This weekend looks to be spectacular for Garage Sale Hosts & Guests alike.

There are a number of Neighbourhood events going on including our own.

Here are the maps and link to them. 

(click on image for maps page)

We wanted to update you on our post of last Friday regarding Tofu, the Boxer taken from outside the Walmart in Morgan Crossing.

On Sunday, our client called to say the Surrey SPCA had poor little Tofu. OK, Tofu’s not so little.
Well, here watch the video:

Tofu gone no mo.

Saturday May 26th 2012 Starting at 9AM – NO EARLYBIRDS!

Come find the bargains and treasures in the South Surrey area bordered by 140th, 148th and 16th up to 20th.

For participation or information, contact Andrew – 604-773-3940

Good Morning!

Here is the list of Garage Sales for May 19th long weekend. Not as many this week (never are n a long weekend). But it’s a beautiful Saturday morning and there’s probably lots of good deals to be had.

One of our clients called today, very upset. They had just come out of WalMart in the Morgan Crossing area to find their year old boxer gone; leash left on the post.

Our client is legally blind and, although Tofu is not a seeing eye dog, our client takes him with her almost everywhere she goes.

We live in a fabulous area of Metro Vancouver, and we hate to see things like this happen here, especially to someone with diminished ability, who needs the companionship.

Please help us find Tofu. Keep an eye out for him. If you see someone with a young Boxer, take  photo or call us. If a neighbour has recently come home with a dog that looks like it might be him, please let us know.

Our client and her young kids are very distraught about this.

Tofu is a young, neutered male Boxer. He is very friendly and loves people.

HudsonHomeTeam

604-773-3940

Wow! Garage Sale season is in full swing. South Surrey & White Rock have so mane events, we had to separate the map into east and west.

There is a Neighbourhood Sale planned for the Bayridge Elementary School catchment area on May 26th. If you live in this area and are interested in participating, contact us to have your sale added to the neighbourhood map for that day.

If you have a community event coming up, let us know and we will publicize it; a complimentary service of HudsonHomeTeam.com

Click on the image for the Garage Sales Maps.

I  was scrolling through our Facebook page and noticed a headline by our friend Miss604 about Ashiana Tandoori.

Way before kids, we lived within walking distance of Ashiana (in East Van). Before that, we lived within walking distance of Vij’s,  back when it was half the size, Rangoli, didn’t exist and if you wanted a table, you had to wait in line outside, no matter what the weather (although they usually brought you tea if it was cold and/or wet). But back to Ashiana…

The food was great and, well, we could walk home, which made it more enjoyable in the form of sharing a full bottle of Gewürztraminer with our dinner; our favourite wine for spicy Indian food.

At first I didn’t bother to open the Facebook post because, well, living so far away from Ashiana, I didn’t want to torment myself by reading about it. Then I noticed the word Surrey in the subtext. I clicked on the link and read to my delight that Ashiana has opened in Surrey (their website doesn’t seem to note this as of yet).

Backtracking once more, I remember when we first moved to Surrey years and years ago, I thought; as a lover of spice/curry/tandoori, that it would be wonderful to live in a city that had so many Indian residents and, no doubt, some amazing Indian restaurants. Well, it turns out, we had a difficult time finding Surrey’s answer to Ashiana for Tandoori, or  Vij’s for South Indian flare. Apparently, the Indian community doesn’t eat out at Indian restaurants often enough to warrant many establishments other than those catering mostly to weddings and events.

So, Ashiana, is now available in Surrey and Vij’s; coming to South Surrey. Most of us live minutes from a beach (or two). It’s like a poor man’s Kitsilano (you know, houses are only $1 Million  not $3 Million). Of course, if we keep saying how wonderful it is here, $3 Million can’t be far behind.

Our community is slowly starting to take (new) shape.

The City of Surrey is transforming its waste collection process to reduce emissions and divert waste from landfill.

 

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Starting October 1st, 2012, residential waste will be collected using new state-of-the-art automated Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks, which emit 23 per cent less carbon emissions and 90 per cent less air particulates, compared to traditional diesel trucks. Studies show, replacing one diesel truck with a CNG truck is the equivalent to taking 475 cars off the road each year.
The new services will help residents separate kitchen and yard waste from solid waste by collecting organics separately from garbage, which will help the City meet its 70 per cent waste diversion objective before 2015. In the future, the organic waste will be delivered to the City's proposed Organics Biofuel facility, which will process it into fuel to power the waste trucks.
The new contract includes the use of standardized waste carts, which will be delivered in advance of the start date to all households receiving City waste collection service. The new carts will improve aesthetes and minimize scattered litter.
"The City of Surrey's new direction for waste collection and processing will help establish a benchmark in North America, and will go a long way to creating cleaner, more sustainable communities in the region," says Mayor Dianne Watts. "It's important for municipalities to demonstrate and advance new technologies, and to help facilitate new ways of reducing waste."

Tonnes of sales this weekend including our associates, the White Rock Walkers’ Annual Neighbourhood Sale. Maps for all available – click on the picture.

The City of Surrey is transforming its waste collection in order to reduce emissions and divert waste from the landfill.

The City approved a new residential waste collection contract this week with BFI Canada, and the new services come into effect on October 1st, 2012.

Under the new contract, residential waste will be collected using new state-of-the-art automated Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks, which emit 23 per cent less carbon emissions and 90 per cent less air particulates, compared to traditional diesel trucks. Studies show, replacing one diesel truck with a CNG truck is the equivalent to taking 475 cars off the road each year.

In addition, the new services will require residents to separate kitchen and yard waste from solid waste, which will help the City meet its 70 per cent waste diversion objective by 2015. In addition, the organic waste will be delivered to the City’s future Organics Biofuel facility, which will process the material into natural gas that will be used to fuel the waste trucks.

The new contract includes the use of standardized waste carts, which will be delivered to all households currently receiving City waste collection service in advance of the start date. The new carts will improve aesthetes and help minimize scattered litter.

The attached Corporate Report, Appendix 1, Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 which was approved by Surrey Council. This report provides greater detail of the City’s decision relating to the award of the Waste Collection Services Contract and the proposed service changes.

City staff is working towards a communications plan which will ensure that Surrey’s customer base is well informed of the required changes well ahead of the new contract start date.

Please provide us with any of your comments regarding the above by filling out the form below. Alternatively, you may contact the City of Surrey Waste Hotline at 604-590-7289 or by letter at:

City of Surrey Engineering Department
Solid Waste Management Section
14245 – 56 Avenue
Surrey, BC
V3X 3A2

Thanks to the City of Surrey for supplying this information

  OTTAWA – April 16, 2012 – According to statistic^[1]s released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity edged higher in March 2012.

Highlights:

• Home sales rose 2.5% from February to March.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 1.6% above levels in March 2011, the smallest year-over-year increase since last April.
• The number of newly listed homes eased 0.3% from February to March.
• While still well balanced, the national housing market tightened due to the rise in activity.
• The national average home price edged down 0.5% on a year-over-year basis in March.

Sales activity over MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations rose 2.5 per cent from February to March 2012. The increase lifted national activity to its highest monthly level since April 2010.

Activity in March was up from the previous month in two-thirds of all local markets, with Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton contributing most to the national increase.

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 1.6 per cent above levels in March 2011, the smallest year-over-year increase since last April. It reflects moderate gains in a number of major centres, including Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City. Increases in these housing markets offset larger declines in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, where activity last year ran at unusually strong levels.

A total of 108,373 homes traded hands in the first three months of the year. This is 5.0 per cent above the five-year average for first quarter sales, 3.8 per cent above the 10-year average, and 4.4 per cent above activity in the first quarter of 2011.

New listings were little changed following their uptick in February, having edged lower by 0.3 per cent on a month-over-month basis in March. The number of newly listed homes declined from the previous month in just over half of all local Canadian housing markets, and rose in almost all of the remainder.

“The spring housing market is off to a good start,” said Wayne Moen, CREA’s President. “The number of sales and newly listed properties are up from levels last year, and the vast majority of housing markets remain balanced. That said, all housing is local, so buyers and sellers should talk to their local REALTOR® to understand current and prospective trends where they live.”

The national housing market remains well balanced, although the monthly increase in sales activity caused the balance between supply and demand to tighten slightly.

The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 55.1 per cent in March. This remains firmly in balanced market territory, but is up from 53.6 per cent in February. Based on a ratio of between 40 and 60 per cent, more than half of local markets were balanced in March.

The number of months of inventory stood at 5.7 at the end of March on a national basis, down slightly from 5.8 months in February. The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and is another measure of the balance between housing supply and demand.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in March 2012 was $369,677, representing a decline of one half of a percentage point from the same month last year.

“Average prices are up from year-ago levels in most large urban centres,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “The slight decline in the national average price points to a tug of war between Toronto and Vancouver from the standpoint of their sales mix compared to last year.”

“The national average price was skewed higher last spring by record level high-end home sales in some of Vancouver’s priciest neighbourhoods. It was expected that this would not recur this spring, which the latest sales figures confirm. The decline in average price reflects the change in Vancouver’s sales mix, not housing price deflation.”

“At the same time, overall home sales activity in Toronto is stronger than it was last spring, and higher-end home sales are up from year-ago levels. Being by far the most active housing market in Canada, Toronto represents the single biggest factor supporting national average price compared to last year.”

¹ All figures in this release except average price are seasonally adjusted. Removing normal seasonal variations enables meaningful analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends.

PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national MLS^® sales information from the previous month.

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

Wow, is the Garage Sales list getting long!

It’s so long, we had to separate White Rock & South Surrey from Cloverdale.

And, our associate in Cloverdale, Scott Moe, has organized his annual Neighbourhood Sale. We’ve included a link to that as well.

Remember ,we now have (two) links that will allow you to use the maps in real-time on your smartphone or tablet, similar to what we offer for Real Estate searching.

If you think your neighbourhood would benefit from an organized community sale, please let me know so I can get started on organizing one in your area.

Good Morning!
For all you Smartphopne Garage Sale Hunters & Collectors out there, we’ve added the option to view the weekend Garage Sales List through Google Earth on your smart phone. Now, the clarity of this may be spectacular, but to be clear, you still won’t be able to see the items on driveway using this method.

Click on the house to see the map.

Hey great news! Holy Smoke Coffee (The Tepee on King George Blvd) is now offering our Garage Sale Maps complimentary when you come in and experience their in-house roasted coffee.

What a great way to get started on your day of bargain hunting.

We have included the Tepee location as “A” on the map.

Here it is, click on it:

Shred-A-Thons this weekend.

There are two shred-a-thons this weekend. One is being held at Semiahmoo Mall. Proceeds will go to The SouthSurrey/WhiteRock Food Bank. The other is in Ocean Park. Proceeds will go towards a new sports court & playground for the kids at Ocean Cliff Elementary.

Here are the garage sales for Saturday. Don’t forget there is a pancake breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt in Ocean Park courtesy of our associates at Verico Dreyer Group Mortgages starting at 8:30.

Click the eggs for Garage Sales Map.

Because this is a long weekend (and the sun is shining), there are a few more garage sales than there have been lately. YAH!

Here is a link to Fridays.

We’ll update them each night. If you know someone in the area having a garage sale, and they aren’t on the list, let them (or us) know.

TICKETS GOING FAST!

Pacifica Partners is proud to announce our sponsorship of the White Rock Players' Club performance at the White Rock Playhouse (Coast Capital Playhouse) on April 9th 2012 of "The Lion in Winter".
Pacifica Partners has reserved all 218 seats to this exclusive performance night and will be hosting a pre-performance social at 7pm on Monday April 9th.

This is a great event for culture in our community and a thank-you for our clients and centres of influence in the Surrey White Rock area.

Charitable donations may be made at the event to support the Umoja Operation Compassion Society (UOCS). The UOCS is a respected registered charity and provides support to the African refugee immigrant community in Surrey and surrounding area, however makes its services available to all immigrants trying to establish themselves in Canada. UOCS provides resources and support for these vulnerable new members of our community so that they may flourish in their new home.  In addition, the UOCS provides international support to orphanages and clean water projects in Africa.  To learn more about UOCS please click here.

A donation has been made by Pacifica Partners Inc. – Capital Management, to White Rock Players Club – itself a vital non-profit entity in our community, to make this opportunity available to all.

Doors will open at 7pm with a networking social.  Proceeds from a cash-bar will also benefit the White Rock Players' Club.  The play will commence at 8pm.  To reserve your complimentary tickets please email: lion@pacificapartners.com.

FRASER VALLEY HOUSE HUNTERS LOOKING FOR GOOD BUYS; KEEPING PRICES RESILIENT

(Surrey, BC) – The The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,412 sales on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in March, a decrease of 22 per cent compared to March of last year, however only 13 per cent less than the 10-year average of 1,626 sales for same month.

Scott Olson, president of FVREB, says, “It was quieter than usual for March, but still steady with an increase in demand for more affordable properties, in particular detached homes for less than $500,000 and townhomes.

“Compared to last March, every community in Fraser Valley experienced a decrease in the sales of single family detached homes especially those priced at the higher-end; however Abbotsford, Langley and North Surrey all saw increases in the sale of townhomes.”

Olson adds, “Last year, single family homes represented 63 per cent of our residential market. This March, it dropped to 56 per cent, so we’re seeing demand for more affordable options. This is in contrast to last year when we saw elevated sales of higher-end homes in areas such as North Delta, South Surrey and White Rock.”

In March 2012 in Fraser Valley, the sale of detached homes with a value greater than half a million dollars decreased by 33 per cent compared to last year, explaining why average prices, which can be skewed by the dollar volume of high or low end sales*, are showing decreases year-over-year, while benchmark prices – homes with typical characteristics for the neighbourhood – are showing increases compared to 2011.

The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) benchmark price of a detached home in March was $572,700, an increase of 6.8 per cent compared to $536,200 last year. The benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhouses increased by 1.5 per cent in one year, going from $310,300 in March 2011 to $315,000 in March 2012, while the benchmark price of apartments also increased by 1.5 per cent going from $210,600 in March of last year to $204,700 in March 2012.
The number of Fraser Valley properties on the market in March finished at 9,643, an increase of 5 per cent compared to the same month last year although the number of new listings received – 3,066 – represents a 9 per cent decrease compared to March 2011.

The average number of days to sell a detached home was 46 in March 2012, one day faster than last year. It took 49 days on average to sell a townhouse and under two months or 58 days to sell an apartment.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is an association of 2,903 real estate professionals who live and work in the BC communities of North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, and Mission. The FVREB marked its 90-year anniversary in 2011.

Full Stats Package here

Look for Sundays Garage Sales list updates on Saturday evening.

Don’t forget our printer friendly map, mobile friendly map and, oh yeah, we deal with local Real Estate as well!

Click on the image for link.