Cambridge will finally see Cambridge Memorial Hospital expanded!

 

Health minister confirms Cambridge Memorial expansion

KITCHENER — Expansion of Cambridge Memorial Hospital will go ahead, Health Minister Deb Matthews pledged after speaking to the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning.

“We are moving forward on the redevelopment of Cambridge Memorial. This is a very exciting project,” Matthews told reporters. “We’re on schedule.”

Matthews was in Kitchener to share her plan for the overhaul of the health care system to deal with the growing strain of an aging population and fiscal constraints as the province faces a $16-billion deficit.

“These challenges are inescapable,” Matthews said. “We have to get smarter about how we spend.”

via The Record

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

The honest broker

It really is a choice, one or the other.

Either you happily recommend the best option for your customer, or you give preference to your own items first.

Either you believe in what you sell, or you don't.

Either you treat your best partners better, or you treat everyone the same.

Either you shade the truth when it's painful to do otherwise, or you consistently share what's important.

Either you always keep your promises or you don't.

Either you give me the best price the first time, or you make me jump through hoops to get there.

Earning the position of the honest broker is time-consuming and expensive. Losing it takes just a moment.

 

via Seth Godin

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

From Jewellery to Snow Blowers - Protect your Valuables

 

 

For all of us, our home, and the belongings inside it - are special. Usually you’ve got things of sentimental value, as well as items worth a significant amount of money. With home insurance, you’re usually covered for loss or damage to most items, but often, only up to a certain amount. It’s important to understand what your coverage is and that you’re comfortable that your belongings are properly insured.

For example, an average home insurance policy may provide up to $5,000 in coverage for the theft of jewelry, but a diamond engagement ring alone can easily exceed that amount. Although covered if stolen, your policy may not cover unexplained losses like the diamond falling out of your ring.

Other items that typically have a maximum on insurance coverage can include: jewellery, watches, precious or semi-precious jewels, memorabilia even tractors and equipment like snow blowers, and riding lawn mowers.

So, when it comes to protecting your valuables, insurance companies may offer additional coverage that you can add to your policy to protect these items. Ask about it and they’ll explain how to insure your belongings properly.

The key to having the most suitable home insurance policy is to understand the coverage you already have, identify the coverage you need, and amend your policy to fill the gap.

Via Trulia

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Thought for the day

Over your head 

Once the water is deep enough that you must swim to stay afloat, does it really matter how deep the pool is?

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Thought for the day

via Positive Outlooks

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Skills that Realtors can Provide

 

Of the more than 120,000 Ontarians who used a Realtor to buy or sell a home last year, many did so without fully understanding the expertise and skills Realtors provide, says a new Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) survey. Conducted by Leger Marketing, the survey says only 10 per cent of Ontarians who have used a Realtor know that Realtors are trained in environmental issues, and even fewer (six per cent) are aware that family law is part of a Realtor’s education.

Barbara Sukkau, president of OREA, says, “Most clients do not realize that Realtors are aware of family law issues when selling a family home during a divorce, or that Realtors can advise about home inspections based on our knowledge of building construction in the province.”

Even though people who have used a Realtor in the past were not aware of specific areas of a Realtor’s education, they do recognize the ethical integrity of the profession as 70 per cent of respondents knew that Realtors must abide by a code of ethics. Also, 50 per cent knew that Realtors must continue their education when they begin practicing to stay informed of changes in the industry.

OREA has produced a video about what a Realtor can do for them, available at http://bit.ly/OREARealtor.

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Thought for the day

via Positive Outlooks

 

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Home prices will continue to climb in Canada, but at a slower pace

By Craig Wong

     

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The price of homes in Canada will continue rising this year, but the hottest markets in Toronto and Vancouver will grow much more slowly, predicts the country’s largest real estate broker.

Low mortgage rates will continue underpinning housing demand despite the weakening economy, said Royal LePage Real Estate Services in its annual housing outlook Thursday.

LePage president and CEO Phil Soper said that predictions from housing experts and economists for a drop in prices for 2012 are wrong as mortgage rates remain near record lows.

“Interest rates are the primary driver behind activity levels in the marketplace,” Soper said. “People buy homes on the payments that they will be making, not on the sticker price of a particular home.”

Most experts believe interest rates will remain stable for this year and well into next as the economy expands sluggishly, but eventually rates should rise with stronger growth.

Royal LePage, which franchises real estate agencies across the country, predicted the national average price for resale homes will rise 2.8 per cent by the end of the year.

The forecast follows a gain of 4.2 per cent in the national average price for a standard two-storey home to $375,427 in the just completed fourth quarter of 2011.

In Vancouver, a standard two-storey home had an average price of $1.1 million in the fourth quarter, up 10.9 per cent from a year earlier, while Toronto saw a home in the same category gain 4.2 per cent to $629,000.

But for 2012, Royal LePage expects prices in Vancouver to gain about 2.3 per cent, while Toronto is expected to see growth of 2.6 per cent.

Regina is expected to lead the country with gains of five per cent for the year, reflecting the sharp growth in Saskatchewan, a province rich in potash, oil, uranium and other resources.

Soper noted that affordability in Vancouver is “on a knife’s edge” as people spend upwards of 70 per cent of their post-tax income on their mortgage, property taxes and utilities.

The economic slowdown in China may also affect the market in Vancouver, which has a large Chinese-Canadian population with economic and business ties to China.

“If the investment from China slows, it will change the high-end and certain neighbourhoods,” Soper said, noting that the west side of Vancouver, West Vancouver and Richmond have all seen in influx of wealthy Chinese buyers.

The International Monetary Fund has said that Canadian homes on average are 10 per cent overpriced and warned it may be a factor that puts the country’s economic recovery at risk.

The Bank of Canada has also repeatedly cautioned prospective buyers to guard against being lured by low mortgage costs because interest rates and therefore monthly payments, will eventually increase as the economy gets stronger.

However Soper suggested that moves made by Ottawa to tighten mortgage lending rules have helped limit the risks.

“The government has made small but significant regulatory changes that have restricted access to the more risky mortgage products post the recession,” he said.

The Royal LePage forecast came as the Statistics Canada reported the price of new homes rose again in November, led by gains in Toronto and Montreal.

The government agency’s new housing price index rose 0.3 per cent in November, after a 0.2 per cent increase in October. On an annual basis, the index was 2.5 per cent higher in November compared with November 2010.

The largest year-over-year price increases reported by Statistics Canada were in Toronto and Oshawa, Ont., where they were up 6.2 per cent.

In the fourth quarter, the average price for detached bungalows rose 7.2 per cent from a year earlier to $532,137; prices for standard two-storey homes rose 4.2 per cent to $629,188 and standard condos rose 3.4 per cent to $347,659.

In Victoria and Saint John, N.B., house prices were flat or slightly down in the fourth quarter year over year.

In Saint John, detached bungalows fell 2.2 per cent year-over-year to $179,946, while standard two-storey properties slipped 0.3 per cent to $298,076. Condos were the exception, with average prices climbing 16.1 per cent year-over-year to $159,370, although LePage said those increases weren’t typical.

In Victoria, standard two-storey homes were unchanged, with prices remaining at $480,000 while detached bungalows slipped 0.8 per cent to $486,000 and condos dropping 1.1 per cent to $282,000.

The Canadian Press

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January Newsletter

 

Cambridge Real Estate News from Clare DeJong January 2012 Your Real Estate News Clare DeJong Sales Representative Real Estate Centre Inc., Brokerage 766 Old Hespeler Rd. Cambridge, Ontario 519-623-6200 or 1-866-623-6205 www.SellingCambridge.ca If you're taking on a home renovation, make sure you're well prepared as it'll prove to be a bit messy and chaotic at times! This month we offer some advice on how to plan your renovation so that things go smoothly. We also discuss the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning as well as tips on how to keep your New Year's resolutions. I hope that 2012 is treating you great so far! Please drop us a line with any questions or comments you may have -- we'd love to hear from you! In This Issue... Near-record December for Home Sales in Cambridge How to Survive the Stress of a Renovation Avoiding the Dangers of Carbon Monoxide The Trick to Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions Near-record December for Home Sales in Cambridge Residential sales activity recorded through the MLS® System of the Cambridge Association of REALTORS® Inc. recorded another strong performance in December 2011. According to the Association’s statistics, home sales numbered 159 units in December. This was up 3% from levels reported in the same month a year earlier. It was also the strongest month of December since 2001, and the third best ever. Some 2,890 homes traded hands in 2011. This stands 8% above 2010 levels. “It was a bit of slow start to the year but demand really accelerated beginning in the fall, and that helped push the annual sales figure for 2011 to the highest level since 2007,” said Karen Monteiro, President of the Cambridge Association of REALTORS® Inc. “It was also the third best year ever for resale housing activity in the region and the strong momentum we’ve seen in recent months bodes well for a strong start to 2012 as well.” The average price for homes sold in December 2011 was $271,586, down 4% compared to December 2010. This is likely just a temporary dip caused by a larger than normal percentage of homes sold in the lower price ranges in December. The dollar value of all home sales in December 2011 was $43.2 million, a 1% decrease from the previous December. The rate at which new supply is coming onto the market has slowed in recent months. New residential listings numbered 163 units in December 2011, down 19% from December of 2010. There were 657 active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System at the end of December, down 4% from levels reported at the end of 2010. There were 3.1 months of inventory at the end of December on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 3.4 months at the end of November 2011. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity. Sales of all types of properties numbered 167 units in December, a 4% year-over-year increase. The dollar value of all sales in December 2011 totalled $47 million, up 4% from levels reported in December 2010. How to Survive the Stress of a Renovation If you're thinking about renovating, make sure to consider every detail in advance. Careful planning will not only keep you sane during the upheaval but will also ensure you get the most for your money. Here are a few things to keep in mind: Be Flexible - Aside from a lack of privacy, you'll be dealing with dust, noise, mess and disorganization. If you expect delays, you won’t be quite so frustrated when they occur. Time Is Money - Make sure you agree (in writing) on a completion date. Consider offering a bonus if the work's done before the date and a penalty for every day beyond. Stay In the Loop - Communication is key so schedule regular progress reports that include details on behind the scenes work such as wiring. Contractors don't like to be micromanaged but they shouldn't mind keeping you up date throughout the process. Kidding Around - Be sure to set aside some toys for the kids. Also, line up some playdates so you're able to escape the construction zone chaos. Finally, make a list of local outings for fun family getaways. Plan Ahead - Prepare and freeze meals in bulk for quick and easy dinners. Also, take this opportunity to donate unwanted items to charity so that your newly renovated home isn't full of unnecessary clutter. Watching your home transform into something new is an exciting experience but it's also very inconvenient. The secret to making sure everything goes smoothly is to remain calm throughout the process and to plan ahead. If you keep that in mind, your dream home will be a reality before you know it! Avoiding the Dangers of Carbon Monoxide Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a serious threat that affects families each and every day. Lower gas levels produce symptoms such as headaches, fatigue and nausea while higher levels can be fatal. To help protect yourself from carbon monoxide poisoning, ensure exhaust gases are properly vented from the central home heating unit. It’s also important to have your furnace, chimney and vents regularly inspected by a trained professional. You should have at least one carbon monoxide detector installed on each floor. Qualified professionals can advise you on different types of detectors but remember that a detector doesn't replace the need to maintain your furnace. Most cities offer environmental services that measure indoor air quality. Prevention is key to avoiding carbon monoxide poisoning as this silent killer is difficult to detect. The Trick to Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions The start of a new year inspires many people to set goals and resolutions. While most of us enjoy the challenge, others are filled with the dread of potential failure. Goals shouldn't be set in stone. If you start to realize that your goals aren't achievable, don't get frustrated and give up. Take a few moments instead to modify them. Our lives are constantly changing so it’s important that our goals change as well. Be flexible and remember that there's no law that says you can't set new resolutions throughout the year! Good luck to you throughout 2012 -- I hope it's your best year ever!! Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help contribute to your success. Are you sick of scouring the paper and MLS sites looking for homes? Tired of playing telephone tag with agents only to hear the home's already sold? Sit back, relax and let me do the work for you! Just visit my website and check off the features you're looking for. Whenever a home matching your criteria hits the market, it'll be automatically flagged and emailed to you so you'll never have to worry about missing your dream home. This service is free and there's no obligation! Click here to get started.

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Interesting thought...

The first thing you do when you sit down at the computer 

 

Let me guess: check the incoming. Check email or traffic stats or messages from your boss. Check the tweets you follow or the FB status of friends.

You've just surrendered not only a block of time but your freshest, best chance to start something new.

If you're a tech company or a marketer, your goal is to be the first thing people do when they start their day. If you're an artist, a leader or someone seeking to make a difference, the first thing you do should be to lay tracks to accomplish your goals, not to hear how others have reacted/responded/insisted to what happened yesterday.

 

via Seth Godin

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

On a day like this, how can you not think GOLF???

 

 

Golf at its best: LPGA boss promises awe-inspiring play at Manulife tournament in June

Great golf coming in June LPGA commissioner Mike Whan was in Waterloo Tuesday to promote the Manulife Financial Classic.

Philip Walker/Record staff

WATERLOO — The world’s best golfers will give spectators their money’s worth at the upcoming Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.

That’s a promise from LPGA commissioner Mike Whan, who visited the area on Tuesday to promote the $1.3 million event that will be held June 18-24 at the Grey Silo Golf Course.

“What I promise you is that you’ll be awed by the talent you are watching. I can tell you that as a guy that’s been golfing my whole life,” said the 46-year-old Whan, who took over the reigns of the LPGA in January of 2010.

“You’ll be awed by two things. You’ll be awed by their performance and you’ll be awed by their willingness to engage with you. I think the one thing that separates the LPGA from most every other sport, not just golf, is you come out to watch one of our events and when you go home you feel like you’ve met one or two of our players. I don’t know another sport where you can say that.”

The smooth-talking Whan was on top of his game as he fielded questions at the Columbia Lake Health Club, which will open its doors to players that want to pump iron or participate in a yoga class during tournament week. He also helped cut the ribbon the facility’s state-of-the-art, high-definition golf simulator that is now open to the public.

Whan had reason to be in high spirits.

He was scheduled to appear on The Golf Channel in Orlando, Fla., this morning (Wednesday) to announce the LPGA schedule would grow to 28 events in 2012 with the addition of five tournaments. In addition to Waterloo, stops will also be added in Australia, Hawaii, Virginia and Ohio. He also had great television and financial numbers to report. It’s been a solid turnaround for the LPGA under Whan, who took over a property that was struggling mightily in the wake of the 2008 global economic meltdown.

“We’re in a great position as opposed to where we were two years ago and (Wednesday) we’ll announce five more tournaments than in 2011, our viewership is up 38 per cent and we’ll have 7- or 8-million dollars in increased purses over last year,” he said.

“We’ve got a long way to go but not as far as people think. A lot of people say ‘when are you going to get back to 38 tournaments?’ but I’m not really a 38-tournament guy. I think the top players in the world want to play 27 or 28 times, so to have 40 tournaments, you have a lot of explaining to do to a lot of sponsors when the top players aren’t there.”

Whan expects a star-studded field in Waterloo as it follows an open week on the LPGA calendar and is two weeks before the U.S. Women’s Open. A tournament in Arkansas is sandwiched between them.

Whan, the former president/CEO of Mission-Itech Hockey, called Waterloo an ideal fit for the LPGA because of its accessibility and knowledgeable fan base.

“The people here are into their sports and our fans are the kind of fans that like sports. They like to see the best athletes in the world and that’s what we’re going to bring. We’re not going to bring some great golfers, you’ll see the best 144 golfers on the planet and sports fans understand what that’s all about,” he said.

“I always say have the Olympics in your mind because if you show up you’re going to see an Olympic event. You’re going to see players from 28 different countries from different backgrounds but this is where they showcase their skills.”

Tournament director Richard Kuypers accompanied Whan to the Columbia Lake gathering and reported the Christmas ticket sale promotion was a sellout but didn’t provide numbers.

The call for volunteers on the tournament website ( www.manulifeclassic.ca) is expected to go out on Jan. 16 and the local charity that

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Great words from Seth Godin

One option is to struggle to be heard whenever you're in the room... 

 

Another is to be the sort of person who is missed when you're not.

The first involves making noise. The second involves making a difference.

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Avoiding a For Sale By Owner Fiasco

• via The Property Shop @ HGTV

1. How Are You Planning on Showing the Home?
   Will you be able to show your house when viewers request it? Some FSBO websites suggest setting aside a certain time in the week and trying to fit your viewings into that one time slot. You risk losing potential viewers—and sales, if they run on a schedule different than your own. Most sellers already have a full time job. Guess what guys? Selling homes is also a full time job.

2. Can You Be Truly Objective About the Condition of Your Home?
   The minute you decide that you are going to sell your home, you need to stop thinking of it as “your home”. A home sale can be a tough experience for those with a sentimental attachment to the property. Potential buyers will not have the same emotional investment in your property. Buyers can be downright rude, annoying, and over-critical. Can you really come to terms with the fact that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. It is very hard not to take comments and criticisms personally. However it’s no longer personal, ladies and gentlemen… It’s business.

3. Can You Handle the Pressure?
   Selling a home is a major financial transaction. You’ll have to negotiate very large amounts of money with the buyer, or their agent. Will the pressure get to you? What happens if you make a mistake? Real estate brokers carry liability insurance just in case they make a mistake do you?. Who’s going to protect you from you, if you make a mistake? But the biggest reason to reconsider DIY home sales is the fact that in my experience, agents have always gotten a substantially higher selling price for their clients than For Sale By Owners. Before you decide to go it alone, think again
5. 

    

   In this age of do-it-yourself home improvement and do-it-yourself decorating, the DIY home seller has found their niche. For Sale By Owner signs populate the real estate landscape, earning their homeowners the nickname FSBO, (pronounced fizbo). Are you an aspiring fizbo?

   Here are the top five questions to ask yourself before you take the plunge into DIY real estate:
   

   1. What Will Your Marketing Strategy Be?
      Putting out the FSBO sign is easy. How else are you going to market your home? Websites devoted to FSBO homes can reach a lot of people, but most potential homebuyers go where the most property listings are, and that’s the Multiple Listing Service or realtor.ca. To post on realtor.ca you need to be a real estate professional. If you aren’t on the MLS, you aren’t part of the huge network of potential buyers and their agents actively looking for homes.

   2. How Did You Get to that Price?
      Do you know how to set a selling price for your house that reflects its fair market value? While you might be able to find out the selling price of a house in your area by a trip to the town hall or county courthouse, realtors can access much more detailed information to make price comparisons. Besides the selling price, they will know the square footage, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and any other information that’s vital to setting the right price for a house.

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Cambridge to get one of first Target stores

 

via The Record

       

Coming to Cambridge A Target store in Irving, Texas, is shown in this file photo. Target will open a store in the Cambridge Centre mall in 2013.

The Associated Press file photo

The Cambridge Centre will get one of the first Target stores in Canada.

The mall, on Hespeler Road, was on a list of 24 locations released by the U.S. retail giant on Thursday. The Stone Road Mall in Guelph also is getting a store.

The first two dozen stores, all of them in Ontario, will open in March or early April of 2013.

All of them will be in refurbished Zellers stores. Target, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., purchased the leaseholds of 189 Zellers sites in early 2011 and plans to open up to 135 stores in Canada, mostly in 2013.

Employees in the Zellers store in the Cambridge Centre received notices on Wednesday that their jobs will end in September, said Tiffany Bourré, spokesperson for Hudson’s Bay Co., owner of Zellers. The store will close to the public on Sept. 15, she said.

The company does not disclose employee numbers for individual stores, but Bourré said Zellers stores average about 100 employees.

The Zellers employees are not guaranteed jobs at Target and will have to apply if they want to work there. Each Target store will employ 150 to 200 people, with hiring taking place in 2012, Target said.

The company wants to make it easy for current Zellers employees to apply for jobs, said Kenya Jackson, Target Canada’s group vice-president of stores. Management will encourage them to attend target job fairs, information sessions and hiring events, he said.

The Minneapolis, Minn.-based retailer announced the Canadian store locations the same day it lowered its earnings expectations after a disappointing December in which U.S. consumers waited until the last minute to shop.

Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 1.6 per cent. That missed analyst expectations for a 3.1 per cent increase.

Despite the weaker than expected holiday sales, Target is excited about the expansion to Canada, said Jackson.

Existing store performance, demographics and competition factored into the decision of where to locate the first batch of stores, he said. Jackson would not say which province Target planned to expand to next.

It will take six to nine months to renovate each location at a cost of $10 million to $11 million per store, Jackson said. At this point, no store has been chosen as a flagship, he said.

In addition to the jobs at individual stores — up to 4,800 for the 24 stores announced on Thursday — Target Canada expects to employ 500 people at its head office in Mississauga when the office is at full capacity. About 70 people work there now.

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong

Trading in your pain (TAG: Seth Godin, pain, mistakes, choices, energy))

 

The pain of a lousy boss, of careless mistakes, of insufficient credit. The pain of instability, of bullying, of inadequate tools. The pain of poor cash flow, corrossive feedback and work that isn't worthy of you.

Pain is part of work. And it leads to two mistakes.

The notion that you can trade your way out of pain.

"If I just get a little bigger, a little more famous, a little richer--then the pain will go away."

This notion creates a cycle of dissatisfaction, an unwillingness to stick it out. There's always a pain-free gig right around the corner, so screw this, let's go try that.

The truth is that pain is everywhere, in every project and in every relationship and in every job. Wandering from one to another merely wastes your energy.

The other choice, though, is:

Embracing your current pain and avoiding newer, unknown pains.

This is precisely the opposite mistake. This leads to paralysis. Falling in love with the pain you've got as a way of avoiding unknown future pains gets you stuck, wasting your potential.

As usual, when confronted with two obvious choices, it's the third choice that pays.

 

via Seth Godin

Posted via email from Selling Cambridge with Clare DeJong