Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
May 22, 2019
Wednesday May 22, 2019. In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: boondocking, unsafe building, airbnb investing, real estate photos, neighbourhood turnoffs, auto tech, ketchup, Taiwan motorbikes, driveway happiness, top agents…
1
Boondocking
I was away for five days, just now. No one noticed. The world did not end. A few clients and future clients were looking for me, but I easily scheduled our meetings, showings, and walkthroughs into this week. I was available by email and text and telephone but physically, I was bumping along the Erie coast through towns like, Cayuga, Port Rowan and Morpeth. Nothing much happens over holiday weekends so why force it?
In my first ten years as a realtor, I was always working. And I think that is important to a new agent and for agents looking for his or her own rhythm in this business to always be working. But I now understand and appreciate the power of doing nothing at all. Getting away to recharge, too refocus, to relax. Life is long, but time is short. You owe it to yourself and your clients to take time away.
2
Former industrial building in Kitchener declared unsafe
The ongoing saga of the former Electrohome building at 152 Shanley Street continues after an earlier attempted ‘tax sale’ forced the owner to pay back taxes. Now Kitchener is having the building declared unsafe.
3
Why short-term rentals are real estate investing’s future
One of my favourite ways to invest in real estate is through short-term rentals. Websites like Airbnb are gaining market share each year as people become more familiar with the process. We’re still in the beginning stages of this type of investing. There are several reasons that they are better than traditional rental properties. Here’s why.
4
Real estate photos are distorting reality
Wide-angle lenses, photoshop and virtual staging: Real estate photo enhancement is reaching new heights, frustrating homebuyers.
5
Homeowners’ top neighbourhood turnoffs
Choosing the wrong neighbourhood can make for a very unhappy homeowner. A new survey found the biggest neighborhood turnoffs are: noise, traffic, and crime. Others include: unkept lawns, unfriendly dogs and lawn ornaments. See the full list here.
6
Here’s why the world’s auto OEMs are choosing Waterloo to innovate
Waterloo is now home to more than 80 autotech businesses, from global manufacturers such as Toyota and Ford, to parts suppliers and tech startups that are developing artificial intelligence, better batteries and novel lightweight materials for the vehicles of tomorrow.
7
Passing the ketchup
I was down in Leamington on the weekend and it made me think about ketchup. Here’s how French’s ketchup took a bite out of Heinz.
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The motorbikes of Taiwan
As someone who lived in Taiwan for a decade, I really enjoyed this short film about the motorbike jammed streets of Taiwan.
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Boondocking for driveway happiness
I was reading this article about how smalltalk with complete strangers affects happiness and it made me think about how the internet is both a connector and a way to avoid connections. This is about connections.
Last weekend, we took the Roadtrek on the road, visiting towns and villages along the Erie coast. On the way we boondocked (also referred to as dry camping), which means we did not camp in campsites but instead we were boondocking in:
a Walmart parking lot,
a private driveway,
a winery and
a public beach.
There are all sorts of websites and apps that help you find free places to camp. One of them is called Boondockers Welcome. It was our first time using the platform and I have to say, it brought me a lot of joy. The online conversation I had with our host before, during and after our visit was delightful. And although we parked in our host’s driveway overnight and only briefly met them when we pulled in, we continued our conversation days after our visit. It was just meaningless smalltalk, but it brought a lot of mutual happiness.
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What to read next:
Last week on Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: Ion, Civic Centre condo, Westmount Place development, condos, ageing in place, swimming pools, top Canadian startup ecosystem, provincial Canadians, car buying habits…
