market. Call us anytime if you would like more specific market information.
Talk to you next month.

CERTIFY the WHY - Part 3

I broke it up into 3 parts to make it more interesting for you.....
Where you are today is the direct result of the past. Everything that you have done in the past; everything that you have thought about in the past; everything that you have focussed on in the past; all of the mental influences of the past; all previous experiences of the past and all money spending and investing of the past have brought you here today. It is important to establish where you are today and then decide on how it can be improved and then focus on what tomorrow will look like so that you can take control of your future. "It is good to focus on your future because that is where you will be spending the rest of your life".......I encourage you not to dwell on the past for no other reason than to learn from it. However, don't spend too much time on that. Try driving a car looking through the rear view mirror. You will crash for sure. Look out the bigger window in front of you and focus on where you are going and you will get there safely - right?
Now I want you to do an exercise with me and it is important that you pay attention to the rules of this exercise. On a separate piece of paper, write everything that you can think of that will make you feel great that earning a larger income will provide. I want you to write how you will feel when you achieve it as if you are feeling it right now. 5 years is a long time in the future but let's imagine your life going great and your business is fantastic and you have the income that you dream of coming in on a consistent basis 5 years from today. Everything is efficient. You are smiling and when you sit down with people imagine them laughing and smiling with you. You're talking on the phone to a past client who has just called you to let you know that they referred a client to you and you are speaking and smiling and making notes. Imagine yourself as a successful REALTOR. What do you look like? What kind of clothes do you wear? How fast do you walk? What kind of car do you drive? What does your home office look like? How organized is your desk? Is it piled with papers or neatly organized? What is the ideal person for you to become in order to be what you consider to be successful? These are just a few questions to ask yourself to get you thinking but really take the time to describe in utmost detail the ideal life. Try to touch on all aspects of life. Business, Personal, Relationships, Money, Spiritual, Family etc. Make the effort and try to imagine yourself living that life as if it is happening right now.
My wonderful, fulfilling, exciting, fun-filled, ____________________, _____________________, ________________________, LIFE 5 years from today.
I drive a _____________________________________ with a(n) _______________________ transmission and it is _________________________ in color.
My home is located in ______________________________ with a lot size of approximately ______________________________. It has a kitchen with ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ and my master bedroom has ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ some other great features of my home are ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ and I love the location of where it is situated because ____________________________________________________________________________________. I get a fantastic sense of accomplishment when I go home because it satisfies so many things that we need for _____________________________________________________________ and I am so grateful that my efforts have really paid off and I am so appreciative of the abundance that has come my way.
Some other things that I have obtained and accomplished over the last little while that I am enjoying is ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have some extremely loyal clients and have made a lot of friends along the way that I believe I will enjoy for the rest of my life. I have made some fantastic strategic alliances with some key people and we benefit each others' business in a great way. Business just seems to be easier now and most of my time is spent on "money making" activities. I have ________ appointments per week with people that want to list their home and I average about _______ appointments per week showing properties to Buyers. My yearly income has now increased to $____________________ and I have managed to save $____________________ for the future and I own _______ other property(ies). I am in total control of my finances and my business. I have effected over _______ transactions this year.
My /family and I / wife and I / partner and I / take ______ vacations per year now and are making plans to go to ________________________.
More on your future ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now on another blank page take a snapshot of your life in 10 years. Fast forward for a second to your life 10 years from today and talk about all aspects of your life. Let's pretend that you are now being interviewed by a reporter from a local newspaper and they want to do a story about you and your life as a REALTOR but they want to do a proper editorial to understand you- the person. They want to know all about you. Write the editorial as if you are the writer and write the story that you would like to see in print. A story that you would be proud to read to your grandchildren. If you read this story about someone else you would be greatly impressed and inspired. How would you describe your Financial Life, Business Life, Family Life, and your Spiritual Life? What are your hobbies? How do you contribute? How are you involved in the community?
Now that you have finished that exercise you have created a picture of the future for yourself. You have achieved the action of making a decision to take control of your life. You have created something for you to be accountable to but you have allowed yourself to feel what it feels like to be great. You are meant to do more than put in some time, make some money and just make it by and then die. You are meant to be more and mean more to this world. Congratulations!! You are in the top 30 percent of the population in my estimation. Now remember that you can do this exercise any time and re-write it over and over again and fine tune it to how you develop as a person as well. As your mind expands you will want to keep adjusting your objectives. I encourage you to do that a lot. But for the purposes of this manual I would encourage you to read the last 2 pages every night before you go to sleep and every morning when you start your day. It will take about 1 minute at a time. Not much time investment but the mental investment is enormous. Do this consistently and watch what happens over time. You will be amazed at the results.
A fun activity is to get some magazines and find pictures of some of the things that you dream about and make a collage of the pictures with your loved ones. Include your family. Let them in on your dreams so that they support you on those long days when it happens. Frame it and put it up on the wall and look at it every day.

Chilliwack Real Estate Market Report for July 2009

Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board Statistics for July 2009 as interpreted by HappyhomesBC

Chilliwack had a major heat wave reaching temperatures over 35 degrees !!! But there was another heat wave and that was the Real Estate Market. Hot hot Hot!!!!
We are feeling the heat and we are fired up about it.
The total value of residential sales increased almost 42% compared to last year and the amount of units that sold also increased by the same basic number which means that prices have stabilized and there is a major increase in market activity.
Total inventory in the Chilliwack and District Real Estate board decreased from 2008 by almost 30%.
There are less than 50% of the townhomes on the market today than there were last year....
The number of days on the market for residential homes is in the 70 to 85 day range which is a little bit longer than last month. That tells us that the really good deals that injected the market a few months ago have been snapped up and now people are pricing realistically but have just taken a little longer to react. The second layer of homes are now selling which is good - good - good news for everybody.
60% of all the sales that took place were in the price ranges of $225,000 to $400,000. That is the hottest price point. If you are priced in that area then you should be getting a lot of action on your home.
This is really balanced market right at this point. This is a good time to sell and more importantly - This is a great time to buy right now. Did I mention that this is a great time to buy??? If I forgot to mention before – THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!!
The market is now in the incubation stages and we will be experiencing some market changes that will begin the next wave in a short period of time.
This is what you have been waiting for....Right now is it.

This is HappyhomesBC signing off with your monthly market report for July 2009. Have a good summer.

Part 2 of "CERTIFY THE WHY"

This is Part 2 of a series on getting the "Why" nailed down so that you can Certify the reason you are working in the first place.....
Get that BURN.....What gets your fire going.....
Let's start with the basics and move forward form there...
Other words that describe the word "Certify" are: confirm; officially state; verify; endorse; attest; declare.
Those are pretty accountable words. It is a positive affirmation. In order to solidify your understanding of your "Why", we need to take some time to confirm what you are officially stating and verify the meaning to you so that you can properly endorse your commitment. Then in the future you will be able to attest to what you had formerly declared. In other words "CERTIFY the WHY".
Steps to "Certify the Why"
C. - CLARITY
E. - ENERGY
R. - RETURN ON ENERGY
T. - TIME INVESTMENT
I. - INCLUDE YOUR SUPPORT NETWORK
F. - FORMING THE RIGHT HABITS
Y. - "YES" ATTITUDE
Rule #3 - Be honest with yourself
The exercises will only work if you are totally and freely honest with yourself. This is paramount for your success. I believe in you and know that you can build a fantastic business if you just do every exercise in this manual completely and honestly. Free your mind and let go of all the stuff cluttering it up. Allow yourself to be honest and you will grow a lot quicker in this manner.
CLARITY - Ask yourself some questions to clarify where you are today. Clarify your current situation:
•1. What are my assets today? (Make a list and ascertain an approximate value)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
•2. What are my immediate needs for my home and business that I need extra money for? (Itemize and attach a dollar amount for each and then total the amount)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
•3. If I could ask a Genie today for the money that I need to clear up all my debt except for my mortgage, how much money would I ask for? (Itemize if you want or just write the total down)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
•4. The sum total of all household and life expenses that I am responsible for on a monthly basis is $________________.
•5. Add $1500.00 per month for Real Estate business expenses and the total "nut to crack" monthly is:
$____________________/month x 12 is $____________________ per year. (turn to page ___ and write this total in the space provided)
We have now succeeded in Clarifying the present state of your financial life. It is now established that you NEED to earn $________________/year which is $______________ per month and there is a total amount of $_______________ required to be debt free except for your mortgage. Take the amount of debt and divide it by 2 and add that to your yearly total that you are required to make.
The Total amount of money I need to earn per year required to pay for my yearly obligations and pay off all bad debt in 2 years is: $__________________.00.
I would say that this is a pretty good place to start. Now make a decision to meet that requirement as your minimum. 24 months later you will pay for everything and get yourself into a debt free situation. These are your business building months. Anything that you can make over and above that can go back into your business into marketing yourself and getting your name out there. After that you can put money away for later and for future investments. Remember to give back and support some other worthy causes along the way. More on money distribution later.
Where you are today is the direct result of the efforts and focus of the past. Everything that you have done in the past; everything that you have thought about in the past; everything that you have focussed on in the past; all of the mental influences of the past; all previous experiences of the past and all money spending and investing of the past have brought you here today. It is important to establish where you are today and then decide on how it can be improved and then focus on what tomorrow will look like so that you can take control of your future. It is all in your hands. This is where we draw a line in the sand and move on from here.
The next step is where it really gets exciting.....Look for Part 3 shortly!!!!

Certify the Why

This will be a 2 part segment on getting your "Why" figured out...... This is part one and look for Part 2 in a little bit....

WHY?
Now the office is set up and we have a basic list of things to do. We haven't started to get into the specifics of how the get the business going yet and the reason for that is that it doesn't matter unless you have discovered within yourself WHY you are now going to set this ship to sail. Where are you going? Why do you want to go there? What is there once you get there? How will you feel? What does it look like? How fast are you going to go? What bumps will you hit along the way and how will that slow you down? What will keep the ship going when you hit challenges or- to keep the analogy going - when you hit stormy seas. Well Captain. I hate to say it there, matey, but you are the one steering the ship and we need to spend a little time charting the course. Sound fair?
Have you ever heard the saying... "Whatever the mind can conceive and then truly believe, it can achieve"
Or...... "Thoughts are things" Or...... "As a man thinketh in his heart, so he will be"
Or...... "We need to spend a lot of time thinking about the future because that is where we will be spending the rest of our lives"
And finally...... "Setting goals is nothing more than predicting our future. It's choosing our destination before starting the journey"
So .....When would Now be a good time to start thinking about where you are going? How about Now.
Let us move into the conception stage and simply free our minds for a bit and just really get excited about the possibilities that you can accomplish. We have discussed briefly about what this business has to offer and it is all exciting in a book but there is a reason that you have been attracted to this business and there have been some sort of parameters that you have set for yourself that you believe that you can accomplish. Maybe the inner conversation goes something like "oh if I could just replace the income I was making at my last job then that would be fantastic" or "I know a guy who I graduated with in high school and he is making a killing and if he can make it then, man, I know I can" or there may be a lot of other inner conversations that you have had with yourself and that is normal but we need to go deeper than that and really get the juices going for you so that you will make this business a phenomenal success like I know you can.
We will get into the details of work ethic and how to goal set strategically but for now we need to "Certify the WHY". By ‘Certify', I mean to make certain what it is that gets your motor running. Implant it in your brain. Make a concrete choice. Take the reasons that get you excited and Certify them. Certify the Why.
Money is a great thing and it is ok to want to make money and lots of it but ...Why do you want it? Why do you need it? Why is more, better than less? What difference will more money make in your life? What can you obtain to make your life better? What would you like to contribute to your family, your church, your community? Does more money buy you time? Obtaining stuff is ok too. A nicer home or nicer car or the ability to take a vacation once in a while when you feel like it and pay for it. Maybe it is just getting rid of debt.
Other words that describe the word "Certify" are: confirm; officially state; verify; endorse; attest; declare.
Those are pretty accountable words. It is a positive affirmation. In order to solidify your understanding of your "Why", we need to take some time to confirm what you are officially stating and verify the meaning to you so that you can properly endorse your commitment. Then in the future you will be able to attest to what you had formerly declared. In other words "CERTIFY the WHY". Make a declaration of your Goals and future achievment that will/must be obtained. There is no "maybe" or "wow that would be nice" or "that would be cool" or "Boy if that happened I would be excited"......We need to stop that internal dialogue right away and make a paradigm shift in your thinking but for now and until the 2nd segment of this gets posted just free your mind and ask those questions....write them down and internalize the "wouldn't it be nice" and let your mind go there. We will work on exercises to solidify those "dreams" later. For now just have fun and let yourself dream. Until next time...."Dare to Dream".....

June 2009 Chilliwack Real Estate MArket Report

Market Report for June 2009 from the Chilliwack District Real Estate Board statistics.
This is HappyHomesBC with the monthly market report taken from the Chilliwack and District Real Estate board for the month of June 2009.
Well summer is here and the temperature is heating up but so is the Chilliwack Real Estate Market. Personally we have increased our sales in our office over 30% over the last 60 days but the stats across the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board remain active and are rising slightly.
The number of days that homes are listed on the market before selling is hovering around the 70 day mark and that was consistent with the month earlier. I think we will see that number decrease over the next couple of months. If you have listed your home this year and have not received an offer within 70 days of listing then there are 3 things that you need to consider – 1) either nobody knows about your property or 2) you are over-priced and need to think about adjusting your price or 3) you are priced in the upper echelon price point over $700,000.
For Single Family and attached town-homes we saw a slight increase in those target areas of about 10% from the year before. Total sales value was consistent with last year so prices have stabilized.
The biggest jump in sales occurred from $225,000 to $275,000. About a 28% increase in homes sold compared to the month of May. Who are those buyers? Investors and First time buyers. Welcome back you guys. Good to see you again. Interest rates were too good and you just had to get off the fence didn’t you. We are happy to see you back in the game.
Once gain for the second month in a row, - the most amount of sales were in the $300,000 to $350,000 bracket. OK now, I repeat from last month. If you have a home priced in that category and it hasn’t sold over the last 30 to 60 days then chances are you are over - priced for what you have and you are just helping other people sell their homes. We encourage you to consult with your REALTOR today to analyze where you are at.
We are looking forward to helping people get into homes over the summer and we are here to serve you. google Chilliwack Real Estate and you can find us on the internet or just type in HappyHomesBC.ca and you can learn a lot about how we can help you. Have a great July

A poem I wrote in 5 minutes

Wake up each day with a song in your heart and a smile on your face

Greet each person you meet and say “I love you” with your eyes

Give thanks for everything and everyone just in case…

Respect your elders for they are the wise

Don’t hesitate - take the plunge

Learn all you can - be a sponge

Encourage others to achieve

In YOU, be the first to Believe.

Kelly Johnston – Sutton Group Showplace Realty

For REALTORS - Success Action Steps

SUCCESS ACTION #1- "Spread the Word Loudly and Proudly" (Members Only) (edit/delete)
The First step is to - "Get your head in the game" - You are a professional REALTOR. Does everybody know that? I mean everybody. If you don't let them know then who will? Every single person that you come into contact with must hear and see that you are a Real Estate Representative and you are ready for business. How do you do that?
•1) CAR BILLBOARD - Does your car tell everybody what you do? It should. Your name and number and company logo should be on your car. Lettering on the window is great but I say do it as big as you can. Your car is a moving billboard. It is everywhere. People will begin to talk about real estate with you just because there is no doubt what you do. The more they see it, the more they will think of you and that is what you want.
•2) BUSINESS CARDS - Get your business cards done as soon as possible and get them out there and give more than one to everybody you see. Design a nice card so they will have a hard time throwing it away. Make it special. Don't waste that chance. It is all about you. What does your business card say about you? What is on the back of it? Is there a special phrase or recipe or mortgage calculator or something of value on the back? Think it through and get creative. Does your card ask for referrals?
•3) DISTRIBUTE INFO LETTER - Construct your introduction letter and make it quick and to the point. Again offer something of value. Maybe approach a restaurant and ask them if they will honour a two for one entree for your prospects and clients. Maybe there is a referral benefit to the receiver of the letter. Make that letter work for you so people don't throw it away. Give first - get later....
•4) LOGO CLOTHING - Get your company logo on your clothing. Give anybody an excuse to bring up the fact that you are in the real estate business. You can take existing clothing and get your logo attached for as little as $5 or $10.
•5) CONTACT LIST - Make a list as quickly as possible of everyone you know. If you just know their first name that is fine. Just write it down. Keep that list alive on your desktop of your computer or keep a running list hand written and every time you think of somebody get them on there before you forget. Call or contact at least 5 per day in whatever way you can. Call them if you have their phone number. Email them if you have their email address. Or drop by and say "hi" at their workplace or house and just touch base and leave them something about yourself. You are just letting people know in an enthusiastic way that you are in the Real Estate profession. That is it. Just do it and watch what happens. Touch 5 people per day minimum. Encourage them to send you referrals. Offer them something of value. Maybe market reports for the neighborhood on a quarterly basis. Engrain in their minds the fact that you are their Real Estate source.
•6) NEIGHBORHOOD PROMO - Go around your neighbourhood with a promo letter and walk door to door and introduce yourself as the new neighbourhood REALTOR and let them know that you are excited to keep values up in the area because you live there too. Keep your lawn nice and have colourful flowers. Show them that you care about how your home looks to them as well. Don't speed in the neighbourhood and wave to everybody as you drive by. Let them know you are available. Go as far as throwing a neighbourhood barbecue and invite everybody over and get to know them. They know people too. Make sure they leave with a package of comparable sales in the area when they go home. If you can add a fridge magnet or a calendar or a scribble pad then that is great.
•7) PUBLIC EVENTS - Go to public events where you will run into people. There is something going on in most communities on just about every weekend. Let people see you with your family and understand that you are just like them. Stop and talk to as many people as you can. Focus on them and make them feel good. Find something to compliment about them.
•8) DRIVE BY'S - Go for a drive every day. On your way to an appointment or on your way home or when you have some free time just expand your route a bit. Take a road that you don't normally go down. Explore and learn about different neighbourhoods. You may see someone outside washing their car or weeding their garden. Stop and say "Hi". Compliment them on their garden. You don't have to ask them to sell their house. Just connect with people. Be outward focussed. Forget about what they might think. It will blow their minds that someone just said hi and complimented them on their garden. It will make their day. Doesn't that feel good? Absolutely. Make someone else smile. If your car is speaking for you, you don't need to say a thing. Maybe you will see a "For Sale By Owner" sign. Great. Stop and call the number. Let them know that you were in the neighbourhood and saw their home for sale and ask them what they want for their home. What is wrong with that? Ask them if it would be alright to view the home sometime for potential buyers. Just get an appointment. Get a chance to meet that person. Who knows you could become the best of friends one day. More on that later.
•9) COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION - Be out and active in the community. Walk your children to school and meet some of the other parents. Coach a soccer team. Join a class of some sort to learn something new. Join a service club or the Chamber of Commerce and attend the events. Go on a nightly walk and encourage casual conversation with the people you see. Visit the place of your old occupation or job.
•10) BUSINESS REFFERAL NETWORK - Make a list of all the potential business referral sources that you can think of. Anybody that is in business for themselves or relies on referrals as well. That can turn out to be your winning team. Nurture those relationships and create a reciprocal benefit. Ask them how you can help their business. Ask them who their best potential client would be. If you meet somebody that is in business for themselves and you get their card. Make notes on the back and tell them that you are going to try and help their business. And do it. The return business will come to you tenfold.
Those are 10 things to do consistently and with focus that you can actually build a business on. Simple Really. Very few people actually do these activities. If you do half of those activities you will be in the top 20% within 24 months. Believe it. It's absolutely true. Can you commit to doing a minimum of 5 of those things right now. Now go back and pick 5 things that you want to implement right now......
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Circle the numbers.
If you think that you can do them all then circle the whole group of numbers. Now remember you will be coming back to this manual at some point to remind yourself what you have committed to do. This is a decision and a commitment. Some of the items above may be a little tougher for some people for budget reasons and that is ok. That is why I am asking you to do at least 5 of them. Pick a minimum of 5. Now you can decide if you are going to be a minimalist or get maximum results. 5 is the absolute minimum ok. You cannot do less than 5. Item #5 has to be included in your five items so pick four others as well.
About Item #5:
Now in this manual, I base everything on a 5 day work week. (Notice the 5 theme?) So that means that we need you to contact 30 people per week. That is 120 people in the first month of business. Your first 30 days are critical. If you have been in the business or licensed for a couple of months or so and have just received this manual then your first 30 days is starting now. Now if you can only think of 80 people in your "sphere of influence" list then that is fine. Some people are going to be contacted maybe in a different way a couple of times. People that you meet throughout the month count also. Remember this list is alive and ever growing and you need to keep feeding it. If you contact 30 people in one day then that is great. You have the remaining four days to do other pro-active things. Structure it however you want but do not allow yourself to do any less.
The form attached to the next page will need to be filled out and will become your first tool to creating a great business. For now, use that form for filling in your contacts for the purposes of this manual until we have reached the 30 day threshold and the office manager has signed it. You can then detach the form and put it into a contact file or binder or enter your contacts into a form on the computer or whatever. This is just the beginning for you. This is a very important first step in building your business. After reaching 30 days and having the form filled in with your contact actions then you can move on to the next Action Item. If it takes you 60 days to finish it, that is fine, but you cannot move on until your manager signs off on the form.
Now other things that are offered with our office in particular and should be done along with the above items in concert are the following:
•A) The Mall Kiosk - the kiosk is a fantastic way to learn how to get into conversations with people about Real Estate. People love talking about it. Have some material there to promote anything that you think will interest people. Something to give them when they walk away. Something that speaks for you. Make sure that you tell the front end staff that you want as many shifts as you can get. There are people that ascertain over 30% of their income to the kiosk leads that they meet. If you have a scheduled shift, please show up for it and make sure that you attend and if you cannot make it then make sure that it is covered by another REALTOR in the office.
•B) OPL - Other Peoples Listings - If you haven't any listings yet then use other peoples' listings to market and offer to do Open Houses for them. Anything that you can do to attract a phone call or an opportunity to meet Buyer's is what you need to be focussing on. There is no reason that you cannot do an Open House in a strategic area from 4pm to 7pm when people are driving around or on their way home from work. You don't have to limit yourself to weekends although that is a good time. Any extra work that can be done to sell a listing is great for the REALTOR that has that listing. It is encouraged in our office. They will probably even allow you to advertise their listings in your own Ad.

Real Estate is a great Business - Here's Why

Embrace what this business has to offer. It satisfies all facets of what us, as human beings, require in sustaining a long, happy, meaningful, successful, and fulfilling life.
1) Goal Setting – have you ever thought about the fact that we are inherently goal seeking organisms? Our development in our life to this point has been from our past goals. You set a goal to study and pass the Real Estate Exam. Congratulations!! You passed. Now it’s time to set another goal and once you achieve that it is time to set another goal. Goals give you a sense of purpose, a reason to get up in the morning and most importantly a sense of accomplishment. That is succeeding....or in other words a series of successes. Could we consider you successful if that happens over and over again. You betcha bucko. Remember when you checked for your results and saw that you had passed? What a feeling. Doesn’t that feel good? It feels great to achieve goals. Well, don’t you want to feel great? It increases your self-image. It gives you another perspective. Setting and achieving goals is so important. You will be setting and accomplishing goals throughout this whole manual and you are going to feel awesome every time you do it. We are so excited for you. Remember in the goal setting process it is not always the goal that is the most important but who we become in order to achieve the goal. If we are doing things right we will become better people in the process. So set goals and achieve and also build a better person along the way.
2) Personal Relationships – Being a positive influence in people’s lives is another “need” we have as human beings. We need to have that connection with people. You cannot be on an island all by yourself without any people around and feel any kind of purpose. We need to exchange energies with other people. That is what is meant to be. You will make friends with some of the other REALTORS in the office and as REALTORS, we also get to help people with their most important money and family decisions of their lives and it feels good to help people. We are instrumental in helping people achieve their goals. That is a fantastic relationship. You will make friends for life in this business with some of your clients. “Business leads” or “Prospects” or “Potential Clients” or “Walk-ins” and even “FSBO’s” are really UN-MET FRIENDS. We deal with so many different types of personalities in this industry and some people will just “click” with you and you will make a real connection. That is one of the wonderful things that you obtain in this business. Every day is an opportunity to meet an un-met friend. In what other industry is there with that kind of potential? Get out there and meet some people and show them what you have to offer.
3) Creativity – We need to nurture our creativity. It keeps our brains sharp. It keeps us on our toes. Be creative. Always focus on the ‘how”. It can be done. Believe in yourself. People love creativity in others. We need it. Some people haven’t exercised their creative muscles for a long time. Think back to when you were a kid. How creative were you? What kind of games did you and your friends create? What kinds of characters were involved? This business allows you to be creative. Everything from designing your ads to writing your property descriptions to getting the deals done during negotiations. It’s all about being creative. Thinking of new ways to market a property. New angles to explore in obtaining referrals. Different ways to attract buyers. The success of your business will rely heavily on how creative you think. Embrace creativity.
4) No ceiling – There is no limit to how big you can build your business. Nobody is here to tell you what you are worth. That happens in jobs. “You are worth $25.00/ hour and by the way we are going to tell you when to eat and when you have to arrive and when you go home and when you can go on holiday’s” and if you don’t like it “You’re Fired!”. There is nobody doing that here. We are offering structure and work ethic to help you succeed because we care about your growth as a human being and as a REALTOR. We are excited for you when you make a lot of money. We say “Way to go now go make some more!!” We will be doing some exercises in this manual to help you ascertain what you are worth and you will be amazed at how much you are really worth per hour and per year. Let’s blow the roof off of your prior expectations and stretch your mind. What a feeling. Imagine on a daily basis setting and achieving your goals and when you get through this manual and you will. It is up to YOU. Consistency is the key.
5) Lifestyle – This business offers lifestyle as well. You create and maintain your own schedule. If you want to be the only Dad or Mom on the school field trip then fine, schedule it in. You can meet your spouse for lunch once or twice a week. You can book holidays whenever you want. You can take Wednesday off if you want. Meet your clients at night, on weekends, early in the morning, or whenever it suits you and your clients. Amazing flexibility. Get home to read stories to your children before bed and then go write an offer after that. Why not? The choice is yours. You have the freedom to work when it works for you. Now you have the freedom to be accountable to everybody. You, your clients and your family. It is simply the choices you make to manifest the lifestyle that you can create. You are in control. Don’t you feel even better about your choice to get into this business now? You probably never thought of it that way before. I believe that we truly need those things to feel fulfilled in our working lives. There are a lot of other things that we need but in our income generating capacity these are great advantages as compared to just about any other occupation.

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Homes Backing a Golf Course (edit/delete)
What is it about homes backing a golf course? What is it about Golf Course Communities? What is it about beautiful valley views? Well we all know that it is a dream of many to live or own a home on a golf course with a fantastic view of the valley floor and the surrounding mountains. Hop in your golf cart in your garage and drive down to the clubhouse and grab a meal and book your tee time with some buddies that live in the area and go out for a fantastic afternoon of golf in a fantastic backdrop of lush mountains and hillsides and magnificent mountain and valley views. One would think that this is only available to the rich and famous. Well at "The Falls Golf Course and Resort" nestled in the eastern hillsides of Chilliwack BC just one hour from downtown Vancouver. The Emerald Ridge subdivision is just off the highway allowing for just 10 minutes travel time to anything that is required. The Chilliwack downtown core; the Cottonwood Mall; 20 minutes to Harrison Hot Springs Resort; 20 minutes to Cultus Lake and more....
WATCH THE VIDEO NOW: http://www.happyhomesbc.ca/videotours.php?video=video/thefallsresort.flv

Chillwack Real Estate Market Report for April 2009

This is HappyHomesBC with a Real Estate Market Report for Market Activity in the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Market in the month of April. We have just received the data from the Chilliwack and District Real Estate board and we have taken the time to assimilate the information and give you a comprehensive report that will help you properly understand the Real Estate Market Activity in the Chilliwack area.
The amount of sales has increased incrementally from the month of March. The amount of the listings left is exactly the same for residential properties so as I said last month – the gap is closing. Interest rates have come down dramatically where qualified buyers can have the opportunity to get a 5 year locked in rate of 3.69% when they buy a home today. We expect market activity to increase as a result. Prices have stabilized and we are noticing that homes that are priced effectively are getting the attention. Pricing your home effectively is absolutely crucial at this moment of time. Buyers are out there and they are armed with a lot of information and they know when a home is priced well and when they find it they are pulling the trigger. Last year we had 1757 listings left in the month of April 2008 and this year we were left with 1475 listings a 16% drop. More activity and less listings to choose from is good for the market. The sales of townhomes almost doubled from the previous month once again re-enforcing the fact that there is a bottom push from the lower end with entry level buyers entering the marketplace. This is exciting because we will be experiencing the pressure of that push soon into the higher price points.
The average days to sell increased this month which tells us something. That maybe the cause for that would be that people who had their homes on the market over 75 days adjusted their prices and subsequently received offers. That is good news because people are now adjusting mentally to todays market conditions. We are reaching a point where business is active and buyers and seller s are coming to a meeting of the minds so to speak making it a great time to buy and sell a home. Prices are down over 15% from 18 months ago and interest rates are down over a full percentage point for fixed 5 year rates!! The Affordability factor is back in the game. Another testament to that fact is that the amount of sales over $400,000 dropped in half but sales between $350,000 to $400,000 increased by 58%!!
Give us a call anytime to learn more insights into the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Market. Check out our website for more information at www.happyhomesbc.ca to see video tours and our most recent market report. This is HappyhomesBC signing off with your Real Estate Market Report for sales activity for April 2009. All the best to you and yours.

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.
We really do appreciate you visiting our blog. Please sign up as a follower so that we know if we are offering value to you.

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

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

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

Be a Torch Runner

I have been thinking a lot about the Olympics coming to Vancouver soon. What does that really mean? I have been thinking about all of the new infrastructure that has been created for this wondrous event over the last 5 years that will now be here to stay forever. The way that the new roads and transit systems are changed forever in our great City. For the better absolutely. I love Vancouver. But really, I love that I am only 1 hour away from Vancouver. I can enjoy driving to wherever I want to go in less than 20 minutes in the City of Chilliwack. I am no more than 20 minutes from anywhere. I can park FOR FREE wherever I want to and it is always a quick walk to where I need to go. It is great. Sometimes we take that for granted. I was thinking about how a City that is just over an hour away from the core of the Olympic craziness can benefit or feel the effects of the Olympics. Then I started to think about what we are going through right now in this "media market mayhem monstrosity" (how's that for alliteration for ya) (Did I spell "alliteration" right?) that is being referred to as the real estate market right now. The crash. The suppressed market. the bursting of the bubble. All of these extreme phrases basically allow us the excuse to justify our current situation right now. It feeds us the food to keep us sick and wallowing in self pity. Really its just a little harder. People are buying homes. People are selling homes. Interest rates are fantastic. Prices are reachable for some people that couldn't reach them before. Buyer's can feel like they are winning again. They can negotiate and win. They can be choosy and win. They can get a great affordable rate making their monthly payments lower. Win. Let's work with Winners. Then we get to be Winners to. Man that feels a lot better. Ok back to the Olympics......
The 2010 Olympics are coming and I believe that we will be able to expose our beautiful province to the world for all to see. Fantastic. Then I saw that ad and I was thinking about the opening ceremonies and the Torch Relay. It is a great tradition displaying teamwork and effort and accountability and heart. Wow. What if we were all torch bearers every day. Remember once you have that torch you are expected to get it to the next spot. If you don't you mess everything up. You have to get it to the next person. You have to be accountable for that and if it is hard then that is too bad. You have to make it. There is no choice. It has to happen. You can't pass the buck - or the torch - in this case, until you reach the destination. It is an honor to carry the torch. When the road is hard to travel, you have to have heart. It may take extra effort and you have to get it to your team mate because he or she is waiting for you and counting on you. it doesn't matter that it is a little harder right now. That is just how we percieve it. It is how we feel. Well too bad. We have to keep going. We have to maintain our accountability to our goals. We have to maintain the promises we made to ourselves and others. We get so caught up in how we feel or how we should feel because we are programmed to feel a certain way when things are hard. I say keep the flame alive people and carry that torch with honor and be proud of your profession and we all have to get up everyday and grab that torch of responsibility and carry on. Put a smile on our faces and effect some lives in a positive way. We are in the business of helping people. We are not helping anybody by feeding on the negativity or letting it soak into us so that we squirt it back out onto other people. I say bathe yourself in positive and and just let it fly. Spray everybody with as much positive as possible and make a difference. Carry the torch. I will. Will you? Join me and lets make a positive difference.

Market Report for Chilliwack, BC, Canada

Here is the Chilliwack Real Estate Market Report.
Here is a general market report with Statistics from our Board in Chilliwack BC. We are a city with a population of approximately 85,000 people and we are located within 1.5 hours from the City center of Vancouver, BC. We are fantastic community with lakes and mountains and fishing rivers all around us. We have all of the amenities that you need and we are soon to be a University town. We have a WHL hockey team called the Chilliwack Bruins. In the month of January 2009 we totalled 71 total residential sale down 45% from the previous year and about 50% of the total dollar volume. However we saw a slight upturn for the month of February because it seemed that everyone was waiting for the announcment of the Obama administration to happen at the end of January before doing anything. In February our residential sales rose to 125 which is about 43% lower than the previous year and again about 50% of the dollar volume. Already we are experiencing more activity in March and I think that we will see another upturn and get closer to the numbers. The phone is ringing and the attitude of the Buyer is transforming a little to more of a sense of urgency. We actually had a multiple offer situation the other day on one of our listings and got our client $3200 over list price! So that is exciting. To learn more about our community and about our team go to www.happyhomesbc.ca.

Critical Real Estate

I am in Childrens Hospital right now with my wife and my son Connor as we have discovered that my son is now a Type1 Diabetic. He is 8 years old and is taking on this new life change like a pure Champion. He is amazing. He has had to overcome some very real fears in an extreme short period of time. Needles !!! Every day !?! Insulin!! What happens of he hits a "low"? Making sure that he eats right. He has to prick his finger -on purpose- to check his blood sugar level a number of times a day. It is Wednesday and he was admitted to the hospital on Monday night at 8:30pm and he is already acting like this is almost "normal". What? We as parents are going to have to make some serious adjustments and we are going through a major crash course with one more day left. We are tired and feeling a lot overwhelmed but at the same time I am so proud of my little man. I am thinking to myself..."what can I learn from this?". It came to me like a flash of lightning.
Us adults, get so caught up in details of life. We wait for other circstances to change or take place in order for our own lives to change. We are waiting for elections to happen; for spring to come; for President Obama to announce his cabinet and rescue the monetary system. Guess what everybody - the market has changed! The way we do business is changing ! We have to make life and business adjustments ---NOW! Out of necessity other factors come to light. Or come to life. This is where the rubber meets the road. What if you didn't make the changes oryou would die! Like my son. What if we decided to stubbornly stomp our feet and resist the changes? What if my son decided not to allow us to give him a needle? Things would get worse for him. Guaranteed that If we don't make changes, our businesses will do the same. They will die. Embrace change, either willfully or out of necessity, or your business will not thrive. It will be deficient on some area. If my son refuses to take insulin he will get sick. Sometimes a change could be as simple as starting a new habit. A positive one. Here's one that has worked for me:
I encourage you to make a list of the "Critical 6". What are the 6 most critical things that you have to accomplish every day? Think of it this way. What if you had to, suddenly without planning, take off with your wife and son to Childrens Hospital because you son has just been diagnosed with Diabetes? What 6 things would you absolutely make sure that you would accomplish before the day was over? Do those things first and do everything else after that. I wish you all a Blessed day and please live life as if it critical. Treat your business as if it is Critical and you will have health and wealth in all areas.
-- Post From My iPhone-to learn more about our team go to www.happyhomesbc

Online Marketing Blog

That is now becoming a FACT.  Wake up people this is the new media and we have to make sure that we take advantage of it and speak to who we are speaking to where they are listening.  Paper ads are not nearly as effective any longer.  We have set up a Sutton Group Showplace Realty FACEBOOK page now so that we can communicate with our REALTORs effectively and also when we announce a new listing, REALTORs whoare savvy enough to have their clients on a FACEBOOK group will automatically communicate to them news and events from us.  That is powerful stuff.  We have set up a happyhomesbc.ca FACEBOOK page as well so that we can create followers and get our clients to interact with us.  It is in the infant stages right now but we are getting there.  I have jsut begun to expose myself to the blogging world and I am just now realizing the power of that. 

Real Estate Markets and the Placebo effect

There is something that we have all heard of and that is the Placebo Effect. If a person is not feeling well or believes that they have a serious illness, they will visit their doctor and the doctor tells them that if they take this pill for a couple days the symptoms will disappear and they will begin to feel better. They have a strong belief that they are sick and that there is something wrong with their bodies and this is verified by the symptoms that they are feeling and expressing. Then they build a new belief based on what the doctor has told them. That new belief is what they want or desire and that is simply, to feel better. They now believe that this little pill will make them feel better. Suddenly shortly after injesting the medicine the symptoms start to disappear. What really happened is that the doctor examined the patient and with his knowledge and experience and a little bit of common sense came to the conclusion that this patient was fine based on all regular indicators. He ascertained that this person/patient needed to believe that he was giving them a solution. "It is all in their head" so to speak. Our beliefs are so strong sometimes that we can actually effect our bodies and almost "create" an illness or the symptoms of an illness.
Well let me ask you this......."is it possible that the reason that the Real Estate Market is a little bit slower, and prices are coming down a little, possibly from the Placebo effect of the media?" After all they are the trusted source. These specialists and analyzers come on the 6:00 NEWS and tell us about all the troubles of the world and suddenly in a little town of Chilliwack BC we meet the statistics exactly. We are meeting the expectations of the media sources exactly. We are experiencing the symptoms and believing it and feeling the effects of it. It feels like a recession because they are calling it a recession.
Here's another point. Let's say you wake in the morning and you feel fine. You wife or husband says to you..."Oh honey, are you feeling ok? you seem a little discolored" you answer "No I feel fine". You head to work and the person in your carpool says "Wow are you feeling ok? You're looking a little sickish" . Then you arrive at work and your secretary says to you.... "Good Morning.... Oh are you sure that you should have came in today? You look like you're sick"....etc and this goes on for the next couple of hours of the day. I am willing to bet that you will be heading home early that day and suddenly take on the symptoms of being sick. But you woke up in the morning feeling just like any other day. When it is expressed to you enough times by trusted people, people that you see everyday, it will creep into your mind and you will begin to take on the symptoms that they are referring to.

Now what if someone with enough clout came on the TV screen and could reach out into your living room and give you a 'smack' on the cheek and say "Wake UP!!! Take a look around you!!! Everything is fantastic" .
As of today the prime mortgage rate is now 2.5%!!! This is the lowest ever!! Even a prime plus 1% loan will get you to 3.5%. What? Are they going to start paying you to use their money? Obviously not, but this is ridiculous. Prices are down an average of 15% from 18 month ago and interest rates are the lowest ever. There is a lot of inventory out there and some Sellers have to sell. What better climate can there be for a Buyer. Remember, once you sell you get to be a Buyer. This is the ultimate Buyer's Market!!! People wake up. We don't have any car companies laying people off. We are a hustling and bustling economy here in Chilliwack BC. We know that there are people ready to buy because when the prices come to a point that you can't ignore any longer then they come out of the woodwork. Garrison Crossing has sold over 12 units in the last 2 weeks. The Flora apartment building on Mary Street has sold over 1/3 of the building in 30 days. Prices increased over 99% since 2002 and have only dropped 15% and I believe that we are bouncing on the bottom now.
Now let's analyze as if we are the doctors: Interest Rates? Lowest EVer. Ok now let's check the pulse of employment. HMmmm yep that is still quite low. Any new events coming to the area? Oh yes......THE 2010 OLYMPICS!!! Yes well. Let's take a look around. Cough for me...Clean Air and Water. Mountains. Lakes. Ocean. 1 hour from the Big City - Vancouver. HmmHmm, Yes that is the most beautiful City in North America. Yes I agree. Oh really? A new University is constructing right now. The RCMP has relocated their training facility to Chilliwack. And Yes. the Justice Institute is there as well. What's that? Companies are currently building facilites that will employ hundreds of people in the Chilliwack area. Nice. Oh I see. The City of Chilliwack itself has no debt at all. Wow that is impressive. Oh yes and I heard about the Evans Road overpass that is currently under construction. What's that? You have a local WHL hockey team as well - The Chilliwack Bruins? Oh is that right. A new Entertainment Arts Center is under construction right now. Oh is that right beside the new Landing Liesure Center and the new Prospera Center which is right across the road from the new Football field? Wow.
Well it seems to me that you will be feeling pretty good pretty soon. Just take this little (sugar) pill and you should be feeling fine any day now.
Come on people - - - - go to our website at http://www.happyhomesbc.ca/ and check out some videos that talk about the Chilliwack area and also we have a new video speaking about "The Falls Golf Course and Resort". Looking forward to meeting you.

Real Estate "Waiters"

I was interviewed the other day on 89.5 FM “the HAWK”. It is a brand new radio station that just started broadcasting in Chilliwack.I was on my way into an appointment to show a client a beautiful home up at “The Falls Golf Course and Resort”. I spoke to the reporter for about 5 minutes. She was asking me questions about the Real Estate Market. I quickly assumed that she was intending to create a story about how slow things are or how prices have dropped. I did not give her any material for that at all. I spoke about how Sellers have to be realistic about their home prices. How they have to be priced sharply and I expressed the concept that once they sell they may feel a little bit beat up but once they become the Buyer they will be able to be the “beater upper”. I explained that when people asked me questions a few years ago like “what happens if the market crashes?”well I would answer to them that all the people that paid too much in Surrey and Langley would come to Chilliwack. Now is the prime time to buy Real Estate in Chilliwack. Interest rates are very low and rental rates have increased so there is incredible opportunity for the smart Real Estate investor in Chilliwack. The only sound bite that came out was a comment I made about how we have less than 10% of the University operational and companies are here right now building their facilities and will be creating hundreds of jobs. We are insulated from the world trauma in the sense that we should be thriving in the valley. Somehow the media fear and the government shenanigans and the US mortgage fraudulant lending practices have caused the general public to be paralyzed. And now a lot of the population is struck by another disease called “analysis paralysis”. I told the reporter that I heard a large THAWUMPP this morning about 6am when I was waking up. I told her that I believed that that was the sound of the market hitting bottom and now it is time for people to get out there and make their next Real Estate move. I said that in jest but seriously, the only time that you really know if the Real Estate market has hit bottom is when you see prices rising. So the very thing that you fear is what will happen by waiting. As John Mayer puts it “we’re just waiting for the world to change”. When enough people take action change happens. Not by waiting for Barack Obama to make an incredible speech. Except for the people that give us wonderful service in restaurants we have to stop being “waiters”. Check out our website to learn more about Buying and Selling Real Estate in Chilliwack at www.happyhomesbc.ca.

Good News

Buyers in Chilliwack are Realizing that there are terrific opportunities in Chilliwack. The Flora a brand new condo building in Downtown Chilliwack is priced right fir the savvy Buyer. No doom and gloom here. People are happily paying the asking price for these upscale condos located right across the road from the Chilliwack Hospital, down the street from the new Chilliwack Landing Liesure Center, and located right behind the Southgate Shopping Center where there are restaurants and Shoppers Drug Mart. We are excited about the opportunity else gave here to help people capitalize on current market conditions. Get more info at www.happyhomesbc.ca/flora.html
We also have a video tour of the development. Mortgage rates are at an alltime low as well. How good does it have to be? In addition, we can help our clients get access to the Sutton Member Program where there is the potential for a Buyer to get a 5 year fixed rate of 3.65%!! I am looking forward to speaking to all of our clients a couple of years from today and talking about the smart real estate decision they made today. Yes. There is some good news once in a while to talk about.


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

Real Estate is Real

The Chilliwack Real Estate market is on the move. It Is exciting to see. We are getting more calls from out of town REALTORS coming with their clients to Chilliwack. We at HappyhomesBC.ca are looking forward to working with out of town people and expressing how great it is to live here. We believe that we are the ambassadors of our great City and we welcome you with open arms.
Check out our website to view our video tours of our current listings but we also have informative videos speaking about the City of Chilliwack in general. Www.happyhomesbc.ca

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

Buying Real Estate in Chilliwack

If you are looking for opportunity then Chilliwack is the place to focus on. We have an abundance of opportunity here. Chilliwack is the heart of the Fraser Valley and there are a lot of reasons for that. We are the heart, the pulse, and the lifeblood. Our community is built from the inside out. We have over 100 acres of industrial land that is in the development stages; we have a the inception of the University of the Fraser Valley just ramping up; the RCMP training facility is now located in Chilliwack; the Justice Institute headquarters and training is located in Chilliwack; we have the Chilliwack Bruins and new WHL hockey team; a new overpass is currently under construction to effect a new connecter for Chillwack and Sardis residents which will in turn provide more opportunities commercially and residentially...... the list goes on and on. Our City staff are heralded as the most business friendly and efficient in the Province. We have access the Harrison Hot Springs just 25 minutes away; Cultus Lake just minutes away; The mighty Fraser River and the Vedder River for some of the best fishing and river rapid kayaking in the world. We are surrounded by glorious mountain ranges and can view hang-gliders and parachuters on any given summer day looking eastward. Buying a home in Chilliwack is not only a fantastic investment for the future but it is also a lifestyle choice. I am proud to serve in the Real Estate field here and I am proud to sell homes to smart and savvy people who are deciding to make Chilliwack their home. Check out our website at www.happyhomesbc.ca and learn more about the Chilliwack lifestyle. We have Videos from the City of Chilliwack on our site as well as Video tours of some wonderful properties that we have currently listed for sale. Learn more about the Chilliwack area and how you can capitalize on this market by buying a home in Chilliwack BC. I look forward to meeting you soon.