July 21 2017

Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News Update

July 21 2017. In today’s news, Belgium, 300,000 stolen umbrellas, bubbles, all day Go train, a bucket list, thinking big, iceberg, UNESCO World Heritage sites, the morning stream and Casalova

Blame it on the Belgians

When I lived in Amsterdam, the story goes that the city at one time had a free bike service but it didn’t last long because all the bikes got stolen by the Belgians. I think of this because only a few weeks after starting up operations in 11 cities across China, startup Sharing E Umbrella announced that it had lost almost all of its 300,000 umbrellas.

Bubble. No trouble

Two-thirds of Canadians think we are experiencing a housing bubble but only 43% think it’s going to come to an end in the next year. According to estimates from mortgage comparison site Ratehub, the mortgage on a $750,000 home would be $83 more per month.

There and back

The province has promised to implement two-way, all-day GO train service, but it’s not expected to be up and running until 2024. This is partly due to $752 million in funding from the federal government to build new tracks and improve bridges and stations. High speed rail might prove more difficult.

How often should I wash this?

Ever wonder how often you should wash (insert kitchen item here)?
Less often than you might think.

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Bucket list this

Canada has many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I think we’ll rent a little RV and see if we can visit them all.

Thinking big

OpenText, a provider of enterprise information management (EIM) systems, has launched OpenText Magellan, an artificial intelligence platform that leverages open source machine learning with advanced analysis to help business analysts acquire, merge, manage, and analyze big data and big content.

Heading for the heart of the ocean

One of the biggest icebergs on record has broken away from Antarctica, creating an extra hazard for ships around the continent as it breaks up.

Dance on over

Casalova, an online real estate marketplace, has acquired property management group MyPM. MyPM manages residential properties in the Greater Toronto Area, while Casalova allows consumers to buy, rent, sell, and have properties managed through its online platform.

The morning stream

July 21. The beginning of the middle of summer. Hot. A pool day. Yeah.

Out on my bike today. I just love riding when it is hot and humid. That’s what I know. My experience. I started mountain biking in Taiwan. It was the 90s. It was always hot. Muggy.  The 90s is a scorched decade for me.

I’ve got paperwork in the morning. Just a little. Maintenance mostly. A lot of what a realtor does is sending paperwork around.   Traffic. Produce this. Send it to the client for a signature. Get it back. Send it to the other realtor. Get it back. Send it to the office. Collate. Send everything to the lawyer. Wait for instructions. Repeat.

The summer slowdown. Charlie closes his garage for two weeks. Algonquin and the Muskokas fill up. Happy campers. Busy beach towns.

The jazz festival starts. The Shuffle Demons today. And Dave Young. I met Dave Young. Last time. At the Jazz Room. Brushes with greatness. All stooped over like a hunched back beggar in the parking lot of Frederick Street Mall. Man can play. Pluck. Stroke. Finger. He’s famous. Jazz famous.

Tina. That’s what they call her. The people on the internet. She is truly awful. Mental problems. Must be. In your face. In your way. She’s got the great timing of a stand up comic or politician. Orator. Hand out. Back bent. She is getting too famous. Small town famous. Local colour. Most people don’t care for that kind of colour.

July 21. The beginning of the middle of summer. Dog days. Not just in the afternoon. All day dog days. 21 degrees at 9am. High of 28 is expected. The dog sleeps on the front porch. She will lay in the shade on the patio later. Drink lots of water.

38 in Taipei. And humid. That’s melting weather. What a difference 10 degrees makes. Cold. Cool. Comfortable. Hot. Melting. Enough about the weather. This is earth. We have weather.

I’ll be back in Taipei this winter. I really should study my Mandarin. Put in on a spreadsheet. Put it on a flash card. Mem-more-ize-it. Too many hobbies. Not enough time. Too many choices. All the time. Novels. Spotify. Netflix. Exercise. Drink coffee. Go for a walk. Work. Write. Read. Surf. Charlie don’t surf.

Traffic. Internet traffic. The traffic to this website has more than doubled since I started posting links. News links. Links about Kitchener and Waterloo and real estate. Links about mortgages and houses and trends and living. That’s what it’s about. What’s going on. Just the facts.

This is my marketing. This is how I became a successful realtor. Blogging. Writing words. Giving advice, opinion, information. Building trust. Awareness. Becoming internet famous. The best kind of famous.

So. I got time this summer. I should be writing about neighbourhoods. Feeding the beast. But I’m feeling lazy. Dog tired. It was a long winter. It’s time to enjoy the short summer.