Sooke Community and Real Estate Blog 642Blog.ca

I was driving around downtown Victoria yesterday, where I saw several VANOC staff and vehicles in various parking lots, a huge stage being erected on the lawn of the legislature, portable lights, temporary NO PARKING signs, and other signs of the imminent arrival of the Olympic Torch. Lit a few days ago in Greece, it’s due to arrive in Victoria tomorrow – the first stop of its 45,000 km journey across this vast nation, touching over 1000 communities in every province and territory before arriving back in Vancouver to light the Olympic flame in February.

After its arrival and the celebrations (and protests) in Victoria, early risers in Sooke will be treated to a ceremony at Sooke Muncipal Hall, and a relay down to the T’Sou-ke Nation and a breakfast at Edward Milne Community School.

It will be a short visit – the torch is on an understandably tight schedule – before it’s whisked away to Metchosin and other points along its journey.

Set your alarms! At 7:00 am, Mayor Janet Evans will present a short speech at the municipal hall and a short video clip of Ed Johnson’s record breaking 27 second climb up a 100-foot pole at All Sooke Days in 1984 will be shown to give a sense of Sooke’s community heritage. The torch will then travel down the hill and across the Sooke River Bridge to Derbend Road, leading to a ceremony at the T’Sou-ke Nation.  The send off ceremony will include a concert and breakfast at Edward Milne School at 8:00 am.

With any luck, the current forecast will hold – partly cloudy with a chance of showers. I plan to attend, shoot a few photos and some video – check back after the event to see what I managed to capture.

Hope to see you there!

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: 2010 | BC | flame | location | olympics | place | relay | schedule | Sooke | time | torch | Victoria

October 28th, 2009

It’s a little pixelated, but passable. The main problem with this otherwise nicely composed shot of a gorgeous kitchen is the lighting! It’s so dark you can’t appreciate the rich tones, high-end appliances and cabinets. My guess is that the REALTOR® used the internal flash on the camera to shoot this one and it didn’t illuminate the scene.  Instead, turn a few more lights on, use a tripod and let the natural light do it for you.

See all the usual suspects here.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: bad | horrible | MLS | photo | photography | Real Estate | realtor

As I watched the sun rising over the back fence and into my home office, I was reminded why I love this season so much.  The crisp, cool air, a bright blue sky, and the golden hue of the morning sun on the colourful autumn leaves prompted me to bundle up and shoot a few photos on a walk along the spectacular Sooke Harbour boardwalk.

Parking the car at the lot on Murray Road, I walked up Murray towards Sooke Road to capture some of the leaves in the trees. I had noticed this the last sunny day we had and had meant to get back there to capture it. Unfortunately the wind over the past few days has pretty much stripped the trees, but they still look pretty on the ground.

Walking down the hill towards the Rotary Pier/boardwalk access, I snapped a few photos of the sun shining through the leaves, and reflecting off the harbour.

I love looking at this house whenever I head out on the boardwalk.

The pier and boardwalk are framed perfectly by the trees

Just because it isn’t summer doesn’t mean you can’t toss a trap in the water for crab. It was deserted on the often-busy pier, save for this couple.

There were lots of leaves left on the trees along the water. The harbour was so still, it was like a mirror, reflecting the trees. Gorgeous!

The harbour boardwalk is a real gem, we’re lucky to have it. It goes from the bottom of Murray Road all the way to Ed Macgregor Park, where it switch-backs gently across the slope offering easy access to and from the water.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! If you’d like to see the whole set, you can view it on Flickr.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: autumn | BC | boardwalk | ed macgregor park | Fall | harbour | leaves | park | photo walk | photos | Sooke

October 26th, 2009

All that effort to fit the bathroom into the frame, only to end up with a crooked mess. So close, yet, so far.

October 27th, 2009

Oh, hello there!

See all the usual suspects here.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: bad | horrible | MLS | photo | photography | Real Estate | realtor

October 25th, 2009

See all the usual suspects here.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: bad | horrible | MLS | photo | photography | Real Estate | realtor

October 22nd, 2009

Washout

642Blog reader and professional photographer and web designer Leah sent this one in. Stop taking your marketing pictures with your cell phone, agents!

October 23rd, 2009

Teeny Tiny

Yes, actual size found on the MLS®. Again, thanks to Leah from SpiritHills.ca for this one!

October 24th, 2009

Yikes, what a mess!

See all the usual suspects here.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: bad | horrible | MLS | photo | photography | Real Estate | realtor

Call your REALTOR®, and list it now.

Of course, not every home is going to sell overnight, but supply of good, moderately-priced homes is tight, and seems only to be getting tighter. I’ve been tracking listings of single family homes in Sooke, Langford, and Colwood for a client of mine. Check out this spreadsheet (I’ll keep updating it, so feel free to bookmark it). Listings are up a little bit this week, but often conditions come off on Fridays, so you can expect quite a few drop off before the week is out.

From a days on market standpoint, I’m simply amazed at how quickly well-priced, mid-market homes are selling. Out of all sales (80 total) in Langford, since September 1, the average time to sell is 36 days. There were a few 100+ days on market listings that drag the average up a little. To better illustrate my point, there were fully 32 single family homes that sold in 14 days or less. Keeping in mind that conditions on an offer usually take a week or longer, you can comfortably assume that homes that sell in 14 days or less have an accepted offer within a week.

During the same period, it seems that most of the core areas of greater Victoria are experiencing similar time to sell. Next door, Colwood had an average of 45 days on the market, with 31 sales. The central core of Victoria (Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt, Oak Bay) saw 307 homes sell in an average of 36 days.

Interestingly, Sooke, which has much more moderate prices, had 36 sales in an average of 76 days on market. This is not unexpected – Sooke’s market has always been a little slower than the rest of greater Victoria. Still – well priced, mid-market homes are selling quickly in Sooke.

At a time of year when things are usually expected to start slowing down, this market is as busy as ever. If you’re thinking of selling your home, now would be a very, very good time. There is still time to move before Christmas, or start the new year off in a new home.

I’m always available to answer questions, run stats, and of course I’d love to evaluate your home and show you my marketing plan. I can be reached at 250-885-0512, Tim@TimAyres.ca, or you can fill in my contact form.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: BC | Colwood | days on market | fast sale | how fast are homes selling | how to sell | Langford | Market | Sooke | Victoria

October 21st, 2009

Sometimes, words just aren’t enough, so I’ll let Jean-Luc demonstrate:

Thank-you, Captain.

See all the usual suspects here.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: bad | bathroom | horrible | MLS | photo | photography | picard | Real Estate | realtor

October 20th, 2009

What the hell?

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-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: bad | horrible | MLS | photo | photography | Real Estate | realtor

Work's Boring... I'm Going To The Stick

If you’ve been by the fabulous Stick in The Mud coffee house in Sooke lately, you’ll notice that owner/operator/coffee nut David has cleared out and opened up a back room. What, besides a random-looking door-like window in the wall, is this all about?

David has ordered himself a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line, so-awesome-it-deserves-more-hyphens coffee bean roaster from Diedrich Manufacturing in Idaho (not just for potatoes anymore!) He was out to visit Idaho a few weeks ago to see his contraption being constructed. It will be ready to ship in early December and arriving at the shop a few weeks after that. The challenge, says David, will be finding gas fitters to install the beast a few days/weeks before Christmas. So if you know anyone that will be working just before Christmas…

Every good roaster needs a name, and The Stick’s is no exception. So, he’s having a contest to name the roaster. Just go into the shop, write down your name and put it in with the rest. Include your name as well, and a contact method so you can get your reward if you win: the very first coffee beans roasted in Dave’s new machine.

I think this is very exciting, and I’m happy for Dave that he’s ready to take his business to the next level. By importing raw beans and custom-roasting them, Dave will be able to not only cut out the middle man roaster, but will have full quality and creative control over what goes into his customers’ cups. But then, those that are regulars like me would expect nothing less from the pusher in the alley in Sooke.

The Stick In The Mud is located just off West Coast/Sooke Road and Otter Point Road, at 6715 Eustace Road in Sooke.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: cafes | coffee | good | great | house | roaster | roasting | Sooke | stick in the mud