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March 17/2011

…Tweet, tweet. Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. Real estate marketer/branding specialist David Allison talks to a GVHBA U40 gathering about himself and how to best use social media… [ 3 ]

Vancouver leads housing markets as home sales increase in B.C. Residential sales in the province Cameron Muir. climbed five per cent in February from “Elevated sales activity in VancouJanuary 2011 on a seasonally adjusted ver’s pricier communities has pushed basis, reports the British Columbia Real average home prices higher than marEstate Association. ket conditions would suggest.”

Compared to February Compared to February 2010, 2010, Multiple Listing Service the average MLS residential residential unit sales increased price in Vancouver has climbed eight per cent to 6,410 units more than 19 per cent, whereas and the average MLS residenthe benchmark, or typical tial price rose 18 per cent to home price has increased a $587,571 in February compared more modest four per cent, the Cameron Muir to the same month last year.

BCREA says.

“The surge in consumer Year-to-date, B.C. residential demand in Metro Vancouver continsales dollar volume increased 15 per ues to propel the provincial statistics cent to $6.03 billion compared to the higher,” says BCREA chief economist same period last year.

Quality builder. Quality homes. Purchasing a new home pays off with the right company:

Lakewood offers more at Madison

L

ove your brand-new home at Lakewood Management’s Madison, a townhome development that is underway in a central, convenient Metro Vancouver location that is close to all conceivable amenities. “(Homebuyers) love the location, the price, the quality and the style of these homes,” says Lakewood sales representative Ken Hoyt.

TRICIA LESLIE

Branch of BC housing

GVHBA’S 17TH ANNUAL

Surrey is B.C.’s fastest-growing municipality, with a population that is expected to outnumber Vancouver’s within the next 10 to 20 years.

Finding a brand-new home that is close to all amenities and major transportation routes while remaining removed from it all may seem an impossibility in such an expanding city, but it is possible at Madison.

Build by Lakewood Management, SEE PAGE 2... a local company with more than 40 years experience in the construction industry, Madison features new townhomes near 64 Avenue FEATURE and 144 Street in Surrey.

Ranging in size from 1,423 to more than 1,500 square feet, the stylish townhomes are offered in a variety of floorplans in two designer-co-ordinated colour schemes, each designed to maximize the living space while allowing as much natural light inside as possible.

A park and the Bell Centre for Performing Arts are both just across the street; the Newton Wave Pool is a short bike ride away and the Canada-U.S. border is an easy drive.

Ken Hoyt, a Lakewood sales representative who has been working with the company for 25 years, says the homes speak for themselves.

“Lakewood is a high-quality builder and the homes are quality-built,” Hoyt says.

“There’s a lot of attention to detail. (Homebuyers) love the location, the price, the quality and the style of these homes.”

All Madison homes come with two-car garages

Lakewood’s Madison offers new homes in a great location.

as well as patio and/or porch space; some floorplans have garden-level patios.

Architecturally, the homes are a mix of contemporary with traditional, with homes featuring nine-foot ceilings, large windows and mood-adjustable fireplaces.

Open-plan kitchens feature granite countertops, full-height ceramic tile backsplashes and a continued on page 2

March 22, 2011 FIRST-TIME Tuesday, Sheraton Vancouver

HOME BUYER

SEMINAR

Guildford Hotel, Surrey Seminar will take place from 7 - 9 p.m.

Attendees are invited to arrive at 6 p.m. to get a wealth of information on new-home developments, mortgage information and other homebuying information.

Although the seminar is free to attend, GVHBA encourages attendees to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the Surrey Food Bank.

Register for this seminar online at www.gvhba.org or call 778-565-4288

…and now New Local Home is on Facebook…

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New Local Home March 17, 2011

Make mine Madison

Homebuyers line up Saturday.

Buyers line up at Kinfield Rainy spring weather couldn’t keep potential homebuyers away from a Polygon Homes development on the weekend.

Despite the soggy forecast, excited new-home buyers lined up for a chance to purchase one of Polygon’s new townhomes at Kinfield, located in the masterplanned community of Westerleigh in West Abbotsford.

Polygon notes that this was the first time the B.C.-owned-and-operated company has attempted a launch in Abbotsford, and “the response was overwhelming.”

“We were excited to be introducing Kinfield to the market as our company had been looking for a large-scale development opportunity in Abbotsford for a considerable amount of time,” says Polygon president and CEO Neil Chrystal.

Kinfield features affordable two- and three-bedroom townhomes designed in a charming Arts and Crafts style on the exterior, while more contemporary interiors are bright, open and welcoming.

“These homes are designed to appeal to first-time buyers and young families looking for good value and that is exactly who we saw on the weekend with 21 homes sold on opening day,” Chrystal says.

Kinfield is the first collection of townhomes in Westerleigh; when complete, the master-planned community will comprise more than 550 new homes, a new community park, trails and Club West, a residents-only clubhouse featuring 9,800 square feet of resort-style amenities.

Homes in the new neighbourhood start from $259,900.

Podmore awarded A well-known Vancouver real estate industry magnate has been recognized by a local magazine as B.C.’s Residential Construction Person of the Year.

David Podmore, chairman and CEO of Concert Properties, won the honour for 2010.

With more than 30 years experience in the real estate business, Podmore co-founded Concert Properties with Jack Poole, the notable Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games chair, in 1989.

“I just love the residential development business. And, in B.C., we have the best industry in the country,” Podmore said in a BC Homes Magazine – the publication behind the annual awards – release.

Podmore will be honoured by his colleagues at an awards luncheon in Vancouver on April 8.

Homes at Madison are designed to offer plenty of space in open, airy floorplans that let plenty of natural light inside.

…off the front: “You’re so close to everything here. Everything is handy ... the homes are quality-built. There’s a lot of attention to detail." Ken Hoyt, Lakewood Management continued from page 1

stainless steel appliance package.

Ensuite bathrooms have double sinks, more granite countertops and designer faucets, while designer lighting fixtures and a high-efficiency gas-forced-air heating system round out just some of the highlights of all Madison homes, no matter what floorplan.

The location is a huge attraction for many of the families purchasing Madison homes, Hoyt notes.

“You’re so close to everything here.

Everything is handy,” he says.

Local parks, the Newton Community Rec Centre, the Newton Arena and the Tong Louie YMCA are all nearby, along with a family golf centre.

The shops, businesses and recreation offered in South Surrey and White Rock – not to mention Crescent Beach, White Rock Beach, Blackie Spit, Mud Bay, South Surrey Athletic Park and the Serpentine Wildlife Management area – are also close (about a 10 minute drive).

Homes are priced starting in the $300,000s.

Visit www.madisonhome.ca for more information.

Lakewood’s Madison features granite countertops and stainless steel appliances as well as patios and two-car garages in every home.

Sales Director: Lisa Farquharson • 604-575-5364 • lisaf@bcclassified.com Editor: Tricia Leslie • 604-575-5346 • editor@newlocalhome.com Writer: Maggie Calloway • maggiec@blackpress.ca Advertising Sales: Black Press National Sales • Helen Koch • 604-575-5811 • helenk@blackpress.ca Online Advertising: Black Press National Sales • Scott Elliott • 604-575-5826 • scottelliott@blackpress.ca Designer: Brad Smith • bsmith@blackpress.ca New Local Home is published once a week by Black Press Group Ltd. (Suite 309 - 5460 152 Street, Surrey, B.C. V3S 5J9) 350,000 copies are distributed free across Metro Vancouver. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited.

New Local Home March 17, 2011

Allison talks social media at U40 event

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TRICIA LESLIE

David Allison remembers when he was the boss who banned Facebook in the workplace.

But he – like many others – soon realized it was futile to fight the evolution of social media and other Internet tools, and embraced the online revolution.

“Now, in the Monday morning meetings, you get in trouble if you’re not tweeting enough,” he said to a group of young professionals at Friday’s Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association “I think we’re U40 mentorship breakfast.

“I remember when we got at a time our first fax machine at work now that is ... but the way people tell stobigger than the Gutenberg ries is changing. I think video is the new text.”

Press or the Allison, who is president Internet. I and co-founder of Braun/ think we’re on Allison Inc. – a Vancouverthe edge of a based real estate development cliff here.” branding and communications company – said that in this day and age of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and QR codes, it is that much easier to be findable, which is crucial for any business’s success.

While Allison admitted it can be hard to limit the time spent online to update social media, he added with focus, it can be done.

“I probably spend 30 minutes a day, at most.

It doesn’t take as long as you think,” he said.

The key to using social media is not necessarily to promote a business or a development or sales, Allison noted.

“The goal with social media should always

Braun/Allison president and co-founder David Allison speaks at a Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association U40 (under-40) mentorship breakfast at the Vancouver Club. Martin Knowles photos

be, ‘How can I make my customers’ lives better?” he said.

“Just start talking. And be excited. Be passionate. If you own a bike store, don’t be passionate about bikes. Be passionate about biking.

Build a movement and look at (social media) as a tool.”

Braun, who earned a degree in journalism, has been in the business of providing strategic and creative services since the early 1980s, and has worked throughout Canada, from Winnipeg to Calgary.

He started his own company in 1992 and, after 12 years as a consultant working for the

largest advertising and marketing firms in Western Canada, Allison joined forces with Marcus Braun in January 2005 to form Braun/ Allison Inc. Allison said he loves waking up every day to do a job he loves, and encouraged everyone to do the same; find a career they can be enthusiastic about, and let that excitement show in all forms of social media.

He noted the Gutenberg Press revolutionized how people were able to share information in the 1400s, then the Internet did the same thing upon its inception.

“I think we’re at a time now that is bigger

than the Gutenberg Press or the Internet. I think we’re on the edge of a cliff here,” Allison said.

The old method for business was for company bigwigs to sit around a conference table, decide what they should tell people to buy, then purchase a newspaper ad telling them to buy that product.

Today – especially since consumers are much more educated than ever before, thanks to the Internet – companies are having conversations with the consumer, instead of lecturing them and telling them what to do.

“Now, companies are listening to what people are saying they want,” Allison said.

“It’s no longer, ‘How do I make a buck?’ Now, it’s ‘How do I make a buck and make peoples’ better?’”

As for advertising, Allison emphasized that “you’ve got to do both” print and online, and noted a recent Ipsos-Reid poll shows newspaper ads are “by far, still number one” as to where people will look for real estate-related information.

The only thing that’s changed is the content in the ads, he said. In the ‘old days’ the newspaper ad would be chock-full of all the information the reader might need.

“Now, all you’re trying to do is get them to go to your website,” he said.

Home Warranty provided by

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New Local Home March 17, 2011