Blog by Betsy Carstairs

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Buying vrs renting

December 14th, 2014
The  buzz" on the horizon this month seems to be on the discussion of renting versus buying. The Vancouver Sun did a interesting article this week which prompted my conversation in this blog. The Sun touched down on the scarcity of rental accommodation in Vancouver & indicated that the high cost of purchasing a home/apartment has taken a lot of potential buyers out of the market. Investors ar ...

Appliance replacement dilemma

December 12th, 2014
Well everything is working just fine right now BUT do I want to go on vacation & find my 14 year old fridge has decided to pack it in when I am away?? What to do what to do??? Guess I could simply just have all my friends over for many dinners & use up everything in my freezer so if the fridge/freezer combo stops working I will be ok or I could just go out & practise a little bit of preventio ...

Indian Arm Kayaking

September 28th, 2014
One more beautiful summer'ish day of kayaking up North Vancouver's Indian Arm. While some "die hearts" donned their wet suits & water skiies (burrrrrr) I dipped my paddle into the glassy calm waters & paddled off into the mist to greet the sun rise. As the sun rose the reflections of the land onto the water made the scene doubly spectacular blurring the shore line where the real met the illus ...

BC house Purchase costs increase

March 1st, 2014

As 2014 rolls into its 1st 1/4 CMHC, Canadian Mortgage & Housing Corporation increases its fees. This I think is in anticipation of the wave of foreclosures that it expects to see in the next few years as new condos pour into Vancouver's oversaturated market. Here is a article from the Globe & Mail of interest

Balcony flower garden

December 10th, 2013
Betsy New Pics3Betsy New Pics2Betsy New Pics1Missing the coulourful flowers we get in the summer time????? well here is what my friend Isabel did to have a bigger than life flower garden year round on her 800 sq ft balcony. Oh that we were all so talented as Isabel

Whistler Flim Festival

December 9th, 2013
This weekend it was far too cold at the top of the mountain to ski so took in some films at the film festival. My favourites were Gabrielle which I watched Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning I watched "The Ridge" which documents the largest rescue attempt on the Himalayas. The picture below is of  my film festival buddy, Lynn & I with one of the actors in  Brent Butt's film "No Clue" Great sc ...

Whistler - Vancouver

November 12th, 2013
25 minutes ago Whistler- Vancouver without my carLast week I needed to get from Whistler down to the city & decided that I did not want to take my car. I booked a seat on Pacific Coach Lines for the 12:30 bus. The bus was delux with very comfortable seats & the driver was most pleasant. I was down town in 1 hour 40 minutes!!! Faster than I could have driven with the bot ...

Home Insurance

November 1st, 2013
My house insurance was up for renewal. The cost for me to renew with my past company of choice was almost $3,000. for the "full meal deal" It was up almost $200. from last year. When I phoned BCAA to see if they could "sharpen their pencil" they said that the quote was their best price so.I thought why not get quotes from other insurance companies which I did. Long & short was that I was told ...

Kindness Concert

October 28th, 2013
I went to Brock Tully's Kindness fund raiser tonight & what a concert!!!! It truly amazes me to see the talent we have in this city. Over 17 musicians gave their time to put on a fabulous concert . Brock showcased a woman who was on the streets in East Van a few years ago & tonight was up on stage performing & living a life free'd from drugs & alcohol! Shows what a bit of caring & love will d ...

Mortgage options

October 2nd, 2013
I just read this article from mortgage broker Heather Wood's news letter & thought it would be good to reinforce the importance of flexible terms when getting a mortgage. Selling your current home and moving into a new one can be stressful enough, let alone worrying about your current mortgage and whether you’re able to carry it over to your new home. Porting enables you to move t ...

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