Many Extraordinary Successes Come From Painful Beginnings – Pulling Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps
Darren Hardy of Success Magazine recently shared a story of early struggles of RE/MAX co-founder and chairman Dave Liniger.
“Dave told me some of the wildest “bootstrap beginning” tales that I’d ever heard. And this one stood out:
Back in early days of RE/MAX, Dave was in mid-pitch of recruiting an agent for his team when there was a knock on the door. His secretary discreetly informed him that a man was trying to repossess the firm’s IBM Selectric typewriter. Liniger owed $142 on the $200 machine.
RE/MAX was on the ropes.
Hoping to bankrupt Dave and RE/MAX, his competitors—threatened by the company’s innovative and disruptive model (100 percent…
Searching for a condo has a newly developing option for condo buyers, Smoking or Non!
Smoke-free Housing B.C. has been pushing for a ban on smoking in buildings for 10 years, but advocates say the concept is starting to take off with more than 100 apartment buildings now entirely smoke-free.
Less than 15 per cent of B.C. residents smoke, but nearly half live in close quarters in condos and apartment buildings.
One smoker can affect a lot of neighbours. Imagine lying on your couch, watching TV, breathing in smoke. Imagine having dinner breathing in smoke, going to bed, breathing in smoke, working out everyday breathing in smoke.
Jack Boomer with Smoke-Free Housing B.C. says it's an issue that's gaining traction. "As people recognize in their workplace,…
We are seeing the trend continue of increased sales and stabilized prices with an increase in sales reported for the month of May over both the previous month and the same month last year. The number of total listings listed for sale increased to 4,672 at the end of May, down marginally from 4,783 at the end of May last year. With over 700 sales in Greater Victoria in May from a total number of listings of just under 4,700 we are continuing to experience a balanced market with about 15% of the listings available selling during the month.
While interest rates remain low, the CMHC rule changes are having an impact. We had several specific clients who were qualified, ready, willing and able to purchase who now are not. One affected by the tightening of the…
With affordable housing in Greater Victoria having been in short supply for decades, secondary unauthorized suites are prevalent throughout our region. Of the over 1,200 single family homes sold since January 1 of this year, more than 200 had an existing secondary suite and an another 140 were identified as having suite potential. As a Realtor and a homeowner, I witness the demand and understand well the pros and the cons. Based on affordability alone It's typical for prospective home buyers to specify for example, "we're looking for a home up to $450,000 or we can go up to $600,000 with a suite." The reality is that the income from a suite will easily support over $100,000 in mortgage and the extra gets the home buyer a much nicer home and/or
Following prior moves to tighten lending guidelines including reducing amortization period, tying qualifying to posted interest rates and numerous other qualifying factors, CMHC now says it plans to get out of the market for second homes and is adding restrictions for self-employed Canadians. Effective May 30, CMHC said it will discontinue insuring second homes and will require self-employed Canadians to have third party income validation.
Second home and self-employed without third party income validation business have accounted for about 1 in 33 or 3% of CMHC’s insured business volumes in units.
CMHC first introduced the program for self-employed people in 2007 in response to “industry competition” which at its peak saw some U.S. players enter the
At the end of March we celebrated our fourth consecutive quarter of increased sales over the same period in the prior year and general optimism in our marketplace is still on the rise! The trend is continuing and the momentum seems to be increasing. April last year was when it started and this April we surpassed last April’s sales by a healthy margin. Our own team’s sales increased dramatically over the previous year with 21 accepted offers this April, nearly doubling our last year’s numbers. Although the number of new listings is up, the total number of listings for sale is still a little lower than this time last year. With the increased sales the overall market has become more balanced with the absorption rate at 15% of the overall supply per month
Immigration is nothing new to Victoria, with diverse cultures represented and coexisting harmoniously. Averaging a very consistent net growth in our population of approximately 1% annually, we are a chosen destination increasingly for our mild weather and island lifestyle. We attract not only retirees, as commonly known, but also many high tech businesses now making up the largest sector of our economy, doubling tourism and government surprisingly. For many years we have observed significant immigration of Chinese citizens to the lower mainland, mostly in Richmond and more recently into high end Vancouver neighborhoods. Comparatively, over the past couple decades, we have seen only a small fraction of new Chinese immigrants choosing Greater Victoria and…
The market has warmed up with the spring weather and new listings are popping up nearly as fast as the flowers, however, the number of total listings continues to track downwards from the peak in Spring 2013 now at 4050 listings at the end of March this year compared to 4333 at the end of March last year. The number of sales continues to track substantially higher than this time last year with 575 total sales on MLS this March for Greater Victoria but is still short of the five year average sales volume and hasn’t been enough to shrink our inventory which has been hovering around a 9-10 month supply for almost a year now. While the market is brisk for premium properties and in some more popular areas, marginal properties and those in less desirable and…
Dropped by your office on chance you might be there, but no, busy realtors are out working. Johanne and I wanted to say thank you for the expertise and professionalism you provided to us. There are realtors who collect their commission, and there are those who always go above and beyond. We felt we got the above and beyond.
Appreciated, Bob & Johanna Haley
The trend toward stability that started about April of last year is continuing with a slight increase in sales volume in February to 412 compared to 394 in February of last year while the total number of listings at 3,770 at the end of February while seasonally increasing is still tracking below this time last year when the total was 4,092. Prices appear relatively stable tracking only slightly down in most areas and property types compared to this time last year whereas the average sale price was notably higher for the month due mostly to the sale of a single condo for $5 Million.
Our real estate board is very careful about how they depict the market, however, the media often seem successfully dramatize things and put a different spin on things. Also,…
