21. July 2008 by Kari Calder.

I have to admit that Taste of Saskatchewan is one of my most favorite events of the summer…well, of the entire year! I enjoyed it a total of 6 times this year. I moved back to Saskatoon several years ago and any time I have new clients who move to Saskatoon I always like to tell them about TOS. It is one of the best events and there are always great bands, great people watching, and great food put on of course by Conexus Credit Union, and as I work for Century 21 Conexus in Saskatoon, I figured I should make sure to support it as much as possible. There were 30 restaurants from Saskatoon that took part in the event. One of my new favorites, Cactus Joes, had incredibly tasty sweet potato fries. Taste of Saskatchewan gives everyone in Saskatoon the ability to sample at many of our tones of restaurants and is a great time for people who are new to our beautiful city to check out great places to eat and enjoy live entertainment, to sit with strangers and enjoy the food and hopefully some conversation with some of our friendly Saskatoonians.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd. 

Posted in Saskatchewan Events, Saskatoon Events, Personal | No Comments »

31. March 2008 by Kari Calder.

Last night, people around the world made a statement by turning off all of their lights in their home for 1 full hour between 8pm and 9pm. Major cities across the world participated including smaller cities like Saskatoon.  Check out this YouTube video of Toronto celebrating Earth Hour 2008.

The city of Saskatoon stated they were going to participate in Earth Hour.  I am unaware if they actually did or not as I stayed in my own home, having a dinner by candlelight. I know other organizations like Innovation Place urged their tenants to participate and shut down their office lights during this time.  As I mentioned I stayed home during Earth Hour but was curious on how many people in my area would participate.  At around 7:55 I was very happy to see other Saskatoon home owners in my neighborhood start turning off the lights in their home.  On my street alone I counted at least 10 people shutting off their lights at around 8:00pm.  It was easy to see quite a few people with candles glowing in their homes.  It is great to see Saskatoon as a community take part in such a strong statement. Feel free to comment and share on your Earth Hour experience!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd. 

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26. March 2008 by Kari Calder.

Earth Hour is a global event organized by the World Wildlife Federation.  On March 29th at 8pm until 9pm millions of people around the world will do one very simple thing which will deliver a powerful and symbolic message about the need to address global warming.  Starting at 8pm on the 29th people around the world will turn off their lights in their home and businesses for 1 hour.  This includes things like televisions, computers, etc.  I think this is an amazing idea and it unites everyone in the world that believes that global warming is a real threat that needs to be addressed.  I encourage all Saskatoon home owners and everyone else in Saskatoon and the surrounding areas to take part in this event.  This is an amazing opportunity to contribute to the overall success of an important message.  Be sure to tell friends and family of this event.  Some people may think what can I possibly do for an hour without the lights on?  As for myself I plan on spending the night with a few friends and lighting a few candles and just enjoy some quality time with them.  Be sure to spread the word around about Earth Hour and do your part as a Saskatoon home owner and turn your lights off on March 29th from 8pm to 9pm.  Be sure to check out the video at You Tube!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Saskatchewan Events, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Events, Personal, Saskatoon | 1 Comment »

21. March 2008 by Kari Calder.

I have always been someone that tries to do their part when it comes to recycling.  I am firm believer that even the smallest effort does make a difference in the long run.  There are so many small things home owners can do to help the environment.  In many cases for home owners, taking the environmentally friendly path will reduce your overall costs as well.  As a Saskatoon real estate agent I always like to provide my clients information on recycling and ways for them to reduce their costs in their homes.  Over the next few months I will provide readers information and tips on recycling in the city of Saskatoon and surrounding areas.  Be sure to visit often and find out how a few small things can make a big difference for the environment and also potentially lower your costs for your home.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

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18. March 2008 by Kari Calder.

Finally, opportunity for us Canadians to purchase homes in the United States… for a great price! I’m writing this blog as it seems that our Canadian dollar is neck and neck with the US greenback and that isn’t changing anytime soon, so now is the time to invest our Canadian dollars in the United States real estate market.

Unfortunately, for many home owners in the United States, their housing market is in turmoil and people are being forced to foreclose on their homes because they are no longer affordable. This means, in conjunction with our strong Canadian dollar, this is the best time for Canadians investing in US Real Estate.

I have family who very recently bought a beautiful condo in Florida for under $250,000. It is brand new, over 2000 square feet, and in a wonderful complex with tennis courts, a pool, and only a short drive to the beach. You can barely buy a house in some of the less desirable areas of Saskatoon for that price!

I am currently researching the ins and out and what needs to be done to make the transaction as smooth as possible when buying a home in the US from Canada. I want to provide my clients with many opportunities to invest their money, both locally and internationally. I have an ever growing network of real estate agents in the US who are specializing in working with Canadians to purchase homes in the US.

Some people don’t want to take their money out of Canada, but as a realtor in Saskatoon I see it every day where people outside of Saskatchewan and outside of Canada are investing.

Contact me and I can get you on your way to investing in the US market while there is still time to make some money! Wherever you want to buy in the United States, I can help you out by setting you up with a real estate professional as well as getting a local mortgage broker to get you set up financially so that your mortgage still remains in Canada.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in News, International Real Estate, Buyers, Personal | No Comments »

16. March 2008 by Kari Calder.

A recent article published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix indicates that Saskatchewan lead the nation in income growth between November 2006 and November 2007.  The article indicates employment earnings increased an average of 6.9 per cent.  This number is significantly higher than our neighbors with Alberta sitting at 5.6 per cent and Manitoba at 5.8 per cent.  This is extremely important news for Saskatchewan residents and especially for those looking to purchase real estate.  One of the major concerns that is being echoed throughout our province is that with the dramatic increase in real estate no one will be to afford a home with Saskatchewan salaries.  With the Saskatoon real estate market leading the charge and with growth of over 52% last year alone people have expressed concern.  There is an indication that salaries are increasing in our province though which is important to balance the increasing costs of living.  Our economy is helping drive the increase of real estate.  We just need to hope that salary increases keep up fast enough to the increasing costs of living.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Saskatchewan News, Saskatchewan, Personal | No Comments »

16. March 2008 by Kari Calder.

For those of you who keep up with the local Saskatchewan news I am sure you have heard all about the recent developments with Premier Brad Wall.  On Tuesday the Premier made an unscripted comment stating that he has previously taken his 14 year old daughter out on Saskatchewan roads and gave her a driving lesson.  This was immediately acted upon as the legal age that someone can receive a learners driver permit is 15.  Within the same day this story was in several news papers and then on Wednesday the NDP raised the matter in the legislature starting the premier should offer an apology for breaking the law and then joking about it.
For curiosity sake I took a poll of my friends and family and asked most people when the first time they drove in Saskatchewan was.  For those of us from Saskatchewan the majority of us had all driven a vehicle before we were 14 with permission from our parents or with them in the vehicle.  I definitely believe that having a legal driving age is an important and yes what the premier did was wrong but is this small mistake which he has apologize for worthy of all of the media coverage.  The fact that the NDP took time out of the legislature to bring this up and discuss it is frustrating.  There are much bigger matters to discuss and things to decide on when running our province instead of bringing up something like this.  I am definitely not alone on my thoughts on this as published in a recent article in the Star Phoenix; many Saskatchewan residents have offered private property to teach his daughter how to drive.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Saskatchewan News, Saskatchewan, Personal | No Comments »

29. February 2008 by Kari Calder.

Unless you have been living under a rock you are well aware of the booming Saskatoon real estate market.  On Thursday, March 28 a group of students from the University of Saskatchewan took a creative approach to bring awareness to the lack of cheap housing available for students in the city.  The students built an igloo on the University of Saskatchewan campus indicating that if the Saskatoon real estate market continues on its current path, that this will be what students will have to resort to.  One student volunteered to spend the night in the igloo but referred to the experience as “Yeah, last night was absolute crap.”  This is the second time a group of students have done something similar.  In the fall a group of students spent the weekend in tents trying to bring awareness to the issue.  The community of Saskatoon responded with offering over 300 rooms to students.  With the current real estate market continuing to increase this will continue to be an issue for students. 

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Saskatoon Events, Personal, News, Saskatoon, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

29. February 2008 by Kari Calder.

It always great to see someone from Saskatchewan make national news.  Darwin Head of Prince Albert was the lucky individual chosen by TSN to participate in a chance to win 1 million dollars in Vancouver at a Canucks game.  He was chosen from a total on 8.6 million online entries to compete in the Chevrolet Malibu Million Dollar Shootout.  His challenge was to score 15 goals in a mere 24 seconds from the blue line.  On Darwin’s last shot just before the time expired he clenched the 15th goal making him Canada’s newest millionaire.

Earlier in the day Darwin had the opportunity to practice with hockey legend Bobby Orr who was also on the ice with Darwin during the shootout.  During the competition he took Orr’s advice and blocked out and the crowd and focused on the task at hand.  Head walked away with 1 million dollars as well as a Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid for himself and two friends as well as one person from the audience.

After the shootout Darwin said he would use the money to look after his wife and three children, pay off their Saskatchewan home and put some aside for retirement.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Saskatchewan News, Saskatchewan, Personal | No Comments »

8. February 2008 by Kari Calder.

On Saturday, February 2, 2008 a real estate agent named Lindsay Buziak was killed while showing a house.  Lindsay was called by an unknown individual to show a vacant house in one of the suburbs of Victoria.  It was noted in the article that she felt uneasy about the caller and showing but went anyways.  Police were notified by an anonymous 911 call about Lindsay.

This is an absolute tragedy, Lindsay was a young professional with the rest of her career ahead of her.  For myself being a young female real estate agent I can’t help but feel a bit less secure in my day to day dealings now.  This is not the first time something like this has happened and both male and females have been targeted in the past.  Although Lindsay did feel uneasy about the showing as a real estate agent it is easy to understand why she went.  You never want to miss a potential lead or sale and this is probably why she went ahead anyways.

This raises a big question for the personal safety of not only real estate agents but all professionals that interact with the general public and in sometimes remote locations.  For real estate agents we need to start developing ways to screen our clients for our own personal safety.  In a market as hectic and crazy as the Saskatoon real estate market it’s easy to get caught up in the job and not think about your personal safety.  It is important for us as realtors to think about it and for you as clients to respect that.  Next time you approach a realtor without any prior relationship and if they ask you additional questions just remember that people must think about their personal safety as well as if they have never met you it’s only fair for them to ask a few questions.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.
www.karicalder.com

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