I admit that I was not unhappy to turn the page on 2008 after the difficult year we had experienced. A new year is always an opportunity for a fresh start and the first couple of weeks of this year give us a much more positive indication than we were feeling in the last half of the past year. Sure, we've had a lot of snow and people are definitely in "winter" mode, but the phone is ringing again, and we are getting more inquiries on our listings.
It seems that the local merchants are pleased with the "Shop Local" campaign that the Chamber of Commerce and the Nelson store owners were promoting during the Christmas shopping season. Reports we are receiving indicate that sales were on-target in Nelson, unlike the major concerns we have heard from retailers south of the U.S. border.
Another report from the Canadian Press, reported last week, blames the media for (at least) some of the concern we are facing in this economic downturn. "Media attitudes do help to shape how consumers feel," said Glen Hodgson, chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada, an Ottawa-based economic research group.
"If (the media) keep saying the sky is falling, well, people think the sky is falling."
While Hodgson said there are clearly issues such as the global credit crunch that are negatively impacting the economy, the problems aren't as deep or widspread as perhaps people are being led to believe.
Hodgson went on to say "It's why media exists, we all want to know what is happening out there. The question is whether the bad news is getting amplified."
As light and breezy as this part of the article sounds, there was, in the same piece a warning: "On Wednesday, economists from the big banks warned Canadians to brace themselves for another year of weak growth as the troubles in the weakening U.S. economy continue to spill over across the border into Canada, affecting the already battered manufacturing sector in Ontario and Quebec."
There will be more statistics on the real estate activities in the West Kootenay later in this newsletter.
TODAY'S CLEAN LAUGH *Parachute Training*
I volunteered recently to perform a parachute jump for charity. On our first day of training, the instructor made an important point about preparing for landing at 300 feet. "How do you know when you're at 300 feet?" asked one woman. "A good question," replied the instructor. "At 300 feet you can recognize the faces of people on the ground." The woman thought about this for awhile before saying, "What happens if there's no one there I know?"
*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!* http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh
Do You Know A Buyer For This Home?
This is an outstanding home, located at Six Mile, on Nelson's North Shore, just a 10 minute drive from downtown. Featuring 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, fully finished on 3 levels and sitting on over 1 acre with a view of Kootenay Lake. It has a double garage plus a 32' x 40' workshop for any project or hobbyist. For more details, please check out our web-site at: http://nelsonrealestate.com/mylistings.html
$595,000 is the asking price, well under the 2008 assessed value!
By the way, we have done some upgrades to our web-site (http://www.nelsonrealestate.com/), which will give us more detail on our listings, as well as improve our "placement" on the search engines. Please check it out.
As we prepared to welcome the New Year a couple of weeks ago, Dorothy and I were visiting friends who live just across the bridge on the North Shore. Being the "party people" that we are we headed for home about 11:30 p.m. As we turned from their road onto the highway, right beside the orange bridge, there was a huge commotion to our left, about 200 metres from where we were. This is what we saw:
The business, known as Kootenay Sleds and Wheels was completely destroyed. Below is a shot I took of the aftermath, 2 days later.
Cause of this fire continues to be investigated.
Now, back to some more real estate statistics:
We had a meeting with a representative of the B.C. Assessment Authority earlier this week. The volume of sales in our area has definitely dropped in the past year. The first quarter of 2008 showed that the number of sales was equal to the same quarter in 2007. The first quarter is always a slow period, because there are not very many buyers shopping for homes in the winter time. The second quarter showed a reduction by about 1/3 over the 2nd quarter in 2007. Then the reduction really started showing up. During the third quarter (traditionally our most active time of the year), the volume was just over 1/2 of the previous year, and slightly behind the 2nd quarter of 2008. The fourth quarter was even slower, with less than 1/2 of the sales of the previous year (24 sales in 2008 vs. 52 in 2007 - October to December). These were sales of single family homes within the City of Nelson, and cover all sales in the city, not just those as reported through the Multiple Listing Service.
The Kootenay Real Estate board statistics paint a similar picture, though I don't have it broken down into quarters. They show a total of 87 homes (single family) sold in Nelson during 2008, compared to 151 during 2007. Although they are showing an average price that is higher than 2007, it is evident that prices peaked around mid-year and have dropped off in the last 6 months.
In rural Nelson, I have added two categories together (single family homes and homes on acreage) for a total # of sales in 2008 of 112 vs. 156 during 2007.
If you are interested in comparing your home's assessed value with those in your neighbourhood, then you'll want to check out this site: http://www.bcassessment.bc.ca/eValueBC/(S(avsns255cbcarrqkmbytvaqf))/asba/index0.aspx This site will only be active until the beginning of February. It is available only during the time set for appeals of assessments, which ends January 31st. Because the assessments for 2009 were frozen by the provincial government, in nearly all cases the assessment is the same as it was last year. There are a very few exceptions where the 2009 assessment came in lower than the 2008 price, so in those cases the lower value is used. This freezing of assessed values will not impact your property taxes this year. The taxation authority (City or Regional District) will set their budget and then apply a taxation rate (or mill rate) which will determine what amount of taxes you will pay. If, for example, the municipal budget increases by 2%, then you can expect a 2% increase in your property taxes. Of course, it's not quite as simple as that, because there are always changes in the assessment role data due to changes in property status (e.g. a new home may have been built on a property in your neighbourhood), but in general, that's what you can expect.
You knew I'd find a way of adding in a photo of "my girls" now didn't you?
This was a great day when the "boys" took the little girls sledding.
A guy is driving around Wadsworth, Ohio and he sees a sign in front of a house: "Talking Dog For Sale."
He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees a Labrador retriever sitting there.
"You talk?" he asks.
"Yep," the Lab replies.
"So, what's your story?"
The Lab looks up and says, "Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA about my gift, and in no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running." "But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired." The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
"Ten dollars," the guy says.
"Ten dollars? This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him so cheaply?"
"Because he's lying, he never did any of that stuff."
*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!* http://www.crosswalkmail.com/bnlglrzcl_yhpbfpfvqzf.html
This photo was taken by Ministry of Highway on January 7th, near the top of the Salmo-Creston pass on Highway 3. The road was closed at this time due to avalanche hazard. It's shots like these that make us appreciate the job that the snow clearing units do for us in the winter-time.
This is something we should all remember.
A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.
His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.
"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ...
it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.
"It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.
Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
Have a great day!
A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.
His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.
"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ...
it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.
"It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.
Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
Have a great day!
And, thanks for reading.
Lorne & Drew
