Vancouver Real Estate Tips For Communities

Here are a few "bigger picture" tips to improve the value of your home.

1. Get The Whole Neighbourhood Involved.

When you have a community of homeowners with a single-minded goal, it can be quite the force in bringing up the value of the whole neighbourhood. Children's clothing swap meets, Community Fairs, Street Days, Community Gardens and local performances are all ways of bringing people from other parts of the city to yours. With all the community out and pitching in, it sends a positive message to potential buyers that where you live is a special place indeed.

2. Maintenance En Masse.

You can spot a homeowner a mile away. The lawn is always nicely manicured, the leaves are raked and the sidewalk is cleared of garbage. Renters, on the other hand, don't seem to care quite as much. So how do you keep the neighbourhood consistently stunning when renters are reluctant to pitch in? Order maintenance as a group. Talk to your neighbours about contracting landscapers for the whole block. You'll get a greatly discounted group rate, free up your weekends, and the whole block (even the landlords) will thank you for it as property values soar.

3. Push For Press

If you live in a sleepy little neighbourhood that's off the radar of the papers - do something about it. Think of a newsworthy event and write some press releases. Invite a few journalists out to your next community event. Or even better, get together with your neighbours and organize a PR campaign through a professional agency. With a few carefully chosen headlines, your quiet little neck of the woods could become the next real estate hotspot.

Anthea Poon has been a Vancouver real estate agent for over 14 years. To find out more about how she can sell your home in English, French, Mandarin or Cantonese, contact her at Mobile: 604-719-6103. Office: 604-629-6100

Vancouver Christmas Market

Wow. What a great idea. Now you can do all of your Christmas shopping in one place.

You know, this is one of the reasons I love living in Vancouver. Where else do you find things like this? Well, I guess a few other places - but not many!

Last year the Vancouver Christmas Market was named as one of Ten Most Spectacular Holiday Markets in the world.

If you are interested in checking it out, it's only on until December 24, 2011. Hours are 11am-9pm (but be warned, it closes a little earlier on Christmas Eve 6 pm).

You can find the Market in downtown Vancouver on the Plaza at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (on Georgia, between Cambie and Hamilton). 

For more information, click here: Complete Admission ticket and pass information.

West End Fitness

There is a certain body image that is adopted by residents of the West End. It fits nicely into a pair of Lululemon pants, works well with a stiff collared dress shirt and is perfectly suited for English Bay tanning.

In the summer, these bodies are shaped with runs along the sea wall, outdoor yoga at David Lam Park and dragonboat training along False Creek. But what about the winter months, when the rain returns? Where do all the beautiful people go to maintain their athletic physique?

The answer: residents of the West End are spoiled with an abundance of private and public gym and fitness centres. Open early and closing late, these facilities are the perfect getaway for condo owners intent on keeping their bodies firm and tight. They are also great settings for networking opportunities; many of my friends and clients have actually met their partners at fitness facilities in the West End.

Some of the most popular private gyms are Steve Nash's Fitness Centre and Denman Fitness. With an abundance of cardio equipment, personal trainers and group lessons, the gyms have something for every working professional trying to lose that little tummy.

For those on a tighter budget, the Denman Community Centre and the Burrard Bridge Aquatic 

Centre offer basic equipment and services at reduced rates. If you buy the general pass you can use the fitness centre, the Aquatic Centre pool and the Denman Street ice rink. Not bad for a community membership.

I could go into more details about the services offered by these gyms, but I'm late for my pilates lesson.

For more information on living in the West End, visit my website: http://www.antheapoon.com