A lot of great things have been said. Sandy from the city of Maple Ridge was talking about $ 1 billion bridge project and how it will improve transportation and Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Real Estate market will become very attractive to Langley and Surrey buyers where average house price is $630,000 compared to $560,000 in Maple Ridge. Sandy has also mentioned how nobody knows about us and that's true. The world has no idea what a gem Maple Ridge is and it's our mission to let them know. Silver Ridge is considered one of the most sustainable communities in Canada and it's located in Mapel ridge!. CMHC presented many forecasts including new housing starts, price, inventory, population growth etc. They are projecting prices to drop another 9% and new house starts will be around 20,000... 12/15/2008

90210, Charmed  star Shannen Doherty is starring in a made for TV movie being filmed up on Thornhill Heights this week in the Albion Real Estate neighbourhood of Maple Ridge.  I looked her up on IMDB.com to review her vast acting history and I read that she actually played in 18 episodes of Little House on the Prarie between 1982-1983 as Jenny Wilder! Who knew?   This current shoot in Albion will only be there for 3 days and is further to the shoot that took place down at Albion Pizzeria.   Scott Leaf Real Estate Marketing & Associates Keller Williams Results Realty www.whatismyhomesvalue.ca www.scottleaf.com   12/15/2008

As I have mentioned in my previous post RE/MAX ridge-meadows, TD Canada Trust and CMHC have organized an Economic Outlook Seminar on Wednesday, December 10th at the ACT. You can read more about it on my Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Home and House blog. One of the speakers was Sandi Blue from the city of Maple Ridge. She announced that City is going to give a lift to the 224th Street in the downtown next year. They will widen sidewalks and remove the center tree line for better access to restaurants and shops along the street. The construction will start in January and end in May just before the festival season begins. 12/11/2008

We did it, it happened last night on Dec 10th, 2008 at the ACT in Maple Ridge, BC. Huge success! Close to 200 people attending. I think it was a great idea from one of the owners of the RE/MAX ridge-meadows realty in Maple Ridge, BC. RE/MAX and TD worked hard. All RE/MAX ridge-meadows REALTOR®s have invited their clients and the event was advertised in the Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge newspaper. We have rented a room in the local theatre, served refreshments and allowed time for people to network. People were required to sign in at the front and each of them was given a package that included RE/MAX info, CMHC forecasts, Maple Ridge plans for the nearest future and TD's economics special report. The seminar lasted for about 2 hours with questions/answers time at the end.  We had 4 speakers: ... 12/11/2008

Bank of Canada did it again this morning. They have announced 0.75% cut in the prime rate and said more to follow early January. Although all 5 commercial canadian banks said they will pocket 0.25% in order to improve profit margins. Thus for regular customers the rate has been decreased from 4% to 3.5%. Which makes variable mortgages even more attractive. Also the bank has officially announced that Canada is in a recession and they will be doing everything they can to keep the inflation under 2% mark. I finally decided to find out what exactly recession means as I don't know more about it than it's something bad and the last time it has happened was in 1981. So, Wikipedia says that recession basically is a reduction of country's GDP for at least 2 quarters. I also found out that the US... 12/09/2008

Everybody keeps thinking how bad the market is and how nothing is selling. Well, here, in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, BC market we even manage to get multiple offers. That's right, in a dropping marketplace and in the month of December. A couple of weeks ago we were on our regular weekly office tour of just listed homes. We drop into this nice townhouse and go through it. Nothing special, just clean and nicely decorated. The next day I hear it had multiple offers. Wasn't I pleased to hear that?! It got sold within 10 days. The next week I get into a car with other fellow agents to go on a tour and REALTOR who listed it happened to be in the same car. We start chatting and apparently she sold it during the office tour. One of the agents in our office went through it and by the time he ... 12/08/2008

I always wondered what it would be like to have my home prominently featured in a movie production, one of those things I used to think about while driving around the area and seeing all of the television and motion picture productions that have taken place in our bustling little entertainment hotspot of Metro Vancouver, British Columbia.  Vancouver is where such shows as X-Files, Juno, X-Men, Battlestar Galactica, The Day the Earth Stood Still, etc., etc., 10,000 times over...have been filmed. One day this last August a couple of fellows showed up at our door, where we live in the Albion Real Estate neighbourhood of Maple Ridge, introducing themselves as location scouts for Insight Productions and asked if we would be interested in having our home included in their list of possible loc... 12/04/2008

I know that I'm probably opening up a real big can of worms here, but I keep getting email requests to go sign a petition against the Canadian coalition government.  I have drafted a response that I cut and paste into a reply to any requests.  I thought I would post that reply here: I just wanted to point something out here.  I don't personally agree with the coalition, but the whole idea of Democracy that's being touted by the conservative party is a complete farce and they really need to find something else to fight this coalition with.   They keep saying that the majority of Canadians are being ignored in this case, and that their rights are not being represented.  What he fails to acknowledge is that his MINORITY government does not actually represent the majority of Canadians.  By ... 12/03/2008

A Maple Ridge Council insider has suggested to me that the District of Maple Ridge may offer up development land in Silver Valley in exchange for the Jackson Farm property in Albion. The owners of the Jackson property have offered up the property, which has a steep slope and a swamp upon it, rendering half of it useless, in exchange for the rights to develop another piece of property on 248th st, which is outside the Urban Reserve on Thornhill, to 6000 sq ft lots.  The 248th st property which is currently zoned 5 acres minimum lot size and would not have been developed for years, if ever is far superior to the Jackson property as farm land and the only stake holder that benefits from it's development are the owners. Further the consideration demanded is far in excess of the value of the... 12/01/2008

This picture is not embellished, altered, or changed in anyway.  This is a early sunrise shot of Mt Baker, which is located just across the the Canada/US border inside Washington state as seen from my kitchen window, looking south, November 27th 2008 at around 7:00am in the morning.  My home is in the real estate neighborhood of Albion in Maple Ridge, BC, a suburb of Vancouver. Mt Baker is an inactive volcano which still has the odd steam plume from time to time, much less so these days then when I was a kid in the 70's.  Some days when it looks like this, images of apocalyptic horror come to mind, but the sheer beauty of it all is why I live where I do in Albion.  Maple Ridge is blessed with views of Baker as well as the ever inspiring Golden Ears Mountains (Mt Blanshard) which arise ... 11/27/2008

I've been going to sit at open houses with realtors, handing out cards, and chatting up clients trying to drum up business.  It's been reasonably successful, landing me two clients in the past month.  The thing I'm wondering about, especially the legality of it, is whether a mortgage broker could man an open house on his/her own.  If this is possible, a realtor, instead of getting other realtors to man the house, could work with a broker and get him to sit there.  The realtor would obviously get any buyer/seller referrals, and the broker could chat up the mortgage customers.  The other bonus would be that the realtor could be sitting at his own open house, and pass out the broker's information.  You could kill two birds with one stone and both walk away with client contacts. The legalit... 11/26/2008

So the home buyer's seminar was a success.  Coffee, dessert, and information.  That's what we offered.  A discussion on how to, and why you should, buy a home in this market.  Plus a very entertaining discussion on where the financial market is, where it should be, and where it's going. The nice thing is that, for my $100 investment, I took two applications tonight.  All the information for a file, plus two signed consent forms.  Actual clients. In this market, clients aren't going to come to you without something to offer.  I'm still a new broker, so I can't offer years of experience.  I can't rely on my immense database of past clients, as my database is still growing to that point. I can however offer coffee, dessert, and witty conversation. The thing that surprised me is that two ot... 11/25/2008

So tomorrow I am hosting my first home buyer's seminar.  I have partnered with a realtor, a home inspector and a Notary (same as a lawyer for real estate purposes if you don't have Notaries in the US).  We are going to have a chat about the current economic status of the country, our region, and the real estate market.  Then we are going to run through the process of buying a home, from getting pre-approved with a broker, finding a realtor, looking for a house, the inspection process, and all the legalese after the fact. We only put one ad in the paper, and did up a quick facebook page and only have 4 people attending so far, but hopefully there will be some walkup business.  I am hoping that networking like this will generate an interest in home buying again, as the market has been a b... 11/24/2008

So I finally got a constructive comment on one of my blogs.  This is good, as I thought that my blogs weren't 'featured' or 'professional' and travelled through the list pretty quick, being in the 'all' category, and would probably be ignored or missed by most. Today I went to an open house with another realtor.  Probably wasn't the smartest thing, as it was Grey Cup Sunday here in Canada, and we had a grand total of one visitor.  For those of you in the US, the Grey Cup is the Canadian Football championship, and probably didn't have a large effect on your commerce.  The one good thing that came of it is that I was telling the realtor that we currently have our personal house listed, and he actually called our realtor tonight and set up a showing for one of his buyers.  Maybe we'll get ... 11/23/2008

I have come up with a new concept in marketing my services.  Or at least it's new to me and everyone that I've told I'm doing it.  And I want to share it. I have kind of partnered with a local realtor to sit at his open houses and answer questions that prospective clients may have.  Not only do I do that, but he has started advertising that I will be there. He's a hard working realtor that hand delivers 100 invites to the neighborhood by hand the day or two before an open house.  On the back side there is an advertisement with my information that goes something like: "Questions about the mortgage market?  Concerned where rates are going? Want to know if you should lock in? Can you afford to buy right now? - There are many questions that you may have and Rob Laluk will be on site to answ... 11/21/2008

Ever feel like those advertising dollars are going to waste?  Are people prepared to purchase your product or to contact you to take the looking at homes after reading the first 6 pages of doom and gloom?  How about listing your home for sale in a market where nothing is moving, prices are plummeting and you would have to be completely off-balance to do so? I do understand that some of these statements are true in some parts of North America, but the media is painting with a pretty broad stroke when reporting on current market trends and financial situations.  By the time a consumer gets through 6-8 pages of bad news, why would the look at the flyers in the middle, an advertisement for new appliances, or the real estate section.  Our local paper gets an estimated $12,000 a week from loc... 11/20/2008

Smart!Centres, the mall development company which owns 35 acres in Albion flats, north of Lougheed Highway and west of 105th Avenue, has taken out an ad and put up a sign asking: "Want a new shopping centre in Maple Ridge?" And if that's not enough, a website gives a look at what might be in store by referring to its latest project, Grandview Corners Shopping District in south Surrey, the site of Wal-Mart's Supercentre. The company wants to hear from the public what kind of stores it would like to see in Maple Ridge, said Sandra Kaiser, vice-president of corporate affairs. "We just want to get some feedback," said from her Toronto-area office. The company's website also includes letters to the district from 2006 and 2007, expressing interest in the Albion flats. The letters, from 11 com... 11/19/2008

Congratulations to former councillor Ernie Daykin as he takes over from Gord Robson as Mayor of Maple Ridge.   Our city awaits the new voice to be heard from city hall.  Daykin seems to be a highly likeable, personable fellow, somehow less formidable & imposing than Robson.   Only time will tell if Daykin's "man of the people" persona will prove effective or not.   The results were not even close, so obviously Maple Ridge is ready for a change. 11/16/2008

RaceCandidateNameElectedTotalAdvanceMailBallotAlbionGaribaldiLaityRiversideSenActCenterWhonnockYennadon Mayor DAYKIN, Ernie 1 6,302 400 88 854 706 1,122 709 1,477 288 658 Mayor SATHER, Michael 3,889 155 59 507 397 695 487 999 164 426 Mayor ROBSON, Gordy 3,680 266 56 468 573 505 380 834 167 431 Maple Ridge Mayor incumbent Gordon Robson was soundly beaten yesterday finishing a distant 3rd behind winner Councillor Ernie Daykin and the second place finisher NDP MLA Michael Sather. u Why did Robson lose?  Was it because people were disatisfied with his performance or was it that Daykin was just much more popular?  I was not a fan of Robson as Mayor, and trully questioned his personal motives for being Mayor and his accomplishments as Mayor but I ask myself this question, is Daykin going to ... 11/16/2008

Dateline Albion, November 15, 2008. Your intrepid reporter Scott Leaf, has just learned that the long awaited Albion Pizzeria located in the burgeoning Albion real estate area of Mape Ridge is just days away from opening! Partners Rodney Lund & Martin Petersten have braved landlords leases, city inspectors and delinquent trades in order to bring Pizza to the people of Albion.  This much awaited enterprise has been the buzz of the Albion elementary school with respect to the 'When is it opening?' question. Albion Pizzeria will offer take out and delivery to the Cottonwood, Albion and Whonnock areas of Maple Ridge, so watch out for the 'Open' sign to be illuminated mid next week for an un-advertised soft opening. Rumours abound of a conspiracy of friends to strategicly order delivery from... 11/15/2008