Salt Spring Island fall fair is coming up on September 15-16. This is just such a great fair, with all the fun trappings of a real fair. My favorite is the zucchini races. Yes we race zucchini's on Salt Spring and my boys can hardly wait. This is not for kids only anyone can race any age. This is serious racing with rules and everything. There is two categories A & B. Type A is for the traditional full body zucchinis and type B is for the zucchinis on roller skates or skateboards. I must say I'm a traditionalist and look forward to seeing the type A races. Type B is just to duck tape and go.Hopefully I will see you at the fair.CheersScott 08/26/2007

Salt Spring Island house prices and replacement cost... I watch the house prices every day that is part of my job but sometimes I'm just shaking my head at the asking prices.Now I'm not allowed to talk about other listings so this is just example not about any one listing.Now lets say a house was listed at 4 million and it was a very nice place. Here is my test for the value of the house;:can the house be duplicated on a empty lot near by,is the house so unique it could never be duplicated,how traditional is the design is it way out there or does it have good Carma.Now if the 4 million house could be duplicated and you could by a lot near by for less that $1,000,000 that would leave you with $3,000,000 to build even if you where going to pay $500 per sq ft to build (about twice the norm... 08/26/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate news "The other agents wont show your listings"... Because One Percent realty charges so little to sell a house there is a rumor that other agent wont show one of our listings.It is not true. Over the last week I have had 4 showing at two of my listing by other agents. I can prove it and would be willing to.The fact of the matter is that with the Internet houses are bought not sold...Did you get that....HOUSE ARE BOUGHT NOT SOLD... That is the difference that the Internet has had on Real Estate.In the old days you would get into the agent car and he or she would show you the house that they thought you would like.Now 90% of customers do there own research on the Internet....Of course I can work for less you are doing half of my job....So don't believe that... 08/23/2007

Salt Spring Island wines have come of age. Wine, Wine and wineries there can never be to many wineries. This is one of my passions in life wine and wine making. Maybe I will list off some of my life passions so here they are in no particular order sailing, fine wines, fine food, Jazz and big band music, family, friends and of course my beautiful wife.This post is about wines and Gulf Island wineries like Saturna Island family Estate Winery. My dream is to find a piece of raw land and help someone put in a first class old world winery. Like the one I used to live on in Europe. No Stainless steel in site just Oak. Pure fine wine for the real wine enthusiast. Well it just happens I have the perfect land and location for it. I found it sailing and have been after the listing ever since. It ... 08/23/2007

Salt Spring Island news we don't have a Mayor But Scott Simmons is running for Mayor. Really he is running for Mayor and I'm rooting for him Go Scott Go. Here is the web site for the campaign http://www.scottsimmonsformayor.com/index.htm . So if anyone want to help out with the campaign that's great. Scott has such a good name that he has to win. I'm his biggest supporter and lead his Canadian support team. If he comes to Canada I hope to meet with him and help promote his City of Montgomery. So if you are in Montgomery Alabama vote for Scott Simmons if you are on Salt Spring Island use Scott Simmons as your real estate agent. That is the funny thing about the Internet everyone is just a click away.Just Google your own name you never know what will come up maybe you are a.... 08/19/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate agent takes a night off... I did really. I went out on the Wednesday night sailing race at the Salt Spring Island sailing club. It was a nice night for racing, but are there bad nights. I went out on Rogers new boat Impossible with a friend Phillipe from Edmonton and another crew member Carolyn.We sailed well on the little lindenberg 22. It sure a nice little boat and has lots of potential to really be a fast boat. The only mistake we made was to think that the wind might be stronger on the west side of the harbour and we sailed into a hole.On the way back to the club we had a bit of miscommunication and the main halyard was pulled to the top of the mast so yours truly climbed up and retrieved the halyard. It just so happened that a pro photographer was in... 08/16/2007

It's true I'm a total snob when it come to appliances. Yesterday I was pre viewing Salt Spring Island real estate for a customer coming to the island this weekend. They are looking in the million range and I was not impressed with the kitchen appliances.I have built and renovated quite a few homes and I always taken a keen interest in the appliances. I have my favorite if I was buying a million dollar home.Stoves bar none Garland it is the best stove build they are real commercial grade not fake stainless steel wannabes.Fridges look no further than Sub zero I have had three and they are easy to fix and last forever. The are the real deal.Dish washers I have to say Mele is the best they are super quiet and well built. I bought a ASKO for the house we are in now it is very bad, noisy, the... 08/16/2007

Salt Spring Island's secluded Maracaibo estates... to cool what a place. I hope to be signing up a new listing on the estate. I have always thought it was such a interesting place. It is very very private. The roads are owned by the residents and it is not open to the public. It is like a gated community without the guard or gate. Lets face it on salt spring the crime stats for break and enters are so low they are not on any scale used by any city in the world. I could see the time coming when they decide to put up a computerized gate but for the last 20 years the private sign has keep the public out.I'm really excited about this new Salt Spring Island real estate listing in Maracaibo and hope that the customer sees the light and signs with me at One Percent Realty. The overall commissi... 08/13/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate Bed and breakfast - To B or not to B. How corny but it is a common question I get all the time. The B&B question? How hard is it to run a B&B and how much can I make?Over the last 5 years June and I have designed and build our B&B into our home. We have two totally self contained suites that offer the customers the following benefits;private entranceprivate washrooms in suitessound proof walls and ceilingsprivate and separate dining room to serve breakfastThese are what I would call minimum requirements for a B&B. So the house need to be set up specifically for B&B purposes. Now I find myself looking at all possible conversions for houses I visit and figuring out the cost setting them up as a B&B.How hard is it to run a B&B, it's work yesterday afternoon J... 08/10/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate blog has moved up to page one on Google for Salt Spring Island real estate. Yippee it has been a long road to move up. The nice thing is that my web site is now on page two second from the top. It has been very interesting problem moving up on the search engines. I just started my web site and blog in January and it took a long time to come out of the Google sand box. SEO is one of those things that can be done by yourself if you work at it. The SEO forum and articles at Highrankings.com has been a big help. So has Gene, Jay and Lonnie who post on the Point 2 web site forum.Keywords, back links and original content are the keys. Cut out the out going links and work on your back links. Like I said on a post yesterday it is easy to find the free directories ... 08/09/2007

Tomorrow the water will be cool and wet. Actually it is a work day at Salt Spring's trip road RV park tomorrow. We are putting in a new dock. It should be a good day of work on the water. I really don't know the plan but will show up with my tools and Air compressor and nail gun. I still have a lot of 3" galvanized nails lying around and they do work good on wet locations. The wood that they bought for the deck is the new copper pressure treated and the only draw back is that it does react with the screws or nails it cause them to corrode.I will find out in the AM what the plan is going to be. I thought I would take my Scuba gear just in case we lose something or need to build something under the pier. After 4 years as a army combat diver I'm more used to blowing up docks and bridges bu... 08/05/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate news a new listing so new I cant tell you... Actually it is not signed up yet but I sure hope it is signed up tomorrow night. It is a very sweet little home. Water view, sunny and quiet. I really get great Carma from the place it is like a tranquil little monastery. It really has to be seen to be liked I don't know if you could get the same feeling of calm from the pictures on the Internet. I would like to say more but until tomorrow night I will leave all my readers in total suspense..... I'm really excited about this place, it's just so cool it really does remind me of Tibet... No kidding Tibet... you read that right.Well until tomorrow I wont say any more 08/05/2007

As a Canadian I have to say I was really touched by the people I meet at the BBQ tonight. The Seattle Yacht Club has an out station on Salt Spring Island and tonight they gathered on mass. It was the annual commodore cruse and they had about 60 boats along for the ride.They invited the local chamber of commerce to come out to the BBQ and mingle. For all the bad publicity that the US gets in the world press you would be hard pressed to meet nicer and warmer people. In all sincerity they are just so darn nice maybe that is why so many people don't like the US. As an example of their hospitality during the course of the BBQ I was invites to go golfing in the morning and to ride along on the cruise. They where not kidding these people are just plain sincere and warm hearted. They are a clas... 07/25/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate agent overhead cost. How can One Percent Realty agent Scott Simmons charge so little to sell your Salt Spring Island real estate? It's easy I have very little overhead.Cell phone $50 per monthweb hosting $50 per monthagency fee zerooffice rent zeroreceptionist cost zeronew car (sorry mine is payed for no payment)commission splits with brokerage zerodesk fee zeroblog hosting fee on active rain zerodues to local real estate board yes about $100 a month the same as all Salt Spring Island real estate agentsSo my hard cost are about $200 a month. That is how One Percent keeps cost low. You will never see a fancy office for a One Percent Realty sales associate we don't need them and do you really want to pay for me to have a office space, do you.If you have any ... 07/21/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate agent story. Back in the day, between 1994 and 2001 I owned a small hot tub factory and two stores. What made my stores so successful was the way I priced the hot tubs. I had two prices one for the 7'x7' hot tubs $5238.14 and one for the larger 8'x8' hot tubs they where $5729.38. The prices where all inclusive, delivery, set up, chemical starter kit. The customers we had loved the prices and the one price for all concept. It was so successful I started going to the competitors bankruptcy / close out sales. The competitors I had used all the sales trick, truckload sales, zero down, specials. Over the years I had heard it all and just stuck to the same prices with minor adjustments year over year to cover any price increases.This same concept is why I like O... 07/21/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate bulletin "Is this agent plugged into the net enough?"In the last 24 hours I have managed to lose my first listing (I have been a buyers agent up until this last weekend) even before they signed up. I was surprised at the reason why. They though the other agent had a better web page and that fine it's their decision. Even though; if you do a google search for them, they do show up on page 6 or 7, but that fine I'm not crying about spilt milk.This got me thinking about my on line presence what do I offer customers. So I thought I would do a little post about it.Like 99% of real estate agent I would post the home on mls.caI would post the house on the NLS (national listing service) with over 120,000 world wide membersI would list the house on my Salt Spring I... 07/17/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate video clip on One Percent Realty. This news clip is great and it sums it all up. I really think this is the wave of the future on Salt Spring Island.So watch the clip and see how the One Percent Realty system works. They are a growing company and I'm very excited to be with them. It is going to be fun signing up listings. This is something I have not done as a buyers agent but I know what the buyers are looking for. This will give me a huge advantage when selling your Salt Spring Island home. 07/15/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate news. Well it's official I'm now with One Percent Realty. I just could not resist. Most of my long time readers will know that I'm what they call a frugal person. I don't like to waste money. After running my own business for a decade and knowing I was only payed after all the bills where payed from; WCB, suppliers, wages, leases, etc... the bills just roll in. So when you run your own show you learn to save and make every dollar count. Considering the average business makes 6 - 8 % net profit it is not easy to run a profitable business. I learn the value of money and how easy it is to spend and how hard it is to make and keep.In the real estate business there are lots of different business models and because of my own frugality I have gravitated to a supe... 07/14/2007

Salt Spring Island resort goes up in flames. It is about midnight and I have just returned home from watching the Salt Spring Island Bullock Lake resort go up in flames. It looked like the main club house was on fire and has burned to the ground.The Resort has been going through some tough financial time lately. Last year they where selling quarter shares in the town homes and they did not sell very well. The property tax has hurt a lot of the quarter ownership places in the province. They have been upgraded to commercial tax rates and it has slowed sales. I had read where the province was looking at changing their tax status to make them more viable. I pray all the Salt Spring Volunteer Firemen and Women (my barber is a fire women) have a safe night and get the fire out. The winds have... 07/09/2007

Salt Spring Island real estate tip "home staging". If a Salt Spring Island home for sale is empty it is just hard to get a warm feeling from it. Some of the houses are so big you just kind of wander around looking at these bare rooms and wondering. I have showed a few empty houses in the last two weeks and it just doesn't do the houses justice to show them empty. I seem to get a cold, hollow and empty feeling. Not the warm embrace a home should give.Some of the custom houses with there unique floor plans make it almost impossible to know what room I'm in. I find myself asking is this the living room, dining room, bedroom, office or squash court. No wonder they are hard to sell, how can you fall in love with something that feels like a empty warehouse.In the cities they rent furniture to... 07/09/2007