Woodstock homes for you to consider

Direction and destination

By Mark Schadenberg

The Multiple Listing Service is a very strong vehicle for house hunters because you can see all the listed homes in one place and narrow it down to price range, neighbourhood or amenities such as number of bedrooms.

However, is it a great place to find a Realtor to assist you in the complete process of finding that ideal home?

If you’re serious about house viewing and truly want a full-time Realtor who knows the market, please contact me at (519) 537-1553.

In the past I have promoted all my listings in this space: 321 Leinster, 1101 Cree, 488 Highland, 2 brand new homes on Fairway . . . .

This time, I would like to plug five other listings our office is currently selling. By all means, contact the listing agent if you want to view the house, or call me today.

Royal LePage Triland Realty

21 Brick Pond, Woodstock

Asking: $279,900

MLS: 70638

Listed by: Lynn Routly (519-536-5966)

As you walk in the door, you will discover this to be a true open concept ranch. Two spacious bedrooms on main floor and two more in finished lower level. Raised deck off kitchen. Freshly painted. Updated décor. New carpet in recroom which also has convenient walkout and cozy gas fireplace. Two-car garage. House backs on to protected Brick Pond wetlands, which translates into living with nature, but in the city.

Lot 6 Caen Road, Woodstock

Asking: $279,900

MLS: 68942

Listed by: William Cattle (519-868-6447)

In the Neighbourhoods of Devonshire subdivision is this brand new under-construction ranch bungalow with a loft for over 1500 sq ft. Stunning quality is seen in every Claysam Homes offering, including this house with its master bedroom loft and ensuite. Ceramic tile in the foyer and the eat-in kitchen.  You may select from oak or maple cabinets. See the model home at 1141 Caen for all the plans.

629 Lansdowne Ave, Woodstock

Asking: $287,900

MLS: 70235

Listed by: Bob and Kathie Pozza (519-536-1677)

Even though this 2-storey condo is 20 years old, this complex is still considered Woodstock’s executive destination with its tennis court, inground pool, and nearby walking trails. Three large bedrooms, including gas fireplace and ensuite to master.  A main floor with spacious eat-in kitchen, living-dining room ideal for entertaining, and large 2-car garage. This unit has a 27’ x 24’ lower recroom too! Condo fee is $330 / month.

127 John Davies, Woodstock

Asking: $349,900

MLS: 70365

Listed by: Bob and Kathie Pozza (519-537-9270)

With inground pool and located on quiet crescent (with a park at the end of the street) this is an ideal family 4-level back split plan. Lower family room leads to patio doors and pool. A 4^th bedroom also in lower level. Along with ensuite to master, house has 3 full bathrooms. Separate formal living and dining rooms off foyer. Newer vinyl windows, furnace and central air, plus California shutters. Simply move in and enjoy!   

846 Springbank Ave, Woodstock

Asking: $366,500

MLS: 70416

Listed by: Sharon Veenstra (519-539-2070)

Originally a builder’s model home by Premium Homes, the unique layout (spiral maple staircase) creates a gorgeous family home. Only 7 years old, this offering features an over-sized master bedroom with ensuite. With a main-floor den, this home still has 4 bedrooms – all on the second floor. Vaulted ceiling in main-floor family room with 3-sided gas fireplace.  It’s also vacant for your now possession! 

Mark Schadenberg, sales rep

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

Mark: 519 537-1553

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

London's So-Ho hospital to be demolished

Your last chance to tour South St. healthcare centre

Woodstock is in the process of studying a future use for the site of the closed Riddell Street hospital. The likely use will be low- and medium-density residential.

In November of 2011, Woodstock and Oxford County finally received its brand new hospital when patients began arriving at the Juliana Street facility. Great news for everyone in Woodstock.

Down the road in London, the story is a little different as massive additions at Victoria Hospital on Commissioners Road, improvements to University Hospital on the Western campus, and an entire gradual new look to St Joseph’s hospital, has created a gigantic empty former hospital on South Street. The wrecking ball is pending for February for this so-called So-Ho neighbourhood structure which dates back as old as 138 years.

A public meeting on Wednesday, Jan 30 (tomorrow) is the last chance to walk through this historic healthcare facility.

Demolition of antiquated South St. Victoria Hospital campus begins next month 0 

By Chip Martin, The London Free Press

January 23, 2013

LONDON -- Watershed moments for the old South St. campus of Victoria Hospital will occur just two days apart next week.

On Jan. 30, the public will be invited inside the venerable main building for one last time to attend a planning workshop aimed at coming up with a plan to chart the future of the hospital block and seven or eight surrounding blocks.

Two days later, the first steps to demolish the nearly 138-year-old London institution begin.

By the end of the year, the roughly $15-million job should be done and the land allocated for a hospital in 1874 will revert to city ownership.

The demolition covers buildings on the south side of South St. A few of the buildings in the hospital complex will be spared, particularly the Colborne building and War Memorial Children’s Hospital on the north side. The city hopes to find a new use for the heritage properties.

The province is picking up the lion’s share of the cost.

Contribution from the hospital and more than $3 million from the city will also cover the demolition costs . Precise details of the cost-sharing are confidential and still under discussion between the city and London Health Sciences Centre.

“We are hoping to create a great new urban neighbourhood for London,” city planner John Fleming said Wednesday.

The city prepared a “community improvement plan” for the SoHo area that called for development of a specific “secondary” plan for the hospital area blocks. They include one immediately west of the hospital land where Fincore Canada is proposing two 26-storey towers in a “wellness centre.”

Fleming said the plan will boost downtown revitalization and help the core reconnect with the Thames.

On Feb. 1, the steps will start toward demolition but passersby will see little until March or April.

Community planner Jim Yanchula said the community has high hopes about the future of their neighbourhood with redevelopment.

It is ironic the last time the public is allowed into the building is on the eve of demolition and a new start for the area.

“I know the people in the immediate vicinity in SoHo have high expectations that the redevelopment of the property will implement the general directions set out in the SoHo community improvement plan (adopted in June of 2011),” he said.

“Residents will see improved access to the river’s edge, new corridors, new development that sets the tone for future rehabilitation of the lands and preservation of those parts of heritage that are important.”

Yanchula said because the area is relatively small, he expects the secondary plan for the hospital and its environs could be ready by late May or early June.

twitter.com/ChipatLFPress

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CHRONOLOGY

Aug. 5, 1875: London General Hospital opens on Ottoway Ave., now South St. with two floors and 56 beds

1899: An expanded hospital opens called Victoria Hospital

1939: old hospital building demolished to make way for new, bigger facility

1941: North Wing opens

1954: Y wing opens

1967: Middlesex Wing opens

Feb. 26, 1997: Ontario’s Health Services Restructuring Commission orders closing of South Street

June 1999: City council commits $15 million to hospital for restructuring after hospital promised to pay for demolition of South Street, a promise it later broke.

July 1999: Move of services begins from South Street to University, Victoria and St. Joseph’s hospitals. .

June 12, 2005: LHSC moves 145 patients and 180 beds, taking seven hours, 2,500 staff members and 300 trucks of hospital equipment to complete on of the largest single-day hospital moves in North America.

April 2011: Mental health care program moved to Victoria Hospital, leaving only some outpatient units at South Street

September 2011: In the midst of an Ontario election London MPP Deb Matthews says province will foot $15 million bill for demolition costs, ending years of dispute between the city, the province and the hospital.

--Jonathan Sher

- - -

IF YOU GO

What: Workshop sessions with city planners and consultants on developing the Old Victoria Hospital secondary plan to guide development of the site and eight blocks around it.

When: Jan. 30, 7 p.m.

Where: Room C240, The Busby Room, second floor, main Victoria Hospital building, 375 South St.

http://www.lfpress.com/2013/01/23/demolition-of-antiquated-south-st-victoria-hospital-campus-begins-in-february

Toyota tops world sales numbers

Woodstock produces popular RAV4 

The world’s top selling car brand name has an obvious close connection to Woodstock.

Toyota, which builds its RAV4 SUV in Woodstock and employs more than 6,000 between its local plant and facility in Cambridge (TMMC), has passed General Motors in total worldwide sales numbers. The 2012 total of 9.748 million vehicles off the assembly line and sold obviously depicts that Toyota is now fully recovered from the tsunami which followed an earthquake, hitting Japan in 2011.

In you are employed with Toyota and are considering setting down roots in Oxford County, call me today to begin your home hunting.

The following story from The Associated Press appeared in the Waterloo Region Record.

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Toyota back at No. 1 selling nearly 9.75 million vehicles in 2012, dethroning GM officially

By YURI KAGEYAMA, The Associated Press

TOKYO – Now it’s official: Toyota is once again the world’s top automaker.

Toyota Motor Corp. released its tally for global vehicle sales for last year Monday at a record 9.748 million vehicles — a bigger number than the estimate it gave last month of about 9.7 million vehicles.

It was already clear Toyota had dethroned General Motors Co. as the Detroit-based automaker fell short, selling 9.29 million vehicles.

GM had been the top-selling automaker for more than seven decades before losing the title to Toyota in 2008.

GM retook the sales crown in 2011, when Toyota’s production was hurt by the quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

The latest results show Toyota’s powerful comeback.

Global vehicle sales for the maker of the Camry sedan, Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury model surged nearly 23 per cent from the previous year. Overseas sales jumped 19 per cent, while sales in Japan, where the economy has been troubled, recovered a whopping 35 per cent.

Volkswagen AG of Germany, the world’s No. 3 automaker, sold a record 9.1 million vehicles around the world.

All three automakers play down the significance of the sales ranking and say they are focused on making attractive products.

“Rather than going after numbers, we hope to make fine products, one by one, to keep out customers satisfied. The numbers are just a result of our policy. And our policy will continue unchanged,” said Toyota spokeswoman Shino Yamada.

Still, the recovery for Toyota is impressive. Like other Japanese automakers, Toyota’s production was devastated by the March 2011 disasters, which disrupted supplies of crucial components. Flooding in Thailand, where Toyota has factories, also hurt car production.

Before that, it struggled against a crisis of massive recalls in the U.S. over defective floor mats, gas pedals and brakes, involving millions of vehicles, some recalled over and over, that hurt its reputation for quality.

Toyota officials have vowed to scrutinize quality, and have held back product development to minimize recalls.

From the middle of last year, it was hit by another kind of problem — a widespread boycott of Japanese products, including Toyota cars, in China over a territorial dispute.

But sales growth in other parts of the world, including the U.S. and Asian nations such as Indonesia and India, was more than enough to offset such losses.

Big expectations for 2013

Toyota is planning to sell 9.91 million vehicles globally in 2013, putting it back on track toward its earlier goal of 10 million vehicles — a target that it had made a special effort to play down after its recall crisis.

The Associated Press

Mark Schadenberg, sales rep

Royal LePage Triland Brokerage

In you are employed with Toyota 

and are considering setting down roots in Oxford County, 

call me today to begin your home hunting.

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

(519) 537-1553

One hundred years for LePage

Royal LePage marks one century in 2013

By Mark Schadenberg

It was in 1984 that Royal LePage was created, but the company is in essence much older.

How old?

How about 100 years as it was July 2, 1913 when Albert Edward (AE) LePage opened his first real estate office.

The evolution of 100 years of residential and commercial real estate transactions has been on-going as spelled out in the Royal LePage newsletter's most recent edition of Leading Edge, 100 Years Of Helping You Home.

“Very few organizations last more than a generation, let alone 100 years,” says Royal LePage president Phil Soper in his submission posted in Leading Edge. “Show me a company that has stood the test of time and I will show you a firm with innovation woven into its DNA; an organization that attracts people who thrive on taking risks, people driven to make things better.”

Century of Evolution

It really doesn’t need to be said, but the real estate industry has evolved – revolved – several times in the past century, as noted by Soper.

“New technologies have helped us do our jobs more quickly and efficiently, and they have opened the door for consumers to take a more active role in the process of buying and selling property. . .

“Today’s consumer takes more time to understand the real estate market before contemplating which agent they would like to work with.”

I know I have mentioned this in other writings, but with 14 years experience I have the current longest-standing employment with Royal LePage in Woodstock. It’s a terrific brand name and I’m proud to be a full-time Realtor with this company. I maintain a strong game plan for both buyers and sellers, including two thorough workbooks I utilize to describe the varying processes of selling a home – marketing to market value, internet to door-to-door flyers, open houses to housing transactions.

The history of Royal LePage is highlighted by the merger of AE LePage and Royal Trust in 1984.

Going backwards, it was in 1974, when LePage first published its Survey of Canadian House Prices, which continues to be a very important comprehensive quarterly report used by economists and financial institutions to gauge the overall economy in the larges centres from coast to coast.

Newspaper & Radio

Around the same time, I began considering a move into the real estate industry (from my position as sports editor of The Sentinel-Review), it was in 1997 when Royal LePage bought the Realty World chain. As a quick aside, when I was a radio announcer in Muskoka in Huntsville, I remember hosting the Saturday morning ‘Realty World Country Show’.

Also, the first national website for the industry was in 1995: www.royallepage.ca     

When considering market share, Royal LePage in the Woodstock – Ingersoll – London – St Thomas area now includes more than 260 sales reps under the Triland umbrella. Brokerage co-owner Peter Meyer, is one of just five Ontario broker-managers listed as part of the Royal LePage advisory council.

For consumer info, see: www.royallepage.ca, including good advice on preparing your home for the market at: www.royallepage.ca/home_staging.

Mark Schadenberg, sales rep

Royal LePage Triland Realty

757 Dundas St, Woodstock

(519) 537-1553 (Call or text me anytime)

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Relay For Life is June 14

Canadian Cancer Society fundraiser marks 14 years in Woodstock

PRESS RELEASE

14^th Annual

Canadian Cancer Society RELAY FOR LIFE

Woodstock Event: Friday, June 14, 7 p.m.

 At College Avenue Secondary School

Canadian Cancer Society Oxford County Unit office

65 Springbank Ave North, Woodstock

(519) 537-5592

www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

General enquiries email: oxford@ontario.cancer.ca
Theme: Carnival For A Cure

Friday, June 14, 7 p.m. -- Relay for Life at College Avenue Secondary School (Terry Fox Memorial Track). Non-competitive 12-hour walk around the track continues until 7 a.m. on Saturday, June 15. Enter your team of 10 (or more) and raise money to find a cure for cancer. It's an opportunity to get together with family and friends to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost and fight back in the hope of finding a cure. You can purchase a luminary on the night of the event (or in advance). Last year, more than $310,000 was raised locally.

Celebrate . . . Remember . . . Fight Back

www.relayforlife.ca/woodstock

Online: You can sign up a team, donate to an existing team, or even register as a volunteer

Email: oxford@ontario.cancer.ca

Contact:

Josie Atkinson, Cancer Society, (519) 537-5592 (Email: jatkinson@ontario.cancer.ca)

Kim Whitehead, co-chair, 535--1581 (Email: kimw_1@sympatico.ca)

Kerri Axon, co-chair, 421-0806 (keriaxon@gmail.com)

Mark Schadenberg, communications committee, 537-1553 (mschadenberg@rogers.com)

Public Relations Chair:

Mark Schadenberg, sales rep

Royal LePage Triland Realty

(519) 537-1553

Woodingford Lodges receives funding

Provincial government allocates dollars to three local retirement homes

WOODSTOCK -- There is an obvious notion or understanding that our demographics in Canada are aging, so governments at all three (four) levels must follow suit with additional funding for retirement / nursing homes.
News this week that all three Woodingford Lodge locations in Oxford County, which is operated by the county level of government through municipal realty taxes, will be receiving more than $75,000 from the provincial coffers, including more than $37,000 for Woodstock's home located immediately next door to the new hospital. The announcement is for a one-time-only additional infusion of needed dollars.
Here's the link to The Sentinel-Review story.
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http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2013/01/21/provincial-funding-bump-for-long-term-care

Theatre Woodstock to stage Soldier's Heart

David French play runs in February

By Mark Schadenberg

WOODSTOCK – Theatre Woodstock – located at 22 Reeve Street in Woodstock (behind City Hall at 500 Dundas) is in the midst of final preparations to stage a Canadian play which reflects back to life in the Maritimes more than 80 years ago.

The Woodstock production of Soldier’s Heart – a script written by David French (www.davidfrench.net) – is on the Reeve Street stage Feb 8 – 16. Based on two main male characters from Newfoundland, the Jennifer Paquette directed play studies the father-son relationship of a First World War veteran (Esau Mercer) and his 16-year-old-son Jacob. The time frame is 1924, and remember Newfoundland will not formally join Canada until 1949.

Esau and friend Bert Taylor are part of a contingent which sailed off to England during the First World War. One line from the script, as said by Bert, notes: “A soldier doesn’t die for King and Country . . . Or for any other high-falutin' idea. He doesn’t want to let his friends down.”  

Mercer family saga

Writer French, who might be best known for both Leaving Home and Salt-Water Moon (Also featuring the Mercer family characters), along with an English translation of Chekhov’s The Seagull, penned a dozen plays.  What is interesting is that Soldier’s Heart – released in 2001 -- is a prequel to the other four Mercer offerings, including Leaving Home written in 1972.   

The Woodstock (www.theatrewoodstock.com) production is sponsored by Investment Planning Counsel (69 Light St, Woodstock) and runs over two weekends at the refurbished former Downtown farm market.  

David French died of cancer at the age of 71 in December of 2010.

Rain Rain, go away?

Later – in the spring – Theatre Woodstock presents a Leeann Minogue play entitled Dry Streak, April 12 -20. The Saskatchewan playwright, who has also penned the plays Bloom and Homecoming, describes Dry Streak (www.leannminogue.com) as a seven-character 90-minute comedy that premiered in Saskatoon in 2005. A review I stumbled upon online says the play is more funny that the prairie TV sitcom Corner Gas. I’m not sure about any wardrobe malfunction in the Woodstock production as the word ‘streak’ does refer to a woman running naked in the rain.

I guess you could say “April 12-20 showers, bring May flowers”

For Theatre Woodstock tickets, memberships or sponsorships call 537-2582, visit the box office weekdays (3 – 7 p.m.) and Saturday (9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.), check out the website, or at Highlander Studios at 654 Dundas St, Woodstock. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students, and $12 for children under 12.

If you’re between the ages of seven and 19 and want to learn about the youth theatre troupe, contact CAST at 537-8871.

A Woodstock Realtor who promotes everything about Woodstock

Mark Schadenberg, sales rep

Royal LePage Triland Realty

(519) 537-1553

Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Full-time Realtor ready to work for you !

Ideas to assist in the 'five' down rule

Solid credit, savings, and gift letter

There are many good ideas presented in various publications to assist hopeful first-time buyers in saving a down payment for a house. The federal government and Bank of Canada have both endorsed the 5% down plan, which is one of just many reasons why the real estate market is not flourishing currently.

A solid credit check has always been necessary.

Having said that, the ability to buy with zero down and still receive money back at closing from your financial institution was a picture of a pendulum in the wrong direction.

Here is a story from www.canadianmortgagetrends.com, which also appeared last week in The Globe and Mail (www.theglobeandmail.com)

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DECODING THE MORTGAGE MARKET

Five ways around tough new home down-payment rules

ROBERT MCLISTER

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Jan. 7, 2013

OTTAWA -- It would seem that regulators want to dissuade Canadians from buying homes with nothing down. Yet despite all of the recent changes, buyers can still get into the real estate market with little cash on hand.

Ottawa did away with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp .-insured 100 per cent financing back in 2008. Home buyers with few savings searching for an alternative were left with cash-back down payment mortgages. (That’s where a lender gives you your 5 per cent required down payment, in exchange for a higher rate.) But those didn’t last long because in 2012, regulators barred banks from offering cash back for down payments.

Purchasing a home without your own down payment is often risky. One exception is when a borrower is well-qualified (apart from the down payment), has enough potential resources to withstand a loss of income and falling home prices, and is better off owning than renting. But exceptions are just that, and not the rule.

Young people use alternative down payment sources more often than most. Why? The main reason is a lack of savings. At a time when the average national home price has jumped to $356,687, the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals finds that more than one in four renters have less than $5,000 saved for a down payment. Yet, many of these folks are dead set on owning a home, so they end up using one of the down payment methods listed below.

Borrowing from other credit sources
When buying a home, you generally need at least 5 per cent of the purchase price as a down payment. Ottawa prohibits you from borrowing that 5 per cent from your mortgage lender if that lender is a bank or federal trust company.

Meanwhile, you’re free to borrow your down payment from a line of credit, personal loan or even a credit card. That’s right, if you’re creditworthy you can throw your down payment on a VISA at 20 per cent interest. Mind you, not all lenders allow this and the ones that do check that you can afford the extra debt payment.

One obvious problem with borrowing your down payment is the higher interest cost. Even if you use a line of credit, the interest rate on your down payment loan can be much higher than a regular mortgage, or have a riskier variable rate.

“Borrowing a down payment from less suitable sources is a potential issue,” acknowledges Gord McCallum, broker and president of First Foundation Inc. “Often times, with new mortgage regulations there can be unintended consequences that are worse than the problem they’re purported to solve, and this may be one of them.”

Getting a cash-back down payment mortgage
In many provinces, lenders that aren’t federally regulated (like credit unions) can still offer cash-back down payment mortgages. The few that actually do will give you 5 per cent cash to use for your down payment. You then need to cough up only your closing costs, which include legal and inspection fees, the land transfer tax and so on.

Not surprisingly, the interest rate on cash-back mortgages is well above a normal mortgage. But when you factor in the “free” cash, the overall borrowing cost isn’t that horrible. The main downside of a cash-back mortgage is that you have little equity cushion if home prices fall and you need to sell. And if you break the mortgage early, your lender can take back much or all of the cash it gave you.

Going forward, the days of cash-back down payment mortgages may be numbered. There is speculation that they’ll be eliminated in 2013–by either mortgage insurers, provincial regulators or both. For now, however, a handful of credit unions still offer them to people with strong credit, with Ontario-based Meridian Credit Union being the biggest such lender.

Using a gifted down payment
If you’re a young home buyer with a generous relative, you may be lucky enough to get your down payment as a gift. Most lenders will consider a gifted down payment if the donor is a parent, grandparent or sibling.

Unfortunately, while not an epidemic problem, it’s no secret that a small number of borrowers fraudulently claim their down payments as “gifts,” even though they fully intend to repay the money. That raises the risk level for lenders because the borrower’s debt obligations increase. Of course, both the borrower and giftor must attest in writing to gifted funds being non-repayable, but that is hard to police after closing.

RRSP Home Buyers Plan (HBP)
First-time buyers can borrow up to $25,000 from their RRSP as a down payment. But this is a very different kind of loan, for three reasons:

1. You’re borrowing from your own retirement savings, as opposed to a third party.

2. You don’t have to start repaying the loan until the second year after the year you make your withdrawal.

3. Even though Revenue Canada wants the funds paid back in 15 annual instalments, lenders don’t include those repayments in a borrower’s debt calculations. As a result, some people get approved for a mortgage only to find themselves caught in an annual cash crunch because they didn’t budget for their HBP payment.

The RRSP HBP comes with other perils. By draining your retirement savings, you risk losing years of tax-deferred investment gains. That’s a decision that some will later regret.

Moreover, any instalments that aren’t paid back on time are taxed as income in that year. And as many as one-quarter of HBP participants have missed or underpaid their instalments in the past.

Special lender and government programs
Various provinces and municipalities provide down payment assistance grants. These programs are typically for people with low or moderate income. Despite these borrowers being higher risk, in some cases, they’re permitted to buy a home with nothing down.

There are also specialized programs at individual lenders. For example, Canada’s biggest credit union, Vancity, currently finances an affordable condo project in Vancouver whereby it lends 90 per cent of the purchase price while the developer provides a 10 per cent second mortgage with no interest and no payments.

All of these down payment alternatives have one thing in common. They all come with some degree of added risk. It’s curious how Ottawa encourages people to have their own skin in the game, yet sanctions various substitutes to the traditional 5 per cent down payment.

If you do use one of these down payment alternatives, remember these two things: Buying a home without your own cash is not a decision to take lightly. And qualifying for a mortgage doesn’t mean can successfully carry one.

Robert McLister is the editor of CanadianMortgageTrends.com and a mortgage planner at VERICO intelliMortgage.

Great benefit sports dinner table set for Feb 11

Joe Carter & Devon White in London

By Mark Schadenberg

LONDON -- An annual gala gathering of champions continues to raise significant dollars for two London children's charities. This year, two baseball legends highlight the event's roster.

It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles. Back in 1992 and 1993 two Toronto baseball superstars were outfielders Joe Carter and Devon White.

Both will now be head table guests at the annual London Rogers Sports Celebrity Dinner & Auction on Monday, Feb. 11 at the London Convention Centre at 300 York Street (www.londoncc.com). Proceeds from the benefit are directed to the Thames Valley Children's Centre (TVCC) and Raising Hope Children's Health Foundation.

The entertaining evening will include recognition of the 2012 Beyond Disability athlete Josh Davies, along with the introduction of the top high school athletes (Spectra nominees) in the London area.

The impressive head table will also feature Vaughn Martin, defensive end of the NFL's San Diego Chargers; plus Paralympic wheelchair rugby player Dave Willsie, long distance swimmer Annaleise Carr, Olympic swimmer and Londoner Joe Bartoch, and Olympic badminton player Alexandra Bruce.

While Joe Carter is 53rd on the all-time list for Major League Baseball home runs with 396, his walk-off homer down the left-field line in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series beat the Philadephia Phillies and clinched the Blue Jays championship. Carter also caught  the toss at first base from relief pitcher Mike Timlin one year earlier that sealed Canada's first-ever world championship crown. Carter would later be inducted in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 and also has a banner unfurled in the Blue Jays Level Of Excellence in Rogers Centre.

Devon White earned seven gold gloves (five with Toronto) for his defence in centrefield, hit over 200 career homers, and made one of the most spectacular catches in World Series history in Game 3 of the 1993 final off the bat of Atlanta's David Justice.

Vaughn Martin is noteworthy as a NFL football player from London, and a grad of South Secondary, as he was a Canadian university player drafted in the fourth round in 2009 from London's Western Mustangs.

Annaleise Carr of Simcoe became a household name in Canada in August of 2012 when -- at 14 years old -- became the youngest swimmer to cross Lake Ontario. It took her 27 hours to navigate the waters from Niagara-On-The-Lake to Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto.  She has now raised over $150,000 for Camp Trillium (Rainbow Lake in Waterford), which is a recreation destination for children battling cancer.

At the Paralympics last year, Team Canada won silver in rugby. David Willsie was competing in his fourth Games in the other London -- England, winning silver. Even though he won gold at the 2002 world championships on the national squad, he could possibly be best known for the 2005 movie Murderball which was nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category.

Josh Davies is an accomplished athlete with the London Blizzards sledge hockey team, and both Team Ontario and the Forest City Flash basketball team, and also a previous Spectra winner.

Plan on attending this important fundraiser. Tickets are $150 for adults and $75 for students, and are available online at www.londonsportdinner.ca. Further details on the sports dinner and auction can be attained by contacting Brittany Webb at (519) 432-8564 (ext 112) or bwebb@childhealth.ca

On Feb. 11, doors open at 5 p.m. as this large-scale benefit, which began in 1956 and has raised in excess of $1.3 million for TVCC (www.tvcc.on.ca), also includes an astounding array of available items on a silent auction. The formal dinner is at 6 p.m. leading up to the evening's program of keynote speeches and informative interviews with the celebrities. The em-cee also has London connections -- Heather Hiscox, who is host of CBC’s News Now.

London continues to always be a popular destination for events as the London Convention Centre also prepares for its Jeans n' Classics Rock Symphony and its tribute to the classic rock band Queen (www.jeansnclassics.com) on Feb. 9,  the Student-2-Business Networking Conference (www.s2b.ca) on March 6, and the annual Women's Lifestyle Show (www.womenslifestyle.ca), March 23-24.

Circle March 3 on your calendar

Book your booth

Here is the press release I prepared to promote the 2013 Woodstock Rec & Leisure Fair. 

It's still a few weeks away, but we want to encourage organizations to book their booth. If your group is involved in hobbies, sports, or any activities for all ages, plan on participating.

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Woodstock Recreation & Leisure Fair

By Mark Schadenberg

It’s fair to say there’s lots to do in Woodstock. No matter what your interests and hobbies may be, or favourite participation sports, there is a group for you to consider joining. However, where do you find these organizations?

The annual Woodstock Recreation & Leisure Fair is the event to attend on Sunday, March 3, 1 - 4 p.m., at the Cowan Park complex. Coordinated by the city's Recreation Advisory Committee (WRAC), this information trade show will feature a room full of community groups ranging from the historical society and service clubs, to minor sports groups and lawn bowling. If you have thought about joining the Woodstock Fanshawe Singers, maybe a fitness club, or wanted to learn square dancing, this Rec &Leisure Fair is the event to attend. Employees from City of Woodstock facilities will also be in attendance to explain their upcoming projects, including varied programs offered at the public library and public swimming lessons.

Table Talk

On the other side of the coin, if you're involved with a service club, sports association, formal arts and crafts group, youth club, martial arts training club, or a group staging theatre productions, make ensure that your association has signed up to participate by contacting the city's community services department, Glynis Hill at ghill@city.woodstock.on.ca or by calling (519) 539-2382 ext 4101. The cost is $25 for a not-for-profit group and $50 for businesses (fitness centres, golf courses, etc)

"Everyone in the community will find something of interest to them at our annual information fair," says WRAC chair Mark Schadenberg. “You will find details about cycling and recycling, throwing a javelin, learn about scouting and guides, weaving and spinning, and children's singing”.

Free admission and door prizes too !

Mark Schadenberg, (519) 537-1553.

Thinking about living in Woodstock, call:

Mark Schadenberg, sales rep

Royal LePage Triland Realty

(519) 537-1553

Email: Mschadenberg@rogers.com

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Looking back to 2012 numbers

WIDREB vs other nearby areas
Since it's been announced officially that sales in the Woodstock-Ingersoll District Real Estate Board (WIDREB) trading area were lower in 2012 compared to 2011, how did other neighbouring areas do?
Below is a story that appeared in The Simcoe Reformer newspaper pertaining to trends and numbers in the Norfolk County area. The story is interesting because it includes some Lake Erie shoreline area like Port Dover and Long Point, but also depicts Delhi totals which borders Oxford County.
Anyway, final numbers for WIDREB, which by the way does not include Tillsonburg, for 2012 were 1065. That number does not include private sales or new construction homes never listed MLS.
Here are final WIDREB-reported numbers, dating back to 2003. I use these numbers in all my market reports for possible clients because it dates before the spring of 2005 announcement that Toyota would be building a factory locally. Truth be told, 2005 started out quite slowly and then became an absolute boom beginning in April.
2011: 1159
2010: 1216
2009: 1080 (Car industry woes)
2008: 1176
2007: 1359
2006: 1278
2005: 1473 (Toyota manufacturing announcement was in June)
2004: 1366
2003: 1153

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Simcoe-area real estate board releases annual sales statistics

By Daniel R. Pearce, Simcoe Reformer

Sunday, January 6, 2013  

Amie Ferris, president of the Simcoe and District Real Estate Board, says there are lots of options for homebuyers in Simcoe. House prices in the town went up last year by 6%.  

SIMCOE - Simcoe is gradually becoming the place to live in Norfolk again.

Home sales in the county’s biggest town are rebounding after years of losing ground to the charm offered by nearby Waterford and especially Port Dover.

Affordability is the reason, said Amie Ferris, president of the Simcoe and District Real Estate Board.

The trend can be seen in the board’s 2012 sales figures released last week. While home prices across the county were flat for last year, they jumped in Simcoe by 6% and sales volume was up there by 29%.

First time buyers and young families looking for more space in their budget range are attracted by the town’s lower prices, Ferris explained.

“In Simcoe, you can by a house for $150,000. It would be very difficult to buy a house in Port Dover for $150,000,” she said.

“There are a lot of options in Simcoe for everybody. We find for a lot of first-time buyers, especially if they’re from Port Dover, they wanted to be there, but they can’t afford it, so they ended up going to Simcoe.”

Simcoe also has a wider range of offerings, she added, with homes as low as $100,000 and as high as $1.2 million.

Overall sales in Norfolk increased by 18.64% last year and prices inched up by .25%.

Houses also turned over quicker, lasting on the market for an average of 81 days compared to 87 in 2011.

Port Dover remains the most expensive market in Norfolk. The average price there last year was $252,608, an increase of 4%. Simcoe’s average was $213,925 while Waterford came in at $225,170.

Prices fell in other parts of the county. Port Rowan’s average was $155,359, a drop of 8%. Delhi’s decreased by 4% to $183,301 while the lakefront summer community of Long Point had the highest average price in Norfolk at $316,733, but that was down from last year by 9%.

Although the board doesn’t track the demographics of buyers, retirees continue to make up a significant part of the local market.

Ferris noted, however, an unofficial trend: retirees move here but sell after two or three years and return to the city where they have family and access to amenities not found in small towns.

Waterford, she added, has become something of a commuter town. People are living there and driving to work in Brantford and Hamilton.

Here are the residential real estate statistics for 2012 compared to 2011:

•For all of Norfolk

Properties listed: 2,005 (7% increase)

Properties sold: 904 (18% increase)

Average price: $221,826 (.25% increase)

Average days on the market: 81 compared to 87 in 2011

• Simcoe

Total listings: 470 (7% increase)

Total sales: 252 (29% increase)

Average price: $213,925 (6% increase from $201,805)

Average days on the market: 75 compared to 86 in 2011

• Port Dover

Total listings: 361 (19.5% increase)

Total sales: 136 (25% increase)

Average price: $252,608 (4% increase from $242,912)

Average days on the market: 76 compare to 82 in 2011

• Waterford

Total listings: 131 (21% increase)

Total sales: 61 (11% increase)

Average price: $225,170 (.37% increase from $224,336)

Average days on the market: 69 compared to 78 in 2011

• Delhi

Total listings: 180 (14% increase)

Total sales: 91 (1% increase)

Average price: $183,301 (down 3% from $189,054)

Average days on the market: 82 compared to 108 in 2011

• Port Rowan

Total listings: 87 (7.5% increase)

Total sales: 37 (9% increase)

Average price: $155,359 (decrease of 8% from $168,850)

Average days on the market: 90 compared to 100 in 2011

• Long Point

Total listings: 46 (decrease of 11.5%)

Total sales: 21 (increase of 75%)

Average price: $316,733 (decrease of 9% from $348,042)

Average days on the market: 111 compared to 61 in 2011

MacKenzie, Ottawa to assist projects

Half a million arriving in Oxford
The federal government rode into Woodstock on a pony today to pony up some dollars to various projects around Oxford County.
As publicized earlier today on Heart FM (104.7 FM), 11 infrastructure grants from Ottawa as officially announced by Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie will include three much-needed improvements in Woodstock, including accessible washrooms at the sea cadet building in Southside Park. Another park project is refurbishing the baseball infield at the hardball diamond known as the Tip O'Neill Sportsfield. The Woodstock Community Complex and its Southwood Arenas may only be 16 years old, but the bathroom facilities at the adjoining Goff Hall are in dire need of updating and accessibility improvements.
None of the cheques are designed to pay the entire cost of a budgeted project, but rather a percentage.
Major renovations at the arena in Plattsville are also on the list, which is noted below.
Here is the Adam Nyp story as published on the Heart FM website:
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11 Local Projects Boosted by Federal Funds

While $553,000 isn't a lot of money to the federal government, it's going to make a big impact in small communities across Oxford County.

That pool of money is going to support 11 infrastructure projects in the County, including two big ones in Tillsonburg.
The Library is getting $275,000 to support upgrades, and a Lake Lisgar refurbishment is getting $56-thousand.
The funding covers 33-50% of the project costs.
Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie made the announcements in Woodstock and Tillsonburg today, saying the funding will help stretch local tax dollars.  "Around the county, there's things in various arenas and facilities, so it means that the smaller amounts of money goes a long ways for many of these communities for things that they may have wanted to do, but wouldn't have gotten around to it this year."
In Woodstock, the Community Complex and Sea Cadets building are each getting $25,000 for accessible washrooms.
Sea Cadet Branch President Brian Kaufman says the new washrooms are long overdue.  "As far as I know, it's a pre-war building.  We've been in here for over 25-years.  The washrooms. . . are quite old and needed some upgrading."

Woodstock Mayor Pat Sobeski says in some instances, the projects wouldn't get done without this money, including improvements to Tip O'Neill baseball field.  "That project, we might not have done for five years at the city.  So by the federal government committing these small amounts, it makes these projects doable."
Here's the full list of the projects: communities, projects, total projects costs, and federal funding dollars:

Community      Project                                                   Total Cost          Federal Funding
Woodstock - Sea Cadets Bldg. Washrooms                        $50,000           $25,000
Woodstock - Upgrades to Tip O'Neill Ball Field                   $45,355            $20,677
Woodstock -  Community Complex Washrooms                 $50,000            $25,000
Oxford County -  Tillsonburg Library Renovations              $831,000           $276,723
Tillsonburg -  Revitalization of Lake Lisgar                        $112,500           $56,250
Blandford-Blenheim - Plattsville Arena Boards and Glass    $162,500           $53,625
Blandford-Blenheim - HVAC - Princeton Centennial Hall      $26,900            $13,450
SWOX - Mount Elgin Hall - Air Conditioning                        $61,000            $18,319
SWOX -  Dereham Community Hall - Accessibility Upgrade  $61,000            $18,319
Zorra - Fridge Compressor, Lighting -Thamesford Arena     $120,000          $40,000
UTRCA -  Improvements -Pittock CA Swimming Pool          $18,000             $6,012

TOTAL:   11 projects                                                       $1,538,255         $553,375