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November 2011, Salt Spring Island, BC

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November, 2011.

At this time of year, it’s a mix of settling into a softer season, with an emphasis on holiday celebrations, with family & friends, and also a time for business planning for the following year.

I often think of November, December, January as the “fallow field” moment…we drop inward, to the root level of our lives, the surface appearing quiet, not much happening, and yet below ground there’s all that prepping for the next phase…a “getting ready for the new” time.

It’s essential to look back, to take stock…an inventory check is always important. Then it’s a plan focused on going forward, encouraging new momentum, using what still works while creating new paths.

This is a very buoyant shift moment in time, with a technology explosion that continues to erase old business models…anyone of us is capable of rewriting the business plan in order to be creatively current.

A good idea, then, to use this fallow field segment in our year, to make sure we’re swimming in the pool of now, and not hanging onto past methodologies. That means making sure all our systems are proactively using technology and that we are also reconfiguring our systems to benefit the consumer.

The consumer is now enabled and is in control of information outcomes. It’s a pull forward concept, not a push out plan. Profound shift….

Global economic uncertainties abound, still. Perhaps the insecure scenario is the surround sound for our time…perhaps shift, instability, upheaval, change is the ground we now walk upon? Important, then, to remember to “flow”…trying to stop a flood means we’ll be swept under. “Go with the flow” was the old hippie ethic, and it’s one to remember.

A good idea to go for a 15 minute walk, every day, to experience physical movement in the natural world. At this time of year, where trees are stripped of leaves and nature is pared down to its essentials, we can be inspired to be thoughtful and so to catch at our particular pathway forward. This kind of rhythmic pause is a form of walking meditation, and may be helpful in awakening our editing function.

Easter Island Ahu Tongariki

Easter Island

In change lies opportunity. We need to be a little quieter so “our” opportunity can come forward…this fallow field moment at year’s end allows us to calm, and then to go forward, renewed. That’s when we will notice our individual opportunities.

Big picture concerns out there, of course…government bailouts, debt defaults, currency instability worries, societal breakdowns, deflation vs inflation arguments, and at the end of October, the seven billionth human was born. Food, water, a safe place to live, health care, education…the same needs to be met, for all of us. In Africa, the bulk of the population is under 16. Interesting….

So important, though, to practice peripheral vision, and not to fall into the tunnel vision encouraged by the “shout media”. Peripheral vision captures the creative response that leads to discovery and that is the pathway out of fear. A time of shift/change is unsettling…remember the mantra: go with the flow.

In this lovely Pacific Northwest Coast area, we are lucky to be surrounded by natural beauty, in a protected & still quite pristine region…remembering the attitude of gratitude is important at this time of year, too.

Looking to relocate to a Salt Spring Island or a Southern Gulf Island or Southern Vancouver Island property? Call me! Good choice of properties in all prices/types, continuing low interest rates, prices reduced substantially over the past three years, a very pleasing lifestyle opportunity…a time to step forward, as a buyer.

I look forward to sharing my knowledge, of both inventory and of market trends, with you…maps, information on all listed properties, links to professionals to advise on immigration & legal issues, a full service real estate experience, to benefit you. I look forward to helping you to discover this beautiful area!

How may I help you to buy your Gulf Island / Salt Spring Island property? Call me!

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Salt Spring Island: Arts, Music & History

Salt Spring Island: Arts, Music & History

Well done, Birgit Freybe Bateman! 70 photographs are crated and on their way to Russia (to the Stroganoff Palace
of the Russian Museum, to be exact). This retrospective of Birgit Bateman’s amazingly evocative and thoughtful photography is called: “Mindful Vision”. On Island, we’ve been lucky to view Birgit’s work at such presentations as ArtSpring’s “Photosynthesis” show. The “Mindful Vision” show will be seen during the peak tourist season, between July 2 and August 30.

Salt Spring Woodworks has had a name change: same location and same beautiful offerings, just a re-name to Duthie Gallery. A physical change to the gallery itself mirrors the name change. The evocative Summer Lights exhibit will be back in July/August, Thursday to Monday, 9 to 11 p. m. Currently, the gallery is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or by appointment.

Alan Gerber plays Moby’s tonight, a dinner music show, $12 cover charge, show at 8 p.m. It’s a WOW…wave if you see me!

Saturday, May 14th, it’s an opening reception at Starfish Gallery in Grace Point Square…featuring Susan Haigh and introducing Beverly Chicoine. Show runs from May 14 to June 4th.

Mark your calendars: Viva Voce performs at ArtSpring, Saturday, May 28th, 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 29th, 2 p.m. Conductor: Debbie Toole, accompanist: Chris Kodaly.

House concert, May 14th, with John and Michelle Law: folk, bluegrass, acoustic country. RSVP to 250-537-1059, plus ticket info.

ArtSpring benefit on Saturday night: Joy Kogawa will read from her lifetime of award-winning creative work, at ArtSpring Gallery. MC will be Briony Penn. The evening is presented by the Land Conservancy of B.C. Doors open at 6:30.

Tonight is a very important evening at Mahon Hall. The Salt Spring Arts Council‘s steering committee for a new arts school will present a distillation of recent community conversations at a wrap up session. Starts at 6:30…see you there!

Don Conley presents Back to Bach…the last presentation of Simply Organic, for the Spring season. Don will explore the development of the concerto form during the Baroque period, which was a time of flowering of emerging musical forms. Mark your calendar: May 18th, 10:10 a.m., at All Saints by the Sea. Lucky Islanders, to have this in our midst!

This Saturday, the Salt Spring Island branch of SPCA invites the community to an animal-themed day of fun. From noon to 4 p.m., at location below Gulf Islands Veterinary Clinic. Check this fund-raiser out!

Live music venues: Harbour House Hotel, Friday, Saturday, Sunday! Moby’s Oyster Bar (Alan Gerber tonight). Treehouse Cafe…tonight, catch Peter Prince. Friday, it’s the so talented Billie Woods. The 111 nights of live music (Music Under The Stars) begins in May 16th!

The Salt Spring Forum presents Maher Arar, at ArtSpring, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. He speaks on Democracy, Human Rights, and the Middle East. Call ArtSpring for ticket info.

Lots to see and to do…enjoy the Spring Season!

All Things Salt Spring | Liverpool Pete

Liverpool Pete | Mr. Bojangles

Liverpool Pete, Li Read & Dave Gordon – acoustic cover of Jerry Jeff Walker’s Mr.Bojangles.

Li Read & Liverpool Pete talk about the Golden Ratio, the Letter Press & Mr. Bojangles. You can hear Liverpool Pete’s version of Mr. Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker here: (oh… and Pete… in about 1 week, type in Google … or better yet… just click this link to Liverpool Pete’s rendition of Mr. Bojanges — in 1 week) 🙂

Liverpool Pete, Li Read & Dave Gordon – acoustic cover of Jerry Jeff Walker’s Mr.Bojangles.

[podcast]https://lireadgroup.com/blog/wp-content/podcasts/Li-Liverpool-Pete.mp3[/podcast]

Vancouver Island | Maple Bay Pastoral Manor

Vancouver Island | Maple Bay Pastoral Manor

Vancouver Island. …amazing ambiance… Here is a gem of an acreage, with a converted turn of the last century French-inspired barn that offers style and heritage charm. All amenities in place, with a respect for yesteryear’s appeal.

Click here for more

Market Analysis | December 2010 | Gulf Islands

December, 2010 | Gulf Islands | Real Estate Market Analysis

Ah…end of year “market thoughts” time….

My “thoughts” are not meant to be a stats report or a hard market analysis.

That kind of statistical analysis can be found elsewhere, such as with mls statistics or other such “numbers reporting” venues.

My thoughts are exactly that…impressions, and based on 20 + years in the real estate business, all on Salt Spring Island and on the Southern Gulf Islands, and on Southern Vancouver Island.

My impressions/thoughts, then:

Salt Spring and the Southern Gulf Islands have evolved into secondary home/discretionary marketplaces, perhaps since 1999. No one “has to” purchase on a Gulf Island; it’s always by choice. Thus, regardless of market trend in play, at any given moment, it takes time to sell an Island property. It often takes 2 and probably 3 visits, before a buyer will “act”.

The internet erased time and geography. Between 2000 and 2006, a low Canadian Dollar against the U.S. Dollar and the Euro, also made us very attractive to an investor/buyer from afar.

The first visit is usually the “discovery time” of the specific island itself. The second visit, the buyer has “chosen for” that particular island, and is now looking seriously at specific properties. If they don’t see what they “imagine“, they will come back a third time, and might even end up buying vacant land/building.

The first visit is usually the “discovery time” of the specific island itself. The second visit, the buyer has “chosen for” that particular island, and is now looking seriously at specific properties. If they don’t see what they “imagine“, they will come back a third time, and might even end up buying vacant land/building.

Since the buyers are not “local“, in the main, there are significant time lags between visits. It can take one to three years to sell a property, on any Gulf Island, and this kind of time pause is also a marker of all discretionary areas, and globally so.

Time lags, then, are involved in every sale, no matter the market trend. This is the marker of all discretionary marketplaces, and in such a marketplace the buyer is always in charge of the process.

The impact of the internet revolution has changed forever the way all business is conducted, and this is the case in sales oriented businesses, especially.

I think real estate was late to the table of change. The car industry and the stock market side of investing were totally changed by the internet’s delivery, to consumers, of easy access to information, and their shift happened five or so years before real estate noted this. The real estate industry thought it was still business as usual, for some substantial timeframe.

Now, the shift from a company or agent-centric business model, to a consumer-centric style, has profoundly affected real estate marketing choices, too.

Now, the shift from a company or agent-centric business model, to a consumer-centric style, has profoundly affected real estate marketing choices, too.

Approximately 98 percent of property searching apparently now begins on the internet, and a good 14 months before a buyer is ready to “act”. All pertinent information can be found, on regions of interest to a buyer, via the internet, and so the role of a real estate agent has profoundly changed.

The way of introducing oneself as an agent, and of marketing listings, has made an internet presence totally necessary. Specialty print media might still have a place, marginally, but less and less so…print apparently only delivers one percent of buyers, today.

If there was a transition period in marketing between 2000 and 2009, which allowed a blend of responses, it is now over. Print media no longer delivers the buyer. To use it as one’s premier means of trying to attract a buyer means that one’s efforts are doomed. The buyer isn’t “there”.

The post-internet world is now with us. What does this mean?

Technology, created to meet the demands of the wired wireless world continues to expand

…traditional emails and websites are already being transplanted by social media options.

It’s important to have a website, but the template model that has been the norm since 1999 era is seen as the box in the basement or the attic…one can go rummage around in it for deeper information, but it isn’t the “initial attractor” that it once was. Same with emails.

Twitter is not a fad, nor is texting. They are “immediacy” formats, in my opinion.

In our time famine world (no time/always time/only now time), we are always looking for shortcuts to essential information. That’s how I see Twitter.

And Facebook? Ah…that is interesting.

The “real” 21st Century, which has created the global village foreseen by Marshall McLuhan, way back in the 1970s, is also busy deleting our 20th Century idea that there was a separation between our personal and our “corporate” worlds.

Facebook, I think, is about that erasure of separation…think about those three words: “social“, “media“, “marketing“. They really do mean something, and the shift is profound for all those hybrid BG (before google) beings still out there. The AG (after google) beings know nothing else, and swim gracefully in the new global data sea.

What else did McLuhan forecast? Oh, yes…”the medium is the message” was his mantra. The technology created to answer the shift of the internet world has changed us as a species, I believe.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and their kin are early responders to the shift moment of the post-internet world. More apps and options will be spawning daily to fill the craving for information.

The separation between the creator of information and the consumer of same is also continuing to blur and to mesh. Concepts such as “privacy”, “time”, “personal”, “expert” are undergoing change, too. Exciting times, indeed!

Will we end up with virtual real estate offices, and a paperless transaction process, with all information totally available on mobile devices? Yes, I think so.

In change lies opportunity!

And what of our local island market? In Fall 2009, I did project that it would take until Fall 2010 to see uptick in activity, in our secondary home marketplace.

This has indeed been the case. The activity seen in Vancouver and in Victoria, primary residence/city marketplaces, in 2009 and first half of 2010, has now arrived in rural areas. Properties listed between one and four years are now selling.

The difference? The “reluctant buyer” is starting to become active! Why? Perhaps in recognition of significant price reductions coupled with historically low interest rates? Or, might also be fear of inflation and currency instability that is driving buyers back to secondary home/discretionary purchases, in order to preserve capital? Wish we could find that lost crystal ball!