British Columbia

Are you mesmerized by the magic of books? Do you have a passion for books....for reading and literature? Many of us have been moved and touched by the books we've read. Lives have been transformed by the books read!

I don't know about you....but I remember loving to go to bed early so I could....

snuggle under and....... my Nancy Drews ... Later when I had girls of my own ..........I search the used books stores and bought the whole series again.....and read them to my girls........reliving the excitement of childhood mysteries...

The value and magic of a book is tangible - with its smell .........

Dog-eared pages & indelible inscriptions...there is nothing like a book!

Well, thanks to our neighbourhood Used Book Stores we can walk through aisle upon aisle of Books including, mysteries, science fiction and fantasy, modern lit and metaphysics, children's lit, history, rock, classics, Canadiana, cookboosk, film, music, art, romance, poetry, plays, military, horror, transportation, true crime and Antique books...

With the downturn in the economy and people searching for more ways to save.....the Used Book store offers books at a fraction of the cost.....

Now to the point of this Blog! - I wanted to share with you MY NEIGHBOUROOD Used Bookstore! Some 12 years ago David Short decided to turn his passion for books by opening up his own bookstore - His own 'Little Shop Around the 'Corner...The Book Hunter became the The Book Man! It wasn't long after...that his daughter Amber Short...

...joined the family business and added her passion and ingenuity - not to mention her Internet Savy to this Family Venture!

The Bookman - is truly with over 5,000 square feet of books, records and periodicals........located on Wellington in the heart of historic Chilliwack. This store has more books in the storage room then most book stores have on the shelves! In a very short time - it has become Second only to Penticton's Books n'things - as the largest Used bookstore in Western Canada.

The books are selected for quality and condition and to compliment their collection and hopefully yours! The staff is amazing - and with over 40 years of combined experience in the used books business......these people provide exceptional service, and are a super resource!

There's a large children's area - with over 5,000 books......and a delightful little play area...

And One of my Favorites...........the BookMark Bathroom! :-) We all know where most of the reading is done for some of you!

For those that say that Computers and the Internet have changed our reading habits....its true........but here it is being utilized to keeping the store diversified and expanding.....Both David and Amber subscribe to the belief that computers will never replace books....! Internet sales have opened the store to readers from around the world as far away as Australia and Europe........They even sold an obscure photography book to the Metropolitan Museum of Art not long ago!

Who hasn't seen You've Got Mail........?

It's the saga of the small bookstore forced to shut down because of the mega bookstore.....and yet Amber Short and her father David Short, the owners of the The Bookman somehow have defied the odds..

Book lovers are a special breed....and there's a certain thrill to be had when discovering a book you've been looking for for a long time. This is an experience that both Amber and her Dad get to experience and share with their customers, time after time...

Come and visit, browse....pull up a chair.....and travel through their collection and hopefully you'll find something special to add to yours!

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Check out their Trading policies at - http://www.bookman.ca/5-Trading-Policies.html

Looking for that Special book? - Fill out Request forms at http://www.bookman.ca/2-requestform.cfm

How does The Bookman Pay it Forward?

The Bookman collects world globes....and donates them to the Chilliwack School District classrooms.......creating 'global' awareness..;-)

The Bookman donates boxes of children's books to schools as anincentive for in-school-reading programs.

Literature Lovers Scholarships - are given to both Chilliwack and Sardis Secondary honoring those that love books - applicants write letters explaining how ‘books' have changed their lives -

The Bookman participates in many fund raisers and supports local Community Service Organizagtions and Programs through donations.

The Book Man's Motto - "So Many Books - So Little Time!"

45939 Wellington.....Chiliwack, B.C.

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Canada’s central bank moved Wednesday to cut short-term interest rates by half a percentage point, but Canadian banks are cutting rates only half that much.

Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and TD Canada Trust said they will trim their prime lending rates by 25 basis points — meaning a quarter of a percentage point — effective Thursday.

The prime lending rate is what banks charge credit-worthy business customers on short-term loans. Other interest rates, including certain mortgage rates, may be linked to the prime rate but set several points higher.

Tim Hockey, CEO of TD Canada Trust, issued a statement saying his bank is doing its best to help the central bank.

“Continuing market turmoil has steadily driven up the cost of borrowing for financial institutions. This makes it challenging to match the Bank of Canada rate cut at this time,” he said.

“We recognize the efforts the Bank of Canada is making and, despite the fact that our cost of funds remains high, we have decided to reduce our rate by 25 basis points. We see this as a balanced move in managing our funds and passing along the intended benefits to our customers.”

The other banks issued one-sentence notes saying they will cut their prime rates to 4.5 per cent from 4.75 per cent, the same cut announced by TD.

The Bank of Canada, in a move co-ordinated with the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks, cut its target for the overnight rate half of a percentage point to 2.5 per cent. The central bank describes that rate as its key policy interest rate, signalling its intentions to credit markets.

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/10/08/prime-rate.html?ref=rss&loomia_si=t

TD Canada Trust is leading the way for lending practices in Canada, with the ripple effects from Global Economic concerns tricling down it is interesting to note why the banks are only following with half of the centeral banks discount.

Liquidity on the international market has lead to higher expectations for for gin investors, simply put for gin investors want a higher return on lending funds to Banks- this premium demand has forced the Canadain banks to pay higher returns in exchange for forgin cash infusions. This has the bank changing it’s pricing policys in these unprecedented times. It will be interesting to watch what other actions will be taken in the near future with regards to Mortgage rates and HELOC produts from all of the Canadian lending institutions.

Canada has the world’s soundest banking system, closely followed by Sweden, Luxembourg and Australia, a survey by the World Economic Forum has found as a financial crisis and bank failures shake world markets.

Britain, which once ranked in the top five, has slipped to 44th place behind El Salvador and Peru, after its government pledged the equivalent of $97 billion Cdn this week to bolster bank balance sheets.

The United States, where some of Wall Street’s biggest financial names have collapsed in recent weeks, rated only 40th, just behind Germany, at 39th, and smaller states such as Barbados, Estonia and even Namibia, in southern Africa.

On Thursday, the U.S. was considering buying a slice of debt-laden banks to inject trust back into lending between financial institutions now too wary of one another to lend.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report based its findings on opinions of executives and assigned banks a score between 1.0 (insolvent and possibly requiring a government bailout) and 7.0 (healthy, with sound balance sheets).

Canadian banks received a score of 6.8, just ahead of Sweden (6.7), Luxembourg (6.7), Australia (6.7) and Denmark (6.7).

U.K. banks collectively scored 6.0, narrowly behind the United States, Germany and Botswana, all with 6.1. France, in 19th place, scored 6.5 for soundness while Switzerland’s banking system scored the same in 16th place, as did Singapore (13th).

The ranking index was released as central banks in Europe, the U.S., China, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland slashed interest rates in a bid to end panic selling on markets and restore trust in the shaken banking system.

It is certanly reasuring to be a proud part of a sound economic banking system. Canada’s banking system has been underrated for years, TD Canada Trust is infact the 5th largest Bank in America, yes you read that correctly in America! It has very strong US base with TD BankNorth group, and is infact the namesake of the Celtic’s home in Boston MA !!!

These graphs show the monthly listings, sales, average and median price and dollar volume. In additon you can view what price range is selling the best. Each graph shows separate categories for houses, townhouses and condos. The graphs show the monthly stats for 2008.

View it here

Since I am partial to stats and demographics, I thought a graph for each of the Vancouver real estate condo neighbourhoods that border the waterfront would be useful to buyers and sellers.

The above Vancouver real estate graphs for 2008 show the five different waterfront condo neighbourhoods. Each graph is a snapshot of the monthly listings, sales, days on the market and average price for that neighbourhood.

The average price will reflect the price range of the sales for that month. You will note that Coal Harbour's monthly sales are down but the average price is up, indicating the more expensive properties are now selling.

The listings and days on the market are up in all the hoods and the monthly sales are down from January.

Do you have a graph for Vancouver real estate you'd like me to post? Please fill out my contact form and I'll try to do it for you.

View the graphs