Musings from a Crowsnest Pass REALTOR

Update

2011-06-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

April/May update:

April and May were again pretty sluggish with sales. As indicated below, we are holding on 5 single family home sales for each month. It will be an interesting summer for Real Estate in our area, as sales currently remain slow and listings continue to rise. I think we will see listing prices vary quite a bit as motivation from some sellers seems to be increasing. I will have made price reductions on 5 of my listings this month, a few that honestly appeared competitively priced have come down as much as $20,000. These price drops are becoming more common as the motivated sellers continue to move in this direction towards finding the market prices for their properties. One way to look at this is with our absorption rate (how long it will take to use up our current inventory). Approaching 100 single family homes on the market it will take nearly 2 years to use up this inventory selling 5 homes per month. So if we are not ahead of the curve in competitive pricing, many of these listings that “appear” competitive will continue to sit on the market without attracting buyers. If prices continue to correct, sellers may lose value in their homes from overpricing and reaching for that few extra bucks that is no longer there. As I have been suggesting to my sellers, it is the very best deal in each price range that seem to continue to be the ones selling in a reasonable time frame. This in itself is correcting our market prices, and leaving many of our listings in the dust. There are becoming some pretty good deals out there right now, so if you are thinking of buying, it seems like a great time to start looking around while mortgage rates are still very reasonable. For sellers, hang in there and be realistic with your pricing, and remember that curb appeal and staging your home combined with your realistic pricing might be what it takes to attract that next buyer!
Until next time, enjoy your spring!

Happy Spring???

2011-04-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

March/April update:

March single family home sales remained strong. As indicated by the chart, we sold 7 homes in this month beating 2010 by 1 sale, and 2009 by 4. So far in April we have had 4 sales. It is great to see this activity and I think this improvement in numbers is not only attributed to a few more buyers in the market, but also signs of seller motivation and improving pricing. It will however be tough to beat our sales from April through to the end of June of last year (we sold 31 out of a total of 70 homes for the year in these 3 months thanks to some global economic factors, fear of rising interest rates, and changing CMHC lending rules). I do think we will still see a steady improvement in sales before the end of 2011. My feeling is that we will continue to see this improvement as prices continue to become more attractive to buyers who have been sitting on the fence for some time now. I am often asked how much prices have dropped in the last few years. This may vary somewhat in different price ranges, but I think it is safe to say that we have come down about 15%. A good example of this is the typical 30-40yr old bungalow that was selling for $300,000 3 years ago is now around $260,000ish. It is however somewhat tough to tell in a small market like ours with such few sales. I do think that motivated sellers are setting the real market value of the homes, and it is too bad that we did not have more sales to really justify our market prices. In my opinion many of our homes are still priced a little high for what the market will bear, and this will result in a slower than healthy turnaround of our inventory again for this year. We currently have 75 single family homes on the market (This along with the charts below do not include acreage properties, mobile homes, vacant land etc.) We carried around 50 over the winter, and 100 last summer. It is listing season for us Realtors, so if you are thinking of selling, now is a good time to beat the rush. It is always better with a little less competition! If you have any questions about Real Estate in our area please do not hesitate to ask!

Jan/Feb Real Estate update

2011-03-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

As indicated in the charts below, we have started out the year strong with 5 single family home sales in January and 8 in February. This has surpassed the previous two years and hopefully this is a positive sign for Real estate in our area for 2011. From my perspective I am happy to report that I have been busy showing houses, as have our other Realtors in the area. Many of my listings are getting well overdue calls and showings and I would say that some have had more attention in the last month than the previous 4-5 months combined.

When to list your home?

2011-01-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

I am often asked what time of year a seller should consider listing their home. With increased competition in the last few years and with sales continuing to be slow, could a strategy of when to list could really pay off? We typically think of the summer as the selling season in Real Estate for various reasons. Generally speaking I think if you are going to list your home “now” is probably the best time. Again with fewer buyers in the market you would not want to miss the one buyer in your property’s range that might come by while you are waiting for the best time to list. In the last few years we have only seen a handful of buyers in specific ranges so by waiting to list you may have missed out.
For example: 4 houses sold last year in the price range of $250-270,000. 3 were similar family homes and the other was more of a cabin type recreational property. The 3 family homes sold in April, May, and June, and no others for the rest of the year.
The Realtors here get bombarded with listings in the spring as you can see in the Listings-sales chart in the post below. If you waited until spring to list your $259,000 family home, you may have already missed these 3 buyers. Remember that although these buyers purchased in April, May, and June, they were thinking about it months in advance. From the time they decided to view houses, make an offer, satisfy conditions, and close the deal, these buyers were picking their property quite a bit earlier than when the sale was recorded.
So what is the best time to list your property? The sooner the better in my opinion, but if you are looking for a more specific time of the year I would suggest between January and March. Buyers are starting to shop around and the competition is relatively low compared to the months that will follow.
I will back this up in my next post with a chart that will show the sales divided by the number of listings for each month. This will show the probability of selling each month comparing the monthly sales to listings.

National resale housing activity improves in October

2010-11-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

This report is from CREA. It is great to read this kind of news on a national level.

OTTAWA – November 15th, 2010 – National resale housing activity rose for the third consecutive month in October
2010, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
Seasonally adjusted national home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards climbed 4.6 per cent in October 2010. The monthly rise in activity builds on similar increases in August and September. As a result, activity now stands 13.3 per cent above July levels, when it reached this year’s low point. Three-quarters of local markets posted monthly increases in seasonally adjusted activity in October, led by Toronto and Vancouver. As further evidence that the market is returning to normal, sales activity in October stood halfway between the recessionary low reached in December 2008, and the record level activity posted in December 2009. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) national sales activity in October 2010 was 21.6 per below levels for October 2009, when activity set a new record for the month.
National sales activity rebounded last year without a single monthly decline and hit record levels in the second half of 2009. As a result, large declines in activity compared to year-ago levels are masking recent monthly gains in national sales activity. Record level activity late last year is expected to continue stretching year-ago comparisons over the rest of 2010 (Exhibit 1).
The number of new residential listings on Canadian MLS® Systems edged up 1.3 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis in October. New listings remain 14 per cent below the recent peak reached in April 2010. National sales activity and new listings have swung widely but synchronously, which has kept the market in balanced territory since the spring. Over half of all local markets in Canada are balanced, with an almost equal proportion of the remainder in buyers’ or sellers’ market territory. The national average price trend remains stable, in keeping with a balanced market. The national average price trend has remained fairly steady for more than a year, but only recently is this being reflected in year-over-year comparisons. The national average price for homes sold in October 2010 was $343,747, up less than a percentage point compared to one year ago. October marks the fourth consecutive month in which the average home price has remained roughly even with year-ago levels.
The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and measures the balance between housing supply and demand. The seasonally adjusted number of months of inventory stood at 6.2 months at the end of October on a national basis. This is down from 6.5 months in September. The number of months of inventory now stands a full month below where it was in July.
“The continuation of low interest rates is supporting sales activity, which has been improving over the past few months in a number of major markets including Vancouver,” said Georges Pahud, CREA’s President. “National housing market trends are improving, but local market trends can differ significantly, so home buyers and sellers should consult their REALTOR® to understand how their housing market is evolving.”
“National sales activity is now running almost halfway between the highs and lows posted between late 2008 and late 2009,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “This suggests that the Canadian housing market may be starting to normalize. After the wild rollercoaster ride that many housing markets have been on, normal and stable market conditions are something that many buyers and sellers will likely welcome.”
PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national
MLS® sales information from the previous month.
CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not
indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighborhoods or account for price differential
between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.
MLS® is a co-operative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate Boards to ensure maximum exposure
of properties listed for sale.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations,
representing more than 100,000 REALTORS® working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.
Further information can be found at http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/media.htm

GO CROWSNEST!

2010-10-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

I would like to congratulate our new mayor and council, express my thanks to all the candidates that stepped forward and also to everyone that voted in yesterdays election. I think there was great representation for our community with our candidates, and I am thrilled with just how engaged we were. In my opinion we have ended up with a great group of people and I am very optimistic that they will do a great job for us. A special nod to Larry Mitchell for being the only incumbent to re-capture his title.

Put on your sunglasses, I have noticed things are looking a little brighter in South West Alberta today!

In case you have missed it, here are the unofficial results:

http://www.town.crowsnestpass.ab.ca/component/content/article/60

Listings and sales stats

2010-10-13T13:16:00.001-07:00

This graph shows the number of listings and sales for each month dating back to January 2005. The data is based on MLS single family sales in the Crowsnest Pass. I found this interesting from a few different perspectives.
First (and most obvious) is the increasing spread between our listings and our sales. If you have your house listed right now, and have not had a showing (or even an inquiry) for a while, this might be why. Peaking at 123 listings in July, with only 2 homes sold that month, believe me you are not alone. Based on the month of July alone, it would take over 5 years to use up this inventory (this is the absorption rate which I will get into again in the near future).
Second is the seasonal variance in listings. From the peak in the summer to the peak in the winter we almost cut our listings in half. Sales are slower in the winter, but there are still sales. I am often asked “should I take my listing off for the winter, and put it back on in the spring?”. In my opinion, why not keep it on the market through the winter, and try to attract those buyers with half the competition. Just a quick look at the graph might actually suggest that your odds may be as good or better to sell during the winter.
Third is seasonal sales. If you look at the sales, there is a selling season. The line has a hump in it from January to January each year, and with the exception of July being the slower summer month. This year was the exception. As with the rest of the economy, and Canadian Real Estate, we were off to a great start this year (especially March through June), but in July sales dropped off and have not yet come back. This trend, which we saw in world markets and Canadian Real Estate sales was is attributed to nervousness of investors in the economy (thanks to shaky European markets), the start of rising interest rates in Canada, and a tightening of CHMC insured mortgage lending rules.
It will be interesting to see where our local Real Estate market will go from here, but in the meantime I think it is great to see this data to realize where we were, and where we are at this point in time.

Focusing on the Reality of Rural Decline.

2010-10-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

As our candidates run their election campaign, I would like to express some of my thoughts on a major issue facing our community.
Many of the questions, concerns, accusations, and community unrest that were apparent at our well attended political forum can be attributed to one single problem. This is the unfortunate reality of rural decline.
Rural decline is affecting not only the Crowsnest Pass but other areas that I might define as economically challenged communities (less than 10,000 people), with a steady declining population, outside the commute from a major center, without or minimal natural resources including agriculture, and away from a major draw including a substantial recreational ski hill or lake.
From my reading this is an epidemic in Canada, North America, and many other parts of the world. Locally it has everything to do with the closing of the Crowsnest center (and other community halls and arenas), not retaining our youth, not attracting industry, losing businesses, suffering community pride and cohesion, population decline, and of course the stretching of our hard earned tax dollars. In my opinion we are running a natural course here, and our local decision makers are not the cause of these troubles, they are only reacting (maybe not always that well) to the powerful effects of rural decline.
The good news? There are books, studies, committees, organizations and a wealth of information out there dealing specifically with this subject. It may be a huge challenge that many rural communities are facing, but once again in the Crowsnest Pass, we do not have to re-invent the wheel here to figure it out, the tools are out there, we just have to work with these tools to help re-invent ourselves.
I think that it is great to see some of our candidates speaking about hiring an economic development officer, but maybe equally as important our new council should look at creating a community planning committee. One that focuses specifically on economic development and the future economic sustainability of our community. This group should work with, and/or be represented by groups such as our council, Community Futures, our Chamber of commerce, as well as other groups such as the South West Regional Alliance and our MLA, and then eventually tied in with an economic development officer.
This is a great place to live. What we have here is an amazing quality of life in a beautiful environment and a great community. There is HUGE value in that, now we just have to work together and go out there and sell it!

Are you on Facebook?

2010-04-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

Join me on facebook with the new group "The Crowsnest Network". An open forum and a cool place to hang out and share all great things Crowsnest! Pictures, stories, events, business info and more... If you love the Crowsnest Area, and want to help show it off, this is a group for you!
Not on facebook? Well come on now, maybe its about time. Its all about social networking these days you know...

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111751925503675#!/group.php?gid=111751925503675

I’m Back!

2010-01-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

Well at least for a minute. Happy New Year and welcome to 2010. I thought I would post a quick update with the happenings of my world including Real Estate and our community.
2009 was a slow year for Real Estate as anticipated. There were a total of 83 MLS sold properties in the Municipality of the Crowsnest Pass in 2009. 2008 saw 105 sales, 2007 – 176 sales, 2006 – 178 sales. The average for the 5 years prior back to 2000, was 147 sales. Surprisingly with sales in half from a couple of years ago, we have not seen a considerable price correction in our area. For example I was involved with a number of sales through the summer that have been typically in the $300,000 family home range, and just off the top of my head I would suggest that these prices corrected around $15,000 suggesting that these properties are now around $285,000. So prices probably down 5% and holding. If I have a little more time I will post some more concrete details on this. I anticipate that this year will be very similar again in numbers to the last 2 years, and until we see some economic development, a general clean up in our area, and/or $100-150/barrel oil prices again in Alberta, our market will remain relatively slow. Having said this, I understand the mines are ready to hire 400 workers, and this will influence our local market somewhat. Especially if we work on making our community much more visible to Teck coal, which we need to do for a few different reasons, but that is a story for another time.
As our absorption rate or “days on the market” numbers are still high, and as I have mentioned in the past, there have been some incredible buys in our area as a result of motivated sellers that need to move on. So if you are thinking of buying, now might be the perfect opportunity while interest rates are still low, and consumer confidence is still waning.

On the committee side, probably the big news for me is that I am now the secretary on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce. We have had two meetings with the newly elected board, of which there was actually an election (more candidates than positions to fill) which is impressive for any volunteer group in the Crowsnest Pass. This seems like a great group that is genuinely concerned about the success of the chamber and its members. There has been some great discussion with how we can service the community, and also how we can raise funds to do so, but maybe the big thing I am realizing is not only what the chamber can do for the community, but also what the community can do for the chamber. It is certainly a two way street.

One last note on my recent happenings. I have posted a story from the Pass Herald below. I think Nathen did a great job of writing this positive success story for our area. Hopefully we can attract more of the same!

Waska

2010-01-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

(In the pictures are Myself as the Sheriff, and below is Tara, my Daughter Brooklynn, and Thomas Dekker at the Tin Roof Bistro)

Coleman Movie Project successful
By Nathen Gallagher
Pass Herald Reporter

The weather was about as cold as Crowsnest weather can get, but a ten-day movie shoot in Coleman and the surrounding area was successful, and opens up more continuing opportunities to promote the community for future film projects."Waska", a relatively small budget film featuring some well-known actors –– including Thomas Dekker, Jeremy Piven, Kate Walsh, and Mira Sorvino –– is being primarily filmed in Calgary. It is the story of a man who faces the judgment of his community after his young son freezes to death on a fishing trip.Pass resident Randall Whiteside took part in the production from two different angles, and got an inside view on the filming.Whiteside was first introduced to the project by former resident Dan Stoddart, helping with some location scouting for the crew. Whiteside continued working with the crew as they came to the Pass, helping their locations department, doing traffic control with them in Coleman, and even trying his hand at some acting as a deputy sherrif. The role contained no speaking lines, but quite a bit of acting in an important scene. Whiteside, who had no acting experience, says it was a lot of fun."The people were fantastic," he says. "The cast and crew were amazing to hang around with for the better part of two weeks."Whiteside says that actors Thomas Dekker and Joseph Morgan told him that when they first got here, in the -25 degree weather, they couldn't understand why anyone would live here –– but by the time they were done, after experiencing the community and the scenery of the outlying areas, they completely understood.

"They were amazed by the scenery and the mountains," says Whiteside. "Everyone let me know they had a great time here."He adds that having a film crew in town like that can be great for the local economy. "These people will go out of their way to support local businesses. They take a lot of pride in helping out the community, especially when the community embraces them."Whiteside was subsequently asked by someone in the production to write a letter to the MLA and the Premier in support of the movie industry in Alberta. He intends to write the letter, indicating how the film benefited the local economy. He hopes to keep working on the community's behalf with projects such as this, and he says that there are a lot of things the community can do to help attract more such projects.When the filming was finished, the crew and some of the actors held their wind-up party at the Tin Roof in Blairmore, owned by Whiteside and Tara Blair. They filled the restaurant completely, says Whiteside, and had a fun time."Tara and I were really proud to be able to host that for them," he says.The community was very welcoming to the film crew and the actors, says Whiteside, and it was a great place for them to hang out in.

CHECK OUT THIS STORY AND MORE AT http://www.passherald.ca/

Is it a Sellers market in Canada?

2009-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

This was released by CREA today. I find this pretty amazing.

Best July on record for MLS® home salesPublished August 14, 2009
National resale housing market activity continued climbing in July 2009, with sales posting the largest year-over-year gain in two years. It was also the first time on record that sales activity topped 50,000 units for the month of July in any year on record.
According to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), a total of 50,270 homes traded hands via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) of Canadian real estate boards in July 2009. This is up 18.2 per cent from the same month last year, and stands 3.9 per cent above the previous record for the month of July set back in 2007.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, national MLS® home sales posted a sixth consecutive month-over-month increase in July, climbing 2.5 per cent from June to reach 42,539 units. Seasonally adjusted activity now stands 61.2 per cent above the decade-low in January, and just 1.4 per cent below the all-time peak May 2007.
“Sales activity started off the third quarter on a strong footing,” said CREA President Dale Ripplinger. “The difference in the resale housing market now, compared to the beginning of the year, is night and day, and nowhere is this more evident than in the West. Homebuyers recognize that interest rates and prices have bottomed out, and are taking advantage of excellent affordability before prices and interest rates move higher.”
Resale activity in July 2009 was up from the same month last year in about 60 per cent of local markets. Year-over-year gains in Toronto (28 per cent), Vancouver (90 per cent), Montreal (19 per cent), Calgary (22 per cent) and Edmonton (28 per cent) contributed most to the national increase in activity.
Demand is rebounding sharply in some of Canada’s priciest housing markets, which continues to skew the national average price upward. The national MLS® residential average price rose 7.6 per cent from one year ago to $326,832. Only seven local markets posted new average price records in July. The strong rebound in sales activity, not price, in some of Canada’s most expensive markets is skewing the national average price upward, just as a sharp decline in activity in these markets skewed the average lower in late 2008.
The price trend is similar but more muted for the weighted national MLS® average price, which compensates for changes in provincial sales activity by taking into account provincial proportions of privately owned housing stock. The weighted national MLS® average sale price was up 4.6 per cent year-over-year in July 2009.
The weighted average price increase for an aggregate of 25 major markets reveals a similarly muted trend compared to its unweighted counterpart. The major market weighted average price rose 2.8 per cent year-over-year in July 2009, compared to an increase of 8.3 per cent for the unweighted major market average price. The major market weighted average price compensates for changes in sales activity in major markets by taking into account the proportion of privately owned housing stock in each market in relation to the major market aggregate.
The supply of homes coming onto the MLS® market remained down from year-ago levels. Down 13 per cent from year-ago levels to 73,444 units, this represents the seventh year-over-year decline in as many months in the number of new listings.
Rebounding demand combined with fewer new listings is beginning to draw down the overall supply of homes on the market. There were 219,982 homes listed for sale on the MLS® systems of real estate boards in Canada at the end of July 2009, down 12.4 per cent from July 2008. It is the third consecutive year-over-year decline in active listings, and the largest in more than six years.
The number of months of inventory is equal to the supply of active listings at the end of the month divided by the number of sales that month. It represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity. Nationally, there were 4.4 months of inventory in July. This is up slightly from June, but remains one of the lowest figures over the past two years, and well below the recessionary peak of 12.8 months in January 2009.
The seasonally adjusted dollar volume of all residential MLS® sales set a new record in July 2009, climbing 5.5 per cent from the previous month to reach $13.8 billion.
“Home sales through the MLS® systems in July provide clear evidence that sentiment about making major purchases continues to improve,” said Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “Activity may level out over the rest of the year as home prices and mortgage lending interest rates creep higher.”
“The number of new listings coming onto the market is down from last year and the rebound in sales activity is paring inventories, so the number months of inventory is on the wane,” said Klump. “These trends are supporting average prices. Average prices dropped sharply over the second half of 2008 but have rebounded since then, so average prices are expected to continue climbing over the rest of the year.”
For the full news release, please click here:
http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/pdfs/media_july09e.pdf

The NEXT LEVEL

2009-05-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well the blogging has slowed down for me, but time seems short these days and between my Job, my family, and some worthwhile efforts within our community the days are flying by. I hope to find more time to jot down my thoughts, but in the meantime I am happy to realize that many of the ideas concerns and thoughts from myself and others in the past year are actually being addressed and coming to fruition. I think a few sparks have seemed to finally light a small fire under the ass of our community, and for me it has been the perfect time to quit complaining, and time to help start making things happen around here. So don’t fall victim to the abundance of negativity we seem to offer up, because it is an exciting time to get involved, and I will give a few examples of the things that are happening right now, which include examples of what I am currently involved in within our community.
It is soccer season in the Crowsnest Pass and this year I am the U-12 coach, as well as the President of our soccer association, and chairperson for Soccer during the Summer Games being hosted here this year. If that is not enough, I have recently become a certified soccer referee, and able to help out there as well. I have maybe mentioned this before, but our community does a stand up job of providing great opportunities for our kids, and for this I am fortunate to be raising my children here in the Crowsnest Pass. All of these activities and programs are thanks to awesome volunteer efforts within our community. The Southern Alberta Summer games is only one example an upcoming event this summer that will be great for our area.
I also sit on the Ski Hill Authority board, and am proud to report that we had an exceptional season on the hill. I believe this year was the best ever in the way of Management, staffing, Season Pass sales, snow conditions (Grooming), and overall fun! I was able to spend 2-5 days/nights per week on the hill, and as a certified level 2 snowboard instructor I was able to help out with our school groups and also help out with our other annual events. I can report that we now have a young budding ski culture growing here mostly comprised of our local kids (mine included) that are becoming incredible skiers and truly passionate about the sport. We are also attracting Season Pass holders, and visits from families all over Southern Alberta. This has been a result of the efforts of people like Peter Woodman who have thanklessly put their heart and soul into that hill for the last few years and have set “the” example in this area of what can be done in regards to pushing through an old way of thinking... that was failing... and turning it around and making it work. For anyone complaining that progress has not, or will not happen here, well I’ll tell you this is our shining example of where it already has. Another note regarding the Ski Hill is that we are currently working on a Master Plan for the hill with Brent Harley ( World renowned and as Dave our Manager has said he is the Wayne Gretzky of ski hill planning) and once this plan is complete we will have a direction for this awesome community resource, and a tool to help raise money to hopefully end up with more infrastructure including a chairlift ( a chairlift will help tremendously with the winter season, but also open a whole new door to mountain biking in the summer season). Note: It is my personal belief that a chairlift on our ski hill in itself would have one of the single largest positive impacts attainable for our area (Maybe only next to a Rec center of course).
I am on the Culture and recreation board, another council appointed committee which I am proud to say is also comprised of a great group which I believe are forward thinking and passionate about their community. Great things are and will come from this group in the future, and in conjunction with our Community services department we will be seeing many interesting things start to happen here. We are also working on a master plan which includes the future use of our parks, ball fields, sports complexes etc. This has and will continue to be an exciting process for me to be involved in.
I was fortunate to be invited by our community futures office to participate in a Community Branding exercise which has offered by travel Alberta. This has really been an exciting process for me. There was a perfect blend of representation from our community in this group. The results have been amazing, and have honestly blown me away with what we have achieved so far. The main sessions have concluded, and I am part of the smaller group which will continue to forge through the branding process. I am sure that the outcome of this exercise will be crucial and incredible for promoting our area.
I am also a member of the Chamber of commerce, and have been attending all of the functions lately. The Chamber continues to impress me with their efforts to bring together the business community of the Crowsnest Pass. Keep up the great work, and a job well done for sure.
The new CAC (Crowsnest Action Committee) which will replace the name of the Adhoc Committe also has some exiting things up their sleeves (including a community beautification plan I understand) which I am personally really looking forward to. Apparently they will attempt to be the umbrella that we really need to capture the efforts of the numerous other groups that are starting to head in this same direction. Hopefully this is what they are able to achieve, which would be very similar to having a council appointed committee managing a community plan (as Fernie does) like I had written about last year in my blog, maybe better... (Note: As the drama continues here in the Pass, I too wanted to be a member of the adhoc committee, I did not get on either, but it will not bruise my ego, and I will not make a scene over it. I suppose I have enough on my plate, and I do have faith in this committee to do what is right for our community).

What is fascinating me about these boards, committees, and groups is that they are not all comprised of the same people, or often even the same kind of people, but the direction, the overlap, and the overall tone is remarkably the same. They all share a similar energy and focus which I believe will start to have a significant impact here in the months to come.

So if you are willing to sift through that top layer of negativity that seems to be ever so prevalent in this community you may be surprised to find the efforts of many people, groups, and committees that are currently in the process of taking the Crowsnest Pass to the next level. I have only mentioned a handful of the things that I am aware of, and I know there are more so feel free to share your thoughts with us. It is certainly an uphill climb sometimes, and all too often we get the wind knocked out of us by the unbelievable power of negativity and backwardness sometimes within the community. But let’s put that behind us for now, and dig a little deeper shall we? We are at an exciting time here, so keep your head up and let’s get out there and make it happen!

Randall Sells Real Estate (on facebook)

2009-04-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Please join my facebook group "Randall Sells Realestate - in Southern Alberta". Just go to your Facebook page (you do have one don't you?) and search my group. With over 100 friends and supporters so far, I am not surprised when I hear that social networking sites are helping the progressive crowd of Realtors keep pace with the "old schoolers" in this tough market. Technology is amazing, if only we are able to keep up with it.

Oh, and if you are considering buying or selling please do keep me in mind!

Your support is greatly appreciated.

I hope you are having a great spring... and not to worry... mother nature is just making sure we will really appreciate it when the nice weather comes back to stay!

More blogging coming soon...

The Common Denominator

2009-03-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

Community standards are defined by wikipedia as “local norms bounding acceptable conduct”.
I am finding that there is a common theme right now which in my mind is now probably the most important issue that needs to be addressed in the Crowsnest Pass. I have mentioned this before in a few different ways, it has been mentioned as a comment in a recent post of mine, and I see that Dean Ward has brought up this important topic on his blog. Community standards or the lack thereof, seems to be apparent in one way or another with nearly every community issue I am hearing about around our town.
Just a few examples:
An example was a full acknowledgement of our present state at a Community branding session that I have attended in an effort to help us succeed in marketing our town to the tourist industry. To me anyhow, the aesthetics within our town were posed as a challenge at these meetings to say the least. I am also fortunate to be a part of our a few other committees/boards where issues of aesthetics and facilities in disrepair seem to be all too common. This stuff might not sound like major pressing issues or even a big deal to those of us who barely even notice or pay attention to it anymore, but everyone visiting and/or evaluating our community will pick this stuff out in a heartbeat, and criticism does follow.
I had a client looking at houses last weekend, another great example of someone who wanted out of the city and who was initially attracted to our area based on our affordability, our location, and the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains. This fellow loved the mountain scenery, and seemed to warm up quickly to my positive comments about our great community. But with greater emphasis after his second remark, his comments about the abundance of “junk and derelict vehicles” was like a knife in the back after my efforts in promoting the great reasons and benefits to moving to our area. (By the way, I did not tour him by our mayor’s house as I have done with my clients in the past to show how well we are able to lead by example here in the Crowsnest Pass.) Our area was not the only place on his radar. He was also looking into Sparwood, Elkford, and other smaller towns further West.
Also when it comes to the vandalism, graffiti etc. that I have been seeing more of around lately well...honestly...are we setting a better example? Our municipality allowing their own worn out buildings to stand as derelict eyesores (which is my personal bone of contention with the Crowsnest center), and having our leader set the standard of what the neighbours have to look at, or tolerate, and the allowance of things like spray painted signage on our commercial businesses to me is just as much of a crime(Great letter in the promoter last week about spraypainted signage by the way). Please do not take this wrong, and my intention is not to be negative, but at least the kids wrecking our stuff, making it look like crap, and spray painting things have their youth as an excuse, and will have the opportunity to grow up some day. What is our excuse?
I think we are all guilty of some degree of complacency when it comes to the issue of Community Standards, and whether you agree or not, I believe that we are in dire need of not only keeping, but also attracting families, weekenders, tourism, and industry to our area. I believe that if we want our children and grandchildren to have the opportunity to raise their families here that this needs to addressed, and we are not in a position to ignore this major problem any longer. In my opinion this may be the single most obvious influencing factor for inviting people and money into our area. I see it no different than selling Real Estate. Curb appeal, staging, tidiness, and completeness are major factors in creating a positive first impression and this is absolutely imperative for attracting interest to your product.
I love living here, and after a great season on the slopes I can’t wait to get out to the backcountry now that spring has sprung. We are fortunate, this place is indeed magic, and the one thing that I have learned is that most of us have a lot of pride and passion for where we live. I can tell you from an outsider point of view that this may be a difficult thing to believe at first glance, and I feel from experience, that a visitor does not get the right impression about us driving through our towns. There are increasingly more interesting things happening here in a positive, progressive, and proactive way. I believe that it will be difficult to capitalize on many of these efforts until we are able to clean up our act and I think that now is the time to address it.

The affordable alternative?

2009-02-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

In a time of economic slowdown there are products that are able to capitalize during the downturn simply by offering value to their consumers. These products can do exceptionally well during tougher times, some even better than when the economy is strong. My question is could the Crowsnest Pass take advantage of this recessionary period just based on the affordability of the area? I don’t see why not. We potentially could, and as a matter of fact there are signs that we already are drawing homeowners to this area because we do offer an affordable alternative. For example the recreational market, fixed income, and for those with careers that are fortunate enough to live where they choose, we offer an awesome Rocky Mountain location, a great community, and an affordable housing market relative to so many other Western Canadian towns.
As I have mentioned in a previous post, our average house price in the Pass is sitting around $237,000 and you can indeed still buy a house on its own lot here in the low $100’s. We currently have 23 homes and apartment units for sale for under $200,000. You can also still buy a decent family home here in a great location, on a large lot, with an awesome view, for under $300,000. Compare this to places like Calgary, Canmore, and Fernie, and you will not be disappointed.
I believe there potentially could be a huge advantage for us at this time as a result of our area not having reached its potential during the “boom” period. We could certainly take advantage of this situation at this point. Our current Real Estate Market prices, in combination with the ever increasing pressures in cities like Calgary, and inflated Real estate values in other recreational destinations, in my opinion is making the Crowsnest area look more attractive all the time. I hope whoever is in charge of our Economic development these days considers promoting these benefits we have to offer, especially at this point in time. Emphasizing our location and affordability would well be worth the effort. In the meantime, for those of us who are fortunate enough to live and play here already, we do have it pretty good here, and we may be in great shape to weather the storm. I believe taking advantage of being the affordable alternative right now would be a great move for our area.

CREA News Release

2009-01-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

REALTORS® welcome federal housing initiatives in stimulating
Canadian economy

Ottawa – January 27th, 2009 – The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)welcomes the federal government initiatives to stimulate economic growthoutlined in the 2009 budget, especially those that will encourage home ownershipin Canada. The Association applauds the government for recognizing theeconomic importance of the housing industry in some of the budget measures.“The change announced to the popular Home Buyers’ Plan will help Canadianswho want to own their own home, and do it in a responsible way that is not amajor drain on taxpayers,” says the President of The Canadian Real EstateAssociation (CREA), Calvin Lindberg.Research conducted for CREA by the Altus Group shows that each residentialreal estate transaction in Canada generates $32,200 in ancillary consumerspending. The study also reported that 94,700 full time direct jobs weregenerated annually by that ancillary or spin-off activity. The study is posted onthe www.crea.ca website.“The federal government has found a way to introduce economic stimulus andhousing initiatives for specific groups, and for Canadians who want to buy theirfirst home.” Mr. Lindberg added. CREA had proposed the federal government dothat by increasing the limit of the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) to help stimulate thehousing market.Introduced in 1992 by a Conservative government and made permanent by aLiberal government in 1994, the HBP has broad political and consumer support.It will now allow first time homebuyers to withdraw up to $25,000 from theirRRSP to be used in a down payment on a residential property. The Plan has not had the same impact and relevance it did 16 years ago, when the original$20,000 limit represented 13.3 per cent of the average house price, versus about6.5 per cent in 2008.The Association also believes that the success of the proposed home renovationtax credit program will depend on effective administration and promotion.“The use of tax credits will make the program of interest to many Canadians whoown their own home,” adds the CREA President, “but the success will be tied inpart to the availability of savings or credit, since the expense has to be paidbefore the tax credit is issued.”A survey conducted for CREA by IPSOS Reid in October 2008 revealed that only12 per cent of homeowners had ever applied to some type of governmentrenovation or energy efficiency program. In that same survey, 36 per cent saidthey would consider replacing windows as a priority to improving home energyefficiency, while another 27 per cent said it would be adding insulation.The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) also welcomes federalgovernment initiatives that will encourage home ownership and bettercommunities in Canada.“The announced measures for aboriginal and social housing are welcomed byREALTORS® as steps to help house those who may be in need, and tomodernize existing housing resources,” adds CREA President Calvin Lindberg.CREA first called on governments to address various issues affecting nativehome ownership during the World Urban Forum in Vancouver in 2006. TheAssociation’s analysis of native housing issues is available in a booklet posted onthe www.crea.ca website. “The budget spending initiatives help address theissue of the quality of native housing, and quality of life on Canadian reserves.Equally as important is the transition to market-based housing on reserves, andthe government in the budget has committed to the transition to that as well,”adds Mr. Lindberg.
About CREA
The Canadian Real Estate Association represents more than 96,000REALTORS® and 100 local real estate Boards and Associations. To demonstrate the commitment REALTORS® have to improving Quality of Life intheir communities, CREA supports growth that encourages economic vitality,provides housing opportunities, respects the environment and buildscommunities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.

January Real Estate Update

2009-01-28T13:17:00.000-08:00

2008 Summary:
Wow, I have to admit that I am a little surprised by the numbers below, even though they seem relative to my post in October that was suggesting the same. I am going to say that we certainly held our own here in the Pass last year. Even though our inventory was high, houses were on the market longer, and showings were few and far between compared to previous years, sellers managed to do OK, which seems to be reflecting in the numbers. We also sold a few of our most expensive properties ever in the Pass in 08, including the most expensive home ever at well over $650,000. I think it is probably fair to note that these numbers reflect more listings and sales of higher priced homes, and less listings and sales of lower priced investment properties in 08, which might have an impact on the increased average sale price.
2006 (mls stats)
Sold residential properties: 133
Average list price: $169,036
Average selling price: $164,003
Average Days on the Market: 43

2007 (mls stats)
Sold residential properties: 108
Average list price: $232,389
Average selling price: $223,133
Average Days on the Market: 67

2008 (mls stats)
Sold residential properties: 82
Average list price: $249,225
Average selling price: $237,633
Average Days on the Market: 89

2009:
Yawn... Things are pretty quiet here in the Crowsnest Pass so far. We typically have a little more interest in Real Estate in January as a result of pent up energy saved leading up until Christmas, but this does not necessarily translate into new listings or sales at this point. We have sold one house in the Pass in January (We only sold 2 last year and 3 the year before in Jan.), and most of the listings that are popping up I am finding are expired listings from last year that are now being re-listed. We currently have 74 residential properties listed, at an average list price of $295,900, (plus 50 vacant lots currently on the market)
Now that a National and Global recession is a reality, and it looks like our Mines may indeed be laying off workers, it will be interesting how our local market reacts in 2009. I think that we will probably hold our own again this year, depending largely on the layoffs, and how deep the American (and world) situation gets, but this year will be different than last. Last year I think Canada was in shock and denial about what was happening,while this year we are all a little wiser as to where we are, and what is happening, and this in combination with possibly some confidence when we are near the bottom of this global mess will be what it takes to start to balance the Real Estate market, and potentially start moving things a bit faster again. Canada still seems optimistic that we could see the bottom as early as mid 2009. As a matter of fact I would still not entirely discount a swift and unexpected upswing in the market. There is still money out there. Investors and homebuyers are just waiting to land on the bottom floor again.
As I have mentioned before, we still have relatively affordable housing for permanent and weekenders, a high rate of fixed income that might not be as affected by a downturn, and still so much potential here. This could indeed be what is helping us, and could in fact help counteract the effects of how we feel a recession here in the Pass.
Combined with economic factors out of our control, I believe these 3 local issues may hinder our success here this year with our local Real Estate, as well as the health of our community.
1) Confidence in our Municipal Council.
2) Lack of cohesion within our council and our community.
3) Our big developer either “s*itting or getting off the pot” (Please pardon the expression, and as a note I think that either would be beneficial, as the false promises have worn thin. And if I can be brave enough to speculate, Either/or will probably happen sometime between February and August of this year).
Having said that there are many things working in our favour right now, which may have a positive impact on our Real Estate market this year:
1) Relatively attractive house prices for permanent residents and weekenders alike.
2) An increasing presence of stakeholders becoming interested in making positive changes here, and becoming part of the solution.
3) Potential, potential, potential, and more potential.
4) Alberta has the makings for a “rural movement”, especially out of Calgary. I have clients right now that fall right into this category. Tired of gangs, traffic, and congestion, and all the other big city issues that Calgary is now contending with.
If you are considering investing in Real Estate, in my opinion the next few months might not a bad time to consider this area (And I do mean this in more than just a self serving manner...really...). There are some great individual deals out there, and although I have been saying this for the last year, from an investment point of view, the numbers above suggest that so far I have not been wrong.

Looking forward in 2009

2009-01-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Ahh, a fresh new year. Isn't it exciting to have a cut off date to let go of the old, and look forward to bringing in the new.
Last year was very interesting in the Crowsnest Pass and I think it could be pretty exciting in 2009. As I have suggested in the past we just may have missed the last boat for capitalizing on an extremely robust economy, but there is no better time than now to create a plan to take full advantage of the next upswing. The timing is perfect. Believe it or not... the stars are aligning here as we speak, there is interest from our community to make things happen, and I believe there are more irons in the fire than we all think. It is time to cut out the negativity, get involved, make a plan, and really pull things together this year.

So where do we start?

For us common folk:
Well as I said, we already have started, but I would recommend that anyone genuinely interested in making things happen here that now is the time to get involved. Your community needs you. Unfortunately our cynic and bitching departments are already full, so join a committee, or association, or group that will really help for the betterment of our area. Your involvement in which you might have the energy, experience, or expertise will help tremendously here in the near future. Especially at this point in time. And many thanks to the ones here that are already involved. One thing I realized in the last year was that we have incredibly hard working, and maybe often hardly noticed volunteers that are relentlessly greasing the wheels to keep things going around here. Please keep up your great efforts, your commitment to our community is awesome.

For our council:
Our council needs a vision and a plan for the future. (Unless they are already following one, in which I would love to learn about it). I had actually made a few inquiries early in 2008 to find out if we had one. My inquiry was self serving as a business person who wishes to understand variables that will affect my job, and this which will influence my own plans and decisions. A properly thought out and diligently executed plan is the heart of business success story, and every successful business person knows this. This sort of planning on behalf of our Municipality will indeed affect our future including business and lifestyle decisions made by every stakeholder in our area.
Well it turns out we do have a plan. It is municipal bylaw # 556, and can be found here http://www.town.crowsnestpass.ab.ca/services/bylaws-and-policies . The Province of Alberta realizes how imperative a plan is, as it is actually required by our province to have one. This plan is a part of our "Municipal Government Act" as regulated by our Province.
Is the plan a practical and functional representation of our community's needs in the future? Yes, I believe that it is. It is a "development plan" that I think could be expanded into a "community plan" such as Fernie has, as I had mentioned in an earlier post. But for the most part it looks pretty solid. It must have cost a small fortune to create, and I bet the hard work and time invested in this mandatory plan was very significant. I will not get into the plan in detail, as I would really encourage you to check it out for yourself. There is some really interesting points in there that raise an eyebrow to say the least. The only thing that I will mention is found on page 8 of the document and states:
"This municipal development plan will ultimately become the long-range philosophic document for the municipality of Crowsnest Pass...This plan envisions that change will occur within the municipality, therefore the plan should be reviewed and/or amended periodically to maintain its current status, accuracy and relevance."
I am curious to know if the plan has been followed or revisited since it's implementation in 2001. If not, my suggestion is for our leaders to create a "council appointed committee" to look into the past progress of the plan, where we currently stand, and to report back and make recommendations to our council. Then this committee can meet regularly thereafter to help monitor, improve, as well as move this well thought out plan to the forefront of decision making within our council.
If we follow a plan, get involved, and also get excited about the future and potential here, the sky will be the limit.

That's my 2 cents for now. Happy 2009!

Thanks Kara!

2008-12-20T11:30:00.000-08:00

A special farewell and thanks to Teacher Kara from Kids Kollege for her exceptional efforts in shaping the minds of all of her little pupils.

Best of luck in your pursuit of one of the other most altruistic careers in our community!

RE/MAX housing market outlook

2008-12-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Threat of global recession to hinder home sales
in major Canadian housing markets in 2008 and 2009, says RE/MAX

Recovery linked to economic stability next year

Global economic uncertainty weighed heavily on residential real estate activity in most major Canadian centres during the latter half of 2008. Although the forecast for 2009 promises more of the same, most markets are expected to weather the storm, says RE/MAX.

Housing market performance will clearly be contingent on economic performance at a local, provincial, and national level in 2009. Issues affecting the overall economy are impacting housing markets across the country and the situation is not expected to be remedied until consumer confidence is restored. If inventory levels remain stable, pent-up demand kicks into gear, and lower interest rates stimulate home-buying activity, we could see a bounce back as early as spring.

The RE/MAX Housing Market Outlook for 2009 examined residential real estate trends in 22 markets across the country and found that average price held up remarkably well in 2008, despite 13 centres reporting double-digit declines in home sales. Solid gains earlier in the year likely served to prop-up housing values at year-end. The prognosis for housing activity in the first six to nine months of 2009 is somewhat static, given continued volatility in financial markets and the threat of recession, but as stability returns, housing markets are expected to recover.

Nationally, 440,000 homes are expected to change hands in 2008, down 15 per cent from record 2007 levels. Canadian housing values are expected to hover at $300,000, a nominal three per cent decline from last year’s historic peak. By year-end 2009, unit sales should match 2008 levels, while average price is forecast to fall another two per cent to $293,000.

Major markets are evenly split in terms of housing performance in 2009, with 11 centres forecast to match or exceed 2008 home sales and 11 expected to slide from 2008 levels. The highest percentage increase in unit sales is anticipated in Saskatoon, where the number of homes sold is forecast to climb three per cent in 2009. Housing values are expected to hold the line in 2009, with St. John’s, Montreal, Kingston, London, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Regina posting modest gains in average price in 2009.

Canada’s real estate environment is considerably more complex than it has been in recent years. The landscape is definitely changing -- with most markets shifting into either balanced or buyer’s territory. The shut out is over. Sellers no longer rule the roost. Opportunities exist for purchasers like never before, including lower interest rates, greater inventory levels, the luxury of time to make decisions, and the upper-hand at the negotiating table. Motivated vendors will need to take note of the new mindset and set their prices accordingly.

Canadian sellers are slowly adjusting to new realities. For most markets, 2008 started in balanced territory and moved into buyer’s market conditions during the latter half of 2008. The year ahead will prove challenging, especially for vendors.

While the economy will dictate real estate performance next year, it’s important to remember that demand still exists in the marketplace. In the midst of stock market turmoil, sold signs continue to appear on lawns across the country. With affordable lending rates and increased selection, first-time and move-up buyers with good credit may choose to play their investment strategy safe and purchase a home. The comfort of a tangible investment like real estate goes a long way in tough times.

###

RE/MAX of Western Canada (1998) Inc. Housing Market Outlook 2009 Report, issued
December 3, 2008.

Randall's Theory of Relativity

2008-11-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

Ok it is not a theory, but a reminder of the importance of relativity in deciphering the information that we are receiving about the state of our Economy including the Real Estate Market in Canada.

When is the last time you heard something such as "sales are down 12% from last year"

I think that these statements we are hearing are misleading and give an improper representation of the current state of affairs for most of the situations that are being reffered to.
I am going to use Real Estate Prices as an example, but I believe the same will hold true for many or most other areas of Real Estate and Canadian Economy.
Real estate prices have declined in Canada by 9.9 %. Calgary in the last 12 months by 5.5% , Declines?…Sounds horrible doesn’t it? Especially when the media substantiates this information with a bunch of other dismal facts including increased inventory, slower sales, falling housing starts, etc, etc. But is it really as bad as it sounds? Well the only people I really feel for at this point is first time homebuyers that had purchased in 2007, and on average have lost $22,885 in equity in their homes (These are Calgary MLS stats, which I will use for these examples). We can however estimate that this equity will be gained back in a fraction of the course of their 20-40 year mortgages. Even right now as house prices are correcting, on average buyers who have purchased in 2006 have still made $41,890 on their homes, and buyers who purchased in 2005 still ahead in equity by an average of $137,733, up 55% on their investment. That is far from bad news, actually it is quite a phenomenal return, and the likes of which we will not see for some time to come.
So when you hear “The Real Estate market is in a serious slump! House prices are down, sales are down, inventory is way up, houses are staying on the market forever”, well just keep in mind that inventory and these sales figures for example are just a normal part of any correction in the market, whether big or small. When the market is changing gears from going virtually straight up, to even tapering, levelling, or slightly declining, these are the effects that will be felt in the market. This is normal, and it is quite incredible how we are fairing in relation to our neighbors to the south at this point.
My point is that we must remember that 2007 was THE banner year in Real Estate in Western Canada, and any information that is compared to this year, or even in the few preceding years, will be a RELATIVE disappointment. Actually I would predict that anything you compare to 2006-2007 in the way of growth in Western Canada for the next decade or two will fail by comparison. In the big picture, and in looking at averages over a longer period of time, it is not nearly as bad as it is made out to be.
And just a note…One significant factor that I have never seen reported before is the increase in Canadian Real Estate prices as a result of CMHC insuring 0% down with the banks allowing 40 year mortgages. This would have had an effect on rising prices in the last few years by letting more people enter the market, as well as enabling them to spend more money. Now that effective October 1st CMHC has tightened its insuring practices, which was a smart move, this will in my opinion affect the demand for housing and be a factor in the general correction of prices in Canada, especially in the areas with the highest prices such as Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton. But you can bet that this correction will be interpreted as a result of an awful looming recession when these numbers are realized.

Money and greed, a cause and effect

2008-11-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

Hearing about the auto industry Execs flying their private luxury jets to Ottawa and Washington last week in the increasingly popular request for Taxpayers "bailout" money had me thinking about a poignant story that I was told during a road trip few years ago passing by a forest named Aokigahara at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Japan. But I will come back to that in a minute.

Big cars, Big houses, Big dreams. North Americans drive the world economy as a result of our desire to live large. Execs of the mortgage companies and automakers not only capitalize on this, they definitely represent it as well. But apparently they may not understand simple common sense and foresight, or do they? How can the super intelligent leaders of these failed or failing companies not understand or prevent these disasters they have been creating? I don't buy this ignorance for a minute. Do you think they have any shame in asking taxpayers to bail out their businesses' which have fallen or are falling so fast? Somehow I doubt it, not with the golden parachutes these people have on their backs. And why would they feel guilt or accountability when they can blame anything and everything else right now for their failures.

For the auto industry...economic cycles for instance are a given, and are expected. This is something that should be prepared for, and this has not changed since the beginning of commerce. Also it does not take a Rocket Scientist to notice what the Japanese have been doing in the auto industry in the way of quality and innovation including in my opinion, building vehicles that represent the new millennium.

As for the mortgage companies... how long did they think that they were going to get away with lending money the way that they were? This really baffles me. Now that we are a little more aware of just what was happening it was a blatant path of self destruction for the American mortgage market, and they must have known it. I am convinced that the only ones who ended up laughing all the way to the bank were the ones that were in charge of them in the first place.

"Free Market" is defined as business governed by the laws of supply and demand, not restrained by government interference, regulation or subsidy. If I fail at my job, I don't get bailed out, no pension or golden parachute either. I would have no one to blame but myself which brings me back to the beginning. About the forest at Mt. Fuji? Well I might best let you look up the significance of Aokigahara for yourself. I will say that I felt a humbling and almost surreal sense of Tokyo's desire for power and money, but also a sense of ulitimate pride, honor, and accountability especially when I was told that this forest can be a popular place for Japanese Execs to visit when they have let down their companies, investors, and employees. Maybe it is because they respect a little more than the all mighty dollar, that this in effect is a part of why the future of their auto industry looks a whole lot brighter than ours.

Consumer Confidence in a Crazy economy

2008-11-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

It is a crazy economic time we are in that is for sure. We have not seen such intense economic uncertainty within my working life, likely even within my lifetime, and it would not be a stretch to say within my parents lifetime either.
Looming recessions, global meltdown, credit crisis, American housing market nightmare, stock markets raging with emotion instead of rationality, collapsed mortgage and insurance companies, troubled auto industry, bailouts, etc, etc, etc...
It does sound pretty scary, and this fear affects consumer confidence which is a major factor in the acceleration of an economic tailspin. Sideline money, or increased savings, which could be thought of as cash or equity that potentially would be, but is not invested or spent by consumers (and investors) during a time of weak consumer confidence, adds major fuel to the fire.
And now that it seems that we are in an economic free fall, the good news is that the faster we fall, the sooner we will hit the bottom. Once we do, I would not be surprised if we see an upswing that is as equally intense as was the one we have seen on the way down. This will likely not rebound us to the levels of wealth and prosperity we have enjoyed in the last few years, as we were living in a world of inflated economic unsustainability which was starting to beg for a correction anyhow. Although our leaders and economic experts are forecasting troubles that may last for years, I would not be surprised if we see the start of a turnaround as early as spring 2009, and as a matter of fact we already are. The first link in this incredible economic chain reaction, which was the fall of the American housing market, had seen an increase of existing home sales by 5.5% in September. This is a sign that it may finally be reaching the bottom as prices derived from the forces of supply and demand are finally being corrected to levels that home buyers are again becoming interested in. First time home buyers actually have a chance again to get into the housing market with more realistic pricing, which is very positive. But of course the media has been focusing on the continuing decline in prices, which continues to dominate headlines for the suffering American Housing market.
Speaking of the media, one thing that has a profound impact on Consumer confidence is negative media reporting. It is unfortunate that our human nature is to be enthralled and captivated by negativity, tragedy, and despair. The media knows this and certainly focuses on it to sell their products. It almost seems like this is the fuel right now here in Canada, where we are one of the most prepared countries in the world for tough times on the global economic front.
I know that I am totally dreaming but I will offer an idea to help us through the tough times that may lie ahead. I can't help to think that if we could coerce our fellow Canadians to go out on a limb this Christmas, spoil ourselves without holding back on spending, especially spending that will be cut back not from a lack of current affordability but from from a tightening of the belt based on future uncertainty, it would come back to us in the new year with a much needed cash injection into our economy. This in turn will lead to increased consumer confidence, and would be a great step toward strengthening Canada's already strong position in this economic mess adding a consumer funded multi Billion dollar stimulus package into our economy. You can already bet that the we will gauge the depth of this economic crisis by retail sales through the Christmas shopping season, and this will slowly begin to top the business news headlines for the next few months, especially if the numbers and results are lower than already expected.

The Stats

2008-10-27T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today we have 94 homes for sale. We were averaging about 110-115 throughout the summer. There are currently 51 vacant lots for sale. These numbers do not include acreages and commercial properties.

National average home price
Aug 2007-$304,253
Aug 2008-$290,347

Crowsnest single family home including apt's and condos, mobiles w/land this year to date (2008):
Average listing price:$255,412
Average sales price: $243,735
Properties sold to Jan 1 - Oct 27, 08 - 74
average days on the market 92

Crowsnest average single family home including apt's and condos, mobiles w/land for 2007
Average listing price: $239,640
Average sales price: $230,203
Properties sold to Jan 1 - Oct 27, 07 - 90
Average days on the market in 07 - 69

*Added note- my averages do not include vacant lots or mobiles without land. I would presume that CREA (Canadian Real Estate Assn.) has included these in their national averages. Our average house or "property" price including these would be $221,238, with an average listing price of $231,986. These numbers are likely more relative to the National averages.

Properties sold in price ranges:
Only single family homes apts, and condos, mobiles w/land. excluding acreages, farms, etc.

*Added note. I have changed these numbers from total sales in 06, and 07 in the original post, to total sales until Oct 27 of those years to make it more relative.

2006 until Oct 27
$0-100,000 - 23 (24 for the year)
$100-200,000 - 56 (63 for the year)
$200-300,000 - 30 (32 for the year)
$300-400,000 - 4 (4 for the year)
$400-500,000 - 0 (1 for the year)
$500+ - 0

2007 until Oct. 27
$0-100,000 - 3 (3 for the year)
$100-200,000 - 40 (43 for the year)
$200-300,000 - 27 (36 for the year)
$300-400,000 - 19 (20 for the year)
$400-500,000 - 1 (1 for the year)
$500+ - 0

2008 (to date)
$0-100,000 - 3
$100-200,000 - 27
$200-300,000 - 28
$300-400,000 - 14
$400-500,000 - 3
$500+ - 0

All stats are bases on MLS sales/listings

Real Estate update

2008-10-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

Real Estate in the Crowsnest Pass, which was slow in responding to the start of good economic times, now seems to be slow in responding to a slowdown in the economy as well. It is like we are in a time warp here, and it may be working in our favor at the end of this economic cycle.

The current situation:
Houses have indeed sold in the Pass this year. I would speculate that most properties that were actually competitively priced for this market did in fact sell without too much trouble, and generally speaking and at a fair price. There may have been a small price correction in some price ranges, but not drastic, and not in all price ranges. I believe that higher end homes for instance held their own. We have actually sold quite a few higher priced houses including a handful of properties in the high $400 range this year which was unprecedented (at least on the MLS) in our area. In my opinion what people perceived as a slow market was in fact mostly an increased supply, inflated listing prices, and a slowing of our investment crowd (which has thinned due to N.American market conditions as well as slowing confidence in some local developments, in turn affecting lower end house prices the most out of any price range). If I have a "niche" market, so to speak, it would be the investment crowd mostly from Calgary, and the absence of these buyers has been quite apparent to me this year compared to last.
Our inventory certainly rose this spring and I believe that every Realtor who was diligent in keeping their eye on market conditions here realized that prices were leveling off, inventory was going to rise, and we were not going to see another "2006" or "2007" this year in the way of high demand and rising prices. It turned into a buyers market by the end of last year, and it seemed tough (at least for me) to convince many sellers of the current market situation. I had lost a number of listing opportunities especially earlier this year as a result (at least I presume) of providing realistic Market evaluations, and by not "sugar coating" the market, or prices. But it seemed that many sellers were slow to believe the market evaluation or believe that they could not list their houses 5-10% or more above my stated market value. Even after carefully executed forewarnings many sellers were surprised, even upset, when they did not receive the attention they had hoped for on their property by the end of the summer. Out of all of the market evaluations I have done this year, whether I ended up with the listing or not, every single one that was listed higher than my evaluated price...did not sell. No matter how hard we tried, I think that in one way or another many or most Realtors here and in the rest of Alberta were caught with overpriced listings this year, including myself. It seemed like a long summer in that regard. Competitively priced listings were key this year, and this is something I had said from the start of 2008.

My forecast for the next year:
Yeah...like I am going to touch that one right now. I have been obsessing about the mess our global economies are in the last few months and the only thing that seems obvious by now is that there is an impending recession both nationally and worldwide, and besides that there isn't anyone that has a clue about what is really happening, or what will happen in the next 12 months.

The Facts:
Canada is a great place to be. We have faired well so far in this economic mess, I don't mean so much in output, or growth, but in Stability. Our banking system and Economic policies have stood up very well in light of our neighbors troubles. (Canadians should give themselves a pat on the back as we have come a long long way in the last 20 years or so.)
We live in Alberta, still a good thing even despite declining oil prices.
We are still a mining community, the mines are hiring like crazy, and apparently China is still expecting 9% growth in 2009.
We have a relatively low cost of living here in the Pass.
Our average house price is still way below the national average, meaning among other things, room for growth.
Pressure is still building in the big cities, like Calgary, and I believe we have not even started to experience the effects of what I think will be a "rural movement" (definitely a topic for future discussion), so long as we focus on our economic development here.
Politics in the Crowsnest Pass is in a transitional phase right now, for better or for worse, I am willing to gamble that it will be for the better.

My advise in this market:
For sellers- Be realistic in your price. Especially if you are selling to move up or down in the market. If you give a bargain on the selling end, you will only receive one right now on the buying end, and you will be able to move on. If you have a good Realtor working with you, you will likely sell in good time at a realistic price, and get a marginally better deal on the next house you purchase. It is a buyers market, and there is more competition out there than we have been used to for the last few years, so be competitive and fine tune your price. It almost always means that you will end up with a higher actual selling price in the end anyhow and definitely in a shorter amount of time.
For buyers- It is still not a bad time to buy. Shop around, there are great deals out there waiting to happen. Interest rates are only expected to get better, and WE STILL HAVE LOTS OF POTENTIAL HERE, where in so many other areas the potential has been reached or even exceeded. Our time will still come. There have been some incredible individual bargains to be had here and we are in the midst of a rental crisis in the Pass. Good deal on house + rising rents + attractive interest rates = closer to positive cash flow properties than we have seen here for quite a while.
My next post will be some stats on Real Estate sales in our area to hopefully back up what I have just said.

My Webs

2008-10-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

I just launched my updated website last night http://www.skicastle.com/ . This is a site I have designed and maintained for about 9-10 years now. I had started it for my accommodation service at Castle at a time before there was any kind of a "Recreational Hub" on the Internet for Southwestern Alberta to advertise or host my Accom service. I learned to design myself to avoid the expense in creating it, but moreover in paying to maintain it over time. In hindsight I should have just paid for it, as I can't tell you the number of hours I have spent pulling my hair out in the last 10 years. It has sure evolved over time and the big difference this time is that "less" hopefully will be "more"with this site. I have streamlined the site, but it hosts mostly the same information including weather, snow reports, road conditions, services, and my webcam. The major obstacle this time is that I had to finally pack in my old trusty, however extremely outdated, Frontpage '98 program and start completely over with Dreamweaver 6. There has again been much anguish in learning the new program, but I have managed to figure it out. Skicastle.com has hosted the first two Webcams ever in SW Alberta, with one at Castle (operating for the last 6-7years, and still the only cam at Castle), and one in Bellevue looking at Turtle Mountain (operating for 4-5 years). Unfortunately, I am renovating my Bellevue house, and I can no longer host the Cam there.
One of my other Websites, my personal Real Estate Page http://www.crowsnestrealtor.com/ , has made it's remodeled debut within the last couple of weeks as well. I also have a few others that will see a makeover including http://www.thecrowsnestpass.com/ and http://www.pinchercreekrealestate.com/ also. As this has turned into a hobby for me, I have always been reluctant to charge for advertising on the sites. So if you have a service, or information/ news about our area and would like a link added to the Castle or Crowsnest Pass sites just let me know and if they are appropriate I will definitely consider adding them. The skicastle site has done quite well over the years with as many as 4-500 unique visitors/day in the winter, with up to 4-5x more hits in a single day.

Airplane Crash

2008-10-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

It was an awesome afternoon spent in the Backcountry. The days are numbered and it might have been evident with the number of other quadders and hikers that took advantage of this great fall day in the Crowsnest Pass. I finally remembered to pack my camera and took off for a great ride to the Airplane crash site with Jiri, Steve, and Perry. This is only one of the many interesting desinations in our area. It was an awesome day to say the least. We are very fortunate to have access to this kind of fun right out our back yard!

"The Blog"

2008-10-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

If you had seen this title only a few short years ago you may have thought that it was the title of a scary low budget film. The Internet and how fast it is changing our lives is amazing. The "weblog" or "blog" alone is quickly changing how we find and evaluate information.
My blog has taken a very unexpected direction towards a focus on local politics within our community. This was not entirely intentional, however we are at an interesting time in our area and it has been great to voice an opinion only to find out it is shared by so many others. We are at a turning point here in the Pass, and I think that there is value in expressing an opinion about it. I do hope to continue to focus on our community as I see it, but also to keep going on other areas of interest to me as well.
Now about "the blog" itself... Why on earth would someone write this type of a diary on line? Is there an agenda behind it? Do we do it for fun, maybe attention, or possibly for personal gain? I'll be really honest about how it started for me. Based entirely on advise given by a speaker at a RE/MAX convention in Vancouver last spring, I was told that selling myself as a Realtor now goes way beyond the conventional methods of personal marketing. The speaker told me that I don't only need a website, but I need to have a Facebook and Myspace page, as well as a blog. Call me a sucker but I came home, started a blog, and figured it would be some obscure collection of my thoughts found somewhere in cyberspace. Did blogging help me with my job? Not as far as I know, but it doesn't matter because it turns out I enjoy blogging (which might be obvious), and it has been great to help promote the awesome things our area has to offer, voice an opinion about our local issues, and offer my 2 cents on my view of the housing market and the Real Estate world (which is something I could talk about all day) . It really has evolved into something entirely different than I had expected and I would encourage anyone out there to give it a try. It is gratifying to write about things that we are interested in, or better yet what we are passionate about, which is what all of our local bloggers certainly have in common. And at the end of the day, I guess that is what it is really all about. It may be a little unnerving to write down your thoughts, click "publish post", wince a few times, and hope for the best, but that is part of the fun. I am sure my fellow bloggers out there know what I am talking about, especially when you print your thoughts about an idea or opinion in which you are uncertain about how it will be received.
I guess that ultimately blogging has turned into an interesting hobby. Funny how these things happen.
So if you have something to share, go on...share your thoughts and opinions and start blogging, or at least make a comment out there and at get your feet wet in "the blog". It is not as scary as the title might suggest and who knows you might like it too.
Oh, and by the way. If you have not discovered google alerts , check it out. It is a great tool to keep current with just about any topic posted on the Internet, and is responsible for most of the exposure these blogs get on the web.

Fall is Here!

2008-10-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

Fall is upon us. What a great time to take a drive around and appreciate what an awesome place it is that we call home. My top picks for a fall cruise are Beaver Mines to Castle, through Frank under Turtle mtn, and the Satoris and Adanac Between the Crowsnest and Castle. I have been lucky enough to cover them all since yesterday.

But now what?

2008-09-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

It seems we were so emotional and so sure about what we were voting against, that many are not sure what we voted for. Now what?...seems to be the question of the day out there today. I actually know some voters who were inclined to vote "yes" on the Center just to know that it would be taken back and run by the municipality, and so that council would be committed to fixing it or replacing it. You can bet that a percentage of the "yes" votes were in favour of the amendments alone. "Will they abandon the building and let it turn into more of an eyesore than it already is? That is what they do around here you know. I hope I did the right thing by voting no". I have also heard this said more than a few times since yesterday. And a fair comment for sure. Lets hope that our council steps up to the plate now and turns this into a homerun for this community. If the council's plan is to discontinue funding for the center, our council needs to help organize a suitable permanent (or temporary) location for these community services, and they also need to either push over the old hospital (at least) and sell the land, or build a community center there that we can all be proud of. We will definitely take another big step backwards if decisions are not made immediately regarding the buildings and services currently at the Crowsnest center property.
By the way, what was going on with 600 names on a petition that only turned into 450 votes TOTAL by the whole community. Something did not add up there.
In the meantime...
"One small step for progress and change, one giant leap for the future of the Crowsnest Pass"

Times they are a changing

2008-09-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

My confidence in this area increased by 69% today. Check out Deans Blog for details. http://www.crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.com/

Do you have a Rec Center?

2008-09-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

This was the very first question asked by a young family investigating the possibility of moving to the Crowsnest Pass. Actually this question has been one of the first of 4 families that I am aware of that have come here, based on a job opportunity, to research our town and possibility buy a home in the last 2 months. All 4 families had carefully evaluated our community and they had constituted 12 children that would have been put in our schools. (As a matter of fact I have had 2 more emails within the last week from people asking me to give them my opinion about buying a home here and raising a family in the Crowsnest Pass). I had the opportunity to spend a day or two with each family as we drove from appointment to appointment looking at homes for sale, and checking out the Pass. I’d like to think of myself as a great ambassador to the area when showing clients Real Estate, and although an eternal optimist, I am also very opinionated and brutally honest when sharing my views on Real Estate as well as our community. For example, I am not afraid to point out our mayor’s house and his collection of cars to my clients, and lets just say that jaws drop usually followed by a “are you serious?” as we pass by. I also point out the Crowsnest Center, explain the situation there, and get the same reaction. I really do focus on sharing the great things our community has to offer, the incredible potential we have, and the fact that it is easy to justify why I have decided to call this place home for my family.

Not having a Rec Center with an indoor pool such as Sparwood, Fernie and Pincher Creek had nearly turned me away from moving here initially, and as a matter of fact if the Municipality would have closed the ski hill like I understand they had considered, I probably would not have ended up here either. I represent 2 kids in the school system, and we are skiers.
Anyhow, I believe that the Crowsnest Center site would make a great location for a multi-use civic, rec, and community center. Why the valuable, desirable highway location? We would not go wrong by showing off what a great place it would be to move and raise a family here to the 13,000 cars/day that pass through Hwy 3. You can’t buy better advertising than that. If you think that eye sore that is currently standing there is doing our community any justice from the highway...please think again. On another note...If our town is now banking on a promised $20 million dollar Rec Facility or Hotel with wavepool as promised by a developer, well don’t hold your breath for too long.
There was an article in the Pincher Creek echo last week titled “town head count reveals youthful population”. The title itself stung a little, never mind the article.

I am only 1/25th of the Realtor population that work here, and I am going to imagine that I am not the only Realtor that has the opportunity of showing our town to potential families.
And so how about the 4 families? Did we pass the test as a desirable place to move and raise a family? Well let’s just say I know that so far at least 3 out of 4 are not moving here. Would a Rec Center have made a difference? I don’t know. Maybe we should ask our neighbours in Pincher Creek and Sparwood next time we are there for a swim.

Winds of change

2008-09-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well isn't it true that the crowsnest center topic has been pretty beat up in the last few months. I do not have too much to say about the issue itself. My vote will be against continuing to fund the center. This issue alone is not about abandoning and displacing community services. That part can be sorted out. It is about using your tax dollars toward maintaining an inefficient building that has far outlived its usefulness. Bottom line is that if you take emotion out of this equation, it absolutely does not make proper business sense to carry on with it. As well I believe it is holding this community back, not keeping it together as the proponents believe. I will explain that in an upcoming post. Now lets look past the center and focus on the vote itself. The debate over this issue goes way beyond the building. The 4-3 vote by the council, the plebiscite, and the intensity of the subject within our community represents much more than an issue of sinking taxpayers money into an old worn out hospital. THIS ISSUE IS REPRESENTING THE BEGINNING OF CHANGE IN THE CROWSNEST PASS. Like it or not. It must be frightful to the old establishment to realize that this is happening, and that is absolutely fair enough. If the vote is in favor of not funding the center, what will be next? What if there is more 4-3 votes in favor of progression, change, and not holding onto the past at great expense to our community?(and I mean that way beyond a tangible dollar value). How about the next council election if the consensus of this issue moves away from the old way of thinking around here? I would be worried as well. The probable snowball effect on progression and moving forward into the new millennium could rock the foundation of the "old school" way of thinking here, and it could start with that plebiscite. If I was a part of the old school I might have blown a gasket at the local ice cream shop as well. I do not mean to be disrespectful, I just believe it to be the truth. Although I am concerned about the outcome of this vote, it has major importance well beyond the center itself and I am thrilled that it is happening. Change is already happening here, it is right in front of us, and that is pretty encouraging.
I encourage you to go vote on the center in favor of what makes sense, and for progress and change for the Crowsnest Pass. It would be a shame if the vocal minority was the majority of voter turnout on this issue because it will absolutely have a impact on much more than the center itself.

Headlines

2008-08-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Issues, issues, issues…It is obvious that we are at an interesting time and place here in the Crowsnest Pass. It might appear more so for me as I seem to have become keen about the goings on of our community. My enlightenment to how the wheels are really turning here has become quite fascinating.

For those of you that are not from here, who have an appreciation for the great outdoors, and have noticed a lack of local blogging through the summer, may realize why most of us choose to call this place home. We don’t tend to hang around inside much here, summer is already half way over and I have only scratched the surface of what I want to be doing outside in my Rocky Mountain playground. I must say, we really do live in a great place, and I am already missing the winter activities our area has to offer.

So before I head back out, I would like to outline a few issues that in my opinion are a few of the biggest issues (listed in order of importance) that our community is currently facing. I hope that once there is a few less fish in the river, a few more tanks of gas burned through the Harley and dirtbike, a little less tread on my hiking shoes, and never mind dusting off the old golf clubs, attendance of some great local functions, and working a little, I hope to expound on these situations. Thanks to high fuel prices I have been hearing about “staycations” this summer…well…aren’t we lucky here in the Crowsnest Pass.

If you have any comments, opinions, or insight to these issues please let me know I would love to hear them.

(1) The Crowsnest Center:
A conundrum for sure. One issue, one community concern, one plebicite that will have an impact on the next generation (or if there will be a next generation) of our community. The outcome of this vote will be deciding much, much more than just the future of the center.

(2) Bridge Creek and River Run:
Is the façade that they have built around their sales center pure irony?

(3) Economic Development:
Ok. I’ll be honest. I don’t get it.

(4) Community standards bylaw # 534, 2000:
Excerpt:“ No person shall cause, permit or allow … Junked Vehicles … to collect, accumulate or be upon lands owned or occupied by him, or under his responsibility...”
Signed by our Mayor in January of 2001.

I am speechless to say the least, but won’t be for long.

Stay Tuned, and I hope you are having a great summer and hopefully you are fortunate enough to enjoy part of it here in the Crowsnest Pass.

Realtor humor

2008-06-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

This cartoon relates very well to my comments in the previous post "current market conditions" I thought it was funny...

REALITY CHECK?

2008-06-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have quickly compiled a few stats regarding the state of our local Real Estate market.
The good news is that if you are really worried about affordable housing in the Pass, your prayers might be answered sooner than you expect. The bad news is that if you are worried about the general health of our area, and care to use Real Estate Stats as somewhat of an indicator of progress, now might be a good time to stress a little.

I have access to compiling stats through the Lethbridge Real Estate board. I have compared some stats from January 1 – June 1, 07 to the same dates in 08 for Lethbridge, Pincher Creek, and the Crowsnest Pass. I was actually quite surprised at how well Southern Alberta is doing right now in regards to Alberta’s market conditions. I was also quite surprised with our local stats as well, as we are literally next door to these communities.

CNP Stats
Jan 1-June 1, 07
Avg list price $249,878
Avg sales price $240,949
Single. Family homes sold 37
Average days on the market 58

Jan 1-June 1, 08
Avg list price $226,944
Avg sales price $217,509 (down $23,440)
Single. Family homes sold 27
Average days on the market 79

Pincher Creek Stats
Jan 1-June 1, 07
Avg list price $217,830
Avg sales price $210,338
Single. Family homes sold 26
Average days on the market 63

Jan 1-June 1, 08
Avg list price $245,684
Avg sales price $232,903 (up $22,565)
Single. Family homes sold 32
Average days on the market 125

Lethbridge Stats
Jan 1-June 1, 07
Avg list price $212,532
Avg sales price $209,034
Single. Family homes sold data not avail.
Average days on the market 28

Jan 1-June 1, 08
Avg list price $244,964
Avg sales price $238,459 (up $29,425)
Single. Family homes sold data not avail.
Average days on the market 50

In my opinion Lethbridge, which started as a coal town as well, is a commanding example of what diversity will do for a city. I think this has everything to do with why Real Estate prices are continuing to rise there. As for Pincher Creek… well this is what happens when you invite business to your town and are likely proactive with the development of your community.

Do we have a saving grace? More good news is that the mines are once again hiring like crazy. A client of mine has called Elk Valley coal to confirm the rumor I had heard that the mines need to hire 250/ year (I was told 250/year for the next 10 years) to keep up with the demand for coal. Now…we could sit back and hope we attract a few of those people here, or we could be proactive and make this the destination of choice for these new workers and their families. Fernie can have the Ski Hill, Sparwood can have Fred Couples, Elkford already has huge pressure to house miners, why can’t we have the families? Our cost of living is cheaper, our community is great, all we need is to get our sh*t together, build a rec center, a NEW community center, do something great with our little ski hill, and clean up a few other things around here (which does goes way beyond an unsightly premise bylaw but this would be a great place to start). I believe we could get these people to pick our town over the others in the Elk Valley.
The thing is that this should not stop with the miners. All the while in working on bringing these workers and their families here we should then be creating additional opportunities for other commercial/industrial businesses to set up shop here. The demand for coal is great, but as every coal mining town knows, those days are eventually numbered. Diversity will be the key to the future here in the Pass, and if we were smart, we would take advantage of a wave of coal that could indeed help us achieve this diversity.

Of course there are many other factors to consider when interpreting stats including Calgary market conditions (as they have had market corrections themselves), as well as a now obvious lack of action of some local hyped up developments. I do think that there is something happening that should be taken note of when our closest neighbors’ markets are continuing to be strong, and ours are not.

Current market conditions

2008-06-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Real Estate market has changed in the Crowsnest Pass, as well as in the rest of Alberta. We have all heard that there has been a slight correction in prices. This is a normal healthy part of any economic cycle. However when this happens there is usually somewhat of a lag in the mentality of buyers and more specifically with the sellers. We are currently experiencing seasonal as well as cyclical effects within our Real Estate Market creating an increasing inventory of property. We have certainly shifted from a sellers market to a buyers market in our area. Is this a bad thing? I don’t think so. We do however have to adjust our way of thinking to reflect the market conditions. What does this mean for buyers and sellers?

For Buyers:
Buyers can find good deals right now. Don’t be fooled by inflated list prices. Many if not most sellers are currently not getting enough attention on their properties, and in my opinion most would love to entertain an offer. I don’t think the sellers are prepared to give their properties away, however I do think they are more willing to negotiate than we have seen for a few years now. This can and actually has created a few great individual opportunities here for sure. I have just taken advantage of one myself.
For the investor, there is a strong rental market here right now. Rents are still climbing as there is still a shortage of rental housing. If you can get a good deal on a house, positive cash flow for a rental may become more of a reality. On that note, I have overheard that the mines will need to hire hundreds of more workers each year for the next 10 years to keep up with the demand for coal. This should keep our Rental market and Real Estate market strong for some time to come.
Remember, they call it a buyers market for a reason. It is fascinating how most buyers go crazy buying during a sellers market. We may see a slight price correction, however if you can snag a property below the current market value, you will automatically have a hedge against this correction. Sellers are a little edgy right now, take advantage.

For sellers:

Unfortunately you are no longer in a position to grossly overprice your property and still receive attention from it. My advice to sellers is to list the property much closer to the market value instead of 20-30,000 over what the market will bear. When prices were rising as fast as they were the last few years, and the supply was short, this was an appropriate strategy. Things are a little different now and overpricing can have disastrous effects. Houses more often sell for less than the market value when they are initially overpriced. I see this all the time.
Now that it is a buyers market, sellers once again have responsibilities and have to work a little to help sell their property. This includes fixing those few things that need fixing, tidying up wherever possible, and staging your home for sale. In the last few years it did not matter as much for a seller to tidy up their house, clean up the yard, fix the gate, paint the front porch etc, and make it really presentable to a potential buyer. There are now up to 25-30 houses in the Pass that are comparable within some price ranges, and it is now in the sellers best interest to make their property stand out from the crowd in the way of price and appeal. There is competition for your product again, so now you will have to compete in order to sell your property.

Valcartier

2008-05-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

If the idea of "Tube Town" even raised an eyebrow, then I would encourage checking out this website:

http://www.valcartier.com/default.aspx?LA=EN

Even though attracting tourism is only one peice of the puzzle around here, I believe that an idea such as this even on a fraction of the scale, would pull us out of the Crowsnest Past in a hurry.

In my opinion...

2008-05-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

This post reflects my thoughts after reading the latest from Dean Ward, one of our town councilors. Check out Dean’s blog at http://www.crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.com/. I think it is great to see Dean expressing his genuine concern for the state of our community. I certainly agree with the overall tone of this post; however I am going to throw in my 2 cents. I am only expressing my opinion and I think it is awesome that Dean and many other people are doing the same.

Affordable housing:
We have some of the most affordable housing in Alberta, if not Canada. The national average home price for March, 08 is $314,279.00. Ours is around $220,000. Easy math says that our housing is nearly 1/3 cheaper than the national average. That is an incredibly substantial spread. Calgary average price in April, 08 was $414,006 and Vancouver’s was $615,304.
If we had our sh*t together here, and if we were consistently shopping around and giving incentives for more small-midsized business’ or industry such as Arctic spa to set up shop here, it would be an easy sell based on Real Estate prices alone to invite families to our area.
Please don’t get me wrong, now is certainly the time to address affordable housing issues. Imagine if we were proactive with this issue before it turns into a disaster for our area as it has for so many others.

Investing in the Pass:
One of the biggest reasons Calgary has bought up our area is simply because anyone who has owned a home in Calgary for 5-10 years has at least $2-300,000 equity that is burning a hole in their pockets. They have all seen their friends make a fortune in Real Estate in Calgary, Fernie, Kimberly, Canmore, Invermere, Etc, Etc. They all know that this area has potential, and it is one of the only places left where they can buy a property for that kind of money. Without knowing for sure I am going to bet that 80-90% of the Weekend properties owned here are valued under $250,000 and that is because of the amount of equity that average homeowner Joe has in his house in Calgary. As for higher end Real Estate investments and developments, we aren’t there yet and who knows if we will make it there. Weekenders and investors alike are going to do their homework and really pay attention to the potential and the risk of investing that kind of money in this area. It would be like buying stock in a company called the Crowsnest Pass (This idea also goes for the families and businesses considering moving here). For example: Would you invest your money in a company that does not have a plan? Would you buy stock in a company where many of their assets are worn out, under used and are costing a fortune to operate? How about income vs expenses of the company? How about the general aesthetics and appearance of it? Do you have faith in the guy running the company, and how well is he doing his job? Has there been growth in the company? Does it appear to have a solid future ahead of it? Bottom Line…I believe that smart investors would make a mistake to put a large amount of money here. But you can bet that they would have a real close eye on the place because the time to invest is right before a major change in the company takes place. My feeling is that our developments will struggle in selling high end properties here until some things start changing within our town. Families and businesses will also be reluctant to move here unless they see potential and value in the area. As a matter of fact I believe that it would be in the best interests of these developers, and any other stakeholders, to really get involved in helping turn this place around. They would only be protecting their own investments. My guess is that a big developer in our area may experience a problem with their development plans. Weekenders and investors alike will likely not invest in a $500,000-$1,000,000 condo in our area until the things around this development start to change.
Just because developers have bought land here, and Real Estate prices have risen, we should not mistake that with success here in this area.

Ski hill:
My opinion is the same as that of Sandy Best. Get rid of it. The municipality should have no business in trying to run businesses that could be better operated privately. It just does not make economic sense. The hill costs the taxpayers a fortune to run every year. It is certainly one of the biggest assets to our community, and this would typically justify spending the cash to keep it open. I have often thought that the Powderkeg should be sold privately to someone that could sink some cash into it and make a real go of it. This would lighten the financial burden of the town, and if there was some type of draw there for locals and visitors to use this would only come back to our community in positive ways. Sandy had an even better idea though. He suggested we lease it to someone who will do something with it for 25 yrs. for $1. Hence… “Tubetown”. Then the municipality still owns the land, can regulate it, and the lands that are currently leased and not owned by the municipality could likely, or hopefully still be used as well. I believe that this could potentially be a real win-win idea for the community.

We have such incredible potential. We have so many good things to capitalize on here to secure our future it is stupid that it has not already happened.
I heard something about the town of Vulcan the other day and looked up their website and had a look around. Now there is a place which is capitalizing on nothing more than a name, maybe for a lack of anything else to work with. It seems to be working. Our resources are plentiful here; just think of what we could do with only a little imagination and the will to follow through with it. Dean is absolutely right. We need to show some leadership, we need to move forward, and we need to clean up our community.
Combine these things with a plan and I think we would all be blown away with what starts to happen, and how fast it would begin as well.

Tube Town?!?

2008-05-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

“You have a killer opportunity here” were the words from Sandy Best a guest speaker brought into town by the Chamber of Commerce last Saturday night. Around 30 people showed up to hear what a self proclaimed successful entrepreneur to the Canadian Rocky Mountain tourism and ski industry had to say. Idea upon idea of how we could capitalize on the tourism opportunities in this area seemed to dominate the nearly 3 hour informal speech. Speaking for a second time in our area Sandy seemed to understand the fact that our community does not necessarily want to be another Banff or Canmore. He did however try to convey his opinion for our need to address tourism, and the need to capitalize on the opportunities in our area. Originally from Europe Sandy’s passion and enthusiasm for the Canadian Rocky Mountains seemed to really energize the room with a positive attitude about the potential for the Crowsnest Pass. Sandy seemed to love the potential in Coleman and had ideas such as incentives to fill up the shops Downtown to create a trendy area for residents and tourists to hang around and spend their money. He was also big on insisting that our shops be open through the weekends, and later some evenings to give travellers more to do when they are visiting. (This is a problem I know Fernie had for a while as it is tough for the shop owners during this transitional phase). More ideas included Music festivals, Motorcycle events, a recreation centre, and the list went on. His biggest idea was to have our municipality lease our community ski hill land in Blairmore to a privately owned company that would turn our local Ski hill into a Tubing park (Yes that is inner tubes down waterslide like tracks). This park would be open summer and winter with a Tram or Gondola as the main lift up the hill and with future consideration of using terrain far beyond the Powderkeg. Sandy repeatedly referred to our new park as “Tube Town”.
Sandy thinking is totally correct in that we need to focus on our amazing area, it’s potential, and it’s awesome location. We need to pull some of the traffic off the highway to come discover what we have as well as the potential of what we have to offer here in the Pass. I have always believed that. As a matter of fact I was guilty of driving through here routinely with no inclination to even pull off the highway (Except to go to the Frank slide interpretive centre once) for 6 years before I actually drove through Blairmore one day, loved the potential this place had, and as a result I bought a house here only a few months later.
Sandy had suggested that if we came up with some concrete ideas, and/or had a plan to work with that he might just be interested in helping us out where he can. It sounds like Sandy has been quite successful in his undertakings, and his knowledge and his connections could really benefit our area. This is an opportunity we should not let pass us by. The evening seemed to sort of serve as a kick in the ass to those in attendance, and I believe that the consensus there was that we were OK with that. It was also nice to see one of our town councillors, Gary Taje, show up and express interest in the ideas that were being thrown around. We definitely need our council on board when it comes to some progressive thinking around here.

"Quote"

2008-04-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.

Robert Heinlein

the "Bigger Picture"

2008-04-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

In light of response from my previous blogging, I have realized that there is some serious concern over our community’s direction, or lack of it. So... now I have a new idea…What if we developed a comprehensive plan that included a well thought out vision for the future which had guidelines that balanced and encompassed the needs of our area… and then actually used it?Do you think this can happen? Damned right it can. It just took me about 3 clicks of the mouse to find an excellent example of this and it came right from our close neighbors to the west. Check out Fernie’s “Official Community Plan” which entails a 150 page Document which addresses issues such as housing, transportation, parks, economic development, the natural and social environment, infrastructure, etc for the next 20 years. http://fernie.ca/siteengine/ActivePage.asp?PageID=24 I understand that this plan is developed and maintained by a council appointed committee. Do you think they use it? Anyone who has been through Fernie recently knows the answer. Imagine if we had a comprehensive plan with a specific direction that was consistent and based on the needs of our community. We could then draw on this when it came to our hot button topics including the Crowsnest Center, and we could then make appropriate decisions with help from the plan’s mandate. Another example that immediately comes to my mind would be a situation where a developer comes into town with their own idea of what the future of the Crowsnest Pass should look like. These ideas might be different than that of the consensus of the community. We could then use the “Building Design Guideline” within our Community plan, such as Fernie does, to regulate things such as architectural controls that suit our community, and not our developers. I am learning about many issues we are addressing in our community including the Crowsnest Center crisis, devastating school enrollment numbers, heritage initiatives concerned about creating a future that reflects our past, affordable housing issues, and of course the ever present concern of the impact of our environment. Oh, did I mention the Crowsnest Center crisis? In my opinion our town council should be focusing on the “bigger picture” here, developing a plan, such as Fernie's, that would cover all of these issues. Once we do it might be surprising how solving these individual community concerns might start to come together.
I hope our new council realizes that we are one of the last Western Canadian mountain towns to experience the need to address growth, the future, and the implications and concerns that follow. There are so many resources out there, including Fernie’s plan, that we could use as an example to effectively help us deal with these issues (as well as many others).

Stats. March to present

2008-04-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

I will be posting some general Real Estate Stats hopefully every month or so. If you are keeping an eye on the area these stats speak volumes about where we have been, where we are, and hopefully where we are headed. If you are curious about any of these statistics, or if you are doing your homework in the area and would like more, don’t hesitate to ask me.
Our March numbers were down, and I was actually quite surprised. We sold 6 residential properties in the Pass, down from 13 in both 2006 and 2007. Things had appeared to pick up in March, and this activity may end up apparent in The April numbers. April 2006 we sold 10 residential properties, and 11 in 2007. This month to date we have sold 7, and are currently sitting with 6 conditional sales.
As for our inventory we are sitting with exactly 100 properties on the market which is up about 25 or so in the last month. Is it time to buy? I think so. The spring market is now here and prices should creep up in the next few months. As for me personally, I am waiting to see a truckload of “deep service” material (Sewer Pipe etc.) to show up at the River Run Development. When we see the next sign of “actual” development there the price of housing will likely jump quickly to the next benchmark.

Letter "from" the editor?

2008-04-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had submitted my letter “18 cars in the yard” to the Crowsnest Pass Promoter to be included as a letter to the editor in this Friday’s paper. Leave it to the media to edit my thoughts as to not even reflect the intent of my letter.

I did receive 67 page visits to this blog yesterday, a few phone calls congratulating my letter, and did also receive 2 emails which I will share as I thought they were quite fitting. Do you think I have struck a nerve around here?

The first email included this:

“I see the Promoter ‘bastardized’ your letter. “

Well I will be visiting the editor on Monday and this will be my next “Letter to the Editor” offering.

My letter to the editor last week that was renamed “time to clean up the Pass” from its original title of “18 cars in the yard” was edited for content which reflected the whole point and context of the letter. It is one thing to cut the letter up (which was done), but if an editor is able to change the semantics should my name still be signed at the bottom, or should it be theirs? Although a portion of the intention of the letter was still apparent the original letter used an analogy of the mayor’s yard comparing it to the state of our Municipality and the coincidence thereof. Why would the Promoter decide for me on my behalf that I should not scrutinize a local politician? Are we supposed to be afraid of our local leaders? Sorry, but if you are an elected public official the bottom line is that you are fair game. This is a democracy isn’t it? In this case there is an obvious distinction between stating a fact and or an opinion, and being libelous. If I can’t state my opinion as it was intended then what is the point of a “letter to the editor” anyhow.
Definition of libel: “An untruthful statement about a person, published in writing or through broadcast media that injures the person's reputation or standing in the community.”

The second email included:

“...I own property in Crowsnest Pass…We don't live in the Pass - as much as I'd love to, we don't see all the amenities or progressive attitude that would make the decision an easy one.

My wife and I were both very impressed with your letter in the Promoter. If your ideas became a reality, I would have a much easier time convincing her that Crowsnest has the mindset and ammenities for us.

We love the natural beauty of the area, the historic buildings and attitudes of some of the people but still feel there is a bit of "backwardness" within the municipality. I hope your letter can bring likeminded people together and cause some change in the future.

Please run for council.”

All I have to say is…Well spoken.

Ignorance is Bliss

2008-04-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

OK… I am not sure how much I need to get involved, but my last post seemed to attract some attention, so here we go one more time. I have had an internet presence for almost 10 years now in this area and have never had my name “googled” more since posting “18 cars in the yard”. I have also been approached nearly every day in our community with people responding to my comments in that post. I honestly did not think anyone would find my little blog, never mind care so much about what it said.

So before I get down off of my little “soap box” and move on from local politics for a while I do wish to emphasize what I think was important about my last post. Athough the analogy implied towards the Mayors yard was a major point, and was completely relevent to the letter, the issue here might be less about what exactly to do with municipally owned buildings etc, and more about being progressive, proactive, about having a vision for this area, and about building a plan which not only actually addresses the issues of our current populace but also that of our grandkids and their kids. I hope we understand that we are at a time and place here where the decisions made by our current town council will have an impact on this community for generations to come.

Eventually we will get a reality check. And actually, in my opinion, we already are. Here is only one example. Check out our councilor Dean Ward’s last blog regarding the state of our school system. We all know numbers are down drastically, but it is a bit of a reality check to actually see them written down. http://crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.com/2008/03/school-enrollement-in-crowsnest-pass.html Also, I am going to say that it is great to see a councilor addressing the need for drawing young families to our area. Way to go Dean.

Do we really understand the need for forward or progressive thinking in this area? Does the future of the Crowsnest Pass depend on change that needs to start happening right now? Do we have a solid vision for the future, or for that matter do we have a future? Are we doing everything possible to take care of the needs of our retired population and keeping and/or inviting the current and next generations of citizens? Are some of us concerned more about personal gain rather than about the future of our community?

Maybe it is time I really start paying attention to what is happening around here, but hey, maybe it is better that I don’t. Because after all…ignorance is bliss…isn’t it?

18 cars in the yard

2008-03-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Why, with all due respect, and with no offence intended to our local leader (who has left the door open for this one), does it seem like the state of our community is too close in principle and appearance to the state of our mayors yard? It seems like we could use a major cleanup, even a bigger “yard sale” so to speak, and some major re-organizing in the Crowsnest Pass. Is it more than a coincidence that the town is cluttered with derelict, barely useable, money pit buildings and property?
With my utmost respect to our local governance, I absolutely do not and will probably never profess to understand the economics and politics of a small town. I am also only speaking an opinion of someone who has no idea of the mechanics of operating such a thing.
However, having said that, I do have a few ideas to put forth. Why not dispose of the municipally owned land currently occupying what I am starting to understand is high maintenance, high expense, worn out, and majorly underused community buildings and property in the Crowsnest Pass. Use this opportunity to let a developer build something useful and create some desperately needed aesthetics in these areas. I would hold onto one key piece of land though, and with help from the proceeds of the other disposed properties here is what I would do with it. I would build Multi facility community/recreation center at the current Crowsnest Center site. And yes, bring in the wrecking ball to that old worn out, under used, high maintenance money pit. Trust me, coming from someone who has moved a young family here, that this alone will help encourage families to move to this area. In my mind attracting families should be absolutely paramount to the agenda of this municipality. Next, I might sell the MDM School to a developer who will turn the building into affordable housing and or senior housing in the way of condos, and sell off the rest of the vacant land on the property and encourage lower end affordable housing on the site.
It is my opinion that attracting young families to this area and making sure we take care of the older population that is already with us is with no question key to the future of this community. We may be nearing the end of an incredible economic era, and a reflection of this era will be noticed for generations to come across most cities and towns in Alberta and across Canada. Hopefully our legacy from this prosperity ends up more than just high Real Estate prices, a handful of small developments, and a partially reclaimed coal pile on the side of Highway 3.

We have a great community here, actually the friendliest and most welcoming community that I have had the good fortune of living in. This alone was a major factor in my decision to bring and raise my family here. The Crowsnest Pass should capitalize on a good thing, at a great time, and take advantage of some of the opportunities around us to help realize the awesome potential this area has to offer.

Time to Buy?

2008-03-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

O.K. Real Estate investing in the last few years has been a no brainer. Buy Real Estate in Alberta, even at top dollar, even with competing offers, over list price, whatever… it didn’t matter because as long as you could get your hands on a property, you were going to make money on it. It was EASY, and that is a fact.
Maybe those days of EASY money are fading away, at least for a while, but does that mean that you shouldn’t invest in Real Estate? No. Here are only a few reasons why:
1. Nervous sellers- It is a buyer’s market now in Alberta. There are more listings now than there have been for years, sellers are not getting the attention that they have been used to, and many are starting to fear a major market correction. I hate to admit it but if there has been a time to consider “lowballing” an offer for an investment property in the last 5 years (so long as you are willing to lose the property from upsetting the seller) it is now.
2. Interest Rates- Good, and apparently only getting better.
3. Employment Rate- Alberta still has many jobs to go around. A seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.5% suggests that Alberta’s labour force is still a power house. Check out these stats. http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/LMI/LMI-LFS_0208_highlights.pdf
4. Price of Oil- If there is anything I have learned in the last 10 years it is that when they say oil is going to go up 40 cents a liter by summer, this just means more $$$ for Alberta.

As far as locally in the Crowsnest Pass we could be on the cusp of turning this town into a Great Canadian Rocky Mountain destination as it whole heartedly deserves. The market has not really slowed here, and this is likely a great time and place to invest… Here are a couple of examples of what is happening:

Our Friends from Bridgegate, have apparently secured the Radisson Hotel chain to manage the Hotel that they have planned on their commercial space in the 52 acre development in Blairmore. That is Big News. At a Realtor open house last week regarding the River Run Development (the 52 acres) from Bridgegate, they have suggested that they will be starting the deep services within the month and building immediately thereafter. Building apparently will commence early summer with the first units completed by this time next year. They have also indicated that they are about to launch a massive advertising campaign for their development which will rub directly off on our whole area. They also promise me that they have also not forgotten about the multi-billion dollar project at the lake. I will not lie, I have been a pessimist of our new developer friends, and mostly for good reason. However they were convincing at our Realtor Meeting and my confidence will hopefully grow as fast as their projects for the next few months. Having said that…the best buying opportunities locally may be numbered as these projects start to actually materialize, and confidence in them and our area goes up.

This is how I will sum it up. When it comes to recent economic scares, and the talk of recession in the U.S., all I can say is that I am pretty happy that I have me and my money in Alberta. I am honestly not too worried. The market in the Pass remains strong and the potential here locally is great. Our property prices are likely well below Alberta’s average but have the potential to end up higher if things happen as planned, and if the potential of the area is realized. Hopefully we are only getting started here. This makes quite a favorable spread when it comes to looking at the potential of your Real estate investment return.

I think that the Opportunity to make money is definitely still out there and the only difference might be that we will actually have to remember how to shop around, do our homework, and exercise some due diligence to make educated decisions about investing in Real Estate.

The Current Situation

2008-03-03T15:29:00.001-08:00

How’s business? Things have really slowed down haven’t they?
This seems to be the most popular question(s) I am asked lately. People seem surprised when I tell them that things have not really slowed down here. The market has changed a bit for sure, but slowing down is not how I would exactly put it. I am all about the statistics, and although any stat needs to be interpreted appropriately they definitely paint a great picture of what is going on. The biggest difference in our local market, which is probably not much different to the rest of Alberta, is that we have built up an inventory which we have not had in the last few years. And as Supply and Demand principles will suggest this will start to level off the price of property in this area…for now. The big picture… I believe the market is healthier now than it has been for a while.

Here are some Stats:
MLS RESIDENTIAL SALES IN THE CROWSNEST PASS.
December 2007 sales were down by 2 sales from Dec. 2006.
January 2008 sales equalled that of 2007
Febuary 2008 sales were down by only 3 sales from 07, and equalled that of Feb. 06.

MLS RESIDENTIAL STATS FROM THE LETHBRIDGE REAL ESTATE BOARD (of which we are members of here in the Pass) for Lethbridge and southwestern Alberta:

Total listings (Year to date) are up 42% from last year.
Total Sales (YTD) are down 15% from last year.
Total sales dollar volume (YTD) are up 7% from last year.

So, if you have a property for sale in the Crowsnest Pass and you are asking your Realtor why your place is not sold, hopefully she/he will tell you that things have not really slowed down. Especially in our area. The fact is that there is just a little more competition for your product, and knowing this you will have the advantage of making sure you are one step ahead of the rest when it comes to things such as competitive pricing, staging, and advertising your property. The buyers are still out there, believe me, that part does not appear to have changed.
And as for Buyers, there have recently been some great opportunities here. I believe it is a great time to buy in the Pass, and I will explain why another time. But in the meantime

Stay tuned for my short term Real Estate Forecast…

Intro...

2008-03-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

First a little about myself, and then the following posts will get right down to business.

I am working and raising a family in Blairmore Alberta, one of five consolidated towns now governed under one municipality called the Crowsnest Pass. Although I have been around this area for some time now, and grew up in Southern Alberta, I moved here permanently about 4 years ago. As an experienced Realtor I also have a post secondary education in Business, many years experience in building construction (Mostly residential, single family and multifamily housing), and in the property management business. I am really fortunate to have been able to live and work in some of Canada’s most successful mountain towns/resorts such as Canmore, Whistler, Mt. Washington, Fernie, Kimberly, Castle Mountain Resort, and now the Crowsnest Pass. I have also been lucky enough to do some work in Japan, and have traveled to some incredible places including Thailand, Hong Kong and Cuba.
I am active in my community serving on our town’s local ski hill authority as a board member. There I also volunteer with Snowboard instructing and helping out however I can. I am also a Soccer Coach and am currently working with Scouts Canada helping to revive the local Scouting program in our area. Volunteering and giving back a little is becoming increasingly important to me.

In the subsequent posts I will be giving my thoughts about everything and anything including my life in the Crowsnest Pass. Hopefully I can also offer an interesting view on the state of our local, provincial, and national economy and housing market.

Welcome!

2008-02-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

Thanks for joining me on my first blogging expedition on the world wide web. In the near future I will be writing down my thoughts regarding Real estate, and my life working and raising a family in the Crowsnest Pass.