The second annual Real Estate Webmasters Summit is coming to Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, from July 30 to 31, 2009. This is the event for North American agents wishing to learn how to leverage their websites to their full potential and to maximize both leads and sales. CEO Morgan Carey will be personally teaching classes on search engine optimization, lead follow up, and leveraging IDX data from a search engine marketers perspective, and Eric Blackwell, owner of EricOnSearch, will be there to teach authority building and networking online.

Real Estate Webmasters are going to be giving away an LEC (Limited Edition Custom) plus one year of hosting / SAAS fees (US$10,840 value) to one lucky attendee. Last years winner was Mike Taylor - if you ask him if coming to the conference (even without winning the LEC) was worth it, he will be likely to provide a glowing review - but hey, winning a $10,000 website isn't all that bad either.

This summit is a business writeoff to come for a vacation in the most beautiful place on earth. Yes you will learn, yes you will network, and yes you should not miss the conference for all the business reasons mentioned, but c'mon people - this is Vancouver Island, the Pacific Coast of British Columbia - it is probably on most everyone's bucket list anyways. Write it off and come early, stay late, and enjoy all the pacific north west has to offer. See you there!

Darrell Bellaart, The Daily News
Published: Monday, March 16, 2009

Fresh from a two-year working holiday in New Zealand, newlyweds Stefan and Sonja Iwasawa are ready to settle down and start a family. And the timing couldn't be better for the biologist and his wife, as housing prices pull back and mortgage rates drop. Falling Bank of Canada rates are gradually trickling down to the mortgage market and that's starting to attract new homebuyers, while some existing owners are looking to remortgage.

That's helping to buoy consumer confidence after sales plummeted following the uncertainty of the economic meltdown in October. Brokers are getting busier as a buyers' market develops for first-time buyers and homeowners look into cutting their mortgage payments or financing home improvements. While a gap remains between the key lending rates and how much banks charge to borrow, mortgages are heading in the right direction for consumers. "Everyone was talking about it's a good time to buy," Iwasawa said. "We just came back into the country and parents and friends were all saying you don't ever see it this low. We were thinking about doing the family stuff and we thought 'why not jump into the market?'"

For the full story see click here

The photo is of my clients Stefan and Sonja referred to me buy a past client.

To view my Nanaimo real estate listings and other MLS listings click here

GoNanaimo.com announces the creation of the Nanaimo 50-Kilometer Holiday with seven self-guided tours within a 50-kilometer radius of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. As gasoline prices unpredictably rise and fall, vacationing locally becomes more attractive and Vancouver Island has so much to offer. The 50-Kilometer Holiday includes two walking tours within Nanaimo and five driving/bicycling tours to nearby mid-island destinations. Each tour is carefully crafted with a printable version and map which website users are invited to use on their trips.

Nanaimo’s waterfront and downtown are explored on walking tours which combine historic sites with scenic beauty. Lots of inviting cafes, galleries, and shops are along the way. Cyclists and motorists will visit the city’s finest public parks on the North Nanaimo Driving Tour. South Nanaimo is largely rural with some enjoyable attractions and hiking trails. The region’s finest private art gallery is in Cedar and Canada’s best bungy jumping is at Cassidy.

Further afield, Ladysmith and Chemainus offer history, hiking, kayaking, and culture. The cruise to Thetis Island from Chemainus is a highlight. Gabriola Island has some of western Canada’s most spectacular coastal scenery, plus outstanding bicycling and the region’s top artist’s colony. To the north, Parksville and Qualicum Beach have outstanding museums, gardens, parks, and galleries. The view of the Strait of Georgia from Qualicum Beach is unsurpassed. Butterflies, parrots, and wildlife are featured at world class centres in Coombs and Errington.

With so much to see and do in and around Nanaimo, it’s almost a waste to spend thousands of dollars flying halfway across the world when you could have just as much fun at home. An island holiday is a hassle-free holiday with no borders to cross, no travel insurance to buy, no bookings to make, and no money to exchange. So do your part to save the planet this summer by having a 50-Kilometer Holiday.

About the 50-Kilometer Holiday

The 50-Kilometre Holiday is roughly modeled on the 100-Mile Diet, a lifestyle revolution reconnecting Canadians with their roots. By creating the tours, GoNanaimo.com hopes to encourage Nanaimo residents to conserve energy and strengthen their community by traveling locally. The travel website’s seven self-guided tours are now freely accessible online at http://www.gonanaimo.com/tours/

Boomtown Nanaimo, British Columbia, is currently one of the hottest housing markets in Canada. Baby boomers all across the country are casting their aging eyes west in their quest for a retirement haven, and the many advantages of Nanaimo, BC, are becoming known.

First off, there's the mild climate moderated by warm Pacific currents arriving from Japan. Nanaimo only gets a couple of weeks of snow a year, quite a contrast to central and eastern Canada which can be snowed in from December to April. There's enough rain to keep the city's gardens and parks lush and green, but plenty of clear, dry days for outdoor enthusiasts throughout the year.

Nanaimo isn't a big city - under 100,000 - so traffic jams are the exception, and there's still free parking downtown. As the main service center for the upper two-thirds of Vancouver Island, the City of Nanaimo has all the services you could ask for, from the big box stores of North Nanaimo to intimate boutiques and cafes downtown.

Nanaimo is well connected. BC Ferries runs large car ferries from Nanaimo to Vancouver every couple of hours, and seaplanes are constantly coming and going on their way to/from downtown Vancouver or Vancouver International Airport. Nanaimo also has a regular airport south of town and you can get a free extension to Nanaimo on many Air Canada tickets to Vancouver.

Another great attraction for snowbird retirees is the fact that Nanaimo real estate is still affordable. Housing prices have increased 50 percent in recent years, but you can still purchase real estate here for about half which comparable properties would cost in Vancouver or Victoria. Nanaimo Realty, Remax Nanaimo, and Coast Realty Nanaimo can tell you more.

However Nanaimo's greatest attraction is its friendly, outgoing people. Nanaimo still has a certain "small town" air lost in go-go places like Toronto, and it's easy for newcomers to plug into the local scene. There's always something happening in the Harbour City. It’s paradise found.

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David Stanley’s travel series “Unknown Sights of Canada” is exclusively available on http://www.gonanaimo.com

While higher housing values and tight inventory levels have hampered home-buying activity so far this year, longer amortization periods and alternative housing types have offset the impact on most major markets across the country, according to a report released today by RE/MAX.

Despite a higher degree of frustration in the marketplace than in previous years, the RE/MAX Affordability Report found that first-time buyers, in particular, remain steadfast in their determination to purchase a home. In fact, entry-level purchasers are adjusting their expectations by sacrificing size, location, and even long-term financial freedom, to overcome challenges such as rising prices and serious supply issues. Innovative financing has become key to homeownership in today's environment - with longer amortization periods gaining favour in 62 per cent of the major centres surveyed. Low or no down payments were popular with first-time buyers in 38 per cent of markets.

First-time purchasers continue to play a pivotal role at both a local and national level. The impact they have on the housing market is significant, as they are the impetus for sales in the mid-to-upper price ranges. As long as this segment of the market remains healthy, the real estate outlook will continue to be favourable.

Inventory levels, however, remain one of the foremost concerns facing purchasers across the country. A shortage of available entry-level product was identified as a major obstacle impeding buyer intentions in three-quarters of markets surveyed in the report, including St. John's, Moncton, Fredericton, Halifax-Dartmouth, Ottawa, Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton-Burlington, Niagara Falls, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Greater Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.

Doom and gloom reports coming from south of the border have yet to hinder overall momentum. First-time buyers are still leading the charge, taking advantage of every resource available to achieve homeownership. They're determined to get into the market sooner rather than later. If suburban locations, smaller condominiums and town homes, or a little sweat equity is what it takes to get into the market, these purchasers are game.

Although average price is the barometer for housing values in most major centres, first-time buyers looking to achieve homeownership consider starting prices a more meaningful gauge of affordability. Starting prices can be substantially lower than the market average. For example, average price has surpassed the $600,000 benchmark in Greater Vancouver, while the starting price for a detached home can hover as low as $237,500 in the peripheral areas.

The best value for the dollar continues to be found in the suburbs. For those unwilling to sacrifice on location, small condominium units in new developments and condominium conversions of rental buildings offer up the next best alternative. Condominium conversions in some of the country's major centres can be picked up as low as $150,000 to $175,000.

RE/MAX of Western Canada (1998) Inc. Affordability report, issued April 22, 2008.

Nanaimo real estate