Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
May 16 2018
Wednesday May 16 2018 In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: an anniversary, loving the hood, affordability deteriorates, Catalyst137 Tech Hub, what to do in Kitchener-Waterloo, jeepneys, bus advertising, home prices…
Missing de mayo
I missed my anniversary a couple of weeks ago — Cinco de Mayo, May 5, 2010. It was the day when I quit my job at The Waterloo Region Record’s Grand Magazine and became a full time real estate agent.
I had gotten my license three years earlier and had sold a few properties, helped a few clients buy a few properties, done a bunch of open houses, gone from provisionally licensed to fully licensed… but I was only part time. I was learning the ropes on weekends and evenings.
It was then that I started blogging about real estate. Coming out of the newspaper business, I knew in my heart that the future was online and no one else was blogging yet. Very few real estate agents are consistently blogging now.
I had an advantage. I started my very first blog in 1999 so I was comfortable with the medium. I was used to writing down my thoughts and sometimes getting a comment or two.
Still I had lots to learn and frankly I’m still learning, but I’m happy with the way things have turned out and the only thing that I would change is that I would have done it ten years earlier.
That and this.
I should have started this news site earlier too. It does not get anywhere near as many page views as keithmarshall.ca but nearly half of the visitors are returning visitors so I guess it is getting a loyal following.
Loving the hood
As a child growing up in the Forest Heights area of Kitchener, Michael May was friends with his neighbours and describes how his community helped each other and looked out for one another…Love My Hood website wins two awards and is gaining neighbour participation.
These 5 Ontario markets are the ones to watch
Last quarter, affordability deteriorated in:
- Ottawa (-0.7 per cent),
- Kingston (-6.4 per cent),
- Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (-7.9 per cent),
- Windsor (-2.7 per cent), and
- Thunder Bay (-5.9 per cent)
What to do in Kitchener-Waterloo
Toronto’s Now Magazine gives us a guide to a weekend getaway in Kitchener-Waterloo. It’s always fun to see what others say about us. It’s a good article and I actually learned a few things like Kitchener is home to over 200 parks.
I did not know that.
Home design trends
The six most common culprits for remodel-worthy features are
- linoleum floors (40 percent),
- popcorn ceilings (29 percent),
- timber paneling (28 percent),
- ceramic tile counter tops (28 percent),
- shag carpets (19 percent)
- avocado green bathroom appliances (8 percent)
When did people get such a hate-on for popcorn ceilings, eh?
Mouser Electronics opens Canada location at Catalyst137 Tech Hub
This new customer service centre will support local electronic design engineers, buyers and hardware innovators, helping them to locate the newest products for their designs.
Thousands of people in Sweden are embedding microchips under their skin to replace ID cards
- About 3,000 Swedish people have inserted a microchip into their bodies to make their daily lives easier.
- People with the implants can wave their hand near a machine to unlock their office or gym, rather than taking out a key card.
- So-called biohacking is on the rise as more people depend on wearable technology and interconnected devices.
- Many microchip users are not concerned with hacking or surveillance at this point.
After two years of double-digit growth, Canadian home prices may only increase by 1.8 per cent in 2018
Here’s why: A series of policy changes and a rising interest rate environment, which are putting a downward pressure on home prices.
The Philippines is phasing out its iconic jeepneys
Not quite a car, but not quite a bus, jeepneys are the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. Called “Kings of the Road,” the colourful buses are a major contributor to pollution, so the Filipino government launched a plan in January to replace the jeepneys with newer models. But drivers say the government’s plan will put them out of business.
Rolling waste
I was watching a show on Netflix the other day called Anon. What was interesting in the street scenes is that there wasn’t any advertising on the buildings. (It was embedded somehow in the mind’s eye). It looked really nice, kind of like pictures of old cities from 200 years ago. I only mention it now because I was reading earlier that the new ION will not have any adverting and today I read that advertising on GRT buses, at least the contract for the advertising that wraps around buses is set to expire next June. For the money it brings in, I for one would rather not have it. But maybe as someone who used to sell advertising, I am making amends for past misdeeds. The old expression, “half the money I spend on advertising is a total waste, I just don’t know which half”, has never been more true.
