9. March 2010 by Kari Calder.

Just a heads up that I will be listing a few new properties for sale in Saskatoon that are worth a mention. I have 2 condos for sale in Saskatoon coming up in the next week and 1 house for sale in Saskatoon coming up in about 2 weeks. If you are looking to buy a house in Saskatoon or a condo in Saskatoon give me a call!

Details to follow but as a preview:

2 bedroom apartment style condo for sale in Saskatoon in Lakewood (built in 2006) with 2 parking stalls coming up this week at $224,900.

3 bedroom 3 bathroom townhouse for sale in Arbor Creek (developed basement) with 2 parking stalls around $260,000

House built in 2008 in Stonebridge Saskatoon, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, fully developed yard,deck,fence,driveway, walkway etc for under $400,000.

Stay tuned! Real estate in Saskatoon is moving so if you are looking to list your house for sale in Saskatoon call me! It is all about getting the best price in the least amount of time to prevent market damage and I am a very active Saskatoon realtor (r) so I am happy to work for you! Don’t leave money on the table or deal with tire kickers, Saskatoon real estate agents bring qualified buyers to your property for sale in Saskatoon so that we aren’t wasting your time.

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

Posted in Saskatchewan Real Estate, Saskatoon News, Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan News, Listings, Sellers, Saskatoon, Current Market, Buyers, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

4. February 2010 by Kari Calder.

Every Tuesday morning Century 21 real estate agents in Saskatoon get together for our weekly sales meeting to go over recent sales data, recent trends in Saskatoon real estate and just get caught up to date in general on the happenings in the world of fellow realtors(r) in Saskatoon.

Amongst the data last week were the announcements of the awards for production in 2009. I am proud of my fellow Century 21 Real Estate Agents in Saskatoon as 70% of us have been recognized for sales achievements in 2009.

With the slowing of the global markets, 2009 was slower than 2007 and 2008 so it is great to see so many real estate agents with Century 21 in Saskatoon doing so well.

Awards are broken down into 7 categories; Masters Silver, Masters Ruby, Masters Emerald, Masters Diamond, Centurion, Double Centurion and Grand Centurion. I am excited to say that I was awarded the Century 21 Centurion award for the second year in a row. There are 9 of us from our company who achieved Centurion status. Only 1 agent in the company was awarded the Double Centurion and this year we didn’t have any Grand Centurions, but I am sure 2010 may see someone achieve this.

Century 21 agents are also recognized for their donations to charities such as Easter Seals Canada and our Saskatoon real estate agents in Century 21 have been the most generous in the country with fundraising efforts and personal donations. It is a great company with wonderful values and I am a proud Saskatoon Century 21 Realtor(r). We have a great family of agents, managers and support staff.

If you are looking to buy a house in Saskatoon or to sell your house or condo in Saskatoon contact me!

Kari Calder
Residential Real Estate Specialist
Saskatoon Century 21 Conexus
www.karicalder.com

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

Posted in Saskatoon News, Saskatchewan News, Canda Real Estate News, Sellers, Buyers, Saskatoon, News, Personal, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

4. February 2010 by Kari Calder.

I work with a lot of people who move to Canada and buy a house in Saskatoon or anywhere else and some of these Saskatoon home buyers are enamoured with our “free health care” as where they come from nothing is for free. I think the idea of it is wonderful, but in reality we have a lot of problems with it.

There was just an article in the Star Phoenix commented on finding efficiences in the Saskatchewan Health Region. They are scared that the level of service will go further down and that frightens me. Another Star Phoenix article today was all about safe patient care in Saskatchewan based on the fact that a doctor in my home town of Estevan is getting called into EMERGENCY to fill prescriptions because people can’t get into the doctors offices during the day. How ridiculous is that? These doctors are running low on sleep and energy and well being in general and then our lives are in their hands and it is dangerous and it is OUR fault for visiting the doctors for silly reasons because it is free. Even though Saskatoon has a lot more doctors I am sure it is still difficult for many of them.

The cost of free healthcare often costs people their lives in this province. As much as I appreciate and value our free healthcare policies, I do think something needs to change. Trimming the fat at the top does make some sense, but with the abuse of the system each doctor and emergency care worker sees I think there should be a ‘user fee’. Why not implement a small fee for each visit to the doctor (even $15 for non emergency visits, emergency visits would depend on the severity as people would then start to abuse the $15 policy, but obviously if someone is coming in with a broken arm or after a car accident no fee would apply as that IS an emergency-a cough is not!) I suggested this to an employee of the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada but do you think it was considered? No, because there are too many ‘administrative concerns’. I don’t know, how hard is it to take $15 at the doctors office upon checking in? We do it at every other health practioner, I am pretty confident the general public could be retrained.
If someone is in such bad financial woes then reimbursement should be a possibility, provided they aren’t spending that $15 on cigarettes and alcohol.
Buck up Saskatchewan and Canada in general! I’d rather pay $15 each time than have to wait a month for a crucial exam and possibly dying while I wait! I’m a self employed real estate agent in Saskatoon so I don’t have a health plan through Century 21 in Saskatoon (I could but I have a separate one) per se, but I wouldn’t mind paying.

What are your thoughts? Am I unreasonable?

Kari Calder
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd
Saskatoon, Sk
karicalder@sasktel.net

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

26. January 2010 by Kari Calder.

Abandoned cars, low visibility, out of hand snow piles…reminds us us of the infamous blizzard in Saskatoon in January of 2007.  From Friday afternoon until Monday morning there was 25 cms of snow dumped on the city.

Living in Stonebridgein Saskatoon has been a challenge as in my particular phase of Stonebridge it is so new and there is a lot of open space that the snow tends to drift right up to my front door! The city of Saskatoon has admitted in an article in the Star Phoenixthat some of the worst hit areas in the city are Stonebridge, Willowgrove and Hampton Village as we don’t have anything to stop the blowing of the snow into huge drifts.

The snow crews are apparently cleaning around the clock, yet it is still nearly impossible to show houses for sale in the residential areas of Saskatoon. Even downtown Saskatoon, which was supposed to be a priority Monday night, looked pretty messy today.

And move your car if youa re parked in a “Snow Route” as your car will be ticketed and then impounded as crews are trying to remove the snow this week. Around residential homes in Saskatoon parking is a challenge.

I have a few first time home buyers in Saskatoon who are anxious to get out and look at houses and condos for sale in Saskatoon but with the road issues right now we have had to wait, even with driving an SUV it is just too questionable if we are going to make it back out! There have been 53 accidents/collisions on the streets in 3 days so we need to slow down.

Posted in Saskatchewan News, Environment, Saskatoon News, Buyers, Saskatoon, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

22. January 2010 by Kari Calder.

As a real estate agent in Saskatoon I spend plenty of time on the road and sometimes am in a rush to meet clients to view houses for sale in Saskatoon and can be guilty of driving too fast, but yesterday’s tragedy on Circle Drive is a reminder to slow down.

Around 10am Thursday morning a young woman was killed on the freeway and a 30 year old man was seriously injured. The northbound vehicle on Circle Drive lost control and crossed the ditch into the southbound lanes and caused a head on collision.

According to the Saskatoon Star Phoenix article, investigators had to close down the southbound lanes on Circle Drive and the northbound lane was restricted to one lane until about 6:30 pm.

There were 7 accidents yesterday in and around Saskatoon according to MD Ambulance.

It is an unfortunate reminder of how precious life is and how you can’t take a moment for granted. Our hearts go out to the friends and family members of those involved in yesterday’s accident.

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

Posted in Environment, Saskatoon News, Personal | No Comments »

18. December 2009 by Kari Calder.

I just read a heartbreaking story about a young man whose rental house in Saskatoon burned down last week. He was renting a house in Saskatoon’s west side and had rented that home for approximately 6 years.

As a real estate agent in Saskatoon who often helps people buy investment property in Saskatoon I always advise people who are renting that they need to get tenant insurance. This poor guy not only lost all of his belongings, which he wasn’t terribly worried about as that has been overshadowed by the loss of his 2 cats that were adopted from the SCAT Program of Saskatoon, but he didn’t have tenant insurance to replace what he lost. While you cannot replace a pet and the pain of losing one does fade, he will have 6 years of clothing, furniture, tvs, games, etc that will need to be replaced and he will be starting from scratch.

As Saskatoon often does, the community comes together and holds ‘Steak Nights’ and one will be held at Beileys night club on Tuesday night.

If you are buying investment houses in Saskatoon I highly recommend you obtain a copy of your tenants insurance and set yourself up on a reminder schedule to ensure that they keep up with the tenant insurance. It isn’t very costly but it will save your tenants a lot of heart ache and loss if something ever were to happen.

If you are a current landlord in Saskatoon or you are looking to purchase investment properties in Saskatoon you should set up a system for ensuring your tenants are properly insured.

If you are interested in finding investments in Saskatoon contact me and I will be happy to help!

Kari Calder
Residential Real Estate Specialist
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd
Saskatoon
www.karicalder.com
karicalder@sasktel.net

Posted in Saskatchewan News, Saskatoon News, Saskatoon, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

18. November 2009 by Kari Calder.

The media is bringing up the possibility that Saskatchewan may be in a recession (the textbook variety) by the end of the year, so I figured I better address this as I know how the media grabs hold of negativity and so many doom and gloomers out there will be worried that the sky will fall in here after all of our positive media for the past couple of years. We have all known for months that the Potash in Saskatchewan hasn’t been as lucrative as years past. This is related to the world wide economic crisis which has effectively passed. Our potash industry will still feel a bump from that and our financials will take a hit, but does this mean the end for Saskatchewan? No.

The media has also said that the Saskatoon real estate market is amongst some of the slowest markets in Canada. I think every real estate agent in Saskatoon would beg to differ.

Remember to take the media with a grain of salt. That is all I will say!

The Saskatoon real estate market is starting to experience a turn from a balanced market to more of a sellers market as our listing numbers dip below 900 (approximately half of what we had on the market in 2008).

The current interest rates are still at 3.84% for a 5 year fixed term so it is still a great time for first time home buyers in Saskatoon to get out there and purchase!

Kari Calder
Residential Real Estate Specialist
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Saskatchewan News, Saskatoon News, Current Market, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

11. November 2009 by Kari Calder.

Officials say that Saskatoon will finally have a mandatory recycling program. At the rate Saskatoon is growing and producing waste, we will need a new landfill in 12 years at the cost of $75 Million.

Almost half of all waste going to the landfill in Saskatoon right now is organic material (43.5%). This is compostable waste that could be processed into fertilizer. A new organics facility in in the pre-design phase and is estimated to cost $7.2 Million. If all of this waste was diverted we would get an additional six to nine years of life out of the current landfill.

I am very supportive of the PRIVATE “Curbside Recycling Program” but it is a bit disappointing that this is a private program. Saskatoon is far behind so many other cities and the lack of mandatory recycling is unfortunate. Even cities like Prince Albert have 2 bins; one for household waste and one for recycling material. While it is not ‘mandatory’ per se, it is at least accessible for all households and easy to use. In other cities around the country and around the world they use clear plastic bags and each household is only allowed so much waste. By using the clear plastic bags, it can be monitored to show what people are throwing out and, if someone throws a cardboard box in the clear plastic bag, there are cities that will refuse to pick up the garbage that day. Saskatoon does have a long term waste diversion plan which would involve ‘user fees’  based on the amount of waste generated by each home and include this on a utility bill instead of in your taxes.

As a real estate agent in Saskatoon, one of the things I include in my ‘buyer’s pack’ upon possession (when a client gets possession of their new house in Saskatoon and area) is a flyer for Saskatoon Curbside Recycling. The other thing that I do to help the environment is I do not send out unsolicited flyers in the mail or contribute to junk mail.

I have tenants who moved from Ottawa to Saskatoon and one of their first questions was how to handle household waste. They were very accustomed to ‘green bins’ and they explained their city’s program to me. We could learn a lot from Ottawa and other municipalities that are doing such a good job of diverting garbage from the landfills. Lets hope that Saskatoon gets on board sooner than later and that the Saskatoon home owners cooperate to make our city a cleaner and greener city which is more attractive to people looking to move to Saskatoon.

Kari Calder
Residential Real Estate Specialist
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Environment, Saskatoon News, News, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

9. November 2009 by Kari Calder.

For the first time since 1976 the Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the best in the West! Mosaic Stadium in Regina saw a sold out crowd of 30945 and hosted the game against the Calgary Stampeders, who we dominated 30-14.

Some fans, my mom and dad from Estevan included, have been waiting 33 years for a victory like this. The Riders still have one more victory to attain before moving on to the Grey Cup in Calgary on November 29, 2009.

It is a big thing for the team, for the city of Regina, for the province of Saskatchewan and for the fans to be the host of the Western final. So now it is between the Stampeders and the Eskimos to see who will be up against the Riders in the Western Final.

If there is one thing about Saskatchewan I can say it is we are all proud to be from Saskatchewan and we have fans right across the country. Yes, it gets stupidly cold here in the winter in Saskatchewan, but besides the weather our province is home to a lot of great things and I think any football player in the CFL will say that Saskatchewan fans are the most loyal! But, my opinion is a bit biased

Go Riders!

Kari Calder
Real Estate Specialist
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd Saskatoon

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

4. November 2009 by Kari Calder.

The government of Saskatchewan has good reason to be happy with their efforts to attract Fortune Minerals Ltd. Edmonton and Winnipeg were also in the running to host the facility, but the interest expressed by Saskatoon and Saskatchewan was what tipped the scales and convinced the Ontario based company to base its gold, cobalt, bismuth and copper refinery here.

The proposed site is just east of Langham, which is about 30 kms from Saskatoon. It is near the main Canadian National line and is close to a major national highway and services such as power, water, and natural gas.

This refinery will process ore from Fortune’s NICO project in the NWT. They expect the project will be completed and up and running in 2012.

What this means for employment in Saskatoon is 85 highly skilled positions such as chemical and metallurgical engineers during NICO’s projected 15-20 year life. Why those chose Langham area: they wanted to be close to a city but far enough away as it is an industrial site. It is an easy commute from Saskatoon to Langham if workers prefer a larger city.

This is just another example of our booming province and it reinforces the strength that Saskatchewan continues to show.

Kari Calder
Residential Real Estate Specialist
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Posted in Environment, Saskatchewan News, Saskatoon News, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »