Vancouver Property Report - February 13th/2010

Six Million Dollar Home Renovation Dream Job for Local Contractor

If you had six million dollars, would you renovate a house with it?  Buy doorknobs that cost $500 each or toilets that set you back $4,000 per fixture? One family, who bought a three story, 6,000 foot Tudor style heritage home did just that.  And the lucky contractors, Artisan Construction, won the bid to do the work. The two founders, brothers Darren and Brent Repin, were most certainly happy campers.

Since the house had heritage status, renovations had to stick to stringent planning regulations that required the home’s features to be kept intact.  This means if a portion of the home, like part of the façade, was too damaged to be restored; it had to be recreated in kind.

Parts of the home that were too damaged to let stand were the window sills, doors, baseboards, even some of the structural support beams. These were replaced with solid walnut, all carved to mirror the original look.  Leaded glass windows needed to be replaced with those of the same style, only upgraded to be double glazed.

Within the vintage framework, a host of new age comforts and technological innovations took root.  The shower in the master en suite incorporated a sound system, heated mirrors that won’t fog up and a floor made of travertine.  

One entire downstairs room houses a home automation system that controls the heating, video, audio and security controls for the entire home. The owners can even set a different mood for each room, putting light dimmer switches and selected music on a timer.

It took about 2 ½ years and over 100 skilled tradespeople to complete the work on this dream home. With its 14 foot ceilings and hand blown chandeliers and oversized fireplace in the entry way it is meant to impress…and it does.

Vancouver Property Report - January 28th/2010

Local Businesses Hope to See Major Impact from Games

While athletes at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver will be competing for gold, local businesses are planning to fight and compete for customers to gain ever dollar possible in these tough economic times.

The businesses in Vancouver have been planning for over eight years to gain the most lucrative position for these two weeks where the world will descend upon British Colombia.

Many people are wondering what type of effect the 2010 Winter Games will have on Vancouver's real estate market.  the year of 2009 was almost the worst on record since '62 for housing starts.  Luckily, there was a surge in starts in December '09.

One situation that will play out is the $1.2 billion athletes village facility that had to be built for the games.  After the original developer went bankrupt during the global credit crisis, the City of Vancouver and its taxpayers were forced to fund the project so the city could host the athletes.

City officials say that they hope the games will bring all eyes on Vancouver, prompting people from around the world to want to move to Vancouver.  Experts agree that the hype surrounding the games has kept Vancouver from slipping into a deep financial slump.