July 31, 2019 Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News

jumbo as a roadside attraction
jumbo
On a dozen years a realtor, how KW’s housing market compares, ethical breaches, airbnb, dream neighbourhood attributes, opportunity markets, boomers in the urban spaces, bike friendly cities, roadside attractions

Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News

July 31, 2019 

Wednesday July 31, 2019. In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: a dozen years a realtor, how KW’s housing market compares, ethical breaches, airbnb, dream neighbourhood attributes, opportunity markets, boomers in the urban spaces, bike friendly cities, roadside attractions

1

How I roll as a Realtor

Typically I get my most so-called creative work done in the morning. I get up, put on the coffee and then read and write for an hour or two. With summer here, I do this writing from my front porch, which this year seems a lot noisier than past years. I’m not complaining — I can’t imagine going to the office! 

And due to the cyclical nature of real estate, I don’t find it necessary to post to this news blog on a regular weekly basis. Sure the world continues to turn while most people are away at the cottage, camping in Northern Ontario and doing whatever they do in the summertime. Homes are still being sold. People are still moving into the region…but I like to tell people that the best thing about being a Realtor is the lifestyle. I chill out in the summer too. I’ve learned to pace myself.

At the end of this post I have a link to a post I wrote on my real estate blog. What exactly have I learned after 12 years as a Realtor?

2

Compared to rest of Canada, Waterloo Region housing market competitive 

Kitchener-Waterloo still has a more competitive market now than a year ago.

3

Ontario Real Estate Association calls for tougher laws to discipline Realtors

The self-governing body that regulates the industry, decided early on that despite ethical breaches, a well known local Realtor’s licence would not be impacted — a controversial decision that OREA says highlights flaws in the regulatory system.

4

Are Airbnbs good for neighbourhoods?

Property owners who use short-term rentals themselves on vacations tend to be more in favour of having them in their own neighbourhood than those who’ve never used such services. For those who have never stayed in a short-term rental, nearly 47% oppose the idea, which reveals again that we fear what we do not understand.

5

What does a ‘Dream Neighbourhood’ have that yours doesn’t?

Regular readers to my blog know that I think neighbourhoods are much more important than houses. Finally we have a list of what we think must be included in a dream neighbourhood. Put these on your checklist.

6

Waterloo Region is North America’s third fastest-growing “opportunity market.” 

Opportunity markets offer quality labour pools and affordability that supports rapid scalability. Waterloo has seen this story play out with numerous local companies, including homegrown scaleups like Vidyard, North and ApplyBoard as well as tech giants like Google, Square and SAP. Waterloo Region has witnessed an incredible 40 percent growth in tech jobs over the past five years, which put the total tech workforce at 20,500.

7

Aging boomers slowly taking over urban spaces

Both millennials and seniors are looking for smaller and more affordable homes as close to the hustle and bustle of downtown as possible….And with both seniors and younger generations looking for homes in the bigger cities, the pressure on the condo market increases, putting the spotlight on a sector already receiving a lot of attention.

8

The most bike friendly cities ranked

Over 115 cities from around the world using 14 parameters that focus on ambition, culture, and streetscape design are ranked here again this year with some newcomers like Bogotá, Bremen, Taipei, and Vancouver showing other cities how possible it is to make urban centres better for the bicycle.

9.

Another roadside attraction

A few weeks ago I was in a town somewhere along the Eire coast that had a giant statue of Jumbo the Elephant. I got my picture taken beside it and then had an ice cream cone. Roadside attractions and ice cream cones go great together!

I’m a big fan of roadside attractions. They are fun and trivial and sometimes historic. They seem like a throw back to simpler times. Villages and towns put them up to get people to turn off the highway, come into town and hopefully spend some money. Smart.  

Be it the world’s largest gnome or a big apple, build it and I will come. 

10

What to read next: Realtors, neighbourhoods and crashes

What I’ve learned as a Realtor

How to spot a great neighbourhood

Waiting for the crash

Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: learning Mandarin, real estate statistics, Cambridge broker keeps licence, townhouse ownership, school districts, electric scooters, Canada home price growth, tourist maps, reverse marketing…

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