By Warren McNeil If you have been waiting for an Arrow Loft in Kitchener your wait could soon be over. After a long awaited delay, the builder (Auburn Developments) is working towards getting the project going again. They could have a model suite as early as fall if all goes well. They have been working on the parking garage and it is almost complete. The condominium units have been laid out inside and the new stairwells are in place. Sounds like they are going to have many  spacious units. The first four floors will average 1000 square foot models and at the top of the building they will have 2-storey real lofts. The builder is pushing hard to get the final permits. "I am pushing as hard as I can for the final buildings permits," Litt said. "We are shooting for Oct. 1 to have the build... 06/10/2010

TELUS Walk to Cure Diabetes On Sunday, June 13th 2010, starting at 10 am (registration is at 8:30) meet up at the Chicopee Ski Hill, 396 Morrison Road, Kitchener to join an estimated 1,000 people in their walk to cure diabetes for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. For more information Contact: Lisa Milligan Phone: 519-745-2426 Email: lmilligan@jdrf.ca To access the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's online fundraising tool visit: www.jdrf.ca/walk While there you can register, create a profile, import contacts from personal email address books, send out emails encouraging support, import pictures and allows you to keep track of donations to you and/or your team. 06/09/2010

City of Kitchener Rotunda Gallery Exhibition Program Where: Ground floor of City Hall at 200 King Street West in downtown Kitchener. What: Features monthly exhibits of the work of regional artists.  Schedule:   June - Henna Kim July - Laura DeDecker August - Felicity Somerset September - Warren Hoyano October - Brian Douglas November - Snaige Seleika December - Stefan Rose, Artist in Residence Want more info? Visit: http://www.kitchener.ca/visiting_kitchener/rotunda_exhibition.html   06/08/2010

Kitchener-Waterloo and surrounding areas are doing just fine. I suspect it is because of our thriving technology-based businesses and universities. And sellers are reaping the rewards of buyers taking advantage of the low interest rates (which, even though they have climbed a bit are still fantastic). At least the smart sellers are, anyway... Those smart sellers are pricing their homes right, they are getting multiple offers, and they have their homes sold for either very close to list price or over. Those smart sellers are selling before they have to pay HST on services such as contractors, lawyers, home inspectors, and yes, real estate agents - July 1st is closing in fast! But we need more smart sellers for our buyers. Are you a smart seller? Then what are you waiting for? Give me a c... 06/08/2010

Does a Fence Add Value to a House? By Warren McNeil We are in the process of adding a fence to our property. When we do home market evaluations we get lots of people who think that fences add major value to their house. I think fences are like pools in a way. They add some value to those who want them. Otherwise they can actually work against you. I think a well built fence will add some value. I'm not just saying that because I am building a fence. How much value depends on a number of factors. Some of these factors are style, materials used and proper installation.  I think a fence can help sell a house. Similar to good "curb appeal", fences can make a house more appealing to those looking for that feature. Home buyers who have pets will often lean more towards houses that have fences... 06/04/2010

Downtown Kitchener has live entertainment every Thursday and Friday at lunch and after work all summer long. During lunch or after work see and hear jazz and classical musicians, performing artists and local bands. Friday, June 4 11:30am - 1:30pm at the Museum, the Tim Lois Trio, original jazz and piano vocals. 6pm - 10pm at City Hall Civic Square, Our World Festival of Music features: New Horizons jazz band Mandoco a salsa jazz quartet James Anthony a blues guitarist/singer  Tony Gouvieau - Portuguese fado More Entertainment on Saturday June 5th 7:00am-10:00pm, City Hall Square Our World Festival of Music - Down Hips Belly Dance, The Bosswich - Jamaican Ska, Sultans of String - Flemenco Worldbeat, Amanda Martinez - Latina songstress Costs: Free Contact: 519-741-3536 URL: www.downtownli... 06/04/2010

Buying an Investment Property For College/University Bound Students in Kitchener-Waterloo I recently helped a family who had a daughter going to the U of W. They were looking to buy a house so that she could live there with a couple of friends during her term at the university. The reason why they were doing this was so that they could avoid paying for a rental. Instead of paying high rental costs for student housing, they decided to buy a house and pay the money they were going to pay in rent towards their own investment. We are seeing more and more people doing this. I have another person who is still deciding whether this is a good option for them. Some people are afraid to commit to a mortgage on a property like this. This is totally understandable because it is still a huge commitm... 05/30/2010

By Warren McNeil, What are your plans this weekend? Camping, BBQ/Cookout, house cleaning or just lazing around the house. Whatever your plan, if you are a in Canada, you will have an extra day. Victoria Day or May 2-4 weekend is this coming weekend.  This weekend to me is the official start of summer. Time to take the Christmas lights down! :) When I was younger I used to think that people would go to the Beer Store and pickup a "Two Four" and celebrate May Two Four weekend. Not sure if this was a play on words or just a coincidence. Nevertheless, it was something I thought of. This weekend I plan on taking it easy. We normally like to either go to the cottage or do yard work. In terms of working on Victoria Day, I find that if the weather is nice, people like to go out and look at hous... 05/21/2010

Upcoming Loft and Condo Developments in Downtown Kitchener By Warren McNeil, We have been contacted recently by a few people who are thinking about moving into the Kitchener Downtown Core because of a couple of upcoming developments. These new developments are the "City Centre Condominiums" which is being developed by Andrin Homes and the Arrow Lofts which are being built by Auburn Developments. These new upcoming developments in downtown Kitchener are going to be happening in the next couple of years. Here is a quick breakdown. The Centre Block Development by Andrin Homes is a multimillion dollar redevelopment of the centre block. This new development is expected to breathe new life into the downtown area. Andrin homes proposes a mixture of residential development, ground floor retail ... 05/20/2010

I know you can do it yourself, but why do you want to? The biggest motivation for anyone to do anything themselves, including selling their own homes, is to save money. Marketing companies such as Property Guys and By the Owner tell you they can teach you how to sell privately and save thousands and thousands of dollars. But how is this true? I've spent quite a bit of time talking to private sellers and their biggest frustration is that buyers come in with low-ball offers. Well, of course they do! Buyers are usually represented by real estate professionals who know, based on comparables, that the private seller has listed his house based on the sale down the street. But what the private seller hasn't factored in is that an agent's commission is included in that final sale price. So, if ... 05/19/2010

Brigadoon Hearthwood Park, Kitchener Not that it is an uncommon ocurrance, but if you look closely, you will see Canada Geese. This would be a birdwatchers paradise!   How would you like to live close to this beautiful area. We just listed a new property in Brigadoon in Kitchener. I couldn't resist taking these pictures because the area is so beautiful. We will have the listing on our website on Monday   View Larger Map 05/15/2010

By Warren McNeil, After working with my wife for several years now, I can definitely see how powerful teams are. When I first started in real estate, many of my colleagues warned me about working with my wife. I can't say that they were wrong. For some people I can see how working with your wife could be a problem. Every relationship is different. We have a strong relationship and I think it takes special kind of people to be able to work together. I think it is important to be able to control our egos. I have never really had a big ego anyways. I am pretty content and happy with what I can offer. That's not to say I am not ambitious. I am very ambitious. I just choose to do it my way and not worry about what other people think. I am always conscientious about my ego. Some advantages of... 05/12/2010

I drive down the streets of Kitchener-Waterloo and surrounding areas and I don't see many signs on lawns - strange for this time of year. The ones I do see have a bright orange "SOLD"s stuck on them. I go on the Boards site and notice that inventory is about half of what it was last year. Only 65 new listings today. 38 listings of the existing inventory has sold firm; 2 have cancelled, 1 has withdrawn, 11 have expired and 35 HAVE CONDITIONAL OFFERS! I check the SOLDs and the first thing I see is a listing that was on the market for only two days and went out at about $3,000 over list. Next one only $3,000 under and sold in 6 days. Next one: $3,000 under in 11 days. Next one: $2,000 over in 10 days! Sellers are definitely in control. They seem to have the pick of offers and that is a rus... 05/11/2010

By Warren McNeil, When it comes to online marketing there are many things that you can do. There is everything from branded and unbranded websites, Kijiji, Criagslist, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. These are just a couple of examples. It seems that every other day I am getting a phone call or an email from someone who wants to help me improve my online presence with videos. Now I am not a stranger to video and I have done about 10 or so videos and put them on Youtube.. I can definitely agree there is power in video. What I find so frustrating is the people who tell me that you should just turn on the camera, do a video and put it online. I know this is a big waste of time  for someone like myself and I think more thought needs to go into these videos. My feeling is that it cheapens you... 05/11/2010

A few weeks ago, I did a consultation for an older couple who wanted to list their home fast but were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work it would take to get their home into prime selling condition. I spent over two hours making suggestions and recommendations but it came down to defining room functions and editing out a lot of the furniture and pictures in every room. When I spoke to the realtor, she was hopeful that they would implement my recommendations because she was concerned that because of the area the house was in and the condition of the house that the couple wouldn't sell fast and they wouldn't get the price they wanted for their home. When I followed up with her a few days later she said that the home owners were concerned about the recommendations and were hesitant to... 05/11/2010

By Warren McNeil, Multiple offers, houses selling before they hit MLS, buyers overpaying for houses! These are all signs of a hot real estate market. In Kitchener-Waterloo, our real estate market is bustling. The market is so hot here, we had one client that put offers on 5 different houses before finally getting one. The reason she didn't get a house sooner was because she was outbid by other buyers. She was shopping within the price range of the average house price. The average house price in Kitchener-Waterloo is between 280,000-300,000 for a single-family home. There are lots of buyers out there who are having trouble finding houses. Inventory is low in some price ranges and new listings are selling quickly. Even houses that are rougher around the edges are also selling quicker. Som... 05/09/2010

By Warren McNeil, I just signed up for an ActiveRain account and I want to introduce myself and my team. I am a tech savvy real estate agent in Kitchener Waterloo Ontario. I work with my wife Melanie and we have a real estate team which is composed of 5 team members. We have one other licensed realtor and two client care managers. The reason why I say that I am a tech savvy realtor is because I have a background in IT and I utilize technology to enhance my real estate business. I have been doing video and social networking for over a year and have maintained a blog for the past 2.5 years. My blog can be found at http://www.teammcneil.com/blog. My wife Melanie is a lifelong resident of Elmira ON and went to school at Elmira Secondary school. I have lived in Waterloo Region for most of my... 05/08/2010

PETS, PETS, PETS CONTEST Pam McInnes of Peak Realty Ltd., Brokerage is hosting a contest for your pet.  PRIZES: WINNER: $100.00 GLOBAL PET FOODS GIFT CERTIFICATE RUNNER UP: 18 X 24 MOUNTED POSTER OF CONTEST PICTURE  Here's how it works: Call, Text or E-mail Pam: 226-789-4623, pam@pammcinnes.com She'll come to you and Take a picture of your pet (all kinds of pets welcome)  All contest pictures will be posted on the Facebook page: Pets, Pets, Pets Contest  Visitors will vote on their favourite Pet Pic  The pet with the most votes by Midnight, Monday September 6, 2010 WINS! (SORRY, CONTEST IS OPEN TO ONLY THOSE LIVING IN OR AROUND THE KITCHENER-WATERLOO AREA) 04/26/2010

Are you trying to sell your house, but just can't keep up with the dog hair? Whenever your dog gets up he leaves a little dog behind? It's always in the carpet, floating like little tumbleweeds across your floor? There are several things you can do to help fight the battle against shedding. YOUR DOG'S DIET Diet can play an important part in how much your dog sheds. If your dog is being fed poor quality food, his body will utilize what little nutritional value the food has for energy to maintain bodily functions; thereby, the quality of his coat decreases. A good quality dog food is usually the cheapest, easiest way to reduce excessive hair loss. BATHING Bathing can control shedding, but too much bathing can also cause excessive shedding and using a shampoo that contains harsh chemicals ... 04/24/2010

Yesterday at the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board's Xpo, I attended MPAC's (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) Property Assessment seminar. This is part of the PowerPoint presentation that they had presented about the Kitchener-Waterloo area: Real Estate Market Overview - Kitchener Waterloo Provincial Budget 2010: Kitchener-Waterloo Spring Provincial Budget 2010 mentions the Kitchener-Waterloo region as a "beacon of the new economy" Leading-edge universities, colleges and businesses in the area 2,000 jobs remain unfilled in the Technology Triangle Region has 10.1% unemployment rate. Job creation, skills training and skills upgrading is a focus of the provincial government. This is a very good report for the Kitchener-Waterloo area. If you're looking to relocate to a prospero... 04/16/2010