Welcome to the Electra, a wonderful Vancouver landmark conversion. Bright and private, well maintained NE facing 11th floor suite with huge windows in every room overlooking the city skyline. Spacious open concept condo with no wasted space, 9 foot ceilings, air conditioning and walk in closet. Perfect for 1st time buyer or as a rental investment (was rented for $1400/mo). The building has excellent facilities including guest suites, a social club w/ full kitchen, entertainment room & fitness centre w/ sauna. 3 parking facilities can be found within a block radius. Walk to restaurants, theatres, shopping, recreation. You don't need a car here.

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Character home in one of Vancouver's most sought after neighbourhoods. Corner lot with ocean water & mountain view. Original condition inlaid Oak & Fir floors, wood trim around all windows. Long time owner has taken great care of home. Three level home with three bedrooms and unfinished basement. 2 car parks + garage/workshop offers extra storage. Across street from water front park. Rare to find a home with this kind of potential.

Fabulous unique 2 year old detached townhouse 1 block off Lonsdale on a quiet street with views. Gleaming hardwood floors on main, stainless appliances, granite counter tops and lots of windows and doors for natural light. Spacious main floor is open with a beautiful high quality kitchen. Private master bedroom has large bath and vaulted ceilings with mountain views. 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are large and each have a separate bathroom. Downstairs has a finished family room and tons of storage. Outside you have a private fenced yard with large veranda. Close to shopping, restaurants, schools, recreations and transportation. This home has it all. Balance of 2/5/10 warranty. Open Sat-Sun, Nov.29/30, 2-4 or by appt.

Beautifully decorated top floor private corner unit(2 bdrms & open den) with unobstructed views of North Shore Mountains. Gorgeous kitchen and bathrooms with granite counters and slate floors. Main area is open with cherry wood laminate floors. High ceilings (9'), lots of natural light and open floorplan. Large open air balcony for entertaining or just enjoying the serenity. 2 secure parking spaces and extra storage plus bike storage. Quality built, well maintained 2 year old complex has balance of warranty and no GST. Call for a showing today.

Fantastic bright 1 bedroom corner unit condo in the heart of the city with views. Well maintained suite faces Haro and is in a solid concrete building. Laundry on each floor, secure parking and extra storage. Large outdoor patio to relax and enjoy the city ambiance. BBQ's welcome. Within a short walk to Robson, theatres, IGA, and the business district. Perfect for first time buyers or investment.

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Original condition 1949 Bungalow with views of the North Shore. Some original hardwood flooring, full height basements. Great for first time buyer or build your dream home in this prime location. Open House August 17, Sunday 2-4 or by appointment.

Beautiful well maintained home in popular Discovery Town on quiet street. Inside you will find a spacious functional floor plan with 3 large bedrooms upstairs. Open rear kitchen with family room facing the private outdoor patio on main. Welcoming entrance opens to the large living/dining area. Fully finished basement with newer carpet includes 2 large rooms for relaxing or for the kids to play in. Second room could easily be converted into a 4th bedroom. Lots of recreation near by including fantastic rec center with pool and library. You can walk to fabulous shopping and dining. Welcome home.

Funky and updated 1320 sq. ft. 1/2 duplex with 3 bedrooms plus loft. Vaulted ceilings, skylights, slate tile, laminate floors are just a few of the fabulous features of this home. Open kitchen has new S.S appliances including super quiet DW. Located on the quietest side of Horseshoe Bay in a nice cul-de-sac. Outside you will find spacious, beautiful gardens front and back including a fenced back patio area. School catchment is Gleneagles Elementary and sought after Rockridge Secondary. Only 17 km to downtown and enroute to Whistler. Contact me for a viewing today.

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Beautifully updated spacious 2 bdrm, 2 bath condo on one of E. Vancouver's most desirable streets. New kitchen includes all new cabinets, stainless steel appls, granite counter tops, tile and backsplash. Bathrooms include new floorings, vanities, sinks etc. Gleaming laminate flooring, large baseboard and crown moulding make this large living area feel like a show home. The bldg is lovingly maintained inside and out and is solid. This home is within walking distance to great shopping, dining, recreation and parks. Minutes to downtown, the North Shore and the freeway makes htis the perfect central location.

Beautiful 2350 sq.ft., 4 bedroom 2 storey home plus finished basement in desirable Discovery Towne. Recent updates include Merbau hardwood throughout main floor plus tile floor and backsplash in kitchen, additional cabinets and new appliances. Large kitchen & family room at the back of the home plus formal living/dining rooms on main. Upper floor has 3 spacious bedrooms and convenient laundry facility. Basement with separate entry is fully finished with living room and 1 large bedroom with full ensuite. Lovely bright south facing fenced patio and lawn behind house including lane access/sliding gate for parking . You could build a garage or carport if desired. Located on a wide road with street parking. Easy access to shopping, schools, rec. centre & transit.

Source: Canadadian Business Online.

Gorgeous heritage home offering great curb appeal on tree lined street w/city, water and mountain views! This 5 bdrm (4 up, 1 down) 2 bath home is fully updated, great open floor plan on main level for family living, orig. fir floor up, maple floors down, top of line appliances, lovely terraced back yard w/ponds, apple/pear trees, stone path, wood decking. (This is the one you have been waiting for!) Perfect for the family to come home to...with room for the nanny, student or in-laws. Close to city and N.S. just across the bridge. First showing @ 'sneek peek' open Apr 17 5:30 - 7:30 Public Open Sat Apr 19 2-4pm

Smart designed "Workshop Studios" Live/Work Loft w/16' + ceiling. Well finished 2 bdrms + den w/flexible live/work uses. Huge 12' windows. Open plan w/living room, dining room & kitchen with a view to the city & N. Van. Mountains. Separate loft upstairs for bdrm and office. Custom kitchen & bathroom. Steel clad building in super location.

Canada's current housing boom is the strongest and longest in the country's history, and is still "remarkably buoyant," says Adrienne Warren, chief economist at Scotiabank. Despite the housing downturn in the United States, last year Canada set an all-time record for resale home sales. Most economists don't think 2008 will match those levels, but the market continues to be healthy across the country.

"Between 1998 and 2007, average inflation-adjusted home prices have soared some 65 per cent, easily besting the 32 to 65 per cent appreciation of the prior three housing cycles of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s," says Warren. "At their peak in 2005, U.S. real home prices had increased a cumulative 48 per cent from the 1995 trough."

She says the current housing boom is "going on 10 years, whereas the prior three cycles ranged from five to six years. It has also outlasted the housing booms experienced in many other advanced economies this decade."

A report by the Conference Board of Canada says that home prices in Canada have been rising continuously for the past 15 years.

The report, by Valérie Poulin, says the risk of softening prices in some markets in Canada is increasing. "On the one hand, fundamentals remain solid in Canada: unemployment is low, immigration is high, and the vacancy rate for apartments is low," says Poulin. "But on the other hand, years of relentless house price increases mean affordability is waning. At the same time, the risk of a U.S. recession is mounting, and Canadian economic growth is expected to weaken, particularly in Central Canada." She says those factors will cause some potential buyers to postpone their decisions to buy.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicts that house prices will grow by 5.2 per cent in 2008 -- a pretty good increase, but not as good as the 10.6 per cent growth seen last year. It says the number of MLS sales will fall off last year's record level by 3.9 per cent. National real estate firm Royal LePage expects a 3.5 per cent price increase, and a four per cent drop in resale activity.

On the new home front, "the housing market is now out of breath," says Poulin. "Satiated pent-up demand and slower economic growth is leading to what is expected will be a long slowdown in the housing market."

The Conference Board says building material costs are cutting into the residential construction industry's profits. "The U.S. housing market collapse has lead to surplus production in the wood industry, bringing lumber prices down," says Poulin. But she says that's offset by "double-digit economic growth in emerging markets and their insatiable appetite for commodities and resources," which is "cranking up energy and mineral prices." She says steel prices are up 15 per cent from their 2002 level, and cement is 16 per cent more than what it cost five years ago. Since 2002, increases in material costs have surpassed revenue growth for builders, and "with house affordability decreasing and new housing demand shrinking, contractors will be unable to pass all future price input hikes on to consumers," says Poulin.

Warren says that multi-family construction will perform better than the single-family new home market. "Renovation activity, which lags the trend in home resales by one to three years, will outperform new construction."

She says that from a supply standpoint, "Most Canadian (resale) markets are still in seller's territory, in which prices would be expected to rise faster than inflation. Yet, some of the hottest markets in recent years, including Edmonton, have become much better balanced due to a flood of new listings. Based on a combination of job growth, housing supply and affordability, among this year's potential outperformers are Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg in the west; Sudbury, Hamilton, and Quebec City in Central Canada, and St. John's to the east."

And what are the chances of a U.S.-style housing meltdown hitting Canada?

"Tighter lending guidelines for developers and a lower level of investor participation have reinforced a more cautious approach among home builders," says Warren. "Households, for their part, are not over leveraged. Home equity as a share of real estate assets has been steadily building this decade, as price appreciation outpaces the rise in mortgage obligations. Canadian households also have little direct exposure to sub-prime lending, which has accounted for only about five per cent of domestic mortgages in recent years, compared to over 20 per cent in the United States."

However, Warren says a deeper U.S. downturn would hurt Canada's economy, particularly in Central Canada, and could have a larger than expected impact on real estate activity.


Written by Jim Adair

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From the Westender

By Mary Frances Hill

Just a few blocks north from the Pantages, at Commercial near Frances, stands the York Theatre (for the last decade renamed the Raja Cinema), where Tom Durrie is struggling with a restoration problem of a different sort. Durrie has been instrumental in organizing to save the York Theatre space since the 1980s. With only a few months left before the new owner, Vintage Developments, plans to break ground for new townhouses on the site, he, with the Save The York Theatre Task Force, is on a deadline to save it.

“The City is aware of the interest in preserving this theatre, and its historical value and revitalization is important,” says Durrie. Opened in 1913 as the Vancouver Little Theatre, and run by a society of the same name, it changed to the York Theatre in the 1930s. It ran as a Bollywood cinema — the Raja — for a decade before closing in 2006.

The task force plans to present a business plan to the City that may delay the demolition. Durrie says the group hopes the City will present the developer with an alternative site or a density transfer bonus, or elect to rezone the site altogether. Vintage plans to build condominiums in its place and has scheduled to get work underway by May.

Jacquie Gijssen, a senior cultural planner with the City of Vancouver who works as a liaison between the municipality and arts groups, says the York Theatre space is in a tricky spot, as the city can’t infringe on Vintage Developments’ rights. But not all is lost, she says. The City is still waiting for a viable business plan from the York Theatre Society, and the developer is still open to selling the property.

Durrie’s fellow members in the task force — organizers from Early Music Vancouver, Bard on the Beach, Theatre Under the Stars, and an architect with Downs Archambault among them — come from sturdy cultural stock. Even so, they’ve found that raising money for the arts in Vancouver is a tough sell. “People here don’t have that established feeling of support for the arts and theatre,” Durrie says.

 

RAPIST ESCAPES A man convicted of aggravated sexual assault fled from a halfway house over the weekend. A Canada wide warrant was issued for Norman Eli Larue, an aboriginal described as 6'2", 240 lbs. with long dark hair. Police say Larue is known to frequent the Commercial Drive area. He has a bulldog tattoo on his neck.

Labels: Larue, rapist, sexual assault

posted by Steven R. Duncan @ 2:01 AM

Vancouver Courier

By Cheryl Rossi

Time is running out for those keen to save the York Theatre

The York Theatre on Commercial Drive once home to Vancouver Little Theatre Society - Photo - Dan Toulgoet

If city council doesn’t get behind a campaign to save the building that was most recently the Raja Cinema, it could be demolished within four months, says Tom Durrie.

That’s why Durrie, founder of the Save the York Theatre Task Force and former manager of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, is arranging meetings with individual councillors. Tom Durrie heads up the task force that hopes to save the York Theatre, more recently known as the Raja Cinema, which was built in 1913.

The group is urging citizens to send letters of support for the retention of the theatre to city council. It’s also seeking “bridge funding”–most likely, money from an individual to buy the building, which in October sold for $960,000–and is developing business and fundraising plans...

Fabulous top floor well maintained 1 bedroom apartment in sought after Mariner Place with mountain view and over 70 sq. ft. of outdoor living space. Updated in 2004 with new appliances, laminate flooring and more. Excellent location within 10 minutes commute to downtown and the North Shore makes this a perfect place to call home. This area is Vancouver's best kept secret which also makes it a great investment. You don't need a car here, within walking distance to shopping, great restaurants, the PNE and Commercial Drive. Pets and Rentals are welcome here too.

Friday Dec 21, 6-9:30pm
Free
Produced by the Secret Lantern Society and in partnership with Britannia Community Centre. Come to the Britannia Courtyard and warm yourself in the amazing Swedish Fire and listen to songs from M'Girl, Quatro, Voices Rising and Lola and The Randy Bluegrass Boys. Please bring your friends, families and lanterns to celebrate the return of light in your neighbourhood.

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View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

A Vancouver group is trying to get city council permission to shut down one block on a street east of Commercial Drive every second Saturday during the winter for a farmers' market.

In a report going to council next Thursday, city staff are recommending the closure because the event would support the city's food action plan and its policy of trying to promote neighbourhood events. The proposed block would be on the Adanac bike route in front of the WISE Hall.

Fabulous 1 bedroom apartment in sought after Mariner Place with South exposure. Updated in 2004 with new appliances, countertops, flooring and light fixtures. Excellent location within 10 minutes commute to downtown and the North Shore makes this a perfect place to call home. This area is Vancouver's best kept secret which also makes it a great investment. You don't need a car here, within walking distance to shopping, great restaurants, recreation and Commercial Drive. Pets and Rentals are welcome here.

Beautiful large 1 bdrm loft in the heart of the city. Nicely updated kitchen including slate walls, woodblock countertops, SS gas stove, luxury finishing's in bathroom and true hardwood flooring in living area. This corner unit is bright, quiet and open with 16' ceilings and extra corner window. Pets and rentals are welcome here. 1 parking stall leased for $110 monthly from Strata. Great place to live, great investment.

Professionally updated beautiful 1 bedroom apartment in well run building. Newer laminate flooring, new Whirlpool stainless appliances, kitchen/bathroom cabinets, sinks, granite counter tops and breakfast bar, tile flooring,

Professionally updated and tastefully decorated beautiful 2 bedroom apartment within walking distance to Capilano College, transit and nature. This spacious home includes insuite laundry, extra large custome insuite storage

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View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

View this recently sold House or see all my home sales

View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

10 MINS TO DOWNTOWN!!! Avoid long commutes and traffic jams... recently renovated Sunny 2 BDRM APT, townhouse comfort w/private wrap-around patio. 2 BATH, 2 PC attached to master bed - both with designer tile, new sinks & toilets - lots of storage, too. Both BDRMS overlook extra large patio (over 500 square feet) - Master BDRM very open & spacious. Have plantation style wooden shutters (as do LVNG & dining room windows). Walk in closet in Master BDRM - wall 2 wall closet in 2nd BDRM. Abundance of closets in kitchen & hallway - one fitted as hideaway office! L-shaped hallway; open & bright LVNG RM - big space w/attached SOLARIUM - enjoy sun in the winter too!! Attractive stone fireplace (gas). Efficient use of space in kitchen, 4 appliances, lots of counter space, white tile floor, maple cupboards. Laminate flooring throughout the suite. 2 PRKNG + storage locker. Excellent maintenance of BLDG - newer roof and other recent upgrades. Schools, parks, shopping nearby. Neighborhood feel. Open Sunday June 17 2-4 or call for private showing.

Beautiful bright 2 bedroom corner unit apartment in a well kept, well managed bu ilding. This home has been recently renovated including the addition of a cheer ful solarium. Generous size rooms inside and an extra large fenced private

Beautiful bright 2 bedroom corner unit apartment in a well kept, well managed bu ilding. This home has been recently renovated including the addition of a cheer ful solarium. Generous size rooms inside and an extra large fenced private

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Today was the first Open house at 230-2390 McGill Street in the Hastings area of East Vancouver. We had a great turnout with over 15 groups of visitors through. The comments were very positive and many visitors thought the home was staged. This is all a testiment to the owners who obviously worked very hard to update this home and are proud to show it off. The lucky buyer of this condo will be able to move in and enjoy immediately. It is easy to show, so call me for an appointment today.

Beautiful, spacious 1 bedroom Condo in the up and coming Nanaimo and Hastings ar ea. This home has been professionally updated throughout with new kitchen includ ing stainless steel fridge and stove; new bathroom, laminate flooring and

Beautiful, spacious 1 bedroom Condo in the up and coming Nanaimo and Hastings ar ea. This home has been professionally updated throughout with new kitchen includ ing stainless steel fridge and stove; new bathroom, laminate flooring and

View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales