Chris Penner ~ Real Estate Consultant Keller Williams Valley Realty

I was sitting around with some friends of mine the other day and one of them happens to be one of the Krause's who is part of Krause Berry Farms and we where talking about farming and so forth and something in the conversation really caught my attention and thought it would be worth while mentioning.

I am still fairly new to the idea and consept of this but since people are so into saving the planet and helping keep our local communities growing and making life sustanable this seems to be one easy step in the right direction.

The idea of eating locally or even growing your own food seems to be a hot topic in the farm community as well as with naturalist and so forth.

The idea here is that you go pick your own fruit or go to the local dairy farm and get milk or raise a couple cows with a few people and then raise your own meat and so forth.

So here is my plug for Krause Berry Farms here in Aldergrove, BC. It is one of the few U-pick sites left in the valley with most being harvested by machine. Why not do your own part to support your local farmers as well and eat locally and look at what all BC agriculture has to offer, be sure ot check out Krause Berry Farms online to see when the open and what is in season.

They are about 2-3 weeks away from opening day, it is something you won't want to miss. So get out there and pick your own fruit.

Lot's more info at http://www.krausebrothersfarms.com/ to find out the latest. Enjoy the summer.

Cheers!

Just wanted to take a minute to let you all know that there is a new shopping center called Abby Lane coming to the Mt. Lehman interchange, it will be massive in size.

This is great news showing signs of a steadying economy as well as a strong belief in the Abbotsford community. Being the in the top best 3 cities to invest in Real Estate in Canada it only goes with out saying it is high time for this project to get underway.

Here are a few links from other new media on what's going on with this shopping center.

Abby News

Vancouver Sun

Hope you enjoy and keep your eyes peeled for the buildings that will be coming up soon.

Cheers!

I was sitting down having coffee with a friend of mine Owen Greaves who happens to be heavily involved in social media, technology and IT strategic planning for business. We got to talking about how in all reality most business over the next 3-7 years will move to online at home business, this is will exclude big box stores like wal-mart, best buy, etc. just because your overhead is lower and people just naturally go to the Internet anyway.

86% of home buyers start there search online, the stats might have even climbed since the last time I looked, and a large number of sellers look online to determine what there home might sell for. So this is where my article really begins.

If you are interviewing agents for the job of selling your home or trying to find a agent to help you find a home. You need someone who is using these tools. If you aren't familiar with them or don't use them your self, don't worry they are still extremely important to the sale of your home or helping you find a home.

Real Estate is largely based on the size of network that a person is connected too, in Abbotsford, British Columbia (my local market) has 500 Realtors in it at this time, which is great because 92% of homes sell because of agent connections, mostly through other agents. This 92% also includes personal network, and referrals. This is why using social media to grow ones business is absolutely vital in this market place.

Ask your agent if they are activley using tools like Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, YouTube, Blogging, etc. because if they aren't they are already behind the 8 ball. If you want your home exposed to the mass in a hurry and bring the the ability to have your home found 24/7 this is the only way to do it.

If you don't think internet and social media is important in the sale of your home. Guess again and ask your agent when the last time they sold a home off of a newspaper ad, why tell your Realtor to spend your hard earned dollars on print advertising, when they could be using it to get your home sold.

I know I use these tool and if you want to see more just click on the links and see what I am doing. If you want something different that works, chose the extreme difference and call me today to see the difference this is making for my clients.

Cheers!

For the Realtors reading this post I will do an article geared toward the Realtor community regarding similar info.

Well it seems my post on private water ski site development really draws a lot of people in so I figured I would let you know that there is a facility in Abbotsford which promotes and offers a great place for you to call your own skiers paradise. It is called the Fraser Valley Water Ski Club other wise known as Albert Dyck Park right near the airport.

With the lake being sunk in about 8-20 feet depending on the water level it provides just about perfect conditions all day, every day. Which for most people that ski is just perfect, you are also welcome to wakeboard however the primary focus is on water skiing. Rightly so because to ski requires much calmer waters to complete an enjoyable set.

So for more information on FVWSC click here. There is all kinds of information on how to become a member or find out about drop in days. It really is the place to be if you want to ski, ski, ski and learn and be part of a group of other passionate skiers.

So be sure to go check out Fraser Valley Water Ski Club for your self this summer and join in the action.

Now the real question is for the people who already are excited about having a place to come ski on good water almost all year, how about living on a lake that is of the same quality or better and being able to walk out the back door to the lake.

This is where my mission really begins, by finding out what the interest and motivation is behind the people. They have done this all over the southern states and it seems to me to be a great idea. Only trouble is here in the lower mainland we seem to be locked in with mountains, water and ALR land. But in the event that 50-100 acres or more becomes available I think developing a site for this would be EPIC.

If you are interested in this please let me know by emailing me at chris@chrispenner.com. Or visiting www.chrispenner.com

There are a number of variables that we would look at in terms of lake construction, lots to build on, cost, a club boat for each lake or individual owners with there own boats. But if you like the idea and would love to be apart of pioneering the way here in Canada let me know I would love to site around and shoot some ideas back and forth on how we could make this a viable option in the future.

Cheers!

Taken From Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, News Release

SIGNS OF OPTIMISM IN FRASER VALLEY REAL ESTATE MARKET

(Surrey, BC) – Fraser Valley REALTORS® credit first-time homebuyers, low interest rates and greater overall confi dence in the housing market for an increase in sales on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in March.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board reports 1,006 sales were processed in March, refl ecting a 24 per cent decrease compared to the 1,315 sales in March of last year, however, a 48 per cent jump from February’s 682 sales. March is the fi rst month to surpass one thousand sales in the Fraser Valley since July of last year, refl ecting more typical March sales totals last seen in the early 2000s.

Paul Penner, President of the Board, confi rms real estate activity has picked up. “REALTORS® are seeing the return of first-time home buyers who have been waiting in the wings for the last few months, and homeowners responding to the opportunity to buy-up by moving from a condo to a townhome or a townhome to a detached house. Homes with a lower price-point are attracting more attention.

“With current interest rates and price reductions, buyers are looking at monthly costs that are 20 per cent less than they were a year ago. In Fraser Valley, that’s a $780 per month savings on a mortgage for an average detached home.”

Property selection continues to moderate from the record levels of over 12,000 active listings reached in September 2008. The Board received 7 per cent fewer new listings in March compared to the same month last year – 3,028 compared to the 3,277 last year – taking the total number of active listings to 9,832, an increase of 14.7 per cent compared to the 8,570 active listings available in March of last year.

Residential benchmark prices, the value of a ‘typical’ Fraser Valley detached home as determined by the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI), decreased 10.6 per cent compared to March 2008, however, increased slightly, 0.7 per cent, for the second consecutive month. The benchmark price was $459,841 in March 2009 compared to $514,616 last year. As well, detached homes sold on average, 10 days faster in March than they did in February.

The HPI benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhouses decreased by 10.3 per cent in one year, going from $329,859 in March 2008 to $295,809 in March 2009, while the benchmark price of apartments decreased by 10.8 per cent going from $254,664 in March of last year to $227,188 in March 2009.

I hope this was useful information for you you. If you would like to know more please contact me.

Cheers!