October 4, 2009.
Yes, this is the Apple Fest day, the 11th annual one...make sure you get out there and appreciate the restoration of these heirloom apple orchards, and to sample the wonderful exhibits, and studios open for breads, baked delicacies, vineyard tastings...it's the thanksgiving/harvest time of the year, and a great day to enjoy (sunny/crisp, too, a terrific Fall experience).
Mark your calendars for J. Mitchell Gallery's Fall Exhibition...opening reception on October 9th, from 5 to 8 p.m. The Exhibition of latest works runs from October 9 to November 8, and features Leroy Jensen, Gerda Lattey, Karen Reiss among others. Don't miss this!
Canada's premiere wildlife painter and environmentalist, Robert Bateman, who now makes his home on Salt Spring Island, is showcasing his art in Russia. A retrospective of his life's work is being showcased on a four-city tour: the State Russian Museum in St. Petersberg, the Ivanovo Regional Art Museum, the Tula Museum of Fine Art, and the Tsarystyno Palace Art Museum in Moscow. Bateman created three new pieces, a tribute to Russian wildlife, for the occasion. This is an amazing presentation of a very talented artist, who just happens to be Canadian. We're lucky!
Don't forget to tune into my Monday Morning live radio show, between 7 and 9 a.m. -- music and musings! I do this with Mark Voyce, of Bocados Bistro, who is the "producer" of the show and the one in charge of the tech side of things. Not my forte! No ability to phone in, yet (probably not before November, according to the station's owners), so am inviting people to drop by and be "interviewed". If you have something you'd like to showcase, in this great community of ours, I'd like to talk with you about it. Just give me a call! The show is about the Island and the Islanders, and not about real estate -- that's my day job! Look forward to hearing from you. If you can't get the signal at 107.9, then catch it via streaming audio, off the website (www.cfsi-fm.com). Thank you!
Next weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend holiday...lots of events on Island, if you're heading this way.
Drop in and say hello, and check out my seaside office, in Ganges Village (across from the Ganges Marina).
Mark your calendars! A community fire drill takes place on Wednesday, October 7th, at 6:30 p.m. If a fire ever occurred in your house, can you get yourself and your family out, safely? Review your escape routes, test all smoke alarms, practice your escape route, gather at your designated meeting place, & know two ways out of every room. Emergency preparedness saves lives! For additional information, or help with your plan of action, check out: www.saltspringfire.com
The wonderful annual Apple Festival is on Sunday, October 4th. Salt Spring Vineyard is offering Apple Pie (dessert wine) at their vineyard on Lees Road. Live music, too, on both Sat. and Sunday (12 to 5).
Live Jazz, Blues and Soul, every weekend throughout the winter, at Harbour House Hotel, Friday and Saturday nights, from 7:30 to 10 p.m., in their restaurant. Check it out!
Don't miss Michael Ableman's "Thinking Like an Island", at ArtSpring, on October 15th, starting at 7:30 p.m. There's a live and silent auction, as it's a fundraiser for the Salt Spring Conservancy.
The book launch of Brian Brett's "Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life" takes place at ArtSpring, on October 8, at 7 p.m.
Check out Foxglove Farm and its programs, so that you can be a part of the excitement and the learning experience, "next season" -- this past summer was very successful. www.foxglovefarmbc.ca
Don't forget to check out the Salt Spring Island Bread Co. during the Apple Festival (9 a/.m. to 5 p.m. on October 4th. Available: Heather's baking, Di's Pies, Tony's Tarts, Stan's BBQ pork, Phillip's BBQ beef ribs. Enjoy!
On October 3, at ArtSpring, starting at 8 p.m., it's PIGS: Canada's Most Authentic Pink Floyd Tribute Band. I collect time tunnels...how about you???
Lantern workshops are ongoing in October, in preparation for the annual Hallowe'en lantern parade/meander through Ganges Village, with stories, ending up at the fireworks. Contact Wendi Gilson at: wendigilson@yahoo.cafor details.
Catch Ian Thomas' show at The Point Gallery -- Family Albums continues till October 12th.
Such a lot to see and do, in this "softer season" called early Fall...enjoy!
October, 2009.
A year ago, we were all in a confused state, with the underpinnings of the winning strategies from the 20th Century, still being clutched at in the 21st, melting under our feet.
Yes, there were many clairvoyant people out there, in 2006, in 2007, and in early 2008, all chanting their mantra of "this is a bubble, this won't hold", and, just like those tulip bulb hoarders in 16th Century Holland, we totally ignored the obvioius. Was it part of the old adage, if it ain't broke, don't fix it? Or is it really true that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it? It seems that no one learned anything at all from the tech bubble at the close of 1999/2000, and that was a lot closer to our own time.
At some point, in the run up to the housing bubble collapse, someone decided to commoditize real estate. The concept of home evolved into housing.
Language shapes cultures. A simple change in vocabulary can change perception.
Home meant family, the dwelling that encased a personal lifestyle, a place that was often lived in for a substantial time...perhaps seven years or longer.
A house meant something different...with easy credit, creative mortgages, etc., it became possible to think of having several houses, to becoming landlords (even though at arms length, through property managers), and to leveraging increase in valuations to allow for more homes to be purchased...especially in sunbelt areas.
Builders were creating new developments, people were collecting spaces, and it was all on credit. Sound familiar to every other bubble that we read about, in history? What was that "south seas bubble" again?
It seems, though, that there are some differences in the timing of this one.
The internet, which came to the fore around 1995/96, in the public domain, erased time, geography, gender, race, age. It is a medium that is about intellect to intellect. It's really a one to one experience.
It became the platform that would allow the true emergence of the 21st Century.
When one studies history, it seems that the very early years of a new century carry over whatever was occurring in the closing years of the previous one. Then, some cataclysmic event occurs, which throws the world pell mell into the new century, in reality.
No doubt, 9/11 was a wake up call. It reminded people of their fragility. It also made them think about all the things they did that were "time wasters".
The binary world of computers leaves no room to pretend there's a grey area. It's on/off, on/off, act/react, act/react.
With technology evolving to match the huge promise of the internet, which is about individual empowerment, it means that there is an erasure of regionalism. In real estate, it used to be said that it was a regional matter. That was pre-internet and pre-web 2.0. The stats are the same everywhere, now, and the entire world was the recipient of the Fall, 2008 economic meltdowns.
So, the intenet and web 2.0 and the ever evolving technological innovations that allow us this global presence -- they all conspired to be present at the same time as Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" film warning, from the 1980s, about greed, that finally shredded our economic structures in late 2008.
It appears that there is now a movement towards the idea of social responsibility. A saving ethic. A sustainability lifestyle script. Those activists from the 1960s would be proud of us! (Remember Alicia Bay Laurel, and "Living on the Earth"? Discover it at a second hand bookstore).
Marshall McLuhan's theory was that the medium is the message. I see that as his way of explaining that we would become different people, reflecting our method of communication.
In this on/off, act/react time, we are all somehow equal. We can take photos/videos off our phones, text on Twitter and be heard around the world, with the same value as a seasoned reporter on an old style t.v. news show. CNN calls such contributors ireporters or citizen reporters. We can blog, we can put up video on youtube, we can connect with a larger circle via Facebook, we can link in a business component via Linkedin, we can have podcasts, we can Twitter...it's about being a part of the local community and the larger world community, and all at the same time.
This instant world is making us speedier people. We need to remember, though, the importance of filters, and our human filter is our brain's editing function. It's up to us to decide, in the great pool of raw data, what is actually information, and therefore useful to us. If we don't do this, we will suffer from information overload/data fatigue.
We are all so lucky to be around right now, while things are being invented beside us, so we can be a part of the new. When those who are around in 2080 look back, it will be like people in 1985 laughing at crystal radio sets, in the 30s!
Such opportunity, everywhere.
Yes, there was loss last Fall. Yes, the commoditization of housing caused a bubble, and pain and suffering happened to those who were overstretched, who did not see that they were inside a fragile bubble. Yes, the new can be a scary place to reside.
I like to remind people, though, that we need to stop looking down the narrow channel at a targeted partial byte of data/information. If we do that, we will just worry and dilute our creative juices. We will be locked into tunnel vision.
Periphery vision is what we need right now. Let's all step back, so we can get that 180 viewpoint, and see outside the edges of our vision...that's where the "real" new is forming.
We are humans, and that means we are creative. If someone can invent a heavy child's size steam shovel, and send it to Mars, to dig around in that planet's sandbox, to find out if there's water....well, what can't we do? No excuse, then, not to dig in and to look for solutions.
Yes. there was collapse and the pain of shift. That was last year. On/off, act/react remember, in this binary digital world. So, it's now "this year", and we're poised to remember our creative selves and to get on with the "real solutions".
And, your ideas are....???? Let's share!
Looking for wise real estate advice, in this transition moment, for Salt Spring Island and the Southern Gulf Islands?
I welcome your call.
liread33@gmail.com
Evening classes calling! Check out the Driftwood's online site for information about what's offered this Fall. Lots of interesting opportunities to tempt you!
Something for the kids? How about Tracy Harrison's Children's Clay Classes (for ages 6 to 14). Fridays, from 10 to noon, in October/November. October dates: 9, 23, 30. November dates: 6, 20. Working with the themes of Hallowe'en and Gift Giving, the participants will have an opportunity to explore hand building, moulding, slumping and various texture techniques. Classes are geared to the level of each individual student. Playful, fun, and creative is Tracy's promise. Call her (250-538-0144) or email: tracy@creativefirestudio.org to ensure your child's place in the class.
The terrific photography exhibition, at ArtSpring's Gallery, ends on the 4th of October...be sure to catch this!
While nearby, drop into the new artist's co-op, at 135 McPhillips, and welcome this great new addition to the Ganges Village "gallery scene".
Take an afternoon in this softer moment in our "season", and wander through J. Mitchell Gallery and Steffich Fine Art Gallery, in Grace Point Square. Pegasus Gallery of Canadian Art is off the Boardwalk and then it's a tiny segue into Jill Louise Campbell's effervescent gallery! Such talent, on this Island...enjoy it!
October 4th is also the wonderful annual Apple Festival...the heirloom apple orchards have been saved and nurtured back to their former glory...an event not to be missed!
Can you believe it? The Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend is the following weekend, with Monday the 10th being the holiday Monday actual Thanksgiving Day. Where has the year evaporated to?????
Remember to tune into the new community radio station...catch my show, with Mark Voyce (of Bocados Bistro) on Mondays, 7 to 9 a.m. It's live, and if you can't pick up the signal on the radio (107.9 fm), then listen in on the web: www.cfsi-fm.com (ideas for the show/islanders to interview always welcome!).
Enjoy the Fall moments...savour the harvest time.
www.liread.com
I'm having fun hosting the Monday Morning live radio show, on our new community radio station.
It goes out "live", and the volunteers who do the shows have to "do it all". Lucky for me that the owner of Bocados Bistro seaside restaurant has film background, so he's knowledgable about the equipment side of things, and so Mark is my "producer". I am so non-tech saavy!
This coming Monday will be the third show, from 7 to 9 a.m., at 107.9 on the fm dial, or, streaming audio off the station's website (www.cfsi-fm.com).
So far, there's only one tower, and with so many mountains on Salt Spring, blanketing valleys and areas, even on the Island, a lot of local listeners have to use the web. A very "Salt Spring" kind of thing!
The first show, Mark turned on his mic/not mine, and for the first hour you could barely hear me (it was like I was on a bad long distance connection), but Mark could be heard muttering under his breath, as he slotted in the music selections (yes, vinyl and cd versions). Finally, someone burst into the studio to let us know the "glitch". Second hour was at least "heard".
Can't have call-in segment, yet, as the equipment for this won't be up and running until November. Second show I invited the emergency preparedness head in to talk about being ready for disasters, of whatever nature, and also the on island representative of Raffi, the well known children's entertainer, to speak about Raffi's Centre for Child Honouring, which is now his mission in life. (For more info on that, check out: www.raffinews.com).
I get to choose the music, and since I seem to be locked into a 70s time tunnel, there's a lot of Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and Elvin Bishop. Early Stones, too.
i welcome ideas for the show. Yes, i could talk about real estate, after 20 years in the biz, but I wanted to try to share all the interesting stories out there, with the very dynamic and creative people who have landed on Salt Spring, seemingly by accident.
There are no accidents, though, right?
Hope you'll tune in, and Mark and I continue to evolve our style, while the station itself "grows". Third program coming up this Monday, 7 to 9 in the morning!
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Successfully connecting buyers & sellers on Salt Spring Island & on all Southern Gulf Islands, since 1989. I offer superb market knowledge & work for the best interests of my clients. See Li!
I love my career, and have been a real estate agent on Salt Spring Island, also selling on the adjacent Southern Gulf
Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender, Saturna, & water access only options, in between (Wise, Parker, Secret, Gossip, DeCourcy,
Phillimore Point), since 1989.
Living & working on a Gulf Island is very different from a "city scape". Boats & floatplanes are also a part of one's
work life, not just cars & highways (although the sea is just a highway, really).
I now work under the Vancouver Real Estate Board, and achieved Gold Award MLS recognition for the past ten consecutive years, while at the Victoria Board (MLS President's Award for same). In the various companies i've worked for, since 1989, I was always a 'top producer', and connected many sellers and buyers. Sales awards (at company levels, MLS/Board levels, & internationally -- references upon request) are an indicator, from one's peers in the industry, of excellence in customer service.
By the way, "Li" is a nick-name for Liane, and it rhymes with "see". Thanks!
Say hello to Bobbi, my "unlicenced assistant"! Jack Russell Terriers are "smart cookies",and Bobbi
is also a calm one (yes, it's true!). When you view property with me, she's sometimes along for
the ride -- I supply the cookies!
Salt Spring Island and the Southern Gulf Islands are "governed" by the B.C. Provincial Government,
under the Islands Trust.
The Trust came into being in 1974, with a "preserve & protect" mandate, to keep the Islands as these
pristine and park-like enviroments, for the benefit of all B.C. residents, "forever". Two trustees per
Island (not representative of population, then) are elected every three years, in the B.C. civic elections,
to manage the Trust bylaws/official community plan, on each Island. These strong zoning/density bylaws
control (& effectively "cap") growth. Limited supply, and a strong buyer demand, usually result in higher prices, regardless of market trend in play at any given time. There will always be a low inventory of properties for sale, then, on any Gulf Island, due to this Islands Trust mandate.
There is no industry on the Gulf Islands. Salt Spring Island is the largest and best serviced of the Southern
Gulf Islands (Gabriola, Thetis, Galiano, Salt Spring, Pender, Mayne, & Saturna Islands are the ferry accessed
options), with a year round lifestyle, and all the amenities required in the 21st Century.
One doesn't "have to" leave Salt Spring Island for anything, but it's easy to go to Vancouver or to Victoria or to
mid-Vancouver Island locations, on day trips. There are three separate ferries that service the Island, plus
three regularly scheduled (year round) floatplane services, so it's very simple to do daytrips to major centres,
and to return easily to the Island's charm. In the "season", there's also a floatplane service from Seattle to
Salt Spring Island.
Low supply coupled with high demand, though, often results in price escalation. The internet erased geography,
and so the buyer profile for this area is mainly from out of province, and often from out of country.
Although the Islands Trust wasn't set up to create an expensive "enclave" area, it has had this result. As soon as
one "caps" growth, for whatever reason (in this case, for environmental protection reasons), and the buyer
profile is a global one (post-internet), which means more buyers than inventory, regardless of real estate market
trends, at any given time, one has an expensive buy-in locale.
Sellers and realtors do not set a market; only buyers do that. The Islands Trust, however, is responsible for a
no-growth policy that guarantees an escalating price point in the real estate marketplace.
I have the knowledge and the expertise and the strong negotiating skills to help you to have a pleasing experience, whether selling or buying.
This is a magical Island, and I look forward to introducing it to you.
Please ask for me, by name, when you visit Salt Spring Island. I have an office in "downtown Ganges". A quick call to my cell (250-537-7647) will allow us to connect. My office is located at: # 4 - 105 Rainbow Road, across from the Harbour.
P.S. "Li" rhymes with "see"! "See Li for Successful Solutions" is my promise to my clientele.
Look forward to meeting you!
Toll free: 1-866-405-9229
liread33@gmail.com
It's definitely different than selling in a city enviroment.
For one thing, I work in what is known as a secondary home or discretionary market. No one "has to"
move to Salt Spring Island or another Southern Gulf Island -- it's all by choice!
In a primary residence (city) area, there might actually be "comparables".
In a discretionary/secondary home marketplace, though, it's full of "custom" homes and even
undeveloped land will be its unique self, without any "comparable".
Difficult for an appraiser, then, as there is so much that is specific to each property, with no real equivalent
anywhere else on the Island, plus, with a limited inventory "ever" (there's that Islands Trust, and its cap on
growth), it means the listing inventory is never very large, and so the "solds" statistics aren't very informative.
Time lags are a part of all sales, too. First, the prospective buyer has to hear about this area and
then they make plans to travel here, to view.
The entire Coast is very appealing, and so often the Island gets "interviewed", and then so do
other coastal communities. One has to sell the Island, first, thus, before one can get around to selling
a particular property on it.
Two visits, then, if not three, become the pattern, and since the buyers aren't
"local", the time between trips can be as long as 5 to 7 months!
It can take, then, between one and four years to sell any property on a Gulf Island, including on Salt Spring
Island, and the main reason for this is because the buyer isn't "local", and the decision to purchase is a "choice",
both in the "where" and in the "when".
This time lag feature makes a "days on market" tag on an mls listing irrelevant.
In my area, there's a weekly local paper, and a monthly real estate supplement. Neither of these
are seen until the buyer arrives on Island, and so they do not offer an advertising vehicle that "brings"
a buyer. No one googles Salt Spring Island, or the Southern Gulf Islands, unless they're encouraged to
do so.
Print ads, then, in targeted venues, where the buyer profile lives, are still important in a
non-local/discretionary marketplace. If you think you saw an ad by me, in your area, you probably did!
I hope you responded, and went onto my principal website (www.liread.com).
We all do "floor duty days", but open houses don't work here, as the buyer isn't local. We're getting our
own radio station, but it's not up and running yet, so there's no t.v. or radio media spots, either. Signage
on a lawn (or up on a tree, if you're going by in a boat, and would see that more easily) is apparent, but,
again, not viewed until the buyer physically arrives on Island.
People don't move around on the Island; they arrive, they're here, then, if they have to leave
(usually only for personal reasons), they list. Then comes the search for the buyer,
who lives somewhere else in the world!
This non-local aspect to the buyer profile means that a realtor has to keep an eye on market
conditions in those buyer areas, as the B.C. market outlook won't have much relevance.
I wouldn't live anywhere else, though! This is an exceptional lifestyle choice!
If you drop into Salt Spring, please ask for me by name -- I'm the Managing Broker, of Sea to Sky Premier
Properties (Salt Spring), and I have an office in "downtown" Ganges Village (in the Clement, Murphy, Woodward law
office building, at the corner of the main road (Lower Ganges Road) & Rainbow Road. There's parking behind,
off Rainbow Road. My office (# 4 - 105 Rainbow Road) faces onto the main street, and enjoys a Harbour view. It's
adjacent to Stone Walrus Gallery). A quick call to my cell (250-537-7647) will connect us.
I look forward to meeting you, and to offering my expertise and my superlative market knowledge
and my strong negotiating skills for your benefit, during your search for your special Island gem.
Looking forward to your call!
P.S. Here's one of those "differences":
Selling real estate on Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands is not like it would
be in a city or a town marketplace.
I was driving up a roughed in roadway, on a heavily forested acreage, recently, and
there, at the side of the roughed in driveway, were two baby racoons. The clients took
these photos, before we bundled them into my dog's car bed, wrapped in towels that I keep
for wiping off a muddy dog, on rainy days, so that we could deliver them to the Salt
Spring Wildlife Rescue Centre.
That was an interesting visit, too! Looking for a place to give a charitable donation?
Think of the Wildlife Centre -- on Lang's Road, it's not open to the public, and they have
a unique project there. Saving abandoned wildlife is one of them. (Yes, we did check with
the Wildlife Centre before we brought the babies in. Sometimes the mother is just off
foraging for food, but in the case of these racoons, they really were abandoned).
It was an adventure!
liread33@gmail.com
www.liread.com
Large list of satisfied clients upon request. Privacy is an important concern, especially in a small
community; I can supply references, but I prefer not to place same in this venue. Thank you!
With twenty years in the business, successfully connecting sellers and buyers on Salt Spring Island
and on the Southern Gulf Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender, Saturna & water access only islands
in between: Wise, Secret, Gossip, Parker, DeCourcy, Hudson, etc.), I bring to each sales transaction:
enthusiasm, expertise, superb market knowledge, strong negotiating skills, and a sincere desire to create
a successful buying or selling experience for you, the client.
Referrals are welcomed and are cared for.
"See Li for Successful Solutions" is my promise to my clientele. ("Li" rhymes with "see").
P.S. No one wants the cell tower near them, on this beautiful and quirky Island, and so when you call my
cell (250-537-7647), you might get the voice mail Please leave me a message. I do return all calls, asap, & will
find a cell zone to do so!
Appreciated!
liread33@gmail.com
Toll free: 1-866-405-9229
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