Sooke Community and Real Estate Blog 642Blog.ca

One of our first dates

Then Comes Marriage….

One of my favourite shots from the wedding

Then Comes….

Due late October!

!!!

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: announcement | baby | pregnancy

Lindsay Buziak: Still No Arrests In Murder Case

As long as I write this blog, I’m certain to never forget that two years ago today, February 2nd, is the day that Lindsay Buziak, a 24 year old real estate agent from Victoria, was murdered in the house she was showing to prospective buyers.

In the month or so before the anniversary of her death, searches for “Lindsay Buziak” and related keywords surrounding the case show up with increasing frequency on my blog stats because of what I wrote the days after the murder and on the one-year anniversary in 2009.

It’s only natural I guess – people scouring the Internet for information on the case: clues, speculation or rumours. I’d like to think that some of the traffic is law enforcement, hoping that somebody somewhere has posted a new tip or clue about the case.

Because it’s ridiculous that the police have next to nothing to go on. She was killed in the early evening in a residential neighbourhood where people would be getting home from work. Somebody saw something. Somebody knows something that will lead to an arrest. Saanich Police concede that she was intentionally targeted and that the murder was planned many weeks in advance. You can’t plan something like that and have no one know about it.

“Lindsay was intentionally targeted, she was intentionally lured to the home and she was intentionally killed.” – Saanich Police spokeswoman Sgt. Julie Fast.

Lindsay’s family has announced a reward of $100,000 for information leading to an arrest. The Victoria Real Estate Board and the Canadian Real Estate Association have each contributed $25,000 to the reward pool, in a show of support. What happened to Lindsay, while not a direct result of her profession, could happen to any of us in real estate. All too often we get complacent in the chase for another deal. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it – listen to your instincts.

I really hope I never have to write another Lindsay Day post on this blog. Please, if you know anything about this case, no matter how small it may seem, call the Saanich Police tip line at 250-475-4356.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: case | CREA | crime | lindsay buziak | murder | real estate agent | realtor | reward | rumours | Saanich | tips | unsolved | Victoria | VREB

The Sunken Garden at Butchart

Last night, my wife and I got out and enjoyed the crisp December evening and headed out to world-famous Butchart Gardens on the Saanich Peninsula. Every year they decorate the gardens in thousands of lights, creating a truly magical Christmas experience. Despite the sub-zero temperatures, it was a gorgeous, starlit evening, and the lights were amazing. The gardens are decked out in a Twelve Days of Christmas theme, so along the garden paths there are little vignettes displaying the different parts of the famous song. It was fun to hear everyone reciting or singing “fiiiiiive golden rings” and so on as they approached the various displays along the route.

I brought along my camera, tripod and shutter release to get some long exposure shots of the lights. Lights at night are one of my favourite things to photograph, and I think the results turned out quite well.

A large cedar with lots of presents

There was a brass quartet playing Christmas carols, a carousel, and a skating rink set up for all to enjoy. The admission might seem a little steep at $23.50 for adults (lots less for kids, price list here) but if you buy a yearly pass and go more than twice it pays for itself (many will go once a season, or more if you have guests in from out of town).

I hadn’t been out to Butchart Gardens in about 5 years or more, and I had forgotten how lucky we are to have such a world-class attraction in our back yard. It truly is a top-notch operation and it’s no surprise how popular it remains, after over 100 years in existence.

Enjoy these photos – you can view the rest on my Flickr page.

Ponds are frozen over at the Gardens

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: activities | BC | butchart | christmas | display | events | gardens | lights | photography | things to do | Victoria | winter

This past Saturday saw the 2nd annual Sooke Spirit Festival which was a resounding success. What started as a small event in a snowstorm last year, grew into a well organized and well attended family affair this year.

I was driving the lead boat (the Coast Guard Auxiliary boat) in the sailpast, and managed to shoot a little bit of video to give you an idea what it looked like out there if you missed it. What a perfect night to be on the water. A little chilly, but the wind held off until after the sailpast, which was a big plus. There were lots of people on the boardwalk watching the dozen-plus decorated boats sparkle on the crystal-clear and calm evening on Sooke Harbour.

Check out the video I shot below. It’s mostly of the boats getting ready and of the beautiful harbour before sundown, as I was driving the boat during the actual sailpast. If anyone has any better video, shoot me an email and let me know and I’ll post it!

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: 2009 | auxiliary | BC | boats | CCGA | coast guard | festival | harbour | lights | parade | sailpast | Sooke | spirit | tim ayres

I’m pleased to announce that I will be teaching web marketing and social media training in Victoria, BC starting next month. Reachd.com has approached me to be their Victoria instructor. The 3-hour classes are taught in the afternoon, and are ideal for anyone in any small business who wants to learn how to capitalize on this growing trend. How can you effectively use social media and web marketing to grow your business? I can’t wait to show you how. The three courses that are happening next month are: Social Media Guided Tour ($149), Explode Your Growth With A Blog ($149), and Broadcast Your Message With Online Video ($249 – includes a video camera!). You can take all three courses for $399 – a savings of $149. Come out and learn something in December and be ahead of your competition in the new year!

The courses will also be offered in January, along with courses on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google AdWords.

More information and registration at http://TimAyres.ca/reachd

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: courses | facebook | linkedin | reachd | Real Estate | seo | small business | social media | tim ayres | training | Twitter

We all do what we do because we enjoy it and we’re good at it. Sometimes there are days when even when it seems you can do no wrong – you’ve nailed every phone call, email, sales opportunity or customer service goal; and then, out of nowhere, an instance of FAIL takes over.

To illustrate, here is a video of an amazing goal… And an equally amazing fail afterwards:

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: celebration | fail | funny | goal | hockey | inspiration | motivation | sweden

I had a busy day at the convention today. I caught the last part of a session on social media, but I’m glad I missed most of it. It wasn’t a really good session – the presenters were unprepared, and didn’t really seem to understand social media. For example, when talking about blogging, they didn’t even mention platforms like WordPress or Blogger. There were much better social media sessions at the conference than this one. I also spent some more time on the trade show  floor and attended Tara Hunt’s presentation on Whuffie for Real Estate. Tara has some interesting ideas about social capital and how you can use it to grow your business. David Knox’s session on overcoming pricing objections was very entertaining and informative. I also met with the people from Obeo, a virtual tour and listing marketing company. They have an innovative and interesting product and you should check it out.

Check out the video below:

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: #nar09 | 2009 | conference | david knox | NAR | san diego | social media | tara hunt | tim ayres | trade show | whuffie

Day 1 of the NAR Convention in San Diego was very productive – I saw two sessions today and unfortunately was shut out of a third due to it being full. The Introduction to Social Media session was great. As a REALTOR® who puts himself out there online using social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, I was very pleased with the session. It was facilitated by three practicing agents, just like me, and they nailed it. Ginger Wilcox, Kelley Koehler, and Mariana Wagner were excellent – it was refreshing seeing a social media presentation by three working real estate professionals who actually, as they put it, do this to feed their kids.

Check out my video update from Day 1:

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: #NAR2009 | 2009 | conference | NAR | Real Estate | san diego | social media | tim ayres | update | Victoria | VREB

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

If you’re on Facebook, you’ve seen this one floating around the intertubes for a couple of weeks. I was actually beginning to think (worry?) it’d pass over me without getting tagged, but now I’ve been tagged thrice at least 5 times.

1. I was born in Vancouver General Hospital, and lived a pretty sheltered existence growing up in Tsawwassen – my Mom still lives in the house I grew up in.

2. I am a certified PADI scuba diving instructor; I’ve certified some 150-200 people how to take the plunge, mostly in the chilly (but beautiful) waters of British Columbia.

3. For three years, I worked on board cruise ships, teaching tourists how to snorkel and dive, and trying to teach them how to relax and enjoy their vacation instead of bitching and moaning about something.

4. Cruise ships made me hate people.

5. I’ve learned to like people again. Well, most people.

6. I used to swear one of my legs was significantly longer than the other, but never bothered to measure them to be sure.

7. I love running, which if you asked me about 5 years ago I’d have probably passed out just thinking about it

8. I plan to run my first 1/2 and full marathons this year.

9. I don’t get along well with bosses, never have, which is one of many reasons I know I’m in the right career.

10. I love dogs. I’d have a dozen if I could, but for now this one will do:

Kaia

11. I am a trivia nerd, and my dream is to be on Jeopardy! some day.

12. I love to write (hence this blog), and would love to write a book just as soon as I figure out how to write one and what to write it about.

13. I have a small but very close group of friends from high school that I still hang around with. They’re like brothers to me.

14. I thought I knew what real love was until I fell in love with my fiancee Marg. I’ve never felt so completely fulfilled and apparently, I’m completely unashamed to share it with the world.

15. I’ve always been an emotional person and I don’t know how I’m going to hold it together on my wedding day.

16. I’m fascinated by technology and social media.

17. I love to travel, and would love to see even more of the world than I did while working on cruise ships. Marg hasn’t been anywhere, and I love showing her new places!

18. I love beer! Fresh, tasty, craft-brewed beer. I have all the equipment to brew my own, too, which I really should do more of. The Great Canadian Beer Festival here in Victoria is one of my favourite events of the year.

19. I drink a lot of coffee in the morning.

20. I love to be near the ocean, which is one of the reasons I moved to the Island.

21. If I had a boat, I’d be fishing on it at least once a week.

22. I consider myself a social person, but I also value peace and quiet, which is another reason I love where I live.

23. At one time or another growing up, I wanted to be: a fireman (what kid didn’t?), police officer, astronaut, hockey player, chef, scientist (no specific -ologist, just a scientist), lawyer, artist.

24. I love movies with great dialogue. Examples: High Fidelity (or most John Cusack films for that matter); Clerks; Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; Glengarry, Glen Ross.

25. I took way longer than I should have to write this.

Consider yourself tagged, if you’ve not already done this.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: 25 things | about me | facebook | meme | random facts | tagged | tim ayres