Canadian Sunshine Kids Spokesperson

We're please to announce that for the first time, Canada has its own Sunshine Kids Spokesperson! He is Geoffrey Reyes and he is a high school student in Abbotsford, BC. We will be making arrangements to have him into the Waterloo Region to speak at one of our events some time this year.

Here is his bio:

Geoffrey’s first experience with the Sunshine Kids Foundation was on the 2009 Haunted Halloween Getaway in New Orleans, Louisiana. “I believe that the trip down south was the most gratifying experience I've ever had. The people I met who were apart of the organization were so kindhearted and welcoming; making every kid feel like they belong. This trip was the first time that I actually socialized with young people who have been through cancer like myself. I made a lot of friends and we all joked around and had such a great time together. We were all cancer patients, but being together in those precious moments made me forget about all the wrong in my life, it made me have a greater appreciation for the smaller things that we tend to forget. The trip down to New Orleans changed my life.”

“I believe what this Foundation does is so amazing. I specifically loved the fact that my neighboring American friends would be joking about how Canadians say eh, and how our Canadian bacon isn't really bacon. The Sunshine Kids helps show us that we are not alone in our life struggle and anything can be done with a smile on your face.”

Geoffrey was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia in January 2009. Before he was diagnosed he was feeling very fatigued and had no appetite for a couple of months. Then the symptoms intensified, which included stomach pains. He went to a walk in clinic for the third time after being misdiagnosed and then was sent immediately to the hospital. He takes 6 pills a day that kills his white blood cells and red blood cells to control it. He spent over 2 months in the hospital before things started to get better.

“I found out I was going to be a Sunshine Kids National Spokeskid after a bad day of school. My mom informed me at the end of the day with a note full of excitement exclaiming the news. I was very ecstatic. I am very honored by representing this great organization.”

Geoffrey enjoys long walks on the beach, basketball, bowling, guitar, friends, and his family. He has two dreams in life; Finish school to become a teacher and meet Selena Gomez.

Realtors and the Competition Bureau

We're getting lots of press lately. That's probably an understatement. Lots of agents, friends, and business acquaintances have asked for comments. It is going to change our business, for sure. But, perhaps not in the way that some perceive.



Everybody would agree that the media likes to pump a story up and sensationalize it. That is a fact of life. But some of them have reported incorrect information. When the smoke clears (probably in the fall), only licenced realtors will be able to list properties on the MLS system. The issue between our association, the Canadian Real Estate Association and the Competition Bureau is not about private individuals being able list their properties on realtor.ca. The Bureau is perfectly fine with this. Many media people have incorrectly said that this was the issue.



The issue is about agency and the old requirement that the realtor had to have a full agency agreement with the seller for the length of the agreement in order to list the property, and that is no longer a requirement. The tribunal will decide on how this is all going to work out, but CREA already has agreed in principle to this matter.



The new rules will allow licenced realtors to list a property on the MLS system without giving them agency representation. We could also assume that the realtor and seller would be doing this service at a reduced rate, since the seller is getting very little service for the fee.



What this does, is create a new level in the hierarchy of fees and services offered when selling a property. At one end of the scale, you can buy a black and orange sign at Home Hardware and stick it on your lawn. At the other end of the scale, you can hire an educated professional realtor with a many tools, backed by an MLS system data base and cooperating agents (with buyers), for a bigger fee to do all the work for you and get you through the process. In between there are many more choices.

The analogy I heard recently was about coffee. If you have a desire for a cup of coffee, you can brew a cup at home yourself quite cheaply. You have to go to the store to buy the beans, you have to invest in a coffee maker, but it is quite cheap by the cup. Presently, you can go to McDonald's in the morning and get a cup for free. At Tim Horton's you can pay $ 1.40 and even have a chance to win a barbeque or a car. Or you can go to Starbuck's and pay $ 4.00 for a great cup of coffee. The last I checked, all four choices are getting lots of customers and doing well.

Like Starbucks, we have many, many happy clients who will continue to use our services and see real value in what we do for them. But the rest have more choices now.

March 2010 Monthly MLS Statistics

Prices are definitely going up. For the third month in a row, there is a significant increase in the average sale price on both real estate boards. At the recent Prudential convention in Austin, Texas, an American speaker said (and it's true on both sides of the border) that there has never been a better time to get into the market. Interest rates are at historic lows, and prices are very affordable. There's also the issue of upcoming interest rate increases
Here are the monthly statistics for March, 2010.

	K-W This Month	K-W Last Year	Cambridge This Month	Cambridge Last Year
Avg. Sale Price	$ 276,695	$252,383	$264,436	$255,074
Percentage Change	+9.6%		+3.6%
Properties Sold	731	497	299	209
New Listings/Sales Ratio	64.5%	54.0%	52.8%	40.2%
Properties For Sale Now	1815	2303	849	1049