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)

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."

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:

Happy New Year!

Similar to the holiday season, there are few sales going on at the moment. However, that does not mean that there is not quality to be found in the ones going on.

Click on the photo for the map and list.

2011 REAL ESTATE MARKET SHOWCASES REGIONAL VARIATION

(Surrey, BC) – Overall, Fraser Valley’s real estate market in 2011 was below the 10-year average in property sales and above average in the number of new listings received, however, according to the president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, results varied widely depending on the community and property type.

Fraser Valley Real Estate Board President, Sukh Sidhu observes, “I can’t remember a year that illustrates better how local real estate is and the importance of talking to your REALTOR® before making a decision to buy or sell. For example, in my community of Abbotsford, sales of single family homes dropped by almost 7 per cent compared to 2010, pushing prices down slightly, while in South Surrey/White Rock sales increased year over year by 45 per cent resulting in double-digit price increases.”

The Board’s Multiple Listing Service® processed 15,529 sales in 2011 compared to 14,891 the previous year, an increase of 4 per cent, while the number of new listings remained about the same – 31,592 in 2011 compared to 31,437 in 2010. Over the year, the number of active listings for buyers to choose from dropped by 9 per cent going from 8,139 properties in December 2010 to 7,399 in December 2011.

Although 2011 ranks the third slowest year for sales in Fraser Valley since 2002, it was only 10 per cent less than the 10-year average of 17,210 sales. The volume of new listings received in 2011 was 6 per cent more than the 10-year average of 29,867 new listings, placing last year third in ranking since 2002.

Sidhu adds, “One trend from 2011 that is clear was the preference for single family homes. For the most part in our region, both sales and prices of townhomes and condos either stayed on par with 2010 or decreased.”

In December, the benchmark price of a detached home in the Fraser Valley was $522,998, an increase of 3.3 per cent compared to $506,145 in December 2010 and a decrease of 1.7 per cent compared to November.

For townhouses, the benchmark price in December was $315,330, a decrease of 2.1 per cent compared to the same month last year when it was $322,054 and down 3.8 per cent compared to November. The benchmark price of apartments in December was $237,285, a decrease of 1.2 per cent compared to December 2010 and a decrease of 0.5 per cent compared to November.

Average prices year over year show detached homes up 9.1 per cent – $610,269 in 2011 compared to $559,456 in 2010. The average price of townhomes increased by 2.6 per cent, going from $336,484 in 2010 to $345,138 in 2011 and the average price of apartments increased by 0.9 per cent going from $223,910 in 2010 to $225,976 in 2011.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is an association of 2,893 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 package: Here

Help us raise funds and awareness of ‘Movember’ by buying a hot dog.

Not a big list this week. But a quality one, no doubt.

Yes, I spelled it ‘Movember’. If you are not sure why, click on the moustache.

For Garage Sales, click on the image.

November 28 - December 5, 2011

REALTORS® and real estate offices are gearing up for this year's REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive, the longest continuous blanket drive in the Lower Mainland!

In 2011, REALTORS® collected and donated enough blankets and warm clothing to directly help more than 100,000 people from Whistler to Hope and places in-between.

Needed donations

New or gently used
  • blankets, sleeping bags
  • warm clothing - coats, jeans, pants, sweaters 
  • scarves, gloves, mitts, hats

New (women, children, men)
  • socks
  • underwear

Please click here for a drop off location near you!

The REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive story

Way back in 1995, some caring REALTORS® in Vancouver observed the homeless situation in the city’s eastside and said to themselves, we’ve got to do something.

They put out an appeal to their fellow colleagues for warm blankets and coats and collected 600 bags of donations specifically dedicated to Vancouver’s homeless in the downtown core.

That single act of kindness has blossomed into one of the largest annual collections of warm clothing and blankets, helping homeless people and the working poor in every single community in the Lower Mainland.

Fifteen years later, thousands of REALTORS® from Whistler to Chilliwack have collected more than 27,000 bags of donations. Each year, more than 75 amazingly dedicated members actually pick-up and deliver all the donations, and well over 100 real estate offices in the Lower Mainland act as collection depots.

The annual REALTORS Care® Drive now collects an astonishing 4,000 plus bags of warm, winter items on behalf of dozens of local charities.

It’s getting a bit cold out there. But people are still hosting Garage Sales and people are still going to them.

Click on the picture for the map.

Here is this weeks list:

LIST

Keeping it short and sweet this week. Here’s the link:

Garage Sales

Here is the link to this weeks South Surrey and White Rock Garage and Yard sales.

This list and map includes options for printing the map//list and also offers an option for ‘LIVE’ mobile access via smartphones and tablets.

Speaking of mobile access, we would like to remind you that your smartphone and tablet (such as iPhones or iPads) can be used to view MLS listing information wherever you are in the Metro Vancouver area. 

Input HudsonHomeTeam.com/m  into your mobile web browser and you can see all the current, active listings in the area you are standing.

Click on the image for the list:

Here are this weekends garage sales mapped and pinned.

This is a complementary service of HudsonHomeTeam.

Our marketing of your home is even more impressive.

(click on picture)

Please contact us with any comments or suggestions.

So, I keep hearing on Facebook, Twitter and around in general, that summer has ended. I know there are a lot of 'people, mostly kids, who are starting back at school next t week. However,  I personally feel that since summer never really seems long enough, and this year especially, the furnace didn’t get a decent chance to cool off,  we should be talking about extending summer.

Heat wave ‘til November!

Here’s this weekends Garage Sale Map

After months of renovations, the White Rock Museum and Archives are hosting a “Sneak Peek Open House” and Canada Day Celebration July 1, 2011 10:30am – 3:00pm.

Join us for a sneak preview open house of the newly restored white rock museum + archives. tour our beautiful new facilities, meet our staff, learn about our programs and upcoming exhibits. Fun for the whole family on Canada day!

Located at:

14970 Marine Drive
White Rock, BC
V4B 1C4

Maps and Directions

For more information, check out their website at:

Don’t forget to LIKE their Facebook page!