Jim Balsillie’s bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton got new life on Thursday (Aug 5). The bankruptcy court judge ruled that Balsillie’s bid would be accepted for the Sept 10 bankruptcy auction.

The NHL board of governors had previously rejected the bid, and had basically said they don’t want Balsillie among their exclusive little club.

This is at least the second interesting twist in the Coyotes affair over the last week. On Monday Coyotes current owner Jerry Moyes released documents showing that the other main bid – the Jerry Reinsdorf bid – included special tax concessions from the city of Glendale, amounting to up to $23 million next year.

Another feature of the Reinsdorf bid had Glendale agreeing to let him move the team without penalty if it continued to lose money for the next five years – either that or pay him $15 million per year for every year of losses.

If this provision makes it to the final Reinsdorf offer it makes it pretty clear that Balsillie’s offer is not the only one that is ultimately going to result in a move. And Balsillie is offering $212 million compared to Reinsdorf’s $148 million.

The total value of building permits issued in June across Canada was up 1% over May to a total of $5.2 billion.

However the value of permits is still down 26.2 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Home-building sector permits increased in value by 0.5% representing the 4th consecutive month of increases.

Across Canada BC had the biggest jump in building permit issues – up 30.3%. Quebec was up 11%. Alberta, Saskatchewan and PEI had decreases. In Ontario decreases in single-family permit values was offset by gains in the commercial sector.

A report by GO Transit has raised the possibility of GO trains travelling between Waterloo Region and Toronto.

The report proposes that GO establish two stations in Waterloo Region, one in downtown Kitchener and the other at Breslau. No doubt there will be much discussion in the months ahead about the pros and cons of those options.

The new routes will not be cheap – at least to get up and running. GO Transit puts the initial start up cost to have the service running by 2011 at a minimum of $153 million. To turn it into a permanent service would cost about $549 million, according to the Go Transit report.

The report suggests that GO trains would initially carry between 2,300 and 5,000 passengers a day. It predicts that the number would rise to about 9,000 a day by 2031. Considering the growth potential of Waterloo Region this seems like a reasonable target.

Some things about this proposal seem obvious. First, the traffic on the 401 is increasing – especially the truck traffic – so anything that will take commuters off the 401 is worth considering. Second the potential for rail transport in SW Ontario is not being properly exploited. What we really need is a serious proposal for getting trucks off the highway and onto tracks.

The economy is beginning to respond to stimulus by the Bank of Canada, but Canadians can expect to see a very different economy when the smoke clears. That was one of the messages Senior Economist for CIBC World Markets, Benjamin Tal had for delegates at the recent Land and Development Conference held in Toronto.

The CIBC economists predict the economic landscape over the next decade will see a return to inflation in the U.S., a Canadian dollar above par, a solid run for stocks and resource prices, and the emergence of Asian consumer spending. The report dubs the next decade the “teenage years,” and like teenagers, it expects financial markets and the economy could be moody and unpredictable early on, but ultimately, grow and mature.

Tal says Canada’s real estate market has not experienced the free fall experienced in the U.S. because we don’t have the same subprime component. However, what happens in the U.S. has an impact on the Canadian economy he says.

His presentation examined the key trends in the North American economy with a specific view towards their future direction over the short and long term, including the outlook for GDP growth, interest rates, energy and commodity prices, the value of the Canadian dollar, and the rate of inflation. Tal gave his predictions for when the U.S. and Canadian economies will start to recover and how much deeper the recession is likely to be in Canada.

His presentation mirrored information found in CIBC World Markets Inc.’s latest economic report co-produced by Tal and CIBC Chief Economist Avery Shenfield. The report released at the end of May states the next decade will see a return to growth, but the economic landscape will be very different from the previous 10 years. “Although the banking crisis is over, the recession is not,” says Tal.

Here are some of the other findings in Tal and Shenfield’s report:

While U.S. consumers will be cutting back on spending and saving more to pay down debt, CIBC does not expect tax hikes to be the full solution to the growing weight of government debt. They believe inflation may be part of the answer to both the public and private debt excesses of our southern neighbours. “Letting inflation run at five per cent for a few years in the early part of the decade would go a long way to digging the U.S. out of its debt mountain. The debt/GDP ratio has nominal GDP in the denominator-so raising inflation lowers the debt burden. And higher inflation would help stabilize or even boost nominal house prices, key to allowing a return to positive home equity for those with mortgages that now threaten to exceed the house price.

Since Canada will not face nearly America’s debt burden, nor its underwater mortgages, letting inflation run above the central bank’s two per cent target will be much less tempting. A strong Canadian dollar will also dampen import price inflation. Expect an inflation gap to see Treasury yields well above those on Canadian bonds in the first half of the next decade as a result.

U.S. dollar devaluation and higher U.S. inflation will help boost commodity prices and Canada’s corporate bottom line, particularly given that economic development in the Far East tends to be more resource intensive than the more services-oriented economies of North America. For the U.S., a weaker dollar will be key to promoting both net exports and capital spending at home, by making “Made in America” less of a cost disadvantage.

For the Canadian economy, these shifts will mean a leaner decade for segments of the economy leveraged to American consumer spending (like automotive equipment, newsprint, lumber for U.S. housing). Reduced Canadian leveraging will also see housing starts average a tame 170,000 in the decade of the teens, after having averaged near 200,000 for the current decade to date. Instead, faster growth will be driven in sectors (technology, materials) linked to either North American capital spending or Asian consumption. Financial services will earn their keep by helping Canadians manage a newly growing pool of savings.

While the Canadian dollar will climb as the U.S. dollar weakens and hurt our manufacturing competitiveness, rising resource prices will reignite capital-intensive development of the oil sands, natural gas projects, and metal mines. That will allow private investment spending to increase its share of the economy as governments pull back on public infrastructure. The firmer Canadian dollar will also give Canadian households added import spending power.”

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (July 6, 2009) –A total of 722 homes sold in Kitchener-Waterloo and area in June, a 1.3 percent increase over June 2008, and the second best month on record for residential property sales through the MLS® System of the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board (KWREB). In fact, overall June sales activity was up in all categories except multi-family and land sales.

“I think what we are seeing in Waterloo region, is the resale housing market returning to its prerecessionary pace,” says Karen Shartun, President of the KWREB. “June was also the third month in a row that sales exceed 600 units, so we have some strong momentum happening in the market.”

REALTORS® of the KWREB have traded 3,174 homes year-to-date for a total value of $820,966,284, including 2,109 detached homes and 541 condominium units. This represents a 9.9 percent decrease in the total number of units sold so far this year compared to last year, a 15 percent decrease compared to 2007 (a record breaking year), and a 3 percent decrease from the 3,275 units sold in the first half of 2006.

The most active price range during the first six months of the year was for homes selling between $225,000 to $250,000 with a total of 508 sales. For homes selling in the upper most tiers, things have been quite a bit slower–in the last 6 months only 13 homes have sold for over $750,000, compared to 28 during the same period last year.

The demand for more affordably priced homes has translated into a 2.5 percent decrease in the average price of all homes sold year-to-date to $258,654.

The supply of homes active on the KWREB’s MLS® System to the end of June edged up 3.3 percentage points to 2,089 units. The President of the KWREB says she expects that sales for the remainder of the year will continue to improve, as prospective home buyers continue to take advantage of low interest rates, and the economic horizon starts to look brighter.

Consumers uncertain about current market conditions should work with a REALTOR® to develop an effective selling strategy. If you are buying, a REALTOR® will negotiate on your behalf and guide you through every step. A REALTOR® understands the local market and must, by law, look after your best interests.

I am beginning to get a lot of questions on “do I lock my mortgage in or not”? While some of you may want to just stay in variable ALL THE TIME…we have reached a point with interest rates that at least makes it worth considering! The topic of breaking a mortgage early also continues to be strong!
I thought I would share two articles from today’s Globe that might help you with your thought process…or if you are asked by friends, family, colleagues, clients etc… what your thoughts are on mortgages these days, this might help you form an opinion!
Enjoy:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/personal-finance/have-you-missed-the-great-canadian-mortgage-sale/article1180187/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/personal-finance/is-it-time-to-lock-in-your-mortgage/article1182905/

Courtesy of Victor Zamin, mortgage specialist, RBC Royal Bank
T. 519-240-0645 | F. 519-880-8329 | E. victor.zamin@rbc.com

The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a “Boring Headline Contest” and decided that the winner was “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative.” Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada’s virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it’s Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada’s banking system the healthiest in the world. America’s ranked 40th, Britain’s 44th.

Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn’t grown in size; the others have all shrunk.

So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1

As of October 15, 2008, home buyers will have fewer options when obtaining a mortgage. That’s because starting October 15, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) – the government-owned housing agency that provides mortgage insurance – will no longer accept mortgage insurance applications for mortgages amortized over 40 years, 100 per cent financing or interest-only mortgages.

These changes have been implemented as a result of the international credit crisis, and to avoid a potential U.S.-style meltdown in the Canadian real estate market. However, these changes to not affect all potential home buyers: it will primarily affect those who do not have a minimum of 20 per cent of the purchase price available for a down payment. In addition, for many home buyers, other mortgage products are available that will meet their needs.

Mortgage insurance is available through CMHC, AIG and Genworth. These companies make home ownership possible for individuals who do not have a minimum down payment of 20 per cent available. Since the announcement that CMHC will eliminate these mortgage products, both Genworth and AIG have also decided to follow suit. However, lenders may still decide to offer 40 year amortizations and interest only mortgages to individuals with down payments of 20 per cent or greater.

While such properties can often be had at a bargain, and more than a few that I’ve dealt with personally have yielded a high level of appreciation for their new owner, the full story shows that power of sale is not for everyone. Allow me to elaborate.

The first thing to remember is, almost without a doubt, the place will be in need of renovation. The walls, floors, carpets, maybe even the electrical/plumbing and yard, will all likely need some overhaul. Those who cash in best on power of sale are those who can handle some, or all of that renovation personally.

Another thing to understand is that power of sale properties are sold “as is”. It’s not a matter of negotiation, as the vendor’s necessary attachment to accompany any offer will indicate. Also, the seller will not make any guarantees as to the chattels or fixtures. The window coverings, the shelves in the garage, even the appliances, are not guaranteed in the sale.

Other things to consider are that the seller will reserve the right to postpone your closing up to 60 days with next to no notice. So if Gloria’s power of sale was closing on August 1st, on July 31st she could find out that her closing has been pushed to October 1st. Even after she moves in, Gloria is not guaranteed, for example, the appliances – the previous owner has a specific period of time to attempt to reclaim those possessions.

All of these “non-guarantees”, on a legal level, are to allow the defaulting time to come up with the money to reclaim lost assets. Banks and other lending institutions will not make improvements to a property that may revert back tot he original owner. So what does all this mean? It means that if you’re considering a power of sale you must take into account the additional expenses (renovations, possibly appliances, and potential rental costs). Remember, since the closing can be pushed, not everyone is in a position to take advantage of power of sale properties. Most people would shy away from 60 days of renting.

Having said all of that, I have yet to see appliances be seized, the closing to be pushed, or a buyer dissatisfied with a power of sale. While much of that can be attributed to proper research and analysis, the fact remains that while the darker scenarios can be classified as unlikely they remain, nevertheless, possible.

If you’d like more info on power of sale properties feel free to contact me at peter@hendershot.ca

The economic meltdown has spawned an unexpected opportunity for skateboarders in areas of the U.S. such as Fresno, California. Foreclosed homes, with untended pools, have become personal skate parks for skateboarders, some of whom hail from Australia and Germany.

In a New York Times article entitled “Riding Out The Economic Crisis”, Jesse McKinley and Malia Wollan state that “These are boom times for skaters such as Mr. Peacock, who travels around town with a gas-powered pump, five-gallon buckets, shovels and a push broom, risking trespassing charges in the single-minded pursuit of emptying forlorn pools and turning them into de facto skate parks.”

In a state that levies fines of up to US$1,000 a day for pools left with unmaintained standing water, the skateboarders are actually performing a valuable service. With concerns about West Nile virus, the boarders are draining away all sorts of vile crap, including the mosquitoes breeding ground.

Using real estate tracking sites such as realquest.com and realtor.com, along with satellite images from Google Earth, boarders can pinpoint troubled pools. They can have their pick because there are so many pools to choose from. Officials estimate there are about 5,000 in Sacramento County alone, where a building boom has imploded.

Authors McKinley and Wollan say that “…skaters do not mind doing the work, whether it is that of scouting for pools or scouring them. Adam Morgan, 28, a skater from Los Angeles, said it used to take months to find a good skating pool. Now the task is a breeze.”

Thankfully we don’t have problems like this in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

- from a report by Real Estate Power Blogging

Here’s an interesting article about the importance of location when it comes to finding a good home. According to author Juhlin Youlien a good location is measured by (among other things) the people who live there.

Accessibility and security are also important, along with being removed from the chance of natural disasters. Being child friendly is also a good feature of a quality location.

As the author says “Location is very important in terms of finding a house. After all, you will be staying there for a long time. What is important is that you find a place that addresses your needs.”

This is great advice for anywhere, but especially for a home in Kitchener-Waterloo.

The Kitchener Waterloo area is located in the centre of southern Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. This dynamic region has an expanding population and diversified economy that has made for prosperous, stable growth decade after decade.

The region around the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge is today called the Region of Waterloo, and is stretched out along the Grand River which snakes its way through the entire area. For centuries this land was occupied by Iroquois First Nations people who developed a distinctive culture centered on the fertile farming land and plentiful fish and game along the river.

After the arrival of Europeans in the 1600s the native way of life was changed forever. Spurred on initially by French fur traders, the lucrative fur trade came to dominate life for natives throughout this and many other areas of North America.

Rivalries and local wars between the Iroquois and Huron tribes in Southern Ontario broke out as the different tribes vied for fur trading dominance. These continual wars served as a deterrent to early European settlement in this part of Ontario.

Ironically the Indian wars were brought to an end by another more significant and much larger conflict – the American Revolution. In 1784 a large tract of land along the Grand River was set aside by the British Crown as a grant to the Six Nations Iroquois. Most of the Iroquois had been living in New York State and the land in Ontario was given to them because of their loyalty to the Crown during the American War of Independence.

Thousands of American Iroquois emigrated to their new lands along the Grand River, and many of them settled in the area around what is now Brantford just down river about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Waterloo area.

Between 1796 and 1798, the Six Nations Indians led by Chief Joseph Brant, sold 38,000 hectares of land to Colonel Richard Beasley, another United Empire Loyalist. In turn, Beasley attracted a group of German Mennonite farmers from Pennsylvania to the area around what is now Kitchener and Waterloo. Settlement began in earnest during the early 1800s.

The rich farm land of the region was an important factor that drew the original Mennonite settlers to the area. Their growing community and expanding population needed new tracts of land if they were to remain a rural land-based agricultural people. They were also attracted by the relative isolation of the area, and the guarantee of religious and cultural tolerance offered by the British Crown.

These original Mennonite settlers became the basis of what soon became a thriving community in the region. The German-speaking character of the community served as a focal point for future immigration from Germany and other parts of central Europe. Included among these European immigrants were many skilled craftsmen whose hard work and disciplined way of life became the foundation of the industrial economy that the region is still famous for.

From these humble beginnings roughly 200 years ago the region around the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge has grown into one of the most dynamic, progressive and culturally diverse areas in Canada.

About the author – Rick Hendershot is a writer who lives in Conestogo Ontario. Visit his blog – Local Web Marketing.

Luxury Real Estate – GigaYachts – from LuxuryProperty.com

Whilst not fitting the term

OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada today announced that it is lowering its target for the overnight rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 1 1/2 per cent. The operating band for the overnight rate is correspondingly lowered, and the Bank Rate is now 1 3/4 per cent.

The outlook for the world economy has deteriorated significantly and the global recession will be broader and deeper than previously anticipated. Global financial markets remain severely strained. Measures taken by major governments are beginning to encourage credit flows, although it will take some time before conditions in financial markets normalize. In addition, a series of recently announced monetary and fiscal policy actions will also support global economic growth.

While Canada’s economy evolved largely as expected during the summer and early autumn, it is now entering a recession as a result of the weakness in global economic activity. The recent declines in terms of trade, real income growth, and confidence are prompting more cautious behaviour by households and businesses.

(more…)

Power bills have been constantly rising for a long time but it has now reached the stage where power is now a major part in the household budget. The increasing cost of electricity in conjunction with the climate warming problems created by burning fossil fuels, is forcing more people to think green and look at the possibility of building their own renewable power supply.

Building your own solar panels or a wind turbine is very tempting but how realistic is it? Can a DIY solar panel or DIY wind generator really result in a practical change to a typical household power bill? Or are they just fanciful dreams and urban myths?

There are many components that impact the answers to these questions. The impact will be a product of where your house is located and the extent that you wish to go with your DIY power station.

One of the main factors that affect the output of DIY solar panels will be the exposure that your house has to the sun. It is easy to see that a hut deep in the depth of a forest is not going to gain much from a solar panel! So check how the sun moves over your house, how many hours of direct sun does your house get? The encouraging news is that most houses should not have any trouble in getting enough sunlight to produce electricity from a DIY solar panel.

The same logic is true when thinking about a DIY wind turbine; you will need wind to turn it! In most places the wind cannot be trusted as the only source of power

Waterloo has a service-oriented economy with flourishing insurance and high-tech sectors as well as two major universities. The city’s largest employers are Sun Life Financial/Clarica, the University of Waterloo, Manulife Financial, Research In Motion, and Wilfrid Laurier University.

The city is part of Canada’s Technology Triangle (CTT), a joint economic development initiative of Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge and the Region of Waterloo that markets the region internationally. Despite its name, CTT does not focus exclusively on promoting technology industries, but on all aspects of economic development.

Waterloo has a strong technology sector with hundreds of high-tech firms. The dominant technology company in the city is Research In Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, which has its headquarters in the city and owns several office buildings near the University of Waterloo’s main campus.

Notable Waterloo-based high-tech companies include:

• Dalsa
• Descartes Systems Group
• Maplesoft
• MKS Inc.
• Open Text Corporation
• Research In Motion (RIM)
• Sandvine

Many other high-tech companies, with headquarters elsewhere, take advantage of the concentration of high-tech employees in the Waterloo area, and have research and development centres there. Sybase, Google, Oracle, Adobe, McAfee, NCR Corporation and Agfa are among the large, international technology companies with development offices in Waterloo.

Before it became known for technology, Waterloo was often called “the Hartford of Canada” because of the many insurance companies based in the area. Manulife, Sun Life Financial and Economical Insurance have a significant presence in the city.

Breweries and distilleries had been a significant industry in the Waterloo area until 1993 when a Labatt-owned brewery was shut down. Now the only major brewery is the Brick Brewing Company. Waterloo was the original home of distiller Seagram (also home town of many descendants of J.P. Seagram), which closed its Waterloo plant in 1992. Of the remaining Seagram buildings, one became home of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), while others were converted into condominiums.

Source – Wikipedia.org

Southwestern Ontario is proud to bring you Kitchener, a city that cares about entrepreneurship, innovation and education. It

Mennonite families from Pennsylvania settled the Waterloo region of Ontario during the early nineteenth century, establishing the basis for the rich history and culture of this part of Central Canada. More recently, the cultural diversity of the Waterloo area has been enhanced by immigrants from all over the planet. These immigrants are drawn to the prosperous and diverse economy of the region, and to the two highly respected Universities in the area.

From 1800 to 1803, Swiss Mennonite pioneers came from Pennsylvania to the Waterloo area where they found lush, fertile land to settle on and to farm along the banks of the Grand River. The Waterloo Pioneer Memorial Tower monument was built in 1923 to commemorate these first pioneers. Located near the little town of Doon just east of the Grand, the tower spire has the distinctive Swiss architecture representative of the original settlers’ cultural background..

Doon Heritage Crossroads gives you a glimpse into what Waterloo County was like in the early twentieth century. Visit Doon Heritage Crossroads to see how people lived their lives in their homes and farms and how they conducted business nearly a century ago.

The Joseph Schneider Haus Museum and Gallery displays the life of the region in the mid 1800s. It was the home built by Joseph Schneider and his wife Barbara, two of the original Mennonite pioneers who came from Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County at the turn of the 19th Century.

Homer Watson was a noted local artist of the Waterloo Region. He was known as the “Man of Doon” since Doon was the site of his home and studio. Homer Watson House & Gallery preserves his studio and also host art classes and workshops and includes an exhibition of contemporary art.

The 10th Prime Minister of Canada was William Lyon Mackenzie King. He was also the longest ever serving Prime Minister. He was born in what was then called Berlin, now known as Kitchener as the name was changed during WWI. The home he grew up in has been restored to its 1890′s state and is located at Woodside National Historic Site.

Castle Kilbride was built in Baden in 1877 by James Livingston and named after his birthplace in Scotland. Seen from the road it dominates its surroundings with its clean Italianate design capped by a towering belvedere.

Source – Real Estate Webs

Three Waterloo companies: Sandvine Corporation, Research In Motion and Navtech Inc. — have made it onto the 2008 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the fastest growing technology companies in North America. Sandvine ranked 71st with growth of 3,510 per cent over the previous five years; RIM was 141st with growth of 1,377 per cent; and Navtech ranked 367th with growth of 371 per cent. RIM has been on the Fast 500 list for nine years in a row, the most for any company outside of the life sciences sector. The three local firms previously appeared on Deloitte’s list of Canada’s 50 fastest growing technology companies.