Betsy Carstairs

Last Friday I attended the West Coast Leaf's 22nd Annual Equality Breakfast in celebration of International Women's Day. It is one of my favorite events. Approximately 1000 women (and some men) attended this fundraiser at 7:00 YES! AM!! to network and power coffee with some very interesting women. This year's keynote speaker was Mary Walsh who created the award-winning series "This Hour Ha ...

Yesterday I went to preview a new home developement in Coquitlam's Burke Mountain neighborhood. Belmont Walk in the foothills is a Polygon development. The attached homes start in the mid $400,000 range for 1750 square feet on up to the 2600 square foot homes in the mid $500's. The detached homes are 3000+ square feet with prices starting in the mid $600's. These are very beautiful homes wi ...

I read this article in the Canada Realty News & thought it worth bringing to new home buyer's attention. I remember the 1st home we purchased had many extra costs that we had not budgeted for. Christmas that year was a new baby in a cardboard apple box bed & tree reduced to $5.00 on Christmas Eve. $5.00 was all we had extra that month so we felt fortunate to have our tree. So be prepared. Bu ...

Vancouver is such a beautiful city when the sun shines! Yes, and so often we are on the inside of the window on these magical days. Well, yesterday was one of those days - sunny, cold (yes, very cold) and crisp ... so, it was out of the office and off to the beach!! I needed to have a catch up visit with my brother Bill in between his latest visit to Buenos Aires, and his next trip to the ...

Here is a great savings for home owners who have been wanting to renovate, install new windows or, like me put on a new roof. Delaying doing my leaking roof just saved me over $1,000!!!!!!! & the new  quote ( due to the down turn in the economy) is down 15% over this time last year so even more savings.  Hurrah.  Here is the information on this new government tax credit that came out January ...

  Property Tax - Deferment Program If you or a family member are disabled, a widower or over the age of 55 you may be able to reduce your monthly housing costs with this government program.Homeowners aged 55 years and over may defer the payment of annual property taxes on their principal residence. The Property Tax Deferment Program is a low interest loan program that assists qu ...

I read this is in a news letter from a mortgage broker Pauline Tonkin  & thought it would be a good idea to put in place so moving the kids out of the nest would be a softer transition. Mortgage Strategies - Making Money for You and Your Kids! What would you do if you knew you could help your children get into the real estate market and make money for your own retirement at the ...

When in New Zealand I read Thomas Friedman's latest book, "The World Is Flat". Thomas was the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times and has a depth of knowledge that makes this book a timely and essential update on globalization. After reading about how FedEx and Dell were set up and how they work, my eyes were opened to understand how this new flat world operates. Now when my S ...

Last Sunday, I held an OPEN HOUSE on one of my Coquitlam properties. This was the 1st OPEN for this home. I only do OPENS when the photo shoot and floor plan have been completed, and uploaded to my website. My reasoning here is that this way prospective buyers can prescreen themselves as to whether or not the style and floor plan work for them. As well the OPEN is advertised for 2 weeks pri ...

I read this article & thought I would share it. I particularly liked the jott option to submit appointments to your calendar on the run using  voice commands. Often I am on the fly & to be able to do this would be as good as having a personal assistant with me 24/7 The small yearly fee for jott.com I think is a bargain @ under $1.00 per week   Being Frugal With Google – The Free Office Su ...