Municipal Tax Rates-The Gammer Report 01-09

Had a great lunch today with Fraser Valley Commercial Real Estate expert Stephen Gammer, along with the very best of the TD Commercial Banking Team Steve Ponte and Craig Hinton.

Stephen had some really intersing things to say about the new Federal budget anouncements and the state of the market in the Fraser Valley. Clearly this is a matter close to his heart and is extremly well versed on the subject, having attended numorious conferinces and taking a major role in the UBCM

Stephen also writes for the Businnes Journal, take a look at the Gammer Report on his website at www.gammer.ca Here is the January issue regarding Municipal Tax Rates.

 

 

 

The Unchecked Municipal Tax Explosion

Municipal Tax Rates across the province are rising far faster than the rate of population growth and inflation combined. With a shaky economy being the number one issue on everyone’s mind as we face another election (Municipal Elections are November 15), we need to be looking in our individual back yards and asking our local politicians about the sustainability of rocketing tax rates and how much more property owners can bear.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a report this summer stating that between 2000 – 2006, our combined rate of population growth and inflation has risen by 20%. During that same time municipal spending has grown by 35.7% and property taxes grew by 33.3%. Having come back from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities annual meeting in Penticton in late September I was able to get a first hand look into how our local politicians and bureaucrats go about solving local government issues. Controlling their level of taxation wasn’t even on the radar screen; in fact it was the opposite.

 

The #1 policy paper presented at the convention was entitled “Financing Local Government: Achieving Fiscal Balance.” The ways to achieving this fiscal balance include some of the following recommendations, “Removing Restrictions on Existing Revenue Instruments: broaden the allowable uses of Development Cost Charges revenue, use of parcel taxes and flat taxes, taxation of telecommunications companies, and use of hotel tax revenue.” Future sources of revenue the municipalities are looking for are: fuel tax, liquor tax and real property transfer tax.

 

The prospect of the introduction of a local government property transfer tax should be frightening to most home and business owners. The provincial Property Transfer Tax is one of the most hated taxes in BC and pulls in close to a billion dollars government’s coffers (depending on how much the economy grows). Putting an additional local based tax burden on property sales will only hurt home buyers and erode our standard of living and business viability. While at the UBCM I sat in on problem solving sessions where counselors and city staffers talked about the issues confronting their communities. All of their solutions were about obtaining grants from the provincial government or non-profit foundations, performing endless studies, holding community in-put sessions, and lamenting their under funding from the senior levels of government.

As printed in The Business Journal

By Stephen Gammer

www.gammer.ca

TD Lower Mortgage Rates

November 7th 2008 TD Canada Trust is please to advise of a new limited time offer effective Novemer 8th, 2008 Limited Time Offer of 5.34% on the 4-Year Fixed Mortgage * applies to new applications up to November 30th * Must be funded by March 31st 2009 *Offer may be changed to withdrawn at any time Great news for those who are looking for the stability of a fixed rate, or are looking for the maximum qualification. Until today’s announcement the 3 year fixed rate at 5.7% was the lowest qualifying rate. This will allow borrows to qualify for more mortgage while keeping there TDSR and GDSR in line. I am always happy to answer your mortgage questions, please drop me a line at david.hudson@td.com Cheers, David

Tax Benifical Investments

I came across an article that mirrors an important part of any investment or financial planning mantra; it’s all about what you have at the end of the day. The majority of us (myself included) look only at the rate of return, the ‘juice’ we receive for placement of our money. While under the ‘percent of return spell’ we lose all sense of control and disregard the banal things like tax implications.

It’s like focusing on “the best mortgage rate”, as l often ask “do you want the best rate, or would you like to save the most money?” This is why I take the time to ensure the proper lending product is selected. After all; what good is the best rate if you are going to pay far more in penalties a few years down the road?

Sometimes the best TD Mortgage rates are going to be higher or lower than what is in the marketplace, but with dozens of options to work with making the right choice can easily save thousands of potential interest and fees.

A Professional financial planner helps guide you to make the most of your money – not just ’sexy’ rates of return, after all what’s more important, bragging to your friends about your incredible ROI or quietly putting more money in your pocket…

Make tax-smart investments, not returns, the priority

Interest is fully taxed, so capital gains and dividends are better options

Jim Yih, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, March 14, 2008

If you had to choose between two investments, one offering returns of 10% and the second offering returns of 8%, which would you choose?

This is not a trick question. Most people would choose the 10% investment. However, if the first investment produced an after-tax return of 6% while the second investment produced returns after tax of 7%, which would you choose now? No matter what return you make, the real indicator of success is the after-tax return.

As the saying goes, “It’s not what you make, but what you keep that counts.” This is crucial in the investment world.

What is tax-smart investing?

Tax-smart investing is simply being aware and focused on the after-tax implications of any investment decision. Tax-smart investing is especially important when investing non-RRSP money because any investment earnings are taxed, unlike investing money inside an RRSP, where all investment income is tax sheltered.

In the recent federal budget, the government introduced tax-free savings accounts (TFSA), which will also shelter the investor from having to pay any tax on investment income but will not provide a tax deduction at the time of deposit. Any withdrawals from the TFSA will not be taxable.

The introduction of TFSAs is long overdue, as they will open up many new strategies for tax-smart investing but unfortunately, they will not be available until 2009 at the earliest.

What is your after-tax return?

The biggest problem in the investment industry today is that all returns are posted as pre-tax returns and not after-tax returns. Unfortunately there is very limited information available regarding after-tax returns of investments.

Finding after-tax returns for investments is tough because it is complicated, individual and not required by law. That being said, it’s not impossible. For example, in the mutual-fund industry, companies like Morningstar offer some limited data on tax efficiency and after-tax returns but there are still some inconsistencies in the data. The bottom line is the industry still lacks standards and there is no universally accepted means to posting after-tax returns.

Be aware of tax bite.

When most people consider investment opportunities, the focus tends to be on the quality of the investment and its ability to make money. Although selecting good quality investments is important, different investments will appeal to different investors. In my opinion there’s little or no consideration given to taxation of investments when selecting investments.

Don’t fall into this mistake. The starting point to understanding tax efficiency is to learn about how different investments are taxed.

There are three basic types of investment income:

1. Interest income is the least tax-efficient investment income because it is fully taxable at your marginal tax rate.

Interest income comes from bank accounts, guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), bonds and bond funds.

2. Capital gains income is taxed more favourably than interest income because only half of the total gain is taxable.

Capital gains are taxed only when they are sold or transferred. Until investments are sold for a gain, they are considered unrealized gains and tax is deferred until disposition.

3. Dividend income comes from shares of taxable Canadian corporations. Some mutual funds specialize in investing in stocks that pay dividends regularly. Dividend income is now the most tax-preferred type of investment income because of the changes to the dividend tax credit which can translate into significant tax savings over interest income.

In a country like Canada, where almost 50% of your income gets taxed, tax-smart strategies should always be a priority.

When it comes to investing, being smart starts with some basic understanding about how your investments outside the RRSP are taxed.

Jim Yih is a financial expert, author, columnist and professional speaker. He can be reached at jim@retirehappy.ca or through his other website www.wealthwebgurus.com

The Cash Flow Dam; Relief for canadian small business owners?

One of the growing concerns a lot of my clients have is cash flow for their small business, for them the storm front is becoming just as large on the inside as the outside.

 

  At the end of the day payrolls must be made, inventory purchased and outstanding accounts collected upon.

Although we have recently seen a drop in energy prices-whatever happened to those headlines, it’s like a dream now, the pundits were claiming oil will never be under $100 a barrel again….OOps

Now restrictive credit markets and a sinking loonie, small business owners find themselves in the trenches taking grenades.

 

Good Friend and trusted advisor AARON THEILADE from Investors Group has been kind enough to share ideas about freeing up cash flow for businesses.

Aaron is a very knowledgeable with the mechanics of cash flow damming a concept that has been growing in popularity for a number of years.

As Aaron explains;

“The cash flow dam is a strategy that converts your personal debt into tax deductible business debt.  It’s similar in principle to the Smith Manoeuvre.

Like the Smith Manoeuvre, this strategy was used primarily by higher-net-worth clients.  Few others had heard about it.  Many that did know about it were uncertain of the tax implications.  That’s all starting to change. 

Nowadays, big financial institutions are starting to get in on the act.  National Bank now has a cash flow dam webpage.  Investors Group is quite involved and are looking at implementation as one of our tax strategies. Even RBC has an article on it.

If you’re self-employed and interested in the cash flow dam, consult a good tax advisor.

From a mortgage standpoint, you’ll need a line of credit or re-advance able mortgage.  May I suggest the TD Canada Trust Home Equity Line Of Credit http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/mortgages/home_equity.jsp , or HELOC. TD even has a Green Home Equity Line Of Credit http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/greenhome/index.jsp

 

1.     You use your business income to cover your current expenses and gradually repay your personal debts (ie, against your mortgage)

2.     You borrow money to cover your business expenses.

3.     You can deduct the interest on the borrowed money.

You save on taxes.

Both myself and Aaron can help you implement the cash flow dam and start converting your personal debt into a tax deduction.

 

Aaron can be reached at

AARON THEILADE
Consultant
LANGLEY, BC

Phone (604) 455-1430
aaron.theilade@investorsgroup.com

Came across this press release from TD Canada Trust Small Business group, very interesting stuff enjoy!

 

 

 

######

Cash flow worries top the list of concerns for B.C.’s small business owners

    <<
    - TD Canada Trust Small Business Survey reveals the top challenges and
    rewards experienced by small business owners -
    >>
 
    TORONTO, Oct. 16 /CNW/ - Making payroll. Suppliers' bills. Rising fuel
costs. According to the TD Canada Trust Small Business Survey, these are the
top concerns that keep small business owners in British Colombia up at night.
    The first TD Canada Trust Small Business Survey polled 1,000 small
business owners from across Canada to uncover their biggest challenges in
order to help provide relevant advice for entrepreneurs. The survey found that
more than 30% of B.C. small business owners lose sleep worrying about cash
flow while 14% say rising fuel costs is their biggest concern.
    "Local Small Business Advisors are available to help small business
owners manage their cash flow in order to help make their lives easier," says
Norm Attridge, Regional Sales Manager, TD Canada Trust. "Small Business Week,
October 19th to 25th, is the perfect opportunity to visit a TD branch and
learn more about business financing and how to start - and grow - a small
business."
    Despite concerns about cash flow, 2008 is proving to be a good year for
small business owners. Seventy-two per cent of B.C. business owners graded
their business' performance as an A+, A or B, indicating that they have had
solid growth or that they did as well as they expected. Twenty-six per cent
gave their business a C saying that they did not have the year they planned
and only 2% gave themselves a failing grade.
    For small business owners that gave their business an A or A+, 37%
attributed their great year to innovating with the right products and services
at the right time. This was followed by hiring great talent and retaining the
right people (27%).
    Looking ahead to 2009, small business owners anticipate that the biggest
business challenges will be similar to what they worry about now: cash flow
(23%) followed by managing growth (18%). Rising fuel costs was the third most
common challenge cited (16%).
 
    Owning your own business has its benefits
 
    The best thing about owning a business, according to B.C.'s small
business owners, is controlling their own destiny (37%) and having a better
work-life balance (34%). Only 6% of respondents said that making more money
was the best thing about owning their own business.
 
    Advice from B.C. small business owners
 
    The top piece of advice from small business owners for those wanting to
start their own business is to raise enough capital before starting.
Twenty-two per cent of owners said they would have raised more capital if they
started their business today. The second change they would have made was to
diversify their services more (19%). Small business owners across Canada who
have been in business less than a year, are most likely to say that they
should have raised more capital (41%), whereas business owners who have been
in business 11 or more years, say that they would diversify services more
(22%).
 
    Small business and the environment
 
    The environment is a top priority for small business owners. In fact, 79%
report that it is important to run an environmentally responsible business.
The biggest barriers to adopting more environmentally friendly measures are
cost (40%) and lack of credible industry providers (26%).
 
    Small business and technology
 
    The TD Canada Trust Small Business Survey also asked business owners
about their views on technology. Half of B.C. small business owners say that
e-mail is often a more effective communication tool than using the phone.
Seven per cent of respondents are so dependent on technology that they would
rather have a root canal than give up their BlackBerry.
 
    About TD's sponsorship of Small Business Week
 
    Small Business Week is a nation-wide celebration of entrepreneurship,
October 19th to 25th, 2008, organized by the Business Development Bank of
Canada (BDC) to pay tribute to Canadian small business. With the endorsement
of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, organized events such as conferences,
trade fairs and seminars provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to network
and exchange ideas to enhance business growth. TD is a sponsor of Small
Business Week and to recognize its small business customers, TD is conducting
a national advertising campaign, sponsoring SOHO (small office home office)
conferences in Toronto and Vancouver and sponsoring regional events with
chambers of commerce and business associations across the country. To see
events that TD is sponsoring, visit
http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/celebrate/index.jsp?id=2. As well, TD will host
in-branch customer appreciation days at more than 280 branches staffed by a
small business advisor.
 
    About the TD Canada Trust Small Business Survey
 
    The TD Canada Trust Small Business Survey polled small business owners
from across the country to uncover their biggest challenges and to help
provide advice for entrepreneurs interested in starting a business. The survey
was conducted by Angus Reid Strategies from September 4 to 8, 2008 with
English and French speaking small business owners (defined as business owners
with fewer than 20 employees) across Canada using the Angus Reid Forum. The
sample size included 1003 men and women.

 

Canadian Mortgage Changes

“Mortgage changes followed concerns about housing crunch in Canada

by Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press”

“OTTAWA – Concerns that cracks were beginning to appear in the foundations of Canada’s housing market were behind the government’s surprise decision to crack down on loose mortgage conditions ushered in less than two years earlier, officials and experts say.

Starting Oct. 15, Canadians will no longer be able to purchase a home with a government-backed mortgage with a 40-year amortization and no down payment.  

Instead, mortgages will be limited to 35 years and the government will only insure 95 per cent of the value of the home, meaning buyers will need to come up with at least a five per cent down payment. As well, borrowers must demonstrate that debt servicing costs are no more than 45 per cent of gross income and have a good credit rating.

But while most in the housing sector welcomed the announcement, they also questioned the timing. The Canadian housing sector is cooling after six torrid years of growth.

Bank of Montreal deputy chief economist Douglas Porter said the decision should have been made a year ago, when Canada’s housing market was likely exhibiting signs of a bubble as both prices and starts increased by double-digits over the previous year.

“It’s better a little late than never and better than ridiculously late,” Porter said.

“I think in hindsight, we can attributed a lot of the very strong conditions we saw right across the country in 2007 to the loosening up of rules in the prior year,” he explained. “At the time, I was a little concerned that the Canadian housing market just continued to thunder along last year when the fundamentals were starting to move against it.”

Liberal MP Garth Turner, who recently authored a book warning about a Canadian housing bust, suggested Canadians could expect to see the value of their homes fall about 15 per cent nationally, and 30 per cent in some hot markets such as Vancouver.

While praising Finance Minister Jim Flaherty for acting, Turner said the minister has also set up the conditions under which some Canadians will try to beat the Oct. 15 deadline.

“This pulls the plug right out of the bubble, but it does it in a way that inflates the bubble another few months,” he said.

“If you’ve been shopping around for a home and you don’t have any money for a down payment, you will want to buy now with zero down and a 40-year mortgage. If you’re a lender, you’ve got three months to load up people with debt regardless of what the debt-service ratio is.”

Ottawa said the changes were a precautionary measure designed to head off a U.S.-style subprime mortgage crisis, not an indication of underlying problems in the Canadian system.

But officials said concerns had been mounting for months as the government tracked the explosion in the issuing of mortgages longer than 25 years, for years the standard in Canada.

The government had been consulting with lenders, insurers and brokers for the past few months over generous mortgage products, said Jim Murphy, president of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP).

“I think they were worried about what was coming out of the U.S. in increases in defaults and foreclosures, and I think they were concerned over their 100 per cent guarantee, wondering, ‘What is our risk here in a calamity?’ ” Murphy said.”

Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/article.jsp?content=b0710133A&page=2

I think that many folk’s are reading the headlines and forgetting to do a little more research, one of the biggest differences that can be plainly seen from the American counterparts is that the US was using 100 year Amortizations, yes you read that correctly 100 years. In the Vancouver market it is almost impossible for anyone to break into unless they have a substantial source of income, I don’t know of that many young people who have the kind of income to even consider home ownership in the Greater Vancouver Area.

I don’t foresee many being able to buy out there baby boomer parents either, and the parents need to pull the equity out of there homes in order to retire. “Nearly 3 out of 5 middle-class retirees will probably run out of money if they maintain their pre-retirement lifestyles, a new study from Ernst & Young www.ey.com has concluded.

The study, set to be released Monday, finds that Americans will have to drastically reduce their standard of living before retirement to live comfortably, or even avoid destitution, later in life. Middle-income Americans entering retirement now will have to reduce their standard of living by an average of 24 percent to minimize their chances of outliving their financial assets, the study found. Workers seven years from retirement will have to cut their spending by even more – 37 percent.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/13/MN9511OD8S.DTL

More Canadians will continue to be increasingly dependent upon their nest egg that has been built by the equity of homeownership, how will the new generation afford to take over the burden of what have become million dollar mortgages?

Just as an example the amount of income required for a 850,000 home with 5% down over a 35 year term would be 185,535 per year, I don’t know of many people under 40 that are legitimately earning that kind of income—even combined income—a great deal of the Vancouver bubble has been created from offshore money and as of right now the amount of offshore influx is still over 50k people from oversees moving here every year!

What do you think, is the younger generation going to be able to sustain these prices??

Keys to Multiple Meetings

Getting to Know Clients Over Time

Your success in becoming an Super Agent depends on how effective you are at meeting with your clients, not once but multiple times. In the relationship business, you cannot expect clients to fork over their business or become your personal advocates from a single encounter.

The best relationships develop over time from getting to know each other, establishing trust and discovering opportunities that help your clients as well. But too often agents get stuck because they give away too much information during their first meeting, making it more difficult for the client to rationalize meeting with them a second or third time. Just like when you first met your best friends it takes time for a relationship to develop and blossom, leaving them without a hunger for an encore can kill any forward momentum

Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do differently that will help you plan and hold multiple meetings with the same client. Follow the 3 principles described in this article and you’ll experience success in landing multiple meetings.

Don’t Be Interesting

In your first meeting, you should ask questions and listen. You should offer nothing of yourself until you comprehend the client’s goals and understand the potential obstacles standing in the way. The second and third meetings with the same client will anchor the relationship but the key to getting those meeting hinges on the success of your first meeting.

The fifth habit in Dr. Stephen Covey’s bestseller, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” tells us to seek understanding. Being interested, instead of being interesting, means you’re not trying to impress the client, or “wow” him or her with your offerings. Seeking to understand shows you’re curious about the client’s problems and eager to comprehend their circumstances.

Don’t Give It Away

The more you develop the habit of seeking understanding, the less time you’ll spend in your first meeting discussing the least important subject – yourself.

When you meet a client for the first time, they don’t care about you. That’s not an insult; instead it’s good news, because if you feel pressured to impress a client, you’ll making another critical mistake – you’ll tell your whole story. It’s the biggest reason why it’s difficult to get to a second or third meeting. If you include in your presentation every aspect of your service and every reason for doing business together, you’ll leave nothing for follow up. It’s the same reason why many movie sequels do so poorly at the box office. The first episode gave away the whole story, leaving the second one uninspired.

Plan Your Sequel Beforehand

However, there have been some wildly successful movies that included sequels, like the Star Wars trilogy and Harry Potter. The key to their success is that the sequels were planned and written before being filmed.

Before you meet with an client for the first time, plan how you’ll get to your second and third meetings. Take the time to prepare and forecast what the potential clients needs will be, are they downgrading, are they first time buyers, what king of information can you offer to follow up with?

Plan your questions, like an interview, for the first meeting. Your strategy might include discussing the client’s goals and any potential obstacles standing in their way. By getting an client to talk about potential obstacles, you help them to share their problems. The greater the problem they raise, the more important it becomes to them to get it solved. Your goal is to help the client raise significant problems you can solve.

But your key in the first meeting is to get the client to share their problems – not to solve their problems. Instead, your first meeting should simply raise their awareness of their problems. You’ll use this momentum to plan the second meeting – to discuss how to solve their problems together.

Although you could have given solutions right away, you would be destroying any future opportunities to build more rapport and trust. Get the client to show you where their pain is, remember people love to talk about themselves and their problems, one you find some hot buttons do not offer solutions but plant the seed for the second meeting.  

Holding multiple meetings serves an important purpose because the relationship development process occurs more naturally. Actually, by slowing down the “getting to know you” process, you speed up rapport and trust building. When you have rapport and trust, your odds increase of forming a loyal client.

 

 

Canada Day in Langley 2008

Canada Day has always been a great celebration, not the loud
brashness that you come to expect from the fourth of July, but a collection of
things that make this country so great. I started the day at the Langley Canada
Day Festival at McLeod Athletic Park. Langley Canada Day Celebrations has

grown to be the biggest two day event in the Langley’s and one of largest

Canada Day celebrations in the province.
http://www.langleycanadaday.ca/

It was hard to believe how much there was to offer, petting zoo’s,
continuous stage show, children’s rides/games, aircraft static displays,
Crafter’s Alley, Vendors, marketplace, special community exhibits by gymnasts,
firefighters, merchants and special community groups as well as live
musical entertainment from local talents.

RE/MAX
was out in full force as well, they sponsored the first aid
tent of course, they had a RE/MAX
balloon out
as well!!

One of
the more interesting things was a V8 Powered Custom
motorcycle from Azzkikr Customs http://azzkikr.ca/azzkikr/
can you imagine, how about towing your boat behind this one!!

But my personal favorite was the Dam’s Lincon Mercury

http://dams.dealerconnection.com/?lang=en

Monster Truck!!

This was a very popular ride! I wish I had waited in the enormous
line to get my chance, but alas it was too hot to stay put that long!

After the Canada day address I went to one of my favorite Pubs The Dubblin

Crossing in Langley/Surrey http://www.dublincrossing.com/home.html if you have never been GO!

It is quite the treat, they have my favorite Harp on tap, very hard to find anywhere

What good would living on the wet coast bring if we did not get to the beach??

I went chill’in http://www.tasteofwhiterock.com/articles/chill042007.html on White Rock Beach to soak up some of

the festivities on the beachfront and pier.

Just like the Langley festivities live music was a huge draw for the
White Rock crowd.

I was able to catch a set of the Sumner Brothers, one of my favorite local acts with special guest Jim Black on the Guitar,

at Chill’in I ran into some friends who work at Mercedes Benz of Vancouver, if you are in the market for a new Mercedes,

I whole-heartily recommend you see Adrian http://www.mbvancouver.com/index.cfm?id=3314

Looking forward to another great year in this beautiful Country, thanks to
everyone for making it a wonderful celebration.

Home Selling Strategies; Price or Traffic? I

Let’s talk about Home Selling Strategies. From what I’ve been reading lately I guess there are two schools of thought on these, one that is based on “Price” and the other that is based on “Traffic”

The ‘Price’ strategy more is more traditional and more likely to appear dominant in a Balanced or Sellers market, some of the characteristics are

-Pricing the house in the lower part of the determined market range, this draws qualified interested parties to the table, in general most homes have a value range 10% variation www.zillow.com http://activerain.com/blogsview/535342/Negotiating-for-a-House

-Pay regular commissions to agents; in our region this is typically 7% on the first 100,000 and 2.5 or 3% on the remainder, attracting agents from all realty companies, who have the largest pool of qualified buyers www.fvreb.bc.ca take a look at the FVREB or the Fraser Valley Real Estate

-Someone will ‘Wheel and Deal’ on the price, it has been proven to me time after time that the moment they say “I don’t want to barter and play games”, that’s exactly what they want to do! If you give them the best price up front thinking they will thank you for making it short and sweet they will pound on you until there is bone fragments left!

-Articles of home are used as bargaining, that old wagon wheel chandler simply must be included in the sale

Traffic has been used by developers for years, and it has been extremely successful for them, just take a look at the success of Del Webb http://www.delwebb.com/About/History.aspx and Rennie Marketing Systems http://www.rennie.com/ using a series of slick promotions, glossy advertising they sell ‘lifestyle’ and emotions rather than bricks and mortar. This creates a parade of people – hype – and can create a frenzy causing people to become caught up in their emotions and make silly decisions, like paying way overvalue. Here are some of traffics characteristics

-Pricing in the upper part of the range, giving the seller quite a bit of wiggle room, this allows for things like, ‘purchase by X and get the upgraded stainless package included at no charge”http://www.omalife.com/

-Financial Incentives, this is plain and simple most often expressed by a ‘reward clause’ move in by X day and we will pay your GST and taxes, or I am starting to see rate buy downs coming back, Sutton West Cost has arranged a Fixed 5 year rate with a unnamed insurance company for 4.5%….

-Bonus Commission structure, the ‘builders representatives’ like Rennie Marketing Systems http://www.rennie.com/ will offer have bonus for selling X amount of units within a predetermined time phase, so if they sell out the entire phase in a month they will be rewarded by the builder and it will be passed down

-They will show the model unit AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, they will take anyone and everyone through, they are not there to qualify they know that someone will fall in love with there project and buy, its just a numbers game pure and simple.

-Curb Appeal, these marketing companies are masters at having you buy into a lifestyle with dozens of glossy photos and co-branded imagery http://www.southpointlife.com/ You know if you are hearing Sub-Zero more often than the size of the construction beams used curb appeal is at work. http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20030620_curbappeal.htm
Lovely little fixer upper!!

‘Chip’s Not Dead Yet’

On Thursday a I was asked by two of my Bishops University Alumni and friends to help at the event ‘Chip’s Not Dead Yet’ as it turned out it was one of the most satisfying events that I have attended all year. For those of you who asked me why traffic was shut down on west 10^th here is the information on the event: http://www.chipsnotdeadyet.com/. Chris Clarke from BrandBridge Enterprises www.brandbridge.ca was out representing one of his current projects http://www.purityorganic.com/ helped Chris set up his booth, they were giving away free samples at the finish line, the product Purity Organic™ is absolutely top notch, for those who have not tried it get your hand on a bottle, Chris tells me that they are also doing a tasting even in Whistler this weekend. For the main event I was assisting Jordan Rodgers, sales and marketing of http://www.providentsecurity.ca/ with their incredible 45’ inflatable slide, this was one of the most popular even especially for the children and a few reluctant parentsJ , we must have had hundreds with grins ear to ear, at times the line up was over a half hour wait! Provident Security also donated some of their top notch personal security to ensure that the beer garden sponsored by Russell breweries http://www.russellbeer.com/index.html remained a great time for all. The top prize for first place in the run was $20,000!! The Winner donated a portion of this back to charity . Chip Wilson made a appearance in the run, dressed up as one of the brides maids and later arrived in a vintage ambulance to make a short but sweet presentation of the monies raised to representatives of Children’s Hospital. A big thanks to Jordan Rogers of Provident Security for inviting me to help!